Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Eighteen Wild Boars Harvested

The two of them began to close in using the large net in Xu Huaian’s hands, taking down the wild boars one by one.

As long as a wild boar entered the net, Gu Qinghuan could store it away in her space.

In the blink of an eye, the two worked seamlessly together, taking down five wild boars in just thirty seconds.

The wild boars were so hungry that they didn’t notice much—let alone realize that five of their companions had quietly vanished. They were still desperately fighting over the rare food.

Gu Qinghuan and Xu Huaian repeated their strategy, targeting the wild boars that had strayed from the group.

From time to time, Gu Qinghuan would toss out some cabbage to attract their attention and keep them moving. This trick worked like a charm. Soon, only five wild boars were left in the woods.

It was only then that the remaining boars seemed to realize something was wrong. Huh? Why were so many of their brothers and sisters suddenly gone, leaving only themselves?

One particularly sturdy wild boar charged straight at Xu Huaian.

Relying on his strength, Xu Huaian picked up his iron shovel and struck down hard, knocking the boar to the ground. It squealed loudly.

Normally, wild boars wouldn’t be this easy to deal with, but after days of hunger, they were weak and had little energy left.

Gu Qinghuan found a stick and, keeping her distance, poked the wild boar on the ground. Instantly, it vanished—she had transferred it into her space.

“Huh, it actually works! I thought this wouldn’t do the trick,” Gu Qinghuan exclaimed.

She’d just thought of it on the spot: as long as she could touch something, she could store it in her space. Using a stick counted as touching, and sure enough, it worked.

What she didn’t know was that this move had completely terrified the other wild boars, who were standing there dumbfounded.

They were already weak, and now, seeing their leader disappear with just a poke, their animal instincts kicked in. Sensing danger, they bolted.

Xu Huaian quickly caught up and trapped one with the big net. His iron shovel didn’t miss either—he swung it with impressive force, making the wild boars squeal in terror.

Two of the boars were clearly too exhausted to run, while the other two kept charging forward.

Gu Qinghuan followed behind, storing three more wild boars in her space and cleaning up the area as she went. By the time she caught up, Xu Huaian had already dealt with the last two.

The remaining boars were trembling in fear—this human was terrifying, unbelievably strong. They felt like he could kill them with a single blow from his shovel.

Gu Qinghuan used her stick again, poking the last two boars and storing them away with ease.

The battle was over.

“All right, put your shovel away. With these wild boars, we’re all set. Let’s head home early and collect the traps we set this morning along the way,” Gu Qinghuan said, satisfied with their haul of eighteen wild boars.

“Didn’t you want some flying dragons too?” Xu Huaian asked.

“Those things don’t come out to forage in this cold weather. They’re hard to find. If we come across one, great; if not, I won’t force it.”

“All right then.” Xu Huaian had hoped to catch a few more animals, but clearly, Gu Qinghuan was ready to head back, so he didn’t insist.

As they walked, they caught a few pheasants along the way. Xu Huaian shot them down with a slingshot—just a cheap one from a vending machine, but in his hands, it was like a cheat code, incredibly powerful.

It was the first time Gu Qinghuan had seen this side of him. Not only was he strong, but he was also an excellent shot—almost never missing.

He must have been an outstanding talent in the army, she thought. After all, he’d won first-class merit; you couldn’t achieve that without real skills.

Gu Qinghuan felt even more certain that letting him go back to the army was the right decision. That was where he could truly shine. She hoped his future would be smooth and bright, and that her journey through time to save him would not be in vain.

Xu Huaian enjoyed the way Gu Qinghuan looked at him—with admiration and a hint of awe.

He remembered hearing before that for a marriage to be happy, a wife should have some admiration for her husband. That way, the relationship would only grow stronger, no matter how far apart they were.

Before they knew it, they’d reached another spot where they’d set traps.

From a distance, Gu Qinghuan saw two dark shapes crouched on the ground.

As they got closer, they saw that Xu Huaian’s big foot trap had caught a large animal—a fully grown wild mountain goat. Next to it was a kid, unharmed, probably unwilling to leave its injured mother.

When the two goats saw the humans approach, they let out soft cries.

Baa, baa…

Gu Qinghuan felt a little sad, but this was the law of nature, for both humans and animals.

The strong prey on the weak, survival of the fittest.

Even if she let the mother goat go, it wouldn’t survive long with its injured leg, especially in the wild.

Not to mention it had a kid with it.

Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment.

“We’ll take the adult and let the kid go. Whether it survives or not, at least it’ll bring some comfort to the mother.”

A mother always wants her child to live on.

