[Current Detection Range: 0.5 km radius (Upgradable)]
[Detection Targets: Forest produce, animals]
[Mall Feature Unlocked — Every time the host gathers or hunts, points will be awarded based on difficulty and rarity. Points can be spent in the mall to exchange for supplies. Each use of the detection feature will consume a certain amount of points based on the range.]
[Current Points: 0]
Zhou Yang gave it a quick glance and didn't dwell on it.
The village of Shaoguo Tun was built at the foot of Laoye Ridge. Living off the mountain, generations of villagers had passed down the trade of roaming the mountains. In the local vernacular, they were called "Mountain Foragers".
Originally, his Zhou family had made their living as Mountain Foragers for generations, and in his past life, he had been a special forces soldier specializing in reconnaissance. Even without the blessing of a system, feeding a family by foraging wouldn't be all that difficult.
Calming the excitement in his chest, Zhou Yang stood up from the ground and checked the gear on his body.
Behind him were a back basket and a cloth bag; at his waist were several bundles of nooses and traps, along with an aged old hunting knife in his hand... The ancestral hunting rifle wasn't on his back—it was probably left at blacksmith Wang's place for repairs.
If he remembered correctly, that old rifle kept jamming these past few years, and his father could never get it working right.
As for the bow and arrow, he hadn't brought many, using them only for self-defense. Clearly, this trip into the mountains wasn't aimed at hunting big game; he had simply wanted to gather some wild herbs and vegetables.
Having figured out his objective, Zhou Yang wasted no time and began sweeping through the forest.
He would have loved to drop everything and rush home to check on his parents, but times were hard, and if he returned empty-handed, the family would have to go hungry again.
Before he had taken two steps, Zhou Yang's eyes lit up.
Beneath the withered, yellow leaves covering the ground, a faint streak of emerald green was buried. He hurriedly knelt down, put on his gloves, and brushed away the top layer. Sure enough, he saw a slender green leaf rooted below.
This plant was called wild taro, scientifically known as Bletilla striata (single-leaf), also referred to as ice bulb or mountain yam.
In the 1950s, this thing wasn't a protected plant yet, and it grew in abundance in the mountains. Many mountain foragers whose skills were still rusty relied on harvesting it to sell for money—it was considered a medicinal herb.
Aside from this single-leaf variety, Zhou Yang also spotted Jerusalem artichokes not far away on a muddy slope.
They were much easier to recognize than the mountain yams, growing in clusters, half a person high, with yellow flowers blooming at the tops. That was why they were also called yellow-flower taro—another variety of wild taro.
Only, this kind could be eaten directly once washed, with a crisp and sweet taste. Down in the village, people often used them to pickle side dishes.
Holding a flower bud, Zhou Yang climbed the dirt slope and looked around. He swallowed hard, his face full of pleasant surprise.
Within a radius of several dozen meters, countless Jerusalem artichokes swayed in the wind. Judging by the quantity, gathering two or three baskets of them would be no problem at all.
Who would have thought his luck would be this good right after rebirth, finding such a large patch of yellow-flower taro?
It seemed his mountain foraging skills hadn't grown rusty yet.
[Congratulations to the host for gathering Jerusalem artichokes, points +2]
[Congratulations to the host for gathering single-leaf Bletilla, points +1]
With a grinning smile, Zhou Yang didn't say another word. He put on his gloves and started digging into the soil.
He planned to harvest a basket first, leave a marker before heading back, and make a few more trips... Though it wouldn't fill your stomach for long, in these destitute times, it would be enough to keep his family from starving for a few days.
However, before he could dig out more than a few roots, the thickest part of the flower patch began to sway strangely, as if something was flattening it.
Seeing this, Zhou Yang's heart sank. He hurriedly crouched down, holding his breath to listen.
Within seconds, his expression turned utterly grim.
The swaying of the flower patch grew increasingly violent, accompanied by low grunts and heavy footsteps. Any mountain forager would recognize that sound—it was a wild boar!
In the Northeast, there was an old saying among mountain foragers: "First the boar, second the bear, third the tiger," referring to the level of danger when encountering these creatures in the mountains.
In terms of combat capability, wild boars were clearly the weakest, but they happened to have the most vicious tempers. Basically, they would chase anyone they saw and wouldn't let go once they locked onto a target.
What made it deadly was that wild boars were extremely smart and held grudges. Thick-skinned and tough, the more injured they were, the fiercer they became. If you didn't kill it or shake it off and it followed you back to the village, within three days, the crops would be completely ruined. That made them notoriously troublesome, which was why they ranked first in the saying.
Fortunately, Zhou Yang had experienced the rain of bullets on the battlefield. Although his expression was grave, he wasn't about to be frightened out of his wits.
Hunching over, he drew his hunting knife while estimating the creature's size based on the flattened grass.
...An adult wild boar could weigh anywhere from two to three hundred catties, possessed immense strength, could easily snap bowl-thick ancient trees, and overturn rocks. It belonged to the category of large beasts and definitely couldn't be killed with just a bow and arrow.
Judging from the traces where it had rooted around, it probably hadn't fully matured yet—at most a hundred-plus catties. That meant he could figure something out.
He retreated cautiously, gripping the old hunting knife tightly in his hand, trying not to make a single sound while keeping his gaze locked on the direction of the flower patch.
Suddenly, the swaying of the flower patch paused.
Zhou Yang cursed inwardly, turned, and bolted behind a large tree.
Sure enough, the next moment, an immature wild boar burst out from the dense grass.
It looked about a meter and a half long, with exposed tusks, vicious eyes scanning its surroundings, and a rough, messy coat. The bristles along its back stood slightly on end, making it look exceptionally coarse and tough.
The beast locked eyes with the fleeing Zhou Yang instantly. Its thick, powerful limbs pawed at the ground, and with a roar, it charged straight at him like a small armored vehicle.
Just as the wild boar was only a few meters away, Zhou Yang suddenly flashed out from behind the tree and hurled the hunting knife in his hand straight at the boar's eyes.
Startled by the sudden attack, the wild boar instinctively tilted its head to dodge. The knife grazed past its ear, leaving a bloody scratch.
Taking advantage of the moment the wild boar was stunned, Zhou Yang didn't turn to create distance; instead, he dropped low and dashed forward to collide with it.
He knew he couldn't outrun a wild boar—if it were his previous life's physique, he might have had a chance to shake it off. The problem was, at this point in time, he was just a newcomer to the mountain foraging trade. His physique was far from robust, and he hadn't undergone the high-intensity training of his past life.
The only thing he could rely on was the combat experience and psychological resilience forged through countless brushes with death.
In front of him, the boar's furious, enraged roars and galloping hooves rapidly closed in.
The exact instant he was about to be pierced through the chest by those tusks, Zhou Yang rolled on the ground. Just as he narrowly avoided the charge, his thrown hunting knife was scooped back into his hand.
As for the wild boar, driven by its violent temper, every attack it launched was delivered with full force, leaving it no time to brake. It crashed heavily into a bowl-thick tree trunk opposite.
Bang!
The muffled, tremendous impact sounded like a car crash, and the wild boar was instantly dazed, collapsing onto the ground.
Having created a golden opportunity, Zhou Yang certainly wasn't going to let it slip away. Without a second thought, he rushed over in a few strides and threw himself onto the beast's back. Ignoring the stiff bristles that scraped his clothes and skin, he grabbed a firm hold with his left hand, raised the hunting knife in his right, and drove it with all his might straight into the wild boar's eye socket!