Harvest

The next day.

At the first glimmer of dawn, Li Yuan rose from his bed.

He wiped his face with the remaining water from yesterday, scrubbed his teeth with a willow twig, and that was that.

"I need to hurry up the mountain today and bag more game.

If I'm lucky enough to catch something big, I can take it to the county seat to sell.

Then I won't have to worry about the money for the Martial Arts Hall."

He scooped a bit of rice from the nearly empty jar, added the leftover rabbit meat from last night, and boiled a pot of porridge.

As a hunter, he had to maintain a meat intake of at least one meal a day, otherwise, he wouldn't even have the strength to draw his bow.

If he were unlucky enough to run into a Black Lump or a Big Worm, he wouldn't even be able to outrun them.

After packing his gear and stuffing some smoked jerky into his pocket, he headed out.

"They say the early bird gets the worm; I hope the heavens truly let me have a bite today."

Li Yuan adjusted his fur cap, which had been tilted by the cold wind, and quickened his pace.

"Sigh, the 'ground rent' just went up recently, and I heard yesterday that the 'middleman's' cut has increased too!"

"Why is it that we have to pay more and more?"

"Sigh, after paying the taxes, there's even less money left in our pockets now."

On the village path outside, several other hunters who had risen as early as 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!"

This person was one of Li Yuan's childhood playmates. Because he had loved eating chicken rears since he was a child, everyone gave him a nickname.

They called him "Chicken Brother."

His expression was tense, his face flushed red from the cold, as he relayed what had just been said to Li Yuan.

"Everything went up?"

Li Yuan's heart tightened.

Generally speaking, when hunters sold game or other medicinal herbs, they usually had two choices.

Either sell through the market or trade with middlemen who held official government procurement licenses.

"Ground rent" was the stall fee hunters paid when selling at the market.

"Middleman" referred to those intermediaries.

According to the rules, when hunters entered the city to sell in the market, they were taxed, usually taking about thirty percent.

Most people in the county seat obtained their food through the market, such as noble families, restaurants, and the Martial Arts Hall.

Selling game at the market was arguably the easiest way to offload it.

This stall fee was, in reality, a form of protection money.

Of course, you could try to sell privately, but you would have to bear all the consequences yourself.

"My old man says he feels like the people in the county seat are rigging the game!"

"What are you panicking for? Your life is much more comfortable than mine."

Li Yuan teased.

Chicken Brother's family had four people, including an older brother.

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

Although his life was no longer his own, in this world, being able to live a stable life was already extremely difficult.

He had heard that Chicken Brother was preparing to enter the county Martial Arts Hall to study martial arts in the coming days; his life was much better than Li Yuan's.

In the current Great Yan, people were divided into different ranks.

The upper three registers: Imperial, Official, and Noble.

The lower six households: Artisan, Merchant, Farmer, Base, Slave, and Servant.

The only difference between a hunter and a base person was that a hunter had a complete household registration, placing them at the very bottom of the farmer class.

Once one entered the slave register, their descendants would be slaves for generations, their lives no longer their own.

Li Yuan also understood that everyone made different choices.

"My old man says a new official brings a new broom; the market manager is newly appointed and is using us to establish his authority!

We're outside the city and he's inside; I'd love to see him try to touch us!" Chicken Brother cursed.

Hearing this, Li Yuan couldn't help but curse under his breath as well.

"How shameless. If he has the guts, he should stay in the county seat forever. If he dares to come to Blue Stone Village, I'll turn him into a sieve with my arrows in a heartbeat."

The backing of this market is, to put it plainly, supported by the government and the noble families; even if the commission is raised, they are the ones who ultimately benefit.

"Forget it, there's no way around it. We can't sell privately either; any random person in the city who knows a bit of martial arts could just flip the table and refuse to pay."

Chicken Brother shook his head and sighed.

Private trading isn't something no one has tried, but the usual outcome is either being beaten to death or hung at the city gate to be scorched by the sun, serving as a lesson for every hunter entering the city to see clearly.

The goods are gone, and so is the life.

"You'd better talk to your father properly. Above all else, prioritize staying alive. As long as you're alive, anything is possible."

Li Yuan patted Chicken Brother on the shoulder.

After bidding farewell to Chicken Brother, Li Yuan let out a long sigh.

"Firewood, rice, oil, and salt cost money; learning martial arts costs money; and now the commission is going up too. It feels no different from my past life."

In his past life, he also spent his whole life struggling to get married, buy a car, and buy a house.

Chicken Brother and his cousin could at least rely on their parents to get into a Martial Arts Hall to learn martial arts.

But Li Yuan could only rely on his own efforts.

Soon, Li Yuan arrived at the same spot as yesterday and began setting his traps as usual.

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

If one were lucky enough to stumble upon rare herbs like ginseng, they could also fetch a good price.

After setting the traps, Li Yuan took out a red rope and circled the area as if drawing a ring.

The red color was conspicuous, making it easy for others to see; the purpose was to tell other hunters that there were traps here and to be careful not to trigger them by mistake.

Once finished, Li Yuan stepped through the snow mixed with withered leaves, tore off a piece of dried meat, and chewed it slowly.

Whenever he felt choked, he would bend down to scoop up a handful of snow from the ground to eat.

He had to maintain his physical strength at all times so that his focus could remain sharp.

Suddenly, his hand paused, and he stopped in his tracks abruptly; a trail of "ge"-shaped footprints on the ground caught Li Yuan's attention.

Li Yuan lightened his footsteps and followed the tracks.

Before long, a wild pheasant was seen scratching at the withered leaves with its claws.

Drawing an arrow, nocking it, pulling the bow, and releasing—it was all done in one fluid motion.

The arrow struck the pheasant with precision, piercing through its body.

The pheasant struggled on the ground for a few moments before losing all signs of life.

"A start, a good start."

Li Yuan's face lit up with joy; this could definitely be sold once taken to the county town.

Tying it to his waist, Li Yuan continued to search for his next target.

An hour later, Li Yuan looked at the two wild pheasants he had caught and revealed a faint smile.

He had to admit that his luck today was quite good.

In fact, there were many hunter villages that relied on this Five Hundred Mile Great Mountain for a living, but after dozens of generations of inheritance, both the animals and medicinal herbs on the outskirts of the mountain had been hunted to near extinction.

Perhaps some remained, but most had become much smarter.

There were more opportunities deep in the mountains, but the danger level increased exponentially.

Most of the time, people only chose to venture in to try their luck when they were truly desperate.

[Skill: Archery (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: 45/800 points]
[Effect: Within forty meters, five or six out of ten arrows fired will hit the target.]
[Note: Heaven Rewards Diligence; as long as you put in the effort, there will be a return.]

"Hunting a single wild pheasant actually gave me fifteen points of proficiency!"

Li Yuan felt a surge of heat in his heart; it seemed that successfully hunting an animal granted significantly more proficiency.

This was far more efficient than the daily grind of his usual practice.