Treat Him with a Foot, and He'll Return a Yard!

Snow blanketed the sky, and the cold wind howled.

Inside a dilapidated house in Shuanglin Village.

Su Mo lit a fire and began cooking meat. Perhaps because the Beast Talent Trait had strengthened his body, he was hungry again. He cut three pounds of pure meat from the Green Wolf, skinned two wild rabbits, and put everything in the pot to stew, sprinkling in a pinch of dried salt.

Once the meat was cooked, Su Mo dug in with gusto. In no time, he had polished off three pounds of Green Wolf Meat and two wild rabbits. Even he was astonished by how much he could eat.

"After eating all that meat, that familiar warm current seems to have appeared again."

To Su Mo's surprise, a warm sensation surged through his body after he finished the meat. It wasn't as strong as the current he'd felt when he gained the Beast Talent Trait, but his body was still steadily growing stronger.

At that moment, his strength was enough to draw three-fifths of the Beast Hide Great Bow's bowstring with ease. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could draw it all the way back. The arrow he fired then would be astonishingly powerful.

That was because it was a Three Stone Great Bow. Drawing it fully required at least three hundred pounds of physical strength.

As Su Mo's strength increased, so did his appetite.

He cut off the Green Wolf's entire right hind leg, which weighed more than ten pounds. He also took the remaining wild rabbit and carried both outside. He wanted to give the meat to Uncle Chen Shan.

Uncle Chen Shan's family had five people: two children, two adults, and an elderly person. With hunting in the mountains difficult these days, his family was struggling.

When Su Mo reached Uncle Chen Shan's door, he heard arguing from inside.

"Chen Shan, look at you, acting so capable! It took you more than half a month to finally catch a wild rabbit in the mountains, and you still want to give Su Mo a whole rabbit leg. The leg's where all the meat is! What are the rest of us supposed to eat?"

"Cui Hua, the people from Black Wind Stockade stole the game Su Mo hunted a few days ago and beat him up, too. If he doesn't get something to eat, he'll starve to death in this freezing weather."

"I know, I know Su Mo's a good boy, and his father was your best friend. I don't blame you for helping him. It just makes me angry. Our two children are still growing, and you go hunting in the mountains every day. You don't eat a single bit of meat yourself. Can your body handle that?"

"It's fine. I can take it. The kids have no meat to eat, so I'll go hunting again tomorrow..."

Su Mo stood outside Uncle Chen Shan's home and heard Aunt Zhang Cuihua complaining. She was arguing with Uncle Chen Shan, and the reason was clearly the rabbit leg he'd secretly brought over to Su Mo earlier.

Looking at the Green Wolf Meat and wild rabbit in his hands, Su Mo couldn't help sighing. It was hard to survive in times like these!

He raised a hand and knocked. Only then did the argument inside die down. A moment later, Aunt Zhang Cuihua opened the door. When she saw Su Mo standing outside, she froze. Clearly, he must have heard what she'd said.

Before she could react, Su Mo said softly, "Auntie, take this meat for your family."

After handing all the meat to the stunned Zhang Cuihua, Su Mo turned to leave.

"Honey, we've got a problem! Su Mo brought us meat!"

Only then did Aunt Zhang Cuihua come to her senses. Seeing the more than ten pounds of Green Wolf's right hind leg and the wild rabbit in her hands, she hurriedly called for Chen Shan to come out.

Chen Shan hadn't known Su Mo was there. Hearing his wife Zhang Cuihua's loud voice, he hurried out. He stared at all the meat in her hands, first startled, then stern. "Take all this meat back. I won't accept it!"

As he spoke, he pulled Su Mo inside. It was bitterly cold outside, with snow and wind everywhere. Inside, Zhang Cuihua hurried to return the meat to Su Mo as well.

With this meat, and with Chen Shan still planning to hunt in the mountains, they could make it through the winter if they rationed it. But without hesitation, she still tried to make Su Mo take it all back.

Su Mo merely shook his head and told Aunt Zhang Cuihua to keep the meat and cook it for the children.

The gesture made Zhang Cuihua, who had been complaining moments earlier, feel ashamed.

"Uncle Chen Shan, Auntie, I was lucky in the mountains earlier and caught an injured Green Wolf with an Animal Trap. Don't worry, I've still got meat at home. There's enough to eat."

Seeing that Uncle Chen Shan and his wife stubbornly refused, Su Mo explained, half truthfully, so they wouldn't worry. He had plenty of meat. Then he glanced inside the house. Two little boys were with an elderly woman. When she noticed Su Mo looking, she gave him a kind smile. She was Uncle Chen Shan's mother.

