Harvest

Luo Yi stood there, utterly baffled, and looked at Luo Wei as if he were an idiot.

"When did I ever say I was giving you this hare?"

Realizing he'd gotten ahead of himself, Luo Wei's face flushed with anger, turning pale and then red. He was about to order his men to break Luo Yi's legs when—

"Luo Wei, you've got some nerve! You dare lay a hand on someone from our Hunting Team? Just because you've started working for Mister Li, do you think your wings have grown strong enough to look down on me, Wang Meng?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Luo Yi turned and saw Wang Meng and the others returning from the hunt.

As Wang Meng led the Hunting Team members over, Luo Wei retorted stubbornly, "Wang Meng, when did Luo Yi become one of your Hunting Team? If you want to pick a fight with Mister Li, just say so. Don't use other people as your shield."

Wang Meng couldn't help but laugh and curse at that.

"Get lost. Otherwise, you can take it up with the blade in my hand."

Knowing Wang Meng was protecting Luo Yi, Luo Wei realized he probably wouldn't get the chance to teach his good nephew a lesson today. But he wasn't willing to leave with his tail between his legs, either.

"Luo Yi, you'd better stick with Wang Meng and his men every day. The day I catch you alone, you can consider yourself dead!" After tossing out the threat, Luo Wei led his men toward town.

Luo Yi cupped his fists and bowed to the group. "Thank you, Uncle Wang, and thanks to all the Hunting Team brothers for coming to my aid."

Looking at Luo Yi, who had grown noticeably sturdier in the few days since they'd last met, Wang Meng patted his shoulder and laughed. "You brat, you didn't seem afraid of Luo Wei at all earlier! Don't underestimate him. He's been throwing his weight around Dongsheng Town and making life miserable for the locals for years, so he definitely has some tricks up his sleeve."

"Besides Luo Wei, you also need to watch out for the man behind him, Mister Li Fucai. When he moved here from elsewhere over ten years ago, his family was dirt poor. To build up such a huge fortune in just over a decade, he must have something special about him. Don't let your guard down."

Hearing what Wang Meng had revealed, Luo Yi nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Uncle Wang."

Seeing that Luo Yi had taken his words to heart, Wang Meng called his men and headed toward the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.

Watching them go, Luo Yi didn't rush to sell the game he'd caught that day.

The game he'd caught was worth at least several hundred copper coins, and he'd be bringing back even more valuable catches in the future. Although Luo Yi trusted Wang Meng, he didn't want to put human nature to the test.

Back home, he laid the day's catch on the ground.

Seeing the game her older brother had brought home, Luo Xi couldn't help drooling.

Looking at his little sister, who seemed like a greedy kitten, Luo Yi remembered that despite having crossed over so long ago, he still hadn't eaten meat. He picked up a pheasant and handed it to Luo Xi.

"Xiao Xi, clean this chicken and stew it in the pot. We'll have a feast tonight."

After cleaning the pheasant, Luo Yi looked at the two muntjacs and one hare left on the ground. Muntjac meat was tender and practically melted in your mouth; it was quite valuable.

Hare meat was tough and gamey, and the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion offered a very low price for it. A catty of hare meat was barely worth more than millet.

Since he'd been practicing Basic Archery intensely lately, his body needed meat to replenish its nutrients. So he decided to keep the hare at home.

He put the two muntjac carcasses back into his hunting pack, slung it over his shoulder, and headed for the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.

When he arrived, the young waiter standing at the entrance recognized him as yesterday's impoverished hunter. Remembering the manager's special instruction to let him know if the hunter showed up, he said, "Young sir, please wait a moment. I'll get Manager Chen."

"Sure." Luo Yi answered and waited patiently at the entrance.

Before long, Manager Chen came out, smiling. "Little brother, what good game did you catch today?"

Luo Yi took the two muntjac carcasses out of his hunting pack and set them on the ground.

Looking at the two muntjacs, Manager Chen roared with laughter. "Little brother, you're really skilled. It's only been a few days, and you've already caught such fine game."

