Hunter

"Brother Hao... don't scare me... sob sob..."

Darkness seeped in like ink, thick and unyielding. Cui Hao heard someone crying, their voice mournful and heartbroken, steeped in endless sorrow and despair.

He struggled to open his eyes, but his vision was a blur – his sight was completely blocked by something.

He reached out and pushed. The touch was soft and yielding.

"Ah!" The person gasped and took half a step back, then a suppressed cry of surprise followed, "Brother Hao, you, you're awake!"

Before Cui Hao could get a clear look at who it was, a tearing pain exploded in his skull. Countless unfamiliar memories surged in like broken waves—he grunted and fell unconscious again.

He remained unconscious for two days.

"Brother Hao, it's time for your medicine."

Su Yun entered with a coarse pottery bowl, walking carefully. Seeing Cui Hao propped up, his eyes a little clearer, her worried heart eased slightly. She handed him the bowl. "Do you feel any better?"

"Much better." Cui Hao took the bowl, looking at the dark medicine within, then up at the sallow-faced girl before him, whose delicate features were still evident. His expression was complex.

He tilted his head back and downed the bitter liquid in one gulp.

The warm medicine traced a path down his throat, a tangible sensation that finally cleared the last vestiges of his daze.

Yes, he had transmigrated.

--Into the body of a scholar, selfish and indifferent to his family, but warm to his disreputable friends.

The place was called the Da'an Dynasty.

The dynasty was vast. Just within Qingyuan City, there was Willow Tree Village.

Exorbitant taxes, continuous famine, swarms of refugees, rampant bandits, and the lawlessness of martial artists.

A terrible start.

Yet, there was a sliver of warmth, embodied by the woman before him.

He'd toiled like an ox and horse for over thirty years in his previous life, only to end up alone.

In this life, he'd somehow acquired a wife.

The whole situation began six months ago. The original body's father, the sole pillar of the family, had a fierce argument with his paternal grandfather in the city. In a fit of anger, he ventured deep into the Second Mountain to hunt and was never heard from again.

When the news of his father's death arrived, the original body's first reaction wasn't grief, but panic and anger—panic about the loss of income, anger about the dashed hopes for his future.

Not long after, the original body failed the provincial exam, not even becoming a scholar. Overwhelmed by these blows, he fell ill.

While sick, the cold-hearted original body even secretly planned to sell Su Yun, the child bride his father had brought home years ago and who had diligently cared for the family, to fund his 'Reading' endeavors once he recovered.

Meanwhile, Su Yun had poured her entire heart into the original body. Regardless of the family's hardship or his cold treatment, she remained steadfast, managing the household and never leaving.

Unaware that her husband had been replaced, Su Yun collected the medicine bowl and soon returned with two more coarse pottery bowls, placing them gently on the room's only cracked, old wooden table. "Brother Hao, eat."

Cui Hao shuffled over and sat down.

The bowls contained a grey-green mush, mixed with unrecognizable wild roots and stems.

In his past life, this would have been worse than pig feed. Now, it was the lifeline sustaining this body and this family.

He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat in silence. The taste was bland and harsh, difficult to swallow.

Su Yun also picked up her bowl and ate in small bites. For a time, the only sound in the room was the faint noise of swallowing. She secretly glanced at Cui Hao. Seeing that he was silent but his gaze was calm, unlike his usual irritable and gloomy demeanor, she felt a little reassured, yet also inexplicably uneasy.

Hesitantly, Su Yun finally spoke softly, as if trying to dispel the oppressive silence, or perhaps simply sharing news. "Brother Hao, while you were sick, things in the village... haven't been peaceful."

Cui Hao looked up. "Hmm?"

"Old Man Wang's family at the east end of the village was robbed the night before last. Half a sack of coarse rice they'd saved was stolen. Aunt Wang fainted twice from crying."

Su Yun's voice was very low. "I heard it was Zhou Menglong and his thugs. They're getting more and more brazen. They dare to loiter at the village entrance during the day, watching which chimneys smoke for too long..."

She paused, a deep worry etched on her face. "And... the village head came by the day before yesterday. He said the tax collectors in the city are pressing hard. This year's 'Head Tax' and 'Mountain and Marsh Tax' will be increased again. He told everyone to prepare early."

"How much is the silver tax?" Cui Hao asked, concerned. "When is the deadline?"

"Three taels of silver, the deadline is... the end of the month. Our family... our family already spent our copper coins to get your medicine last time..."

