Sharp Eyes

Lin Xuan looked around.

He saw a youth in a new battle jacket standing not far away, a large bow in his hand and a smug expression on his face.

Two saber-bearing youths stood beside him, chiming in with praise.

"Young Master Qin is incredible! A prey that so many arrows failed to hit was taken down by Young Master Qin with a single shot!"

"Exactly! Young Master Qin's archery is simply miraculous. Hitting it with one arrow from so far away—if it were me, I wouldn't even dare dream of it."

Listening to their flattery, the youth surnamed Qin smiled and replied with feigned modesty, "Nothing to it. Practice makes perfect."

Young Master Qin was named Qin Sheng. He was quite renowned within the Thousand-Household Office, the second son of Qin Lie, a Hundred-Household Commander in the Garrison. Gifted in martial arts, he had tempered his body to the peak of Bone Binding in just over two years, then pushed forward in one burst and broke through to the Breath-Connecting Realm. Forget his father—even the Thousand-Household Commander could exchange a few moves with him.

He was kind, forthright, and loyal to his friends.

Lin Xuan sighed and wanted to turn away.

Before he could do so, however, he sensed what seemed to be golden light drifting over the pheasant in the distance.

Surprised and bewildered, he thought, Animals have talents too?

He stepped forward, wanting to see clearly what words were floating above the pheasant.

Before Lin Xuan had taken more than a few steps, he heard Qin Sheng call out, "Kid, whoever kills this Pheasant King owns it. Don't let greed get the better of you."

Lin Xuan shook his head. "Young Master misunderstands. I have no improper intentions. I merely wished to see what this Pheasant King looks like."

At last, he clearly saw the words floating above the pheasant: [Sharp Eyes].

It was clearly a talent related to the eyes.

To use the Book of Fate to absorb it, he had to be within a certain distance.

The youth surnamed Qin had the man beside him pick up the pheasant and examine it closely.

"May I ask whether Young Master would be willing to sell this pheasant to me?"

Qin Sheng glanced at the pheasant and said flatly, "This is a Pheasant King. Its meat contains a thread of Pure Yang True Qi, which benefits those who have just begun martial training. It should weigh four or five jin. Its market price is at least two hundred copper coins."

To someone like him, already in the Breath-Connecting Realm, this wild bird was useless. There was no harm in selling it.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xuan immediately took out broken silver and copper coins, scraped together two hundred coins, and offered them over. "Young Master, my mother's leg injury needs nourishment. I wish to buy it. I hope Young Master will part with it."

When Qin Sheng heard that it was for his mother, he readily accepted the money and gestured for his attendant to hand over the pheasant. "Good! Then take it."

Suppressing his wild delight, Lin Xuan cupped his hands toward Qin Sheng in thanks.

Taking the pheasant, still warm to the touch, he brushed its feathers with his fingertips and silently recited in his heart, Plunder.

[Do you wish to plunder the talent: Sharp Eyes?]

[Yes]

[Sharp Eyes: Greatly improves daytime vision, allowing the user to catch minute movements. Enhanced dynamic vision. Reduced night vision.]

[Host Talents: Hunger Resistance, Silent Step, Martial Prodigy, Sharp Eyes]

A cool current surged straight into his eyes, and the world before him abruptly became clear—the veins on blades of grass ten steps away, the insects among the trees, all stood out in perfect detail.

What delighted him even more was the enhancement to his dynamic vision. Every animal's movement looked as though it had been slowed down, noticeably slower than before.

In battle, this would be an exceptionally useful talent.

"Reduced night vision... This talent actually has a negative effect? Then does that mean some negative talents can be plundered as well?" Lin Xuan frowned and turned for home.

Lin An and their mother were both home. It was already evening, yet the two were still weaving cloth.

When they saw Lin Xuan return carrying such a large pheasant, both of them were secretly delighted.

Lin An directly praised him, "Little Brother is amazing. On your first time going out to hunt, you caught such a huge pheasant."

Lin Xuan had originally wanted to say that he had bought the bird, but in the end, the words never left his mouth.

