[Boudoir: Beginner] [Progress: 1/300] [Effect: Physique +5, Distributable Progress Points +4]
Even boudoir matters have a progress bar—and directly improve my physique?
It even gave me "Distributable Progress Points"!
Cui Hao was stunned for a moment, then a trace of realization surfaced in his heart.
It seemed that as long as an action involved a certain degree of "technical skill" or "practical application," it could potentially be recorded by the panel, then improved through repeated practice and refinement.
The scope of this cheat ability seemed broader than he had imagined—and much more...practical.
The sensation of +5 Physique was subtle. It was not a sudden bulging of muscles, but a comprehensive improvement in his deep reserves of energy and bodily coordination. Even his earlier fatigue seemed to have dissipated by more than half.
The next day, Cui Hao opened his eyes in bed at the second crow of the rooster.
Moonlight streamed through the window and fell across Su Yun's face. She did not seem to be sleeping soundly. Her brows were slightly furrowed and her fingers twitched faintly—a sign that she lacked a sense of security.
She had fled disaster in childhood, drifting from place to place.
After entering the Cui family, she had faced someone's coldness and contempt.
Over the past six months, she had even repeatedly teetered on the brink of being traded as merchandise.
In this world, a woman with no one to rely on had a fate as unsettled as duckweed drifting in the wind.
Cui Hao's feelings were complicated. There was pity, but also responsibility.
Since a twist of fate had made him her husband, since...the most intimate relationship had already taken place, no matter what, he could no longer let her fall into that kind of predicament.
He did not dare promise great wealth and honor, but at the very least, he had to fight to provide them with food, warmth, and stability.
At that thought, Cui Hao gently pulled out the arm that had gone numb beneath her pillow.
Su Yun woke at once. Her lashes trembled as she opened her eyes, and panic and unease flashed through them. She feared that once a man had gotten what he wanted, he would no longer cherish her—or might even turn around and sell her.
"The beasts in the mountains rise early, so hunters have to rise early too," Cui Hao said as gently as he could. "Sleep a little longer."
Su Yun breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly shook her head. "I'll make you breakfast."
As she spoke, Su Yun tried to sit up, but let out a soft hiss, her movements clearly stiff and awkward.
"Slowly. There's no hurry." Cui Hao helped his wife up.
Su Yun's face flushed crimson. Head lowered, she braced herself against the bed and slowly dressed in that old set of clothes, washed until it had faded white.
When she got down, her legs were clearly unsteady. Supporting herself against the wall, she slowly made her way out of the bedroom.
Breakfast was last night's steamed pork with dried vegetables mixed into coarse rice. Even after being reheated, it was still fragrant.
Su Yun had even used the rice left stuck to the bottom of the pot to bake a golden-brown piece of scorched rice crust. She filled a large, scrubbed-clean gourd with cool boiled water.
"Brother Hao, stay around the outskirts of Second Mountain. Don't go farther in. Father...Father said before that big beasts roam the depths, and there are blind bears too. It's dangerous."
"I know. Don't worry." Cui Hao accepted the rice crust and water gourd, shouldered his bow and quiver, then tied a bundle of grass rope and slung it over his shoulder.
He pushed open the creaking firewood gate. The sharp morning air rushed into his face, and a thin layer of white frost covered the ground.
Cui Hao walked away across the frost, his figure soon merging into the dawn.
Su Yun pressed her palms together and silently prayed for every god beneath the heavens to protect her husband and bring him safely home.
After walking eight or nine li, the sky gradually changed from deep blue to the pale white of a fish's belly. When the sun finally poked a rim of gold above the horizon, Cui Hao reached the foot of the mountain.
The first mountain before him truly deserved its name: "Baldhead Mountain."
As far as the eye could see, there were hardly any decent trees—only low shrubs and exposed rock.
Firewood was the lifeblood of countless trades in the city. Restaurants, blacksmithies, bathhouses...countless hands plundered this place day after day. Even the most luxuriant mountain forest could not withstand such demands.
After crossing the barren mountain ridge, which stretched five or six li, Cui Hao's cloth shoes and trouser legs were soaked by the morning dew.
The murmur of running water came from ahead. A clear, icy mountain stream cut across his path.
He took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and waded across. The freezing water made him shudder.
