She walked slowly but steadily through the path the led up the mountains, harvested edible wood ear mushrooms, mugwort and a cluster of golden mushrooms along the way.
Her heightened sight made every detail clear to her ears, even the rustle of leaves or how the wind blew
She couldn't help staring up at the sky which was barely covered up by cluster of trees yet it was still very bright however as she ventured deeper it only got darker with barely any light even with it being the peak hours of morning
She sighed as she nonchalantly kicked 2 stones, two of which hit their target squarely
Two wild grey rabbits fell and she grabbed both tossing them into the basket and gathering a nest of wild peasant eggs
Her eyes scanned the surrounding, hoping to find any wild peasant to send to the third household but sensing none in the perimeter, she ventured forward humming an off tune as she proceeded into the darkness
The darkness didn't faze her however she feared heading back without what she needed
Which would be a waste of her precious time and efforts
As she moved deeper into the moutains, the haunting silence made her pause slightly, the stillness of the air, airy and bone chilling
Though sun hwa wasn't relatively scared, the silence made her even more cautious
As silence bred danger
She continued to move cautiously
Gathering wild herbs such as wild ferns, wild pine needles, wild yarrows, wild dandelion leaves and roots,wild bamboo saps, wild camellia leaves, wild perilla leaves,wild Angelica roots, wild lotus flower and roots, wild licorice roots,
wild ginseng which was even rare to find, all varying in ages, wild rose Mary, wild calendula, Witch hazel bark and various other varieties of herbs and tree barks
Both for healing purposes and beautification
She also gathered a few wild chilli's, even managing to harvest a large batch of honey from wild bee hives
She continued to venture deeper into the mountains gathering edible and poisonous plants along the way. Once she was tired, she found a shaded tree to sit and took out the last vegetable bun which she begun to munch on, savoring the delicious burst of flavors
"Tsk" a sharp click of the tongue startled sun hwa, she frowned slightly as a figure slowly rose, somewhat unsteady on the feet with blood clinging to the dark form and several large gashes scattered across the back
Sun hwa's free hands clutched the silver blades while her other hand held the unfinished bun, which she continued to chew from
"Roar!" The growl of a bear made sun hwa's brows furrow, a deep frown settled on her lips as her eyes trailed the surroundings
Locking on the rustling leaves and the trembling earth from the bear's weight
"What are you waiting for? It's a large bear! You can't fight it
Let's go" the dark figure dashed to her side trying to pull her to safety but sun hwa didn't move, her hazel eyes filled with coldness locked on the black bear which had already made it's presence
If she could kill such a big bear
There'd be enough meat to share between the third household and Dazhuang's family
Even more for her to roast, dry and store for winter seasons
"Climb the trees, I'm fine" with that sun hwa charged to the upcoming bear
Her gaze held no fear, but determination to secure meat! Meat meant she could upgrade her diet and fatten you quickly
Hence the bear had to be killed
"You...." The young boy tried to pull her black but sun hwa swiftly carried him unto the first branch and handed him and her large basket which was halfway filled with her spoils
"Climb to the top and close your eyes, no matter what
Don't come down"sun hwa warned sternly, the dark skinned boy looked no more than seven, what a little one like him was doing in the deep forest was a mystery
Yet she didn't have the luxury to ask questions, dealing with the bear was of utmost importance
The snap of a twig, was enough confirmation for her to know th bear had arrived, she turned sharply coming face to face with a large black angry bear
It's fur matted and robust body was enough for sun hwa to know, it was a well fed and robust bear, not far away the underbrush shook, revealing the presence of a wild boar, it's two tusk the size of an adult female's hands, it snorted low but eyed her angrily especially the twin silver blades in her hands
The bear roared loudly and charged first, sun hwa narrowing dodged, slashing its shoulder blade and delivering a powerful kick to the wild boar before rolling a distance away from both predators on the lush green bush
Both predators now angered charged forward together, the weight of their movements made the ground shake beneath her
"Watch out…." The child called out, sun hwa frowned, before the attention of both predators could shift to the young child, she charged forwards slashing her blade multiple times while narrowly dodging their outstretched paws.
