Chapter 106: A Mountain of Obstacles, Waterways, and No Clear Path Ahead?

“There are still three wild ducks; that’s indeed a good catch.”

Lin Yue nodded while looking at the three ducks, but he wasn’t too impressed.

At first, he had hoped that Lin Heng had found ironstone dendrobium or ginseng.

“You guys don’t know, these shiitake mushrooms were all found on one tree.”

Lin Heng explained to the two, feeling speechless. If there were pictures, they would surely say it was impossible.

“They were all picked from one fallen tree,” Lin Wei gestured excitedly.

“Wow, that’s impressive! I’ve never encountered something like this. I thought it was from several trees,” Lin Yue nodded in agreement.

Lin Father smiled and said, “No matter how you look at it, it’s better than what we found.”

“I collected two big bags of herbs like king’s sedge, astragalus, and epimedium, but they’re not worth much. Together, they’re probably about the same value as this bag of mushrooms.”

“Looks like today’s haul wasn’t great after all,” Lin Heng chuckled, pointing at the pot of boiling water. “Let’s have duck soup. The water’s already boiling.”

He moved the pot aside and without adding more water, dropped the ducks directly into the soup.

After the soup was ready, the three of them each started plucking the duck feathers.

“We still have rabbit meat, but there’s no way we can finish it all. What do we do?”

Lin Father said as he plucked the feathers, then added with a laugh, “Never thought we’d be worried about not finishing the meat!”

Lin Yue smiled and said, “If we force ourselves, we could finish it. Lin Wei can probably eat a whole duck on his own. But it’s better to keep it for tomorrow. If we don’t find anything tomorrow, at least we’ll have food.”

“Let’s make beggar’s duck, seal it in mud, and it’ll last for two or three days even in summer.”

Lin Heng nodded, agreeing with the idea. The stream’s water temperature in summer is about 17-18°C, so it’s not as cold as melting mountain water and wouldn’t spoil quickly.

By putting it in water for a day and night, it would be fine. But the beggar’s duck, with the mud protecting it, could stay good for two or three days. Occasionally heating it near a fire could even keep it fresh for five days.

“But we can’t just make beggar’s duck. Wild duck meat is too greasy; we need to roast some of the fat out first before wrapping it in mud,” Lin Heng added.

Having gone through the food explosion era, Lin Heng surely knows more about how to enjoy food than people from the 1980s.

Lin Father said, “Then let’s kill the ducks, soak them in water, and roast them tomorrow afternoon. We’re too tired today to do more.”

“Alright.”

After a discussion, they decided to roast the ducks tomorrow afternoon.

The ducks were plucked, their innards removed and lightly prepared for Xiong Ba to cook later.

Lin Heng and his elder brother carried the ducks to the stream.

Lin Yue, seeing the fishing traps set up in the water, laughed, saying, “There are even mandarin fish here! You set up the traps and caught a few. We saw them when we came back.”

“We can catch some tomorrow and make fish soup noodles,” Lin Heng said, smiling.

After checking the fish, he took the rabbit meat out, placed the ducks in the water, and pressed them down with stones.

Since they had brought oil, salt, garlic chives, chili, and other ingredients, they didn’t need to roast the rabbit meat. They sliced it and stir-fried it, then made some rice, and it tasted delicious.

Before long, dinner was ready, and the four sat together, eating while drinking yellow wine.

Above, the sky was filled with countless stars, below, the stream murmured, and the sounds of insects chirping filled the air. The four chatted and laughed.

For Lin Heng, no matter how beautiful the outside world was, nothing compared to enjoying a drink with his family in this deep mountain forest.

The simple life, like picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and peacefully seeing the southern mountains, was the happiest kind of life.

Those with meat ate, those without had rice, caring for each other, loving each other—that was enough.

After the meal, the four were a bit tipsy. They had planned to gaze at the stars, but the mosquitoes were relentless, so they quickly put out the fire and went to rest.

At this moment, Lin Heng longed for Baishi Beach. During the day, it was unbearably hot, but at night, it was open and mosquito-free, a perfect place to watch the stars.

With Lin Father’s rearrangement, the hammock was much more comfortable to sleep in, and without any mosquitoes, they slept soundly.

The next morning, Lin Heng and the others woke up early. They didn’t have breakfast but headed straight for the Three-Fork Canyon to see if there was any game caught in their traps.

