Chapter 13: A Treasure Map?

After much effort, all the weeds and clutter inside the cave were finally cleared out.

Lu Chuan looked around with a hint of helplessness, then stepped outside and gathered some branches once more. He even found a few logs, which he carried back into the cave and set alight.

The cave needed to be dried out a bit, and at the same time, thoroughly sterilized.

As the temperature inside rose, the three little piglets scampered in, seemingly very curious and showing no trace of fear despite their mother's absence.

By the faint light, Lu Chuan noticed something peculiar. On the northern wall of the cave, there was a painting—a strange image that resembled a map.

However, the map was incomplete, showing only a fragment, like just a corner of a larger whole.

A thought occurred to Lu Chuan: someone must have hidden something special here and divided the map into parts scattered throughout the mountains. Only by assembling all the pieces could one truly find the treasure.

He had stumbled upon one such piece purely by chance.

Who could this person be? Perhaps someone from Shuangshui Village? This place was relatively remote; aside from villagers, few others would venture here.

Lu Chuan hesitated—should he transform this cave into his own base?

If it wasn’t a wild boar’s den or an abandoned cave, it could be dangerous.

After much contemplation, he decided against it. Still, he carefully memorized the map on the wall.

Once home, he planned to copy it, then used a stone to erase the original from the wall.

With that done, he took the little piglets and headed home.

Along the way, he deliberately dragged the wild boar, leaving traces, and only when nearing home did he discreetly retrieve the boar from his space.

He found a wooden board and a vine rope, placed the boar on the board, and began dragging it toward his house.

---

“Xiao Bai, Su Ruan!” Lu Chuan called out, “Come help!”

“Coming…” Su Ruan hurried out from the house. Upon seeing the boar Lu Chuan was dragging, she seemed incredulous and quickly asked, “You… you hunted this wild boar?”

“Yeah, just got lucky!” Lu Chuan chuckled and sat down with a sigh. “It really wore me out!”

“Let’s drag it into the yard first!” she said.

“Is everything okay at home?” Lu Chuan asked.

Su Ruan nodded. “Yes, though Xiao Bai taught me some sewing, I’m a bit slow at learning.”

“No worries. First, get that boar into the yard.”

“Quickly bleed it out—once the blood soaks into the meat, it won’t sell well!”

“Got it!”

After dragging the boar into the yard, Lu Chuan placed it on the stone table, took out a wooden basin, and set it carefully beside.

Pig’s blood was a valuable resource; if prepared well, its flavor rivaled the meat itself.

“You’re amazing! How did you do it?” Su Ruan asked.

Lu Chuan smiled and pulled the three piglets from his arms. Carrying them had been no easy task since they were small, so he had held them all the way home.

“This boar will be sold; the meat should cover this year’s food expenses.”

“As for the piglets, we’ll raise them at home.”

Su Ruan was taken aback. “Raise them at home? Is that even possible?”

“We tried before,” Lu Chuan said. “Wild boars are tame when young, but as they grow, their wild nature returns. If kept together, they easily fight each other, sometimes to the death.”

He chuckled. “That’s normal. Besides, raising wild boars has other downsides—their meat has a strong gamey taste. If you kill them for sale, that’s fine. But eating it day after day can get sickening.”

“Don’t worry,” Lu Chuan reassured her. “This problem is easy to fix—just castrate these three little boars.”

He laughed. “Wild boars are also easy to feed. They eat whatever we do—leftovers and scraps. For water, just some rinse water from washing dishes will do.”

---

“Just castrate them?” Su Ruan was surprised.

Lu Chuan handed her his cleaver. “Exactly. So, this challenging task is yours. I’ll start bleeding this boar.”

With that, he plunged the blade deep into the boar’s carotid artery.

Bright red blood gushed down the blade into the wooden basin below.

Su Ruan took the three piglets back inside, seemingly to study how to castrate them.

Lu Chuan bled the boar while beginning to skin it—a tedious and painstaking job.

As he worked, a voice came from outside the yard.

“Oh, Lu Chuan, you hunted a wild boar?”

Listening to the familiar voice, Lu Chuan looked up and saw the village chief.

Bai Siyu and Su Ruan glanced around but stayed inside. When the head of the household dealt with outsiders, they needed to avoid the scene.

“Yes, village chief!” Lu Chuan smiled but added with some helplessness, “You know the annual food tax is due soon. Things have been tough at home, so I thought I’d try my luck in the mountains. Didn’t expect to really catch something!”

“Is there something you need?” Lu Chuan asked, curious. The village chief rarely visited since Lu Chuan lived far away. Usually, any messages were shouted from the foot of the mountain.

Today’s unexpected visit felt strange.

“Hmm, yes, a matter,” the chief said, looking at Lu Chuan. “You brought some meat to Widow Wang yesterday?”

“Yes,” Lu Chuan admitted. “I happened to meet Chen Qingqing and heard that Widow Wang was ill, so I sent some meat over.”

The chief scratched his hands awkwardly. “It’s been a long time since our family has had any meat. I heard you hunted something, so I thought I’d come see if you could spare some for us.”