Chapter 67: You must be the Mountain God’s real son, right?

Chapter 67: You must be the son of the Mountain God, right? [5000 words]

Even though Lin Heng didn’t deliberately show off, he still encountered quite a few people along the way.

Coming from Tongshu Gorge, not far ahead, Xiong Ba called out again.

“Lin Heng, did you catch… a roe deer?”

Not far away, the old man Tian Baishun, who had been out hunting early, was about to greet Lin Heng when he suddenly saw the yellow roe deer in his basket. He froze, his voice rising several decibels.

“Did I get startled? Or am I hallucinating?”

Tian Baishun pinched himself, unable to believe that Lin Heng, this young man, could hunt such a big roe deer.

“It’s normal for the air force veterans to hallucinate,” Lin Heng said with a chuckle, not even responding as he quickly walked by with Xiulan.

Tian Baishun: “…”

Although he didn’t know what “air force veteran” meant, the tone clearly indicated Lin Heng was mocking him.

“Wait, where did you hunt this?” Tian Baishun swallowed his anger and hurriedly ran after him, eager to know. It was really difficult to find game in the summer.

“In the mountains, where else? You, the old hunter, should know where to find them,” Lin Heng said without turning his head.

Tian Baishun: “…”

“Tell me, I’ll bring you a woodcock as a reward,” he said, swallowing his pride.

He was genuinely curious and regretted looking down on Lin Heng and teasing him earlier.

He had initially underestimated Lin Heng’s hunting skills, thinking he took it lightly. Now it seemed like he was the joke, while Lin Heng’s skills were impressive.

In just half a month, he’d caught a badger and a roe deer—who could compare?

Tian Baishun glanced at Lin Heng and turned to follow him, eager to know where he hunted the roe deer.

He asked along the way, but Lin Heng didn’t reveal anything. Tian Baishun didn’t have the courage to keep pestering him, so he just followed with a smile.

At first, many people were busy working in the fields and didn’t notice Lin Heng, but once he stirred things up, everyone knew.

Uncle Wang, who was removing peanut grass in the field, heard the noise, stood up, and was stunned when he looked over. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“A roe deer this big?”

He murmured, unable to believe it.

Walking through the bamboo forest, Lin Heng saw Yang Zhaotao setting up a trap. He smiled and called out, “Got any game?”

Yang Zhaotao had deliberately placed the wooden stump far away to challenge him, and Lin Heng hadn’t forgotten that.

Seeing Lin Heng, Yang Zhaotao smiled and showed him a bamboo rat, saying, “Look, not bad, about a kilogram or two.”

“That’s pretty good,” Lin Heng grinned. “I also got one, not too big, maybe forty or fifty kilograms.”

As he spoke, he shifted aside and revealed the yellow roe deer.

Yang Zhaotao’s smile instantly froze. His eyes widened in shock, and disbelief spread across his face. Then it turned to jealousy and admiration, and he forced a smile, saying, “Impressive, where did you get it? Must be forty or fifty kilograms, right?”

He was uncomfortable, feeling like he’d caught a three-kilogram carp and was proudly showing it off, only for someone else to come along with a ten-kilogram grass carp. His smile instantly disappeared.

But his smile didn’t vanish entirely; it shifted to Lin Heng’s face as he glanced at the following Tian Baishun and shyly smiled, “I caught it last night in the mountains.”

After that, he quickly walked away with Xiulan, feeling relieved.

Yang Zhaotao had lost interest in setting traps and followed Lin Heng, wanting to see him process the roe deer.

By the time Lin Heng returned home, four or five people had followed him, all eager to see him butcher the deer.

If they couldn’t catch anything themselves, they might as well watch and satisfy their curiosity.

It was like fishing enthusiasts who couldn’t catch fish but would still watch fishing videos for the vicarious thrill.

Lin Heng’s father, Lin Xu’an, and older brother, Lin Yue, were outside laying drainage pipes for the new house when they suddenly saw a group of people coming down from the back mountain.

“It’s Lin Heng and Xiulan!” Lin Yue’s sharp eyes recognized them from a distance.

Lin Xu’an was worried and confused. “Why are so many people following them? Did something happen?”

After all, the two of them hadn’t returned the previous night, which had caused concern.

“Let’s go help. It should be fine. They’re just walking,” Lin Yue speculated.

Father and son immediately put down their hoes and walked over to greet them.

