Ji Yuan was not in a hurry to go back, but looked at the surface of Longyan Island on the water. The island was not too small and there were lush vegetation, but there were scorch marks from lightning strikes in many places. Of course, the island was sunny and windy at the moment.
After looking for a long time, he still couldn't figure out why the island was called Longyan Island. Perhaps it was just a casual name, so Ji Yuan pointed his fingers and flicked several times towards the side of the beach.
Green coconuts fell from the coconut trees over there and rolled to Ji Yuan's feet. The water on the North Sea side was obviously colder than that on the East China Sea. He didn't expect that there were coconut trees on Longyan Island, and they were growing well. He had never seen such trees in Dazhen and Zuyue Kingdom.
Another wave broke through the sea surface behind her, and the dragon girl was lifted out of the water by a current.
"Uncle Ji, you were picking coconut candies on the island? It would be better to let the servants do this."
Ji Yuan did not tell the truth. He just picked about twenty coconuts before picking them up and going back into the water. He also asked another question to change the subject.
"Come and walk around, pick whatever you see. How about it, has your mother agreed to go back to Tongtian River?"
This was the goal that the Dragon Girl wanted to achieve before she came. Ji Yuan believed that the Dragon Girl must have mentioned it just now.
The dragon girl shook her head.
"Mother is unwilling to go to Tongtian River."
Having said this, the Dragon Girl still smiled.
"However, I have persuaded her to go to the East China Sea. When the time comes, I will ask my brother to help us find a suitable place for mother to settle down temporarily. This way it will be more convenient to take care of her."
"That's good. This place is a little far after all."
Although Ji Yuan said this, he also thought in his heart that the Dragon Mother was not a delicate woman. It could be seen from the traces of lightning on the Longyan Island.
When they arrived at the Water Palace of Longyan Island, Ji Yuan was too embarrassed to take out the twenty coconuts and simply put them into his sleeves. The Dragon Girl naturally would not say anything and just said that Uncle Ji had gone out for a walk.
The so-called banquet on Longyan Island was indeed sumptuous, but there was only one thing that made Ji Yuan a little uncomfortable: it was basically all raw. Fresh fish, shrimp, and shellfish were basically all cut and served on an exquisite platter.
Ji Yuan didn’t like eating sashimi in his previous life, and he had hardly ever tried it in this life. But he didn’t expect that after trying it out of politeness, he found that it tasted quite good.
. . .
On the edge of Niu Kui Mountain in Dazhen Jizhou, in a village nestled in the mountain, the villagers are just beginning to get up and move around.
A sturdy man put on thick early spring clothes, ate a hot breakfast, took his bow, arrow, spear and rope-like things, and came out of the yard.
The man looked at the smoke from the cooking fires at both ends of the village, stuck his spear into the ground, put his hands to his mouth and roared loudly.
"Today's team is going to the mountain, let's get ready to go~~~~"
After the voice echoed in the village for a while, the man shouted again.
Soon, people came to many houses in the village. Most of them had bows and arrows as well as long sticks or forks, but not many of them had ropes.
A total of more than a dozen men came one after another, some tall, some short, some thin, and some strong.
When these people reached the gate of the village wall, people from their families came to see them off, and everyone said goodbye to their families one by one.
"Don't worry, we've been lucky lately. Besides, the weather is so cold, so we won't go deep into the mountains. We can just check the traps on the outskirts."
"Master, come back early. Dinner is waiting for you!" "Dad, it's cold and the mountain roads are hard to walk on. It doesn't matter whether there is a harvest or not. We haven't eaten all the meat before winter last year!"
"Hey, I know, I know."
"Let's go back, it's still cold outside!"
The group walked a few steps and turned back to shout. Once they entered the mountain, their speed actually increased.
The leading man rubbed his hands and took out the spear from his back to use as a walking stick.
"Let's go check the trap first!"
They all grew up in the mountains, jumping around like wild monkeys. Even though the weather is cold now and the clothes are thick, it doesn't affect these hunters that much. Their steps are still agile. Even if a martial artist comes here, he may not be able to beat these hunters if he doesn't have good martial arts skills.
After walking into the mountains for more than an hour, they arrived at the first preset trap. The leader walked only a dozen steps away and looked through the gaps between the trees. He saw that the camouflage on the trap cover had collapsed, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Something must have fallen in!"
After a while, more than a dozen people gathered around the trap.
"Wow, a wild boar!" "Not bad, not bad, lots of meat, I like it!"
"Hehe, the fur is just worthless..."
"It's good to have it."
Seeing the wild boar rushing around after seeing people in the pit, the hunters all smiled.
"Ignore it for now and go to other traps!"
The leader waved his hand, and the group set off again, searching one trap after another. A total of ten traps were set up in different locations, including ground pits and rope net traps. Five of the first nine locations contained goods, so the probability was already very high.
