"In these deep mountain forests, if you want to capture prey, the most important thing is to recognize the animal tracks."
As he spoke, Niu Yuan pointed ahead, "For example, this here is an animal track."
"Oh?" Zhao Ya looked carefully in the direction Niu Yuan indicated, but found nothing except the lush forest.
Noticing Zhao Ya’s confusion, Niu Yuan smiled slightly, then crouched down and parted the grass on the ground.
"Look, here are some animal footprints. It seems the animal is not very large."
Saying this, Niu Yuan picked up a piece of feces and rubbed it with his fingers.
"The feces are still fresh, not more than a day old at most."
Then Niu Yuan carefully explained the tricks of finding animal tracks to Zhao Ya.
Listening to these words of experience, Zhao Ya felt that the rescue effort had been worth it.
After all, such long-term accumulated hunting experience is extremely valuable and can’t be bought with money.
Therefore, Zhao Ya listened very intently, occasionally asking questions.
After Zhao Ya understood everything, Niu Yuan continued, "Finding the animal tracks is just the beginning. To capture prey, you still need a few things."
"What things?"
"First, the materials for setting traps, and then a reliable bow and arrow."
"Setting traps is a profound skill, even I only know a bit. It’s said that old hunters who have hunted in the deep mountains for years can use ready-made materials like old vines to set traps, but I don’t have such profound skills."
"Because materials like vines and branches are suitable for catching small prey like wild chickens and rabbits, but with large prey, it becomes a joke. So it’s best to use specialized materials."
"First is iron wire. Raw iron wire won’t do; it has to be drawn from wrought iron, the more flexible, the better. Then there’s the iron teeth...."
Zhao Ya took out paper and wrote down all the necessary materials, then Niu Yuan demonstrated a few times on the spot to ensure Zhao Ya learned, only then did he say.
"Then you need a fairly reliable bow and arrow, not too big or heavy because when hunting large prey, the bow and arrow aren’t for a lethal hit; they serve as harassment and to bleed, to gradually exhaust the prey’s stamina."
"But the three people you killed earlier should have bows and arrows on them that you can use directly."
After explaining these, Niu Yuan looked at Zhao Ya very seriously.
"Friend, I don’t know what prey you want to hunt in these deep mountains, but remember, this is truly a lawless place; the real danger often isn’t the beasts, but the people."
"Also, you must have enough patience, and you mustn’t act rashly. When encountering overly powerful beasts, even Exotic Beasts, withdraw when you must, for life is the most important thing."
Zhao Ya nodded, indicating he remembered.
Then Niu Yuan pulled out a skinning knife, approached the giant deer’s carcass, and began skinning and taking meat.
His actions were extremely swift, taking off the deer skin in one piece without wasting any valuable meat.
Zhao Ya watched from the side, nodding secretly in his heart.
Even if he tried, he couldn’t do as well as Niu Yuan.
No wonder they say old hunters are experts with a knife.
After Niu Yuan finished, he packed the harvest into his backpack and clasped his hands to Zhao Ya.
"Friend, until we meet again!"
Saying this, he turned and disappeared into the forest.
Next came the familiar search-the-body segment.
The three men didn’t have much money on them, but Zhao Ya found a lot of useful things.
Wrought iron wire, iron teeth, noose ropes soaked in hemp oil, fine nets....
Basically, they are all materials needed for setting traps.
Besides these, there was a bow and arrows.
This kind of hunting bow used in the mountains is very different from ordinary bows and arrows.
Firstly, the hunting bow is very compact, and the arrows are specially made; the arrowhead is cross-shaped, with blades extending on all four sides, extremely sharp.
Zhao Ya packed all the gains and, without bothering with the corpses on the ground, turned and walked back.
Although he didn’t capture any prey this time, Zhao Ya felt he reaped plenty.
After all, the hunting experience he gained alone is invaluable.
By the time he returned to Wuxiang City, it was already completely dark.
Zhao Ya followed a concealed path back home. Only then did Zui’Er, who had been anxiously waiting by the stove, finally relax and quickly begin cooking.
After dinner and finishing his exercises, Zhao Ya went to bed early.
The next day, Zhao Ya didn’t go out but started organizing his equipment based on what Niu Yuan had mentioned.
The things he found on the three men were comprehensive. Besides some consumables, everything needed for setting traps was there.
In addition, Zhao Ya practiced shooting the bow and arrow.
For the current Zhao Ya, archery is quite simple.
After all, since becoming a Martial Artist in the Second Realm, both his strength and reaction speed are far superior to ordinary people.
Soon, Zhao Ya’s archery reached the point where he could hit copper coins with every shot from thirty steps away.
He didn’t test any farther.
Because Niu Yuan clearly said that in the mountains, thirty steps is the maximum effective range for shooting arrows.
Anything beyond that is meaningless.
However, after practicing archery for half a day, Zhao Ya found that the system remained unresponsive.
It seems the system doesn’t register repetitive training; it must be systematic cultivation.
Zhao Ya organized all the necessary items and, after completing the daily exercises, went to bed early.
Before dawn the next day, Zhao Ya left the city.
Following the markers he left the previous day, Zhao Ya soon reached the spot where he met Niu Yuan.
By then, the three bodies had long since disappeared, leaving only some torn pieces of clothing and a patch of dark red bloodstains on the ground, proof that three people once were there.
Zhao Ya was not at all surprised. He began carefully searching for animal tracks in the forest using the method Niu Yuan taught him.
"No, this one is very small, likely used by hares often."
He found several tracks, but Zhao Ya turned them down.
After all, going to such great lengths to enter the deep mountains wasn’t for hunting rabbits.
Zhao Ya’s target was large beasts, and if they were mutated, even better.
Finally, after searching for over an hour, Zhao Ya found a satisfactory animal track.
"The footprints are enormous, likely left by a bear, and judging by the freshness of the feces, it passed here just this morning."
Zhao Ya felt a surge of energy.
Because the Blood Replenishing Powder asked for bear gall as an ingredient.
And the more powerful the bear, the better the gall’s efficacy.
Zhao Ya followed the animal track, finally finding a suitable location, and began setting up traps.
For large prey like bears, ordinary traps are ineffective and would only make them wary.
Zhao Ya directly used the most powerful double-sided four-set platform trap, with added spikes inside.
After setting this trap, Zhao Ya surveyed the surroundings, secretly noting several animal tracks, and then returned.