The Golden Hamster
Three days later, early in the morning.
With a huge parcel, half the height of an average man, Shi Mu trotted by himself to the rolling mountains where he had hunted wild animals before. After climbing over seven or eight hilltops without taking a rest, he eventually reached the fringes of a bamboo forest, which was verdant in an unusual way, shining with an emerald green lustre.
It took him a full hour to fully investigate the bamboo forest, whose area amounted to a hundred mu[A]. He found the traces left by his target. Only then did he lay down his huge parcel, fumbling to take out a rather small shovel to dig a pit in the nearby ground.
But strangely enough, his movements seemed excessively cautious, as if he was afraid of attracting attention. In this way, the pit, several zhang in depth[B], was not finished until noon.
This done, Shi Mu then produced some bottles and jars from his parcel, and dropped some unknown powder and fluids into the pit, then covered it fully with twigs. He added many bamboo leaves to the surface before finally finishing his arrangement by scattering some mud onto the pit.
In this way, a delicate trap was finished.
Observing his arrangement from every angle, Shi Mu seemed quite satisfied and content, a trace of a smile flashing across his face.
The arrangement of the trap was learned from Zhong Gong Mi Dian - the secret arts of the Zhong clan - along with the making of the power and the fluids; without them, even if he could produce seven cuts in one movement, his confidence of obtaining his target would definitely be reduced.
After looking up to the sun high up in the sky, he gauged the time and fumbled out a paper ball without hesitation, which, when opened, revealed a golden colored dough. He then poured all the fluids contained in a small bottle onto the mysterious dough. Immediately, an overpowering smell, with an indescribable fragrance, wafted through the air.
“Hopefully this secret bait recipe from the old hunter in the city is useful, or the money I paid for the material, as much as thirty liang[C] of silver, will have been wasted, ” Shi Mu murmured to himself as he shook his wrist, sending the golden dough down into the center of the trap.
All done, he took out a nigh-black wooden knife and an immensely large cloak of emerald green and covered himself and then threw his parcel behind a huge rock. Going back to his trap, he lowered his body to the ground and lay prone beside the trap, being as still as he could be.
Seen from afar, there was complete flat ground where the trap was made, nothing abnormal could be seen.
Lying still on the ground, Shi Mu held his breath, the warm air puffed out of his nostrils so thin as to be invisible. Staring hard at the bamboo wood, he barely blinked his eyes while the information he had obtained flashed through his mind again.
The golden hamster, also known as the medicine-hunting hamster, was a unique animal found only in Quan Zhou, and was a variation of the common piebald mountain mouse which would bite its brood siblings to death as soon as it was born; in its third month, golden fur begins to appear on its back, after which it has the ability to find and take some herbs needed to advance to a higher level[D]. One year later, when the golden hamster reaches its mature age, its talent would be awakened, allowing it to find without difficulty some rare herbs. Hence, possessing a tamed golden hamster equaled living with a born master of herbs who could find rare medicine. However, though worth an enormous sum, the hamster was rarely seen in the market: few would sell their medicine-hunting masters even if they did have one. Shi Mu only found one accidentally when he chased after a wild fox all the way to the verge of the bamboo forest and was overjoyed by finding one of these hugely famous animals in Quan Zhou.
But he was too cautious to take immediate action at that time. Though the golden hamster did not belong to the rank of holy animals, it did deceive many by dashing at a lightning speed to seemingly vanish into thin air, its shadows invisible. Owing to its inherent vigilance, if not caught in one strike, it would be nearly impossible to catch it with a second attempt.
Therefore, during this period, every time Shi Mu came to the hilltop for practice, he would always come out of his way to observe this gold hamster’s routine. Now he had progressed to the point of being able to do seven cuts in one movement with his Thirteen Series of Gale Force Knife Art, plus with the trap learned from Zhong Gong Mi Dian as well as the bait-making method, he finally set his mind to putting his plan into practice today.
......
Exactly when Shi Mu had finished his trap to hunt for the golden hamster, inside the hall of Jin Gang martial arts club in Feng City, a sandy-haired elder was angrily reproaching Wang Tianhao who stood in front of him,
“What tricks are you playing this time? I asked you to find a girl to marry of the Jin Family, not to pick a fight with the Juniors of the Jin Family, as well as beat them!”
“Uncle Xu, how could you blame me for beating them? It was exactly the juniors who asked me instruct their arts; it’s only that I somewhat lost control of myself. But speaking of the Jins’ skills, apart from Shi Yu Huan, not a single one of them was able to take my first strike. A pack of good-for-nothing idlers, wasting half of my day!” Wang Tianhao stretched himself with a yawn, displaying an air of complete carelessness.
“You bastard, the Jin Family is our Wang Families ally in Quan Zhou, who told you to strike them instead of looking at the girls? Well, well, now I’ve got to clear up your messy situation myself, by going to their manor to apologize to their head . From now on, you just stay here, practising your Blazing Spear. Before accomplishing the next stance of the Blazing Spear Art, you are confined to the club!” Staring at Wang Tianhao with his eyes wide open, the Elder Xu ordered him, feeling it was rather difficult to handle his nephew.
“I don’t care about being confined at all. After all, the day of competition only half a month away, so I just need time to save my energy. “ Wang Tianhao answered in a cheerful and excited manner.
“Humph, so long as you act inattentive, I have no hope in you at all. “ Uncle Xu snorted.
“Why? You mean there are other powerful people in the other clubs?” Wang Tianhao sensed some overtones from his uncle’s reprimand, his spirits instead immensely elated.
“You crazy kid! Guess you’d lose sleep if I don’t tell you.“ His nephew’s respond made him rather at a loss at whether to cry or laugh.
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