Extorted

Li Yi quietly tightened his grip on the skinning knife hidden in his sleeve.

This wild boar was his hope, and his family's hope. He would never allow anyone else to lay a finger on it.

Li Yi shoved aside the thug who was about to lift the boar.

"Wang Dagui, I'm about to leave for corvée labor. This is the food I left behind to keep my family alive. If you touch it, you're taking my life!"

"Damn it, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit..."

The thug cursed as he prepared to strike, but Li Yi had already been greatly strengthened by the system. With one shove, he sent the man tumbling onto the ground.

Seeing their brother suffer, the other thugs were about to make a move when Wang Dagui stopped them with one sweep of his arm.

"Brother Li Yi is right. Don't push people too far."

The thugs looked at one another, utterly bewildered.

Had their boss changed his nature? Or had he eaten too much?

"How about this? You can't use all this wild boar by yourself. I'll take half off your hands as payment for the favor you owe me. Once you leave, I'll look after your family's affairs too."

Wang Dagui sounded sincere, but he was making entirely different calculations in his heart. The boar was so heavy, yet Li Yi had carried it alone. His strength was freakishly great.

Clashing with him head-on would bring Wang Dagui no benefit. Eggs did not collide with stones.

He would take what he could for now. Once this baleful star was gone, wouldn't everyone in Li Yi's household be at his mercy?

Li Yi stared at Wang Dagui's face. He knew that if he did not yield, these people would likely refuse to let the matter rest.

The killing intent in his heart grew ever stronger.

After killing someone once, the demon in Li Yi's heart had been unleashed as well.

He no longer held the same reverence for life as before.

"Fine. Take half."

"Haha, Brother Yi, now that's generous! Brothers, divide the meat!"

Before long, the several-hundred-pound boar had been split into two halves.

Wang Dagui and the others carried off half the pork, leaving with satisfied smiles.

"Boss, aren't we going to look for Dog Egg?"

"Look for what? That little bastard has definitely run off somewhere to have fun. We'll teach him a lesson when he comes back."

In Wang Dagui's eyes, the lives of those thugs were not worth half a wild boar. Right now, all he wanted was to go home and boil a pot of fragrant plain meat to satisfy his craving.

As Li Yi watched Wang Dagui leave, the disguise in his eyes instantly vanished, leaving only icy coldness.

Keep swaggering for another couple of days. Your death is coming soon.

The most important thing now was to trade for a good bow and get some arrows.

Besides, Wang Dagui lived in the county town, so this was a good chance to ask around.

Before killing someone, he had to make thorough preparations, lest something went wrong.

But first, he had to carry the remaining pork home.

Carrying the remaining half of the wild boar on his shoulder, Li Yi returned home.

The moment he entered the courtyard, he called inside.

"Yueyue, come out quickly."

With a thump, the hundred-plus pounds of pork crashed heavily onto the ground.

Li Yi clapped his hands and looked at the clean ground around him, feeling greatly comforted.

In these chaotic times, saints did not live long. Fortunately, his younger brother and sister were sensible.

"Brother Yi, you're finally back."

Liu Fang was the first to come out, with her older sister Liu Ru beside her.

Liu Ru had originally come today to watch the excitement. After all, yesterday had counted as their wedding night.

But she had not expected Li Yi to be absent from home.

"Oh my, such a huge slab of pork! Heavens."

Gulp.

The countless words on their lips vanished like smoke the instant they saw the pork.

They became only one trembling question.

"Brother Yi... can we eat it?"

"Of course. Start the fire and boil the meat."

Li Yi laughed heartily. Even someone like Wang Dagui craved pork desperately. As for them, being able to eat it once every half year was already heaven's blessing.

"Brother."

Li Yue came over with Li Xin to help.

They asked nothing. In their hearts, their eldest brother was the most formidable person in the world.

Everyone had formed an unspoken understanding. No one asked about the heart-stopping events of last night.

Only Liu Ru kept praising Li Yi.

"Xiao Yi, you're amazing. You actually hunted such a huge wild boar all by yourself."

"Little sister, you were right to follow Xiao Yi. You definitely won't suffer with him."

There was a lot of pork. Most of it was cut up to be smoked and saved for later.

That morning, everyone in the dilapidated courtyard wore happy smiles.

Li Yi did not eat much. In this era without seasonings, the gamey stench of wild boar was simply too strong.

But the others ate until their mouths gleamed with grease, finding it immensely delicious.

After a while, everyone was full.

"Sister Ru, I'd like to discuss something with you."

Holding around ten pounds of trimmed meat, Li Yi spoke somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh? Don't tell me my little sister isn't enough for you, and now you want me too?" Liu Ru's face flushed as she accepted the meat and pretended to be angry. "You think you can buy me off with some pork? I'm not that kind of woman..."

Li Yi's face darkened. What was that supposed to mean?

But it was partly his own fault. Liu Ru was so beautiful that people could hardly look away from her. He hurriedly explained, "Sister, I want to borrow some money. My bow was damaged while hunting the wild boar."

"So that's what this is about."

Liu Ru suddenly understood. "But your sister here doesn't have much money. I only have five hundred copper coins. Do you think that's enough?"

As she spoke, Liu Ru removed a cloth pouch from her waist and poured out the copper coins.

Li Yi quickly calculated in his heart. A decent bow would cost at least eighteen hundred copper coins, roughly two taels of loose silver.

He shook his head.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Ru suggested, "Why not sell the pork? Or go borrow some from Brother Erniu."

Liu Ru's suggestion was good, but Li Yi rejected the idea of selling the pork.

Wild boar meat could indeed be sold for money, but those truly wealthy people did not need to buy meat outside. The rest were people like Wang Dagui, eating and taking as they pleased. Even if he sold all of it, he might not earn more than a few coins.

Among the people Li Yi knew, the only one with money who would help him was Brother Erniu.

But Li Yi truly could not bring himself to do it. He had slept with another man's wife, yet still had to shamelessly borrow money from him. With the soul of a modern man, he could not make up his mind for the moment.

Seeing Li Yi's difficulty, Liu Fang volunteered.

"Brother Yi, I'll go with you."

The two of them brought ten pounds of pork to Li Erniu's home.

"Xiao Yi, what is this?"

Li Erniu was clearly stunned when he saw the two at his door carrying so much pork.

Liu Fang said with a smile, "Brother Erniu, sit down. Brother Yi hunted this wild boar himself and brought some over to help you build up your strength."

"This body of mine is beyond helping, whether I eat it or not."

Li Erniu sighed, but then his gaze sharpened.

"But this wild boar meat—did you really hunt it?"

Li Yi roughly explained how he had killed the wild boar alone.

Li Erniu was stunned at first, then burst into hearty laughter.

"Good! I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

With that, Li Erniu took out two taels of loose silver from a drawer and solemnly handed it over.

"This is all my savings. Take it all. That beast Wang Dagui will come looking for trouble sooner or later. If you don't have a weapon in your hands, you'll definitely suffer a huge loss.

"And since you can kill wild boars now, use this money to buy a bow and arrows. You might earn it back before long."

Looking at the loose silver before him, Li Yi was deeply moved.

"Brother Yi, just take it."

Liu Fang picked up the silver and stuffed it directly into Li Yi's hand.

Li Erniu smiled and continued, "Xiao Yi, this silver isn't being given to you for nothing. Once you buy a bow and arrows, I'll have more meat to eat in the future."

Li Yi said nothing more and bowed deeply.

"Enough with the sentimentality. Go on, get out of here."

Li Erniu pretended to be angry and drove the two of them outside, though his mood was exceptionally good.