Chapter 83: Dragon and Phoenix Soup and the Drink of the Starry Sky

“Thanks to you being nearby, or else I’d have been doomed here,” said Tian Baishun, grinning as he saw Lin Heng approach.

“You’re still able to smile at a time like this?” Lin Heng shook his head and tied the ‘pot vine’ he had just cut on the road to a tree, tossing it over.

He had only brought a short piece of rope, leaving the rest at the shelter, thinking he wouldn’t need it.

“That’s why I’m able to smile, old man. If it weren’t for you, I’d be crying instead,” Tian Baishun chuckled.

“You go ahead and loop it under your armpit, tie it up, and I’ll pull you out,” Lin Heng shook his head and said to the old man.

“Alright, just be careful not to step wrong,” Tian Baishun warned, taking the vine and looping it twice under his armpit before tightly gripping it.

“Pull hard!!”

Lin Heng shouted and yanked hard, while the old man also pulled with all his strength, but both underestimated the power of the swamp.

The old man didn’t budge, but Lin Heng was instead pulled toward the swamp.

“This won’t work. Wait, let me think of another way,” Lin Heng loosened the rope and shook his head.

Looking around, he spotted a willow tree nearby with a trunk as thick as a bowl. He took the rope from his basket, tied it to the vine to lengthen it, then wrapped it around the tree for leverage.

The willow acted like a fixed pulley, cutting the force required in half.

“Let’s try again. Put more strength into it!” Lin Heng moved his body around to loop the rope around his armpit a couple of times.

“One, two, three, pull hard!!”

With a loud command, Lin Heng stepped on the tree while pulling the rope, and finally, Tian Baishun started to move.

“One more time!!”

Lin Heng shouted again, giving it all he had.

“Ah!!”

Tian Baishun also pulled with all his might, and bit by bit, he was pulled out of the swamp.

“Phew, finally, I’m out!” Tian Baishun breathed deeply as most of his body emerged from the swamp.

“Wait a moment. Let me pull out this silly dog too. It didn’t bury itself deep.”

Tian Baishun reached out, grabbing the dog’s front legs and pulling it out with ease, as the dog was light and had a large surface area.

With one hand on the dog and the other gripping his shotgun, he called out to Lin Heng, “Pull again.”

Lin Heng gave it a hard pull, and once out of the swamp, it was easy to retrieve.

“How exactly did you fall in? Why didn’t you fire your gun as a signal?” Lin Heng asked curiously as he helped him back onto the shore.

“I saw a civet cat and wasn’t paying attention to my feet while chasing it. I fell in carelessly. After I fell, the gunpowder got wet and I couldn’t fire the gun,” Tian Baishun said, still shaken.

After finishing, he suddenly dropped to his knees, kowtowing to Lin Heng three times.

Lin Heng hurried to stop him, “What are you doing?”

“If you hadn’t come, I’d have died here. Kowtowing to you is the least I can do,” Tian Baishun said seriously.

“I’ll thank you properly when I return. I’ll visit your home with a gift and even go to the temple to set up a memorial tablet for you,” Tian Baishun added with deep sincerity.

Lin Heng helped him up and waved his hand, “Don’t make a fuss. If you saw me fall in, you would have saved me too.”

“That’s what you say, but I must repay this life-saving favor properly, or else I’ll be a beast,” Tian Baishun said stubbornly, refusing to listen to Lin Heng.

Lin Heng gestured for him to stop, “We’ll talk about it later. Let’s head back. It’s already quite dark. My uncle and them are probably worried.”

With that, he gathered his things and began walking.

“Ah, I’ve really let the eagle peck my eyes out and soaked my shoes,” Tian Baishun muttered, shaking his head and sighing, then glancing at the dog that had stood up and was following them with the gun.

The two of them followed the stream for over forty minutes before they finally reached the shelter.

“What happened to you?” Lin Heng’s uncle and aunt had been searching for them and hurried over when they saw the flashlight.

“Did you fall into the mud, old man?” Lin Heng’s uncle, Lu Honghai, shined his flashlight and immediately saw Tian Baishun covered in mud.

“Don’t say anything. I nearly died in the mud pit. If it weren’t for Lin Heng, I wouldn’t have made it out. He heard the dog barking on the way and saved me,” Tian Baishun said, shaking his head and sitting down by the creek to take off his clothes.

