Having been to the valley where wild goats were hunted twice before, Chen Lan took the same familiar path this time, navigating swiftly through the mountain forest.
Walking alone in the quiet mountain woods, one could faintly hear the chirping of insects and birds. His feet trod on the dappled shadows cast by fallen leaves, and the crisp autumn wind carried the unique fragrance of the trees.
Mushrooms grew everywhere among the trees, and fallen autumn leaves, turned to mud, piled up like a thick carpet. Chen Lan felt as if he were walking on clouds.
With time being tight, he had no leisure to appreciate the magnificent beauty and splendid scenery of the mountains, nor to pay attention to the pheasants and rabbits darting past him.
He hurried along and soon emerged from the dense forest. Standing on a high peak, he gazed at the golden birch forest in the distance, the dark green pine forest before him, and the fiery red maple forest at the bottom of the valley. The sun shone directly overhead, brilliantly dazzling.
He then looked at the valley floor scattered with red leaves, the colorful mountains, and the vibrant autumn foliage – quiet yet so resplendent.
The autumn of Changbai Mountain was like a palette overturned by a child, colorful, dazzling, and radiant.
Having no time to linger over this magnificent autumn, he slowly approached the valley, carefully searching for traces of wild goats. The valley was silent, as if he could hear the sound of leaves falling in the wind.
At this point, Chen Lan no longer insisted on hunting wild goats. He felt that hunting other animals would also be acceptable, otherwise, his arduous journey would have been in vain.
He opened the system with his mind to search for animals within a 500-meter radius. The system screen showed no reaction.
Chen Lan, unwilling to give up, continued to walk slowly forward. He had a feeling that such a large valley couldn't possibly be devoid of other animals besides wild goats.
He cautiously moved forward while continuing to scan the screen. Unsure of the situation, he didn't dare to descend into the valley rashly. He could only walk along the edge of the valley in the mountain forest, searching. After circling the valley for about half an hour, twenty or so small red dots appeared on the system screen. Chen Lan immediately became excited, secretly glad that his persistence had paid off, and that the time for harvest had finally arrived.
Watching the system screen guide him closer to the targets, he stopped about sixty meters from the maximum range of his crossbow, concealing himself behind a large tree.
He cautiously peeked towards the targets and couldn't help but gasp.
"My heavens! Oh, mother dear!" Chen Lan was so excited he almost blurted it out, but managed to suppress it. He let out three silent "Hahahas" in his heart and once again felt a sense of relief for his perseverance.
After the relief, he inevitably became a little nervous, a mixture of excitement and apprehension filling his chest.
He nervously thought, "I've actually encountered a herd of wild boars. I wonder if this is good luck or bad luck."
"It makes sense. It's not even October yet, and wild goats wouldn't migrate for no reason this early. It turns out this valley is occupied by this herd of wild boars."
Despite his worries and nervousness, he couldn't help but feel fortunate for his persistence.
While he was glad to have found the wild boar herd, he couldn't let his guard down. Wild boars are very ferocious animals. They have long, stiff bristles on their backs, and male wild boars also have long tusks.
In his previous life, wild boars were protected animals, and killing one would result in a prison sentence.
However, he had also seen videos of wild boars attacking humans. Despite appearing to weigh only two to three hundred pounds, their actual combat power was astonishing.
They possessed speed, strength, and endurance. Their massive heads could root through the earth like bulldozers, and they ran at great speeds. If unfortunate enough to be hit by a running wild boar, one could suffer hospitalization for injuries, or even death on the spot.
Moreover, they had long tusks, six to seven centimeters long, which were as formidable as daggers for defense.
In the Changbai Mountain region, there's a saying: "One boar, two bears, three tigers," to emphasize the formidable combat prowess of wild boars.
Chen Lan wasted no time. He immediately took out his crossbow and six carbon steel arrows from the system's inventory, nocked the arrows, steadied his mind, adjusted the scope, and scanned the target prey, his eyes fixed on them, ready to strike. Chen Lan planned to use two carbon steel arrows per wild boar.
Whether from excitement or from nervousness and fear, Chen Lan's hands began to tremble slightly. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and through constant inhalation and exhalation, he gradually regained his composure, and began to mentally prepare himself.
Thinking very cautiously and considering all possibilities, Chen Lan decided to adjust his strategy. He fixed his crossbow onto a branch of the tree he was hiding behind, adjusted the scope, and aimed at the prey's head.
He then purchased a more powerful and lethal crossbow from the system, said to be capable of shattering a prey's skull from a hundred meters away.
He assembled the new weapon according to the system's visual assembly diagram. He also fixed it onto a tree branch and nocked six carbon steel arrows. This crossbow did not require manual adjustment of the scope; it had an infrared target acquisition function.
With everything prepared, he stared into the scope, his fingers on both trigger buttons. As the target prey entered range, he pressed both buttons simultaneously.
The resounding thuds of wild boars falling and their heart-wrenching cries echoed through the valley.
Chen Lan remained hidden behind the tree, motionless, waiting. After the wild boars' cries continued for half an hour, the sounds gradually diminished. Another half hour passed, and the valley became utterly silent, returning to its original state.
Chen Lan peeked his head from behind the tree and looked towards the valley. Several wild boars lay on the ground, their condition unclear. He hesitated whether to descend into the valley to investigate.
Chen Lan slapped his head, mentally chiding himself. Why did he forget his golden finger when he was nervous? He immediately purchased a pair of binoculars from the system.
He took out the binoculars from the system's inventory and looked towards the valley. He saw six wild boars lying scattered on the ground, their numbers reduced, while the others had already fled.
Using the binoculars, he examined each fallen boar. They were all lying motionless on the ground, blood pooling around them. Twelve carbon steel arrows were firmly embedded in the skulls and throats of the six wild boars.
The wild boars were approximately one point five to two meters long, with dark brown fur. Their bodies were robust, with thick, relatively short limbs.
Their heads were relatively long, their ears small and erect.
After observing for a while, seeing that the fallen wild boars remained motionless, Chen Lan unhooked the two crossbows from the branches, put the old crossbow back into the system's inventory, and, holding the new crossbow, resolutely emerged from behind the tree and walked towards the valley below.