"Xiaoyi, I know this bothers you, but don't forget, Brother Erniu was the one who saved your life back then. What's wrong with helping him?"
"And it's not like you'd be losing out. To tell you the truth, when my younger sister first married him, Erniu was already impotent. She's still a virgin."
"Being a live-in husband doesn't sound good, but you should think about your situation. Why care what those gossipmongers say?"
Listening to Liu Ru chatter on and on beside him, Li Yi had been sure for a moment that he was dreaming.
Otherwise, what era was this, that someone would actually be urging him to become a live-in husband?
Just a few minutes earlier, Li Yi had finished transferring ownership of his martial arts school. Then, on his way back, he'd had an accident.
It had sent him straight into an era he didn't recognize at all.
The place he was in now was called Blackstone Town, a small town on the border of the Chen Kingdom.
Neither its setting nor its time period matched any ancient dynasty he could remember.
Still, in some respects, it bore a resemblance to the weak Song Dynasty.
The original owner had the same name as him: Li Yi.
His parents were both dead, and he had a younger brother and sister.
He usually kept his family alive by hunting, but life was extremely hard.
Not long ago, his younger brother, Li Xin, had fallen seriously ill. They'd spent all they had and borrowed money just to cure him.
Now, forget their future livelihood—they didn't even have enough food for tomorrow.
Li Yi turned to look at Liu Ru, a widow who lived next door. They'd always gotten along fairly well.
She wore a coarse hemp garment. Her figure was slender and graceful, with a lush fullness that stood out. Though she'd hardly eaten her fill in ages, she still drew the eye.
Her unadorned face was almost too exquisite, and her naturally seductive eyes seemed to flirt with everyone around her.
Even after seeing his fill of modern-day internet celebrities and beauties of every kind, Li Yi couldn't help but marvel at her.
When Li Yi didn't answer, Liu Ru grew even more annoyed.
Liu Fang was her younger sister. She'd married Li Erniu from the neighboring village, but on the very day of the wedding, Li Erniu had gone to feed the oxen in the cattle shed. One of the beasts suddenly went berserk and gored him in the groin, leaving him impotent. For years, Liu Fang had been a widow in all but name.
Recently, Li Erniu's health had been worsening, and he could no longer go out to work.
That was why she'd thought of asking Li Yi for help, while also easing some of the burden on her family.
Otherwise, once Li Erniu died, her younger sister would likely be devoured by her in-laws at once.
She'd figured it would be good for both families if Li Yi, who was raising two younger siblings on his own, and Li Erniu's family looked after each other. That was why she'd come to talk to him about it.
By now, Li Yi had sorted out his thoughts.
He'd always been a fairly traditional person.
Otherwise, in his previous life, he wouldn't have stubbornly held on to his family's martial arts school for nearly ten years, practicing day in and day out.
Unfortunately, although he'd mastered a body full of killing techniques, there'd been no place to use them in the modern world.
Now that he'd transmigrated, Li Erniu had saved the original owner's life. Li Yi had inherited his identity, so that debt had to be repaid. But... whether he should do it by becoming a live-in husband was open to debate.
To keep Liu Ru from nagging him any longer, Li Yi got up and walked outside.
The original owner's home was in poor condition, built simply from wood and thatch.
The furniture and such had mostly been made by the original owner himself, but his carpentry skills left a lot to be desired.
The house was even worse than the cattle sheds Li Yi had seen in his previous life. The three of them lived in it together, which was very inconvenient. His younger siblings were growing up, after all, and needed their own private space.
The phrase "bare as four walls" described the place perfectly.
The only thing of value inside was the longbow passed down by Li the Elder.
Unfortunately, the original owner hadn't inherited Li the Elder's excellent archery skills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been living in such dire straits.
Taking down the longbow and quiver, Li Yi went into the courtyard. He looked around and soon spotted a wooden target standing off to one side.
The longbow in his hands was a one-stone bow, with an effective range of about seventy meters.
