Chen Lan was extremely excited, looking at the dozens of small red dots on the system's light screen. She picked up her crossbow, checked the six carbon steel arrows already loaded, and her eyes fixed on the system's light screen as she quickly walked towards the target prey.
After walking forward for more than ten minutes, she faintly heard the grunting of wild boars. Chen Lan cautiously moved closer to the target prey, soon reaching the optimal shooting range of the crossbow. Only then did Chen Lan stop, hide behind a large tree, take a deep breath, and exhale, steadying her nerves and calming her excited heart. She stealthily peeked her head out and looked into the valley. Indeed, a group of wild boars was foraging in the valley, and it was a rather large group.
Among this group of wild boars, there were over a dozen adult wild boars, and twenty to thirty newly born wild boar piglets. The piglets still had distinct earthy yellow stripes on their bodies. Seeing their cute appearance, Chen Lan didn't expect wild boar piglets to be so adorable. She really wanted to take a few piglets back to the valley to raise.
In her previous life, Chen Lan knew there were specialized wild boar farms. Although those were domesticated wild boars, she still wanted to try raising them herself. What if she could successfully domesticate them?
Chen Lan estimated that the wild boar piglets had not yet reached six months of age. This was because if wild boar piglets reached one year old, the stripes on their bodies would gradually fade.
The adult wild boars in this group were all huge, with dark brown manes and robust physiques. She estimated each wild boar to weigh around four to five hundred jin, with some even larger and more robust.
Chen Lan didn't dally. She rechecked if the six carbon steel arrows were properly installed, found a suitable tree fork to secure the crossbow, and expertly adjusted the red dot sight. She then took out another crossbow and six carbon steel arrows from the system's warehouse. Once all preparations were done, she stared intently at the scope, waiting for the optimal hunting opportunity.
After waiting for six wild boars to enter the best hunting range, Chen Lan didn't hesitate and quickly pressed the launch button. She heard a series of "pfft, pfft, pfft" sounds of arrows piercing flesh, followed by the deafening roars of the wild boars and the sounds of them scattering.
Then came a long wait. Chen Lan leaned against the tree, closed her eyes, and rested, waiting for the roars to gradually disappear. Half an hour passed, and the wild boars' roars vanished. However, she could still hear the faint grunts of the young wild boars. Chen Lan found it strange. Had the fleeing wild boars forgotten to take their piglets in their haste?
So, she stood up and peeked her head out towards the valley again. To her delight, she saw not just one, but three wild boar piglets, squealing and circling around the adult boar.
Chen Lan clasped her hands together and bowed to the air, muttering, "Heaven, you are too kind! Whatever I wish for, it comes true!"
Looking at the three adorable wild boar piglets, Chen Lan couldn't help but sigh again, feeling a strong connection to the number "three" in this life.
Chen Lan didn't waste any more time and happily descended into the valley.
She didn't have time to dwell on fate or destiny. She quickly attacked and pounced towards the three wild boar piglets. It was estimated that the wild boars here had never encountered any natural predators, so these three piglets showed no fear of Chen Lan's sudden appearance. They only kept grunting around the adult wild boars.
Chen Lan thus easily caught three wild boar piglets and immediately put them into her large backpack.
She quickly and forcefully removed the twelve carbon steel arrows from the six adult wild boars, wiped them clean with a flawed cloth, and stored them in the system warehouse.
Chen Lan quickly prepared the six wild boars, storing them all in the system warehouse. She didn't linger, fearing that Cui Qiao and Hu Yuzhen would get worried and come looking for her. If they encountered the fleeing wild boars, it would be a big problem.
She then carried the three wild boar piglets and quickly left the valley, returning to the oak forest along the path she came.
As soon as she reached the edge of the oak forest, in a patch of bushes, Chen Lan found mushrooms everywhere in the short grass of the bushes. They stood tall and graceful, some clustered together as if holding a grand meeting, densely packed. Others stood alone, like proud maidens, ignoring each other.
Matsutake mushrooms are a delicacy. Chen Lan, of course, wouldn't refuse such a good thing that presented itself. She immediately squatted down and quickly began picking. There were two colors of matsutake here: one had a yellowish-brown cap, and the other had a purplish-red cap. They looked particularly beautiful.
While picking, Chen Lan observed her surroundings and spotted a king bolete, also known as a porcini mushroom, not far away. This was the "king" of wild edible fungi in Northeast China. How could Chen Lan miss such a rare find? She immediately walked over and collected it. This king bolete was not light; it weighed about three to four liang.
Chen Lan continued to walk forward, picking mushrooms and searching for traces of Cui Qiao and the others. She faintly heard voices not far ahead. Following the sound, Chen Lan discovered a patch of Agaricus xanthodermus, also called golden egg mushroom. Its scientific name was Amanita caesarea, and just hearing the name made it sound incredibly high-class. Coupled with "egg" and "Caesar," it was enough to imagine its taste would be exceptionally delicious.
As the name suggests, the golden egg mushroom was umbrella-shaped and yellow, emitting an indescribable fragrant scent. According to unofficial history, the Roman Emperor Caesar was very fond of this Amanita caesarea, hence the name Caesar mushroom, which fully demonstrated how delicious it truly was.
Chen Lan's motto was that delicious food should never be missed. She moved nimbly and quickly, gathering this entire patch of golden egg mushrooms.
Of course, there were many edible mushrooms in the forest, but also many poisonous ones. For instance, the deadly Amanita virosa, also known as the "White Death" mushroom, and the toxic Tricholoma muscarium, also called "half-step epilepsy." Just hearing the names made one shiver at how poisonous they were.
There were also many brightly colored mushrooms that were poisonous! Therefore, one must be very careful when picking. It was best to only pick mushrooms you recognized and to avoid picking any others, lest you accidentally ingest a poisonous mushroom and lose your life.
Chen Lan walked towards the direction of the voices, her head down picking mushrooms. From a distance, she saw Qian Yingzi, climbing high up the oak trees like a monkey, picking monkey head mushrooms.