Next morning, first light was barely breaking when I crawled up off the kang.
Got to say, this northeastern kang is a great thing. First couple of days I griped about how it was hard as an iron slab, slept with my whole body aching. But I toughed it out two, three days, and somehow the more I slept on it, the more I loved it. Even my usual back and hip aches cleared up more than half.
The bedding on the other side of the kang was folded up neat and tidy. Xiuhua had left first thing.
I threw down a quick breakfast, cleaned up the dishes, checked the bowstring and the gun, then slipped into the hunting space.
The great thing about this space is I could freely pick which level I wanted. Didn't have to climb up one at a time.
First I went to level two. By now I'd cleared it out. Just flat land left, a stretch of clear water, wild grass all along the banks. Nice spot. Clear water and green hills. Perfect for storage. From here on, whatever game I bagged on the higher levels, whatever supplies I stockpiled, I could stash it all here, safe and convenient. And down the road, when I had time, I could even grow some grain and vegetables.
I took a look around, then said in my head, Enter level three.
Words barely out, and the rifle on my shoulder, the rounds in my pocket, just vanished all at once.
I froze. Then it hit me. On levels you haven't cleared out, no firearms allowed in. Fine by me. I grabbed the axe from the corner, patted the bow on my back, and stepped through.
The second I set foot on level three, my eyes lit right up.
It was a stretch of water, still and smooth as a mirror. Forty-some snow-white ducks were paddling around behind one massive thing. That giant duck was easily five feet long, thick, long neck, wide flat bill, several sizes bigger than the little ducks around it. Clearly the boss.
My throat bobbed. Oh man, I'm in for a treat. Runny-yolk salted duck eggs with rice porridge, unbeatable. Here's a whole batch, more than I can eat myself, and I can ship the rest home.
I crept toward the water's edge, but the jumpy flock spotted me anyway. Honk, honk, honk. The giant duck let out a long screech, and all forty-some ducks came flapping their wings, charging straight at me.
I didn't flinch, just grinned. That's all you got? Dealing with ducks is my specialty.
I pushed off my feet and went straight at the giant duck leading the charge, eyes flashing vicious. The giant duck suddenly stretched out that thick neck, opened its wide bill, and snapped at my arm.
That's exactly what I was waiting for. I sidestepped clean, and the second its neck went straight, my axe came down hard.
Crack. Blade caught it right in the neck, blood spraying everywhere.
The giant duck let out a shriek, its huge body crashing down into a pool of blood, twitching a few times, then going still. Boss down.
I flickered from spot to spot, axe flashing up and down, and made quick work of the rest of the flock too.
Level three boss killed. Full clear complete. Rewards: attribute points x3. Down jackets x2. Salted duck eggs x200. Level prey refreshes every twelve days. Proceed to level four?
Nope. I shook my head. The haul from level three was plenty. I didn't have the guts to push into level four just yet.
I rummaged through the grass at the water's edge, and sure enough found a big nest. The ducks had piled all their eggs in one spot, round and white. Easily two hundred plus of them.
Oh, baby. Plus the two hundred from the reward, that's over four hundred duck eggs. Cure them into salted duck eggs, more than enough to eat myself, take the rest to the market, that's another payday.
I gathered up all the eggs and duck carcasses and stashed them in the storage space on level two. This duck meat, stewed, roasted, cured into bacon, every way tasted great.
All squared away, I exited the space and headed back to the house. I put the phoenix tail bow away on level two of the space, but turned around and hung that rifle back on the wall.
Truth was, I never actually used that gun. Couldn't bring it into the space, and had no use for it in the village. Hanging it up was purely for show, so outsiders wouldn't look down on me or start asking where I got my stuff.
I'd barely sat down when a voice rang out from the courtyard gate. "Chunzhu, buddy, you home? Open up."
It was Donkey. I grinned and went out to meet him, pulling the door open. And behind him were four or five young guys around my age. Every one of them honest, down-to-earth types.
"Chunzhu, buddy, let me introduce you. These are all our village crew." Donkey clapped my shoulder and pointed them out one by one. "This is Rock, strongest of the bunch. Iron Egg, best there is at finding mountain goods. Iron Post. Dummy. And Tiger Boy, youngest and the fastest runner."
I quickly clasped my hands and smiled. "Good to meet you all, brothers. I'm still pretty new here. Count on you to look out for me from here on."
They all responded warmly, the whole bunch breaking into grins.
"Why we came by today." Donkey got right to it. "Xiuhua said you're looking to send some mountain goods home. We figured we'd ask if you want to come up the mountain and take a look with us."
Talk of hunting lit his eyes right up. "There's tons of good stuff in these mountains. Pheasants, rabbits, dopey little roe deer. Get lucky and you might even run into a red deer or a black bear. Bag something and I'll have my ma smoke it into bacon for you. Tasty, and keeps a long time. Easy to ship home. Plus wild mountain veggies, wild mushrooms, pine nuts, walnuts. All pure, natural, good stuff."
My heart warmed, and I clasped my hands in thanks. "Thank you all so much, brothers, coming all this way just for me." I paused, then scratched my head, a little embarrassed. "Not going to lie, I just got here and I'm kind of short on cash. My family was scared I'd go hungry, packed me a bunch of baskets full of chicken, duck and goose eggs, more than I can eat on my own. How about I trade them to you guys for some mountain goods? That way nothing goes to waste."
I glanced at everyone again, apologetic. "I don't even have a decent cup in the house, so I can't pour you all some water. Don't hold it against me. Give me a few days, I'll head to the supply co-op, pick up some cups, grab a couple of bottles of Xifeng liquor, and have you brothers over to sit a while and have a few drinks. One, to thank you all for looking out for me. And two, to hear you tell me the rules of the mountains, so we can head up together down the line and have each other's backs."
Hearing all that, everybody burst out laughing. Big hearty laughs, not taking any of it to heart at all.
Rock was the first to pipe up, all bighearted about it. "Chunzhu, buddy, now you're just treating us like strangers. What do us northeasterners care about most? Being open and helping each other out. Who's talking about trading? A few mountain goods, that's nothing. I'll bring them by for you later."