Chapter 130: Constructing the Second Base

Han Li’s fishing rod was remarkably crude. Since there were no bamboo stalks to be found in the local area, he had fashioned a rod out of wood he had disassembled. He used ordinary fishing line, a float made from the feathers of a dragon-like bird he had caught previously, and a hook he had crafted himself.

Han Li did not know much about fishing, but he understood the basic actions of baiting, casting, and reeling. Even so, he was reluctant to fish in the river outside the village; fishing required time, and if he were to sit by the river for long periods, it would look as though he were neglecting his duties. Furthermore, there were no large fish in the village river—the villagers claimed that catching a fish weighing four or five pounds was considered a decent haul.

Of course, Han Li had another, more significant motive for heading into the mountains this time: he wanted to see if he could find a secluded spot to build a secondary base. He needed a place where he could process the game he hunted before sending it off to his family and friends. Since such a base would frequently involve cleaning animal carcasses, it had to be located near a water source. Unfortunately, he had not encountered a suitable location during his trek so far.

While he stopped to rest and satisfy his curiosity with a bit of fishing—a skill he suspected might become essential in the future—the float on the water suddenly vanished. His arm was jerked straight instantly; had it not been for his solid stance, he would have been pulled right into the water. Though the situation was unexpected, he quickly regained his composure. He was not worried about his own strength against the fish, but he feared his rod and line might snap. He had no choice but to slowly exhaust the fish. Whenever the fish tried to swim away, Han Li would pull the rod; when it swam back, he gave it slack. Bit by bit, he drained the fish of its final reserves of strength, then used a bit of finesse to swing the rod toward the bank.

A Taimen over a meter long was tossed onto the shore, still thrashing about. Han Li picked up a stone and struck it directly on the head; with a dull thud, the Taimen was killed. He walked over and picked it up—what a beauty! It weighed at least thirty pounds. He couldn't imagine how it had grown so large in this mountain pool, but now, it was all his.

[Taimen: The leader of the "Five Ro" among the famous "Three Flowers, Five Ro, and Eighteen Sons" of the Northeast. In this era, they were abundant in the small streams of the Northeast, and specimens weighing twenty or thirty pounds were not uncommon. Some fishing boats had even caught Taimen weighing over a hundred pounds. However, in later times, Taimen became extremely rare in the Northeast region; even when occasionally caught by fishing boats, they were only three to five pounds in weight.]

By now, the sky was too dark to see the path, so after cleaning the fish, Han Li decided to head back. There was nothing pressing to do, so he would simply wake up early tomorrow to continue his search for a secret base. He fashioned a wooden spear to carry, projected his mental sense, and began his return journey. Thanks to the state’s annual culling of predators and the locals frequently setting traps in the mountains, Han Li encountered no trouble on his way back to Shanghe Village.

As he pushed open the gate, he saw that his room was still lit. It wasn't the dim light of a dying lamp, so he knew Yun Yingying must still be there. He placed the cleaned fish and the nuts he had gathered along the way into his basket. No sooner had he set it down than the door opened. To his surprise, the Yun sisters, He Mi, Hao Hongmei, Yang Xiuying, and Qi Zhaodi were all there.

Yang Xiuying, as always, was the quickest to speak before anyone else could open their mouths. "Han Li, you're finally back! Yun Yingying has been fretting over you for ages." She added, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? We've all been keeping them company."

Han Li replied, "Thank you all for keeping them company, but I brought back something good. Shall we have a late-night snack?"

The mention of a "late-night snack" caused a flash of melancholy in Hao Hongmei’s eyes. Yang Xiuying asked, "What kind of good thing?"

"I caught a Taimen weighing over thirty pounds. Would you say that counts as something good?"

"A giant fish over thirty pounds? But what is a Taimen?"

"It’s a type of freshwater fish. It has plenty of meat and is very delicious. That’s about all I know."

As they talked, they moved into the room. Seeing the nuts in the basket, they felt even more dejected. "It's so infuriating! The lot of us spent the whole afternoon and didn't seem to gather as many nuts as you did, plus you caught a giant fish."

Han Li laughed. "I robbed these nuts; I didn't actually gather them myself."

"Robbed them?"

Han Li explained how he had raided a squirrel's winter stash, which drew gasps of amazement from them. Most of them didn't know what a squirrel's den looked like, though Qi Zhaodi seemed to grasp the idea.

Fish is always best when fresh, and there was no way they could finish such a large fish on their own, so Han Li went to call Zhang Xiangjun. Hearing that Han Li had pulled a giant fish from the river, Zhang immediately grabbed a bottle of liquor and came out of his room. The fish was stewed in a large iron pot, and in the end, it filled two overflowing basins—not a drop of broth left behind.

Han Li and Zhang Xiangjun ate and drank at the heated brick bed table, while the others ate at a table in the outer room. Even with eight people eating their fill, they couldn't finish it all. Hao Hongmei and Yang Xiuying had often eaten fish before, but since arriving here, this was their first real meal of it; the two of them nearly cried while eating. Seeing this, Han Li told them to take the remaining fish home.

After everyone had left, and emboldened by the alcohol, Han Li made a breakthrough with Yun Yingying, successfully occupying the second high ground for the first time.

The next day, Han Li headed into the mountains early. His goal was to finish the secret base before the first snowfall. This time, he traveled with focus and reached the pool where he had caught the fish without much delay. He bypassed the pool and continued upstream, but the river gradually began to narrow into a small creek.

Just then, Han Li discovered an ideal spot. On one side of the creek was an oak forest, and on the other was a steep, seventy-degree slope covered in tangled shrubs, making it practically impossible for a person to stand there. This was exactly the kind of place Han Li wanted. He took off his shoes, waded through the icy creek, and approached the slope. Selecting a spot with a slight protrusion, he used his ability to disassemble it, and a large chunk of the hillside instantly vanished. He did it a second time, then a third. By the time he felt a bit dizzy, his feet were already clear of the creek water.