White clouds rise far away, swaying into the clear sky.
In mid-autumn and August, Beimang Mountain is still lush and green, and there is no sign of the withering and yellowing devastation caused by the bleak autumn wind.
However, if you enter the valley at the foot of the mountain, you will find the broken walls, broken tiles and charred wood of the cemetery of the former princes and nobles, telling the desolation. Going up the stone steps and paths that have not been overrun by weeds, you will see a hill that has been covered with grass. The tomb with the open coffin is just a pit, densely covered with stars, as if the earth has been burned with many scars, and has long been covered with rain. A large number of dead leaves and flies are mixed in, and there is a faint smell of rot and filth.
Xia Houhui, holding a bow and arrow, hid behind the earth of an excavated tomb with a short body, staring straight ahead.
There was a little deer about the size of a native dog looking around.
Its fur is brown, hornless, short tail, slender limbs, long and straight ears, and a pair of long and pointed tusks exposed from its mouth - obviously, this is a male forest musk deer.
Yes, he is hunting.
Emperor Cao Rui didn't know why, but he suddenly became interested in hunting today.
He finished his duties in the East Hall early, and with great interest, he took many of his ministers to the valley at the foot of Beimang Mountain.
Naturally, it was just a temporary idea, not a hunting trip in autumn and winter for emperors and princes, or a military salute, one of the five rites of the country, so everyone could do as they pleased.
For example, Wang Su, Liu Shao and other people who did not regard martial arts as their ability should just go out to enjoy the scenery in mid-autumn.
For example, Qin Lang, Cao Zhao, Xia Houxian and others all took up the martial arts style of their fathers. After receiving a few words of encouragement from the emperor, they set rewards and punishments based on the number of prey, and then took the bows and arrows from the imperial guards and escaped into the mountains and forests.
But Xia Houhui~
Emperor Cao Rui took special care of him.
Because he still remembered Xia Houhui's words on the first day when he was listening to politics in the east hall, boasting about his bravery and his knowledge of archery.
Therefore, the emperor declared that if he could hunt a prey equal to his own weight within two hours, he would be rewarded; but if he was less, he would be punished by serving wine for everyone at the next banquet.
Xia Houhui accepted the order happily.
Thanks to his experience as a ranger and winter hunter in his early years, he still has confidence in hunting animals in the mountains and forests. Especially now that Beiman Mountain is sparsely populated and funerals have not yet flourished, allowing many wild beasts to thrive comfortably. .
However, when he took the stone bow handed over by the imperial guard and drew it to a full circle with both hands, the emperor felt that the conditions he had just promised were too generous.
Immediately I added one: Hare, wild deer and other ordinary wild animals are not allowed to make up the number!
It is necessary to hunt wild beasts such as wild boars, wolves, tigers and leopards, as well as birds and some extremely valuable beasts.
Among them, considering that birds are very light, they can be calculated in multiples.
This made Xia Houhui a little embarrassed.
This is just Beimang Mountain, not the hunting ground in Wancheng, Nanyang County.
But prey that demonstrates bravery is rare.
Not to mention tigers, even larger wild hogs are rarely found; as for leopards, ocelots, foxes and other nocturnal species, it is even harder to find.
Moreover, although there are many birds in Wanluo area, wild geese, black storks, gray cranes, white spoonbills, etc. are commonly seen.
However, this is a mountain range, not a swamp!
How can it be found so easily?
Originally, Xia Houhui thought that he could complete the emperor's test by casually hunting forest deer and a few hares, but he didn't expect that the conditions would be so harsh. Moreover, he has been practicing bow and horse all year round and has an excellent appetite, so his body is quite majestic but not heavy. light.
Of course, complaining won't solve the problem.
He thought for a while, asked someone where there were more pine trees in the valley at the foot of Beimang Mountain, and then went deep into the forest alone.
Because late autumn and early winter is the breeding season for wild hogs.
Now in mid-autumn and August, many male wild hogs will go to the pine forest to rub against the tree trunks and stick the pine resin to their bodies to form a layer of armor to avoid being seriously injured in the battle for mating rights and territory.
He's pretty lucky.
It took half an hour to reach the pine forest. After many twists and turns, we finally found several low-lying mud pits with accumulated water.
That's where wild hogs often wallow.
But he wasn't very lucky either.
After waiting for more than half an hour, I only saw a group of squirrels and wild pheasants.
Finally, a wild boar arrived, but it was very small, weighing only two hundred pounds.
But even so, he struggled a lot while hunting.
The first arrow he shot was aimed at the wild boar's eye. The wild boar that happened to be eating a pine cone suddenly raised its head in alarm and landed directly in its jaw.
The one-stone bow was so powerful that the arrow pierced the wild boar's jaw, but this was not a fatal injury.
The sudden injury aroused its ferocity, and it roared and ran towards Xia Houhui, whose position was exposed by the sound of the bowstring. Even the arrow that pierced its jaw broke when it hit the ground while running, and exploded again.
I can't even care about the blood.
Xia Houhui was not afraid.
Immediately, he threw aside the bow and arrow in his hand, pulled out the short blade attached to his waist, stretched his neck, and let out a provocative roar, then turned around and ran back.
Well, he didn't run away.
Without long-term soldiers at hand, it would be a fool's errand to engage in a head-on fight with a wild boar.
Even though the wild boar was small, he was confident enough to kill it without being seriously injured.
He just doesn't want to hug a wild boar.
Just like before, Cao Zhang, who had extraordinary physical strength and was capable of fighting tigers and leopards, would not choose to roll around on the ground hugging a wild boar.
Without him, there is no need to make yourself too embarrassed.
When he entered the pine forest and found a mud hole where wild hogs often wallowed, he sharpened a few logs to set up traps, just in case.
