252: Chapter 252 The Echoing of Strings in the Desolate Hill

The bow in his hand was heavy; it was not just the weight of wood and string, but the responsibility and hope bestowed by that silent covenant.

The arrowhead was cold, the sharpness of the flint reflecting a point of resolute, icy light in the dimness.

Ling Ye did not rush out to hunt immediately.

He forced himself to calm down.

The bow was a powerful weapon, but it was also a tool that required extremely high skill.

Using it recklessly would not only waste arrows, but might also startle the prey, or even injure himself.

He had to master it as soon as possible.

Deep in the cave, he found a relatively flat section of the earthen wall.

Using charcoal, he drew a fist-sized concentric circle target in the center of the wall.

Then, he retreated to near the cave entrance, which was about fifteen meters away from the target—a relatively safe distance that also allowed for initial practice.

He picked up the bow, recalling the meager, vague knowledge of archery in his mind (perhaps from long-forgotten childhood memories, or some kind of instinct).

With his feet shoulder-width apart and standing sideways, he held the bow in his left hand, while his right index, middle, and ring fingers hooked the string.

The nock of the arrow was fixed on the string, and the arrow shaft rested on the 'arrow rest' formed by his left thumb and index finger (the bow body lacked a dedicated arrow rest, so he could only try to keep it as stable as possible).

He raised the bow and drew it.

His movements were stiff, and his arms trembled slightly due to the unfamiliar way of exerting force.

The bowstring was tighter than he had imagined; when he had drawn it about halfway, he felt the muscles in his shoulders, back, and arms begin to ache.

But he gritted his teeth and slowly drew the bow to its full extent, until his right index finger touched his jaw.

He aimed.

His gaze passed through the arrow shaft, locking onto the black bullseye on the earthen wall.

He held his breath at the moment he fully drew the bow.

Release!

His three right fingers released.

The bowstring emitted a short, crisp 'twang'!

The arrow turned into a blurry black shadow and left the string!

'Thwack!'

There was a muffled sound.

The arrow struck the earthen wall hard... half a meter away from the bullseye, stuck diagonally in the wall, with its nock still vibrating.

He missed.

And by a wide margin.

Ling Ye lowered the bow, stretched his sore arms, and walked over to pull out the arrow.

The flint arrowhead was deeply embedded in the earthen wall and required force to pull out; its power was greater than he had expected.

He was not discouraged.

For the first time, being able to hit the wall was already not bad.

He checked the arrow shaft and fletching; they were intact.

Then, he returned to his original position, notched the arrow again, and drew the bow.

'Twang!' 'Thwack!'

It was off to the left and too high.

'Twang!' 'Thwack!'

It grazed the edge of the target and pinned into the wall.

'Twang!' 'Twang!' 'Twang!'

Arrow after arrow.

Inside the cave, the monotonous sound of the bowstring resonating and the muffled thud of arrows striking the earthen wall echoed.

Sweat quickly soaked his tattered back.

His arms felt like they were filled with lead, and every time he drew the bowstring, it became exceptionally difficult.

But he did not stop.

He only stopped after shooting a few arrows to carefully recall his movements: Was his stance stable? Was his bow hand shaking? Was his aim off? Was his finger release clean and sharp?

He shot all six arrows he had brought (he didn't dare use all of them, keeping half in reserve), then walked over to carefully examine the impact point of each arrow.

Most were scattered within a square foot around the target, and only one barely grazed the outer ring of the target.

The results were terrible, but he was not disheartened.

He could feel that with every draw, the trembling in his arms was decreasing; with every aim, the swaying of the target was becoming smaller; with every release, his grasp of the timing was improving.

This was a slow but clear improvement.

He retrieved the arrows one by one and carefully wiped the mud off the arrowheads.

Then, he sat cross-legged and began "Star Visualization", guiding the warm current through his sore arms, shoulders, and back to accelerate muscle recovery, while simultaneously 'replaying' every detail of the archery in his mind for 'mental practice'.

The next day, he practiced again.

This time, he shortened the distance to ten meters.

His results improved significantly, with half of the arrows landing within the target area, although still far from the bullseye.