Seeing how pleased Manager Chen looked, Luo Yi asked with a smile, "Manager Chen, you know the two muntjacs are worth more than just their meat. Their hides are valuable, too. What price are you willing to offer?"

Hearing Luo Yi's question, Manager Chen realized the young man wouldn't be easy to fool. He was just looking for a chance to drive the price down when Luo Yi continued:

"You only get one chance to make an offer, Manager Chen. If you don't want them, I'll take them to the county seat and sell them tomorrow."

Seeing Luo Yi smiling, Manager Chen had the waiter bring out a scale. After weighing the two muntjacs, he said:

"Little brother, these two muntjacs are excellent quality. The arrows hit them without damaging the hides, and each one weighs close to eighty catties. I'll offer six taels of silver for both. What do you think?"

Hearing Manager Chen's offer, Luo Yi was overjoyed inside, but kept his expression calm. "Deal."

Seeing that the young man barely reacted to the offer of six taels of silver, Manager Chen smiled. "Truly, heroes emerge in youth. You're so young, yet already a master hunter. Your future is limitless."

With that, he went back into the inn's rear hall and returned with six taels of silver, which he handed to Luo Yi.

He tucked the silver into his clothes and surveyed the area. Once he was sure no one was following him, Luo Yi hurried home.

As soon as he'd left, the shop assistant sidled up to Manager Chen.

"Manager, should we have the brothers take the silver back tonight?"

After hearing him out, Manager Chen scolded him. "Take what back? We're doing business in town now, not out in the mountains. Business is about cultivating a steady stream of customers. In just two days, this young man has brought us so much game. There's plenty of time ahead. We're not going to tear up our relationship over a bit of silver."

Flush with six taels of silver, Luo Yi found himself running faster than usual. The moment he entered the courtyard, he caught the fragrant smell drifting from the kitchen.

Seeing her brother return, Luo Xi carried the already-stewed chicken soup and millet porridge out to the stone table in the courtyard.

With a large bowl of chicken soup and a large bowl of millet porridge before them, the two devoured their food.

After polishing off the chicken soup and porridge, Luo Yi had his little sister clean the hare he'd left in the courtyard.

Considering the current temperature, food would spoil in a day or two at most, and salt in the Great Qi Dynasty was especially expensive, he told his sister to turn the cleaned hare into jerky.

Luo Yi went out into the courtyard and began practicing Basic Archery. After one round of shooting, the Panel showed Basic Archery (Minor Accomplishment 1/300) had changed to Basic Archery (Minor Accomplishment 6/300).

His progress had changed from gaining one point per arrow to one point per three arrows.

Luo Yi considered the possible reasons. Did leveling up get harder as the skill rank increased?

Or was the courtyard too small, making it too easy for me to hit the target from this distance?

He weighed the Hunting Bow in his hand. Or was the bow left behind by my predecessor's father too weak to provide any more training?

Feeling the six taels of silver in his clothes, Luo Yi thought of the barely concealed murderous intent in Luo Wei's eyes before he'd left. He was worried Luo Wei might try to kill him.

Although the Great Qi Dynasty banned bows, crossbows, and armor, it didn't ban blades. People carrying all kinds of weapons could often be seen around Dongsheng Town.

Thinking about it, the restrictions on hunting bows in Great Qi probably weren't too strict, either.

So he planned to visit the Blacksmith Shop in town the next day and see if he could buy a more powerful Hunting Bow for hunting and self-defense.

He didn't give up practicing just because his progress had slowed. He kept at it until late at night, and discovered that this time, leveling up his archery skill had greatly improved his body.

His arms were sore now, but the pain was still within what he could bear. Unlike before, he didn't find the pain unbearable after shooting just a few dozen arrows.

Looking at the Panel, he saw Archery (Minor Accomplishment 6/300) → Archery (Minor Accomplishment 36/300).

Three hours of practice had only increased his progress by thirty points. He still needed to find a way to speed it up.

A wave of drowsiness washed over him. He put away his bow and arrows, returned to his room, and went to sleep.