Xu Duoyan, separated by a sloping hillside, heard a few blood-curdling screams from a distance, startling a flock of birds in the forest.
The rustling sound echoed eerily through the dark woods.
He didn’t dare think much and quickly followed the noise, running up the hill.
After climbing over the ridge, he finally caught up.
When he saw the scene below the hill, Xu Duoyan instinctively froze in his tracks.
He stood dumbfounded, staring at the person in the distance.
A burly wild boar was now lying on withered branches and leaves.
Blood was smeared all over the ground, giving off a pungent metallic smell.
Half a broken tusk was scattered nearby, a silent testament to the ferocity of the earlier battle.
Cold.
In disbelief, he looked up from the boar and saw Cao Wen casually shaking off his bloodied fist.
That man tilted his chin slightly, his eyes filled with a chilling, murderous aura that Xu Duoyan had never seen before—as if he were used to seeing life fade before him.
That look…he vaguely remembered seeing it once before, during the wartime chaos of his childhood—on the face of a general on horseback, clad in armor, slashing down bandits.
Seeing that same, or even more intense, expression again, a cold sweat silently broke out down Xu Duoyan’s back.
Cao Wen spotted someone standing in the distance and immediately hid his bloodied hand behind his back.
He gave the boar beside him a kick.
The tusk was too sharp and had cut his hand, causing a burning pain now.
He should’ve pulled both tusks out earlier.
Just as he was about to walk over to Xu Duoyan, the latter came forward on his own.
Still a little dazed, Xu Duoyan looked at Cao Wen and said,
“It’s over now. Don’t be scared. Let’s go back.”
Xu Duoyan lifted his gaze to Cao Wen’s now relaxed expression—back to that familiar, slightly foolish look he usually had when facing him.
As if it hadn’t been him just moments ago who looked ready to kill.
Xu Duoyan couldn’t help but think: if one day Cao Wen found out he had been lied to and used, would he instantly change his expression and twist his neck without batting an eye?
But the thought passed quickly.
He glanced down at the hand Cao Wen had hidden behind him.
It was like a child hiding a mistake from an adult.
And suddenly, he felt…maybe he wouldn’t.
He pulled a clean handkerchief from his sleeve.
“Your hand.”
Cao Wen opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He lowered his head and slowly revealed his hand.
Xu Duoyan saw that the skin over the knuckles was completely torn, blood and flesh mangled together.
A nearly two-inch long gash ran across the back of his hand, deep enough to expose bone, still bleeding.
Xu Duoyan frowned and quickly took some mugwort leaves he had picked earlier, crushed them in his palm, and gently pressed them onto the wound.
He used his fingers to smooth the herbs flat and then wrapped the hand in the handkerchief.
Cao Wen, lips tightly pressed, watched Xu Duoyan concentrate on tying the cloth.
The older man’s brow was furrowed like the bark of an ancient tree.
He completely forgot the pain in his hand and, in a trance, reached out a finger, wanting to smooth that frown.
“It’s done. I’ll clean it properly when we get back and redress the wound. For now, this will stop the bleeding.”
Just then, Xu Duoyan suddenly looked up, and Cao Wen’s heart skipped.
He quickly withdrew his hand and hid it behind his back.
Xu Duoyan looked at his movement in surprise.
“That hand’s hurt too?”
Cao Wen shook his head quickly.
Unconvinced, Xu Duoyan frowned.
“Show me.”
Cao Wen pursed his lips.
Seeing the stern expression, he reluctantly brought the hand forward.
Xu Duoyan checked both sides—aside from thick calluses, there were no wounds.
He glanced at Cao Wen in confusion—why hide it then?
Cao Wen said guiltily,
“Let’s head back. The boar’s blood smell will attract predators. I’ll carry the pig. You carry the herbs we picked.”
Xu Duoyan agreed and turned to help lift the boar.
As Cao Wen watched him, he looked down at the bandaged hand.
It still carried Xu Duoyan’s faint scent—he had smelled it before when they lay close together.
He couldn’t help but smile.
Suddenly, getting gouged by the boar didn’t feel like such a bad deal.
The thought made his steps lighter.
After all this fuss, it was getting late.
Cao Wen wiped the blood from the boar with some bracken and slung it over his shoulder.
They didn’t know if anyone else was in the mountain, and if other villagers saw what they caught, it might cause trouble.
So they retraced their path, and by the time they reached the foot of the mountain, it was already getting dark.
To avoid attention, they rested for the time it took an incense stick to burn at a small valley near the trail, waiting for night to fall completely before taking a more secluded path back home.
Even though their small courtyard was run-down, it still felt much safer than being on the road.
Back home, Xu Duoyan lit a fire and poured two large buckets of water into the pot to boil.
Though they’d been busy all afternoon in the mountains, the meat from lunch was still filling.
He felt a bit hungry, but not the kind of gnawing hunger that made his stomach churn like before.
He suddenly realized—he hadn’t felt that kind of hunger since Cao Wen came back.
“Is the water hot yet? I reek of boar and blood—I need a bath now!”
After carrying a hundred-pound boar down the mountain, Cao Wen’s back was soaked with sweat.
The mixed smells made even him feel uncomfortable.
He dumped the boar by the eaves and came inside only after bolting the courtyard gate securely.
He planned to wash up first before dealing with the meat.
Xu Duoyan stirred the firewood with metal tongs, then tested the water in the pot.
