The Glorious Past of Li Youde

Knowing Li Youde had a point, Li Xiao found it hard to argue back.

He could only nod helplessly.

How could Li Youde know that he had a Panel? As long as he spent some time mastering the Herbal Compendium, he would know these herbs better than the old herbalists in the village.

Seeing Li Xiao agree, Li Youde stopped trying to persuade him.

Li Xiao did not keep grinding for experience either. With only two bowls of millet a day, he could barely keep hunger at bay.

If he kept draining his mind to grind experience, he would probably be too hungry to sleep at night.

Early the next morning, Li Xiao got up.

It was not that he did not want to sleep longer—he was simply too hungry. Hunger had woken him.

Wrapped in that worn old padded coat, Li Xiao pushed open the door to the main room.

Whoosh!

A blast of cold wind rushed in, making Li Xiao shiver. He hurriedly shut the door again.

Wind and snow raged outside, and all he could see was an endless expanse of white.

Hearing the commotion, Li Youde got up as well, leaning on his cane.

"This heavy snow will probably keep falling for a while yet. Who knows how many more people will freeze or starve to death.

"That damn old heavens..."

Li Youde grumbled and cursed.

Li Xiao remained silent and said nothing.

In the memories of his former self, this was all commonplace.

But in the past, Li Youde had held the family together.

Even in winter, he would go into the mountains to hunt, often bringing back plump Wild Chickens and Wild Rabbits so Li Xiao could have a taste of meat.

Li Youde's hunting skills ranked among the best in the village.

When heavy snow sealed off the mountains, those old hunters all stayed home to keep warm. Going into the mountains usually meant returning empty-handed, and there was no small amount of danger involved.

If one got lost in the mountains or took a fall, it could be fatal.

Someone had gone into the mountains before to scrape together a living, only to never return that night.

By the time the villagers went up to search, the person had already frozen to death.

Even in his previous life, with technology so advanced, plenty of people had met with accidents while venturing into the mountains—let alone now.

Shivering from the cold, Li Youde rubbed his hands together. Once they had warmed a little, he leaned on his cane and walked into the kitchen.

When he opened the rice jar, the golden millet was nearly gone.

With a sigh, Li Youde bent over, set his cane aside, and skillfully started the fire.

Thick smoke billowed out.

Crack. He snapped the thinner dry firewood beside him and stuffed it into the earthen stove.

Li Xiao sat on a stool in the main room. From the kitchen came the occasional soft cough and the sound of wood splitting.

A few days ago, Li Xiao had wanted to help, but he had always been stopped. So he did not persist.

Before long, Li Youde carried out two bowls of porridge. A little soot clung to his face, and he coughed twice.

"Today's porridge is even thinner. The rice jar's nearly empty, so we have to make it last."

Li Xiao took the bowl. The porridge was so clear he could see the cracks at the bottom of the bowl, with only a few specks of millet floating in it.

He said nothing, merely taking small sips, trying to taste some warmth in the bland porridge.

After spending these past days together, the father and son had grown closer in the way they got along. Li Xiao would occasionally chat with Li Youde about everyday family matters.

"Dad, could you hunt prey even on snowy days back then?"

Li Xiao suddenly asked, his gaze unconsciously falling on Li Youde's injured leg.

"Of course. Back then, I was a hunter known throughout ten villages and eight hamlets. With this Ox-Horn Great Bow, I scraped together this family estate and raised you and your sister."

At that, Li Youde grew interested.

He immediately set down his millet porridge and spoke animatedly, his face glowing with pride.

For an ordinary family, raising even one child was no easy feat.

Let alone raising one into a sturdy, healthy build.

"When I was just over twenty, I took a woodcutter's blade and an Ox-Horn Bow and chased a Wild Boar through the Outskirts of Black Wind Mountain for a whole day and night."

Li Youde slapped his thigh, his voice growing several shades louder, as though he had returned to the high-spirited days of his youth.

"That beast weighed more than three hundred jin, and its Fangs were like daggers. Even plenty of old hunters would have to take a detour when they saw it.

"I relied on sheer grit. When it charged at me, I sidestepped it and shot an arrow straight through its eye. Only then did I bring it down."