“You old fool, so careless. Luckily, Lin Heng saved you. Otherwise, the village would say we’re all doomed,” his aunt, Li Baiquan, joked.

“Of course, I’ll repay Lin Heng properly when I get back. Don’t shine the light here, I’m taking off my underwear,” Tian Baishun added.

“Ha! Your little ‘birdie’ isn’t anything I want to see,” Li Baiquan laughed, turning off the flashlight.

However, no one left. The old man had just emerged from the swamp, and they were concerned about his condition.

After cleaning himself and his clothes, Tian Baishun washed his gun, but the powder was wet and useless now.

“Aunt, can you help me skin this squirrel?” Lin Heng handed a squirrel to his aunt.

While Tian Baishun was washing up, Lin Heng set two traps nearby and used some snake intestines as bait.

“Let’s go. Let’s have some good food to warm up. I almost didn’t get to taste this dragon and phoenix soup,” Tian Baishun joked, wearing gray underwear.

“You old fool, no good deed goes unpunished. You wanted to eat snakes, didn’t you? Now you’re getting your comeuppance,” Li Baiquan joked, making Tian Baishun wish he could hit him back.

This was normal. The old man was always sharp-tongued, and now Li Baiquan was getting his revenge.

At the shelter, Li Baiquan hung his clothes on a tree to dry, sitting by the fire in only his big underwear.

The gold chicken and snake they had hunted earlier were already simmering in the pot, and the rich aroma of the meat was filling the air, making everyone’s appetite grow.

“Damn, let’s add some Prince Ginseng to the soup to nourish ourselves,” Tian Baishun said, tossing his ginseng to Li Baiquan to wash.

“Heh, sounds good. I added some wild taro earlier,” Li Baiquan replied with a grin as he took the ginseng to the creek to wash.

“I have some astragalus and mushrooms here, Aunt. Could you wash those too?” Lin Heng said, handing over some astragalus and chicken oil mushrooms.

“Heh, this soup will add ten years to our lives,” Li Baiquan joked, taking the ingredients to wash and then adding them to the pot.

“It’ll be ready soon. I brought some chili oil,” Lin Heng’s uncle, Lu Honghai, took out a bottle of chili oil and a couple of steamed buns.

“I have some fermented tofu and chili oil,” Lin Heng added, taking out his own fermented tofu.

He ladled some soup into a cup, tasted it, and said, “Delicious!”

It was rich and fragrant, with the meat flavor filling the mouth.

“Come, drink some wine!”

Tian Baishun took out a wine pouch made from a red squirrel hide and handed it to Lin Heng.

After Lin Heng finished his soup, he poured some wine into the cup and passed it to his aunt and uncle.

“Come, cheers!!”

After everyone had their drink, Tian Baishun poured some for himself and raised his cup. The clink of porcelain echoed as they drank under the moonlit sky.

Above, the crescent moon hung high, the Milky Way spanned across the sky, and the mountain stream babbled gently in the background. The breeze rustled the trees, creating a peaceful, atmospheric moment for their drink.

“Lin Heng, my savior, I’ll drink to you alone,” Tian Baishun said, lifting his cup.

“Cheers!” Lin Heng simply responded, clinking cups with him before taking a deep sip.

After drinking a couple of times, Lin Heng’s aunt, Li Baiquan, took the pot off the fire, flipped the lid, and fished out the gold chicken first.

“Everyone tear it apart with your hands,” Li Baiquan said, tearing a chicken leg for Lin Heng.

Lin Heng eagerly took a bite. The chicken was so tender that it fell apart with a single pull. It didn’t even need chili oil to taste delicious.

“Delicious!” Lin Heng’s uncle, Lu Honghai, also praised it after dipping some in chili oil.

“I’ll have one too,” Tian Baishun said, grabbing another leg.

But as the mountain wind grew colder, he started shivering.

“Here, put on my coat,” Lu Honghai said, taking off his jacket and handing it to Tian Baishun.

“Thanks,” Tian Baishun said, gratefully accepting the coat and feeling much better.

The four of them chatted while eating the chicken, and when they finished, they fished out the snake meat. The snake meat was even more tender, falling off the bones with a gentle pull. It was delicious when dipped in chili oil.

Both the chicken and snake meat tasted better than boiled chicken, as all the ingredients were fresh and natural, with added herbs and mushrooms, nourishing and delicious.

After finishing the meat, Lin Heng took the first cup of soup and drank it. Even with the steamed bun, it was the finest meal.