He began to try different standing postures and different aiming reference points.

On the third day, he moved the distance back to fifteen meters.

The grouping was more concentrated, and three arrows could already consistently land near the inner ring of the target.

He tried rapid continuous shooting (slowly), and although his accuracy dropped, he gained a new understanding of the fluidity and rhythm of his movements.

Five days of high-intensity practice made the muscles in his arms and back sore to the extreme, but they also quickly became firm and powerful.

He became increasingly familiar with the characteristics of this bow, and drawing it became easier and smoother.

At a fifteen-meter distance with a static target, he could now hit the target seven or eight times out of ten, and occasionally hit the bullseye.

It was time.

He needed prey, he needed real meat to fulfill his promise to the "Neighbor" (continuing to trade with the meat he obtained himself), to truly test the combat power of this bow, and to replenish his rapidly depleting stamina.

He chose a morning.

The sky was faintly bright, enough to see, but the visibility was not yet particularly clear, which was conducive to concealment.

The wind was light and the direction was stable, which was conducive to judging scents and arrow trajectories.

He did not go to the Water Source or the southwest direction where the "Neighbor" was frequently active.

Instead, he chose an area to the west-northwest, where there were several deep gullies with relatively dense drought-resistant shrubs growing on the gully walls; it was a place where he had observed signs of rabbits and sand rats when setting traps before.

Moreover, this direction was far from the "Death Cave" area warned about by the "Neighbor" and also away from the "Dark Nest".

He checked his equipment: bow, twelve arrows (all brought, just in case), fruit knife, spearhead, water bottle, and a small bag of salt (for emergencies and potential prey processing).

He completely hid himself under gray-yellow rags and smeared mud, as if he were a part of the wilderness itself.

He moved slowly and silently along the edge of the gully, like a true predator.

Every step was carefully considered, his footing was soft, and his gaze sharply scanned the ground, bushes, and rock shadows in front of him.

His ears captured any subtle sounds: the rustling of the wind, the sliding of gravel, or... the rustling of small animals moving.

More than an hour passed.

He saw a few lizards scurrying past and startled a few small birds resting in rock crevices, but a target suitable for bow hunting had not appeared.

Rabbits and sand rats seemed more alert, or perhaps the prey density in this area was lower than he had imagined.

He was not impatient.

Hunting was inherently a game of patience and timing.

He found a leeward high point, semi-concealed by rocks, which allowed him to observe the intersection of two gullies, and lurked there like a real stone.

Time passed bit by bit.

The sun rose, dispelling the chill of the morning and bringing brighter light, increasing the risk of exposure.

Ling Ye's heart, however, was like an ancient well, undisturbed.

He adjusted his breathing and merged with the surrounding environment.

Just then—

On the edge of the bushes in the gully below to his left, a piece of withered grass moved extremely slightly, inconsistent with the direction of the wind.

Immediately after, a gray-brown, furry little head with upright ears carefully poked out from under a cluster of thorny bushes.

A rabbit!

A medium-sized rabbit!

It turned its head vigilantly, its long ears standing up, catching the sounds around it.

Seeming to confirm it was safe, it jumped out of the bushes entirely and began to lower its head, sniffing and gnawing on the sparse grass roots on the nearby ground.

The distance was about twenty-five meters.

It was beyond the distance he usually practiced, but it was still within the effective range of the bow (theoretically).

The target was moving and was very alert.

Ling Ye's heartbeat accelerated steadily and powerfully.

Slowly, extremely slowly, he pulled an arrow from the quiver.

His movements were gentle, without making any sound.

Then, he slowly turned sideways and took the bow off his back, his movements fluid and stable.

He notched the arrow and hooked the string.

The friction between the bowstring and the arrow fletching made an extremely subtle, almost inaudible 'shhh' sound.

The rabbit's ears twitched violently; it seemed to have sensed something, stopped gnawing, and looked up vigilantly.

Now!

Ling Ye did not hesitate any longer and drew the bow instantly!

His movements were faster and more decisive than when he practiced!

The bowstring was pulled into a full moon, and the power of his muscles exploded instantly!

