Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 44: Deer in the Forest

After a busy day, they finally finished irrigating all three fields. Now they needed to wait several days before planting the winter wheat.

So Li Wei planned to start cutting trees the next day. The good news was that Penny and the other two were making good progress—the first steel axe had already been forged. Judging by their excited expressions, they had achieved significant results.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a one-star quality axe. Even with corresponding profession cards, one must continuously practice until skills improve through familiarity, and only then is there a chance to produce one-star quality equipment.

Anyway, there was no point in being envious. Focusing on one's own tasks was most important.

After a good night's sleep and breakfast, Li Wei took the newly sharpened steel axe to the forest across the creek, beginning the second main task: cutting oak trees.

The area no longer looked like it had months before. Li Wei and Penny's repeated tree cutting had seemingly taken a bite out of the forest.

Except for some extremely thick large trees, smaller and medium-sized trees had all been cut down.

Li Wei initially considered replanting trees next spring, but then realized how foolish that thought was—this place didn't need it, and what excellent farmland this would make!

Dig out the roots, level the land slightly, and they could probably cultivate dozens of acres of premium paddy fields.

The foundation for great achievements!But the scale of this project was too massive. Even after three years when the task ended and they cleared it, they likely still couldn't accomplish it.

Thinking this, Li Wei didn't let his mind wander, remaining vigilant as he observed his surroundings. Because even at the forest's edge, surprises or shocks could suddenly appear.

So while he carried the axe in one hand, he held the hunting bow in the other, with a pointed fletched arrow clenched between his teeth. He hadn't brought many arrows, as these pheasant flight feather fletched arrows needed careful preservation to avoid moisture damage.

Besides, hunting was just incidental—he couldn't forget the main task.

Moving stealthily through the forest edge, he passed several hundred meters and climbed a gentle hill. Dozens of meters away, an oak tree with completely red leaves came into view.

But at that moment, perhaps based on some intuition, he noticed an unusual color patch in the bushes behind this oak tree.

Really, the kind ordinary people would easily overlook.

But Li Wei immediately realized it might be a wild animal.

He slowly set down the axe, silently shifting his position while making preliminary calculations about the nearby terrain and distance to the animal.

The distance likely exceeded forty meters, with bushes providing cover plus other trees blocking the view. He only had one shot opportunity.

Moreover, he still didn't know what kind of animal it was—its fur color blended too perfectly with the leaves.

"Judging by the color patches, it shouldn't be a tiger, bear, or wild boar!"

"Maybe a deer? A sika deer?"

Li Wei recalled what the eliminated hunter Sam had mentioned—that he'd once seen a deer at the forest edge.

Relaxing his breathing as much as possible, he took the pointed arrow and nocked it on the bowstring. Then he slowly moved toward the other side, maintaining silence. He needed to get as close as possible since the hunting bow lacked sufficient power for lethal damage beyond forty meters.

Step by step, Li Wei remained calm, his heartbeat seemingly settling—this was one of his strengths. Once he passed a critical point, he could actually control his emotions quite well.

Like when he encountered the first old wolf by the creek—after the initial explosive terror came extraordinary calm decisiveness.

Or how he could sleep soundly through the night despite wolf pack harassment.

Of course, his daily practice probably contributed significantly to this ability.

In moments, Li Wei had silently shifted seven or eight steps, circling around three large trees. During this time, the suspected deer had also warily changed positions several times within the bushes. It was indeed a herbivore, since the grass under the bushes was quite tender.

Although his success chance was already decent if he shot now, Li Wei steadily continued moving, seeking a better firing angle.

This continued until the straight-line distance between them finally reached about twenty-five meters. The deer finally sensed unease, immediately turning and leaping away toward the forest depths.

Its posture was elegant, movements swift, perfect like a golden lightning bolt.

It was truly fast, reactions incredibly sharp.

Previously, Li Wei had learned from television and books that deer could run quickly, but that was only a relative concept, quite vague. But in this moment, he truly witnessed how fast this deer could run—like a magnificent chapter of life's dance, nature's most exquisite artwork forged through cruel survival competition, not to be desecrated.

Those who would desecrate it could only watch from afar and sigh.

But in this instant, Li Wei's hunter instincts—his caution, steadiness, and intuition—gave him the advantage. Especially his quiet positioning shifts: he had deliberately passed up several good shooting angles earlier, fearing that startling the deer would instantly change what were originally decent firing angles due to the animal's high-speed movement.

Between movement and stillness, he only had one arrow's opportunity.

And now, as the deer leaped to escape, Li Wei unhesitatingly drew the hunting bow to full draw, accounting for lead distance, and released an arrow that struck the deer's left rib area.

But it still wasn't instantly fatal. The deer stumbled several times but continued fleeing deeper into the forest.

Li Wei pursued closely behind—this required no particular skill, just persistence.

The young deer actually managed to flee several hundred meters through the forest before collapsing, its vitality astonishing.

【Your caution and steadiness allowed excellent performance, successfully hunting an adult, healthy sika deer. Its full body value qualifies as one-star quality】

【You obtained 60 hunting experience points.】

【Since this was unexpected gain outside main tasks, the prey belongs to you. Donate to family?】

【You donated this one-star quality sika deer. According to rules, its total weight is 100 jin, with every 5 jin counting as one unit. You thus obtained 20 family contribution points. Current total contribution: 103 points】

【Note: One-star quality sika deer may yield one-star quality deer hide, provided corresponding butcher profession exists. This work will automatically incorporate into butcher profession's monthly main tasks. If successful hide removal and tanning completion occurs, butcher will receive no less than 5 additional family contribution points during month-end summary】

Several lines of information quickly appeared, unlike previous times when prompts only came after bringing items home.

Good, it seemed there were no other large carnivores nearby. Another reason might be the cooling weather making decomposition less likely. In hot summer conditions, maggots would be everywhere within half an hour.

Contemplating these patterns, Li Wei approached and first pulled out the fletched arrow. Watching the gushing deer blood, he recalled legends about drinking deer blood. Should he take a few sips? Otherwise, by the time they transported it back, the blood would have completely drained.

However, after careful consideration, he decided against it—caution first. What if there were parasites?

His first-level awakening health couldn't withstand such risks. That shriveled old woman-like Penny served as a cautionary example.

After all, one of this task's clearance conditions was surviving three years.