Ten li into the mountain forest.
Frost withered the red leaves, leaving a thousand groves gaunt; a few pines and cypresses on the ridges stood lush and fair.
Unbloomed plum buds gave off a faint fragrance. The days were short but warm; in this Little Spring season, chrysanthemums had withered and lotuses were spent, yet camellias flourished.
The scenery before him resembled an immortal paradise from a poem, but Zhang Chen had no heart to appreciate it. He carried a Luoyang Shovel over his shoulder, a large basket on his back, and walked along a mountain path with Wang Wu.
"Your trap-making skills are getting more exquisite by the day. Your hunting methods have already surpassed mine," Wang Wu said first as he walked ahead.
Zhang Chen possessed all sorts of wilderness survival knowledge from his previous life, as well as advanced hunting mechanisms that the people of this world could never compare to. Grateful for Wang Wu's kindness, he had taught Wang Wu every trap-setting method he had learned in his previous life, without holding anything back.
Hearing Wang Wu's words, Zhang Chen grinned foolishly. "That's only because Uncle Wang taught me well."
"The little skill I possess can barely keep hunger from my door. You've surpassed your master; your trap-making methods are beyond anything I could ever match. I truly don't know what's inside that little head of yours, that you can think up such marvelous traps." Wang Wu's voice was full of emotion.
Looking at Wang Wu's back, Zhang Chen replied with a smile, "Uncle Wang's abilities aren't something I can compare with. You're being far too modest."
"Oh, right. Rich Man Li seems to be raising the rent again this year. You'd better prepare in advance, kid. Don't come up short on the rent," Wang Wu said, as though suddenly recalling something.
Zhang Chen frowned upon hearing that. "He's raising it again? Last year, he already raised it to three taels of silver. If he keeps raising it like this, how will we have any way to live? The forest may belong to him, but the game in these mountains doesn't. The Li family is simply too overbearing!"
Zhang Chen's voice brimmed with dissatisfaction.
"The situation is stronger than people. Other than enduring it, what else can we do?" Wang Wu's voice was filled with grief and indignation.
The two parted ways in the mountains and headed to their respective hunting grounds. Zhang Chen had a decent haul that day—three pheasants and a muntjac. He simply set up a pot and fire in the mountains to stew one of the pheasants. Only after eating his fill did he return to that mysterious Robber's Hole. "Perhaps I don't need to dig such a large opening. It only needs to be large enough for me to crawl through."
Looking at the Robber's Hole he had dug, Zhang Chen began considering ways to dig it with less effort. But after pondering for a moment, he shook his head and rejected the idea. "If some venomous snake or fierce insect rushes out of the hole, I won't even have time to react. And if some venomous snake or fierce insect blocks the way outside, I'll only be food for it."
He was not claustrophobic, but this was a desolate mountain wilderness, deep in the ancient forest. If some savage beast came crawling out and he could not turn around, he would have no fate but to be eaten.
Digging out a complete passage would be troublesome, but it was safer.
"Safety first." After pondering for a moment, Zhang Chen carried his basket and descended along the rope, continuing to dig through the deep tunnel he had excavated yesterday.
As Zhang Chen dug, great swathes of Experience Points were collected once more.
Experience Points +7 Experience Points +9 Experience Points +5 Experience Points +20 Experience Points +7 Experience Points +35 Experience Points +50 ...
Zhang Chen dug laboriously and did not return at noon. Instead, he started a fire where he was and roasted a pheasant to eat. He was doing heavy labor now, and digging through soil consumed too much stamina, so his appetite had grown as well.
While roasting the pheasant, Zhang Chen polished iron pellets and considered what he could use to make slingshot bands.
"It won't be easy to find something suitable for making slingshot bands in this world. The best option would be the sinews of some ferocious beast. After soaking them in special medicinal liquid, they would surely meet a slingshot's needs. But hunting tigers or bears is nearly impossible. This little body of mine isn't even enough for one swipe of their paws."
After eating the pheasant and resting briefly, Zhang Chen began digging again.
The hole Zhang Chen dug was not wide, only about one meter square. That made it easier not only for him to turn around, but also to swing his dagger.
But as Zhang Chen continued digging, he suddenly sensed something strange. A thin layer of frost had appeared in the tunnel ahead. It clung to the walls and had even turned the soil into Frozen Soil, making it exceptionally difficult for Zhang Chen to dig.
Zhang Chen touched the frost, surprise appearing in his eyes. "That shouldn't be possible. It's the blazing height of summer right now. How can there be Frozen Soil?"