Once everyone was full, they lay back, their stomachs full.

Lin Heng lay back with his hands behind his head, staring at the stars, lost in thought.

Li Baiquan continued to eat the remaining taro, while Lu Honghai returned to the shelter for a nap.

“Huh, I forgot to ask, who fired that shot this afternoon?” Lin Heng suddenly remembered and looked up to ask.

“I did. It was a civet cat, but it was in the treetop. I missed,” Li Baiquan said helplessly.

“It wasn’t even that high, only about ten meters, but it was hiding in the branches. The shot was blocked by the tree,” he added.

“Such a pity. The skin of a civet cat could sell for twenty or thirty,” Lin Heng sighed.

“Yeah, too bad,” Li Baiquan said, shaking his head in regret.

Then, everyone fell silent.

Lin Heng stared at the stars, thinking about his wife and daughter. He didn’t know what the others were thinking.

“Sigh, I guess I’m getting old. I need to stop going up the mountains so often,” Tian Baishun suddenly sighed.

Leaning against a rock, his hair was messy and oily, his face full of wrinkles. His nose was slightly flattened, and his eyes were dull and yellow, with only an occasional flash of light.

“I’m fifty-eight this year, almost sixty. I’ll stop hunting in two years,” Tian Baishun said with a sigh, looking up at the stars.

“You must have saved up a lot of money hunting. Why not find a wife to settle down? She could at least cook for you,” Li Baiquan said.

“Who’s going to take care of me? That’s impossible. I’ll live and die alone!” Tian Baishun replied stubbornly.

—

Tian Baishun snorted coldly.

He stared at the sky in silence for a moment before speaking again: “When I was young, I even went to Shanghai Bund. The women there were really beautiful, and the way they dressed was so seductive.

At that time, I thought to myself that I would definitely make a name for myself, become a big shot, and have beautiful women in my arms.

But in the end, I worked as a dock laborer for several years, only seeing a play once every few months, occasionally helping some poor women.

Even though I didn’t make it big, at least I’ve seen the world. You want me to marry some ugly woman from the village? That’s impossible.”

“Then why did you come back to the village to hunt? Why didn’t you stay in Shanghai?” Li Baiquan felt the old man was bragging.

“Sigh, once you’ve lived freely, it’s not fun anymore. I just wanted to be with the mountains and live a more leisurely life.

Hey, don’t say, without a wife and kids, life is pretty carefree. I can feed myself, and the family won’t starve.”

Old Tian chuckled.

Lin Heng glanced at him: “I’m afraid you were cheated in business and lost everything, right? Then you came back to the village and found the woman you liked married someone else.”

Old Tian: “…”

Li Baiquan: “Hahahaha, I knew it!”

Old Tian’s face darkened: “How do you know? Don’t bring up things that might hurt me. If you hadn’t saved my life, I would’ve shot you!”

Lin Heng shook his head and went back to the shelter to rest, spreading some thin plastic over the grass he cut earlier. He soon fell asleep.

“Old Tian, I heard you often cause trouble for the village women, is it true?” Li Baiquan, not yet sleepy, began chatting.

“Don’t talk nonsense. What do you mean by causing trouble? Those women came willingly. And I never messed with married women, I didn’t want to get beaten to death.”

“Hey, let’s see if I believe that!”

…

They chatted for an unknown amount of time before Li Baiquan also fell asleep. Only Old Tian stayed leaning against a stone, watching the sky and roasting the almost extinguished fire, as if contemplating the changing seasons.

Lin Heng soon fell asleep after lying down, but the mountain air grew cold during the night. He woke up once from the chill and had to grab some grass to cover himself, which warmed him up a little.

The next morning, just after 5 AM, as the sky was barely bright, Lin Heng woke up.

“Where’s my uncle?” Lin Heng noticed his uncle, Lu Honghai, was no longer in the shelter.

“He got up before dawn,” Tian Baishun, curled up in the grass with his flower dog, replied with a stuffy nose.

“Let’s go, Lin Heng, let’s search the mountain together. Early morning is a good time to hunt.”

Li Baiquan, having gotten up, said with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll check the traps I set last night to see if there’s any harvest.”

Lin Heng put on his shoes and headed out.

“Old Tian, are you not getting up?” Lin Heng turned back and asked.

“No, I’m resting. Yesterday almost cost me my life.”

Old Tian shook his head and looked at Lin Heng: “How did you know I was cheated in business?”

