This World Would Not Let People Live

"Yuan Ge'er, the foxtail millet jar at home is nearly empty."

Vaguely, Zhao Yun heard a woman's voice drifting in from across the sea, ethereal and mysterious. Yet all he could hear beside his ears was the thunderous roar of deep-sea currents.

Following that voice, it was as though his soul had suddenly been called back. He drifted blankly toward the surface, and memories began surfacing with it.

He remembered drinking.

Drinking at a class reunion.

Quite a few of his former classmates had made something of themselves, while he, the class monitor, had taken up a knife and become a butcher who slaughtered pigs.

So he pretended to be a fool in his drunkenness, lowered his head, and drank furiously.

Then he drank until he blacked out.

"Yuan Ge'er, if you still don't go hunting, we'll all starve to death. Not many people in the village need letters written lately, so I can't earn any money. I'm sorry."

The woman's voice came again, tinged with apology.

Who was Yuan Ge'er?

Who was she calling?

Zhao Yun was very curious.

The next instant, as though answering his question, countless memories surged into his mind.

Those unfamiliar fragments of information let him live through another person's entire life in mere minutes.

Zhao Yun understood.

So Yuan Ge'er was him.

He... had transmigrated!

Yuan Ge'er was named Li Yuan, a hunter in Shanbao County.

The reason he was a hunter was also because his family possessed a Hunter Permit issued by the previous County Magistrate.

Three years ago, a plague had ravaged Shanbao County. Li Yuan's parents had not escaped that heavenly calamity and passed away.

His parents were dead, but life had to go on.

Li Yuan knew no other trade, so he could only grit his teeth and head into the mountains to hunt.

As for this woman, she had been left behind by one of his old friends when that friend departed on a long journey.

That old friend had quite the air of a wandering hero and carried himself like a man of the martial world. Li Yuan admired people like that, and after drinking together, he had often spoken words such as "bound by courage and loyalty."

But—

Once the woman had been left behind, she remained for a full two years, while that old friend never returned.

Li Yuan had come to understand something. This was probably not leaving her behind, but entrusting her to him.

The woman was named Yan Yu. She was twenty this year, pretty and delicate, though somewhat slight from malnutrition. She usually wore a blue village-girl's jacket patterned with white flowers, tight black trousers wrapping her long legs. Standing beneath golden sunlight, she was still a lovely village girl who could set one's heart itching.

Yan Yu knew a little writing, so she earned a few copper coins by writing letters home for others.

Whenever Li Yuan went out hunting, she kept the home spotless, washing clothes and cooking without complaint.

This winter, Li Yuan had gone hunting and been startled by a crazed wild boar. He barely escaped death and returned home, only to fall gravely ill.

Today, he had finally shown a slight improvement. Yet the moment he stood up, the world spun around him, and he collapsed to the floor.

Then Zhao Yun transmigrated over.

The timing connected perfectly.

But Zhao Yun still needed some time to accept the fact.

He forced his eyes open and clearly saw the slight, lovely village girl before him. Speaking of which, she was three years older than him, so he usually called her "Sister Yan."

"Are you all right? Li Yuan, how about resting another day? I'll go next door to Aunt Wang's and see whether I can borrow two days' worth of foxtail millet. If there's no millet, beans would do too."

"Sister Yan, I'll go hunting first. If I catch something, we won't need to borrow any."

Zhao Yun—or rather, Li Yuan—took a deep breath.

Since he had come to this world, he had to go out and take a look first.

"Then be careful, Yuan Ge'er. In the dead of winter, there are few prey animals in the mountains to begin with. The ones that do come out are probably thick-skinned, coarse-fleshed beasts fattened up for winter. They're fierce," Yan Yu said worriedly.

To her, Li Yuan was already the only man she could rely on.

Li Yuan said nothing. Silently, he took the hunting bow hanging on the wall, then grabbed the worn leather quiver beside it and a small pouch.

There were five arrows in the quiver. Their arrowheads had been sharpened again and again. There had originally been fifteen more arrows in the quiver, but ten had fallen away when he was chased by the wild boar. Having five left now was already not bad.

Inside the pouch were twenty handy little stones. Stone Shot could preserve some prey's pelts intact, allowing them to fetch a better price.

He pushed open the door and stepped outside.

There was a tether rope outside, with only an empty collar left on it. He had once kept a big Yellow Dog. This autumn, it had loyally protected its master, only to be slapped to death in the mountains by a rampaging Black Bear. If not for that, he would not have been chased by a wild boar this winter.

The tether rope swayed bleakly in the wind, striking the wooden wall with soft, popping taps.

"Survive!"

