The chestnut tree was quite large, laden with fruit. The ground was covered with fallen chestnuts, not just from this year but from previous years as well.
Jiang Ning held a tree branch, focusing only on picking up the green and brownish-yellow fuzzy balls, completely ignoring the black ones.
It took about an hour to gather all the chestnuts in the vicinity into a pile. Looking at the small mound before her, Jiang Ning let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
"What a tiring job," Jiang Ning thought to herself. This body was more delicate than her original one; after bending over and searching for a while, her lower back and arms were starting to ache.
But the task wasn't over yet. She still had to extract the chestnuts from their prickly husks. Jiang Ning crouched down, using one piece of branch to hold the chestnut in place, and another to pry open the husk. With a flick of her wrist, two smooth, round chestnuts popped out.
Jiang Ning tossed all the peeled chestnuts into her spatial storage, piling them in the corner of the bamboo house. By the time she finished peeling the entire heap, she noticed through the branches overhead that the sun had risen to its zenith – it was already noon.
"Time flies!" Jiang Ning exclaimed as she stood up, stretching her slightly stiff body.
She had originally come up the mountain to catch rabbits, but who knew she'd encounter this chestnut tree and end up spending half a day here.
Moreover, there were still so many chestnuts left on the tree. It seemed she'd have to come back a few more times.
Jiang Ning peeled and ate a few raw chestnuts to fill her stomach, then prepared to look for traces of rabbits.
Just as she turned around a small hill, a shadow suddenly passed overhead, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.
"Cluck cluck!" The black shape moved with incredible speed, calling out as it flew, but it didn't seem as light as a bird.
What on earth was that? Jiang Ning quickly ran a few steps to keep up with the flying creature, and moments later, she saw it land on a mound of earth.
Its brass-colored feathers were sleek and shiny, with long, dark blue tail feathers held high. A ring of black feathers hugged its indigo neck snugly. Its proud head bore a blood-red comb and face, with golden eyes the size of mung beans, a blue-black beak, and two strong, powerful claws.
Jiang Ning recognized this gaudy little creature.
It was a wild pheasant!
Jiang Ning hid behind a tree at a distance, watching the pheasant as it scratched the ground for food. Her eyes flashed with excitement and determination.
This bird, she wanted it!
Jiang Ning tentatively took a small step towards the pheasant. The bird's head, buried in the grass, immediately turned alertly, its pair of small golden eyes fixed intently on her.
"Quite wary, aren't you?" Jiang Ning thought to herself. In the next instant, she vanished from sight.
The pheasant lowered its head again, using its claws to scratch for insects in the grass, occasionally letting out a "cluck cluck." It seemed completely at ease, utterly unaware of the danger approaching step by step.
Jiang Ning slowly approached in her spatial dimension, eyeing the pheasant's long neck. Her hand shot out, swift as the wind, gripping the bird and lifting it up. Only then did Jiang Ning realize her mistake – she should have woven a grass rope beforehand.
Suddenly attacked, the pheasant let out a guttural "gook gook" sound. Its wings flapped incessantly, its powerful claws kicking wildly. The strength was considerable, and before long, Jiang Ning's hand began to ache.
With no other option, Jiang Ning reached behind her head and untied the hairband Liu Ming'an had used to tie her hair. She held it between her teeth, then grabbed the pheasant's feet with her other hand, holding it upside down. She then used the hairband to tie its two feet together.
Now she could relax. Jiang Ning brought the bound pheasant into her spatial storage and placed it in a cage. After coming out, she thought about finding some mushrooms to stew together with the bird.
Mushrooms usually grow on decaying logs away from sunlight, or peek out slightly from under fallen leaves. Jiang Ning specifically headed towards dead trees and shaded areas, and indeed found quite a few mushrooms, as well as some wood ear fungus.
As she walked, she came across a tree with sparse leaves and twisted branches, looking half-dead. Jiang Ning stopped, her eyes fixed on a large hole in the trunk. It was a hole bigger than a basketball, only slightly smaller than the trunk itself, almost hollowing out the tree. It looked pitch black inside.