Looking at the Frozen Soil coated in frost along the wall, Zhang Chen stopped swinging the Luoyang Shovel. Caution appeared in his eyes as he wondered whether he should continue digging.
Frozen Soil in the sixth month was highly unusual and deeply strange. How could he not treat it with caution?
Yet when he saw the Experience Points flickering red in the pitch-black underground tunnel, Zhang Chen looked again at his Golden Finger Interface:
Name: Zhang Chen Skill (Tier 2): Light of the Righteous God (0/5000) Points: 300
How could his Golden Finger level up if he did not dig?
How could he escape the Fox Spirit if he did not dig?
If he did not face the unknown strangeness within the tunnel, he would still have to face that damned Fox Spirit someday. With vast amounts of Experience Points right before his eyes, there was no reason for him to give up.
"Keep digging!" Zhang Chen touched the Frozen Soil for a while, then resumed digging.
But the Frozen Soil was hard, and his digging speed began to slow. It was especially exhausting.
Moreover, the Frozen Soil was like ice. Waves of bone-piercing chill washed over him, causing Zhang Chen's body to grow stiff and his fingers to stop obeying him. After half an hour, Zhang Chen had no choice but to crawl out of the tunnel. Basking beneath the warm sun, the chill gradually dissipated from his body.
"Good thing it's scorching summer outside. Otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to endure that cold. The inside is practically a giant ice cellar—it could freeze someone to death!" Zhang Chen rubbed his stiff fingers as the frost on his body began to melt.
"Now I'm even more curious about what treasure lies in that underground Ancient Tomb. And I've been digging for so long, yet no strange thing underground has come out to cause me trouble. Perhaps there are more strange objects like the Golden Book down there." Zhang Chen pondered inwardly.
After warming himself aboveground for a Teacup Time, Zhang Chen turned and continued digging underground. But he had not dug for long when the Luoyang Shovel struck something with a clang of iron against stone, causing him to freeze. "Steel? There's steel buried underground?"
Zhang Chen stopped digging with the Luoyang Shovel and brushed aside the dust in front of him with his hand. Sure enough, a corner of steel was revealed.
"How strange. Why would there be steel here? Could it be a burial object?"
Curious, Zhang Chen hurriedly took out the small shovel tucked at his waist and began excavating around the steel. As his shovel kept digging, the full appearance of the mysterious steel object gradually emerged before him.
"This is?" Zhang Chen looked at the one-meter-tall lump of iron before him, surprise flashing through his eyes. "It looks somewhat like a gravestone?"
The iron block stood one meter tall and was roughly ten centimeters thick, with a base beneath it. Mysterious patterns were carved into the front, though Zhang Chen could not understand them. They seemed to show someone riding a divine dragon through the sky, with rings of white clouds surrounding the figure and dragon, looking extremely mysterious. On the back of the iron stele were countless cryptic symbols, engraved on it like tiny tadpoles.
"A gravestone made of iron?" Zhang Chen carefully examined the shape of the iron stele, surprise in his eyes. "Who knows how many years this iron stele has been buried underground, yet it shows no sign of rusting. This place is Frozen Soil; perhaps the Mystic Ice Power prevented the iron stele from decaying."
But the iron stele was covered in dirt, so Zhang Chen could not examine its patterns clearly. By now, the sky was gradually darkening, and the yang energy between heaven and earth was steadily declining. Zhang Chen did not dare linger and could only retreat for now, planning to return tomorrow after making preparations.
When he crawled out of the tunnel, the sun still hung three zhang above the horizon. Zhang Chen did not dare delay. After checking his traps in the mountains, he harvested another rabbit and two pheasants before hurrying down the mountain.
Zhang Chen headed straight for Wang Wu's home. He feared that if he returned home, he would not be able to keep his game and the Fox Spirit would take it all. Even if the Fox Spirit could not finish the game, she could trade it for money. Otherwise, where did he think that damned poor scholar next door got the money for his studies?
By the time Zhang Chen returned from the mountain, the sun had completely set, leaving only the dim afterglow of dusk.
Just then, a donkey cart passed in the distance. Rice Straw was piled on the cart, and two men dressed as old farmers drove it from front and back.
"How strange. A donkey cart actually came to the village." Zhang Chen looked at the somewhat gaunt donkey, surprise in his eyes. In this era, donkey carts were not something ordinary families could own.
Did he think donkey carts were ordinary? In truth, even landowning families used donkey carts when they went out. Horse carriages were toys for nobles.
"This is the season for harvesting Rice Straw, but I haven't heard of anyone in the village selling Rice Straw." As Zhang Chen inwardly wondered, the donkey cart suddenly stopped. The old farmer leading the cart fixed his eyes on the muntjac in Zhang Chen's hand. "Young man, are you selling that muntjac?"