The water had just gone in not long ago, but it was summer, and it heated quickly—it was now warm enough for bathing.
He picked up the ladle to pour water for Cao Wen.
“I’ll do it,”
Cao Wen said, stepping up to take the ladle from him.
Xu Duoyan glanced at the boar outside and asked what Cao Wen planned to do with it.
Cao Wen thought he’d scald it, butcher it, keep some meat for themselves, and sell the rest at the market.
But he then realized—there was no proper butcher knife at home.
These tools were only available to actual butchers.
A kitchen knife wouldn’t be enough.
He hesitated: should he sell the whole pig as is, or ask a butcher to come and help process it?
Though Xu Duoyan had lived in the village for many years, the last time he saw a pig slaughtered was when his father was still around.
Afterward, life had been too hard even to eat meat, let alone raise livestock—he had no experience handling this.
After thinking for a moment, he said,
“If the blood stays in too long, the meat will spoil. Better to just sell the boar to a butcher.”
Cao Wen considered it—it did make sense.
It would save them the trouble of hauling the boar to the meat market.
Most butchers had their own transport anyway.
Decision made, he took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes, and headed straight to the butcher’s house.
“Hey, isn’t this Cao Wen from the valley?”
Right outside the boundary of Caojia Valley, there was a butcher’s household.
At that moment, the old butcher had one bare foot propped on a bench, eating dinner beneath the peach tree in his courtyard.
From a distance, Cao Wen could see a jar of wine on the square table, along with a plate of smashed cucumbers and cured pig liver.
The old man was humming and chewing his snacks, looking quite at ease.
He seemed drowsy, but his ears were sharp.
Before Cao Wen even reached the gate, the butcher heard the movement and called out loudly:
“Li Bo, having dinner?”
The butcher responded with little expression: “Something you need?”
Though he asked, his tone didn’t sound very welcoming—clearly used to turning people down.
Cao Wen didn’t come to borrow money, so he walked straight in and lowered his voice to explain his purpose.
“Slaughtering a pig?”
The butcher’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You tenant farmers are raising livestock now?”
“Didn’t hand it over to your landlord? Why would someone else need to slaughter it? Just don’t come crying to me if I take the animal and your landlord shows up later. I don’t like getting caught in that mess.”
Cao Wen, naturally, caught the condescension in his tone toward tenant farmers.
But it was common enough, so he simply replied:
“It’s not home-raised—wild game from the mountains. If Li Bo isn’t free, I can ask Butcher Tian at the village entrance.”
Before Cao Wen even finished speaking, Butcher Li quickly put his foot down and asked,
“You said it’s wild game?”
Cao Wen nodded.
“Got it today. Just wondering if you’d be interested.”
As soon as he heard it was from the mountains, the butcher’s interest was piqued.
No way would he let another village butcher snatch this business.
Not to mention, wild game sold for much higher than domestic livestock.
“You used to work for the Qian family, didn’t you? When did you pick up hunting skills?”
Once he confirmed it was real, the butcher’s attitude completely changed.
He finally managed to jam his foot into his flattened cloth shoe and stood up: “Of course I’ll take it! Come on, let’s go check it out!”
Seeing the man’s sudden enthusiasm, Cao Wen reminded him,
“Bring your tools, Li Bo. It’s the real deal. No need to make another trip.”
“Alright, alright.”
The butcher called toward the house: “Bring my tools!”
Soon, a burly woman came out carrying a full set of slaughter tools.
She glanced at Cao Wen, then turned to the butcher and asked,
“Where are you going this late?”
“What are you women fussing about? Going to visit Nephew Cao,” he muttered as he strapped his tool basket around his waist.
The woman scoffed and, without even greeting Cao Wen, turned and went back inside.
By the time they reached Cao Wen’s home, Xu Duoyan had already boiled the water.
“What a beast! And it’s a male—this meat’s going to be top quality!”
“You could sell this piece by piece to a restaurant easily.”
The butcher circled the wild boar, flipping it over and over, praising it nonstop.
Then, realizing he might have said too much—and worried they’d use that to bargain for a higher price—he looked toward Cao Wen and Xu Duoyan standing behind him and asked: “So, Nephew Cao, how much are you asking?”
“This boar took me a lot of effort to bring back. Since we’re from the same village, I thought of you first for this good deal. You’ve got to give me a fair price.”
“Of course, of course.”
The butcher held up three fingers, then five: “How about that? That’s a very fair price—out there, you’d never get lower.”
Cao Wen had just bought pork at the market today—20 wen per jin for mediocre meat.
Wild boar meat typically sold for double that.
Of course, whole live boars would sell for less than butchered meat.
His mountain pheasant had only fetched 40 wen earlier, so this wasn’t bad.
The only downside was that selling the whole boar meant no meat left for themselves.
But then again, wild boar had a much stronger taste than farm-raised pork.
Without the right spices or preparation, it wasn’t easy to eat.
It was more suitable for wealthy households or restaurant kitchens.
He glanced at Xu Duoyan for his opinion.
Seeing he had no objections, Cao Wen nodded.
“Alright, we’ll go with your offer, Li Bo.”
The butcher, thrilled the deal was sealed, rubbed his hands eagerly.
“Great! Let’s weigh it and get started.”
“According to tradition, when we slaughter pigs at someone’s home, the pig’s blood is left with the owner. But this wild one might not have much blood left—how about I leave you the heart and lungs instead?”
“Deal!”
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