Li Zhi

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Xiao Yuan, are you home?"

The voice interrupted Li Yuan's thoughts.

He got to his feet and said,

"Someone's here. I'm coming."

When he opened the door, a figure stood in the bitter wind.

"Uncle, what brings you here?"

This was Li Yuan's uncle, Li Zhi, the only blood relative he had left in the village.

Li Zhi handed Li Yuan the arrows and smoked jerky he was carrying. "I made a few extra arrows while I was working on them these past few days. I was lucky enough to catch a little more game than usual, so there was some jerky left over. I brought it for you. Winter's hard on everyone, so make it last."

"Uncle, this..."

Li Yuan didn't know what to say. An arrow wasn't cheap to make.

Where they lived, the most expensive part of a store-bought arrow was its head—the arrowhead.

In their village, arrowheads were usually made from animal bones, antlers, or hard stones.

That cost next to nothing, and if one broke, there was no great loss to mourn.

Making a bow or an arrow both took time.

If there was a woman in the household, she could lend a hand.

But in a one-person household like Li Yuan's, sometimes he had to spend the whole day on it.

If he wanted better arrowheads or shafts, he had to gather the materials himself and have a blacksmith in the county town make them to order.

An iron arrow typically sold for several dozen copper coins.

To put that in perspective, day laborers in the county town earned only about forty coins a day.

"Why are you acting like a stranger with me? We're family. Enough talk—take it!"

Li Zhi firmly pressed the things into Li Yuan's hands. He said nothing more, just shook the snow from his hemp-padded coat and turned to leave.

"Uncle, I'll walk you home."

Seeing that, Li Yuan didn't refuse too much. Fawning and coyness weren't his style.

Besides, he really did need these things right now.

When you took someone's gifts, you owed them. When you ate someone's food, you kept your mouth shut.

He would remember those who treated him well.

And those who treated him badly, he'd write down in his little book.

Li Zhi's house wasn't far from Li Yuan's. They passed a few houses and went down a long slope before they arrived.

Li Zhi had a son and a daughter: Li Yuan's cousin Li Wen and younger cousin Li Cuihua. With Aunt Han, there were four mouths to feed in the household.

Li Yuan greeted Aunt Han at his uncle's house, sat for a while, then left.

Aunt Han had a mole at the corner of her mouth. A headscarf covered her hair, and she wore a coarse-cloth skirt and jacket.

Li Wen and Li Cuihua weren't home.

As soon as Li Yuan left, Aunt Han's expression darkened.

She looked at Li Zhi, who was sitting by the table, about to light his pipe.

"Tell me, do you even know how much a pheasant sells for? You just gave one to Xiao Yuan for nothing?

"You keep taking things over to him every so often. Are we still supposed to save up for A-Wen's martial arts training?"

Aunt Han's tone was displeased.

In these hard times, simply keeping food on the table was no easy feat.

She didn't object to Li Zhi helping Li Yuan, but only if they could afford it.

Their two children still had no prospects. Even if they couldn't learn martial arts and make something of themselves, they could at least learn a trade and earn their keep.

That was better than staying here as hunters.

But learning a trade meant paying an apprenticeship fee.

And money was needed for all of it!

Li Zhi had heard these same words countless times. He fell silent for a while, then finally said,

"If I hadn't insisted on chasing that beast back then, A-Qing wouldn't have died...

"Maybe Li Yuan's mother wouldn't have followed him, either. It was all my fault. I owe him."

A-Qing was Li Yuan's father, Li Qing.

For more than two years now, Li Zhi had carried a deep sense of guilt toward Li Yuan.

"Enough. You can help him for a while, but can you really help him his whole life?

"You'd be better off saving the money first and sending A-Wen to learn martial arts. Once A-Wen makes something of himself, he can give Li Yuan a hand. Can't you tell which matters more? Try looking further ahead for once," Aunt Han complained.

"Enough. I know what I'm doing." Li Zhi waved a hand.

When Li Yuan got home, he took down his bow, grabbed some wooden arrows he'd prepared earlier, and slung them over his shoulder.

Then he went to practice archery in the woods behind the house.

This was where Li Yuan usually practiced.

The wooden arrows were specifically for training. Even their arrowheads were made from hard woods such as jujube and hawthorn.

After all, arrows were consumables. No matter how good an arrow was, it could easily break if it struck something hard.

If a hunter practiced with his hunting arrows, his whole family would be drinking the northwest wind within days.

Li Yuan held the bow in his left hand, keeping it level with his chest.

With the index and middle fingers of his right hand, he gripped the arrow's nock and deftly set it against the bowstring. Then he drew the string back with those two fingers and his ring finger, pulling until his index finger and the base of his thumb were near his jaw.

He didn't aim at the wooden target in the distance. Instead, he lined up a leaf on a tree even farther away.

The leaf was small, making it a good target for honing his precision.

He had already reached minor mastery in Archery, so he might not need to worry much about his hit rate. But without precision, he might fail to kill his prey in one shot and let it escape. That would be a terrible waste.

Besides, a cold wind was blowing just then, giving him a chance to practice shooting in crosswinds.

After all, the wind in the mountains changed direction often, and prey didn't only come out when the air was still.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew, and the bowstring quivered.

A hit!

Li Yuan was delighted. He fired several more arrows in succession, aiming at the nearby leaves.

He kept practicing, and before he knew it, dusk had fallen.

Back inside, Li Yuan rubbed his slightly sore arm. At a thought, the panel appeared before him:

[Skill: Archery (Minor Mastery)]

[Progress: 15/800 points]

[Effect: Of every ten arrows fired, five or six will hit.]

[Prompt: Heaven Rewards Diligence. As long as you put in the effort, you will reap the reward.]

Bang! Bang! Bang!

This time, the knocking was harder than before, shaking wood chips loose from the door.

Who was it now?

Li Yuan frowned and opened the door.

The visitor was Chen Qing, the village chief's younger son. He had a fleshy face and two narrow, squinting eyes.

He didn't bother with pleasantries. Looking at Li Yuan, he said with a grin, "Well, Li Yuan? Have you thought about the job I told you about last time?"

Li Yuan searched his memory, then suddenly remembered.

A month ago, Chen Qing had told him about a job. A wealthy family in Wuxi County had a young master who was especially fond of pretty boys who were also somewhat sturdy.

The price he offered was extremely high. Supposedly, one person could earn as much as twenty taels of silver.

The condition was to keep him company for a month.

Li Yuan had turned him down outright at the time, but Chen Qing still hadn't given up.

"Didn't I already say I wasn't going? If you're so keen on asking, why don't you go yourself?"

With that, Li Yuan couldn't be bothered to deal with Chen Qing's dark expression. He shut the door.

Pah!

Chen Qing spat on the ground. You think I don't want to? That depends on whether the man wants me!

If he doesn't, then all I can do is act as a middleman and pocket a little referral fee.

Sitting on his bed, Li Yuan still couldn't help cursing inwardly:

You damn idiot. I've already transmigrated, and people from Jin City are still chasing me down!

A man may be killed, but his ass must never be violated.

Li Yuan flew into a rage—and then just got angry.