"Selling! Of course I'm selling!" Zhang Chen immediately answered when business came knocking.
"How much are you asking for the muntjac?" The old farmer's gaze fell on the plump muntjac in Zhang Chen's hand.
"If you give me six hundred copper coins, it's yours," Zhang Chen replied.
The old farmer was straightforward. He paid immediately, placed the muntjac on the cart, then drove the donkey cart away at a swaying pace.
Watching the donkey cart disappear into the distance, Zhang Chen felt puzzled. "That old farmer looked poor as a church mouse, but he's surprisingly wealthy. He bought a six-hundred-copper muntjac just like that."
With the muntjac sold to the old farmer, there was naturally no need to visit Wang Wu's home. Zhang Chen returned directly home and, sure enough, spotted the Fox Spirit from afar. She sat listlessly before the main gate beneath the sunset.
The moment she saw Zhang Chen, the Fox Spirit perked up. She suddenly sprang to her feet and craned her neck toward the game hanging from Zhang Chen's shoulder. When she saw the plump pheasants in particular, the fox's eyes gleamed.
Zhang Chen looked at the Fox Spirit lying by the gate, his teeth itching with anger. He went into the house on his own and hung the pheasants on the wall. Sure enough, he did not have to wait long before the Fox Spirit's soul left her body, directly picked up a pheasant, and carried it away.
"She isn't even pretending anymore." Zhang Chen looked at the vanished pheasant on the wall, his liver aching with rage. "Just wait. One day, I'll definitely catch you. Then I'll make you go up the mountain every day to catch game for me."
Zhang Chen washed up and went to sleep. Nothing happened through the night. The next day, he prepared a brush in advance, took his equipment, and headed into the mountains.
After checking his traps, Zhang Chen discovered with delight that he had caught a swan this time. The unlucky swan had descended from the sky to rest, only to land straight in his trap.
Today's catch: one swan, two rabbits, and one little squirrel.
Zhang Chen roasted the swan and ate it, then returned to the tunnel and used the brush to clean the iron stele.
After brushing away all the dust from the iron stele, Zhang Chen looked at the patterns and symbols on both sides and fell into thought. "These should be words. I wonder what they record. If I figure out their meaning, could I obtain a new skill?"
Zhang Chen looked at the mysterious tadpoles on the Stone Tablet, a glint flashing through his eyes. He seemed to see hope of acquiring a new skill.
"Unfortunately, I can't read." Zhang Chen found the writing on the Stone Tablet troublesome. "It seems I'll have to attend a school and learn to read."
Learning to read was something that had to happen sooner or later. Without literacy, one could not get by in this world. Ever since awakening the wisdom of his previous life, Zhang Chen had been busy struggling for food and survival. Where had he found the time or opportunity to learn to read?
"I can first make rubbings of the words on the Stone Tablet." After studying the Stone Tablet for a while and finding no clue to its origins, Zhang Chen stopped dwelling on it and resumed digging.
Experience Points +19 Experience Points +8 Experience Points +17 Experience Points +50 Experience Points +7 Experience Points +5 Experience Points +49 ...
Time flew by, and another day passed. Zhang Chen looked at his Golden Finger Interface:
Name: Zhang Chen Skill (Tier 2): Light of the Righteous God (0/5000) Points: 800
"This is only the second day. It seems accumulating five thousand Experience Points won't be that difficult. Perhaps I can slow down the excavation for now, find a way to make rubbings of the writing on the Stone Tablet, and decipher it to see whether I can gain a new skill." Zhang Chen climbed out of the pit, faced the slanting sun at the horizon, brushed the dirt from his body, and began checking the mountain traps.
Today's haul was still quite good. Zhang Chen had actually caught a little wild boar. It was not large, seemingly a piglet born not long ago, perfect for making roasted suckling pig.
"This little suckling pig is just right for Blacksmith Cui. Piglets are valuable; once it grows up, it can yield several hundred jin of meat. It should be enough to repay my old debts." Carrying the little suckling pig, Zhang Chen made his way toward Blacksmith Cui's home.
"Little wild boars are valuable, especially since this one seems to be a sow. If raised properly, she could have piglets herself, and maybe we could eat wild boar every year. Unfortunately, my family has no surplus grain and simply can't afford to raise her. I can only let that old Blacksmith Cui have the bargain." Zhang Chen tied up the little wild boar and swiftly disappeared into the mountain forest.
P.S. Brothers, please give me some recommendation votes. Hehe, please give me recommendation votes.
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