As for Lin Wei, he stayed in bed, too weak and sore to get up.

“Little brother, do you think we’ll catch any wild boars or roe deer today?”

Lin Yue was very excited as they walked.

“Big brother, don’t expect too much. It’s just the first day of setting the traps,” Lin Heng said with a wry smile. His big brother was overly confident; he was the same way when he first started.

“Yeah, the density of wild game is low. Sometimes, we don’t catch anything for half a month,” Lin Father was more realistic about these things.

Lin Yue remained hopeful, “Maybe we’ll be lucky.”

The three of them, along with their dog, chatted and laughed as they entered the canyon. Sure enough, most of the traps were empty.

After walking further, they found a few rats, but the next set of traps was still empty.

“This is so strange! The tracks on the ground are clearly recent, yet these guys are not falling for it,” Lin Yue said, frustrated.

Lin Heng looked at the rats in his hands and smiled, “This is actually pretty good. I didn’t even catch any rats before. Let’s check the fish hooks; maybe there’ll be something there.”

When they reached the pond, each of them checked their fish hooks.

“I have one! A huge catfish!”

Lin Heng pulled up a big catfish, over 20 centimeters long and weighing around four to five pounds.

Another splash of water, and Lin Father shouted, “Hehe, I have one too, smaller, about two pounds.”

“I’m done. Not only did I lose the fish, but the hook’s gone too! What kind of fish was that?”

Lin Heng stared at the half-drawn nylon line, regretting not coming earlier. He probably could have caught it yesterday afternoon.

“I think the one that got away was at least ten pounds. It couldn’t have snapped the nylon line otherwise,” Lin Heng sighed, preparing to re-set the hooks.

“Ha-ha, maybe it was twenty pounds!”

Lin Heng’s father and elder brother insisted it was a ten-pound fish, naïve in their excitement, unaware of how fishing works.

“What should we do with the fish? Should we kill it now?” Lin Yue asked, holding the large catfish.

“Take it back and keep it alive. Catfish won’t die easily,” Lin Heng said.

Catfish have a unique gill structure that allows them to absorb oxygen from the air, so they won’t die without water for a short time.

“Well, I thought we’d at least catch a badger or something,” Lin Yue shook his head in disappointment on the way back.

“It’s fine; at least we got some fish,” Lin Heng thought it was a good catch.

Back near camp, Lin Heng checked his traps for wild chickens but found them empty.

“Wow, two big fish!” Lin Wei exclaimed.

“Quick, let’s put them in the pond to keep them alive,” Lin Father said.

Lin Yue prepared to throw the fish into the trap.

“Don’t do that! If you put them in the trap, they might escape and eat smaller fish,” Lin Heng quickly stopped him.

He found a patch of sandy land by the stream, dug a large hole, and placed the catfish inside. The fish was still lively, showing no signs of distress.

“Let’s cook now,” Lin Father sighed and began to prepare the fire.

“I’ll make the roasted duck,” Lin Heng said.

He picked up a bamboo stick from the stream, cut a section to serve as the axle, and carved eight holes around it. Then he inserted thirty-centimeter wooden pieces, creating a simple waterwheel.

Using two forks as supports, he placed the waterwheel on the riverbank. As the water flowed, the wheel turned, rotating the axle.

Lin Heng tied a duck to the axle, and an automatic duck-roasting device was complete.

“You’re amazing, uncle!” Lin Yue expressed his admiration, amazed at how many ingenious ideas Lin Heng had. So many things he couldn’t even imagine.

“Read more books,” Lin Heng smiled, tied up the duck, and started a large fire beside it.

Once the fire had burned down to coals, he placed the waterwheel on it, starting to roast the duck.

“This is beautiful. It roasts automatically without needing to flip it. Even when we leave, it’s fine,” Lin Father also gave a thumbs up, impressed by Lin Heng’s laziness in creating such a clever device.

Lin Heng smiled. Compared to the waterwheels he had seen in “The Art of Machinery,” this one was much simpler. That waterwheel could move water and thresh grain. He had to build a beautiful and practical one on Red Maple Mountain.

After finishing, Lin Heng and his elder brother cut a few trees by the stream, allowing sunlight to shine in and drying the mushrooms and herbs they had collected yesterday.

