Chapter 7: The Falling Bloodstains

If Lin Xing wanted to hunt large game, he would have to venture deep into the mountains. However, those depths were home to many predatory beasts, and Lin Xing dared not enter recklessly.

Of course, there was another option: walking along the periphery of the Greater Khingan Range forest. There, he might have a chance to encounter animals like deer or roe deer. The forest edge was an area of human activity where villagers typically planted crops. When food became scarce deep in the mountains, those herbivores would leave the forest to forage near human settlements.

With his hunting rifle and spear slung over his shoulder, Lin Xing walked slowly northward along the forest line. This area was a flat plain, offering a vast field of vision where one could see objects miles away—ideal for spotting prey. However, luck played a significant role; finding prey on the forest edge was not something one could simply guarantee.

Lin Xing walked along the tree line for over an hour, yet he saw nothing. "Is it too early? Are the animals still resting in their burrows?" he muttered to himself. "That shouldn't be right; animals don't usually sleep in, do they?"

He was now far from the village, surrounded by barren, desolate wilderness. Still, Lin Xing had no intention of giving up. Since he had come this far, he didn't want to return empty-handed, so he pressed on. After another forty minutes, his legs felt like they were freezing solid. If he continued like this, he feared he would lack the strength to make it back, and he began to consider turning home.

Just then, he noticed movement in the forest. Turning his head, he saw a magnificent sika deer emerge from the trees and head toward the open ground.

The prey had finally appeared.

Lin Xing’s spirits lifted instantly. He quickly took cover behind a snowdrift to observe the deer. It was a stag with impressive antlers, sturdy and muscular, with plenty of meat on its frame. In this era, sika deer were not yet protected animals, so he had no need to worry about the legal consequences of hunting one.

After stepping out of the forest, the deer began to wander leisurely along the edge, occasionally lowering its head to sniff the snow, seemingly in search of food.

In winter, all the grass had withered, but the deer could eat grass roots. Since these were buried beneath the snow, the deer relied on its sense of smell to locate them before digging them out.

Lin Xing lay flat in the snow, using his hands and feet to crawl slowly toward the deer. He was dressed thinly, and his body was buried deep in the snow, feeling as if he were encased in ice. He had to endure the biting cold, inching forward bit by bit.

When he was about twenty meters away, the deer, while digging, seemed to hear something and raised its head to look in his direction. Lin Xing’s heart skipped a beat—had he been discovered? Animals possessed exceptionally keen hearing, and on this clear, sunny day with no background noise, the crunching sound of his crawling through the snow was easily detectable. Lin Xing grew anxious; if the deer bolted, he would have no energy left to search for another target.

Fortunately, the deer did not spot him. After looking toward his position for a moment, it lowered its head to continue digging. Lin Xing let out a sigh of relief and resumed his crawl, moving even more carefully to keep his noise to a minimum.

Soon, he was only about ten meters away. He couldn't get any closer; no matter how cautious he was, further movement would surely give him away. However, this distance was more than enough.

Lin Xing hesitated between using his rifle or his spear. At ten meters, the rifle would guarantee a kill, but the spear was less certain. After a moment of thought, he chose the spear. He wanted to use the deer's hide to make clothing, and a gunshot might damage the pelt.

Slowly, he pulled the spear from his back. Without standing up, he aimed from his prone position in the snow. The deer, unaware of the impending danger, continued to dig for roots. Throwing a spear while lying on the ground required technique to ensure sufficient lethality, but having learned such skills in his previous life for jungle hunting, Lin Xing had no doubts.

He took aim, focused his energy through his upper body and arm, and hurled the spear with great force.

*Whoosh!*

The spear cut through the air with a piercing sound, flying toward the deer at high speed. Though the deer reacted quickly, sensing the danger, it was too late to escape.

*Thwack!*

The spear pierced accurately through the deer’s neck. The animal let out a mournful cry and instinctively ran a few steps, but that was all it could manage. A second later, it collapsed into the snow, motionless.

"Success!" Lin Xing stood up immediately. Without bothering to brush the snow off his clothes, he trotted over to check on his catch. The deer was remarkably resilient; though its neck was pierced, its chest was still heaving. It was not yet dead, and its sorrowful eyes gazed innocently at Lin Xing.

"I'm sorry. Survival of the fittest—I have to kill you to fill my belly," Lin Xing said with a faint smile. He grabbed the deer's neck and gave it a sharp twist.

*Crack.*

The deer's cervical vertebrae snapped. Its body convulsed once, and all signs of life vanished.

Lin Xing examined the deer with satisfaction. It weighed over a hundred pounds, well-fleshed and sturdy, especially the magnificent antlers. A deer this plump would provide his household with food for several days.

He grabbed the deer’s limbs, braced his waist, and with a grunt of effort, swung it onto his shoulders. A hundred-plus pounds was neither light nor heavy, but as he began the walk back, his pace slowed, and he felt the strain.

"This body is still too frail," Lin Xing muttered with a grimace of frustration. "If this were my former self, I could carry a two- or three-hundred-pound bear with ease, let alone a single deer."

Complaints aside, he gritted his teeth and pressed on, leaving a long trail of footprints in the pristine snow, marked by the blood dripping from the carcass.