Chapter 77

After a spring rain, the vegetation on the mountain became even more lush and verdant.

The soldiers had been hunting frequently these past few days and were already quite familiar with the nearby forests. They had dug traps and set up various animal-catching devices, but perhaps because they had hunted the area repeatedly, they found very little.

After checking several previously prepared traps, they still came up empty-handed.

Along the way, Fan Changyu didn’t even spot a single rabbit.

The young officer leading the group said,

“If we want to catch anything worthwhile, we’ll probably have to spread out and search deeper in the forest.”

After some thought, he divided the hundred or so men into teams of ten.

A small number remained in the previously hunted areas to continue searching for game, while the rest followed him deeper into the mountains.

Fan Changyu was placed in a group with the two personal guards secretly assigned by Gongsun Yin.

They were clearly acting under orders and intended to keep her hunting in the outer forest rather than allowing her to venture into the deeper woods where danger might lurk.

Fan Changyu had actually suggested switching places with soldiers assigned to the deeper forest.

However, after the young officer issued a military order, she remembered that she was currently disguised as an ordinary Jizhou soldier.

This was the military camp, not her home.

She couldn’t very well continue arguing.

The group wandered through the forest for quite some time.

In the end, they only managed to catch a few wild chickens.

They found several nests and collected quite a lot of eggs.

One soldier even removed his outer garment and used it as a makeshift sack to carry them.

Fan Changyu had hunted in the mountains with her father before.

Throughout the journey, her eyes constantly scanned their surroundings.

After the rain, the soft earth easily retained tracks and traces.

Soon, she noticed signs of a large animal climbing a slope and pawing through pine needles near a cluster of bushes deeper in the forest.

Pointing at the tracks, she said,

“These look like wild boar tracks. If we follow them, we might find a boar den.”

One of the personal guards frowned.

“But Miss Fan, Commander Yang ordered us to stay in the outer forest and hunt here…”

After thinking for a moment, Fan Changyu replied,

“How about this? You stay outside and wait for me. I’ll go in alone and take a look.”

She added matter-of-factly,

“I’m not actually part of your army. Commander Yang’s orders don’t apply to me. That way nobody will be violating military orders.”

The two guards inwardly groaned.

Commander Yang had specifically forbidden them from entering the deep forest because he was worried something might happen to Fan Changyu.

If they let her go in alone, they’d truly be courting death.

One of them quickly said,

“Then please wait out here, Miss Fan. We’ll take a few brothers inside and look for the boar ourselves.”

Army scouts were meticulous. Following tracks was part of their expertise.

They weren’t likely to make mistakes.

Their persistent attempts to stop her made Fan Changyu feel as though she was being treated like dead weight.

Looking at the guard, she said,

“I’ve hunted in the mountains with my father many times. I know what I’m doing.”

Then she added bluntly,

“You don’t need to be so cautious just because I’m a woman. If I thought I’d be a burden, I wouldn’t have come along.”

In truth, she was already beginning to regret joining them.

These people were being far too fussy.

Had she known, she would’ve simply come by herself.

The two guards had no argument.

After traveling together for so long, they’d already noticed that Fan Changyu was nothing like a delicate young lady.

They had walked for quite some distance, yet she wasn’t even breathing heavily.

Clearly, she possessed martial training.

After a hesitant exchange of glances, they finally followed her into the deeper forest.

Ancient trees towered overhead.

The morning air still carried lingering mist from the rain.

As they proceeded, the two guards repeatedly called for the men behind them to stay close.

Every so often, Fan Changyu would stop and slash a mark into a tree trunk with her butcher’s knife to mark their route.

Then she suddenly halted.

On the trunk of a pine tree, she noticed claw marks.

Crouching down to inspect them, she frowned.

“This doesn’t seem like a wild boar…”

Before she could finish speaking, an earth-shaking roar erupted ahead.

A massive black bear stood in the distance.

Half of a bloodied bird wing dangled from its mouth.

Its eyes gleamed with ferocity.

It was clearly guarding its meal.

The soldiers and guards immediately felt their scalps go numb.

One guard grabbed Fan Changyu’s sleeve and pulled her backward.

“Miss Fan, run! It’s a black bear!”

Fan Changyu had experience trapping wild boars and wild cattle with her father.

But she had never hunted a bear.

The guards were terrified.

