Chapter 11: Badger Hunt

Early the next morning.

Lu Chuan got up.

He stepped into the courtyard and started with a set of punches.

He practiced Xingyi Boxing.

As the saying goes, “Ten years of Tai Chi won’t take you outside, but one year of Xingyi can kill a man!”

Back when he worked as a mercenary, it was all about ending fights quickly.

To put it bluntly, martial arts were killing techniques.

Everything he had learned—every move, every stance—was meant to kill.

While he practiced, his movements were powerful and crisp, fists cutting through the air with force.

After half an hour, Lu Chuan finished his routine and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast.

By that time, Su Ruan and Bai Siyu had both woken up.

“Master of the house, you should teach us how to cook sometime,” Bai Siyu said. “You go out hunting and still have to worry about household matters every day—it’s too much. We can help lighten your load.”

Su Ruan’s eyes lit up at this. “Are you going hunting? I’ll go with you!”

“No need,” Lu Chuan shook his head.

“There’s a man at the edge of the village named Sun Mian—we call him Sun the Scab. He and I have some old grudges. If I go out and leave only Bai Siyu at home, it won’t be safe.”

“You are, after all, the daughter of a military family—a warrior woman.”

“Stay home and protect Bai Siyu.”

As they spoke, two little wolf cubs came dashing out.

One of them was gleefully frolicking around the yard without a care, while the other sat proudly and stiffly, eyes locked on Lu Chuan like a soldier ready for battle.

“Alright then,” Su Ruan said, giving up on insisting.

She looked at the wolf cubs and said, “Last night, Little Bai and I were talking. We thought we should name these two little guys.”

“You’re the head of the household. What do you think would be good names?”

Lu Chuan paused, looking down at the wolf cubs on the ground.

“Hmm…”

He pointed at the one running around wildly. “That one—let’s call him ‘Scatterbrain’.”

Then he looked at the one sitting seriously. “And that one—let’s call him ‘Grumpy’.”

“Huh?”

Bai Siyu and Su Ruan were both stunned, clearly not expecting that.

What kind of names were those?

They had never heard such odd names before.

Wasn’t Bai Siyu always saying that Lu Chuan was cultured?

“Master, those names you chose…” Bai Siyu didn’t know what to say and could only smile wryly. “They’re certainly… unique.”

“Alright, I’m heading up the mountain.”

With that, Lu Chuan grabbed the bow and arrows from behind the door and trudged his way up the mountain.

The heavy snow had stopped, and he began looking for subtle burrow entrances hidden behind dead trees or dry leaves.

Badgers were cunning creatures.

Catching one wasn’t easy. Even seasoned hunters often came up short when facing them.

Despite their small size, badgers were extremely strong and agile. Even when surrounded, they could often escape by finding a gap in the encirclement.

What’s more, badger meat was considered “heaty” and very tough—most people didn’t like to eat it.

That’s why most hunters didn’t bother going after them.

It was usually just a matter of chance—if you happened to stumble across one, you might try your luck.

But hard work pays off.

Soon enough, Lu Chuan spotted a hole near a mountain hollow, partially hidden under a pile of dead wood.

He quickly walked over, carefully measured the size of the entrance, and examined the surroundings.

“Looks like I’m in luck today. That thing should be inside!”

Lu Chuan wasn’t in a hurry.

He piled some dead branches, dry leaves, and miscellaneous debris around the entrance of the burrow. Then he followed the contour of the mountain hollow, carefully searching the area.

Eventually, on the other side of the hollow,

he found another burrow of roughly the same size.

“This is the place!”

He climbed to a higher vantage point and carefully examined both sides of the slope, estimating the distance and likely path between the two burrow entrances in his mind.

No matter the animal, their tunnels are rarely straight.

But different animals have different burrowing habits. An experienced hunter can often judge the rough layout of the tunnel based on the terrain.

Once everything was in place, Lu Chuan returned to the first burrow he had discovered.

He picked up some damp wood and wet leaves nearby and blocked the entrance with them.

Then, using a flint, he started a fire.

Once the flames took hold, he covered them with more damp leaves to smother the fire.

Thick smoke immediately began to pour into the tunnel.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan used a few rocks to seal the entrance more securely.

Then he quickly returned to the high point above the hollow, bow in hand, arrow nocked, eyes sharply fixed on the second burrow.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Lu Chuan squinted.

He stared with unwavering focus, not daring to relax for even a moment.

At the same time, he counted his breaths with precision.

When he judged the time was right,

Lu Chuan instantly drew his bow to full draw, his eyes locked on the second burrow entrance.

Moments later, a black blur shot out from the tunnel.

It was incredibly fast.

But Lu Chuan was faster.

The arrow in his hand flew like it had eyes, shooting straight toward the dark figure.

Thwack!

In an instant, the arrow sank into the creature’s body.

The black shape cried out in pain and tried to flee into the distance.

But Lu Chuan didn’t hesitate for a second.

He drew and loosed again.

The motion was fluid, seamless.

Before the badger could react, a second arrow—and then a third—pierced into its body.

It struggled violently.

But blood loss quickly drained its strength.

It only managed a few more staggering steps

before collapsing to the ground.

Lu Chuan let out a long breath.

Not bad—seems like his basic hunting skills were still effective.

Still, if he could get Chen Qingqing’s intermediate hunting skills, he’d be even more confident.

To be safe, Lu Chuan had fired three arrows.

One reason was that badgers are incredibly fast, and with their small size, they can easily slip into another burrow. Even if you kill one, it might die inside a hidden tunnel, making it difficult to retrieve.

Lu Chuan walked over, picked up the badger, and removed the arrows.

Then he casually tossed it into his spatial storage.

He continued the hunt.

There were still quite a few badgers in the mountains, but in winter they mostly remained hidden.

If you want to hunt them, you need to learn to recognize their burrows.

Most of their dens are well hidden, which means it all comes down to the hunter’s experience.

Unfortunately, it seemed his luck had run out.

After catching that one badger, two more hours passed without finding another den.

By now, he was starving.

He took out a flatbread from his spatial storage and began to chew on it.

But just then, he suddenly sensed—

Something was watching him.