Sun Chaoshu took the crossbow and began searching for a target, wanting to see if he could hit prey using the method Lu Bingsheng taught him.
However, the commotion earlier had already scared away the small prey nearby.
Everyone continued to follow Captain Xu forward. Lu Bingsheng picked up the small squirrel he had shot and also retrieved the crossbow arrows Sun Chaoshu had missed earlier.
"Captain Xu, can this thing be eaten?" Sun Chaoshu asked, pointing at the squirrel Lu Bingsheng had picked up.
"It can be eaten. It's meat, after all, and the skin of this little creature can be exchanged for money at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Many hunters here rely on hunting and selling furs to earn money."
"Then how much is one squirrel hide worth?"
"I don't know the exact amount. I haven't sold any. In the past, when we hunted prey, we kept the furs ourselves to make fur coats in winter, as it gets very cold here."
"Is that so? Then let's hunt a few more squirrels today. I want to make a squirrel fur coat." Sun Chaoshu was very interested in hunting.
Along the way, they saw prey a few more times, such as pheasants and wild rabbits, but Sun Chaoshu couldn't even hit a stationary target, let alone these fast-moving ones. He shot several times with no success. Sun Chaoshu then gave up on hunting these fast-running small animals.
They hadn't walked far when they came to a pine forest with many squirrels in the trees. Sun Chaoshu was so excited to see these squirrels that he quickly picked up his crossbow and began to aim.
These squirrels weren't afraid of people; they squatted in the trees, watching the few people below.
Whoosh~ Missed.
Sun Chaoshu continued to fine-tune, whoosh~ still missed.
Two consecutive shots, both missed. Sun Chaoshu was furious.
Continued to aim, whoosh~ missed again.
"Ahhh~, what a crappy crossbow. I've shot so many times and haven't hit anything once. I'm not playing anymore." Sun Chaoshu broke down.
"Chao Shu, give me the crossbow. I'll try." Ye Hao found it a bit amusing to see Sun Chaoshu like this.
Taking the crossbow from Sun Chaoshu, Ye Hao strung it, loaded an arrow, aimed, specifically aiming a little to the right. Ye Hao's physical fitness was high now, his hand was steady, and his eye was accurate. When it looked about right, he pulled the trigger.
Whoosh~ Shot nothing.
Sun Chaoshu saw that even his amazing older brother hadn't hit it and started laughing. "Haha, Hao Ge, I thought you were omnipotent, but you still missed! See, it's not my problem, it's the crossbow's problem."
"Shut up, you. Do you think everyone is like you? Keep your voice down, don't scare all the squirrels away." Ye Hao retorted to Sun Chaoshu.
Learning from the last experience, he strung the bow, loaded an arrow, aimed, and fine-tuned.
Whoosh~ Thud.
A squirrel fell to the ground with a thud.
"This isn't scientific! How can all of you hit it, but I've shot so many times and haven't hit anything? It's not scientific!" Sun Chaoshu broke down again.
"Chao Shu, you're no good at this. Look at us, we hit it in two tries. How many times have you shot, and you haven't even touched a squirrel's fur? Haha." Ye Hao teased.
"Hao Ge, give me the crossbow. I refuse to believe it. If I don't hit one today, I'm not going back."
"Here, here, you can play slowly. We've all had our share of success today. I think you might as well have set a trap by the camp in the first place; you might have had some success then. Remember to retrieve the crossbow bolts after you're done; there aren't many of them anyway." Ye Hao handed the crossbow to Sun Chaoshu, not forgetting to tease him.
Captain Xu and the others couldn't help but smile at Sun Chaoshu's antics, but Captain Xu was also happy to see these young people.
In the past, their mountain patrols were always dull, and they would just lie on the heated brick bed and sleep when they returned. They rarely spoke on the way, but now that these young people were here, the atmosphere of their forest ranger team was clearly much livelier than before.
"Sun Chaoshu, you take your time shooting. We'll eat something here first." Captain Xu said to Sun Chaoshu.
"Just you wait and see how I become a sharpshooter."
"Alright, alright, I think you're just being stubborn." Ye Hao immediately debunked him.
"Hao Ge, how about we make a bet? If I hit one today, I win. If I don't, you win. If I win, you wash my clothes for a month. If you win, I'll wash your clothes for a month."
"No way, what's so hard about hitting one? Even a blind cat can find a dead mouse. How about this: if you can hit three squirrels, you win, how about that?"
"Okay, then three. If I hit them, I win."
With that, Sun Chaoshu began to aim again.
Seeing Sun Chaoshu practice shooting squirrels, the remaining few didn't just watch. They took out the dry rations they carried with them and began to eat.
While they were eating, Sun Chaoshu fired crossbow bolts again and again. In a short while, all thirty crossbow bolts were shot out, but not a single squirrel was hit. The squirrels seemed to have gotten tired of the game too, and they hopped and jumped up into the treetops.
Seeing all the squirrels run away, Ye Hao burst out laughing. "Haha. Chao Shu, remember your bet. You'll wash my clothes for a month when we get back, okay?"
"Haha," everyone burst into laughter.
"Haha, Sun Chaoshu, your luck is too bad! Even if you just guessed, you should have hit one after so many tries. You shot over thirty times and didn't hit once. I think if they issue you a gun in the future, you shouldn't even bother taking it; it would be a waste of bullets, haha." Er Gouzi was almost laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.
"Hmph, what do you know? I just don't want to kill. Killing brings bad karma." Sun Chaoshu was still stubbornly trying to justify himself.
"Haha, Chao Shu, don't talk about not wanting to kill. You didn't hesitate to mess with the fish in the Hucheng River in the capital with me before. How come you're talking about bad karma from killing now that we're in Changbai Mountain?"
"How can that be the same? Look how cute this little squirrel is. How can you kill it? Don't you think you're being cruel?"
"Haha, Sun Chaoshu, I'll see if you still say it's cute when you eat dinner tonight.
Alright, Chao Shu, go pick up all the arrows you shot."
Sun Chaoshu silently went to pick up the arrows upon hearing this. After picking up the items and eating a little, everyone continued their journey. Sun Chaoshu was noticeably less enthusiastic during the afternoon's trek and had no intention of shooting at other small prey they encountered.
Ye Hao, on the other hand, took the crossbow and shot a few times, but his luck wasn't good either. Hitting moving animals with such a simple crossbow was still a bit challenging.
However, for small, cute squirrels that often stood on branches watching the people below, Ye Hao shot down two, and only two; he didn't shoot any more than that.
And so, everyone completed their mountain patrol for the day. The harvest was decent: Ye Hao got three squirrels, and Lu Bingsheng got one.
When they returned to camp, everyone went to the place where Lu Bingsheng had set his traps, but their luck seemed to be bad today; there was no prey in the traps. Lu Bingsheng collected the traps from the ground and returned to camp.
Collecting the traps at night was also something Captain Xu taught them, because this place was too close to where they lived. If they didn't collect the traps at night and prey got caught, it could attract dangerous beasts like tigers or wolves from the mountains, which would be very dangerous. Ordinary hunters would not set traps too close to their living quarters, as no one could guarantee what kind of ferocious beast the trapped prey might attract.