Wolf-Fang Arrow

After making up his mind, Chen Sanshi began to clean up the scene.

He had used too much force when hunting the wild chicken, accidentally breaking the arrow shaft stuck in it.

"The quality of these used arrows is questionable!"

Chen Sanshi shook his head, retrieved the arrowhead, and carried his prey down the mountain.

He had been hunting all day, and his stomach was rumbling with hunger, but his spirits were high, and he was constantly aware of his surroundings.

"It must be the effect of 'Refreshed Spirit'."

"It seems I'll have to make time to read more in the evenings from now on, not just focus on having fun with Lan Jie'er."

"Practicing archery, hunting, reading – I want to be a diligent person."

The sky was still bright today. As he passed by Yanbian Village, many villagers saw Chen Sanshi returning with a chicken in his left hand and a rabbit in his right, his arms full.

"You've got talent, kid!"

"Little Stone is amazing. He just started hunting and he's already bringing back game every day."

"Tsk~ A rat's son knows how to dig holes."

"Baldy, look how sour you are. You can't stand seeing others do well."

"Why would I be sour? This little bit of money isn't even enough to pay taxes!"

"That's true."

As soon as taxes were mentioned, a wave of complaints erupted.

So many people had their entire year's savings squeezed dry.

"Shi Ge'er, wait up! I was looking for you!"

"Shunzi?"

Chen Sanshi looked at the thin, dark-skinned teenager running towards him. "What's up, Shunzi?"

"Brother, do you need my help?"

The early tax collection had caused quite a stir. Zhang Shun came over as soon as he finished selling his fish today to inquire about the situation.

"You... aren't you supposed to be studying martial arts?"

Chen Sanshi was tempted.

Gathering three taels of silver in seven days was something no one was completely sure they could do.

If he could borrow the money in advance, it would be ideal.

At worst, he could save up and repay double the amount, showing his gratitude.

"Studying martial arts isn't urgent for these couple of days. Paying taxes is."

Shunzi scratched his head and said honestly, "Brother, come home with me. My family has money."

Three taels of silver!

For ordinary people, this was an absolute fortune.

Chen Sanshi was touched. "Nine out of thirteen, then. I can't use your money for free."

"Brother, what are you saying?"

Zhang Shun replied, "You taught me to read and write since I was little, not to mention that time we were playing in the river. If you hadn't pulled me out, I would have drowned. Why bring that up!"

He said that, but it was still rare for someone to offer help during difficult times.

"Brother, wait here. I'll go home and get the money!"

Shunzi didn't give him a chance to refuse and turned to sprint away.

Since the other party refused to accept interest, Chen Sanshi felt awkward about using the money for free.

He carried the wild chicken and rabbit and followed, intending to offer them as a gift of gratitude.

Their homes weren't far apart. It took ten minutes to get there, and Shunzi's door was open.

Just as Chen Sanshi was about to knock, a gust of wind blew towards him, carrying the sound of an argument.

"Shunzi, three taels of silver! Are you crazy?"

"Mom, that's Brother Stone! He saved my life when I was little!"

"He saved your life, so what? We've repaid him before. Didn't we pay for his medical expenses when he was sick?"

"Mom..."

"Our whole family worked day and night for years, and we finally saved some money. Wasn't it all so you could join a martial arts school and become a martial arts master? At the very least, you should pity your father! Your father has been limping for over half a year and couldn't bear to spend money on treatment, and you're just handing over three taels of silver to an outsider?"

"..."

Chen Sanshi stopped in his tracks, quietly put down a wild chicken, and turned to leave.

Helping was a favor; not helping was his right!

He felt no resentment of "a drop of kindness repaid with a flood of ingratitude." Instead, he was deeply touched by Shunzi's gesture.

It's not like we're a rich family; everyone's struggling.

We still have to rely on ourselves!

Chen Sanshi's resolve to go to Second Mountain grew even stronger.

He arrived at the Eight Treasures Tower in the county town before dark.

The rabbit weighed about the same as last time, selling for seventy-one wen.

Taking the money, he didn't rush home. Instead, he went to the market again to prepare for entering Second Mountain tomorrow.

"Yo, Little Stone, you're back?"

Old Xu greeted him warmly.

"Uncle Xu, I want to buy some arrows."

The willow leaf arrows Chen Sanshi had could handle rabbits and pheasants, but they lacked killing power against tough-skinned, large prey.

"What kind do you want? I have them all, Uncle."

Looking around, there were seven or eight types of arrows displayed on the stall, all of high quality. Some even looked like they couldn't have been made by a civilian workshop; they belonged in the category of military equipment.

There was a garrison stationed fifty li outside Poyang County town, so it wasn't strange to see military equipment circulating in the market.

Not to mention, Old Xu himself was from a military men, and his son had taken over and even become a Squad Leader. It was perfectly normal for him to have channels to resell ordinary military equipment.

Chen Sanshi's gaze swept across the stall.

Most of the arrow shafts were made of poplar wood, with bird feathers attached to the tail. The main difference lay in the arrowheads.

Different arrowheads had different uses.

Some had strong penetration, some created large wounds, some were for shooting horses, some for naval combat, and there were even signal arrows specifically for transmitting messages. They were truly diverse.

He finally chose an arrowhead with a special shape.

Wolf-fang arrow.

As the name suggested, the arrowhead had two wings with three hooks, resembling protruding wolf fangs.

Once shot, the barbs would firmly lodge inside the body. Trying to pull it out would tear away a large chunk of flesh, and not pulling it out would cause continuous damage. It was extremely lethal, whether hunting beasts or people.

