Chapter 360

Zhou Yimin and his group continued heading up the mountain when, at that moment, a dopey and adorable wild rabbit suddenly appeared vividly before their eyes.

However, as soon as it noticed the presence of people, the rabbit immediately bolted.

Just as everyone was about to chase after it, Zhou Yimin stopped them.

“That rabbit’s way too fast for us to catch up to. We should wait and observe. After some time, we can follow its tracks and see if we can catch it in one go.”

You see, wild rabbits are exceptionally good runners. Their speed can reach seventy to eighty kilometers per hour, making it impossible for a person to outrun them.

Perhaps because they sit at the bottom of the food chain and have countless natural predators, they’ve evolved not only sharp hearing but also incredible speed to help them escape danger in the shortest time possible.

Everyone agreed that Zhou Yimin’s suggestion made sense, so they stopped and didn’t rush off in pursuit.

They didn’t waste the waiting time either. They searched the nearby area for any other tracks—even if they didn’t belong to a rabbit, it would still be worth checking out.

Going into the mountains these days was very dangerous, so everyone was armed. Even if they ran into large wild animals, they had nothing to fear—with that many guns, they were more than capable of defending themselves.

If they happened to get a little something extra along the way, no one would complain—in fact, they’d be quite happy.

After searching for over ten minutes, they found no other animal tracks besides the rabbit’s.

Zhou Yimin figured it was about time. If they didn’t start tracking soon, the snow falling from the sky would cover up the footprints, and they’d lose the trail entirely.

“Let’s follow the tracks and take a look,” he said.

The others followed Zhou Yimin’s lead, quietly setting off along the trail of footprints.

Everyone kept extremely quiet, afraid even the slightest noise would scare off the rabbit and make it even harder to catch.

After a few minutes of tracking, they finally reached the end of the trail, which led to a very well-hidden cave. If they hadn’t been paying close attention, they never would have noticed it.

Zhou Darong, a bit too excited, accidentally stepped on a branch, producing a loud snap.

Everyone immediately turned to glare at him.

Zhou Darong hadn’t expected to make such a rookie mistake. He clasped his hands together and kept bowing in apology.

The others knew it wasn’t on purpose, but they made it clear that this kind of thing couldn’t happen a second time.

Only then did Zhou Daming and the rest turn back to look at the rabbit den. Since no rabbits had come dashing out, it seemed the noise hadn’t startled them.

Everyone let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness they hadn’t spooked the prey—otherwise, it would’ve been all for nothing.

They moved forward even more cautiously now, terrified that even the smallest sound might scare the rabbits away.

Tiptoeing like this, the short distance that should have taken less than a minute to cover ended up taking nearly ten. But it paid off—Zhou Daming was nearly at the mouth of the cave, and the rabbits still hadn’t noticed anything.

Suddenly, Zhou Daming made his move. With a burst of speed, he lunged toward the cave and thrust his hand inside.

Zhou Yimin was startled—if it really was a rabbit in there, fine, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was something else—like a snake?

You had to understand, medical conditions around here were very primitive. Even antivenom was extremely scarce. If someone got bitten by a venomous snake, they’d basically have to leave their fate to luck or hope a folk remedy worked. If not—well, tough luck.

Fortunately, in no time, Zhou Daming pulled out a rabbit from the cave. Zhou Darong and the others rushed over and took it from him, stuffing it into a burlap sack.

Using the same method, Zhou Daming caught twelve wild rabbits from the den in less than five minutes. They came in all sizes, and two or three of them were no bigger than a palm.

Just as they were about to take them all away—

“Daming, those three are too small. Let’s let them go,” Zhou Yimin said.

While it was true that wild rabbits had strong reproductive abilities—breeding multiple times a year with several offspring per litter—overhunting could still impact the environment.

In the north, wild rabbits typically breed three to four times a year, with each litter yielding seven to eight babies. In the south, they can breed six to eight times annually with similar litter sizes. Their gestation period is about 30 to 40 days, and the females go into heat repeatedly, giving them very high reproductive efficiency.

Still, that didn’t mean they should be caught recklessly.

Hearing this, Zhou Daming released the three palm-sized rabbits, despite the reluctant looks from Zhou Darong and the others.

They knew Zhou Yimin was right, but it was still painful to let go of meat that was practically in their mouths.

They could only turn their heads away and pretend they hadn’t seen anything.

The three little rabbits took off without even looking back, fleeing the dangerous area. Within moments, they had disappeared from sight.

Not a trace of hesitation—they didn’t even spare a glance for their captured parents or siblings, afraid that if they moved any slower, they too would be wiped out.

With a good haul in hand, everyone’s face lit up with smiles. At least it hadn’t all been for nothing.

Just then, Zhou Darong’s stomach rumbled with a loud “gurgle, gurgle.”

The surroundings were so quiet that even the slightest sound could be heard crystal clear.

Zhou Darong’s face instantly turned bright red—just like a monkey’s butt.

Everyone there, aside from Zhou Yimin, had experienced this kind of thing before. It used to be common—only after the village became well-fed did these incidents start happening less often.

Zhou Yimin suggested, “We’ve caught some wild rabbits now, so why don’t we find a place to roast them?”

Also, he had never tried roast rabbit before and was curious to give it a taste.

Everyone agreed enthusiastically and began looking for a spot. The first priority was open space—otherwise, one careless ember could ignite nearby trees, and things would spiral out of control fast.

With the cold weather, most of the water sources were frozen.

At this point, Zhou Daming said, “I know a place where the water might not be frozen.”

With that, he took the lead. After walking for fifteen to twenty minutes, they arrived at the location Zhou Daming had mentioned.

Sure enough, the water there hadn’t frozen, which left Zhou Yimin rather intrigued.

By all accounts, water like this should have frozen over long ago, but here it was—still flowing freely.

Zhou Darong and the others pulled out three rabbits and used the knives they carried to swiftly dispatch them. The freshly-slit arteries bled as the rabbits thrashed, their struggles gradually weakening until they went completely still.

Only then did they begin gutting and skinning them, tossing the innards aside.

(End of Chapter)