Chapter 16: Wang Wei’s Rebellion and His Disappearance During a Solo Hunt

The entire village had just over twenty households. A group of more than twenty young people from each family set out together. The youngest was only fourteen years old, while the oldest was Du Dahai, already in his forties. Everyone was dressed warmly, carefully treading through the snow.

It was only then that Chu Feng realized that each household secretly kept some forbidden items—axes, sickles, even swords. Most carried short-handled hoes. Du Dahai repeatedly emphasized, “Keep those forbidden items to yourselves. If I find out anyone has reported this, the village rules will be enforced!”

In this era, whether it was family rules or village regulations, the punishments were severe—sometimes even deadly. Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Chu Feng took out an axe and a bow. Instead of using deer tendon for the bowstring, he used twisted cotton and hemp ropes, which looked quite sturdy, though its true effectiveness was unknown. He even carved several wooden arrows himself.

The group of over twenty moved in formation. Chu Feng and Du Dahai took the lead, scouting ahead to prevent unexpected dangers from catching the others off guard. Wang Wei, Sun Can, and a few other young men stayed at the rear, with the rest in the middle.

Their target was the herd of mountain sheep spotted earlier.

“See this sword in my hand? It was left by my grandfather when he served in the army. It’s incredibly sharp. Hunting with this will definitely be more efficient than that Chu Feng fellow,” Wang Wei boasted to Sun Can.

“Yeah, the village chief keeps saying the mountains are cursed. I haven’t seen any curse. He says the mountains are dangerous, but Chu Feng hunted twice and came back fine. I think the chief is just old and exaggerating,” Sun Can replied.

“This time, we have to show the chief that we’re capable of hunting in the mountains too!”

As they spoke, a rabbit appeared before them. Wang Wei eagerly nudged Sun Can. “Look, a rabbit!”

It was a gray-black wild hare, cautiously watching the group from about ten meters away, ready to bolt at any moment.

“Let’s catch it!”

Sun Can hesitated. “But the chief said we should listen to Chu Feng.”

“We’ve been walking for an hour. Have you seen any sheep? No. So why can’t we quietly catch a rabbit? It’s small, just enough for the two of us. If you tell the chief, then how are twenty people supposed to share one rabbit?” Wang Wei urged impatiently.

He was eager to prove himself, even if it was just by catching a rabbit.

Sun Can thought it over and agreed. They had been wandering the mountain for an hour, snow still falling. Their feet were numb from the cold. Chu Feng and the village chief had said hunting might yield nothing, and they should be prepared for empty-handed returns. But they weren’t willing to return empty-handed. If they climbed the mountain, they wanted to bring back something, or the cold would have been endured for nothing.

“You can’t go! The chief said to obey him,” Du Cheng warned as the two began to leave.

“None of your business—don’t interfere. What if the rabbit gets away? Will you compensate us?” Wang Wei snapped.

Du Cheng shook his head but said, “You need to move quickly. If you fall behind, the chief might not let you come next time.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just a rabbit. Watch us,” Wang Wei said, creeping silently toward the rabbit with Sun Can.

...

“Chief, we’ve been walking three hours. Why haven’t we found the sheep yet?” one villager finally spoke up, unable to bear the suspense.

Du Dahai sneered. “You don’t really think Chu Feng’s hunting success is just luck, do you?”

Everyone was stunned.

“The lamb soup you drank yesterday at Chu Feng’s house came from his hunt. He spent three whole hours in these mountains before finding the herd. Behind them was a big cat stalking; Chu Feng managed to kill a young sheep from its grasp. That’s why you had lamb soup! And now you want to give up just because you can’t find prey?”

The villagers turned to Chu Feng in silence, surprised. They had always believed his luck was good, which explained his hunting success. They never imagined he had faced such danger. Hunting was hard work and perilous.

Before this, the villagers hadn’t truly understood.

Now they realized hunting was no easy feat.

“Father, something’s wrong,” Du Cheng came forward, panting and looking anxious, even somewhat timid.

“What is it?”

“Wang Wei and Sun Can went to catch the rabbit and haven’t returned.”

Du Dahai’s eyes widened in anger. “Weren’t you with them at the rear? When did they leave?”

“Half an hour ago…”

Smack!

Du Dahai slapped Du Cheng hard across the face. Du Cheng’s frail body collapsed to the ground. The villagers hurried to help him up.

Chu Feng quickly grabbed Du Dahai’s arm. “How many times have I told you? Once you enter the mountain, you must follow orders and stay with the group! They left to catch a rabbit right in front of you and didn’t tell me. It’s been an hour—why didn’t you say anything sooner? I sent you all hunting, not to die!”

“Enough. Now’s not the time to assign blame. We need to find them.”

Chu Feng looked out into the vast mountains. They had been missing for an hour, which meant they were lost. Getting lost was frightening, but worse was losing their way or encountering venomous snakes or fierce beasts.

Du Dahai was at a loss, staring blankly into the distance. He looked at Chu Feng for help.

“We absolutely cannot split up to search. Two are already lost; if we scatter, more could go missing. Du Cheng, do you know the way back?”

“I do,” Du Cheng replied, still nursing his face.

“Then take the villagers back.”

The atmosphere turned serious. No one objected.

They had been trekking for three hours without spotting any prey. Everyone was frozen and exhausted. Many had wanted to leave earlier but hadn’t dared to speak up. Now that Chu Feng had spoken, the group quietly agreed to retreat.

“What about Wang Wei and Sun Can?”

“Yeah, those two said they’d obey but ran off on their own.”

“More people means more strength. Why don’t we all search together?”

Chu Feng shook his head. “More people isn’t always better. It can be a burden. The chief and I will stay behind; the rest should hurry back. It’ll get dark soon.”

The mountain grew dark early. Given Wang Wei and Sun Can’s pace, they couldn’t have gone far in half an hour. If they could find their footprints, they could find their location.

Since the others couldn’t help, they followed Du Cheng back to the village, their hearts still uneasy.

Chu Feng and Du Dahai returned to the spot where Wang Wei and Sun Can had left and carefully searched for footprints. The deep snow made footprints obvious—each step left a deep imprint.

Upon finding the tracks, Chu Feng took up his axe.

“Chief, from here on it’s just the two of us. Stay alert.”

“Understood.”

The two then followed the footprints deeper into the mountain.