With his mind fixed on retrieving the two-picul bow and searching the corpse, Cui Hao and Lin Da arrived at the sundries shop after dark.
Security in and outside the city had grown increasingly chaotic, so the shopkeepers closed their doors early. Cui Hao stepped forward and banged on the door. "Yang Yuanwai, open up!"
"Closed for the night." Old Yang did not dare open the door so late. "Come back tomorrow!"
"I'm a hunter from Willow Tree Village," Cui Hao shouted through the thick door. "I need it for the mountains tomorrow morning. I can't wait until next time."
Peering out through the crack in the door, Old Yang recognized Cui Hao as Cui Bao's son and moved a wooden plank aside from within.
"Come earlier next time." Hunched-over Old Yang complained, "You scared me half to death coming so late."
Cui Hao smiled. "Three jin of raw lime powder. It needs to be a mix of coarse and fine powder, packed one jin per bag."
Old Yang went behind the counter to weigh it. He soon had it wrapped up. "Anything else?"
"A beast trap, one that can catch a tiger."
Old Yang looked up and sized Cui Hao up. "You don't want to live anymore?"
"I do. I just want to live a little better."
Old Yang gave a soft sigh. "To catch a tiger, you need a fine-steel beast trap. Two taels of silver each."
"Do you have anything cheaper?"
"There's a smaller one, but it can't hold a tiger."
"In that case..." Cui Hao gritted his teeth. "If I buy one fine-steel beast trap, can you throw in three jin of lime powder?"
Old Yang agreed. He turned around and brought out a pitch-black iron device about sixty centimeters long and wide from the back room, then gently set it on the ground. "This thing packs a tremendous punch. It can snap a thigh in half, so be careful when using it."
"How do I use it?"
Old Yang demonstrated on the spot.
A short while later, Cui Hao left two taels of silver behind and departed the sundries shop.
"This is for you." Cui Hao stuffed a bag of raw lime powder into Lin Da's hands. "Put it in a small cloth pouch and carry it with you. If you run into danger, use it with the wind at your back."
Lin Da accepted the lime powder. "Brother Hao, are you really going into the mountains to hunt tigers?"
"I'll use it in the courtyard. If someone climbs over the wall, you understand, right? Don't tell anyone about this."
Lin Da nodded in agreement.
The next day brought freezing weather: bitter cold, dry air, and fierce winds.
Taking the tightly wrapped dry provisions and water gourd from his wife, Cui Hao donned a bamboo hat, covered his face, strapped a woodcutter's knife to his waist, slung the beast trap over his back, and left at dawn.
"Brother Hao." Su Yun saw her husband out of the courtyard, her face full of worry. "Forget the bow. Don't go into Second Mountain."
"Sister Yun." Cui Hao held his wife's hands. "I'll be fine. Practice scattering wood ash more at home."
"I will." Su Yun nodded helplessly. "Be careful."
After bidding his wife farewell, he walked steadily, one step at a time. When the sun hung like an egg yolk in the sky, Cui Hao reached the edge of Second Mountain.
He hesitated in place for three or four seconds, then entered the mountains!
Taking three steps and stopping after every one, he proceeded with utmost caution. Around noon, Cui Hao arrived at the place where Zhou Menglong had died.
He did not rush to search the corpse. Standing six or seven steps away, he placed the beast trap down gently, using one step for each stamp of his left and right feet. With a click, he pried open the trigger mechanism and scattered frozen snow over it for a simple disguise.
Once the trap was set, Cui Hao felt more confident and approached Zhou Menglong's corpse.
Two days had passed, and the corpse was already more than half buried beneath the wind and snow.
Moreover, because Zhou Menglong had had lime powder on him before his death, his corpse had miraculously been preserved and had not been eaten by animals.
Crouching down, he reached both hands toward the corpse. The clothes had frozen stiff, and prying them up produced crisp cracking sounds.
He found a money pouch. Opening it and giving it a light weigh in his hand, he found at least twenty taels!
Zhou Menglong's clothes were fine brocade garments, difficult to sell, so he did not strip them off.
His shoes were long oilskin boots waterproof against snow and rain, the sort worn by the wealthy. They would also be difficult to sell.
