Rowed a Boat All Night

After busying themselves for most of the morning, they finally finished butchering the entire roe deer. The meat was chopped into chunks and set aside in earthenware basins. As for the hide, it was practically unfit to be seen. The whole hide was fairly intact, but the cuts were crooked and riddled with tears. Even if they took it out to sell, it would fetch no good price.

"What a pity. If Butcher Zhang had handled it, this hide wouldn't have been ruined."

Zhong Lin let out a sigh.

The only butcher in Summer River Village was surnamed Zhang. He had been among those who came to the feast earlier, but Zhong Lin could not be bothered to ask him for help.

"Go, start the fire."

"Got it!"

Though he was exhausted and wanted to sleep, Little Shi obediently went to start the fire.

He also knew that they needed the fire to smoke-roast the Roe Deer Meat, so it could be kept longer.

While Little Shi started the fire, Zhong Lin ran outside and climbed a small slope not far from the house to cut some pine and cypress branches.

The sun had completely set, and even the last glow of dusk was gone, leaving only scattered starlight. The moon, however, was bright and clear, its cold silver radiance spreading across the earth, barely allowing Zhong Lin to make out the road in the darkness.

Because of malnutrition, this body clearly suffered from night blindness. Once night fell, he was practically blind. That was also why the villagers of Summer River Village believed Zhong Lin had died in Black Mountain.

Unable to see anything at night, surviving even one night in Black Mountain would have been a stroke of luck, much less three full nights.

If the moonlight had not been so bright tonight, and if the distance had not been so short, Zhong Lin would never have come out.

He drew the Firewood Chopping Knife from his waist and hacked away at the pines and cypresses. Before long, he returned carrying a large armful of branches.

Little Shi had already gotten the fire going. He sat on a small stool waiting for Zhong Lin, yawning as his big head bobbed up and down like a kowtowing bug, an oddly amusing sight.

"You go to sleep first. Leave the rest to me."

Lack of sleep was bad for a child's development. Besides, Little Shi was already severely malnourished, and Zhong Lin did not want to leave him with any lasting problems later in life.

"Mm. Second Brother, you should rest early too."

Zhong Shi stood up, yawning as he entered the main room to sleep. Zhong Lin shut the door, then tossed the pile of pine and cypress branches onto the burning fire all at once. Shortly afterward, thick white smoke rose from within and soaked into the chunks of meat hanging from the rafters.

Smoking cured meat was a relatively ancient way of preserving it. If they could add some salt to the meat and toss things like pomelo peels into the fire, the results would be even better. Unfortunately, they did not have the means.

After less than half an hour, Zhong Lin was yawning nonstop. He did not care whether the meat had been smoked enough or not, and simply turned around and went into the main room to sleep.

As mentioned before, the original owner's mother had died young. With three grown men living together, there was no point hoping for comfort. As long as they did not die, that was enough.

The moment he entered the main room, he saw a clay bed built from straw and yellow mud in the southwest corner. A layer of straw had been spread over it as a "soft mattress." Little Shi was wrapped in a hemp blanket of unknown age, sleeping soundly with his body curled up. He mumbled something under his breath, though who knew what he was dreaming about.

Luckily, it was only early autumn, and the weather had just begun to turn cool. If a few more days passed, they might not even make it through the winter in such conditions.

Zhong Lin yawned and lay down on the straw "soft mattress." With the rustling sounds by his ears, he quickly fell asleep.

Too much had happened today—transmigration, hunting, cutting someone down...

In his previous life, he had lived twenty or thirty years without experiencing a single one of those things.

He was exhausted.

Zhong Lin woke up in the morning because he desperately needed to piss. And for some reason, he had dreamed all night that he was rowing a boat at sea, yet could never row his way out.

"Damn it, you're this old and you still wet the bed?"

Little Shi's face turned bright red as he loudly argued, "It wasn't me."

"If it wasn't you, was it me? No wonder I dreamed about rowing a boat all night—it was all your doing. You brat, you're this old and still wetting the bed. How are you supposed to find a wife later? Don't go scaring your bride off with one piss."

"You... Hmph!"

Little Shi angrily turned his head and ignored Zhong Lin. Unfortunately, his ears had turned so red they were nearly translucent, making Zhong Lin laugh even harder.

After fooling around for a while, the two got up, filled a basin with water to wash their faces and rinse their mouths, then reheated the leftover Golden Chicken Crowing at the Moon from yesterday and continued eating.

Eating something so greasy first thing in the morning did not bother either of them. Their bodies were starved of oil and fat; every cell was crying out for meat.

"Shi Tou, go cut some more pine and cypress branches later and keep smoking the meat. I'm heading out to take care of something." Zhong Lin put down his bowl and chopsticks as he gave the instruction.

There were pines and cypresses behind the house. Smoking meat required no particular skill; he had been able to do it himself since childhood.

"Mm. Second Brother, come back early."

Little Shi was no longer angry with Zhong Lin. They were brothers—bickering and roughhousing was normal.

Zhong Lin stood up, hung the Firewood Chopping Knife at his waist, and stepped out the front gate.

"The knife, Second Brother, the knife."

"Oh! Just use the kitchen knife to chop them. I still have use for the Firewood Chopping Knife."

Use for it? Of course he did. His skinny arms and legs would not recover from just one or two meals of meat. Yesterday, he had offended more than half of Summer River Village. Going out without a blade made him feel far too unsafe. He even slung the horn bow over his back. Compared with a chopping knife, Zhong Lin trusted his max-level archery more.

"Uncle Caihua, heading out?"

The moment he stepped outside, he saw Uncle Caihua, who lived nearby. He had also been among the villagers who came to eat yesterday.

Uncle Caihua saw Zhong Lin as well. The foot he had been about to step forward with suddenly froze. He did not know whether to keep walking or retreat, but it was already too late. He could only force a smile and greet Zhong Lin.

"Th-that... Da Linzi! Y-yes! I'm... I'm heading out to check the fields. Are you going hunting?"

The smile on his face was so awkward that it was impossible to tell whether he should laugh or cry. Zhong Lin's utterly unhesitating slash yesterday had thoroughly frightened him. Of course, the pain of that Big Coin of Funeral Gift Money when he left had also played a part.

"I'm not going hunting. I'm going to Zhang Kun's house to take a look," Zhong Lin said with a smile.

Uncle Caihua's face went pale at once, and he became even more uncomfortable. At the same time, he grew even more afraid of Zhong Lin.

Yesterday, he had cut a gaping wound into the man's chest, and today he was going to his house again. Was he planning to leave the man no way to live?

Zhong Lin did not stop walking as he spoke, striding toward the western end of the village. Along the way, he greeted every villager he met leaving their homes.

By now, the way everyone looked at Zhong Lin was no longer the way they had looked at the former "Da Linzi." Instead, they were somewhat afraid of him, just as they had once been afraid of Zhang Kun.