As he spoke, he even mimed drawing a bow and firing an arrow. The movement was a little too large and tugged at his injured leg, making him bare his teeth in pain, yet he still smiled happily:

"That time, the Wild Boar hide fetched a fine price. We shared some of the meat with families in the village we were close to, then salted the rest into cured meat—enough for the three of us, mother and children, to eat for nearly half a year.

Your mother even called me crazy back then, said I was throwing my life away for a pig. But the next moment, she used the money from selling the hide to buy your sister a piece of floral cloth for new clothes..."

At the mention of his late wife, Li Youde's voice lowered, and his gaze softened.

"Can't do it now. My legs aren't steady, and my eyes have gone blurry.

Otherwise, even in weather like this, I could squat at Black Wind Pass for a day and bring back a rabbit or Wild Chicken no matter what. I wouldn't have you drinking thin gruel with me."

Listening, Li Xiao felt a sour ache in his heart.

It was all because the former owner of this body had been such a disappointment!

Li Xiao grumbled inwardly. But since he had inherited this body, he would naturally bear its karmic debts as well.

He took a sip of porridge and said softly, "Dad, when your leg gets better, teach me how to hunt.

Teach me to shoot arrows, recognize traps, and read animal tracks. I'm young, and my legs are strong. From now on, I'll go into the mountains and bring back meat for you and Sis."

Li Xiao spoke with great seriousness.

Hunting was not easy to learn. It was not something one could master with nothing but a bellyful of hot blood.

What prey lived in the mountains, which were easy to catch, which required traps, and what habits they had—all of it required experience accumulated day after day.

Even old hunters with years under their belts would not dare claim they came home with something every time.

Not to mention archery—it had to be practiced from childhood.

For others, this might be thankless, backbreaking work.

But Li Xiao was different. He had the Panel.

As long as he put in the time and ground out enough experience, none of this would be a problem.

He was confident that once he learned to hunt, he could gradually improve his family's life.

Li Youde froze for a moment, his bowl of porridge stopping halfway to the table.

He stared at Li Xiao for a long while, suppressing his excitement, though his voice still trembled.

"Teach you! Once this leg of mine is a little steadier, I'll teach you right away!

But let's make this clear first—hunting isn't about showing off. You have to know the rules.

If you see a black bear, go around it. If you see a Wild Boar, don't meet it head-on. Most important of all, don't be greedy. Take what you can and stop while you're ahead. The things in the mountains must be treated with a measure of sentiment.

The Mountain Lord is watching."

Li Xiao took another sip of porridge and nodded.

"I'll remember."

Seeing how quickly Li Xiao caught on, Li Youde became more animated.

As they drank their porridge, he told Li Xiao about the things he had done in his younger days.

Li Xiao had previously spent all day loafing around and barely spoke with him, much less cared about hunting. He had not been interested in it in the slightest.

Now that his son wanted to listen, he opened the floodgates and talked without stopping, words pouring out like beans from a basket.

Whenever he reached a part that pleased him, his eyes gleamed, as though he had become once more that young man who could chase Wild Boars through the mountain forest.

"Another time, I found a Badger Den beneath Eagle Beak Cliff. Badger meat was so fragrant it could make a child cry from craving."

Li Youde set down his bowl and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"I waited two days, just for it to come out of its den.

That beast was clever as could be. It never came out in daylight, only daring to show its head in the dead of night.

It rained lightly on the third night. I crouched in a crack between the rocks, shivering from head to toe with cold, but the instant I heard movement inside the den, I perked right up."

He gestured as he mimicked the badger poking its head out and looking around, making Li Xiao laugh despite himself.

"When half its body had come out, I brought my woodcutter's blade down on its hind leg. That beast howled and tried to pull back into the den—how could I let it get away?

I pounced on it and pinned it down hard. It took half the night of struggling before I finally tied it up tight."

Li Youde slapped his knee.

"The Badger Oil from that time healed your sister's frost-rotted heels when she was little. We stewed the rest of the meat in a pot, and you hugged a huge bowl, eating like a little wolf pup."

Li Xiao was stunned. There was a vague memory of this in the original owner's memories, but at the time, he had only cared about eating the meat. How could he have noticed the hardship his father endured waiting outside that den?

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