The two little boys were Uncle Chen Shan's sons. They were six and eight years old, and both called Su Mo "big brother."

Su Mo smiled and ruffled their hair.

Chen Shan watched Su Mo and sighed with feeling. The boy had grown up.

Actually, Su Mo wasn't old. He was only eighteen.

"Su Mo, have you ever heard of Martial Artists?"

A little later, as they chatted, Chen Shan seemed to think of something and asked.

Martial Artists?

Su Mo shook his head. He didn't know anything about them. According to his memories, he had never left Qingliang Mountain in more than ten years. The farthest he'd ever gone was Qingshan Town, about twenty li from the village, so of course he didn't know that Martial Artists existed in this world.

Chen Shan continued, "It's no surprise you haven't heard of Martial Artists. They're incredibly strong. One punch can kill a Fierce Beast. They have strength far beyond ordinary people and stand high above everyone else. Grandma Li next door has a grandson named Li Xian, about your age. A few years ago, he left our Shuanglin Village with some relatives and went to the towns outside. You know about that, right? They say Li Xian is a Martial Artist now."

"People in the village say Grandma Li's grandson, Li Xian, will be returning to Shuanglin Village before long."

Su Mo was surprised. He'd guessed that Martial Artists were strong, but he hadn't expected them to be that strong. Fierce Beasts were far more powerful than ordinary beasts.

Grandma Li next door had often helped him in the past, giving him food. He knew her grandson Li Xian, too; they'd played together as children.

He just hadn't expected Li Xian to have become such a formidable Martial Artist.

Chen Shan had brought this up for a simple reason: he wanted Su Mo to keep his wits about him. When Li Xian came back, perhaps Su Mo could get the chance to go outside and train to become a Martial Artist. Even if he couldn't become one, learning a few moves would still be a great achievement.

Shuanglin Village lay right beside Qingliang Mountain, where the ruthless bandits of Black Wind Stockade made their home. The villagers were hunters, but they still couldn't stand up to the stockade.

Every year, the bandits from Black Wind Stockade came down the mountain to demand tribute and steal food. If the villagers had nothing to give, they were beaten, and even the women and children in their homes could be dragged up the mountain. That was why people in the surrounding villages hated the stockade and feared it even more.

They said there were Martial Artists in Black Wind Stockade.

That was why the stockade dared to run wild around Qingliang Mountain, acting with such brazen impunity.

After chatting with Uncle Chen Shan for a few more moments, Su Mo left.

After leaving Uncle Chen Shan's home, Su Mo headed back. But as he turned onto a snowy path in the village, he ran into a kindly old woman in plain clothes, her face lined with wrinkles.

"Su Mo, heading home?"

"Yes, Grandma Li."

"These are steamed buns I just made. Take them home and eat."

The bowl in the old woman's hands held two steaming-hot buns, fresh from the pot. She was Grandma Li from next door, whose grandson was the Martial Artist Li Xian.

Grandma Li knew that Su Mo had run into people from Black Wind Stockade in Qingliang Mountain. They'd stolen his game and beaten him, too. With food scarce in the village, all she could offer him were the buns she'd just steamed.

Su Mo refused, but Grandma Li wouldn't take no for an answer. She insisted he take them, and in the end, he had no choice but to eat the two buns.

Afterward, though, he went straight home, cut off three pounds of meat, and took it to Grandma Li.

When someone showed him an inch of respect, he returned a yard!

Over the next few days, Su Mo didn't go into the mountains to hunt. Instead, he ate Green Wolf Meat and steadily strengthened his body while honing his archery.

Su Mo's archery had now reached Entry Level. As his strength grew, he handled the Beast Hide Great Bow with increasing ease, and his skill improved by leaps and bounds. Before long, he'd even reach proficiency.

[ Sword Skill Archery: Entry Level, Minor Achievement, Proficient, Major Achievement, Perfect! ]

Su Mo could now draw four-fifths of the Beast Hide Great Bow. With his improved archery, he could hit and kill game with a single arrow from twenty meters away. His skill was no worse than that of veteran hunters with decades of experience.

Whether it was because of the Ancient Profound Pearl inside him or because he'd crossed over, Su Mo's comprehension was terrifyingly sharp.

But he had no idea whether he had the innate aptitude to become a Martial Artist.

"There's not much Green Wolf Meat left at home. Looks like I'll have to go hunting in the mountains again!"

After several days of eating, Su Mo's physical strength had increased once more, but the Green Wolf Meat was running low. He needed to eat at least five or six pounds of pure meat every day, which was why his strength was improving so noticeably.