As the sky brightened from black, the sun overhead blazed down with scorching light. Standing in the courtyard, Luo Yi practiced archery without pause, oblivious to the passage of time.
It was noon. Luo Xi had finished preparing lunch and was about to call her brother to eat.
She looked at the figure standing in the courtyard, drawing and loosing arrows again and again since before dawn.
Ever since their father had gone missing, her brother seemed like a different person. A trace of worry flickered in her eyes.
After practicing for nearly three hours, Luo Yi was utterly exhausted. Seeing that he was only a few points short of completing the progress on his Panel, he summoned the last of his strength and fired off a few more arrows before collapsing onto the ground.
Lying there, Luo Yi felt his whole body grow hot, swelling and contracting as if he were about to explode.
He struggled to his feet and walked over to the well. Then he hauled up a bucket of water and poured it over himself.
As the water hit his body, steam rose in clouds.
Worried that the heat might overwhelm his organs, he plunged his head into the bucket and gulped down the water.
The entire change lasted only two or three minutes. Luo Yi felt the heat gradually fade from his body, along with the exhaustion from practicing archery that morning.
He smelled the foul stench rising from his body.
Seeing the worry on Luo Xi's face, he signaled that he was fine and told his younger sister to go back inside. Then he began drawing water to wash the grime from his body.
After his bath, Luo Yi looked at the handsome face reflected in the well water and his strong, Fierce Tiger-like physique. He grinned.
He silently thought, Open Panel.
Host: Luo Yi Age: 16 Realm: Mortal Skills: Basic Archery (Great Mastery 1/400) Traits: None
Seeing Basic Archery listed as Great Mastery on the Panel, he picked up the Three Stone Bow from the ground. Before his archery had improved, he had needed to use all his strength just to draw the Hunting Bow. Now, he could draw it with only half his strength.
He felt his physical prowess had nearly doubled.
He now understood that the higher a skill's level, the greater its effect on his physical abilities.
Curious, he wondered how much weaker he was than an Entry Realm Martial Artist.
He stepped into the room, and his younger sister's startled voice rang out.
"B-Brother, were you possessed by an Evil Spirit? Why do you look so different?" Luo Xi stared at him with her mouth hanging wide open.
He ruffled the girl's hair.
"Don't be ridiculous. Your brother is a real person. When have you ever seen an Evil Spirit this handsome?"
Hearing her brother's shameless explanation, Luo Xi helplessly nodded.
Unwilling to continue the topic, he looked at the Millet Porridge and dried rabbit meat on the ground and beckoned his sister to sit down.
After his archery skill improved today, Luo Yi had noticed that his appetite had increased considerably. Looking at his current physique, he understood why.
He took out a string of copper coins and handed it to his sister.
"Xiao Xi, make a little more food from now on. Practicing archery has been taking a lot out of me lately, so I need enough nutrition. You're still growing, too, so you need to eat well."
After lunch, he looked up at the blazing sun.
It was already late September. There were only seven days left before the end of the month, when the Autumn Tax was due.
He touched the silver tael in his pocket. It wasn't even enough to pay the Autumn Tax, let alone practice martial arts. He silently picked up his bow, arrows, and hunting pack, then headed toward Yunling the Mountain.
Luo Wei had spent all morning sitting by the town entrance under the sun. He was just about to call his men to go drinking when a subordinate keeping watch on Luo Yi's movements came running over.
"What's going on?"
The man stood panting for nearly a minute before he finally caught his breath.
"He just left home. He's on his way to Yunling the Mountain."
Once he was sure his good nephew was heading to Yunling the Mountain, Luo Wei worried that Luo Yi might notice someone following him. He took some of his men and hurried ahead to lie in wait on the Mountain.
He sent the rest off in different directions, ordering them to report Luo Yi's movements to him at once.
Just outside town, walking along the dirt road toward Yunling the Mountain, Luo Yi noticed that far more people than usual were heading that way today.
