Chapter Nine: The Killer Bees

After seeing that thing, my steps instinctively retreated a few paces.

You have to understand, the wasps in this deep mountain forest... are the real, genuine killer wasps.

First of all, their venom is extremely potent.

According to what I once heard from the old hunters in the hunting grounds, one of them personally witnessed dozens of wasps stinging a cow. Within just half an hour, the cow was stung so severely that it lay on the ground gasping for breath, barely alive.

The old hunter also said these wasps love to build their nests on small hillsides. If a person passes by and accidentally steps on one, it’s like stepping on a landmine; swarms of wasps pour out, surround the person, and sting relentlessly. It wouldn’t take half an hour before the person would be dead.

Moreover, during my training, the veteran hunters who taught me once told me this:

In the forest, the danger ranking is often said to be: first wild boars, second bears, third tigers. That’s not entirely wrong!

But that ranking is too one-sided, because when hunting deep in the wilderness... the deadliest threats aren’t necessarily the fierce animals, but rather those things you don’t pay attention to—sometimes even tiny insects can take a person’s life.

In short, in the old forest, there’s only the unimaginable...

“Old Chen... Master Chen, what should we do?” I swallowed nervously and asked.

Master Chen frowned, thinking for a moment, then said to me, “Go around it!”

I was taken aback.

“Around it?”

“Mm!” Master Chen nodded firmly, then pointed to a nearby ravine and said, “See that ravine, Sanqi?”

I nodded. “Yes! That’s a wild boar trail!”

A wild boar trail is usually a path frequently traveled by wild boars. Lu Xun once said, in truth, there are no roads in the world; they become roads because people walk on them often. It’s the same for wild boars.

There was no wild boar trail at first; it became one because wild boars used it repeatedly.

“Following this ravine, we can probably get out of here!” Master Chen said slowly.

“Good!”

After more than ten minutes, Master Chen and I finally left this dangerous place by following the wild boar trail.

I breathed a long sigh of relief and said to Master Chen, “Damn, Master Chen, that was way too close! If we hadn’t found that wasp nest, we’d probably be dead!”

But Master Chen’s frown deepened even more than before.

I didn’t understand. We had just escaped danger, so why did Master Chen look even more troubled?

After walking for a few minutes, Master Chen sighed and told me, “Sanqi! It might be very difficult for us to get out! We have to prepare to spend the winter here in the mountains!”

Even though I had some mental preparation, hearing this still made me feel uneasy.

“Spend the winter in the Greater Khingan Mountains?”

“Yes! There are people outside surrounding us, and in this old forest, we’ll have to face unknown dangers and wild beast attacks. Sanqi... now you understand, right? Once you take the hunter’s path, there’s no turning back.”

Master Chen looked at me meaningfully and said this again.

I fell silent, offering no reply.

As we continued forward, I noticed giant trees everywhere—too big for a few people to hug. Underfoot was a slippery, sticky mixture of rotting leaves and animal droppings. Stepping on it felt like walking on cotton.

But as we went further, faint traces of snow began to appear here and there on the ground...

I exclaimed, “Master Chen, it’s already snowing here? It’s only September!”

Master Chen nodded heavily. “Mm! Sanqi, if we’re going to spend winter in the Greater Khingan, then the next half month is going to be busy. We need to store more than six months’ worth of food, and hunt for warm skins and fat... Only by doing this can we survive the coming icy winter.”

“Mm.” I nodded quietly, knowing the days ahead would be spent preparing alongside Master Chen.

After a while, I suddenly saw a clear stream rushing sharply right ahead of us.

Next to the stream was a house.

The house was old but sturdy, built from several giant trees.

Following Master Chen, we approached it. I noticed a wooden stick securing the door, and I quickly realized this must be the shelter Master Chen had mentioned before.

Master Chen stood at the door but didn’t open it immediately. Instead, he carefully inspected the surroundings before saying to me, “Sanqi, no one has been here for a long time.”

“Ah? Master Chen, how do you know?” I asked in surprise.

Master Chen pointed to the ground and explained, “Sanqi, look at the thick dust on the floor—it’s almost a centimeter thick. For dust to accumulate this thick, it means no one has come here for nearly a year.”

“I see,” I said, amazed.

Sometimes I had to admit that although I was sixteen and knew the ins and outs of Xiangshan and Yashan, and even had a deep understanding of human nature,

I was still too young back then.

What I lacked most was experience and endurance.

Even now, as I write this, I think: if Master Chen and the boss had died together in the Greater Khingan,

I alone... probably wouldn’t have survived a single day there.

...

Master Chen removed the wooden stick from the door and pushed it open.

The door creaked, and a cloud of dust burst out from inside...

As the dust cleared, I saw the true state of the room.

It was not small.

Inside stood a stove, a table, two beds, and everything necessary; on the walls hung rows of cured meats, sausages, rice, flour, and so on.

Seeing all this food, I swallowed nervously.

“Master Chen... so much food! This should be enough for us to survive the winter, right?”

Hearing my words, Master Chen said coldly, “Sanqi, have you forgotten? This food isn’t ours! Just in case, we should still go hunt some more!”

I nodded firmly.

After putting our things inside, Master Chen and I stepped out of the house. In the blink of an eye, I noticed several colorful wild pheasants beneath the distant shrubs.

I couldn’t help but think—these wild pheasants in the mountains are quite bold. I was only three or four meters away, yet they weren’t afraid at all, just standing there watching me.

I laughed.

I patted the large cold bow slung over my shoulder, then raised my bow and aimed at the pheasants...

Suddenly,

Master Chen’s hand rested lightly on my bow, whispering, “Sanqi, wait a moment!”