The morning mist had yet to clear, but the woods already bore the marks of woodcutters' axes, the footprints of herb gatherers, and the traces of traps set by nearby hunters.
Qin Meng followed a narrow path trampled by hunters deeper into the woods. The scent of rotting leaves mingled with earth, while insects chirped, birds called, and a stream burbled nearby.
"These senses..." Qin Meng marveled.
His former self might have been a wastrel, but the foundation he had built up in his early years remained. His hearing and eyesight were far sharper than he had expected.
He lightened his steps, nocked an arrow, and drew the bowstring, suppressing his presence until it was almost imperceptible.
After walking another twenty paces or so, the grass ahead suddenly rustled.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow shot out like lightning and plunged into the grass—
"Gak-gak—gaa!"
A shrill, bizarre cry rang out, and the grass began thrashing wildly.
A long-tailed pheasant burst out with the arrow still in it, beating its wings wildly as blood sprayed everywhere. It didn't drop at once; instead, it flapped and fled.
Qin Meng froze for a moment, then hurried after it. The pheasant struggled desperately, its strength astonishing. It ran and flew another three or four zhang before finally collapsing from exhaustion, its wings still twitching faintly.
He quickly went over and lifted it, weighing it in his hand. It must have weighed five or six jin. The arrow had sunk deep into its chest and back, and when he pulled it out, a rush of warm, bloody air rose from the wound.
At the same time, a warm current far more noticeable than he'd expected surged from his palm into his body.
A line of tiny text appeared: [Life Source +0.8%]
"Life Source?" Qin Meng's heart stirred. He checked the panel in his mind, but it still showed nothing. Yet a wisp of strange warmth had appeared inside him.
The energy was faint, but it continued to nourish his body.
His spirits lifted. He bled the pheasant, tossed it into his basket, and continued searching.
There were plenty of pheasants and hares around the edge of the woods, but they were exceptionally wary.
Qin Meng tried sneaking up on them several times, but before he could draw his bowstring all the way back, they would dart away with a sudden rustle, leaving only swaying branches behind.
The animals here seemed to have an extraordinary instinct for danger, and they moved with startling speed.
Even when he managed to line up a shot, an arrow flying through the air didn't necessarily kill its target in one hit.
One gray hare was struck in the hind leg, yet it raced off with the arrow still in it. Qin Meng chased it for dozens of steps before he had to shoot it a second time to finish it off.
The mountain forest was dense with trees and crisscrossed with vines, severely obstructing both his vision and his arrows' paths.
Sometimes he spotted his prey clearly, only to miss his chance because of a branch jutting across his line of fire. Qin Meng had to choose his position and angle more carefully.
Hunting was no easy task.
After half an hour, Qin Meng had managed to shoot only three pheasants and two hares, and had knocked down seven or eight doves with stones.
His Chain Arrow proficiency inched upward with each failure and adjustment.
Each time prey died, a wisp of warm energy drifted over and merged into his body, increasing his Life Source by anywhere from 0.1% to 0.6%. The larger and more ferocious the prey, the more Life Source it provided.
So I really can absorb the life energy that dissipates when living creatures are killed... But the beasts here are larger and exceptionally resilient.
Once Qin Meng understood, his enthusiasm for hunting surged, but he grew even more cautious.
As the sun slanted westward, he spotted a pair of pheasants foraging at the edge of a thicket. Holding his breath, he shot the male in the neck. The female let out a startled shriek, but instead of fleeing, she charged straight at Qin Meng's face!
Qin Meng dodged sharply to the side. He swept his bow across with his right hand, but missed, so he drew his blade and slashed diagonally upward in one smooth motion—
"Shhk!"
The blade sliced across the hen's belly, scattering blood and feathers. She hit the ground but kept thrashing.
Qin Meng stepped forward and precisely thrust the tip of his blade into the back of her skull. Only then did she stop moving.
A warmer current than before surged into him.
[Life Source +1.2%]
Qin Meng caught his breath and flicked the blood from his blade. Several lines of tiny text appeared before his eyes:
[Chain Arrow—Dengtang Realm (1/200)] [Martial Skill Progress: 6%] [Effect: Steady Eyes and Stable Arms (Minor)] Steady Eyes and Stable Arms: Slightly enhances eyesight and steadiness in both arms.
A surge of warmth burst from inside Qin Meng, flowing into his eyes and arms.
In an instant, his vision cleared. He could make out the path of an insect beating its wings twenty paces away. The muscles in his arms swelled slightly, becoming tighter and more supple. His arms grew stronger, and the hand gripping his bow was steady as a rock.
"Wonderful!" Qin Meng flexed his limbs, savoring the marvelous sensation of his Physique Enhancement.