Before they reached the last trap, the hunters were already talking and laughing in low voices.
"Roar… "
The distant roar made the team quiet down suddenly, but no one panicked, and everyone crouched down in an instant.
The leading man waved his hands left and right, and the people behind him took bows and spears. Some people untied the things that looked like ropes on their backs, which turned out to be two large nets when they were unfolded.
"What was the last trap? A rope net or a pit?"
"The pit."
The leading man nodded, waved his hand and pointed to the ground. The hunters understood what he meant and moved over quietly little by little.
They are all experienced old hunters. The direction of the mountain wind is in their favor at the moment. As long as the noise is not too loud, they have a great chance.
It sounded like a ferocious beast. Although the risk was a little greater, they were not too scared as they were in large numbers, and the furs of ferocious beasts were very valuable.
When we were dozens of steps away from the pit, we looked over there through the big tree and found that the sound was indeed coming from inside, and there was also a chewing sound with tearing and bone rubbing.
The leading man thought for a moment, pointed to seven or eight people, and except for nearly half of them who were holding bows and arrows and ready to provide support, he suddenly waved his hand.
The next moment, all the people who were called rushed towards the pit, shouting loudly to scare the beasts.
“Ahhhhh!” “Come on!”
“Go on!”
…
"Roar, roar..."
There was a panicked roar in the pit, and after seeming to hesitate for a moment, a mottled flower shadow suddenly jumped out of the trap, but happened to hit a large thick rope net that fell.
"Roar… "
“Hahahahaha… a big leopard!”
"This leather is really valuable hahahahaha..."
"Not bad, not bad. Tiger and leopard skins are rare treasures. I can go to the city and buy a piece of flowered cloth for my wife!"
In contrast to the panicked leopard, the hunters were overjoyed.
After laughing, the leading man couldn't help but speak.
"Since the beginning of winter last year, there have been a lot more fish outside the mountains, and they are much easier to catch."
"Hey, isn't this a good thing?"
The leader looked in the direction deep into Niu Kui Mountain.
“It’s a good thing indeed, but I always feel that some animals deep in Niu Kui Mountain have escaped.”
"Ah? Is there no food in there?"
The leading man shook his head.
"That's not clear. Niukui Mountain is so big, maybe it's just our area that's like this. Anyway, it's a good thing for us."
After saying that, the men went to deal with the prey together. The rope net that trapped the leopard had been shrunk into a ball. After grabbing the leopard's limbs through the mesh and tying them tightly, they strangled the leopard to death with the rope. Unless someone paid for it, the beast would generally not be taken out alive.
The prey in the pit had been killed by the leopard and its belly was broken, but the hunter did not waste it. The leopard only ate the internal organs first, and most of the meat was still there, so he naturally took it away.
At this time, the sky suddenly darkened, but it was only noon, so it was not because it was dark, but because thunderclouds had risen.
"Boom..."
The thunder and the change in the weather startled the hunters.
"Oh no, the weather has changed again. Hurry up and bring the prey back."
"Go, go, go, take your stuff and go, don't restore the trap!"
The group of people returned with a full load and hurried back quickly, but what they didn't know was that the same scene was happening in many places around the vast Niu Kui Mountain.
The sky above Niu Kui Mountain was covered with dark clouds again, and lightning flashed in the clouds that were as thick as rolling lead clouds.
"Boom..." "Crack... Boom..."
The lightning illuminated the depths of the mountains.
A huge, burly, hairless tiger half-poked its body out of the cave, its face with more intricate patterns illuminated brightly by the lightning, but he was not afraid of the lightning, and instead stared intently at the thunderclouds in the sky.
"Master once asked casually, who is this lightning controller? Isn't it Heaven?"
Gradually, Lu Shanjun walked out of the cave step by step. His steps seemed slow but the distance between them was quite large. He soon came to a stone platform and looked up at the dark clouds in the sky.
"Boom..."
"Roar--"
The tiger's roar suddenly drowned out the thunder, and with the whistling of the strong wind, it spread throughout the mountains.
However, the animals in this area of the mountains had nowhere to escape and had all moved to the outer areas.
"Shanjun, are you going to transform?"
A weak voice came from the stone platform. Lu Shanjun looked over there and saw the red fox's head poking out.
"Haha, let's see when the clouds above our heads dare to strike me. I advise you to stay away from me, or take shelter in my cave. Although you have made a lot of progress over the years, if you are affected by such a lightning strike, you will be seriously injured if not killed."
Seriously injured? Hu Yun looked up at the sky and felt that Lu Shanjun overestimated him.
"Then I'll leave too, be careful!"
After leaving these words, Hu Yun ran away. Instead of heading towards Lu Shanjun's depressing cave, he ran directly out of the mountain.