In this chaotic world, simply finding food was already difficult. For the people of Small River Village, wanting to be full for the rest of their lives was no different from a fool's dream. For a child like him, it was even more fantastical, and naturally far more difficult.
Chen Xuan did not doubt in the slightest that whether he joined West City Pharmacy or Fierce Mountain Hall, the risks afterward would only grow greater.
He shook his head, but another thought immediately stirred in his heart.
Objective: Eat until full today (Pending setup) Setup complete "Loading!" "Loading successful!" "Method One: Three hundred meters from the Big Locust Tree halfway up the back mountain of Small River Village, a wild wolf will be severely injured in one hour. Leave immediately; you can arrive in half an hour. Wait another half hour, and you can obtain one adult wild wolf." "Method Two: At Zhang Shan's home west of the village, there is a crazed wild boar. The household will fall into chaos. Leave now, and you can take advantage of the opportunity to steal half a Mountain Chicken from his home."
Words appeared before him, and Chen Xuan's mouth twitched.
Good heavens, even just eating his fill today was fucking hard.
There was no need to mention Method One. That was up in the mountains. With his tiny arms and legs, if he went up there, there probably would not be any afterward.
As for Method Two, it looked feasible, but Zhang Shan was a famous hunter in the village. If Chen Xuan dared steal from his home and got caught, his two legs would most likely be gone.
Fortunately, at that very moment—
The words flickered again.
"Method Three: Beside the small stream outside the village, to the right of the large boulder. Due to the fish school's recent upstream migration, place a stone over thirty centimeters tall on top of it. In one shichen, you will obtain one black carp weighing ten jin."
New writing appeared.
Seeing Method Three, Chen Xuan's eyes lit up.
He glanced at the sky, which had already begun to darken, and without the slightest hesitation, turned and headed back the way he had come.
This body had already been starving for two days.
His father still had no idea when he would return. There were also his mother and younger brother. If they kept starving like this, they simply would not be able to endure it.
He had to find food.
A short while later, Chen Xuan returned to the river.
He began searching according to the words.
After about a quarter of an hour, he finally found the target location.
He looked around and found a stone more than thirty centimeters tall. To be safe, the one he chose was nearly fifty centimeters tall.
With great difficulty, he moved the stone toward the spot described in the words.
The prolonged hunger made his face turn pale as he moved the stone, blue veins bulging one after another on his hands.
It took him nearly half an hour just to move the stone into position.
Thud!
The moment he set the stone down, Chen Xuan felt as if his chest were about to burst apart. He could not help gasping for breath.
His body could not move at all, while his stomach convulsed even more violently.
Bleurgh!
He retched instinctively, but only a little sour fluid came out. There had long been nothing left in his stomach.
Even the bit of dried grass he had eaten that morning had been completely digested.
"Damn this world!"
He could not help cursing under his breath. Then Chen Xuan felt waves of exhaustion wash over his mind, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
Before he knew it, they slowly closed.
He did not know how much time had passed.
When the Moonlight Essence gradually spilled down—
Dark shapes appeared in the river.
Then—
Splash!
The water's surface broke apart. A black carp leaped straight out of the river and charged upstream, quickly vanishing back into the water.
And where there was a first fish, there was a second.
Splash!
Plop!
Sound after sound rang out.
Until one black carp seemed to veer slightly off course.
Bang!
A dull impact rang out. The enormous force sent the fish flying from the water before it slammed onto the bank beside it.
The fish hit the ground, its tail flapping wildly.
Chen Xuan felt something wet against his cheek and woke groggily.
A strong fishy smell immediately drifted into his nose.
His Adam's apple bobbed instinctively.
Bleurgh!
After another dry heave, Chen Xuan finally came fully awake. He looked before him in an instant, overwhelmed with delight.
A huge black carp weighing around ten jin was flopping wildly right in front of him.
"Th-there really is a fish!"
His Adam's apple bobbed again. At that moment, Chen Xuan almost could not stop himself from jumping up in excitement.
But he did not forget what mattered. Afraid that the fish might leap back into the water, he hurried forward and pinned it down tightly, even smashing its head viciously with a stone.
Only when the large black carp stopped moving completely did he let out a breath of relief.
At that very moment—
A familiar voice came from the riverbank.
"Er Gou!"
"Er Gou!"
The voice was weary and worried. Chen Xuan looked over instinctively and immediately saw torches approaching from that direction.
"Mother, I'm here!"
Seeing the torchlight and hearing the voice, Chen Xuan did not know why, but he called out instinctively.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, not like a child's.
But the moment his voice rang out, a stir went up among the people with the torches, and their footsteps suddenly grew hurried.
A moment later, Chen Xuan saw a middle-aged man, a woman, and Chen Er Zhuang, who had left earlier, appear beneath the torchlight.
"Er Gou!"
Chen Xuan saw them clearly, and they saw him clearly as well. The woman cried out and ran straight over.
Before Chen Xuan could react, the woman had already pulled him tightly into her arms.
His body stiffened involuntarily.
But that familiar feeling soon softened his rigid body.
"Mother, I'm fine. Look, what did I catch?"
Chen Xuan spoke softly, trying to soothe the middle-aged woman's agitated heart.
But clearly, the woman did not care about any of that. She only held him tightly.
Until Chen Er Zhuang's loud, excited voice rang out beside them.
"Fish! Er Gou, you caught a fish!"
"What a huge fish!"
"Father, Third Aunt, look! Such a huge fish!"
Chen Er Zhuang's voice was loud, and it was even mixed with the sound of him swallowing.
His words finally made the middle-aged woman react. She released her son, then saw the bloody large fish beside them.
At the sight of it, she froze as well.
Fish. It was actually fish.
And such a huge fish at that.
"Hahaha, well done, Er Gou! You actually caught such a big fish!"
The middle-aged man beside them spoke as well. In the firelight, his lips moved slightly.
Fish—this was meat.
Though it had far less fat than the game in the mountains, it was still meat.
The middle-aged man's eyes were burning with desire.
But he restrained himself. After all, he knew how difficult life was for his third younger brother's family.
"Why are you standing around? Hurry up and carry Er Gou back. Don't let him catch a chill."
With that thought, the middle-aged man called to Chen Er Zhuang.
"Alright, alright!"
Scolded by his father, Chen Er Zhuang lowered his head instinctively and hurried over, preparing to carry Chen Xuan.
"Second Uncle, there's no need. I can still walk!"
Chen Xuan quickly spoke, swaying as he barely forced himself to stand.
"Right, right!"
The middle-aged woman hurriedly spoke as well.
"Alright, then."
"Let's get back quickly. It isn't safe outside at night."
The middle-aged man looked Chen Xuan over, saw that he truly seemed fine, then nodded and called to the mother and son.
"Yes, Second Uncle!"
Chen Xuan nodded obediently, then picked up the large fish from the ground.
The group returned toward the village with their torches.
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