“The noodles are ready, come eat, or they’ll get mushy.”

Lin Father called as he finished cooking.

After serving some noodles, they added garlic, chili, salt, and a little vinegar before eating. It wasn’t the best-tasting meal, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.

After dinner, Lin Father and Lin Yue went upstream to collect herbs, while Lin Heng went to the forest where the musk deer had been spotted.

Lin Wei stayed behind to tend the duck, keeping the fire going and ensuring it didn’t go out or start a forest fire.

Looking at the traps, Lin Heng felt a little helpless, with a bad premonition that they might face a long period of empty traps ahead.

After inspecting the rope trap in the Lin Musk area, Lin Heng didn’t catch a single mouse.

There were no fresh animal tracks on the ground either. Helpless, he had no choice but to return with Xiong Ba.

But a fisherman never returns empty-handed. Along the way, he picked some paulownia leaves and harvested some still-green wild pepper vines.

By the time he got back to the camp, it wasn’t even noon yet. Lin Wei had already roasted the largest duck. The golden-brown skin looked incredibly appetizing.

“You mix some mud, and I’ll make Beggar’s Chicken,” Lin Heng said, sprinkling some salt on the duck, stuffing the belly with wild pepper, and wrapping it in paulownia leaves before coating it with mud.

“Let’s just keep roasting these two; no need to make Beggar’s Chicken,” Lin Heng told Lin Wei.

“Why, Uncle?” Lin Wei looked up at him.

“…Because we probably won’t have any more catches this afternoon.”

With a basket on his back, Lin Heng went upstream to check the traps he had set the night before. As expected, there was nothing.

However, he didn’t feel discouraged; it was just how things went with newly set traps.

He continued ahead, entering the forest, hoping to find some Lingzhi mushrooms. He occasionally spotted one, but didn’t find them in clusters like before.

After walking another five kilometers from where he had picked the shiitake mushrooms yesterday, Lin Heng found nothing. The path had become more difficult to navigate with sharp stones and thorns.

Crossing over to the other side of the stream, he retraced his steps while searching for animal tracks and setting some “Yama” traps.

By the time he returned to the camp, it was already dusk. Lin Heng had caught eight green-spotted mice, making it clear that there hadn’t been much of a catch today.

“I can’t just give up, I need to keep looking,” Lin Heng thought, biting his lip. He set out again, returning when it was already dark, this time with a red-haired squirrel in hand.

“Did you all have any luck today?” Lin Heng asked with a bitter smile.

“Just some ordinary herbs, not much,” his father said with a smile. “I dug up about ten pounds of turmeric, but my things are worth only about three to four yuan.”

“I got lucky. I found ten pounds of Buddha’s hand ginseng, which should sell for more than ten yuan when dried,” Lin Yue said, smiling.

“I only found five Lingzhi mushrooms and a few other types of fungi,” Lin Heng said, shrugging.

They ate the roasted duck and drank some yellow wine that evening.

The next day, on their fourth day in the mountains, there were still no animals caught, just a one-kilogram catfish.

On the fifth day at the camp, it was another day without any significant catch. There were only three green-spotted mice, and the catfish was gone. They ate the last Beggar’s Chicken that night.

On the sixth day, they started eating vegetarian food. They hadn’t eaten the live catfish yet, saving it for the family back home.

By the seventh day, they were still without game, and had begun eating the stream fish and Qinling Salmon from the “Mesmerizing Trap.”

On the eighth day, light rain began to fall. Lin Heng lay in bed watching it, feeling numb. He wasn’t in the mood to check the traps today. Every time he went, there was nothing, and it was even more absurd than the time he went with Tian Baishun.

Lin Heng even wondered if it was because the day they left hadn’t been a good one.

“Maybe I should go back,” Lin Heng’s father said, looking at the sky.

“Dad, you’re giving up already? We’ll definitely catch something. Now that it’s rained, the chances are bigger. The animal scent will disappear, and they’ll surely come out,” Lin Heng hurriedly persuaded him.

His father shook his head. “I’m not giving up, but I plan to bring some things back. Even though we haven’t caught anything, we’ve dug up plenty of herbs, and dried ones will weigh fifty to sixty pounds. So I plan to head back, check on your mother, and see how the rice is doing. If there’s any pest damage, I’ll have to spray them.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Lin Yue quickly offered.