She’d be a saint just this once. Maybe the kid would survive.

Xu Huaian didn’t think it would make much difference—the kid would likely become prey for other animals soon enough.

But he understood Gu Qinghuan’s feelings and wanted to protect her kindness and innocence.

“All right.”

Xu Huaian released the adult goat, allowing Gu Qinghuan to store it away.

Gu Qinghuan hesitated, then the mother goat disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground.

The kid looked on in confusion, panicking and circling around. It couldn’t understand where its mother had gone.

Its mournful cries echoed in their ears as Xu Huaian and Gu Qinghuan walked on.

The kid, lost and helpless, circled a few times, then, seeing the two humans leaving and its mother gone, finally followed Gu Qinghuan’s footprints and chased after them."

"Chapter 224: Xu Lao’er Steals a Pheasant, Cold Spicy Rabbit

Gu Qinghuan was feeling a bit down when suddenly, Xu Huaian nudged her arm, signaling for her to look back.

She turned around and saw the little lamb trailing behind them, step by step, not the least bit afraid. Its clear eyes were like glass.

Xu Huaian whispered, “Let’s take it with us. If it stays here, it’s only a matter of time before it dies. If you like it, we can just keep it. It’s not like we can’t afford to feed one more mouth.”

Gu Qinghuan nodded. “Alright.”

She had just felt sorry for the mother sheep’s pitiful gaze and couldn’t bear to take its child away too. But thinking about it, isn’t it safer in the space than outside? No predators, plenty to eat and drink.

After what they’d just been through, she couldn’t bring herself to eat these two sheep either. They’d just keep them for now.

The little lamb was finally reunited with its mother in the space. The pair huddled together, curiously inspecting their “new home.” There was no snow, just endless open space, and they could even see other sheep in the distance. They finally relaxed.

Gu Qinghuan and Xu Huaian found two more traps, but only caught a pheasant—better than nothing.

Once they checked the last trap, they could head down the mountain.

As they approached the first trap, they saw a figure in the distance.

Xu Huaian hurried forward.

“Xu Lao’er? Put down that pheasant!”

The figure was none other than the village rascal, Xu Lao’er—the same guy who used to bully Lin Xiaomeng and had his luck stolen by her.

Ever since Lin Xiaomeng took his fortune, his life had gone downhill. He used to get by on petty theft, but since then, every time he tried to steal, he’d get caught red-handed, or at least get a scolding, sometimes even a beating.

Trouble big and small seemed to follow him everywhere.

After winter set in, even the grain he was allotted got carried off by rats. He had to tighten his belt and borrow coarse grains from the village just to get by.

But for the past half month, he felt like his luck wasn’t quite as bad as before.

Today, craving meat and seeing the weather was good, he decided to try his luck on the mountain.

He hadn’t been up long when he found someone else’s trap—with a pheasant caught inside!

That was a real prize.

He quickly grabbed it, thinking his luck had finally turned.

But just as he was about to leave, the trap’s owner showed up.

He wanted meat so badly, and being a scoundrel by nature, he just spread his hands and said, “Which eye of yours saw this pheasant is yours? I caught it myself!”

He was lying through his teeth—the trap still had the pheasant’s blood on it, and it was obvious he’d just yanked it out.

“Xu Lao’er, that’s our trap. If you want to eat, set your own,” Gu Qinghuan said, catching up.

“How can you prove this trap is yours?” Xu Lao’er’s eyes landed on Gu Qinghuan, and he was stunned by her beauty. His gaze grew more and more suggestive.

How had he never noticed how pretty this little educated youth was? She was even prettier than Lin Xiaomeng, and even angry, she was stunning. Too bad she was already taken.

Xu Huaian didn’t miss the lecherous glint in Xu Lao’er’s eyes. A fire burned inside him, threatening to explode.

This bastard!

He didn’t bother arguing. In three quick strides, he reached Xu Lao’er and kicked him hard, sending him sprawling face-first into the snow, clutching his stomach and howling.

The pheasant slipped from Xu Lao’er’s grasp, flapping on the ground. But its leg was injured, so it couldn’t fly away.

Gu Qinghuan hurried over to catch it and packed up the trap.

Her man was just too handsome. This was exactly how to deal with people like Xu Lao’er—no point arguing, just beat him into submission!

Xu Huaian’s fists pounded Xu Lao’er like a drum. He held back a little, only giving him superficial injuries, not breaking any bones.

Otherwise, with Xu Lao’er’s scrawny frame, a single punch might have broken something.

Xu Lao’er’s eyes filled with tears from the pain.

“I already gave you the pheasant… why are you still hitting me?!”