Su Yun didn't finish, just lowered her head, idly stirring the nearly transparent mush in her bowl with her chopsticks. Her slender shoulders hunched slightly.

Cui Hao's hand, holding the chopsticks, froze.

Memories flooded back. The Da'an Dynasty had numerous tax categories. The 'Head Tax' was levied per person, and the 'Mountain and Marsh Tax' targeted hunters like them who relied on the mountains.

Failure to pay on time meant, at best, flogging, confiscation of oxen, or demolition of houses.

At worst, it meant forced labor or even being branded as criminals.

When the original body's father was alive, his excellent archery skills were barely enough to make ends meet. Now, it was up to him.

Looking at Su Yun's side profile, suppressing her anxiety, and then surveying the drafty, bare-walled adobe house.

The ox-and-horse life of his past existence intertwined with the harsh reality of this one, a heavy pressure clenching Cui Hao's heart.

"About the tax silver..." Cui Hao's voice was not loud, but steady. "I'll find a way."

Su Yun looked up in astonishment, meeting Cui Hao's calm but no longer vacant eyes. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but finally just softly replied, "Mm."

After quickly finishing a bit of gruel, Su Yun cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and went out to work.

Every morning, she washed clothes for the women in wealthy households in the city, and in the afternoon, she washed cloth at a weaving workshop.

Leaning on the table, Cui Hao slowly got up, steadying his weak body. He walked slowly to the room his father used, where an old bow hung on the wall.

He took down the dusty bow and examined it.

It was a composite bow, and he remembered the core was made of mulberry wood.

The back layer was sinew. After drying the tendons, they were repeatedly pounded to separate the fibers, then glued onto the back of the bow.

This increased its tensile strength, effectively boosting its initial velocity and lethality.

The belly layer was buffalo horn. The horn was cut into thin slices and glued onto the belly.

This also increased tensile strength, boosting initial velocity and lethality.

The glue was made from fish maw glue, deer antler glue, and cowhide glue, mixed in a certain ratio. It had strong adhesion and a certain elasticity, firmly bonding the sinew, horn, wood, and bamboo into a single unit.

The bowstring was high-twist silk.

He didn't have arrows. He could sell the Four Treasures of the Study, and then sell his books.

Didn't know archery? No problem. In his past life, he'd watched videos of people fixing donkey hooves, throwing axes, and shooting slingshots. They were all skilled, not for any other reason than practice.

Making up his mind, Cui Hao found a piece of torn cloth, bundled up the Four Treasures of the Study, and packed them to take with him.

He went into the city and first asked for prices at Wenmo Xuan, then at Mobao Pavilion.

Finally, he returned to Wenmo Xuan and sold the Four Treasures of the Study. The quality wasn't bad, and he only got two hundred and twenty copper coins.

Emerging from the north gate, there were many stalls lining the road. Cui Hao stopped at a stall selling arrows.

"Young man?"

The stall owner was a woman about fifty years old. Her hair was wrapped in an old cloth scarf, and her face was sun-darkened and ruddy, with deep wrinkles around her eyes. However, her hands were steady as she arranged the arrow fletching. "Looking at arrows? These are homemade."

"Can I pick one up to look?"

"Please do."

Cui Hao picked up an arrow. The shaft was made of hard hackberry wood, perfectly straight.

The tail feathers were common grey goose feathers, tightly and neatly bound with hemp thread.

"Grandma, your craftsmanship is solid," Cui Hao said sincerely. These arrows were better than he'd expected.

The woman's face showed little emotion. She said faintly, "Just making a living. There are only seven left, ninety wen."

"Grandma," Cui Hao looked up, his tone earnest, "My family is really tight on money, we're waiting for the next meal. Seventy wen, is that okay? Your arrows are good, and if I need arrows again in the future, I'll buy them here."

The woman stopped her work and looked up, examining Cui Hao carefully. "You are... from Willow Tree Village? Cui Bao's son?"

"Yes, my father is Cui Bao."

"Your father is a good man. He bought some leather cord from me in the first half of the year. Seventy wen it is, then. Times are hard for everyone."

Cui Hao's heart stirred slightly. "Thank you, Grandma."

He carefully counted out seventy copper coins and gently placed them on the rough wooden board of the stall.

Having obtained the arrows, Cui Hao picked one up, nocked it on the bowstring, and aimed at the ground.

Suddenly, a panel popped up before his eyes.

[Archery: Novice]
[Progress: 20/100]