Hunter

At the dinner table.

Lan Jie'er was glowing with joy. In an unprecedented gesture, she picked up two bites of rabbit meat for herself.

They had paid all their taxes and shaken off a local bully. Anyone would have been happy.

"Shi Ge'er."

She looked at her man with open admiration. "That Qin fellow must have heard about what you can do and didn't dare make trouble for us anymore. You're really amazing."

He could even shoot a wild boar dead. No wonder she had always felt that Shi Ge'er was so strong!

After dinner, Gu Xinlan habitually sat by the bed waiting, but for once, he did not come inside for a long while.

She lifted the curtain and saw Chen Sanshi sitting beneath the candlelight, seriously leafing through a book.

"Not turning in early tonight?"

Gu Xinlan was a little disappointed, but she obediently did not disturb him and went to sleep first.

Skill: Reading (Beginner)

Progress: (120/300)

Effect: Spirit Revitalized, Eidetic Memory

Chen Sanshi gently closed the book. After making sure Lan Jie'er was sound asleep, he tucked a kitchen knife at his waist, slung his longbow over his back, and quietly slipped out of the house, melting into the night.

Brothel.

"Sir, just stay the night. Why bother going back?"

"Scram, scram, scram! Your grandpa still has things to do!"

Qin Xiong shoved away the courtesan trying to keep him and staggered out of the brothel.

The overnight price was tripled. He was not stupid.

The money at home could not be squandered. He still had to save some to buy gifts for his younger brother.

He had lost his parents when he was young and raised his younger brother by selling flatbreads. Later, after making something of himself, he had saved enough money to send his brother to Poyang County's finest Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy.

But practicing martial arts burned through money like dry tinder.

Registration fees, apprenticeship fees, medicine costs—not to mention that obtaining true teachings required another enormous expense.

Those old bastards at the martial arts academies in the County Town basically only passed their martial arts down to their own sons or disciple-sons. Outsiders could never learn their true killer techniques.

His younger brother was no exception.

He had practiced martial arts for more than three years, yet still could not learn a complete cultivation method.

Fortunately, his brother was close to the Young Master of the Academy. That kid was a demon drunk on women. If Qin Xiong sent him enough beautiful women, perhaps there was hope of getting the true teachings.

"Speaking of which, that little Gu woman is really beautiful!"

"With that face, she doesn't look like she came from the countryside at all."

"What a pity, what a pity!"

Whenever Qin Xiong thought of it, he felt stifled.

He actually had to apologize to the one surnamed Chen.

But that was only temporary.

Once his younger brother found the time, what was a mere hunter worth?

No matter how formidable Chen was, could he be more formidable than a martial artist?

When the time came, he could just seize some chance to have his brother kill the one surnamed Chen on the mountain. The little wife in his house could even be kept for Qin Xiong's own enjoyment!

"Ha ha ha!"

Thinking of that little wife's millstone-like hips, Qin Xiong could not help laughing aloud.

"Whoosh—"

A cold gust brushed past him, sobering him up by more than half.

Looking around, he realized that without noticing, he had already left the city. Everything around him was pitch-black. The occasional crow call drifted from afar, making the midnight silence all the more profound.

"Heh, I'm getting more and more timid!"

For some reason, Qin Xiong had felt creeped out all day, as if someone were following behind him.

He laughed at himself and was about to head home when another gust suddenly swept in from behind.

This gust was exceptionally thin and sharp, slicing straight toward the back of his head with a bone-piercing chill.

That "gust" plunged in through the back of his skull and burst out through the crown of his head, as though a horn had grown from his forehead.

Qin Xiong toppled over stiffly and never moved again.

"Not satisfying enough!"

Chen Sanshi emerged from the distant woods and stepped forward to inspect the corpse.

When martial artists fought, they blocked one another's path with swords and blades, their bodies clashing in brutal combat.

He had merely drawn his bow from afar, and everything was over. He had not even used the kitchen knife he brought. It had happened far too quickly, letting Qin Xiong die far too easily.

"Forget it. Who told me to be so kindhearted?"

Chen Sanshi found roughly three taels of broken silver on the corpse.

"Only this much?"

"This bastard harmed the villagers and made at least dozens of taels of silver every year. Where did the money go?"

"Does his brother's martial arts practice cost that much?"

After pocketing the silver, he began considering how to dispose of the body.

There was an arrow wound on the corpse, so he definitely could not leave it here.

There were only so many hunters within dozens of miles.

If he cut off the head separately, he would get blood all over himself, making it even harder to deal with.

"I'll just throw it up the mountain!"

Chen Sanshi hoisted the corpse onto his shoulder.

With Light as a Swallow in effect, even carrying a dead man did not slow him down in the slightest.

In just one hour, he reached Second Mountain, tossed the corpse into a secluded thicket, and returned to his home in Yanbian Village before dawn.

Lying down beside the sleeping Lan Jie'er, Chen Sanshi let out a long breath.

"I suppose I've rid the villagers of a scourge."

"I just don't know whether his younger brother will come knocking."

"I need to start practicing martial arts as soon as possible!"

He had no regrets.

With Qin Xiong's character, his apology had only been temporary. Once his younger brother gained power, he would surely come back to settle the score tenfold.

Rather than sitting on pins and needles, it was better to strike first and seize the advantage.

The next morning, roosters crowed to announce dawn.

As usual, Chen Sanshi rose early to practice archery.

After his archery reached mastery, his proficiency increased at a sharp decline.

Because the bow was too light.

He could now draw a One-stone bow. A Four-force bow no longer provided any training effect at all.

"A heavy bow won't be easy to get."

"Even martial arts academies don't dare keep them in private, or they'll be deemed to be plotting rebellion."

"Besides getting a heavy bow, I should also put martial arts practice on the agenda."

"..."

Chen Sanshi silently planned the road ahead in his heart while Gu Xinlan called him over for breakfast.

"Clang clang clang—"

He sat down absentmindedly. Just as he picked up a corn bun, the sound of gongs and shouted orders rang through the village.

The authorities!

Chen Sanshi's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down.

"It can't be because of Qin Xiong. He's only been dead for one night."

"He isn't worth such a massive show of force. Something else must have happened."

Sure enough.

The County Yamen's Patrol House officers shouted at the top of their lungs, calling every villager out to announce major news.

A barbarian martial artist had infiltrated Poyang County and assassinated the Poyang County Magistrate.

The whole village erupted in an uproar.

The County Yamen had come to search for the assassin's whereabouts.

After gathering all the villagers together, the Patrol House officers began searching house by house. Only after raising a huge fuss for half the day did they leave in frustration.

"Even the County Magistrate was killed."

Gu Xinlan said softly, "I remember this County Magistrate had only been transferred here less than two years ago. It seems being an official isn't an easy job either."

"Mm."

Watching the constables gradually disappear, Chen Sanshi found it strange.

Why would a barbarian martial artist kill the County Magistrate?

The border was guarded by the garrison troops, not the County Yamen. If they wanted to attack, they should be killing the experts in the military.

"Forget it."

"It has nothing to do with me."

Chen Sanshi shook his head, lamenting that the world was growing ever more chaotic. It only spurred him further to make money.

Only with money could he improve his own strength and protect himself in these troubled times.

After hastily filling his stomach, he slung his bow and arrows over his back and headed up the mountain to hunt.