The bears swung its left paw angrily, after having its right paw wounded by the little human, grazing sun hwa's arm, still she managed to dodge before the wound could get bone deep, rolling under the bear. She drove her blade between it's ribcage
The bear in disbelief and anger that a mere little human dared to harm it charged widely but sun hwa stabbed both its eyes and slashed it's legs making it fall to the ground with a loud thud
The boar charged nest snorting angrily as it charged towards her, it's husk glinted as it pointed in her direction
Sun hwa panting heavily narrowly dodged, kicking the boar's round stomach then she thrust the blade into its stomach and neck simultaneously
It thrashed unto her little form, but sun hwa continued to drive her ballade into it while protecting her stomach and also securely the good
An hour later both predators lay lifeless, while sun hwa looked battered in every way, her dress had torn in many places, her hair a total mess and her face covered in thick dust
"Come down quickly, we can't stay longer else the blood attracts more predators" she called to the little one who easily hopped off the tree
She took the large basket from him and carried it on her back then she begun dragging the large bear while the little one dragged the wild boar though with difficulty
They managed to drag both animals down the mountain in the space of another hour
"Fifth wife" the young men gasped seeing sun hwa's battered form but nothing was as shocking as the two large predators
"Did you…." One of the young men couldn't help asking
"Help me pull them home" sun hwa gasped desperately. Damn she was so worn out from taking down both animals
All she wanted to do now was lie down and close her eyes to sleep
With the help of the men, both animals were dragged to sun hwa's house
The village was soon in an uproar with the fact that the Wang family's fifth wife had gone into the mountains and brought back a wild boar and a large bear
The breakfast Xiao Xia had brought was handed to the little boy to eat while sun hwa left to have her bath,
The pungent smell of blood made her nauseous hence bathing was the only nect best thing to do. She bathed quickly after which she changed into a clean comfortable new outfit
A beige colored dress with white lilies at the bottom hem
She strode into the kitchen, where she made two cups on malted milk, one for herself and one for the bowl which she ate with some leftover scallion pancakes
The young men were all hurdled around the two animals in disbelief, none willing to leave just yet, the thought of a frail woman like sun hwa securing such kill wounded their pride in more ways they dared to admit
"Fifth wife, how did you manage to kill it" one of the young men asked while staring at the bandages wrapped around sun hwa's wound
They had all seen her blood soaked wound, hence the could tell, it wasn't an easy kill but a life and death kill, no one cared about the young child hurdled in the corner eating the the breakfast sun hwa had given him which consisted of two sweet potato cakes, 2 large red bean buns and an hard boiled egg
"This....." the little guy was reluctant to take the malted milk but sun hwa pressed it into his arms and sat to drink her malted milk
"When given you eat, look how skinny you look and so dark and ugly!
Eating would make you fair and handsome" sun hwa patted his hair
She had no qualms with the young lads staring but she obviously wasn't about to share her finds with anybody plus she didn't want to sell any bit to avoid eyes on her
One done with her malted milk, she headed to the kitchen where she put a pot of water to boil for the little one's bath, as he not only looked dirty but he stank
Once the water boiled, she led the little one to the bath house where she bathed him thoroughly, scrubbing his dark skin of all the dirt and grime
It took 4 bath water change, for the little one to be spotlessly clean, though the little one was shy
He still stayed put throughout the bath and once done sun hwa wrapped him up in a towel, dried his body throughly and wore him one of the old tops she found in her trunk.
"Fifth wife" the young men glanced up at her, staring intently at sun hwa
"I'll be taking it to the state kitchen to sell, I won't be selling it here" she alas said and then men reluctantly nodded before dispersing and sun hwa took the opportunity to lock the doors from prying, nosy eyes
A/N:~
Any similarities to other works or real life events is an oversight as every occurrence and events in this story is a work of my imaginations.
I hope you support my work and check out my other books ^~^
~ Life unscripted
&
~ Love in chaos: I chose to love you