He looked up at the sun slanting westward, then gazed ahead. Beyond the steep peak shaped like an eagle's beak lay the true depths of the mountains.
Not only were wolves, jackals, tigers, and leopards abundant there, but rumors also spoke of Demonic Beasts lurking in the shadows.
He wasn't prepared, and his strength was supported by nothing more than a bowl of wild vegetable gruel. It wasn't wise to press his luck.
Besides, he had promised Qiu Yue he'd leave early and return early.
Qin Meng hefted his now weighty basket, turned around, and followed his route back down the mountain.
On the way back, luck was on his side. In a secluded ravine, he found an old Glehnia Root in the sandy ground beneath a damp rock face.
The energy of heaven and earth was abundant here. Glehnia Root didn't become woody with age; instead, its medicinal potency grew stronger, making it a favored ingredient in many medicinal decoctions.
Qin Meng suppressed his excitement and carefully dug it out with his knife.
It was a root with a thick tangle of tendrils and a strong medicinal aroma. It must have been more than ten years old.
Just before leaving the edge of the woods, Qin Meng used his Chain Arrow technique to shoot two plump hares and knock down several quails too busy admiring the sunset to stay alert.
His Life Source crept upward, +0.1%, +0.12%... slowly but steadily.
A thought crossed his mind, and he brought up his character panel:
[Name: Qin Meng] [Realm: Mortal Body.] [Core Cultivation Method: None.] [Martial Skills: Eight Blade Breaking Techniques—Dengtang Realm (13/200), Chain Arrow—Dengtang Realm (18/200)]
The panel still didn't display "Life Source" or anything related to it, but Qin Meng could clearly feel the warm current growing stronger inside him. It simply hadn't reached the point of a qualitative change yet.
Besides, he hadn't encountered any big game on this trip into the mountains.
He had to hurry and find fifty taels of silver—or even more.
Qin Meng looked back at the unbroken silhouettes of the mountains and instinctively tightened his grip on his knife. Scraping together a living in the mountains was far more perilous and real than he'd imagined.
With his heavy harvest on his back, he headed straight for the Wild Market outside Luming Fort.
This market town had grown up along the official road leading to the frontier. It wasn't large, but its position at the heart of several border forts and military camps made it quite lively.
Blacksmiths, general stores, grain shops, cloth shops, taverns, and even gambling dens—small as the place was, it had everything, and all kinds of people mingled there.
Relying on his former self's hazy memories, he made his way to the back entrance of Kexianju Restaurant.
It was one of the best restaurants in town. In earlier years, his father and elder brother had often sold their game there.
After the family fell on hard times, his former self had occasionally fished up some fish and shrimp to trade there for drinking money and gambling stakes.
The one who received him was Shopkeeper Hu, a fat man. When he saw Qin Meng, surprise flickered across his face before a smile spread over it.
"Mengzi, it's been a while! Looks like you've had a good haul this time!"
"Uncle Hu, luck was on my side. Take a look." Qin Meng set down his basket. He kept aside a few of the plumpest pheasants and hares, then took out the rest.
Shopkeeper Hu counted three pheasants, three hares, and more than twenty doves and quails, then clicked his tongue.
"The mountains aren't safe, so fewer people dare go in. The price of game has gone up quite a bit, especially these little ones. City folk love them. Two or three fetch the price of one pheasant."
The payment was settled quickly. The pheasants and hares fetched anywhere from forty to seventy copper coins each, depending on their size. The doves brought an especially high price of fifteen coins apiece.
In the end, Qin Meng received six qian of silver and a little over fifty copper coins.
Qin Meng then went to Jisheng Pharmacy at the end of the street. He sold the old Glehnia Root for five taels of silver, and while he was there, bought a salve for cracked hands—Shen Qiuyue's fingers were split from doing laundry to keep the family afloat.
Now that he had money, he began stocking up on food and supplies.
At the grain shop, polished rice cost twelve coins per jin and mixed grain six. In one go, he bought twenty jin of polished rice, thirty jin of mixed grain, and five jin of coarse salt.
Qin Meng then went to the cloth shop and bought enough fabric, needles, and thread to make two outfits, as well as shoes and socks. Shen Qiuyue's clothes had patches piled on patches; it was time for a new set.
Finally, he bought oil and vinegar, a small packet of malt sugar, and a little jar of wildflower honey said to beautify the skin and preserve one's looks—all for his wife.
His basket was soon stuffed full of grain and sundries, growing heavier by the minute, but Qin Meng felt much more at ease. Once he had bought everything, he headed back. As he hurried past the gambling den in town, he didn't pause for even a moment.
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