Kill

Pfft, pfft, pfft~

Three dull thuds.

Arrows wrapped in a fierce wind and shot down from the small slope, piercing the Qian Brothers' chests with deadly precision.

One after another, the three arrows punched through the Qian Brothers' chests. Bright red blood slid down the shafts and dripped onto the fallen leaves, speckling them crimson.

The third Qian brother was hit first. His body jerked into a bow.

He lowered his head and stared at the arrow through his chest. His pupils first shrank to pinpricks, then suddenly dilated. Bewilderment and disbelief churned in his eyes:

Where had the bow and arrows come from?

The eldest and second Qian brothers fared no better. The agony of having their chests pierced made their muscles spasm all over, and they stumbled into each other.

Their eyes were just like their younger brother's, filled with the terror and confusion of men on the brink of death.

Li Yun stood on the small slope, his brows slightly furrowed as his blood and qi churned.

After all, it was his first time shooting someone.

A moment later.

Li Yun walked down the slope and began searching the bodies.

He searched them from head to toe, but found only the few dozen copper coins the Qian Brothers had extorted from him earlier.

He touched the bodies of the three Qian Brothers one by one and stored them in his storage space.

He picked up a broken branch by the roadside and swept away the bloodstains. Then he grabbed a handful of dusty soil and leaves and scattered them haphazardly.

He looked around.

Only after making sure he had left nothing suspicious behind did he turn and return to the path he had taken earlier.

That's all I can do. I'm no professional, after all. Hopefully, He Xiuyong won't find out for a while.

An hour and a half later.

Li Yun emerged from the path and reached the main road.

The road was packed with yellow earth, and passing carts and horses had worn two deep ruts into it. Half-dried clods of mud collected at the bottoms; when the wind blew, fine sand rose and made his eyes sting.

Along the roadside, only bare branches remained where the leaves had fallen.

Even the bark was gone.

Walking along the main road, Li Yun didn't dare relax. Instead, he instinctively held his breath, his right hand gripping the firewood cleaver he had prepared in advance.

People lay in the withered grass on either side of the road and beneath the trees.

Many were on the verge of starving to death.

Their eyes glinted green as they stared fixedly at Li Yun.

It was as if the Li Yun before them wasn't a person, but a delicious morsel that could move.

Li Yun didn't stop walking. Every step he took, he kept his eyes on the people beside him.

At last, after turning around a bend, he caught sight of Wushan County's outer-city stone wall in the distance.

Li Yun quickened his pace, keeping the cleaver firmly in his hand and his back ramrod straight.

He finally reached the city gate without incident. Looking back at the refugees, he said, "There are more of them than before!"

When Li Yun had come to the county town earlier, there hadn't been so many refugees.

That meant the fighting farther south had grown even fiercer.

But when the sky fell, taller men would hold it up. All Li Yun had to do now was get into a martial hall as soon as possible and learn martial arts to protect himself.

He turned to pay a copper coin and enter the outer city, but someone grabbed him and stopped him.

"Kid, the entry fee is three coins."

"Huh? Big brother, why'd it go up so much?"

With a pained expression, Li Yun took another two coins from his sleeve and handed them over, casually asking around for news as he did.

But the Wild Wolf Gang underling in front of him seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Why so much damned talk? Pay up, then get lost!"

"Sure thing."

Li Yun smiled obsequiously and immediately turned to walk through the stone wall.

Wushan County had originally had only an inner city. The outer city had been nothing more than a neighborhood.

But more and more people had fled here, nearly bursting the inner city at the seams.

The county magistrate had acted decisively, ordering anyone without fixed property in the city to leave.

Then he got the county's wealthy families involved in providing disaster relief through work, and had the refugees build the outer city.

Only recently had the division between inner and outer cities fully taken shape.

Compared to the inner city, the outer city was little better than a pigsty in most places.

The roads were full of potholes.

Dung lay everywhere in the corners, giving off a revolting stench.

Dirty water gathered into little streams, where mosquitoes swarmed with a buzzing that made one's skin crawl.

Li Yun had visited several times, so he had a general idea of the outer city's layout.

He didn't go to the meat stalls. Instead, he headed for the area where the herbal shops were concentrated.

After asking around, he found a newly opened shop. Then, in an empty alley, he took out two antlers and wrapped them in burlap.

He walked into the shop.

As he lifted the curtain, the fragrance of herbs washed over him.

Behind the counter, an old man hunched over an abacus, working the beads. They clicked and clattered crisply.

Three young shop assistants behind the counter were busy sorting dried goods. When someone came in, they glanced up, then lowered their heads and went back to work.

"Welcome, honored customer!"

Hearing the commotion, the old man paused with his fingers on the abacus. When he looked up, a familiar smile had already spread across his face.

"What can I get for you? No fakes, and fair prices for all!"

"Do you buy antlers?"

Li Yun didn't beat around the bush. He stepped forward and set what he was holding on the counter.

The old man looked Li Yun over, then leaned toward the counter.

With fingers wearing copper thimbles, he gently tapped the main beam of an antler. When his fingertips brushed the velvet, he rubbed it between them, then turned the antler to inspect its base and picked at the layer of dried blood with a fingernail. His movements were careful and precise.

"Fresh red deer antlers."

The old man slowly straightened. His smile faded a little as he moved two lower beads on the abacus.

"Looks like they were just taken off. The tines are a little thin, though, and there's a small crack here at the base. If you're serious about selling, I'll give you fifteen taels of silver. That's a top price—anywhere else, you'd get at most twelve."

"Fifteen taels is too little."

Li Yun had a rough idea of the antlers' value and knew the old man was lowballing him.

He reached out to take them back.

The old man grew flustered and hurriedly pressed a hand down on the antlers, a smile once again spreading across his face.

"Hey, hey, don't rush off.

We're both honest people, so I won't beat around the bush.

These are good antlers, but I'll have to hire people to process them—remove the velvet, boil them down for glue, dry them out, and then sell them. I have to make a little for my trouble, too.

Twenty taels. How does that sound?

Any more, and I'd be losing money!"

"Forty taels."

Li Yun named his price.

"I know you have to process them, but these antlers are such good quality that the glue you boil from them will fetch a high price. You won't lose money."

The old man stared at Li Yun for a long while. Seeing how firm his gaze was, and that he didn't look like he'd give in easily, he lowered his eyes to the antlers and pursed his lips, as if making a great decision.

"Fine, fine!

You seem like an honest young fellow. I won't try to squeeze you for that little bit of profit!

Thirty taels.

Thirty taels it is!"

The old man was shrewd, and Li Yun knew he could make a good profit from this deal.

Still, thirty taels was within his expectations, so he didn't quibble.

"Good. Deal."

Seeing Li Yun nod, the old man pulled a cloth bundle from a wooden box beneath the counter and took out thirty taels.

Li Yun took the silver, tucked it into his sleeve, then stowed it in his storage space.

"Young man, if you find any more good mountain goods, bring them straight to me. I guarantee I'll give you a fair price."

As he spoke, the old man took out some oiled paper, wrapped the antlers in it, and tucked them into a storage chest behind the counter, moving with practiced speed.

"Okay."

Li Yun gave a casual reply, then left the herbal shop and headed for the martial hall whose location he had asked about.