[Weapon: Ordinary Hunting Bow] [Quality: Mortal Tier, Mid Grade] [Description: This is a severely worn hunting bow; you cannot demand too much of it aside from hunting.] [Inclusion Effect: Can obtain Basic Archery - Minor Success, Talent - Eagle Eye] [Proceed with inclusion?]
Sure enough, a hunting bow also counts as a weapon eligible for inclusion!
Lu Chuan felt immensely better, issuing a command to the system without hesitation.
"Include!"
As the command went out, Lu Chuan's mind roared with a wave of sound, followed immediately by a vast amount of knowledge regarding archery flooding into his brain.
At the same time, a status panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Lu Chuan] [Age: 18] [Martial Arts: Basic Archery - Minor Success (Draw the Six-Power Bow, within sixty paces, never miss a shot)] [Talent: Eagle Eye (When concentrating on a specific target, insight is significantly enhanced for a short time, capable of capturing extremely subtle traces and movements)] [Available weapons for inclusion: 2]
"Draw the Six-Power Bow, within sixty paces, never miss a shot?"
Lu Chuan's gaze held surprise. This Basic Archery is not basic at all...
In Dagan, the unit of measurement for bows was power; one power was twelve catties, and six power came out to seventy-two catties.
For an ordinary person to manage a six-power bow, without a couple of years of practice, they really might not pull it off.
What truly surprised him was "within sixty paces, never miss a shot."
One pace was equivalent to both feet taking a step each, with the distance roughly around one meter and four.
Sixty paces was roughly over eighty meters.
Never missing a shot within eighty meters—this level...
To put it simply, let alone right here in Kaoshan Village, even if placed in his past life, this was a level capable of participating in the Olympic Games!
Just Basic Archery - Minor Success has already reached this standard; it is simply unimaginable what kind of realm Archery - Major Success would reach!
Immediately afterward, he began experimenting with his newly acquired Talent - Eagle Eye.
As he concentrated, a tiny bit of detailed scenery within the room gradually grew clear, and everything within his field of vision seemed magnified by a magnifying glass.
What a great talent!
With Eagle Eye at his disposal, the many traces of prey on the mountain would appear crystal clear in his eyes.
Lu Chuan had originally worried that although his archery was accurate, he wouldn't be able to find any prey, but the talent of Eagle Eye obviously solved this problem perfectly.
Coming back to his senses, Lu Chuan discovered that the bow and arrow in his hands had already vanished without a trace.
He smiled bitterly. It really does vanish once included...
However, this was hardly a difficult problem; he still had another bow at home, though it was even more severely damaged, so he had no choice but to use it now.
Finding that bow, he gripped it in one hand, and the information surfaced once more.
[Weapon: Inferior Hunting Bow] [Quality: Mortal Tier, Low Grade] [Inclusion Effect: Can obtain weak archery growth] [Proceed with inclusion?]
Frowning, Lu Chuan decisively chose "No."
There were only two weapons left that could be included right now, so he had to find some high-grade goods no matter what.
I need to include higher-grade weapons. It seems that upgrading Minor Success plus Minor Success to Major Success is simply not going to work.
Taking advantage of the gap while Mother Lu was cooking, Lu Chuan had already prepared the other items he needed to go up the mountain.
There were arrows, animal snares, a leather water pouch, and flint, among other things...
When Mother Lu came out carrying a large bowl of corn mush, Lu Chuan eagerly dug in.
Watching Lu Chuan devour the corn mush before him with ravenous hunger, Mother Lu had little appetite as she shoveled down a few bites, even picking out and placing some pickled vegetables in his bowl for him.
Finally, before Lu Chuan left, Mother Lu even produced a solid corn cake and placed it inside Lu Chuan's embrace.
"Pay attention to everything on the mountain; if you can't find any prey, come back early. With the weather freezing cold..."
Watching Mother Lu's earnest and repeated exhortations, Lu Chuan felt an unprompted warmth in his heart as he swallowed down another large mouthful of mush.
"Mother, don't worry, I'll bring back prey."
Stepping out of the front door, what met the eyes was a sheet of stark white.
Following a snowfall a few days ago that had yet to melt, it covered up the traces of a vast amount of prey.
And for Lu Chuan, who was heading into the mountains to hunt, this was undoubtedly even harder.
Upon leaving, he ran into quite a few fellow villagers who had obviously heard about the Lu family's situation.
Seeing Lu Chuan now, some eyed the fox with jealousy and sneered in low tones, while others offered words of care.
"As expected, that family has no chance to enjoy blessings. How long had that fox even been hunted before it was snatched away by the old master..."
"Yeah, look at this kid's outfit; he wants to go hunting in the mountains too? There's no way it's that easy. With the mountain sealed by heavy snow, catching a dead sparrow would be reaching the heavens..."
"Chuanzi, be careful on the road. Your father is bedridden nowadays, so you need to pay even more attention..."
Sweeping these cold or warm worldly attitudes behind him, Lu Chuan stepped onto the snow-covered path leading toward the wilderness.
He walked all the way out of the village entrance, several place names that his father frequently mentioned surfacing in his mind.
Prey animals all had places where they frequently haunted, such as Thicket Slope. This was a sunny gentle slope where the shrubs were low and dense, and the sandy soil was soft, making it a favorite for pheasants and rabbits.
Muddy Gully lay in the mountain recess to the west of the village. The bottom of the gully remained damp year-round and grew a large amount of nameless tubers, making it a paradise for wild boars.
Even though Lu Chuan's archery was formidable now, he still didn't dare go to places with large prey. After all, his body wasn't strong enough, and even if he shot and killed large beasts, he wouldn't be able to carry them back.
Furthermore, there was the saying of a child carrying gold through a bustling market; he wasn't the only family hunting on this mountain.
He promptly determined his destination for this trip: Thicket Slope.
Treading on the loose snow, Lu Chuan held the old hunting bow in hand and walked step by step toward Thicket Slope.
Along the way, he concentrated his mind several times, quietly activating Eagle Eye.
His field of vision suddenly turned sharp. The minute bumps on the snow, the texture of distant tree bark, and even the trajectories of snowflakes drifting through the air were all clearly visible.
However, he found no fresh tracks of prey, while footprints and traces belonging to humans were spotted aplenty.
It seemed that in this freezing cold season, people coming up the mountain to try their luck were far from just him alone.
The chill on his body grew heavier as time passed.
His coarse cloth clothes simply could not block the bone-chilling cold and dampness of the mountains, cutting right through him with every gust of wind.
Good thing I had that large bowl of thick corn gruel in my belly before heading out,
he thought with silent relief, otherwise, at this rate, I'd probably be too frozen even to draw a bow.
Just as he was observing the surrounding situation, a flash of bright red suddenly darted past!
That red was extremely vivid, standing out especially against the expanse of white snow, located beside a patch of thorny bushes buried under the snow.
Lu Chuan's heart gave a violent leap, and he instantly held his breath.
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