Lin Heng glanced at him and shrugged: “If you didn’t have nowhere else to go, would you come back to the village?”

He could guess the ending from the beginning.

“Heh, you’re right. That damn woman cheated me,” Old Tian sighed but still managed to smile.

Not wanting to chat more, Lin Heng and his uncle went out, first to check the traps he set.

The first trap was intact from a distance, with no movement, but the snake’s intestines were gone.

“It should have been strangled!” Li Baiquan came over and confirmed the trap worked.

“Let’s check the second one. I set three in total,” Lin Heng said while packing up the rope.

“The second one has something, looks like a weasel,” Li Baiquan spotted the weasel hanging in the air from a distance.

“Damn, now the rope smells awful.” Lin Heng felt speechless; the stench was unbearable.

They approached to inspect it, and indeed, the weasel was strangled by the trap, as expected.

“Forget it, let’s leave it for later,” Lin Heng shook his head, too lazy to deal with it.

The third trap yielded no results, with the snake’s intestines still intact, meaning no animals had visited.

“Uncle, follow me. Yesterday I found something good. Let’s go check it out,” Lin Heng turned to Li Baiquan.

“What good thing?” Li Baiquan immediately asked.

“I’ll tell you when I find it, if I don’t, forget it,” Lin Heng smiled and shook his head.

“Still keeping it a secret, probably a muntjac, badger, or wild boar. Could it be a golden monkey or a takin?”

Li Baiquan speculated as he watched Lin Heng’s silence.

Seeing Lin Heng not saying anything, Li Baiquan guessed again: “These aren’t it, could it be a clouded leopard or a black bear? Don’t tell me it’s a giant panda, those are protected now.”

“Uncle, stop guessing. When we find it, you’ll know,” Lin Heng chuckled and shook his head.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

Lin Heng and Li Baiquan walked side by side.

Lin Heng felt completely revitalized today, with no sign of weakness. He felt quite energetic, probably thanks to the nourishing dragon-and-phoenix soup from last night.

The two searched together and soon arrived at the spot where Lin Heng had discovered the muntjac the day before, but found nothing again.

“What exactly did you find yesterday?” Li Baiquan asked again.

“A female muntjac. I’m wondering if there’s a male nearby. If I get one, I’ll be rich.” Lin Heng explained.

“That’s what it was.”

Li Baiquan was surprised but shook his head: “Probably not much hope. These things are very elusive. I once encountered one too, but before I got close, it ran away. I searched many times afterward but never found it again. These animals don’t stay in one place for long.”

Lin Heng didn’t quite agree, shaking his head: “Let’s keep looking.”

“Then let’s split up a bit.” Li Baiquan suggested and walked toward another ridge.

Lin Heng continued forward. He felt the area near the ridge by Sancha Valley was more promising.

“More lingzhi. I wanted a muntjac!” Lin Heng complained after walking a few hundred meters and finding two red lingzhi mushrooms, but he picked them anyway.

It seemed the muntjac had sensed his ill intentions, as today he didn’t find a single trace of it.

Not giving up, Lin Heng continued forward. A few kilometers later, he arrived at the upper reaches of Sancha Valley.

This place was steep, with exposed gray-white stone cliffs everywhere. A stream flowed down from the mountains in the distance, shrouded in mist, with golden sunlight creating several beautiful rainbows.

“That’s a badger!!”

Lin Heng suddenly spotted something under the trees south of the waterfall—a badger was digging for something, with its back to him, completely unaware of his presence.

“How do I get down?”

Lin Heng was anxious. The greatest distance in the world is when you’re on a mountain and the prey is down below.

The mountain was nearly vertical, about an 80-90 degree slope, and there were no trees to hold onto. He couldn’t find a way down for a while.

After searching for a long time, he still hadn’t found a path and saw the badger disappear into the trees.

“Second one missed!” Lin Heng was furious. How could this happen? He had seen it but couldn’t act.

The muntjac was one thing, but this badger he really thought he had a chance to catch, yet couldn’t find a way down.

Such a high mountain—he couldn’t just jump down.

“Mm?”

Lin Heng’s eyes suddenly brightened. Although he couldn’t find a way down, he spotted something growing on the cliff.

“Could it be that I’m fated with plants recently?” Lin Heng thought, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He couldn’t catch his prey, but the herbs always appeared in his line of sight when he wasn’t specifically looking for them.

(End of Chapter)