“What should we do now?” Samuel Linton had never been fully determined in the first place, but seeing his son go hungry—he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Casually stretching his arms, Henry Linton swung his legs off the bed, grabbed a small bow and arrows nearby, and said, “Father, Mother, I’ll go up the mountain and have a look. Maybe I’ll catch something, who knows. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“钧如, you’ve just recovered from illness, and you haven’t eaten anything these past few days. No, you absolutely cannot go up the mountain!” Charles King exclaimed in alarm. “As for food, your father and I will find a way. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Looking at that equally stubborn face, Samuel Linton seemed to see through something. He waved to stop his wife. “Let him go. Our son has grown up!”

Once he was on the mountain, Henry Linton realized how absurd his actions were. Wasn’t it so? Although this body was familiar with hunting, even if he had inherited that experience, he was still a novice. On top of that, he hadn’t eaten much these past two days. After only a few steps, his legs felt weak, and he had to stop helplessly. He wanted to find a place to rest, but on this mountain, aside from broken rocks and rotten tree stumps, where was there a clean spot to sit?

Thinking of his former obsession with cleanliness in the palace, Henry Linton couldn’t help but smile self-deprecatingly. At a time like this, he was still thinking about the past. Other than life being a bit harder now, what was really so bad? As he pondered, he caught sight of a crooked little tree a few steps away, with a few unripe fruits hanging from it. He had never eaten such strange things before, but he knew that these were called “mouse fruit” by the previous owner of this body. Though they tasted terrible, they could stave off hunger for a while. After only a moment’s hesitation, Henry Linton decided to pick a couple and try them.

As soon as he swallowed a bite, Henry Linton felt a bitterness worse than medicine shoot straight to his head, and his insides felt chilled. Good heavens, could people really eat this stuff? From those memories, he knew the original owner of this body had survived on mouse fruit for several days in a row—he couldn’t imagine how he managed to swallow it. He wanted badly to throw away the fruit after just one bite, but after thinking it over, Henry Linton thought of his parents at home and steeled himself to finish off the two fruits in a few quick bites. Sure enough, though his mouth was left bitter and numb, the hunger in his belly eased considerably. Tightening his belt, Henry Linton took up his bow and arrows and continued climbing higher.

There were quite a few people in the village who, like the The Linton Family, made a living by hunting. When Samuel Linton was still agile, he was one of the best hunters around. But even so, sometimes the game on the mountain wasn’t enough to support a family. In such a barren place, there was less and less to catch, and the animals had grown used to hiding, becoming extremely clever. Often, even a skilled hunter couldn’t catch a single rabbit. Along the way, aside from a few scattered wild fruit trees, Henry Linton didn’t see a single living creature—not even a mouse. It was truly maddening.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. On a cliff not far away, there seemed to be a bird’s nest. Through the sparse branches used to build the nest, he could vaguely see several large bird eggs. Delighted, Henry Linton rushed to the base of the cliff in a few quick steps.

Looking down, he saw the base of the cliff was overgrown with weeds, with not even a trace of animal tracks. Henry Linton concluded that few people ever came here, and he himself had no memory of this place. Strange—he’d been to this mountain countless times, so how could he have missed any spot where there might be game? He thought back over the path he’d just taken and realized he seemed to have wandered into a rarely visited area, which made him feel a bit uneasy.

The cliff was over a hundred zhang high, and the bird’s nest was right in the middle. Whether climbing down from above or up from below, it would be a real ordeal. After staring up for a long while, Henry Linton finally made up his mind. His experiences had already been strange enough—one more wouldn’t matter. Starving to death or falling to his death, what was the difference? Besides, whenever he thought of his parents at home, he couldn’t bear to return empty-handed.

Reaching out to test the wild grass growing on the cliff, Henry Linton couldn’t help but smile a little. They were tough enough—maybe, in a pinch, they could save his life. After climbing only two or three zhang, he already felt his strength failing. Yet, deep down, something seemed to urge him on. The sharp rocks had already cut through the thick calluses on his hands, and his already tattered clothes were torn in several more places. Sweat even blurred his vision. But at this moment, Henry Linton had only one thought: to keep climbing. Otherwise, he didn’t know if he’d have the courage to go on.

The bird’s nest was now within reach. Henry Linton could clearly see the eggs inside, each two or three times larger than ordinary bird eggs. Carefully picking up one, he suddenly realized the real difficulty: getting down would be even harder. Bringing this smooth, fragile thing down without a scratch would be no easy task. Yet, to give up food already in hand—he simply couldn’t accept it.