บท 18: Honey and Black Bear
บรรณาธิการ: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Mr. Zhou, that's enough!"
The other instructors quickly rushed in to stop Zhou Xiangxian when they noticed that he might actually kill his opponent.
Naturally, Zhou Xiangxian would not kill Liu Wentao. Despite being in a warring state, there was still a law governed by the Central Government that the people had to follow.
"Don't stop me! I won't kill him!"
Zhou Xiangxian struggled to get out but stopped hitting Liu Wentao. He looked at his opponent, whose eyes had rolled over, and scoffed. "Liu Wentao, take this as a warning. You should not take something that doesn't belong to you."
After that, he turned away and looked at the other instructors. Then, he bowed and said, "I've asked someone I know to transfer me to the Garrison Squad. I believe I won't return to Ink Ridge anymore. Farewell, everyone."
The instructor then left, just like that.
The instructors and students all made way for him and watched him until they couldn't see him anymore.
Chi Qiaosong looked at the former instructor's back and suddenly had a realization. "That's how a powerful martial artist should act. Intriguing other people might work for a while, but being powerful would be the only answer in such a world," he thought.
Liu Wentao was able to suddenly become the chief instructor by getting the magistrate's favor.
However, he was not able to enjoy his position for too long, as just a few days later, Zhou Xiangxian challenged him and beat him half to death.
That was why Chi Qiaosong had been captivated by how beautiful martial arts were.
"That's enough. Get back to your classrooms." The instructors had started to urge the students to leave.
The ambulance arrived shortly after that, and two instructors accompanied Liu Wentao to the hospital.
The remaining instructors either continued with their classes or spent their free time chatting.
"Damn! Mr. Zhou sure is amazing!" Li Weiwei and the rest had gathered in Chi Qiaosong's room to discuss the spar.
"Right? He's an Advanced Rank Wrestler Plane martial artist who has mastered the Confusion Thunder Roar. Chief Liu is going to suffer from this. I don't think he can even show his face here anymore."
"That's why you should think before you act. Mr. Zhou was supposed to be the next chief instructor, and Mr. Liu had to rob him of that post. I mean, he isn't even strong enough to defeat Mr. Zhou."
"But, do you guys think that Mr. Zhou will return from the Garrison Squad?"
"That's hard to say. He will either die on the battlefield or achieve a higher position. Whatever the result may be, it'll be hard for him to return to Ink Ridge."
The Garrison Squad was one of Commander Zhu's main forces. Since the squad mainly focused on frontline battles, the mortality rate was high. However, the members had a higher chance of getting promoted as well.
One could pretty much say that Zhou Xiangxian had risked everything for justice.
"Hey, we are going out for a drink later. Qiaosong, are you joining us?" Li Weiwei suddenly asked. "I'm buying. We have nothing to do later anyway. So let's go karaoke as well."
"I can't, sorry. I have to go back to work." Chi Qiaosong shook his head.
He just couldn't have fun with a group of 16 and 17-year-old young boys.
He'd rather spend his time farming.
Understanding that his family was knee-deep in debt, Chi Qiaosong decided to go hunting for more money first. At the very least, he would have to pay for the cigarettes and wine.
With the small basket on his back and a few ropes in them, he changed into a pair of fabric shoes with rubber soles and pants that could tighten around his ankles to prevent bugs from entering.
He then put a bottle of mosquito repellent and a roll of bandages into his pocket.
He also brought a bottle of tea and a few meat-stuffed flatbreads with him.
The young boy hung the spirit tusk dagger by his waist, grabbed the machete in his hand, and was ready to head into the mountain.
"Hey! Be careful in the wild, okay?" his mother reminded him. Like every mother, Mrs. Chi worried every time Chi Qiaosong headed into the mountain.
"I will!"
Chi Qiaosong waved his arm and quickly disappeared into the forest.
He ran from the First Ridge straight to the Fifth Ridge. But, he didn't stop there and continued to move forward. The next ridge was not named the Sixth Ridge. Since it was in another territory, they had another name for it.
However, to Chi Qiaosong, the following ridges were still the Sixth and Seventh Ridges to him.
Now that he had entered the mountain quite a few times, he could clearly spot all the marks the other old hunters had left, especially the tiny clothes tied around the branches.
Whenever he came across one, he would look around since there could be ginseng or other rare mushrooms growing nearby. There was also a chance that he could come across beehives to collect honey.
After a short while, he spotted a colorful cloth. He scanned the surroundings and learned why the hunter had marked the spot.
There was a beehive hidden under the root of a huge tree.
Judging from the soil around the hive, he could tell that no one had harvested honey from the hive yet.
Chi Qiaosong grinned as the sturdy and thick skin he had gained from achieving the Wrestler Plane had come in handy at a time like this. He quickly took out a small shovel and started to harvest the honey. The bees buzzed around him, but not a single one attacked him.
The bees that grew there were very docile and rarely attacked humans.
"I'm only going to take a little bit, don't worry, okay?" Chi Qiaosong said to the bees and opened the beehive a little, only to be shocked by what was inside.
He could tell that the beehive was old and someone had harvested it before. However, the harvest was done a very long time ago.
There were at least ten layers in the hive, and both sides were close to white in color, signifying that those parts were newly built. But, on the other hand, the inner part was black and huge, and he could tell that it was the older part.
Smelling the sweet aroma of honey in the air, the young boy grinned. "This will do."
He took a piece each from the old and new parts of the hive.
As the honey dripped from his finger, he quickly put the hive into the bag that he had prepared to store herbs in.
That was a huge harvest, as he had gotten more than five kilograms of honey.
He then closed the hive up.
Since it was the season where the bees would produce a lot of honey, he was able to harvest a lot as long as he had left enough for the bees to survive.
Bees are known to like new stuff, and cutting away the old part of the hive could help them grow even further.
Chi Qiaosong then grabbed a handful of soil to wipe the honey off his hand before sealing the bag and putting it into the basket.
For a kilogram of pure wild honey, he should be able to sell it for 10 dollars. It was something that was hard to find in the market, as wild honey was hard to come by.
After walking for less than 20 meters, he suddenly heard leaves shuffling near him.
He focused and determined where the sound was formed. Then, he turned in that direction and spotted a black bear with a white stripe on its chest.
It wasn't huge, and he speculated that it weighed around 150 to 200 kilograms.
Since the Daxia Republic had a lot of wild animals and plants, they allowed the citizens to hunt most of them.
The young boy immediately got excited when he spotted the bear. "It has been some time since I have come across such a huge animal! It looks like luck is on my side today!"
Just like how he had spotted the bear, the bear had noticed him as well.
The animal instinctively turned to leave. Black bears weren't aggressive unless they were hungry or were protecting their offspring. Most of the time, they would just run away if they came across a human.
However, the bear suddenly twitched his nose and turned back.
It had smelled the honey in the basket.
The bear started to growl hungrily, and its instinct to run away was suddenly gone. Instead, with surprising speed considering its size, it attacked Chi Qiaosong.
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