Glorifying the Ancestors

With the two-stone bow and looting the corpse on his mind, Cui Hao and Lin Da arrived at the general store as darkness fell.

With security in and out of the city deteriorating, the shopkeeper had already closed up early. Cui Hao stepped forward and knocked loudly, "Steward Yang, open up!"

"Closed," Old Man Yang dared not open the door late at night. "Come back tomorrow!"

"I'm a hunter from Willow Tree Village," Cui Hao shouted through the thick door. "I need it for hunting in the mountains tomorrow morning; I can't wait until next time."

Peeking through the door crack, Old Man Yang recognized the person as Cui Hao, Cui Bao's son. He moved a wooden board aside from the inside.

"Come earlier next time," grumbled the stooped Old Man Yang. "You scared me half to death this late at night."

Cui Hao smiled. "Three jin of quicklime powder, coarse but with fine particles, one jin per packet."

Old Man Yang went behind the counter to weigh it, quickly packing it up. "Anything else?"

"A beast trap, the kind that can catch a fierce tiger."

Old Man Yang looked up, appraising Cui Hao. "You don't want to live anymore?"

"I want to live, I just want to live a little better."

Old Man Yang sighed softly. "To catch a fierce tiger, you need a fine steel beast trap. That'll be two taels of silver each."

"Any cheaper ones?"

"There are smaller ones, but they can't catch a fierce tiger."

"I see..." Cui Hao gritted his teeth. "How about I buy one fine steel beast trap, and you throw in three jin of quicklime powder?"

Old Man Yang agreed. He turned and brought out a dark iron object, about sixty centimeters long and wide, from the back room. He placed it gently on the ground. "This thing has a lot of force; it can snap a thigh. Be careful when you use it."

"How do I use it?"

Old Man Yang demonstrated on the spot.

A moment later, Cui Hao left two taels of silver and departed the general store.

"This is for you," Cui Hao shoved a packet of quicklime powder into Lin Da's hand. "Put it in a small cloth bag and carry it with you. Use it with the wind when you encounter danger."

Lin Da took the quicklime powder. "Brother Hao, are you really going into the mountains to hunt a tiger?"

"I'll use it in the yard. If someone climbs over the wall, you understand, right? Don't tell anyone about this."

Lin Da nodded in agreement.

The next day, the weather was freezing, cold, dry, and windy.

Taking the well-wrapped dry rations and water flask from his wife, Cui Hao, wearing a bamboo hat, a mask over his face, and a wood-chopping knife at his waist, with the beast trap on his back, set out at dawn.

"Brother Hao," Su Yun saw her husband off just outside the courtyard, worry etched on her face. "Forget the bow; don't go into Second Mountain."

"Sister Yun," Cui Hao held his wife's hands. "I'll be fine. Practice throwing ash at home more."

"I will," Su Yun nodded helplessly. "Be careful."

Bidding farewell to his wife, Cui Hao stepped steadily. When the sun was like a yolk, he reached the edge of Second Mountain.

Hesitating for three to four seconds on the spot, he entered the mountain!

He took three steps and stopped one, proceeding cautiously. By noon, Cui Hao arrived at the place where Zhou Menglong had died.

He didn't rush to loot the corpse immediately. Standing six to seven paces away from the body, he took steps with each foot, placing the beast trap down gently. With a click, he opened the trigger mechanism and sprinkled some frozen snow on it for simple camouflage.

With the trap set, Cui Hao felt a bit more confident and approached Zhou Menglong's body.

Two days had passed, and the corpse was already mostly covered by wind and snow.

Because Zhou Menglong had quicklime powder on him before he died, his body had been miraculously preserved and not eaten by animals.

He squatted down and reached for the body with both hands. The clothes were frozen stiff, making crackling sounds as he pried them apart.

He found a money pouch. Opening it, he lightly weighed it. At least twenty taels!

Zhou Menglong's clothes were brocade, difficult to sell, so he didn't take them.

His shoes were waterproof, snow-resistant, knee-high oil boots, the kind worn by the wealthy. Also difficult to sell.