His gaze was locked onto the junction of the rabbit's neck and body—that was a fatal and relatively easy area to hit.

The rabbit seemed to sense a fatal crisis, kicked its hind legs, and was about to bolt into the nearby bushes!

'Twang—!!'

The bowstring vibrated!

The arrow left the string!

It traced an almost invisible, fatal gray line through the air!

'Thwack!'

A muffled sound of flesh being penetrated!

The rabbit's body, which had just leaped up, stiffened in mid-air, then fell heavily to the ground; its limbs twitched violently a few times before it stopped moving.

The arrow had accurately pierced below its neck, with the arrowhead poking out slightly on the other side!

One shot, one kill!

Ling Ye maintained his post-draw posture and froze for a moment.

Only after confirming that the rabbit was dead did he slowly lower the bow and let out a long, silent breath that he had been holding for a long time.

He succeeded!

His first real hunt, successful in one shot!

There was no excited shouting, only a calm sense of satisfaction, like having completed a matter-of-fact task, and a deeper gratitude for this bow and the heavy gift from the "Neighbor".

He quickly scanned his surroundings, confirmed that no other predators had been attracted by the smell of blood, and then walked quickly down from the high point to the rabbit carcass.

The arrow had penetrated very deeply, almost buried halfway in.

He carefully pulled out the arrow and wiped away the blood with a relatively clean strip of cloth he carried with him.

The rabbit's body was still warm, and its fur was soft.

He picked up the rabbit; it felt heavy in his hand, enough for him to eat for several days.

He did not process the prey on the spot.

The smell of blood had to be moved away as quickly as possible.

He stuffed the rabbit into a tattered sack he carried (made from a woven bag earlier), carried it on his back, and then quickly cleaned up the obvious bloodstains and traces on the ground, leaving the area quickly.

He did not return directly to the cave.

Instead, he took a detour to a hidden, dried-up riverbed far from the Water Source and paths.

Here, he skillfully processed the prey: skinned it, removed the internal organs, and cut the edible parts into appropriately sized chunks of meat.

He carefully tanned the rabbit skin (although it was rough, it might be useful in the future).

The internal organs and blood were buried deep.

He wrapped the processed rabbit meat with large, clean leaves and put it into the sack.

After doing all this, it was nearly noon.

Carrying the heavy, fresh meat on his back, he set off on the road back to the cave.

Although he was hungry, his heart was filled with a long-lost, solid sense of fulfillment.

He was no longer just passively struggling to survive, waiting for the slim hope of traps, or relying on the gifts of the "Neighbor".

He had mastered the ability to actively obtain food!

This was the most fundamental and most important step in wilderness survival!

Back in the cave, he immediately started a small fire (to save fuel).

He skewered a few relatively fatty and tender pieces of rabbit meat on sharpened branches and carefully roasted them over the fire.

The grease dripped into the fire, making a 'sizzling' sound, and the enticing aroma of meat instantly filled the small cave.

He roasted two pieces of meat and ate them impatiently.

The fresh, crispy-on-the-outside and tender-on-the-inside rabbit meat, with the natural freshness and chewiness of meat, was much juicier than dried meat and was worlds apart from plant leaves.

The hot meat made him hiss, but he couldn't bear to stop.

The long-lost, pure satisfaction and heat quickly filled his entire body.

He kept most of the rabbit meat, preparing to air-dry it for storage.

Then, he picked out the largest and fattest hind leg, and carefully wrapped it in the cleanest leaves.

This was a return gift for the "Neighbor".

He used the fresh meat he had hunted himself to repay the bow that had changed his survival situation.

He did not leave any symbols, and he did not add any salt.

He just placed this package of fresh rabbit leg meat on the stone slab at the Water Source.

This in itself was the most powerful and direct 'language'—'Look, I can do it. Our agreement is in effect.'

He believed that the other party could understand.

This was not just a continuation of food exchange, but the first proof of the power of their alliance, the first real fruit borne on the tree of cooperation.

When he left the Water Source and looked back at the quiet depression and the package on the stone slab, the flame of 'hope' in his heart, together with the warm rabbit meat in his stomach, seemed to burn brighter and more steadily.