He took only the money pouch and pulled the iron arrow from the corpse.
Leaving the corpse, he went three or four steps forward and found one corner of the iron-backed bow sticking out.
He reached into the snow and retrieved the bow. Cui Hao slowly backed away, collected the beast trap as he passed, and ran!
He sprinted all the way to the frozen creek. Nothing happened, but he had scared himself half to death.
Opening the water gourd, he poured a mouthful of cold water down his burning throat, then stuffed some flatbread and salted fatty meat into his empty stomach. Cui Hao felt as if he had come back to life.
He arrived home after dark. Su Yun opened the courtyard gate at once, her body trembling faintly as she asked uncertainly, "Brother Hao, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Is the food ready? I'm starving to death."
"It's ready, it's ready. It's been kept warm in the pot." Su Yun happily took the woodcutter's knife and water gourd. "Go sit inside. I'll bring the food out right away."
Cui Hao set down the beast trap he had carried all the way home, opened the trigger mechanism, and placed it beneath the courtyard wall. Before long, he was eating hot food.
The meal was coarse-rice porridge, pork belly glistening with oil mixed with boiled wild greens, and two bowls of meat soup.
Both of them were ravenous. They ate like a whirlwind and cleared everything away.
With food in his stomach—hot food and hot soup at that—Cui Hao held his belly and sighed. "Comfortable!"
Su Yun was happy too. "Brother Hao, a guest came to the house today."
"A guest?" Cui Hao was startled. "Who?"
"Elder Uncle came."
"What did he come for?"
"Cui Huo is studying martial arts at Qingsong Martial School. He's in the Mortal Martial Realm and didn't have money to buy Qi and Blood Powder, so he came to borrow money."
The Cui Clan's main branch ran a shop in the city making shoes for customers. Their income was decent, but it could not support a martial artist taking one packet of Qi and Blood Powder every three days. "You didn't lend him any, did you?"
"There were only two hundred copper coins in the house. I offered him one hundred, but he thought it was too little and refused."
"Too little?" Cui Hao's eyes widened, and his voice rose two octaves. "He refused!?"
"I don't know who told him, but he heard that you spent two taels of silver on a beast trap. So he wanted to borrow two taels, and he wasn't happy about even one copper coin less."
"Don't let him in again. What a piece of trash!"
Su Yun was angry too. From then on, she certainly would not let them enter the house.
Cui Hao and Su Yun were angry, but Elder Uncle Cui Hu was even angrier. He complained incessantly to Old Master Cui. "Father, you didn't see it. That child bride of theirs tried to fob me off with just a hundred copper coins! They clearly had two taels of silver to buy a beast trap."
Sitting in a bamboo reclining chair, Old Master Cui narrowed his eyes into a slit. Only today had he learned that Cui Hao had joined Hongzhan Martial School.
If the sundries-shop owner had not revealed it, he would have remained completely in the dark.
"After leaving his house, I went to Hongzhan Martial School to ask around." Cui Hu spoke with great animation. "Cui Hao happened to break through into the Mortal Martial Realm right at the two-month deadline. His aptitude is mediocre. Why not lend the silver to us and let Huo'er advance another step?"
"Cui Hao may truly have no money left." Old Master Cui spoke slowly. "Let this matter end here."
"If they have no money, they can borrow it." Auntie Cui entered the main room carrying a winnowing basket of dried vegetables. "The interest isn't expensive. For every nine borrowed, they only repay thirteen."
After a pause, Auntie Cui continued, "If Huo'er passes the Martial Xiucai examination, the entire Cui Clan will share in the good fortune. Huo'er needs one packet of Qi and Blood Powder every three days now. They should contribute."
Hearing this, Old Master Cui's expression twisted faintly. His second son, Cui Bao, had gone into the mountains hunting and vanished without a trace. Cui Hao had failed the rural examination and fallen gravely ill. There were also the tax payments. One matter after another, every single burden had landed on the shoulders of a child bride.
When they had been in their greatest difficulty, the main branch had not helped them. Now they were going to ask them for a loan... Sigh... They still had to make the trip. Nothing was more important than Huo'er passing the Martial Xiucai examination. This was the Old Cui family's only chance to bring glory to their ancestors.
Before you continue