Seeking to Survive

The six hundred and twenty-first year of the Liang Dynasty, in the bright days of spring.

Jiangnan Circuit, the outskirts of Ram City, Clear Creek Village.

Inside a dilapidated thatched hut.

Li Beichen tugged at the patched clothes on his back and leaned against the earthen wall. Through the crude window, he gazed outside, looking somewhat weak.

Fortunately, the weather had begun to warm. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take for his cold to get better?

"Get well soon..."

Li Beichen sighed softly. Ever since he'd suffered a high fever and convulsions, awakening memories of his previous life, he'd spent the past half month at home recovering.

Outside the window, a dark-skinned man with a Pig-Slaughtering Knife tucked at his waist entered Li Beichen's line of sight, carrying a string of pig offal.

Before long, he walked straight up to the dilapidated thatched hut.

Knock, knock, knock!

The expected knocking sounded.

"Come in, Brother Wang Er! The door's not latched!"

With a creak, the butcher pushed open the wooden door and walked in.

Li Beichen picked up the kettle, found a reasonably intact pottery bowl, poured in some hot water, and handed it over.

"Brother Wang Er, I don't have anything at home to treat you to. Have a cup of hot water... I'll pay back the three silver coins I owe you as soon as I'm feeling better."

"No, don't rush. Get your strength back first. I've got two pounds of pig offal here. It's not the best meat, but at least it's meat. Have some to build yourself up, Brother Li."

The butcher, who looked rather fierce, broke into a simple, honest smile and set the pig offal on the table.

"No need, Brother Wang Er!"

But the butcher didn't give Li Beichen a chance to refuse. He didn't even drink the water. In three quick strides, he was out the door, pulling it shut behind him before heading straight off.

"Thank you..."

Li Beichen murmured his gratitude to the departing butcher.

In this life, he was from Bing Province. When disaster struck the province last year, his entire family had fled famine to Jiangnan. His parents had given the last bit of food they had to him, the youngest, before collapsing on the road.

In the end, Li Beichen made his way to Ram City. Passing a haystack in the wilderness, he saw a wolf confronting the butcher, Wang the Second, while another wolf tried to circle around and attack him from behind. Li Beichen shouted a warning, and the two wolves only retreated when they saw someone else coming.

Li Beichen had saved Wang the Second, and Wang the Second had saved him in turn. Seeing that he'd fled famine, Wang the Second had brought him home and treated him warmly. He'd also found him this thatched hut, giving him a roof over his head and helping him survive the winter.

Unexpectedly, a few days ago, seeing the snow melting in the mountains, Li Beichen had gone hunting there and caught a chill. His fever wouldn't come down. Fortunately, the butcher had once again fetched a doctor and gotten medicine for him, and only then had he slowly started to recover.

Great kindness needed no words.

Li Beichen kept Brother Wang Er's kindness in his heart. Then he picked up the pig offal from the table, gave it a quick wash, found a pottery basin, and put the offal in it with water.

He tossed in a handful of coarse salt, lit a fire, and set it to boil.

Half an hour later, a rich meaty aroma rose from the pottery basin, making Li Beichen's mouth water. He hadn't smelled meat in so long.

He took out his chopsticks and poked the chunks of meat. They were cooked.

Ignoring the heat, he quickly fished them out, ran them through cold water to cool them, and immediately began to feast.

"Now that's delicious!"

A simple meal of meat filled Li Beichen with warmth and satisfaction.

In his previous life, organs boiled in plain water like this would have been too stinky to swallow. But to Li Beichen now, they were a delicacy.

He ate half the two pounds of offal and drank quite a bit of the broth as well.

The rare sensation of being full warmed him from head to toe, and even his cold seemed to improve considerably.

He added some more water to the pottery basin and let it simmer over a low fire.

"The meat left over will be enough for tomorrow's meals..."

But Li Beichen knew it would only last him through tomorrow.

The rice jar and oil jar at home were completely empty. There wasn't even a mouse.

He had to take advantage of these two days with food to figure out how he'd survive afterward.

Born into troubled times, surviving was hard. Fortunately, Li Beichen had a skill to rely on.

Now that he'd eaten his fill and regained some strength, he picked up the heavy, ragged cloth sack by his bed and headed toward Small Gravel Mountain behind the village.

It was the fourth month of spring. All things were coming back to life, and wild animals were becoming more active in the mountains.

Small Gravel Mountain wasn't large. It had no big beasts like tigers, leopards, or black bears, but jackals and wolves prowled there. The jackals and wolves that had attacked Wang the Second before had come from Small Gravel Mountain.

At the same time, there were plenty of herbivorous game animals such as pheasants and rabbits. It was now almost dusk, the time when they were most active.

These small game animals were Li Beichen's targets.

Following the winding mountain path, Li Beichen entered the outer reaches of Small Gravel Mountain. He clutched his ragged cloth sack and carefully observed his surroundings.

Pheasants and rabbits liked to move about in thickets. Pheasants in particular often left feathers in the bushes. Spotting such traces could lead him to their prey.

Li Beichen moved quietly, searching along the edge of the woods.

The undergrowth was thick here, a place where pheasants and rabbits appeared, but it wasn't so deep in the forest that it would put him in greater danger.

Before long, Li Beichen's eyes lit up. In a thicket ten-odd meters away, a grayish-brown hen pheasant was pecking at the ground.

Though hen pheasants weren't as brightly feathered as roosters, they were heavier. And since April was the laying season, there might be a pleasant surprise wherever they appeared.

Li Beichen crept toward the hen pheasant. At the same time, his right hand pulled a goose-egg-sized pebble from the cloth sack.

After three steps, the hen pheasant was already within ten meters.

Whoosh! Thud!

Li Beichen gripped the stone between his thumb, middle finger, and index finger. Then, with a sudden flick of his wrist and snap of his fingers, he sent it flying through the air. It struck the hen pheasant directly in the neck. The bird barely had time to give a muffled cry before its head lolled and it fell to the ground, motionless!

"I hit it!"

Li Beichen hurried forward excitedly and picked up the pheasant. He weighed it in his hand; it was about two or three pounds.

Suddenly, Li Beichen froze.

Several lines of small text had appeared before his eyes.

[Skill: Locust Stone (First Glimpse of the Way)]

[Progress: (181/200)]

[Traits: Slightly increases wrist strength; against fixed targets within ten paces, nine hits out of ten; against moving targets, one or two hits out of ten]

Holy crap, I've got a cheat?!

Li Beichen's heart leaped with excitement.

At first, when he saw how difficult his situation was, he'd sometimes bitterly wondered why he'd awakened memories of his previous life. Wouldn't it have been better to live an ignorant life to the end?

But now that he had a cheat, things were different.

Still, looking at those lines of text, Li Beichen hadn't expected that the skill he'd practiced since childhood—throwing stones—would only count as a first glimpse of the way on the panel.

After all, back in Bing Province, he'd specifically studied for half a year under an expert in Locust Stone.

Li Beichen took a moment to calm himself and think clearly. He soon figured out roughly what the system did.

In simple terms, it was about building proficiency. As long as he kept working hard, he could keep improving!

Simple, practical, and powerful!