Old Xu said, "These wolf-fang arrows are good stuff. I sell them to others for twenty-three wen each, but I'll sell them to you for twenty."

"Can't you make it cheaper?"

"If I go any lower, I'll lose money."

Chen Sanshi gritted his teeth and bought five.

But he understood the principle that sharpening an axe makes it cut better. If he wanted to succeed, he had to invest.

If conditions allowed, he even wanted to buy a heavy bow.

After all, the main killing power of a bow and arrow came from the draw weight.

He deliberately glanced around. The heaviest bow on the stall was a Four-force bow; there were no heavier heavy bows.

Only a heavy bow could break armor.

It seemed even reselling military equipment had its limits.

Money exchanged hands for goods.

The two arrows he had lost earlier were deducted, totaling eleven wen. He ended up paying eighty to ninety wen.

"A whole day's work gone, and I even lost money!"

Chen Sanshi pocketed the wolf-fang arrows and headed home.

Halfway back.

Chen Sanshi encountered Qin Xiong and his thugs again, lurking on his usual route home, giving him menacing looks.

They were clearly trying to intimidate him in this way.

"They're like a persistent shadow; I can't avoid them anymore."

"I'll figure something out after I pay the taxes."

Chen Sanshi chose to ignore them and walked straight home.

"Big brother, he's quite arrogant!"

"Should I go beat him up?"

The thugs bared their teeth and discussed.

"Beat him up?"

Qin Xiong pointed at the bow and arrows on Chen Sanshi's back and asked, "Do you know what those are?"

"Bows and arrows."

"A Four-force bow, strong enough to shoot you through! If you can handle that thing, you think you can beat him?"

Qin Xiong was somewhat annoyed.

He initially thought that the guy surnamed Chen was just a scholar, and hunting on the mountain was just luck.

After inquiring, he found out that this kid had actually managed to bring back goods for two consecutive days, which meant he really had strength in his arms and wasn't messing around.

The hunters in the village were actually not to be trifled with.

Before, they had only bullied this kid because his father had died and he was a scholar.

Of course, in this world, strength is useless; money is what matters.

Rabbits and pheasants weren't worth much silver.

If he couldn't scrape together three taels of silver in a couple of days, he would still be at their mercy.

Late at night.

Chen Sanshi got out of bed with light movements.

As for Lan Jie'er, she was so tired she had fallen asleep.

I'm still too young and hot-headed.

Chen Sanshi was a little annoyed; he had promised to go home and study.

His study time was gone, but he couldn't let his archery practice slide.

Before going up the mountain, it would be best to advance his archery skill to the next level.

He picked up his bow and went out, arriving at the open space in front of the woods behind his house, and began practicing archery under the moonlight.

As one willow leaf arrow after another was shot, his proficiency also steadily climbed.

Chen Sanshi only returned to his room to sleep for a few hours after practicing until the latter half of the night. As soon as he heard the rooster crow, he immediately got up again to practice archery.

Whoosh--

Another arrow was shot, directly taking down a sparrow foraging early in the morning from the treetop.

At the same time, the system panel changed.

[Skill: Archery (Proficient)]
[Progress: (0/500)]
[Effect: Physique increases, natural archer, can casually draw a one-stone bow, within seventy paces, can shoot three arrows in the blink of an eye with a hundred percent accuracy.]

This time, the moment the panel upgraded, Chen Sanshi's strength and archery skills didn't just improve significantly; his muscles and bones even changed, and his physique surged.

With this physique, even though he had never practiced martial arts, he could easily draw a one-stone heavy bow, and within eighty meters, every arrow would hit a palm-sized bullseye.

In the Great Sheng Dynasty, one stone was approximately equal to 150 jin.

Bows and arrows of this weight were generally only used by martial artists.

A palm-sized bullseye, at eighty meters, looked like just a black dot.

As for shooting three arrows in the blink of an eye.

There is a Buddhist scripture that records: twenty blinks of an eye make one Luo Yu, twenty Luo Yu make one Xu Yu, and one day and one night make thirty Xu Yu.

According to this statement, calculating "blink of an eye" would take about seven seconds.

Three shots in the blink of an eye.

This means that from drawing the bow, nocking the arrow, to releasing the arrow, all four actions, shooting an accurate arrow in about two seconds.

One-stone bow, eighty meters, two seconds.

Individually, these are not exaggerated, but the combination of these three terms is terrifying.

Chen Sanshi was a little surprised.

Proficiency could not only improve skills but also improve physique.

He felt that his bones had become denser and stronger, and his arms and fingers had also become much longer and more slender.

I wonder if this physique will help with future martial arts training.

In any case, he had gained a few more points of confidence in catching a large prey within six days.

"Shi Ge'er, time to eat."

A gentle voice entered his ears, bringing Chen Sanshi back to his senses.

After a hurried breakfast, he took all the remaining salted duck eggs at home and packed half a bag of millet.

"What are you doing with this?"

Gu Xinlan was a little confused.

She could understand the salted duck eggs, but she couldn't eat raw millet, so what was he taking to the mountain for?

"Giving a gift."

Chen Sanshi answered concisely and was about to leave.

"Shi Ge'er, be careful recently."

Gu Xinlan said with a worried face, "When I came back yesterday, I saw the guy surnamed Qin lurking around our house again. I'm scared..."

"I know."

Chen Sanshi's tone was firm, "Don't worry, my wife, he can't hurt you."

Wife?

Gu Xinlan's cheeks felt a little hot.

With Shi Ge'er saying that, she really wasn't as scared anymore.