Fan Changyu, however, merely frowned and considered whether or not it was worth killing.

It would definitely take a lot of effort.

She had never eaten bear meat before and didn’t know whether the entire animal was edible.

If they could only keep the paws, wouldn’t that be a terrible waste?

As she was being dragged backward, she hesitated before saying,

“Maybe we should kill it after all. It took us so long to find decent prey.”

The guards and soldiers stared at her in disbelief.

For a moment, they couldn’t tell whether she was frightened senseless or simply fearless through ignorance.

Among all wild beasts, bears and tigers were considered the most difficult to hunt.

There were only ten of them.

Their weapons consisted of ordinary swords, sabers, and bows.

They had neither heavy crossbows nor spears.

How were they supposed to hunt a bear?

Unfortunately, their retreat seemed to provoke it.

The bear suddenly tossed aside the bird carcass and charged directly at them.

Everyone panicked.

The soldiers scattered in all directions to make pursuit more difficult.

The nimblest among them scrambled up trees like monkeys.

The bear immediately slammed its body into one tree.

The trunk, nearly as thick as a bowl, cracked and toppled.

The soldier perched above let out a scream as he fell.

Not wanting to watch him die beneath the bear’s claws, Fan Changyu knew that bears were agile and difficult to trap with a boar-catching rope.

Nevertheless, she ripped the rope from her waist and threw a loop around the bear’s neck.

Planting one foot against a massive ancient tree, she wrapped the rope around both hands and pulled with all her strength.

The bear’s neck was caught.

Before its raised paw could strike, the immense force yanked its entire body backward.

It crashed heavily onto the ground with a thunderous boom.

The frightened soldiers were utterly shocked.

None of them had expected Fan Changyu to possess such terrifying strength.

Recovering their senses, they rushed forward to help pull the rope.

The two personal guards had more combat experience.

They immediately attacked the bear with their weapons.

The bear rolled and lashed out with its huge paws, forcing them to keep their distance.

Unable to reach its chest or belly, they managed only to leave two bloody wounds on its back.

Unfortunately, the bear’s thick hide rendered those injuries insignificant.

Rather than harming it, they only enraged it further.

With one swipe, the beast severed the rope.

Fan Changyu and the soldiers pulling it all stumbled backward.

Freed from the noose, the enraged bear turned its fury toward the two guards.

Neither could withstand it head-on.

They survived only by relying on speed and agility.

Even then, they shouted toward Fan Changyu,

“Take Miss Fan and go!”

As if she would abandon them.

Without hesitation, Fan Changyu hurled her heavy bone-cleaving knife.

The blade embedded itself in the bear’s back.

However, it didn’t sink deeply enough to kill it.

The attack did succeed in drawing the bear’s full attention.

Roaring furiously, the beast spun around and charged straight at her.

Fan Changyu ordered the soldiers to scatter.

She personally led the bear toward a bamboo grove.

Along the way, she managed to slash a wound across its chest.

Unfortunately, the cut wasn’t deep.

The injured bear went berserk.

It smashed through bushes and undergrowth as it pursued her.

When she reached the edge of the bamboo grove, Fan Changyu suddenly hacked down a thick bamboo stalk.

With several swift cuts, she sharpened one end into a spear point.

Then, instead of retreating, she charged directly at the bear.

The bamboo spear possessed a significant reach advantage.

Starting from over ten feet away and aided by her momentum, she drove it directly into the wound she’d created earlier.

The spear pierced straight through the bear’s heart.

The beast released a terrible roar of agony and lashed out.

One swipe snapped the bamboo spear in half.

Fan Changyu stepped onto a nearby bamboo stalk and launched herself into the air.

Gripping her butcher’s knife, she plunged it deeply into the wound in the bear’s chest.

Foul-smelling blood exploded everywhere.

It splattered across her clothes and face.

She didn’t even blink.

At that moment, she looked less like a woman and more like a fierce leopard locked in mortal combat.

The bear collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Only then did Fan Changyu shake the blood from her knife.

Almost talking to herself, she muttered,

“Hunting bears really is more troublesome.”

Years ago, her father had hunted bears to support the family.

Back then, she hadn’t realized how dangerous it truly was.

The guards and soldiers finally caught up.

Staring at the dead bear and at Fan Changyu standing there covered in blood, they instinctively swallowed.