On the far bank lay a completely different world—Yuanmeng Mountain, Second Mountain.
Trees grew dense and tall. Pale, milky-white morning mist drifted through the forest, while the air was moist and fresh, brimming with the scents of trees and earth.
It was bursting with life, but also carried a faint hint of danger.
Remembering Su Yun's warning, Cui Hao did not rashly step onto the narrow trail trampled by hunters toward the depths of the forest.
Instead, he chose to move slowly along the edge of the stream. The view was relatively open there, and water sources easily attracted animals.
"Splash!" The grass beside the stream shook violently ahead. A gray-brown wild duck cried out and flapped into the air, quickly vanishing into the forest mist.
Cui Hao instinctively nocked an arrow and drew his bow, but the wild duck's flight path was erratic and its speed was high. After estimating his chances of hitting it, he lowered the bow in disappointment.
—Arrows were precious. He could not casually waste one on a target he had almost no chance of hitting.
He waded to the place where the wild duck had risen, parted the dense dead grass and water pepper, and found a duck's nest carefully built from feathers and dry grass.
There were no eggs in the nest, but quite a few shed down feathers and small contour feathers lay scattered around.
Cui Hao's eyes lit up.
Duck down! This was good stuff—lightweight and warm. Gathered little by little, it could be stuffed into the lining of clothes in winter and prove invaluable.
He carefully collected the down, wrapped it in a piece of old cloth, and tucked it inside his shirt. This counted as an unexpected delight, an auxiliary gain from hunting.
He continued upstream, paying even closer attention to the sounds around him. Suddenly, his foot felt something unusual and springy, unlike solid earth or stone.
Cui Hao stopped at once and looked down carefully. It was a large patch of fluffy, dried weeds and fallen leaves, piled into an inconspicuous, slightly raised mound.
...It looked very familiar!
Before crossing over, he had watched countless wilderness survival videos. He knew that beneath his feet was—a king cobra's nest!
His heart gave a violent thump, and adrenaline began to surge. Fear was instinctive, but right behind it came intense excitement and...appetite?
Snake meat was delicious and nutritious, an excellent source of protein.
And Su Yun had suffered from malnutrition for years. How wonderful would it be to give her something nourishing!
He slowly backed away from directly above the nest, then picked up a fallen hardwood branch nearby. It was about as thick as a child's arm and more than two meters long.
After taking a deep breath, Cui Hao gripped the branch and viciously hammered and jabbed at the top of the fluffy nest.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
A scalp-crawling friction came from inside the nest.
Before long, three king cobras, each as thick as a wrist and more than two meters long, raised their forebodies and assumed threatening attack postures.
Their cold, vertical pupils locked onto the intruder who had disturbed their peace.
Danger!
Confronted by three enraged king cobras, Cui Hao's first reaction was not to use his bow, but the branch in his hand!
He aimed at the foremost king cobra, the most ferocious-looking of the three. The instant its body arched and coiled for attack, he brought the branch down with all his strength!
"Smack!" The muffled impact landed squarely on the middle of the snake's body.
The hard wood collided with the snake's resilient body. Cui Hao's tiger web went numb, while the snake's body collapsed under the blow and it let out a pained hiss.
At the same time, the panel refreshed.
[Snake Catching: Early Stage] [Progress: 15/100]
It worked! Cui Hao's spirits rose. Without stopping, he took advantage of the dazed snake and swung back for another heavy blow in nearly the same spot!
The progress jumped to 55.
The other two king cobras were enraged by what had happened to their companion. They approached from both sides at astonishing speed, their tongues flicking as they hissed.
Cui Hao retreated two steps, opening a little distance, and judged that the one on the left was slightly faster and posed the greater threat. He swung the branch in a full arc and struck for the third time!
The progress only rose to 60.
The king cobra on the left recoiled in pain, its attack slowing slightly.
The one on the right had already glided silently into dangerous range. It suddenly lunged, its forebody springing upward like a released coil. Its pink mouth gaped wide, exposing pale, hooked fangs. Riding a gust of rank wind, it shot straight at Cui Hao's right wrist—the one holding the branch!
Too fast! There was no time to swing the branch up and block!
At the brink of life and death, Cui Hao reacted almost entirely on instinct. He abruptly released the branch and shot both hands forward like lightning. He did not try to grab the rapidly attacking head—that would have been nearly impossible—but instead seized precisely at the neck about a palm's width behind it!