“No need. I can go alone; I’ve done it before. Don’t worry,” his father said, shaking his head.

Lin Heng shrugged. “Okay then.”

He knew his dad was thinking that with the rain, there were no herbs to dig, and he’d return to do other work at home.

They packed up everything, including the three catfish. Whether they would survive on the way back was left to fate.

Once everything was packed, Lin Heng’s father stood up and prepared to leave.

The three of them escorted him for a distance. His father waved and said, “Go back, and be careful.”

“Same to you. Watch out for snakes and insects,” Lin Heng and the others reminded him.

After turning back to the camp, Lin Yue smiled. “Let’s walk around the mountain.”

“Let’s go, I don’t feel like checking the traps anymore. Maybe it’s the constant checking that left our scent and scared the animals off,” Lin Heng agreed, thinking it was very likely.

“I’m coming too,” Lin Wei said, not wanting to stay bored in the shelter by himself.

After packing up, the three of them walked south along the mountain by the creek, the side where their shelter was located.

It was drizzling lightly, but they didn’t feel much in the forest. Lin Heng had set a small goal for the day: to find some Lingzhi mushrooms.

Lin Yue and he searched the forest together.

“Uncle, look at this strange tree, it only has a bit of bark left but it’s still alive,” Lin Wei said, pointing at a tree.

Lin Heng walked over and felt a bit happy.

It was a true cypress tree, growing on a rock with almost all of the tree’s bark gone. However, twenty centimeters above the ground, it had grown a branch with dense green ball-shaped cypress leaves.

The main trunk, as thick as a man’s arm, had rotted away, leaving only the hollow bark. It looked like a perfect bonsai material, needing no trimming to already exude a sense of “withering wood sprouting new life.”

“This is a good find, I’ll dig it up and compensate you later,” Lin Heng said with a smile. It was a pleasant surprise.

Lin Wei waved his hand, generously saying, “Uncle, it’s yours. I don’t like it.”

“Then thank you,” Lin Heng said, patting his nephew’s shoulder.

He used a stick to start digging it out from the rock, feeling that the roots of the cypress were sturdy and had an ancient feel to them. The marks on them seemed like imprints of time and disaster.

Despite everything, the tree continued to live on.

Within two minutes, he had dug it out and temporarily put it in his basket.

They kept searching, with Lingzhi still their main target. It wasn’t sunny, and without a watch, they couldn’t gauge the time.

After walking over two more hills, Lin Heng’s stomach started growling, and Lin Wei was also clearly hungry. They started eating the sour raspberries along the way.

“That’s enough, let’s head back,” Lin Heng said, patting his shoulder with a smile.

“Uncle, I’ve actually been hungry for a while,” Lin Wei complained.

Lin Heng was about to speak when a sudden flurry of sound came from above. They both looked up to see two red-crowned pheasants landing on the tree overhead.

“Shh!” Lin Heng motioned for quiet, slowly picking up his bow and arrow, feeling excited. Had his luck finally turned around after a week of misfortune?

Unfortunately, the two pheasants landed on different branches, making it impossible to shoot both at once. He had to choose the bigger one.

To avoid any complications, Lin Heng drew his bow and shot in one smooth motion.

“Whoosh!!”

The sound of the arrow slicing through the air was followed by the sharp sound of it piercing flesh.

With a thud, one of the pheasants flew away in fright, while the other fell halfway and got stuck in the branches.

“Great, we finally have meat today!!” Lin Wei exclaimed, jumping up excitedly.

“Yes, we finally have meat,” Lin Heng said with a smile. It had been days since they had anything besides stream fish.

He shook the tree a couple of times, but it was stuck. He climbed up and chopped off the branch.

“One kilogram,” Lin Heng chuckled. The pheasant was very plump.

“Uncle, I want the drumstick. Let’s each have one,” Lin Wei said, smiling as he patted the pheasant.

“Sure!!” Lin Heng replied, handing it over for him to carry.

They discussed how to cook it as they headed back.

Lin Wei thought roasting it would be best, but Lin Heng suggested making a hearty soup with the mushrooms and herbs they had, such as shiitake and yam.

“Wait, I found something good!” Lin Yue suddenly called out excitedly, running toward them.

(End of chapter)