Chapter 1195: Chapter 717_2
They were joyful, and they felt that Ding Ling’s return brought them pride!
The family quickly finished their meal!
Ding Ling handed them a Storage Bag and, seeing their puzzled expressions, realized they might not know how to open it.
Ding Ling took them outside, planning to manifest the hunting spoils in the courtyard!
Her family followed her out, curious about what kind of gifts Ding Ling had brought.
Lai Jianlin and two of his brothers also followed!
Ding Ling laid out all the game in the courtyard, and everyone widened their eyes in shock at the sight!
They had heard of long worms before but dared not approach them too closely.
Goodness, there were several long worms, plus wolves, leopards, wild boars, and a pile of smaller animals!
Indeed, Cultivators are formidable; no matter how skilled they are at hunting, setting traps is about all they can do. Their bow and arrows can’t take down such formidable beasts!
The family was amazed; with this pile of game, even their whole village couldn’t finish it.
Thinking about the value of the pelts, especially the skins of the long worms, they were thrilled.
Ding Zining was excited and took on the task of finding strong villagers to come to the courtyard to skin and butcher the animals for a grand feast tonight!
Thinking about all this meat in the courtyard, selling it would fetch a lot of money—his sister was incredible!
Ding Ling’s family, her grandfather and father, were skilled hunters. They often fled at the sound of roaring tigers from afar, recognizing their scent. Although they had some Martial Strength and knew how to use bows and arrows, not everyone had the ability to hunt tigers.
The animals here were formidable—large worms, wolves, leopards—a male and female pair, two worm offspring, five wolves, six leopards, two big and three small wild boars, not to mention three rabbits. Such a large haul left them in awe!
Each male and female long worm weighed about four to five hundred pounds, while the smaller ones were over 300 pounds each!
The wolves and leopards were each over 200 pounds!
The wild boars were all large, weighing over 300 pounds each. If they had caught such a haul, even with their abilities, they couldn’t carry it all down the mountain at once!
If their village wanted to venture deep into the mountains, they’d form a group of strong hunters to avoid encountering big beasts. Wolves and leopards weren’t as fearsome, while wild boars could be managed, but the scent of ferocious tigers would send them running!
In this winter noon, Ding Zining noted that many had stopped venturing into the mountains, as it was risky; hungry game would appear, making hunting more dangerous!
Occasionally, they’d still hunt small animals around the outskirts of the deep mountains.
Ding Zining went house to house, as their homes were some distance apart, and shouting from her doorway wasn’t guaranteed to be heard by the whole village.
As he gathered more and more villagers, they marched proudly into the courtyard.
Earlier, they didn’t believe the Ding Family had so much game; locking up other animals might be believable, but claiming there were four long worms was incredulous!
With their Martial Strength, hunting a single long worm would result in severe injury, if not death, so a group of long worms attacking at once would spell certain doom.
The village head was skeptical, but Ding Zining proudly stated that his sister had returned, and the game was hunted with her fellow disciples.
This reminded everyone that Ding Zining’s sister had joined the Cultivation Sects.
“Wow! So much game! Long worms—I finally see them in my lifetime. Seeing these defeated long worms, wasn’t our past fear misplaced? They were just beasts, killed by people!”
“There’s also a few wolves, leopards, and a few wild boars, wow, the Ding Family really struck it rich.”
“Selling these tiger pelts fetches a good sum, and those big wild boars weigh over a thousand pounds each, wow, their family invites us for a meal—how could we finish all this game? They’ll earn plenty from selling it!”
The envious chatter made Ding Zining and his family very happy!
The village head and others were initially captivated by the game, and then looked enviously at the Ding Family members.
It was only then they noticed several distinctive young men and a woman standing not far from the Ding Family.
The village head spoke with the elders and Ding Ling’s parents, learning that their daughter had returned today, bringing fellow disciples, and the game was specially hunted to treat their village to a meal!
The village head graciously thanked them, then instructed the villagers to lend a hand; tonight the whole village would gather for a feast, and of course, proper work was needed, like skinning the game and butchering the meat!
Ding Ling had earlier told her family she would take them out but hadn’t yet revealed why or where.
The Ding Family was certainly willing; although they were leaving this land, Ding Ling had become successful, and leading them away meant going to better places for future development.
A Cultivator guiding them to a glorious path—who wanted to stay in this mountain valley?
Though this place provided livelihood through hunting, the elders hoped the younger generation would have better opportunities to grow!
Ding Zining, newly married with great prospects, with his sister’s guidance—even without Cultivation abilities, would live a better life!
His elders stated that today they would skin the game and treat the whole village to a meal. The remaining meat and pelts would be sold by the village head, who would see the family off as they left this place!
The village head and villagers, with mixed feelings of envy and joy, were sad to see them go—a Cultivator had emerged from their village. Though not guiding them to glory, this honor stayed in their valley!
Since they all belonged to the same village, future marriages would be easier!
This family was set to succeed, deserving of help and congratulations from everyone.
Ding Ling watched the hardworking villagers; back home, after seeing all sorts of people, she still found them warm and kind.
Ding Ling pondered bringing these people into Cultivation?
She hesitated, as bringing so many would be a burden, plus they might not be willing. Even if they were, unlike family, they each had their own ties!
Taking the family was one thing, but how to accommodate so many people?
The Saint Master hadn’t returned yet; she couldn’t take these people to the base. Bringing them there would make her responsible!
Besides, they were still on a mission, so she decided to leave them with books on physical training!
These couldn’t cultivate Immortal abilities, but they could learn Martial Strength, which was useful for hunting!
Ding Ling’s West Mountain Immortal Sect had many basic books that could train the body. Even without a Spiritual Root, a strong body feared no long worms in the forests!
That afternoon, strong villagers skillfully skinned the game, butchered it into pieces, and separated the organs from the meat.
Some organs could be cooked for food, so they wouldn’t waste it!
The news spread: the Ding Family’s daughter had returned and brought a large amount of game. Women from the dozen or so village households who could work came to help!
The young women heard rumors about a few handsome men from the Ye Family, believed to be Immortals, unmarried. Those looking to marry naturally wanted to catch a glimpse, if not marry, at least see for themselves!
Lai Jianlin and his two brothers noticed they were the focus of the young and old eyes in the circle but paid little attention!
It wasn’t disdain for these mortals; it’s just that after today, they would be strangers!
Lai Jianlin felt that perhaps Ding Ling’s family would return, but Cultivators and mortals took different paths!
They might return, or perhaps they’d forge ahead on their Cultivation journey, never to return!