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze, reached up to seize a Firewood Chopping Knife from beside the wall and tuck it into his waist, then grabbed a three-pronged fork. After glancing at the mountain path in the distance, he strode forward.

As he walked, he observed his surroundings. He lived at the foot of Little Ink Mountain in Shanbao County. Though it was not a slum, it was only marginally better.

The only thing Li Yuan wanted was to improve his skills, earn more money, then choose an auspicious day to ask Yan Yu's hand in marriage and move to Silver Creek.

Public security around Silver Creek was far better than around Little Ink Mountain.

But to live there, one needed connections.

Without connections, one needed silver.

Unfortunately, his hunting skills were not strong, and it was difficult for him to save enough silver.

Li Yuan exhaled a breath of turbid air, cast aside his distracting thoughts, and followed the experience in his memories. He scanned the area as he climbed the mountain, rounded the pass, then descended into a gorge. Only then had he truly entered the mountains.

The mountain shadows shifted.

The sun quickly moved across the sky.

At dusk, Li Yuan dragged his exhausted body home.

He had caught nothing!

There were few wild beasts in the mountains during winter to begin with, and even fewer in the mountain regions near where people lived. The last time he encountered that wild boar was only after going deep into the Second Mountain Layer.

But today, he had not risked entering it.

Inside the house, Yan Yu saw him return empty-handed. She said nothing, but ran to the Bronze Mirror, grabbed some wood ash from a basin, and smeared it evenly over her face. Then she tilted her head toward Li Yuan and asked, "Yuan Ge'er, do I look uglier now?"

Li Yuan looked over and saw Yan Yu's originally lovely face become gray and grimy at once, making her look like a sickly disaster victim.

He nodded and sighed. "Sister Yan, I'm troubling you."

Yan Yu smiled faintly, blinked, and said, "I'll go borrow some food from Aunt Wang's. I'll be right back."

With that, she hurriedly picked up a bowl, pushed open the door, and left.

Not long afterward, Yan Yu returned, but the bowl held only some "mixed stuff."

There was only a tiny bit of foxtail millet. The rest was mostly a mixture of grain husks and beans.

What were grain husks?

The outer shells of grain. They were hard to swallow, but if one pinched one's nose, they could still be forced down.

This autumn, the county's harvest had been poor. Food was scarce to begin with, and grain prices had risen. Even grain husks had gone up in price.

"Yuan Ge'er, in a while I'll pick out the beans and cook you a bowl of bean rice," Yan Yu said.

Li Yuan said, "Cook them together. We'll eat it together."

After dinner.

Li Yuan lay on the bed. The bedding had been aired in the sun at noon, so it was fairly comfortable to sleep in.

But beneath the sheet was tightly packed straw, and that was rather cold.

He curled himself up and wrapped himself in the bedding as much as possible, keeping perfectly still to preserve a little warmth.

After a long while, he laughed at himself.

He had come to another world with no clue what was what, and even staying alive was difficult. This was worse than being a butcher.

It was not despair.

He could complain all he liked, but once dawn came, he would still have to find a way.

How was he supposed to hunt in this bitter winter?

But if he did not hunt, what else could he do?

These days, even landlords did not lack workers. Even if you wanted to be exploited, nobody would take you—unless you sold yourself.

From Li Yuan's memories, he really did know of such things.

Several families in Little Ink Mountain had already secretly sold members of their households. Some had sold their daughters and sons; some had even sold their wives.

Thinking of it that way, Aunt Wang's family was already doing well to lend them a mouthful of food.

"Sleep." The youth closed his eyes and stopped thinking.

In the middle of the night, he suddenly heard the creak of the door opening.

He opened his eyes and saw a familiar figure abruptly approach through the darkness.

The figure came over, pulled at the bedding, and hurriedly said with shy embarrassment, "Yuan Ge'er, I want to be with you."

As she spoke, she lifted the bedding and slipped directly inside.

"Sister Yan."

"Yuan Ge'er..."

The night grew fiery.

Only after midnight did all sounds fall still.

Yan Yu slept tiredly yet happily in Li Yuan's arms.

The bedding was warm and toasty.

At dawn, the first ray of light slipped through a gap in the window and flickered over Li Yuan's face.

Li Yuan opened his eyes.

Then he froze.

A line of information flashed before his eyes:

You spent a harmonious night with Yan Yu and gained 5 Spare Points.

Immediately afterward, another panel appeared:

Name: Li Yuan

Points: 5

Realm: Not Ranked

Cultivation Method: None

Skills: Beginner Archery (6/10); Beginner Tracking (4/10)

Divine Ability: Eternal Life

Equipment Bar: Unlocked