He discreetly studied several of them. They were going into the Mountain to hunt, yet they had no Hunting Bows. Sensing something was off, he grew wary and quickened his pace toward Yunling the Mountain.
The men following behind Luo Yi saw him suddenly pick up speed.
They exchanged glances. Their boss had already set an ambush on the Mountain.
One of them said, "Brothers, with the boss's strength, he can deal with this guy easily. There's no point in us going too. If even the boss can't handle him, we'd just be throwing our lives away. I say we go have a couple of drinks together and wait for the boss to come back. What do you think?"
The others nodded at his suggestion.
After running all the way to the foot of Yunling the Mountain, Luo Yi saw that no one had followed him and breathed a sigh of relief.
As a model young man from the twenty-first century, Luo Yi had never even killed a chicken. If he actually had to kill someone, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to do it.
After making sure no one was following him, he found the marker he had left and headed toward the watering hole.
Luo Wei had brought men to lie in wait ahead of time. When he saw Luo Yi enter the Mountain, he turned to the two members of the Wang Meng Hunting Team beside him. "I paid a hefty price to bring you two here. I hope you won't disappoint me. You know what'll happen if you do."
Under Luo Wei's threat, the two men gave awkward smiles. "Don't worry, Bro Luo. That kid's a rookie hunter. He won't slip through our fingers."
Seeing how confident they were, Luo Wei smiled too. You'd better be as good as you say. Then he waved for his men to follow.
When Luo Yi reached the watering hole, he saw a roe deer drinking there. Knowing a roe deer was worth three taels of silver, he was overjoyed.
He drew his bow and aimed. The arrow shot straight through the roe deer's skull.
After walking over to the watering hole, he picked up the roe deer's carcass and was about to pack it into his hunting bag.
A powerful sense of danger suddenly seized him. He darted behind a tree beside the pool.
The moment he left his original position, two arrows flew in from different directions and struck the spot where he had just stood.
Seeing the arrows and not knowing exactly who had attacked him, Luo Yi realized his position had been exposed. He didn't counterattack. Instead, he turned and ran deeper into the woods.
Seeing how decisively Luo Yi reacted, Luo Wei's heart skipped a beat. He realized his nephew wasn't as useless as the two men had claimed. He shouted to his men, "Don't let him get away! After him!"
With that, Luo Wei charged ahead.
As Luo Yi raced through the forest, he heard Luo Wei's voice behind him.
Couldn't hold back any longer, could you? You really are trying to kill me.
Since regaining consciousness, he had done nothing but hunt and practice martial arts. He had never gone looking for trouble with Luo Wei, yet Luo Wei had targeted him at every turn. Fine. Let's see who kills whom today. A crazed look came over Luo Yi's face.
After opening up some distance between himself and the others, he hid behind a large tree and carefully watched Luo Wei's group.
Luo Wei was running at the front, followed by more than ten underlings and two men carrying Hunting Bows.
He recognized the two men with Hunting Bows. They were the ones from the Wang Meng Hunting Team he had met on his first trip into the Mountain.
Now he knew who had fired the arrows at him by the watering hole.
He thought it over carefully. He had only met the two men once, and he hadn't had any serious grudge against them. Yet they had tried to kill him.
He drew the Hunting Bow and aimed at the two men behind Luo Wei. Two arrows whistled through the air.
The two men were still running and had no time to dodge. The arrows pierced their chests, and they fell to the ground.
With only their last breaths left, regret shone in their eyes.
After taking care of the two men, Luo Yi turned and ran deeper into the woods.
At the front of the group, Luo Wei saw that Luo Yi wasn't fleeing but had even dared to fight back. He drove his legs hard and bounded forward, covering a huge stretch of ground in a single stride.
Seeing Luo Wei leap nearly three meters in one bound, Luo Yi's heart jumped. As he watched the distance between them steadily shrink, he stopped running.
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