“Lin Heng, you didn’t come back last night, is everything okay?” Lin Xu’an quickly asked when he reached Lin Heng.

“Congratulations, Lin Xu’an, your son is quite the guy. Your family is about to get rich today,” Tian Baishun interrupted, saying before Lin Heng could speak.

“Huh? What happened? Did he catch something?” Lin Xu’an was stunned.

“Or did he find something valuable?” Lin Yue also widened his eyes.

“It’s a roe deer, about forty or fifty kilograms. Hurry up and take it, I can’t carry it anymore.” Lin Heng turned to his father and gestured for him to take the basket.

“Forty or fifty kilograms?!”

“That’s huge!!”

Both of them were stunned. They looked at the yellow roe deer in the basket, feeling like they were dreaming and completely forgot to take the basket.

“Dad!” Lin Heng called again.

“Oh, oh, let go.”

Lin Xu’an snapped back to reality and, after taking the roe deer, couldn’t stop smiling.

“Xiulan, give me your basket,” Lin Yue said, his heart racing. His younger brother was too impressive—forty or fifty kilograms of roe deer!

“No need,” Xiulan shook her head. She didn’t want Tian Baishun and the others to see the old turtle and ganoderma in her basket. While the roe deer couldn’t be hidden, these items were something she preferred to keep out of sight.

So along the way, she had barely said a word, and everyone was so focused on the roe deer that they didn’t even notice the contents of her basket, which were just as valuable.

“Okay.”

Lin Yue didn’t insist.

Lin Xu’an carried the roe deer, and the group made their way to the old Lin family courtyard.

“What’s going on?”

At this time, Lin Heng’s maternal uncle was helping with making benches in the courtyard. When he saw so many people, he curiously stood up.

“A roe deer! Lin Heng caught it?”

Before anyone could speak, Uncle Lu Honghai noticed and exclaimed.

“Haha, yes. I was just out picking mushrooms and got lucky hearing its call,” Lin Heng said with a shy smile.

Then he took Xiulan inside: “I’ll weigh it.”

Once inside, he placed the basket in the bedroom, a place where outsiders couldn’t enter.

“You rest, I’ll wait until they’re gone and then take it out,” Lin Heng said to his wife.

“You go ahead, I’ll change clothes,” Xiulan nodded. She wasn’t the type to show off.

Lin Heng took a rod scale and went back outside. Seeing him, Cai Yun’s eyes widened. “Second Brother, you’re amazing, you actually caught such a big roe deer!”

She had only heard of the hunters in the village catching game before and was always envious, but now, it had happened in her own family.

Not just her, the whole Lin family felt the same.

“Impressive!” Liang the carpenter gave Lin Heng a thumbs-up. He was thoroughly impressed with this young man’s hunting skills.

“It’s just luck,” Lin Heng humbly replied.

These words made Tian Baishun and the others uncomfortable. They even felt like giving Lin Heng a piece of their mind: “This kid has such good luck every day, huh?”

“Let’s weigh it.”

Lin Heng hooked the hind legs of the roe deer, and together with his father, they lifted it onto the scale.

“25, 26, 27 kilograms, fifty-four pounds. Not bad.”

Lin Heng grinned, showing a row of white teeth.

Lin Xu’an was also thrilled, patting Lin Heng on the shoulder: “Impressive.”

“Dad, hurry up and process it. Otherwise, it’ll spoil. I shot it around 8 p.m. last night.”

Lin Heng said, smiling as he saw the satisfied expression on his father’s face.

“Alright, sit down and rest. Your brother and I will take care of it,” Lin Xu’an nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, we’ll handle it. Just watch, we’ll make sure to skin it properly,” Lin Yue said, nodding earnestly, feeling proud of his younger brother. Now he no longer had to worry about Lin Heng and Xiulan struggling after the family division.

Lin Heng sat down to drink tea. Tian Baishun and the others also sat down. Since they weren’t leaving, he couldn’t ask them to go either.

“You didn’t say where you caught it, but how did you hunt it? Can you at least share that?” Tian Baishun asked, looking at Lin Heng.

“Yeah, tell us,” the others chimed in eagerly. They were very interested.

“Nothing special to say…”

Lin Heng briefly described what happened. This time, he didn’t embellish it much, as there was no need.

Tian Baishun, being an experienced hunter, could tell that Lin Heng wasn’t lying. He sighed and said, “You really have the skills. If you hadn’t been on guard, I’d say the roe deer would’ve run away for sure.”