Saying he had bought it would be too humiliating, and it would also undermine the confidence of the two women.

"That's right! I got lucky today. I could only fire three arrows. The first two missed, but I never expected my last arrow to bring down such a huge wild pheasant."

"Mother, you two rest. I'll go kill the chicken and stew soup for you."

Lin An hurriedly stood up. "Little Brother must be tired after hunting. Leave this sort of thing to me."

He waved his hand and carried the pheasant outside.

Lin An did not stop there, instead following him out.

The two of them cleaned the pheasant together.

Taking advantage of their time alone, Lin Xuan reminded her,

"Big Sister, while we have meat to eat, why don't you try practicing Grand Ancestor Internal Strength too? It's good for your body. If you run into danger, you'll be able to handle it yourself, at least somewhat."

Lin An fell silent for a moment before answering, "With our family's circumstances, supporting even one person in martial training already leaves us stretched too thin..."

Before she finished, she paused and changed her wording.

"Supporting even one person in martial training is already difficult. If I practice too, wouldn't that leave our family unable to keep the pot boiling?"

Seeing that she had said it twice, Lin Xuan was only stunned for a moment before understanding why. She was afraid he would not understand the idiom.

He replied, "I can hunt. There'll be no shortage of meat in the future."

Although he had bought this prey to deceive the mother and daughter, with the Martial Prodigy talent rapidly improving his strength, he should soon be able to catch prey easily.

Lin An hesitated.

Seeing that she was still hesitating, Lin Xuan continued to persuade her indirectly.

"Think about it. What if you encounter hooligans or ruffians? How will you protect yourself and Mother? I can't stay by your side forever."

She imagined those situations and felt that if Lin Xuan were not there, she would have no way whatsoever to deal with them!

So she hurriedly nodded. "All right, I'll give it a try."

An hour later, the chicken soup was ready.

Though they had added almost no seasoning, the family had gone so long without meat or rich food that it tasted incomparably delicious.

For ordinary people, a small amount of Pure Yang True Qi was a great tonic that replenished qi and nourished the blood. But too much of it was harmful to ordinary people.

Martial artists did not need to worry about such issues. They only had to refine the True Qi directly.

After dinner, Lin Xuan continued practicing Grand Ancestor Internal Strength and explained all the experience he had gained these past days to Lin An.

The True Qi cultivated through Grand Ancestor Internal Strength belonged to the balanced and moderate type. In the future, it would be much easier to switch to other martial arts qigong methods.

Lin An's original family circumstances had been quite good. As the daughter of a physician's family, she had been immersed in learning from an early age and had read the classics, histories, masters, and anthologies. Her education far surpassed Lin Xuan's, who had only attended elementary schooling.

Understanding the plainly written and easy-to-follow Grand Ancestor Internal Strength was even easier for her.

"Big Sister, you have to explain these characters I don't know properly."

Lin Xuan shifted closer to Lin An, who was sitting by the bed, narrowing the distance between them until their bodies were almost pressed together.

Lin An's face flushed slightly. She felt that the man before her seemed to have become a different person.

Before, although she was Lin Xuan's child bride, he had always been extremely restrained, consciously or unconsciously keeping his distance from her. Now, however, he had become very close to her.

Seeing Lin Xuan's handsome, well-defined face so close to hers, her heartbeat could not help quickening.

The reason Lin An had agreed to become the Lin Family's child bride and settle down here was because the Lin Family had treated her well, like their own daughter. Moreover, her future husband was handsome and dependable.

Recently, whenever Lin Jie returned home and saw his elder brother's fields, he would feel something strange stir within him.

He craved that land.

"An orphan and a widow owning twenty mu of land is like a child clutching gold. The other officers are likely already watching them, though I wonder what methods they will use to seize those fields.

Better the rich water stay in one's own field than flow into another's. It would be better for those fields to end up in my hands than in the hands of outsiders with different surnames later."

When his elder brother had still been around, he had been wary. Now that his elder brother had been sent to the front lines, the crooked thoughts he had kept suppressed began swelling at this moment.

A plan to annex the fields took shape in his mind.