Zheng Yuan smiled and said, "I've been thinking about it, those cards are definitely valuable. When we were hunting the crocodile before, there were so many people that the chance of getting cards was slim. Why don't we go look for them ourselves? What do you say about teaming up? If we find any cards, we'll take turns distributing them."
Qin Ziwen glanced at Zou Sheng behind Zheng Yuan. Besides Zou Sheng, all the other faces were unfamiliar.
Someone with Zheng Yuan's outgoing and straightforward personality could easily blend in with people around him in this kind of environment.
Qin Ziwen politely declined, "Never mind, Brother Zheng, you guys go ahead. I'm planning to go downstream to try fishing in a different spot."
Seeing Qin Ziwen seemed unwilling, Zheng Yuan felt somewhat disappointed.
"Are you really not coming? Don't worry, I guarantee the distribution will be absolutely fair!"
Noticing Qin Ziwen's firm attitude, Zheng Yuan didn't press further and said regretfully, "Alright, let me know if you change your mind."
After Qin Ziwen left, someone in Zheng Yuan's team whispered, "He probably looks down on us, thinks he'd be at a disadvantage teaming with us."
Zheng Yuan showed displeasure on his face, "I believe he's not that kind of person! Don't talk nonsense. If he doesn't want to come, he must have his own concerns."
"Alright, Old Zheng, six people is about enough for us. Any more and there won't be enough to distribute."
"Yeah, if we can't fight it, we can at least run away."
......
After exiting through the east gate, Qin Ziwen continued downstream along yesterday's route.
Although he had walked this path before, today he still cautiously swept the grass ahead with his stick.
"Whoosh—"
From the grass at an angle, a black-and-white snake was startled away, quickly slithering toward more distant undergrowth.
The three men paused their steps—the color pattern of this spicy noodle snack was too alarming.
Qin Ziwen said, "Was that a silver-ringed snake?"
Deng Guang smiled bitterly, "I don't know, but what I saw was black and white."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but gently stomped his feet. Before setting out, his wife had made him wear high-top boots and specifically wrapped several layers of newspaper around his ankles, worried he might get bitten by snakes or have insects crawl in.
But he wasn't sure if this would actually protect against snake fangs.
After that incident, the three walked even more carefully, constantly probing the grass with their sticks.
After walking for over an hour, they reached the spot where they had set the fish trap and snare traps yesterday.
"Let's check the snare traps first."
The trap results were gratifying.
All three traps had been triggered. One trap was empty, another had caught a hedgehog, and the third held a field mouse.
Both the hedgehog and field mouse were still alive. Seeing people approach, they struggled frantically in fear.
The field mouse twisted wildly in the snare, its thin claws scratching the rope with rustling sounds, squeaking sharply as its round body tried to squeeze through rope gaps, only to get tighter.
The hedgehog curled into a spiky ball, startled and rolled halfway around, its spines catching on the snare, making it unable to break free.
Qin Ziwen directly removed them along with the ropes, placing the hedgehog into his bag.
Then he grabbed the field mouse, pinching the back of its neck to lift it, and placed them into his and his brother's backpacks respectively.
Witnessing the snare traps work effectively, Old Deng admired Qin Ziwen even more—this was genuine skill!
He wanted to ask for guidance, but felt it would be shameless to inquire about such livelihood skills.
Old Deng's face simply couldn't lie—Qin Ziwen saw right through his troubled thoughts at a glance.
Qin Ziwen chuckled lightly, "I'll teach you."
Old Deng abruptly looked up, his face full of surprise.
"This... is it really okay?"
"Of course it is. In such a vast forest, how much can I possibly catch alone? Just don't spread it around casually."
Old Deng patted his chest in assurance, "Don't worry, what you teach me, I wouldn't reveal even if I died."
"What death? We all need to live well."
Old Deng smiled with pursed lips, crow's feet appearing at the corners of his eyes, "Yes, we'll all live well."
Qin Ziwen first cleared the surrounding area, then crouched down, teaching Old Deng hands-on. Qin Ziwu also craned his neck to watch along.
Qin Ziwen had taught him before, so Qin Ziwu also knew how to set snare traps, though not very skillfully yet.
After about ten minutes, following Qin Ziwen's teaching method, Old Deng finally learned.
Qin Ziwen said, "Now you just need more practice. This thing is actually quite simple, as long as you're willing to learn."
Then Qin Ziwen went to the riverbank and pulled up the fish trap with a rope.
His expression darkened because as soon as he pulled it up, he saw a large gap in the fish trap.
Yesterday's concern had become reality—the fish trap had been attacked.
The fish trap with a large bite mark was completely empty.
Qin Ziwen remained silent for a while, then pretended to reach into his backpack while actually taking out a new fish trap.
He decided to try once more. If this fish trap got destroyed again tomorrow, he would temporarily stop placing them in this river section.
After repositioning the new fish trap in a different location, he threw in the prepared loach entrails.
"Let's go, let's explore further inside. It would be best if we could find a fruit tree."
An undiscovered fruit tree could yield at least several pounds or even dozens of pounds of fruit.
In such a vast forest, there must be some that haven't been found yet.
After setting up seven more snare traps in the surrounding area, Qin Ziwen led the team deeper along a horizontal line.
The further they went inside, the darker the light became.
The Crowned Eagle glided slowly overhead throughout, its sharp eyes helping survey the surroundings.
In the bushes ahead, a nimble figure flashed by and disappeared.
Qin Ziwen focused his gaze—it seemed to be a furry animal, not very large, about the size of a medium dog, but very fast, disappearing quickly into the bushes after diving in.
Compared to these medium-sized animals, humans—these upright-walking bipedal apes—still held considerable intimidation.
Especially since bipedal apes preferred moving in groups.
After walking for just half an hour, they had already encountered several fairly large animals.
But unfortunately, these animals mostly detected them from far away and quickly departed.
This reminded Qin Ziwen of a certain hunting single-player game he used to play—one pot of tea, one pack of cigarettes, chasing one little deer all day, turning the hunting game into a running simulator.
Suddenly, the bushes ahead shook violently.
The three men stopped, their expressions grave.
A black wild boar emerged.
It stood about waist-high.
The three remained vigilant throughout. After seeing the people, this wild boar showed no fear of humans, simply standing in place, its dark eyes fixed on the group, ears erect and straight. After a moment, the wild boar flicked its tail, turned around, and continued deeper into the forest.
Watching its retreating figure, Qin Ziwen narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapon, "That's one big pig." It weighed at least two hundred pounds.
If they could hunt this wild boar, the rating would definitely be high.
Moreover, dividing its meat would definitely be enough to eat for a month.
But could the three of them actually hunt it?
......