"Qiu Yue..." Qin Meng's eyes widened, and for some reason his mouth went dry.
Shen Qiuyue lowered her head, not daring to look at Qin Meng. Her voice trembled like a thread in the wind. "Mengzi, I... I'm scared."
Scared of what? Scared he still wouldn't pay off the debt?
Scared of losing this home just as things were looking up? Scared that the life before her was only a bubble, ready to burst?
Qin Meng understood at once.
What she hadn't said was the deeper anxiety beneath it, and the desperate faith she had placed in him.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." Qin Meng managed a few words.
Without hesitation, the woman went to the bed and lay down beside him, pressing close as her icy arm gently circled his waist. Her soft body nestled against him, carrying the clean scent of soapwort and the warm fragrance of her skin.
Qin Meng's breath caught.
He wasn't the original body's clueless lout. He had just swallowed the snake's gall and hot blood, potent tonics that sent his blood surging. Now, with a warm, fragrant softness in his arms, a rush of heat shot straight to his lower belly.
His palm caressed her smooth, cool back, finding it silky and soft to the touch. With a little pressure, he drew her trembling body tightly into his embrace. Lowering his head, he kissed her lips, chilled slightly by nervousness.
Shen Qiuyue stiffened all over, then melted against him. A muffled whimper escaped her, half sob, half sigh, and he swallowed it whole.
She closed her eyes, her burning cheeks buried in the hollow of his neck, and tightened her arms around him.
Qin Meng felt the faint tremor of her body and her quickening heartbeat. He rolled over, pinning her beneath him, and slipped a finger beneath the ties of her rose-red bodice.
Silk slid away, and moonlight spilled at once across her gleaming white skin and alluring curves.
Overcome with shyness, the woman turned her face aside, her lashes fluttering like butterfly wings. Yet obediently, eagerly, she pressed herself closer to him, as though she wanted to meld into his body.
Clothes rustled to the floor.
The moonlight crept across the room, illuminating the intertwined figures writhing on the earthen bed—and the woman biting her hand, unable to stifle her broken little moans.
Qin Meng's assault came like a surging tide. Her fingers dug into the firm muscles of his back without her realizing it, leaving several faint crescent-shaped marks.
The night was still young.
Outside, the moonlight lay tenderly over the quiet, peaceful outline of the courtyard, as if it had briefly shut out the storm and looming gloom beyond.
The next day, before dawn had fully broken, Qin Meng woke.
Though they had carried on until the third watch, he felt energized now, not the least bit tired. His blood and qi brimmed and surged within him, as if he had strength to spare.
His physique had been doubly strengthened by the fusion talent and the improvement of his Martial Skill.
He clenched his fist. His knuckles cracked softly, and he estimated that the strength in one arm was already no less than a thousand catties.
Beside him, Shen Qiuyue shifted beneath the thin quilt, making a soft rustling sound.
She turned onto her side and quietly studied the outline of the man's profile in the faint light.
"Awake?" Qin Meng turned and asked with a smile.
"Mm." Shen Qiuyue answered softly. A blush rose across her pretty face as memories of the night before flooded back. She turned away in embarrassment and burrowed deeper beneath the quilt.
They cuddled for a little while longer before Qin Meng finally got out of bed.
As he washed up, he studied himself in the basin of water. He had a fine-looking face.
He was eighteen, with regular features and a tall, robust build. His face was sharply defined, his eyes bright and alert—a far cry from the listless, wretched man he had been before.
He rinsed the rice and set it to simmer, then went into the courtyard to practice his saber...
As the sky gradually brightened, the fragrance of porridge and griddle cakes drifted out. Shen Qiuyue called from the kitchen.
"Mengzi, breakfast is ready."
Breakfast was coarse rice porridge and griddle cakes, with some of the meat they had set aside the night before.
After eating, Qin Meng carefully checked his saber and bow, then pushed open the door and stepped outside. He waved to the woman watching from beside the entrance, then turned and disappeared into the morning mist.
Walking along the dirt road inside the fort, he keenly sensed that someone seemed to be watching him.
Qin Meng kept a calm expression and pretended not to notice as he strode toward the edge of the fort. From the corner of his eye, he swept a glance over the houses behind him—someone was following.
He didn't turn around and alert them. Instead, he quickened his pace and headed straight for Luming Mountain.
The moment he entered the woods, Qin Meng sensed something amiss.
An unusual restlessness filled the air, and there were far more traces of wild beasts than usual.
He hadn't walked a few dozen steps before he shot several mountain chickens.
[Life Source +0.5%...]
He tossed the game into his basket and warily scanned his surroundings.
The woods were unusually quiet, and that feeling of being watched clung to him like a shadow.
"They really followed me?" Qin Meng's eyes turned cold. Without letting anything show, he continued searching the woods.
When he spotted a hare, he drew his bow; when he glimpsed a pheasant, he nocked an arrow. Arrows hissed through the air again and again, and his basket gradually filled with game.
His [Chain Arrow—Mastery] proficiency also continued to rise steadily.
Yet that sense of being watched would occasionally return.
His pursuer was clearly an experienced tracker. Several times, Qin Meng had abruptly changed direction while chasing game, but he hadn't spotted a trace. Still, his instincts told him that his tail was still there.
"It has to be Qin Lai!" Qin Meng immediately thought of that piece of dog shit. After watching him come home with a good haul two days in a row, Qin Lai had probably grown impatient.
With someone on his tail, he abandoned his plan to venture deeper into the woods today.
There was clearly more game in the woods, and luck seemed to be on his side.
