Farming In The Eastern Cultivation World-Chapter 46: The Injured Bird

As he spoke, Second Uncle clicked his tongue. "Back then, the village set aside a place to raise ducks and geese. Sometimes, people even had to feed them. But one night, when we rounded them up to return to the pen, we realized a few of them were missing."

"At first, everyone assumed they’d been taken by some wild animal. We even had the village dogs search for them, but when the dogs came back looking all dejected and spiritless, we didn’t dare push them to search any further."

"The next day, a few more were missing. That’s when Boemhyeon got suspicious. He personally took the dogs out to search, and that’s how our village’s black dog led him to this reed bay. It’s turns out, the missing ducks and geese had run here on their own. We never found the ones that disappeared the first night, but by the second night, more had followed them here."

"Im Beomhyeon wanted to catch them and bring them back, but the reed bay was vast, full of water, and impossible to chase them down. He didn’t have a bow with him at the time, so he couldn’t shoot them either. He reported back to the village, and I made the decision—if they all wanted to go to the reed bay, we’d just let them be."

"After all, even if they ran there, we could still shoot them down with slingshots or bows when we needed food. That way, the villagers wouldn’t have to waste time and effort feeding them."

Second Uncle spoke calmly, but Bok Taejin felt an overwhelming sense of boldness and decisiveness in his words.

"In the end, all the geese and ducks ran away. But then some ducks started coming back, injured from fighting with the geese over territory. Eventually, they settled down in the reed bay and even multiplied greatly."

Bok Taejin couldn’t help but admire the decision and praised Second Uncle’s wisdom.

Second Uncle laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

Perhaps he was truly pleased, but he clapped with such force that Bok Taejin’s face twisted slightly from the impact.

No wonder Im Beomhyeon usually didn’t dare to provoke Second Uncle!

This strength was no joke—how could he be considered an old man in his twilight years?!

After leaving the reed bay, Second Uncle took Bok Taejin to see a nearby orchard.

Although there weren’t many fruit trees, the variety was diverse.

Some of them, Bok Taejin didn’t recognize at all—perhaps they were unique to this world, much like the wild-growing ink gourd, which, when ripe, contained nothing but drinkable clear water inside.

By the time they returned to the village, it was already noon.

Bok Taejin ate lunch with the villagers who had stayed behind.

Afterward, Second Uncle, saying he wanted to take a nap, left him in the care of Aunt Seo.

Coincidentally, Aunt Seo was staying in the kitchen today to help with washing dishes.

Bok Taejin simply decided to help her.

Although Aunt Seo approved of letting Seo Sowoo go up the mountain occasionally, she kept glancing in that direction even while washing dishes, making it clear she wasn’t completely at ease.

As the sun slanted westward, Aunt Seo finished her chores and sat on a long wooden bench, chatting with Bok Taejin about village matters.

Suddenly, she stood up abruptly, her gaze fixed on the path leading down from the mountain.

Bok Taejin, sitting at the other end of the bench, almost lost his balance from her sudden movement and quickly stood up to follow her gaze.

Im Beomhyeon was walking at the front, followed by the hunting party that had gone up the mountain earlier.

Seo Sowoo, still looking sulky, trailed behind the group.

His steps were much slower than the others—whether from exhaustion or something else, it was hard to tell.

Im Beomhyeon, however, quickened his pace.

He had spotted Bok Taejin and now shouted excitedly as he ran toward him, "Look what I brought for you!"

Im Beomhyeon and Bok Taejin were still quite a distance apart, so Bok Taejin couldn’t clearly see what Im Beomhyeon was holding.

He only knew that it was something woven into a net-like pouch using vines.

He couldn’t guess what was inside, so he simply shouted back, "What? What did you bring for me?"

Considering the distance, he had to yell for his voice to carry.

"Take a guess!" Im Beomhyeon was in high spirits and even hid the woven pouch behind his back.

He picked up his pace, quickly leaving the rest of the hunting team behind.

Before long, he was right in front of Bok Taejin.

Bok Taejin quickly tried to take advantage of Im Beomhyeon’s distraction and attempting to circle behind him for a look at whatever he was hiding.

But Im Beomhyeon reacted much faster.

With a swift turn, he easily foiled Bok Taejin’s plan.

He chuckled, "You little brat, trying to pull tricks on me? You’re still too green! I’ve changed my mind now. If you can’t guess it, you’re not getting it!"

Bok Taejin knew well that his agility was nowhere near Im Beomhyeon’s.

Even a surprise attack had failed, so there was no way he could outmaneuver him now.

However, he wasn’t fighting alone.

He subtly signaled Aunt Seo while pretending to be indignant.

He kept lunging left and right as if he wouldn’t give up until he got behind Im Beomhyeon to see what he was hiding.

"I don’t believe it. You’ve been up in the mountains all day, and you still have this much energy to dodge me?"

Im Beomhyeon just laughed, not suspecting a thing, and let Bok Taejin jump around while he himself dodged with ease.

His control was impeccable—though his body moved, his grip on the net pouch remained steady, ensuring its contents didn’t shift at all.

Ironically, this made it easier for Aunt Seo to peek.

After receiving Bok Taejin’s silent plea for help, Aunt Seo quietly moved behind Im Beomhyeon while he was distracted, carefully observing the contents of the pouch.