Xu Huaian, that lunatic!

If he’d known, he wouldn’t have messed with him.

But the temptation of the pheasant had made him forget Xu Huaian’s fighting skills.

“Huaian, let’s go,” Gu Qinghuan called when she saw Xu Lao’er had had enough.

“Yeah, got it,” Xu Huaian replied loudly.

He bent down and whispered fiercely in Xu Lao’er’s ear, “Xu Lao’er, you want to keep your eyes? You’d better not have any dirty thoughts about my wife, or you won’t live to see tomorrow. I mean it.”

Xu Lao’er was so scared by his expression that he was speechless.

So he got beaten up just for looking at Gu Qinghuan? He really shouldn’t have sneaked that glance.

Damn, it hurt—beauty really is dangerous.

Xu Huaian returned to Gu Qinghuan’s side, calm as if nothing had happened, and took the things from her hands.

Gu Qinghuan praised him without hesitation. “Nice job. That’s exactly how you deal with scoundrels like him—just beat them up.”

Xu Huaian nodded, pleased.

When they reached a secluded spot at the foot of the mountain, they took out the basket of rabbits from the space. Xu Huaian slung it on his back, along with the pheasant.

There were also a few pheasants, but Gu Qinghuan just left them in the space for now.

The basket was already full enough.

Gu Qinghuan covered the top with some firewood for disguise, and the two of them hurried home.

There were fourteen rabbits in total. Xu Huaian skinned them all, saving the pelts for his wife to make clothes—warm and good-looking.

He and his future father-in-law really were on the same wavelength.

As for the skinned rabbit meat, Gu Qinghuan kept seven, freezing them outside to use as needed.

The other seven she butchered and chopped into pieces, planning to make cold spicy rabbit overnight.

This dish keeps well, and the best part is, it tastes great even cold. It’s perfect with steamed buns or rice.

Since there were so many rabbits, everyone came to help—some chopping, some prepping ingredients.

The rabbit pieces were washed several times to remove the blood and then drained, otherwise they’d splatter in the oil.

They were marinated with cooking wine, scallion, ginger, pepper, and salt.

The dried chilies were cut up and soaked in warm water.

Once everything was ready, it was time to fry.

You need a lot of oil for this. Gu Qinghuan did it in seven batches, one rabbit at a time—any more and it wouldn’t cook evenly and might burn.

She stir-fried the rabbit meat in the oil. At first, the oil turned yellow, but she kept stirring until it turned clear again.

Once the oil was clear, she added the drained chili pieces, stir-fried, then tossed in Sichuan peppercorns for aroma, followed by chili powder.

When the color turned a bright red, she added sugar, tasted it, and adjusted with salt, five-spice powder, and prickly ash oil.

Finally, she added minced garlic, gave it a few quick stirs, and it was done.

As soon as the first batch was ready, everyone crowded around to taste it—the aroma was just too tempting.

Bright in color, crisp and not mushy, spicy and slightly sweet, with firm, chewy meat and a lingering aftertaste.

That was everyone’s verdict.

Actually, it wasn’t fully flavored right out of the pan—it would taste even better after sitting overnight."

"Chapter 225: Old Wang’s Treasure Chests

Seven pots of rabbit stew—one whole rabbit per pot.

No one else could really grasp the essence of the recipe, so almost every step was done by Gu Qinghuan herself. By the end, when she was too exhausted to stir the pot anymore, Xu Huai’an took over.

After making everything, she was completely worn out.

But seeing the table piled high with big bowls of cold rabbit, she felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

It was just that her arms were aching terribly. Making beef jerky and cold rabbit in such large quantities these past few days had really taken a toll on her hands.

She’d definitely need to soak in the spiritual spring in her space tonight.

That evening, dinner was prepared by Zhong Luoning and Ming Ruxue. Lately, Zhong Luoning had learned quite a few dishes from Gu Qinghuan, and she was getting the hang of it.

To be precise, she already had a foundation in cooking, and with Gu Qinghuan’s guidance, her dishes now tasted really good.

Once they returned to Jing City, Gu Lanting and Ming Ruxue, those two little ones, were in for a treat.

One pot of cold rabbit was finished off that very night. If there hadn’t been other dishes, the rest probably wouldn’t have lasted either.

The spicy, numbing flavor was just perfect with rice.

After dinner, Zhong Luoning took the kids to bed.

Gu Qinghuan and Xu Huai’an “disappeared” again, but by now, no one found it strange.

They’d been vanishing together a lot lately, and everyone just assumed the couple wanted some alone time before parting ways, so they made sure to give them space.