“Yeah, when hunting roe deer, it’s best to stay in place or approach from downwind,” Uncle Lu Honghai nodded, acknowledging Lin Heng’s technique.

Then he turned to him: “Looks like we can catch something in the next few days. Let’s go hunting together soon.”

“Sure, when I have the time,” Lin Heng replied, not wanting to turn down his uncle’s second invitation.

“Take me along too. We can look out for each other,” Tian Baishun quickly added.

In his eyes, Lin Heng was still in the ‘beginner’s luck’ phase, so if he went with him, they might hit a big jackpot.

“Alright, but Tian old man, don’t do any tricks again,” Lin Heng warned him.

“You’re insulting me. I already said it was a misfire that day,” the old man refused to admit it, his face thick-skinned.

And then everyone started chatting. Tian Baishun, the biggest talker, spent the next while boasting about his various adventures in the mountains. It was one of his favorite pastimes.

As they chatted, Lin Xu’an and Lin Yue continued to process the roe deer.

With their expertise, they quickly skinned the deer, and soon had a hide larger than a square meter.

“This hide is beautiful. We could easily sell it for 120 yuan,” Lin Yue said, continuing to remove the bits of meat from the hide.

“You’re right. The hides from animals killed with bows and arrows are much nicer,” Tian Baishun said as he walked over and stroked the hide.

It was smooth and soft, with only a small hole from an arrow. There was almost no damage.

In contrast, the hides of animals shot with guns often had numerous wounds and burn marks from the powder, which lowered their value.

But hides from bow-killed game were perfect, and even the old man started thinking about buying a bow.

“120 yuan, that’s enough to last me a year,” Yang Zhaotao commented, feeling envious. Why couldn’t he have such luck?

“Why are so many people here?” At that moment, Lin Heng’s mother and sister-in-law Liu Juan returned from the fields, surprised to see so many people at their house.

When they looked again, they were stunned.

“This roe deer is huge, isn’t it? Fifty-four pounds!” Lin Xu’an grinned.

“Did Lin Heng catch it?” Lin Heng’s mother widened her eyes. Did hunting get easier? Why had Lin Heng been so successful lately?

“Of course, otherwise why would it be here?” Lin Heng replied with a smile.

His mother looked at him deeply, only saying two words: “Impressive!”

“How long will this last?” Liu Juan asked after staring at the roe deer for a while.

She was now thinking about how to avoid the family division.

Although they wouldn’t be dividing the family, the skins and furs still belonged to Lin Heng, as the Lin family always followed the rule that whatever someone acquired was theirs.

But at least they could eat meat every day. If the family were divided, they couldn’t just go to each other’s homes to eat and drink, right?

The deer skin was finished being stripped, and Lin Father began to process the internal organs. Everything had stayed fresh through the night.

He left the lungs for Xiong Ba, and processed the rest.

“Sell me the liver of the deer; I love eating that,” said Old Man Tian, eyeing the deer liver.

“Sure, three yuan,” Lin Heng chuckled.

“You’re robbing me! The most I’d pay is one and a half yuan,” Tian Baishun exclaimed, thinking the boy was really gouging him.

“Just kidding, I’m not selling it. My dad likes it, so I’m saving it for him,” Lin Heng chuckled again.

After taking a sip of water, Lin Heng added, “We can sell ten jin of the meat, pig meat costs seventy cents per jin, and deer meat isn’t much more, just one yuan per jin.”

There was so much meat, even after removing the internal organs, skin, and head, there would still be over thirty jin.

“Then I’ll buy one jin to try it,” said Old Man Tian.

The others didn’t dare to say anything. If they had money, they wouldn’t be eating meat only once a month. They could only watch hungrily.

“I’m done. We still have to clear the peanut grass,” Yang Zhaotao found an excuse to leave, fearing that if he stayed any longer, he’d rush over to start eating.

The others also got up and left. After exiting the door, they were envious of Lin Heng and Old Man Tian—one had meat, the other had money, both could afford to eat meat.

“What are you talking about? Old Tian, where did your meat come from?” Li Ping and Lin Xuping, returning from the fields with hoes in hand, curiously asked the group walking towards them.

“Congratulations to you all, Lin Heng hunted a 50-plus jin yellow deer. It’s really good luck. You’ll definitely get a share of the meat,” Yang Zhaotao said with a smile, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“What? A 50-plus jin big deer?” Li Ping opened her mouth wide.

