In the village where Nan Yu lived, there were three families of hunters, all of whom had practiced the trade for generations. In an era where even securing enough food was a struggle, only the hunters could occasionally afford to eat meat. Even so, very few people actually chose to learn hunting. At most, some would tag along near the edge of the deep forest, hoping for a stroke of luck to bring back a pheasant or some wild game to improve their family’s diet. Since they were all fellow villagers, the hunters didn't mind these hangers-on as long as they didn't venture into the deep woods.
As for anyone truly apprenticing to learn the craft, that was virtually unheard of. Everyone knew that hunting was both exhausting and dangerous—one wrong move could cost you your life. Furthermore, once you stepped into the deep forest, you could be gone for days; life in the wild was nowhere near as comfortable as life in the village. If you were gone for days on end, your family would be left in a state of constant anxiety, never even knowing if you were still alive. Thus, even if the villagers had to spend the whole year farming without ever tasting a morsel of meat, they were unwilling to let their kin become hunting apprentices. Being poor was better than being dead.
Moreover, every year as the Spring Festival approached, the Brigade Leader would organize a group of young, strong, and capable men to head into the mountains to hunt wild boars, providing a meal for the entire village. …
Chapter 115