Harvest

The next day.

At first light, Li Yuan got out of bed.

He used the water left over from yesterday to wipe his face, then brushed his teeth with a willow twig. That was all.

"I need to hurry up and get into the mountains today. Maybe I can bring back a good haul.

If I'm lucky enough to find something valuable, I'll take it to the county seat and sell it.

Then I won't have to worry about the money for martial arts lessons."

He scooped a little rice from the nearly empty rice jar, added some leftover rabbit meat from last night, and cooked himself a bit of porridge.

As a hunter, he had to make sure he ate meat once a day. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have the strength to draw his bow.

If he had the bad luck to run into a Black Lump or a Big Worm, a ferocious beast like that could outrun him with ease.

After gathering his gear, he tucked some smoked jerky into his pocket and headed out.

"They say the early bird catches the worm. I hope Heaven really lets me get a bite today."

Li Yuan adjusted his leather hat, which the cold wind had blown crooked, and quickened his pace.

"Ugh, the market stall fee only went up recently, and yesterday, when I got back, I heard the brokers had raised their cut too!"

"Why do they keep taking more and more?"

"Ugh, I just paid my taxes, and now there's even less money left in my hands."

On the village path, several others who had risen early to hunt, just like Li Yuan, were gathered together, discussing something.

As Li Yuan passed by, a sharp-eyed, dark-skinned youth waved at him and shouted:

"A-Yuan!"

He was one of Li Yuan's childhood friends. Since he'd loved eating chicken butts ever since he was little, everyone had given him a nickname.

They called him Chicken Brother.

His face was red from the cold, and he looked tense as he repeated what he'd just been saying to Li Yuan.

"Everything's gone up?"

Li Yuan's heart tightened.

Generally speaking, when hunters sold their game or medicinal herbs, they had two options.

They could either sell through the market or trade with middlemen licensed by the government to make purchases.

The "stall fee" was what hunters paid for a spot when selling their goods at the market.

"Brokers" meant the middlemen.

By the rules, when hunters entered the city to sell at the market, a cut was taken from their earnings. Usually, it was around thirty percent.

Most people in the county seat bought their grain through the market, including some powerful families, restaurants, and martial arts schools.

Selling game at the market was probably the easiest way to find a buyer.

That stall fee was really just a kind of protection money.

Of course, they could also sell privately. They'd just have to bear the consequences themselves.

"My dad says he thinks the people in the county seat have set us up!"

"What are you panicking for? You're living a far more comfortable life than I am."

Li Yuan teased him.

There were four people in Chicken Brother's family, and he had an older brother.

His brother had found work as a groom in the county seat and had sold himself into servitude.

Though he had no control over his own life, in these times, simply being able to live a stable life was already no small thing.

He'd heard that Chicken Brother was planning to enter a martial arts school in the county seat and learn martial arts soon. His life was much better than Li Yuan's.

In Great Yan, people were divided into ranks, with three upper classes and six lower classes.

The three upper classes were the Imperial, Official, and Noble households.

The six lower classes were craftsmen, merchants, farmers, the lowborn, slaves, and laborers.

The only difference between hunters and the lowborn was that hunters had a complete household register. They were at the very bottom of the farmer class.

Once you entered the slave register, your descendants would be slaves for generations to come. Their lives and deaths wouldn't be their own to decide.

Li Yuan understood that everyone made different choices.

"My dad says a new official always starts by making a show of authority. The market manager just took office, so he's using us to make an example!

We're outside the city, and he's inside it. We can't beat him to death!" Chicken Brother cursed.

Hearing that, Li Yuan couldn't help cursing under his breath too.

"Shameless bastard. He'd better stay holed up in the county seat for the rest of his life. If he dares come to Blue Stone Village, we'll turn him into a pincushion in no time."

Behind the market, when all was said and done, stood the government and the powerful families. Even if the market took a bigger cut, they were still the ones who ultimately benefited.

"Forget it. There's nothing we can do, and we can't sell privately. The people in the city can just bring along someone who knows a bit of fighting, then deny everything and refuse to pay."

Chicken Brother shook his head and sighed.

It wasn't as if no one had ever sold goods privately. Usually, they were beaten to death or hung at the city gate to bake in the sun, where every hunter entering the city could see them.

They lost their goods, and they lost their lives.

"Still, make sure you talk things over with your dad. Above all, stay alive. As long as you're alive, anything is possible."

Li Yuan patted Chicken Brother on the shoulder.

After saying goodbye to Chicken Brother, Li Yuan let out a long sigh.

"Rice, firewood, oil, and salt all cost money. Learning martial arts costs money, and now the market's taking more too. It feels like things aren't much different from my previous life."

In his previous life, too, he'd spent his whole life struggling to get married, buy a car, and buy a house.

Chicken Brother and his cousin could rely on their parents to get into a martial arts school and learn martial arts.

Li Yuan could only rely on his own hard work.

Soon, Li Yuan reached the place he'd visited yesterday and set more traps.

Hunting animals and gathering medicinal herbs were important sources of income for hunters.

If they were lucky enough to come across a rare herb like ginseng, they could sell it for a good price.

After setting the traps, Li Yuan took out a red cord and used it to mark off the area in a circle.

The bright red color made it easy for others to spot. Its purpose was to tell other hunters there were traps here, so they wouldn't get hurt by mistake.

Once he was done, Li Yuan trudged through snow mixed with dead leaves. He tore off some strips of meat and chewed them slowly.

When he felt a lump in his throat, he bent down and scooped up a handful of snow to eat.

He had to keep his strength up at all times. That way, he could stay sharp.

Suddenly, his hand stopped. He froze in his tracks, his attention caught by a string of prints on the ground shaped like the character "个."

Li Yuan lightened his steps and followed the tracks.

Before long, he spotted a pheasant scratching through the dead leaves with its claws.

He nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and fired—all in one smooth motion.

The arrow struck the pheasant cleanly, piercing through its body.

The pheasant lay on the ground, struggling for a few moments before falling still.

"First catch of the day!"

Li Yuan's face lit up. He could sell this in the county seat too.

He tied it to his waist and kept searching for his next target.

An hour later, Li Yuan looked at the two pheasants he'd shot and smiled.

He had to admit, his luck was pretty good today.

In truth, quite a few hunter villages relied on the Five Hundred Mile Great Mountain for their livelihoods. But after generations of hunting, the animals and medicinal herbs around the mountain's edges had been nearly hunted to extinction.

There might still be some left, but most had grown clever.

There were more opportunities deep in the mountains, but the dangers multiplied as well.

Often, people only chose to venture inside and take their chances when they had nowhere else to turn.

[Skill: Archery (Minor Achievement)]

[Progress: 45/800 points]

[Effect: Within forty meters, five or six out of every ten arrows hit their mark.]

[Hint: Heaven Rewards Diligence. As long as you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.]

"Just hunting one pheasant actually gave me fifteen points of proficiency!"

Li Yuan's heart warmed. It seemed that successfully hunting an animal granted him even more proficiency.

That was far more efficient than his usual practice.