Throwing

The night passed without incident.

The two younger children woke much earlier than Lu Chen.

Seemingly afraid that his wakefulness the day before had been an illusion, Lu Tang ran pattering to Lu Chen's bedside as soon as she opened her eyes, without even washing her face, and stared at him.

"Brother, your complexion looks much better. You really should be getting better soon!"

Little Lu Tang listened to her brother's steady breathing and felt much more reassured. At last, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Lu Ming also came over to check on Lu Chen. Seeing that he was much better than he had been over the past few days, he breathed a sigh of relief and went straight to the kitchen to cook.

It wasn't even light out yet.

The chirping of birds outside woke Lu Chen. When he opened his eyes, he saw his younger sister Lu Tang squatting by the bed, watching him.

"Brother, you're awake? Does it still hurt? Are you hungry?"

Lu Tang's eyes widened a little when she saw Lu Chen wake up, and she hurriedly stood to ask him.

Lu Chen looked outside. Dawn was only just breaking, and he was touched.

"Why are you up so early? You're still little. You need to sleep more to grow taller, or you'll end up a little runt!"

He teased her, giving her nose a little scrape.

"Hmph, I won't be a little runt!"

Lu Tang puffed out her cheeks. Seeing that her brother was in a good mood, she grinned foolishly along with him.

"Where's Ming?"

"Oh! Second Brother's cooking. I'll go help him."

With that, Lu Tang went pattering off again.

The warmth his younger brother and sister showed him had also eased much of the confusion, fear, and helplessness Lu Chen had felt when he first transmigrated here.

Here, he was alone.

But he wasn't lonely. He still had Lu Tang and Lu Ming!

After breakfast, Lu Chen saw the two of them getting ready to leave with a fish basket and a small hoe.

"What are you two going out to do?"

"Brother, stay home and rest so your injuries can heal. We haven't been to the field in days, so it's probably full of weeds by now. Little Sister's going to pull them, and I'm going to the river to see if the fish trap I set yesterday caught anything."

Lu Ming spoke with the fish basket in his hand.

Lu Chen thought for a moment. "Give me the fish basket. I'll go to the river, and you go hoe the weeds with Tang. I wouldn't feel at ease leaving her alone. When I get back, I'll come find you in the field."

"Brother, you've only just gotten out of bed. We can do it!"

"Yeah, Brother, I'm not tired!" Lu Tang nodded emphatically as well, looking at Lu Chen with concern.

Lu Chen shook his head. "All right, I told you, I'm fine now. Hurry along. I'll come find you when I'm done here!"

Without taking no for an answer, he took the fish basket from Lu Ming and headed for the small river in front of the village.

It was already early summer. As he walked, dew dampened the ground, and the air carried the scent of plants and earth.

Heavy rain had fallen just a few days ago, and the air was very fresh.

When Lu Chen reached the river, he spotted the fish trap his younger brother had set in its usual place.

He had just lifted the trap and hadn't had time to check the catch when he faintly heard what seemed to be birds calling in a nearby field.

He raised an eyebrow and looked around, finding a few pebbles.

He picked up the stones, put the fish trap back in the water, and stood up, slowly making his way toward the sound.

A white figure had come into view.

An egret!

He tightened his grip on the stones, held his breath, and slowly edged forward another few steps.

The egret seemed to hear something and raised its head warily.

Lu Chen made a snap decision and hurled a stone at it. Without pausing, he grabbed another and threw it at the startled egret as it took flight.

His lightly injured body hadn't fully recovered, and the movement pulled at his muscles, causing a little pain.

He paid it no mind, keeping his eyes fixed on the white bird.

"Flap, flap!"

Three to five egrets took flight and fled into the distance. The stones struck the field, splashing muddy water everywhere.

"Just a little closer, and we'd have had meat to eat!"

Lu Chen rubbed his arm, somewhat regretful.

He watched the egrets fly away and land in another field, then gave up on the idea and tossed the stone in his hand at the trunk of a willow by the water.

With a thud, the stone struck the trunk dead center and bounced into the water, sending up a splash.

He turned back and pulled up the fish trap.

Little fish were flopping around inside.

"Huh, a swamp eel? Good stuff! Let's see, oh, there's a crucian carp too, and quite a few little minnows."

Lu Chen's eyes lit up. He emptied the catch from the trap into the fish basket he'd brought, tossing the ones that were too small back into the river. Then he put a little bait made from rice bran and earthworms kneaded into a lump into the trap, returned it to the water, and covered it lightly with grass.

Lu Chen lifted the basket and weighed it in his hand.

"Not bad. Enough for a meal!"

Just as he was thinking that, a few more egrets glided down and landed not far from Lu Chen.

Perhaps because the tree blocked their view, the egrets hadn't noticed him.

Lu Chen repeated his earlier tactic. He put down the fish basket, picked up some more stones, and crept forward a few careful steps, hoping to take down an egret to give the three of them some extra food.

Closer, and closer.

He raised a stone.

"Thud!"

Perhaps he really was lucky, for Lu Chen actually struck an egret's wing.

The egret failed to take off and struggled in the field, screeching.

Lu Chen grabbed the fish basket and rushed over, using it to pin down the egret as it flapped its wings, trying to take flight.