"A crafty hare has three burrows," Jiang Ning muttered to herself. To verify her guess, she picked up a clod of earth from the ground and threw it into the tree hollow.
The next moment, several pairs of fluffy, grayish-brown long ears poked out from the hole. Bright black eyes looked around, three-lobed mouths constantly nibbling, with black whiskers twitching along.
"One, two, three, four," Jiang Ning silently counted, a slight smile curling her lips.
This was exactly what she had come up the mountain for today. Lucky her, to catch a whole nest at once. She couldn't let a single one escape.
Wild rabbits are cunning by nature and skilled at digging burrows. Jiang Ning knew that below the tree hollow there must be tunnels leading elsewhere. To catch this entire nest of rabbits in one fell swoop, she needed to find a way to lure them all to the surface.
After much thought, unable to come up with a better plan, Jiang Ning picked up a tree branch, broke it into small pieces, and started throwing them into the tree hollow.
At first, the gray rabbits were scared, poking their heads in and out. After a while, seemingly realizing there was no danger, they grew bolder. One large rabbit hopped out.
Jiang Ning waited patiently. When it had wandered far enough that the other three rabbits couldn't see it, she swiftly entered her spatial dimension. Just as she had caught the pheasant, her hand moved fast and accurately, grabbing the pair of fluffy long ears and bringing the rabbit into her space.
This rabbit was quite fat, weighing about eight or nine pounds by her estimate. Jiang Ning planned to put it in the cage, but just as she approached, the seemingly docile pheasant suddenly lashed out, its sharp beak pecking viciously at the back of Jiang Ning's hand.
Jiang Ning felt as if she'd been hit by a hammer. The skin on the back of her hand split open, fresh blood gushing out, dripping onto the bamboo floor below, shockingly bright.
"You really have a death wish, don't you?" Jiang Ning glanced at her wound and said ominously to the pheasant, which was craning its neck, ready to strike again.
The wound would heal after drinking some water from the medicinal spring, so Jiang Ning wasn't too concerned. However, this chicken was hard to tame, and if the rabbit stayed with it, it would surely be bullied, possibly even killed. So much for keeping them in the same cage.
Jiang Ning simply grabbed the chicken out of the cage and tied it to the leg of the bamboo bed, then tossed the rabbit into the cage. Throughout this process, the wild pheasant kept trying to peck her again, but Jiang Ning, now on guard, wouldn't let it succeed.
After securing the chicken, Jiang Ning went to the medicinal spring outside the bamboo house. She crouched down and scooped up some water with one hand to drink. After a moment, the wound healed completely.
This time, Jiang Ning watched bit by bit as the torn flesh and skin mended itself. Even though she already knew its effects, she couldn't help but marvel. This medicinal spring had completely overturned her understanding of medicine. If anyone were to discover it, it would surely bring disaster.
"The innocent often suffer for possessing rare treasures," as the saying goes. Jiang Ning understood this principle deeply, which is why she had no intention of telling anyone about this spatial dimension or the medicinal spring.
After her hand healed, Jiang Ning stayed in the spatial dimension, waiting for the other three rabbits to come out.
Jiang Ning waited and waited, feeling like she had been waiting for almost an hour without seeing any movement. Perhaps the first rabbit had been sent out to scout, and when it didn't return, the other three had huddled up inside.
Just as Jiang Ning felt her hunting patience wearing thin, a few gray ears poked out from the tree hollow. Then, to her surprise, all three rabbits came out together, the three gray creatures huddled close as they walked.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Ning found herself in a dilemma. She only had two hands, meaning she could catch at most two rabbits. The remaining one would certainly escape.
Oh well, she could always come back another time.
After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Ning chose the two rabbits that looked larger. Her hands moved simultaneously, accurately grabbing two of them. The remaining small gray rabbit, startled by this sudden turn of events, had its ears standing straight up. It took off running and disappeared from Jiang Ning's sight in the blink of an eye.
Holding a rabbit in each hand, Jiang Ning brought them together and placed them all in the cage.
Coming out, she looked at the sky. The sun was already tilting westward, and she estimated it would be dark in another two or three hours.
It was time to head down the mountain.