It's too late to say it, but it's soon.
Only one person and one animal were seen chasing each other wildly. Xia Houhui, who was in front, looked back from time to time, controlling his speed based on the distance between himself and the wild boar. When the difference between the two was only half a foot, he suddenly exerted force, bent his knees and jumped up suddenly
, stepping on the tree trunk in front of him, he used his waist strength to do a backflip, and he held the short blade tightly with both hands and stabbed down suddenly.
On the other hand, the red-eyed wild boar first noticed Xia Houhui's body rising into the air, and suddenly an old pine appeared in front of him. It instinctively stopped and stopped, but the huge inertia made its body still slide forward, slightly soft.
His abdomen directly hit a few sharp trees hidden among the dead branches and leaves, and was deeply penetrated, causing blood to flow everywhere.
It also made a loud scream.
But soon, it became quiet.
After doing a backflip, Xia Houhui, who was holding a short blade, fell down and stabbed the short blade between its neck and shoulders.
The huge force caused all the six-inch-long blades to sink into its body, and smashed it directly into the rotten soil formed by dead branches and leaves, causing its screams to stop abruptly - due to the uneven force.
, its long head and body were bent at a strange angle, and naturally it couldn't die anymore.
But its inhuman treatment has not ended yet.
Xia Houhui, who disliked the stinky and dirty beast, sharpened a straight piece of wood, inserted it from its mouth into its belly, and carried it out of the pine forest.
Oh, what a sin.
It was precisely this kind of disgust that made Xia Houhui, who was deeply aware of the difficulty of hunting wild hogs, hand the prey to his guards at the edge of the mountain forest, then turn around and go to the other side of the low hill near the swamp to find forest musk deer and chaffinches to kill.
Both types of prey can be multiplied in weight.
With about two hundred kilograms of wild hogs at the bottom, he still had half an hour to complete his promised share with the emperor without having to hunt much.
However, what he didn't know was that when the guards brought the wild boar back to the camp, Emperor Cao Rui, Wang Su and other close officials who did not participate in the hunting saw it, and they were all filled with emotion.
It’s not about lamenting Xia Houhui’s bravery in hunting wild boar alone.
Instead, I lamented that this wild boar had a hole in its lower jaw, a broken neck, several holes in its abdomen, and a deep stab wound on its neck and shoulder. It was really pitiful to watch.
The only advantage is that it saves the accompanying chef a lot of effort when breaking it down and roasting it.
"It seems that it is difficult for Zhiquan to serve wine and serve the banquet."
The emperor Cao Rui, who had no sense of being a gentleman in the kitchen, and Wang Su stared at the cook while he was busy breaking down the wild boars and distributed them to the attendants to roast and eat, and asked with a smile, " Wang Qing, in your opinion, how should I reward Zhi Quanxie?"
"Your Majesty, the reward cannot be determined by the minister."
Hearing this, Wang Su bowed and replied, "However, I secretly believe that this is a leisure time for the king and his ministers. Your majesty can only reward you with gifts to entertain you. It should not be too expensive."
"Well, what Wang Qing said makes sense."
Tilting his head slightly, the Emperor remembered something and nodded softly.
He did not comment further on this matter. Seeing that his servants were bringing back the prey of Qin Lang, Xia Houxian and others one after another, he took Wang Su with him to judge the quality of hunting methods.
Time passes while everyone is busy.
Soon, Xia Houhui returned with a long bow on his back.
Judging from the number of forest musk deer and chaffinches held in the hands of the attendants who followed him step by step, he had exceeded the emperor's performance contract.
Emperor Cao Rui was also very happy about this.
He waved his hand to him, and after saying a few words of praise and encouragement as usual, he announced that he would give him a collection of two stone bows as a reward after returning to the palace.
But Xia Houhui refused.
The message said: "Your Majesty, Hui Wu has the courage to open a two-stone bow. It is really a waste of nature to receive this precious gift. Moreover, when Hui Xianjun was guarding Chang'an, he got a bow by chance. The power of the bow was more than enough for one stone and less than two stones. It was originally The bow is useless, but it suits Hui well, so I ask your majesty to allow Hui to resign. If your majesty insists on favoring you, but Hui is bold, please allow your majesty to allow Hui to return the good horse that he had shamelessly asked for before, so that Hui can make up for his rude behavior. You can sleep and eat with peace of mind."
It's just the cost of a good horse, so you can't afford it?
Furthermore, as a descendant of the Xiahou family, the founder of Qiao Pei, you are so greedy for this little salary?
After the emperor heard this, he couldn't help but feel funny in his heart. He also deliberately made a tigerish face and said sternly, "No! You can give up the two-stone bow, but you can't give back the good horse! I have given it to you, how can I take it back! I see you are respectful today. I am very pleased to be humble and courteous, and I will allow you to ask for rewards yourself. Whatever reward you want, you will have to think about it."
I said it!
I just want my salary back!
Xia Houhui, who yelled angrily in his heart, thought for a while, suddenly remembered something, and immediately expressed his gratitude with gratitude on his face, "Your Majesty is so kind, I feel scared, and I have nothing to think about for a while, please forgive me for your Majesty's kindness." Calm down your mind and report later." After saying this, he was afraid that the emperor would reject him, so he quickly added, "Hui has been with you for several months, and I have been bathed in His Majesty's holy virtues for a long time. He no longer behaves in the wild and vulgar ways. Dare to ask for undue reward."
"That's fine."
In response to this, the emperor waved his hand, not paying attention, and went straight to enjoy the banquet with the others.
As for Xia Houhui's request, he waited until the emperor returned to the palace and many of his ministers said goodbye and left on their own.
.”
"Why are you confused?"
"Hui Dare, dare to ask Your Majesty, do you still remember Emperor Wu's evil wishes?"