“Is that for real?” Lin Xuping also didn’t believe it. Could their lazy nephew really be so skilled?

A few days ago, they had been asking around about the badger, but there had been no news, so they still couldn’t believe that Lin Heng had hunted it.

Now, they were suddenly hearing that he had killed a 50-jin deer?

Seeing their expressions, Tian Baishun waved the meat in his hand and laughed, “How could it be fake? I just bought it myself. It’s all lean meat, no doubt it’s deer.”

Looking at their faces, the others started to feel better, realizing there were people more shocked than themselves.

That day, Lin Heng’s uncle and aunt didn’t know how they got back home. The next week, they were both in a daze.

…

In the Lin family yard, the family was looking at the bright red, almost fatless deer meat, unsure of what to think.

“Can we eat it all at once for lunch, second brother?” Caiyun asked, drooling over the deer meat.

“We can eat all we want. Let’s stir-fry a big bowl, it’ll taste great,” Lin Heng smiled.

Lin Mother looked at the meat and spoke, “Cut two or three jin of meat and send it to your third uncle and little uncle, as a token of labor.”

“Good idea, let’s salt it first and send it tomorrow,” Lin Heng agreed. After all, they couldn’t finish it all. The lean deer meat wouldn’t keep well, and making it into cured meat wouldn’t taste great either.

After speaking, Lin Heng went over to lock the yard door.

“What are you doing?” his sister-in-law, Liu Juan, asked, confused.

“Xiulan, bring out what’s in the basket,” Lin Heng called. Liang Mujiang had already gone to work in the new house, so it was just the Lin family and his uncle here.

“Something else?” Everyone was shocked.

“What else is there? You’re locking the door and hiding things? What’s going on?” Lin Mother didn’t understand.

“You’ll know in a minute,” Lin Heng said, bringing over two bamboo mats.

Xiulan took out the basket, and everyone curiously watched.

As Xiulan began laying out the mushrooms to dry, Liu Juan looked confused. “Just some mushrooms… Red Ganoderma, so much Red Ganoderma!”

Before she could finish her sentence, as the deep red color became visible, her mouth slowly dropped open.

“Good heavens! I knew it! You must have worshipped the Mountain God this time!” Lin Father sighed, amazed.

“Did you go to stock up?” Lin Mother was also shocked. Not to mention the mushrooms, just the ganoderma alone weighed over a jin and could be sold for forty to fifty yuan dried.

Lin Heng grinned, “That’s nothing. Look at this.”

Lin Heng casually tossed the weasel aside, then brought out a large turtle he had hidden.

“Damn, such a big old turtle!”

Forget the words, everyone’s jaws were practically on the floor.

“You didn’t just worship the Mountain God, you’re his real son!” Lin Heng’s usually calm uncle couldn’t hold it back.

“No wonder you locked the door. It had to be locked!” Lin Mother didn’t know what to say. They went up the mountain once and made two or three hundred yuan. Is it really this easy to make money?

“Hehe, it’s really just good luck,” Lin Heng grinned. The deer was pure luck, but the ganoderma came from Xiong Ba’s hidden abilities.

As for the old turtle, he had planned for it. When he caught the stream stonefish, he suspected there might be an old turtle there, and night was the perfect time for turtle hunting.

Overall, it was still thanks to Xiong Ba finding the mountain treasures. No wonder the old hunter from his past life had gotten rich using Xiong Ba.

However, he and Xiulan had decided to keep this a secret. If everyone knew how powerful Xiong Ba was, what would happen if they kept borrowing him?

Actually, borrowing a dog wasn’t a big deal—it was all family—but too many people talking might cause jealousy, and someone might poison Xiong Ba. That would be the end.

Or, if other relatives found out and came to borrow the dog, would they say yes or no?

So they decided to keep it hidden for now.

Liu Juan was a little at a loss. This family was really starting to feel like they didn’t want to divide anymore.

Caiyun, holding Xiaoxia, watched from the side. When Second Brother said he’d make a lot of money and send her to school, she hadn’t believed it, but now she did. Second Brother’s skills were amazing.

Xiulan happily spread the mushrooms to dry. She was enjoying her life more and more with Lin Heng.

Lin Heng put the turtle into a wooden barrel, then went out to find Liang Mujiang. He needed to make a flowerpot and plant the pine tree he had dug up.

(End of Chapter)