He only took the money pouch and pulled the Iron Arrow from the corpse.

Leaving the body, he moved three to four steps forward and found the corner of an iron-frame bow sticking out of the snow.

Reaching into the snow, he retrieved the bow. Cui Hao slowly retreated, passed by, collected the beast trap, and ran!

He ran all the way to the frozen stream without anything happening, scaring himself half to death.

He opened his water flask, pouring cold water down his burning throat, and stuffed some flatbread and salted fatty meat into his empty stomach. Cui Hao felt as if he had come back to life.

As darkness fell, he arrived home. Su Yun immediately opened the courtyard gate, her body trembling slightly. Her voice held uncertainty, "Brother Hao, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Is dinner ready? I'm starving."

"Yes, yes, it's been kept warm in the pot," Su Yun happily took the wood-chopping knife and the water flask. "Go inside and sit down; I'll bring the food out right away."

Cui Hao put down the beast trap he had carried all the way, opened the trigger mechanism, and placed it by the courtyard wall. A moment later, he was eating hot food.

The meal was brown rice, stir-fried fatty pork with boiled wild vegetables, and two bowls of meat broth.

Both were starving and devoured the food like a whirlwind, clearing their plates.

With food in their stomachs, and hot food at that, Cui Hao rubbed his belly and sighed, "Comfortable!"

Su Yun also felt happy, "Brother Hao, we had guests at home today."

"Guests?" Cui Hao blinked in surprise, "Who?"

"Uncle came."

"What did he want?"

"Cui Huo is studying martial arts at Qingsong Martial School. In the Mortal Martial Realm, he's out of money to buy Qi and Blood Powder, so he came to borrow some."

The main Cui Clan family ran a shoe shop in the city, earning a decent income, but it wasn't enough to support a martial artist's need for a packet of Qi and Blood Powder every three days. "You didn't lend him anything, did you?"

"We had two hundred copper coins in total. I offered him one hundred, but he said it was too little and refused."

"Too little?" Cui Hao's eyes widened, his voice rising two octaves, "He refused!?"

"I don't know who told him, but he heard you spent two taels of silver on a beast trap, so he wanted to borrow two taels. He wasn't happy with a single copper coin less."

"Don't let him in the house again. What kind of person is he!"

Su Yun was also angry. They would definitely not let them into their home again.

While Cui Hao and Su Yun were angry, their uncle Cui Hu was even angrier. He kept complaining to Old Master Cui, "Father, didn't you see? That child bride from their family tried to fob me off with a hundred copper coins! They clearly have two taels of silver to buy a beast trap."

Sitting in a bamboo lounge chair, Old Master Cui narrowed his eyes. Today was the first he'd heard of Cui Hao joining Hongzhan Martial School.

If the general store owner hadn't mentioned it, he would have remained in the dark.

"After leaving their place, I went to Hongzhan Martial School to inquire," Cui Hu said animatedly, "Cui Hao just managed to break through to Mortal Martial within the two-month deadline. His aptitude is very mediocre. It would be better to lend us the money so Huo'er can advance further."

"Cui Hao might genuinely be out of money," Old Master Cui said, "Let this matter drop here."

"If they're out of money, they can borrow some," the aunt walked into the hall carrying a winnowing basket of dried vegetables, "The interest isn't that high, only thirteen back for every nine borrowed."

She paused, then added, "If Huo'er gets accepted into the Martial Xiucai, the entire Cui Clan will benefit. Now, Huo'er needs a packet of Qi and Blood Powder every three days, they should contribute."

Hearing this, Old Master Cui's expression twisted. His second son, Cui Bao, had gone hunting in the mountains and never returned. Cui Hao had fallen gravely ill after failing the provincial exam. And then there were the tax silver... all these burdens had fallen onto a child bride.

The main family hadn't helped them during their most difficult times, and now they were going to them for money... Alas... he would have to make a trip. Nothing was more important than Huo'er passing the Martial Xiucai. This was the only chance for the Cui family to bring honor to their ancestors.