Equipment in Hand

In the jungle.

Chen Xuan lay prone, his bow and arrow aimed at a huge black shape ahead that was rooting through the ground. It was a wild boar.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow tore through the air, crossing dozens of paces in an instant before plunging into the wild boar's eye.

"Awoo!"

A miserable howl echoed through the jungle.

Chen Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest. He quickly drew his bow and nocked another arrow.

In an instant, two more arrows shot through the air.

The two arrows flew straight into the wild boar's gaping mouth, piercing through its head.

Its screams came to an abrupt halt as its massive body crashed to the ground.

"Huff!"

Chen Xuan slowly let out a breath, then could not help looking at the longbow in his hand and the arrows he had nocked. He was extremely satisfied.

Seven days earlier, after he had killed his third wild boar, Chen San Ye had directly given him an Iron Draw Bow from his home. Compared with the crude bow and arrows Chen Xuan had made himself, even compared with the composite bow he had later acquired, this Iron Draw Bow was undoubtedly far more lethal. Even with his body having completed skin tempering, drawing it took a little effort.

Its killing power was even more terrifying. Coupled with iron arrowheads, it could easily pierce through a wild boar's tough hide from three or four hundred paces away.

This had greatly reduced the difficulty of hunting Wild Boars.

Originally, the system had needed quite some time to provide enough opportunities for a successful hunt. Now, he could easily kill a wild boar every day.

If not for the fact that it would be too shocking, and for the uneasy feeling the jungle always gave him, which kept him from acting too recklessly, he could have killed twenty or thirty Wild Boars in this month alone.

After all, in this primitive jungle, Wild Boars had very few natural predators and were not scarce. Let alone twenty or thirty—there were probably hundreds of them in these woods.

Shaking his head, Chen Xuan's thoughts turned as he glanced at his Conceptual Ability.

He no longer hesitated. He quickly tied the wild boar to his cart, then headed down the mountain according to the system's prompt.

An hour later.

He arrived at the foot of the mountain, once again drawing the attention of the villagers.

"Er Gou, you're amazing!"

"Yeah, Er Gou has already killed his seventh wild boar, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, how much silver has Er Gou exchanged by now?"

"Let me calculate. Five taels the first time, four the second, four taels and five mace the third, six the fourth, three the fifth, five the sixth—twenty-seven taels and five mace!"

"Hiss, twenty-seven taels!"

"Th-this!"

The villagers discussed among themselves, and when someone calculated the silver Chen Xuan had exchanged with Chen San Ye, they all sucked in cold breaths.

Twenty-seven taels and five mace was an astronomical sum for ninety-nine percent of Small River Village's residents.

Many villagers had never even seen that much money.

This caused quite a few villagers' eyes to gleam as they looked toward the back mountain, their gazes carrying a hint of fervor.

But Chen Xuan clearly did not care about any of this.

Wealth moved people's hearts. Chen Xuan could figure out with his toes that Chen San Ye had given him all that silver to encourage the villagers to go up the mountain and hunt.

So that they could obtain more fierce beasts.

But the fierce beasts in the mountains were not so easy to hunt.

To put it bluntly, even Chen Xuan himself would likely go up the mountain never to return if he tried hunting without using the Conceptual Ability, given his current strength.

He was not trying to frighten people with empty words.

This was the feeling he had gained after surviving hunt after hunt with the system's help.

There was absolutely no exaggeration in it.

The dangers of the jungle were even more terrifying than anyone imagined. It was not just monsters like that Giant Python; Chen Xuan even suspected that the strange thing in the river might also exist in the mountains.

Thinking of that strange thing in the river, even with his skin tempering complete, Chen Xuan could not help shuddering as an icy chill seeped into his bones.

But as he looked at those villagers with their shining eyes, Chen Xuan had no intention of speaking up.

Some things were not necessarily good to say aloud.

Good words could not persuade a ghost bent on dying.

If he told them the mountains were dangerous and urged them not to go, the villagers might instead think he simply did not want them competing for his Wild Boars. They might even resent him for it.

They were all adults. They needed to pay the price for their own choices.

As his thoughts turned, Chen Xuan dragged the wild boar toward Chen San Ye's doorstep.

As always, Chen San Ye appeared at the door with a smile. His eyes lit up even more when he saw this wild boar, which was clearly much larger than the previous ones.

"Er Gou, hahaha, you really are impressive. This wild boar must weigh over four hundred jin."

"How about ten taels?"

Chen San Ye spoke and waved his hand. A servant immediately stepped forward with a tray, upon which sat a small silver ingot.

"Thank you, Third Master!"

Seeing the silver ingot, Chen Xuan could not help smiling as well.

This wild boar was indeed larger than the previous ones, but he had not expected Chen San Ye to offer a ten-tael silver ingot.

"No need to be polite. I, Third Master, like capable people!"

"By the way, Er Gou, with your skills, you should be able to hunt Tiger and Leopard. If you can bring one back, Third Master can give you this much!"

Chen San Ye said with a chuckle, raising five fingers on his right hand.

Seeing Chen San Ye's five fingers, Chen Xuan's brows twitched.

Five fingers probably meant fifty taels.

That was undoubtedly an enormous fortune. With that sum, it would basically be enough for his whole family to settle down in Green Mountain City.

But after that brief stir in his heart, Chen Xuan still shook his head.

"Hahaha, Third Master, you jest. Tiger and Leopard are not something a youngster like me can hunt."

He spoke with a sigh.

Tiger and Leopard, especially those of this world, were simply far too dangerous. Even with the Conceptual Ability, it was the same.

"Hahaha, Er Gou, you underestimate yourself too much!"

"Er He, bring out that treasure from my room!"

Chen San Ye smiled and shook his head, then called to the servant beside him.

"Yes!"

The servant quickly answered and headed into the courtyard.

Chen Xuan was somewhat puzzled, but he did not choose to leave.

A moment later, the servant named Er He came over carrying a wooden box.

The wooden box was very long, more than two meters in length and fifty or sixty centimeters wide.

Chen San Ye took it and handed it directly to Chen Xuan.

"What is this?"

Chen Xuan hesitated, but still instinctively accepted the wooden box.

The wooden box felt rather heavy in his hands.

His gaze could not help shifting to Chen San Ye. Chen Xuan's face was filled with confusion, unable to understand why Chen San Ye was giving him this wooden box.