This time going into the mountains, Lin Wanwan was spontaneously excited, not demanding particular prey, while Lin Mengbo and other clan members had decided to hunt for big game.

Big game is generally full of treasures and sells well.

Every year around the twelfth lunar month, peddlers who specialize in collecting pelts come to each village to collect goods, so everyone doesn’t need to actively go to the town to sell.

Actually, since Lin Wanwan came, the villagers in the ten mile area around Lin Family Manor had more options to cash in on their mountain goods; many would hike over to Lin Family Manor to sell their goods.

Lin Wanwan offered fair and generous prices, and villagers from various villages loved selling to her.

People from Lin Family Manor got mountain and sea goods and naturally delivered them first to Lin Wanwan’s residence for her to choose from; only what she didn’t want was sold outside.

Generally speaking, Lin Wanwan didn’t refuse anyone. Even if she didn’t particularly like someone’s mountain goods, she had so many servants to support, so it wasn’t hard to consume them.

After half a day in the mountains, everyone had gathered quite a bit, with wild chickens and rabbits being the most common.

Lin Wanwan’s people captured three red-bellied squirrels alive and two crested terns hit with arrows.

Once the injury on the crested terns healed, Lin Wanwan planned to release them into modern times; they were perfect nourishment for upgrading the Space-Time Gate!

The group continued to follow the hunting dogs towards the mountain’s interior; upon climbing a small hill, the dogs were already barking low, signaling for sure that good game was ahead.

The hunting dogs in the group might be slightly less agile at hunting than Lin Wanwan’s lynx, but they had excellent scent capabilities, easily discerning prey scents from the air, guiding the way.

Lin Mengjin quietly said to Lin Wanwan, "Wannie, there must be big game ahead."

Lin Wanwan compliantly asked, "How do you know?"

Lin Mengjin explained proudly, "Because Ahuang raised its hair and is barking fiercely."

Lin Wanwan replied, "Fierce? The sound isn’t loud."

Lin Mengjin said, "Don’t listen for loudness; listen to the urgency of the bark. These hunting dogs are smart; they bark lightly when finding small prey, but urgently and fiercely for big prey."

"Oh, I see."

As they spoke, the group crossed the small hill. The dogs barked more fiercely, and the sound grew louder.

Lin Wanwan, from afar, saw several sika deer gathered by the pond’s one side, and a large brown bear catching fish on the other, looking adorably clumsy.

This large brown bear was estimated to weigh five to six hundred pounds, definitely a gigantic beast.

Don’t be deceived by its muddled appearance, as if it looked easy to pet; this was a bear king!

With their rudimentary bow and arrow gear, they couldn’t possibly afford to provoke such a level of beast.

Even if Lin Wanwan had a pistol at her waist, it wouldn’t suffice.

It was after all a pistol, not a hunting rifle, and Lin Wanwan’s shooting skills were not that accurate.

Even if she could hit the brown bear, one shot wouldn’t kill it, but injuring it would surely provoke its aggressiveness and strong revenge instinct, a careless move could lead to disaster.

Lin Mengbo and others, upon seeing the brown bear, patted the necks of the lead dogs and quietly retreated.

Though everyone wanted big game, a brown bear of this weight was clearly out of their target range.

If a bear weighed one to two hundred, or two to three hundred pounds, then they could try for it.

But like the big brown bear seen now, they quickly retreated upon encountering it, not daring to provoke it.

In the cold north, bears find hollows for hibernation in winter, but Mao County is subtropical, and bears don’t hibernate there.

After retreating, Lin Mengbo said, "Once that brown bear leaves, we’ll return to find the sika deer; those are good game."

"Yes, we’ll go back later," everyone agreed.

"Hey, hey, I’ve discovered a pangolin’s burrow!" Lin Mengxing exclaimed excitedly and quietly.

A pangolin’s burrow is easily recognized by experienced hunters; though Lin Family Manor people were sea folks, almost no man in Great Tang didn’t love hunting, so mountain knowledge wasn’t lacking.

Hunting was like singing, dancing, or outings; it was one of Great Tang’s cultural features; loved by everyone from top to bottom.

"How do you know it’s a pangolin’s burrow?" Lin Wanwan asked.

Lin Mengxing explained, "Easily recognized, look here, pangolins have thick scales; their frequent in-and-out areas leave smooth traces, a characteristic no other animal burrows have."

"Oh."

While talking, Lin Mengxing began preparing to catch it.

Lin Wanwan didn’t understand this knowledge considered common sense by Great Tang men, but she was very interested, squatting to watch Lin Mengxing fold a branch with green leaves, playing around the burrow’s entrance.

It was a relatively regular round-shaped burrow, with lots of soil at the entrance and several ants that Lin Mengbo just picked over with a twig.

In just two minutes, a pangolin poked its head out of the burrow, quickly discovering the ants and extending its long tongue to eat.

Once it fully emerged from the burrow, Lin Mengxing tossed the branch aside, reaching out with both hands to grab it.

The startled pangolin immediately curled into a hard ball, and Lin Mengxing picked it up and tossed it into a fishing net he carried, catching a pangolin.

"I didn’t realize catching pangolins after finding their burrow was so easy, all done by hand, without tools," Lin Wanwan remarked.

Lin Mengxing laughed, "This creature relies on its hard shell for protection; using tools wouldn’t work well, better to grab with hands and think about skinning later."

Lin Wanwan immediately said, "Don’t process it, sell me the pangolin, live is better; I can make medicine."

"Sure, forget selling, if you like it, just take it," Lin Mengxing agreed when Lin Wanwan asked.

Lin Wanwan smiled and thanked him; she wouldn’t just take someone’s prey for free, but there was no need to haggle here.

She wouldn’t actually use this pangolin for medicine; since it was caught alive, it would surely be sent to modern times.

Although pangolins indeed make good traditional medicine, they are forest guardians eating termites and listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Lin Wanwan’s Chinese Medicine Hall would receive processed pangolin from farmers and hunters without feeling guilty, adding them to storage. But she wouldn’t just watch a live creature die before her eyes.

This hunting outing proved fruitful, having caught several protected animals.

These animals endangered in modern times, but common a thousand four hundred years ago, show how incomparable natural ecological environments were.

After discussing the pangolin, everyone continued following the hunting dogs; it was still early, and they planned to hunt for the entire day.