His hands clamped tightly around the slippery, icy snake neck. The tremendous momentum forced him to stagger one step backward.
The snake's head was forcibly restrained, but it twisted and struggled desperately. Its venom glands contracted, and with a sharp hiss, pale yellow venom carrying a pungent odor shot from the tips of its fangs.
The venom grazed Cui Hao's arm and splattered onto the muddy ground beside him, where it sizzled.
The difference had been no more than a hair!
Cui Hao broke into a cold sweat. His right hand held the snake's neck firmly while his left swiftly drew a wooden arrow from the quiver. Without hesitation, he drove it viciously into the wildly thrashing head!
"Puff! Puff! Puff!" He stabbed three times in succession. Only when the snake's struggles weakened did he gasp for breath and fling the deadly prey aside.
The panel flashed again:
[Snake Catching: Beginner] [Progress: 2/300] [Effect: Resistance to All Snake Venom +5]
As the writing stabilized, Cui Hao felt a subtle change take place inside his body. It was not that he had become impervious to blades and spears, but rather that his instinctive wariness of snake toxins and some latent resistance to them had been strengthened.
The sensation was mysterious beyond words, yet undeniably real.
Daring not relax, Cui Hao looked toward the other two king cobras, which had taken multiple blows. Their movements were now impaired, and they were breathing out more than they breathed in.
This time, Cui Hao picked up his bow.
He nocked an arrow, stood a little over a meter away, aimed at one of them, and drew to half draw.
He held his breath and released the string.
"Thwack!" The arrow sank precisely into the snake's body. The snake twisted violently several times, then gradually went limp.
[Archery: Beginner] [Progress: 5/300] [Effect: Soreness -5, Arm Strength +5, Accuracy +5]
A gentle current of warmth instantly surged through both arms and his shoulders and back. The soreness accumulated from last night's practice clearly eased, and his arms seemed to possess an extra measure of steady strength from nowhere.
His familiarity with the bow and arrow, as well as his subtle grasp of aiming, had both improved by a considerable margin.
This immediate, tangible enhancement steadied Cui Hao's heart.
He drew another arrow and gave the final king cobra a finishing shot. His Archery progress increased to 15 points.
With the danger removed, he used a firewood knife to chop off the three gruesome snake heads, then carefully crushed them flat to ensure they were completely dead.
He made one final inspection of the nest. Only after confirming that no fourth snake had darted out did he let out a long breath.
He had finally brought down some prey! Although his first trip into the mountains had been perilous, the gains far exceeded his expectations!
He skinned the three king cobras and dragged their headless, tailless bodies—still nearly two meters long—to the stream, where he began processing them.
Snake skin was tough and might prove useful, so he could keep it.
The snake meat was white and firm, tinged with a faint pink. After removing the innards and bones, each snake probably yielded four or five jin of clean meat.
Three snakes—if they were frugal—would indeed be enough for him and Su Yun to eat for half a month.
Finally, there were the deep-green snake gallbladders. Cui Hao hesitated.
His knowledge from his previous life told him that swallowing snake gallbladders raw was extremely risky. Parasites, bacteria, and even the toxicity of the gallbladder itself could all prove fatal.
It was only safe if soaked in strong liquor for sterilization or professionally processed.
"Being free of calamity and illness is worth more than anything. There's no need to take the risk." Cui Hao shook his head, wrapped the three snake gallbladders in leaves, and took them home to dry. An apothecary might buy them back.
After quickly washing the snake meat and tying it securely with grass rope, Cui Hao hefted the bundle and pondered. Eating the meat at home would certainly be good, but exchanging it for money was important too.
Unfortunately, merchants only wanted live snakes.
Especially large, fierce venomous snakes. Certain restaurants or apothecaries in the city might pay a better price for them, since they could "kill them fresh for the gallbladder" in front of their customers.
Once dead, their value dropped sharply.
"Next time, I'll have to find a way to catch them alive, or...look for more valuable prey." Cui Hao gazed at Yuanmeng Mountain, shrouded in mist and unfathomably deep, and his eyes sharpened.
With the cheat ability, he would not merely scrape by. In this unfamiliar world, he would use it to carve out a truly stable life!
Before you continue