Stage Settlement

Seeing Lu Chen return unharmed, Lu Ming and Lu Tang both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother, I still can't aim these stones properly. I only hit the target five or six times out of ten. Teach me some more."

Lu Ming felt more and more useless.

He wanted to grow up faster. Once he was grown, he would be stronger, able to help shoulder his older brother's burdens and give his younger sister better food.

"Come into the courtyard. I'll teach you!" Lu Chen said with a smile. Seeing Lu Tang gazing at him expectantly, he beckoned to her too. "Little Tang, do you want to learn?"

Lu Tang came over to Lu Chen, tilted her head back, and opened her eyes wide. "Brother, can I learn too?"

"Of course! Our Little Tang might even become a heroine someday!"

An excited look appeared on Lu Tang's face. She hurriedly picked up some pebbles from the ground and stood beside her second brother, placing the pebbles at her feet before looking at Lu Chen.

Teaching one was no different from teaching two. Using the simplest, clearest words he could, Lu Chen demonstrated the techniques and methods of throwing to them both.

The morning passed as the two practiced with grunts and cries.

Lu Chen watched them for a while, correcting their movements. Once he was sure there were no problems, he made lunch, putting the turtledove he had shot that morning in the pot and slicing up a little cured meat for a lavish meal.

All three ate until their bellies were nearly bursting.

Lu Chen sat resting in the courtyard while Lu Ming and Lu Tang washed the dishes.

He looked at the green rice fields outside the courtyard and the rolling dark-green mountains farther away, and smiled.

[Under the host's guidance and influence, the fates of Lu San, Lu Si, Teng Jun, and Luo Yong have changed]

[Interim Fate Value gain: 20]

"Looks like those men must have eaten the mushrooms!"

He knew that after eating poisonous mushrooms, there was a latent period of several hours, during which symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain might appear.

It would be best to guard against those men when the time came...

"Hahahaha! Little Chen, those mushrooms tasted pretty good, and the pheasant smelled wonderful too!"

Lu San's detestable voice rang out.

"Remember, you still owe us fifteen taels of silver. If you dare not pay us back, we won't go easy on you!"

Lu Chen stood up and looked outside the courtyard. The four men were baring their teeth in nasty grins.

Lu Si was picking his teeth with a fingernail, looking utterly carefree.

Lu San cast a cold glance at Lu Tang and Lu Ming and forced out a sneer. "You won't shed tears until you see the coffin!"

"Let's go, back to town! Little Chen, remember this: next time we come, it won't be just fifteen taels of silver!"

As Lu Chen watched the four walk away, the frown he had worn earlier eased instead.

"Heh, I was just wondering whether to finish them off tonight while they were asleep or when the poison struck and the stomach pain became unbearable. I didn't expect them to leave on their own. Saves me from having to do it in the village!"

Lu Chen smiled faintly and turned to Lu Ming and Lu Tang.

"You two go rest. They've gone back to the county town."

"Little sister, go take a nap first. I'm going to practice a little longer," Lu Ming said to Lu Tang.

Lu Tang was a little reluctant, but she had eaten a lot at lunch and was indeed feeling drowsy.

After sending Lu Tang away, Lu Ming came over to Lu Chen. He hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, his eyes somewhat cold, "Brother, I think they're after our house and paddy fields. They even want to sell our sister!"

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Why don't we find a chance to kill them tonight?"

Lu Ming spoke very quietly, but his tone was icy cold.

"Those men run roughshod over the village and have done all kinds of evil. If they really set their sights on our sister... Brother, you can hit birds with stones, so you can hit people too, right? I can help you. I'll practice hard these next few days!"

Lu Chen was surprised.

This little brother of mine is ruthless!

And clever too!

Back on Earth, twelve-year-olds were still in elementary school.

But in this world, some twelve-year-olds might already be discussing marriage, and plenty married and had children at fifteen or sixteen.

At twelve, one was already half an adult.

When Lu Ming was five, his grandparents and third brother had died in an epidemic. His father had died when he was eight, and his mother when he was twelve.

After suffering one upheaval after another, the boy had grown ever more silent.

After some thought, Lu Chen decided that success depended on secrecy, so he couldn't tell Lu Ming about this. But that didn't stop him from seeing what the boy was made of. Perhaps he could become a helper.

"Then what do you think we should do to keep the authorities from suspecting us? Besides, those four are members of the Green Bamboo Gang. If they die and the other gang members come looking for trouble, what will we do? Can we deal with them?"

Lu Chen asked.

Lu Ming's face went a little pale.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Are we supposed to do nothing, then?"

Lu Chen shook his head. "You're still too young, and your body is weak. What can you do? You certainly could kill those ruffians without caring about anything else, but you haven't thought through how to deal with what comes afterward."

"Killing is simple. Sneak in while they're asleep, and one stab will take their lives. But people aren't animals. They have family and friends, and as gang members, they have a boss too. Once they're dead, someone will definitely report it to the authorities, or the gang will investigate on its own. Can you make sure you won't be discovered? If you are, what will you do?"

Lu Ming sank into thought.

"Brother, then as long as no one suspects us, it's fine, right?"

The corner of Lu Chen's eye twitched.

Wait, kid, you really do have a strong urge to kill, don't you?

"The most important thing for you right now isn't thinking about killing some little hoodlums. It's practicing throwing stones! When you can hit your target every time within ten paces, then we can talk about you helping me!"

Lu Chen tossed a pebble to Lu Ming, signaling for him to continue practicing.

Lu Ming was silent for a long while. He clenched his fists and looked at the little wooden stake in front of him.

Big brother is right. I'm still too weak!

Practice!

Once I'm strong, those ruffians and hoodlums won't dare bully my family!

Lu Chen nodded, then picked up his bamboo spear and began practicing thrusts.

Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself; practice with a spear a thousand times, and its edge will turn cold on its own.

Lu Chen could feel himself growing more and more familiar with the bamboo spear, and more and more proficient at thrusting with it.

The two trained silently in the courtyard. After Lu Tang woke up, she joined her second brother in practice, huffing and shouting.

That evening, after dinner, Lu Chen practiced chopping and thrusting for a while, then began thinking about what to teach at tomorrow's trial lesson.

"I'll start with some commonly used characters, like those in Qingshan Village and Shahu County. Then I'll teach them how to write the village's three major surnames, Lu, Teng, and Luo, followed by the names of the children attending tomorrow. Finally, I'll finish with 'Heaven and earth, dark and yellow; the universe, vast and wild.' That should be about right."

Lu Chen sat in the courtyard, watching Lu Ming still practicing hard and thinking about his lesson preparations, when he suddenly heard a voice in his mind.

[Under the host's guidance and influence, the fates of Lu San, Lu Si, Teng Jun, and Luo Yong have changed.]

[Lu San suffered incessant vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea, experienced hallucinations, and fell into a latrine and drowned; Lu Si fell unconscious and went into shock; Teng Jun and Luo Yong suffered abdominal cramps]

[Interim Fate Value gain:]

[Lu San's death: +50]

[Lu Si's shock: +30]

[Teng Jun and Luo Yong's abdominal cramps: +20]

[Total: +100]

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.

Lu San just died like that?

Drowned in a latrine?

How miserable!

He smiled and called out to Lu Ming, "Little Ming, stop practicing. You and Little Tang are coming to class with me tomorrow, so get a good night's sleep."