Their faces displayed equal parts shock and bewilderment.

The entire scene felt like a dream.

How had this gentle-looking, honest young woman hunted a bear by herself?

If they reported it back to camp, nobody would believe them.

What kind of monster was she?

The two guards who had accompanied Xie Zheng to Qingping County and witnessed Fan Changyu casually throwing grown men around were somewhat calmer.

Still, they exchanged glances.

For the first time, the same thought crossed both their minds:

If she ever got into a fight with their Marquis, who would actually win?

Using her sleeve to wipe blood from her face, Fan Changyu’s murderous aura vanished.

She instantly returned to her usual harmless appearance.

Looking at them, she asked,

“Should we just take the bear paws back, or bring the entire bear?”

The soldiers had no idea.

One of the guards finally replied,

“Food is already scarce on the mountain. We might as well bring back the whole thing.”

Everyone agreed.

Soon they cut bamboo and vines to construct a simple sled.

The dead bear was loaded onto it.

The soldiers and guards took turns pulling.

No one let Fan Changyu do any more work.

Naturally, hauling such a heavy load slowed their return.

On the way back, they encountered the young officer who had managed to hunt a wild boar.

When he learned that Fan Changyu had killed a black bear, his jaw nearly hit the ground.

The group continued back toward camp with a mixture of joy and complicated emotions.

Just as they emerged from the forest, a horn sounded from below the mountain.

It was a call for reinforcements.

The young officer’s expression changed.

“Damn it! The rebels are attacking the mountain!”

He quickly selected more than a dozen men to continue transporting the game.

The rest followed him toward the mountain paths to provide support.

As expected, Fan Changyu was ordered to remain behind with the hunting party.

She hadn’t planned on going downhill anyway.

However, her sharp nose suddenly picked up a scent.

Roasted meat.

She looked at the guards and soldiers.

“Do you smell that?”

Everyone swallowed instinctively.

After days of surviving on thin porridge and vegetable soup, even the thought of salt made their mouths water.

This rich aroma of roasting meat was almost unbearable.

One guard stopped a soldier running uphill with a message and asked what was happening.

After listening, he returned and explained,

“The rebels are attacking while simultaneously roasting meat at the foot of the mountain. They’re trying to persuade us to surrender and undermine morale.”

Fan Changyu thought the tactic was despicable.

She wondered whether Old Tao and the reinforcements from Yanzhou and Jizhou had any way to counter it.

Noticing her concern, a guard said firmly,

“The sons of Yanzhou have backbone. As long as we still have food, no one will surrender.”

His eyes hardened.

“Even if all we have left are roots and tree bark, we won’t be swayed by such cheap tricks.”

They were currently standing at the boundary between the forest and the camp.

The view was wide open.

From here, they could even see the enemy camps spread across the foot of the mountain.

Fan Changyu frowned.

“There are so many of them. Their tents are more than twice as numerous as ours.”

The guard shook his head.

“Don’t judge solely by the tents.”

“The rebels withdrew half their troops earlier. They should have reduced the number of tents accordingly.”

“But they deliberately left the tents standing.”

“First, they’re worried about nighttime raids from the mountain. Extra tents help confuse our scouts.”

“Second, they’re trying to intimidate our new recruits into thinking their numbers are overwhelming.”

Fan Changyu had heard Old Tao explain some military concepts during the journey.

At the time, she only half understood.

Now she was amazed that even an ordinary Yanzhou soldier knew so much.

“You’re really knowledgeable.”

Realizing he’d said too much, the guard hurriedly replied,

“You pick things up after spending enough time in the army.”

Curious, Fan Changyu asked,

“Then how do you determine their actual numbers?”

The guard answered,

“By looking at cooking smoke.”

“Tent numbers can be faked.”

“But cooking smoke can’t.”

“The number of people determines how many cooking fires are needed. Estimate the stoves, and you can estimate the army.”

Fan Changyu studied the areas below where thick columns of smoke rose into the sky.

Then she looked toward the rear slopes where only a few wisps of smoke drifted upward.

Slowly, she drew her butcher’s knife.

Looking at the soldiers with sincere, guileless eyes, she made a very earnest suggestion.

“There aren’t many people over there.”

She pointed toward the area with fewer cooking fires.

“How about we sneak over there and attack them?”