In the course of the morning, he hunted more than ten mountain chickens and hares, along with a fat muntjac and over twenty turtle doves and quail.
After eating some griddle cakes and resting, Qin Meng chased after game, deliberately heading into the dense woods. He finally shook his tail in the rugged terrain around Eagle Beak Peak, then spotted a patch of fresh earth torn up by wild boars.
In that area, ravaged by the boars, many Polygonatum tubers had been left exposed, uneaten.
This was valuable medicinal material! Qin Meng suppressed his excitement and carefully searched, digging them up.
Most of the older, finest tubers had been chewed up, but he still found quite a haul. They were mostly five to seven years old, still top-grade goods.
"Even so, they ought to fetch a dozen or so taels of silver."
He weighed his heavy basket in his hand, a smile appearing on his face. Carrying the Polygonatum and his game, he headed down the mountain and made his way to the market town.
He sold the Polygonatum at Jisheng Pharmacy for eighteen taels of silver in all. Then he went to Kexianju Restaurant to sell the game, earning a little over three taels.
As he emerged from the restaurant's back alley, that feeling of being watched returned.
Using the crowd on the street for cover, Qin Meng abruptly turned into a quiet side alley.
Before long, two figures passed the alley entrance one after another. They looked casual, but their eyes kept sweeping over the crowd as if they were searching for someone.
After muttering a few curses, they split up and continued searching nearby.
Qin Meng recognized them at a glance. Both were Qin Lai's lackeys.
So that scoundrel really was up to something behind the scenes.
"If I don't get rid of this pest, the trouble will never end." Murderous intent surged in Qin Meng's heart.
With his current strength, getting rid of Qin Lai wouldn't be difficult. But Qin Lai had plenty of lackeys around him, and he also had a troublesome older brother.
"I need to get stronger faster." Qin Meng's thoughts raced as he weighed the difference between them. He quietly slipped out through the other end of the alley and took a roundabout route back to Luming Fort.
When he got home, he poured the rice and grain he had bought into the jar as usual, then handed the cloth, cotton, and remaining silver over to Shen Qiuyue for safekeeping.
"Goodness, this much?" Shen Qiuyue exclaimed in surprise as she hefted the heavy purse.
"Sure is. I found a bit of a windfall today..." As he maintained his bow, Qin Meng briefly told her about hunting in the mountains and finding Polygonatum.
"That's wonderful! With what we've already saved at home, we're only a few taels short." Shen Qiuyue's face bloomed with delight as she counted on her fingers.
"Mengzi, even if we don't find much over the next two days, selling that snake skin and those snake bones will be enough to make up fifty taels of silver."
Qin Meng watched the woman's happy expression and smiled without a word. He said nothing about being followed or his suspicions; he didn't want his wife worrying over it.
He had already guessed what the trackers intended. They had seen how much he'd brought back lately and were getting anxious, afraid their plan would fall through. They were bound to make a move.
And the "safest" way, naturally, was to make sure he "accidentally" died in the mountains.
You're thinking that way. Why wouldn't I be? Qin Meng sneered inwardly.
He chatted with Shen Qiuyue, but in his heart he was working out how to root out the problem once and for all.
Today, Qin Meng returned early.
Just after the hour of the goat, Shen Qiuyue was already busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.
Qin Meng, meanwhile, went into the courtyard as usual and continued practicing the Eight Blade Breaking Techniques.
He could improve his archery by hunting in the woods. For now, the most important thing was to raise his saber technique's proficiency as quickly as possible, earn a greater boost, and increase his strength.
Dinner was stewed chicken, rabbit in soy sauce, Snake Meat Soup, and all the rice they could eat.
The aroma of meat drifting out of the little courtyard made the neighbors keep glancing over and sighing with envy.
After dinner, Qin Meng helped clear away the dishes, then taught Shen Qiuyue a few stretches to loosen her muscles and bones. He told her to practice them regularly to build up her strength and health.
He picked up his saber again and continued his relentless practice in the courtyard.
Night deepened, and moonlight spilled down.
Qin Meng swung his saber without tiring, sweat soaking through his clothes. Two or three hours later, he lowered the blade and stood still, letting out a long breath of stale air as he checked his panel:
[Eight Blade Breaking Techniques—Mastery (429/500)]
[Chain Arrow—Mastery (286/500)]
"At this rate, I should be able to advance my saber and archery skills again tomorrow or the day after."
He nodded with satisfaction. Steadily increasing his strength was what gave him the confidence to face any crisis.
When he returned to the room, Shen Qiuyue brought him a bowl of warm chicken soup. Qin Meng took it and drank it down. In the lamplight, the woman's face glowed and her eyes sparkled, making her even more charming.
His heart warmed. He scooped up the startled woman in his arms and carried her toward the inner room.
The red curtains hung warm, and the quilt rolled in crimson waves.
Passion blossomed in the room, while outside, the moon hid shyly behind the clouds.
Inside the Qin family's stately residence in Luming Fort.
After hearing Song Zhong's report, the flesh on Qin Lai's face twitched, and he cried out in shock.
"What did you say? That Qin Meng has brought back a huge haul three days in a row?"
With his hands behind his back, he paced anxiously across the hall, a murderous glint flickering in his eyes.
"He woke up and suddenly got capable. There's something strange about him... We can't wait any longer."
Qin Lai stopped and stared at Song Zhong, his voice low and sullen.
"Skinny Monkey, tomorrow, when he goes up the mountain again, take some men and find somewhere secluded... Make sure he never leaves those mountains."
"Yes, Brother Lai!" Song Zhong licked his lips, a cruel gleam flashing in his eyes.
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