In reality, the two of them weren’t off having some romantic heart-to-heart—they were just working and chatting together.

The first thing they did upon entering the space was treat the injured ewe from that afternoon.

If they didn’t treat her, she wouldn’t die—after all, there was plenty of food and no predators here—but she’d definitely be left crippled.

Xu Huai’an washed the wound with spiritual spring water, applied ointment, and splinted it.

Gu Qinghuan gave the two sheep an extra meal and some spiritual spring water.

She’d discovered that animals who drank the spring water long-term seemed to become more intelligent, like the little sable, who was now almost human-like—though the Exorcist Flower had played a big part in that.

For the other livestock, she only gave them heavily diluted spring water—after all, they’d eventually be eaten, and there was no need to make them too smart.

But these two sheep were different. She wanted to raise them well and train them to be the leaders of the flock, so she gave them undiluted spring water.

For now, they were kept separately.

Once the sheep were settled, the two of them started processing the wild game they’d caught during the day. Gu Qinghuan cleaned the pheasants, while Xu Huai’an slaughtered and butchered the two wild boars that had been injured in the fight, storing the meat away.

After finishing all the chores, they turned their attention to the five large chests they’d brought in earlier.

“What do you think is inside? Gold and silver? Calligraphy, jade, or maybe weapons?” Gu Qinghuan tapped on a camphorwood chest.

“I have no idea, but we’ll know once we open them.” Xu Huai’an was about to open one.

Gu Qinghuan stopped him. “What if it’s something bad? Let me do it.”

She pulled Xu Huai’an back a few meters, then used her mind to open the first chest.

They waited a moment—nothing happened. Moving closer, they saw it was just as Gu Qinghuan had guessed: all sorts of objects, big and small, bottles and jars, glittering and extraordinary in appearance.

The gaps were stuffed with cotton to keep the porcelain from bumping into each other.

This box instantly made Gu Qinghuan even more curious about the others.

She opened all the chests in one go.

The contents of the second chest left them both stunned.

Half of it was filled with silver dollars, and inside was a smaller wooden box packed with gold bars.

A whole chest full of gold bars.

How much would that be worth?!

Things were getting more and more mysterious. Who could have buried so much treasure deep in these mountains?

The third chest held women’s gold and silver jewelry and jade ornaments.

The gold and silver pieces had tarnished and lost their luster, but Gu Qinghuan could tell the jade was exceptional.

Each small box inside contained a full set of jewelry, all made from top-quality jade: top-grade glassy emerald, fresh icy apple green, beautifully colored spring jade, and fiery red jadeite.

The emerald set was especially stunning: bracelets, beads, earrings, pendants, hairpins, and more.

In modern times, this set alone would be worth at least a hundred million! Emeralds had become so sought after.

But for now, these things couldn’t even be worn in public—too dangerous.

Judging by this chest, its owner must have been a woman of high status. Otherwise, how could she have collected so many complete sets of jade jewelry?

Setting aside the jade, Gu Qinghuan looked at the fourth chest. Its contents seemed to have come from a man’s study—rather messy, a bit of everything.

Several sets of scholar’s tools: brushes, inksticks, inkstones—clearly cherished items.

There were also many thread-bound books and a few scrolls of calligraphy and painting.

So the man of the house was a scholar? Or at least an intellectual from the old days!

Gu Qinghuan didn’t understand these things and skipped them, but Xu Huai’an was interested and started looking through the books and paintings.

The last chest was, unbelievably, packed full of gold bars—an enormous amount.

My god, who buried all this here? This family must have hidden their entire fortune!

Gu Qinghuan had a guess in her heart.

Xu Huai’an quickly confirmed it for her.

“These belonged to Old Wang the Landlord!”

“How do you know?”

“Look at this seal: Wang Zhiyuan—that’s Old Wang’s name.

I remember when I was little, before he was labeled a landlord and overthrown.

Back then, he ran a kind of literacy class in the village, teaching us tenant kids how to read.

He was an educated man, inherited his family’s wealth, but preferred teaching. He often came to the school to teach us, and we called him Mr. Wang.”

Gu Qinghuan hadn’t expected such a story behind all this.

She remembered from the original host’s memories that Old Wang had helped her before, too.

“So, he wasn’t a bad person.”

Xu Huai’an seemed lost in his memories.

“He wasn’t. The real villain was someone else.”

Gu Qinghuan guessed he meant Xu Mingshan—after all, he was the one who repaid kindness with cruelty, drove Old Wang to ruin, and caused his tragic end.

But Xu Huai’an didn’t say anything more."

"Chapter 226: Midnight Grave Visit, A Dream Message