An egret's beak was very sharp. Getting pecked by one would be no fun.

Once he had the egret under control, Lu Chen smiled, grabbed its neck, and gave it a sharp twist.

He stuffed the egret into the basket. Panting, Lu Chen only then felt the soreness all over his body.

He got to his feet with a grimace, patted the mud off himself, and headed home.

Just then, however, he suddenly heard a ding.

[Host's Throwing skill detected. Trait generated]

[Throwing (beginner)]

Walking along the road, Lu Chen stopped when he heard the notification in his mind.

His heart began pounding in his chest.

"Throwing! Just as I thought, I really can create Traits myself!"

He took several deep breaths and carried the fish basket home. Along the way, he met quite a few villagers working in the fields, greeting them as he thought about the Trait.

Quite a few villagers were astonished.

"That boy's better already? When Teng Yue brought him back, his injuries looked serious to me."

"Ah, he's had a hard life too."

Once home, Lu Chen couldn't wait to shut the door. He placed the fish basket in a small water vat and put the egret in the kitchen, then examined the Trait's effect.

Perhaps because he was so focused, the Trait expanded again.

[Throwing, beginner (1%)]

"There's a progress bar too?" His eyes widened, and he studied the Trait description below.

"The effect of beginner Throwing is that every throw hits a stationary, fist-sized target within ten meters? Isn't that defying the heavens? Every throw hits at beginner level?"

He picked up some stones from the ground, backed into a corner, and aimed at a brick seven or eight meters away before throwing one hard.

"Thud!"

The stone struck the brick and bounced away, chipping off a corner.

"It really is that accurate?"

Lu Chen picked up another stone, took aim at a small pebble on the ground ahead, and threw it hard.

"Clack!"

The two stones collided, and the one on the ground was knocked flying.

Lu Chen's mouth fell open, and then his eyes filled with delight.

"It's so powerful!"

He swallowed, picked up a few more stones, and aimed again at a small pebble lying on the ground, throwing them one after another.

"Clack, clack, clack, clack."

The succession of crisp sounds as the stones struck each other in the courtyard made Lu Chen's heart bloom with joy.

Before he got the Trait, his aim had never been this formidable.

A mere beginner-level Trait was already this powerful. What about the later levels?

"Surely I don't have to use Fate Value to change the progress. Would practicing work too?"

He looked at the progress bar in the Trait details.

It was still at 1%, unmoved.

He probably hadn't practiced enough.

After some thought, he didn't rush to keep practicing. Instead, he put a pot on to boil, plucked and chopped up the egret, and cleaned the fish and swamp eel. Only then did he lock up and head for the field.

Lu Tang and Lu Ming were bent over in the field, pulling weeds and straightening up from time to time to wipe away their sweat.

Lu Chen's heart ached for them, and he hurried over to join them.

"Take a break and have some water first."

He had brought water with him.

"Thank you, Brother!"

Lu Tang saw that nothing seemed amiss with Lu Chen and that his health really did appear to be improving. Eyes curved into happy crescents, she took the water he offered, had a sip, and passed it to Lu Ming.

"Here, Second Brother, have a drink!"

The three of them worked in the field all morning, until Lu Chen's back was so tired he could barely straighten up.

The two younger children were exhausted too, their little faces full of fatigue.

"Come on. Do you know what I caught today?"

Lu Chen spoke mysteriously.

"Brother, you haven't fully recovered. You can't go running around! Uncle Teng told us before that the physician said you mustn't tire yourself out before you're better!"

Lu Tang sounded a little reproachful and a little worried.

"Hahaha, Tang really cares about me. I'll give you a leg later!" Lu Chen laughed.

"A leg? What leg?" Lu Tang swallowed, her attention captured at once.

Lu Chen gave Lu Tang's little head a rub and grinned. "You'll know when we get home."

Lu Ming looked expectant too.

When the three got home, Lu Tang couldn't wait to run into the kitchen.

"Wow! Brother, what's this? What is it?" Lu Tang was delighted when she first saw the meat, but she didn't recognize what kind it was.

It looked a bit like chicken, but the legs were rather small for a chicken, weren't they?

Had her brother stolen someone's chicken?

Her heart jumped.

I have to keep it secret for Brother. I mustn't let anyone else find out.

She glanced carefully toward the front door and beckoned to her second brother with a furtive air.

"Second Brother, come quick!" she said, lowering her voice. "Don't tell anyone, but I think Brother stole someone's chicken!"

Lu Ming froze, then looked at the chopped pieces of meat in the bowl, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"It's not chicken! What chicken has a beak this long? It's some kind of bird, isn't it?"

Lu Chen found Lu Tang's guilty, furtive manner somewhat amusing.

"It's an egret. I saw a few when I went to pull up the trap today. I didn't expect to hit one with a single stone. Hehe, impressive, isn't your brother?"

Lu Chen found a white feather and waved it in front of Lu Tang.

Lu Tang's eyes widened. Then she cried out in delight, "Brother, you caught an egret? The same kind we saw this morning?"

When Lu Chen nodded, Lu Tang nearly jumped up, dancing with joy. "Brother, you're amazing! Are we eating it for lunch?"

"We are!"