He'd tried archery before transmigrating, but he wasn't especially skilled at it.
Yet when Li Yi raised his bow, a familiar feeling welled up inside him.
It was muscle memory left behind by the original owner. With that, he ought to be able to improve his archery skills quickly.
But an even bigger surprise was waiting.
When Li Yi released the bowstring and sent an arrow flying, a panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Archery (Uninitiated): 0/100] (250) [Effect: None] [Eight Extremes Fist (Uninitiated): 0/100] (600) [Effect: None]
What was this...
He'd read so many web novels. Had it finally become his turn to get a cheat?
The number after the experience value was probably the experience he could use.
The experience in Archery had been left behind by the original owner. As for Eight Extremes Fist, that was the martial art passed down in Li Yi's family in his previous life.
He'd practiced for nearly thirty years, and only had five hundred points of experience. That wasn't much at all.
As long as he added the experience, he could raise the levels of the two skills, [Archery] and [Eight Extremes Fist].
And with this cheat, Li Yi could surely train both skills to a terrifying level.
For ranged attacks, he had [Archery]. For close combat, he had [Eight Extremes Fist].
It was only a matter of time before he could pull off a "don't eat beef" routine.
Still... from the memories the original owner had left behind, this world wasn't as simple as it seemed. Take the mountains and forests, for instance. There seemed to be strange spirits lurking there.
Brushing aside his jumble of thoughts, Li Yi refocused on his skill panel.
His whole family was counting on him to keep them fed. Right now, the problem he needed to solve was how to put food on the table.
He had to improve [Archery] first.
After taking a long breath, Li Yi poured all the experience into [Archery].
It instantly rose from Uninitiated to Beginner, and a wealth of archery knowledge flooded into Li Yi's mind.
Not only was it more comprehensive than what he'd known before, but most importantly, his body changed along with it.
Li Yi could clearly feel a strange force appear within him, coursing through his limbs and bones as it continuously strengthened his body.
When he looked at the skill panel again, it had changed.
[Archery (Beginner): 150/200] [Effect: Can draw a one-stone, five-dou bow. Within a hundred paces, every shot finds its mark!]
Seeing the newly appeared effect, Li Yi drew in a sharp breath.
It was already this impressive at Beginner level. If he kept going, he might really gain extraordinary powers.
With these archery skills, hunting would undoubtedly be much easier from now on.
But it would be even better if he could raise [Archery] to level two as soon as possible!
With that thought, Li Yi raised his bow and began practicing again.
Just then, a shout suddenly rang out beside him.
"Li Yi, get out here!"
Li Yi turned to look. A burly, bare-chested man stood outside the fence with several young ruffians.
When he saw Li Yi looking over, the burly man kicked the fence down and swaggered toward him with his men.
"Well, well, Li Yi. I finally caught you! What, did you really think you could avoid military service by hiding? Dream on! The court has already issued an order to conscript able-bodied young men from the border regions for labor service.
"If you keep hiding, you'll be defying the imperial decree. That's a crime punishable by beheading!"
Li Yi furrowed his brow and searched his memories for anything about the man.
The burly man was named Wang Dagui. He'd once been a notorious town bully, but not long ago he'd given his own older sister to the county registrar as a concubine. In one fell swoop, he'd become a petty official.
He was in charge of conscripting laborers, and even had the authority to decide whether they would serve in the military or perform forced labor.
Over the years, the Chen Kingdom and its neighboring Qing Kingdom had been at war constantly. If Li Yi were sent to the battlefield, he'd only become cannon fodder.
What made Li Yi frown wasn't the labor service. It was another memory the original owner had left behind.
While Li Yi was recalling all this, Wang Dagui assumed he was frightened. A smug smile spread across his face.
"We're neighbors, after all. Don't say I never looked out for you. My household needs someone to serve tea and water, so you can send your younger sister to work for me. Then I can arrange for you to do odd jobs.
"You won't have to repair city walls, much less go to the battlefield. What a great deal!"
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