Threat

Zhao Feng held his breath and slowly drew an arrow from the quiver on his back. He nocked it to the bow, then rose to his feet in one swift motion, the arrowhead locking onto the buck!

The moment he stood, the three roe deer finally spotted him and scattered in panic.

Zhao Feng drew the bow to its full length and aimed at the buck. Before his eyes, everything between heaven and earth seemed to slow down. The roe deer's run looked like it had been slowed to a crawl.

He could even see the veins bulging in the buck's neck from terror! He had never experienced this feeling when shooting rabbits before.

Whoosh! In the blink of an eye, the mulberry-wood arrow sliced through the forest on a gust of wind. The next instant, it struck the buck's hind leg, spraying blood. It let out a miserable cry of pain, but did not stop, still darting away at high speed. Specks of blood were left on the ground.

Zhao Feng had already judged the distance when he fired. With his minor mastery of archery, he could hit a moving target five or six times out of ten. Though he had aimed for the roe deer's neck and struck its hind leg instead, that was normal enough. With an arrow in its hind leg, it could not keep running for long.

He only had to follow the blood trail.

After following the increasingly heavy trail of blood for about a li, he finally saw the buck lying on the ground, struggling constantly from excessive blood loss.

By then, the doe and fawn had long since vanished. Zhao Feng knew he needed to get down the mountain quickly, or the smell of blood might attract wild beasts. Such a large, intact roe deer hide could fetch quite a bit of silver, so he stepped forward, twisted the roe deer's neck, then hoisted the whole carcass onto his shoulders and headed down the mountain.

By the time he reached the village entrance, stars were dancing before his eyes and his legs had gone weak.

Carrying a roe deer weighing over fifty jin across mountains and ridges back home had nearly drained even a young, strong man like him. Of course, the main reason was that the original owner of this body had been an idle layabout, leaving him with a poor physical foundation.

Night had fallen, and the weather had turned colder. No one was chatting at the village entrance anymore, which suited him just fine. As he neared his family's courtyard at the head of the village, he saw lights burning inside from afar and heard faint voices.

Zhao Feng found that voice very familiar. After only a moment's thought, he suddenly remembered that it belonged to Huang Biao. Huang Biao was the local gang leader, leading a few thugs and making a living through extortion and debt collection for others. The original owner had always wanted to run with him. But last time, after seeing his goddess Wang Jinlian flirting with Huang Biao, he had charged up to argue in a fit of rage, only to be beaten by Huang Biao and shoved into the water.

Zhao Feng immediately set down the thoroughly dead buck as gently as he could. He hid it beneath an earthen slope more than twenty meters away and covered it with leaves. In the pitch-black night, no one would see it.

Only then did he walk toward his own courtyard.

Before he even entered, he saw four men standing inside. At their head stood a burly man in a felt hat and fur-lined jacket—it was Huang Biao.

Zhao Youlin sat in the courtyard, puffing away at his dry tobacco pipe. The atmosphere was strange and tense.

"Uncle Youlin, just think what a good thing this is. Master Li is only willing to do this good deed for the sake of his fellow villagers," Huang Biao said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. When he turned and saw Zhao Feng coming in, his eyes immediately lit up. He strode over and warmly threw an arm around Zhao Feng's shoulders.

"Ah Feng, when you accidentally fell into the water last time, you scared this big brother of yours half to death. Good thing you're all right."

Zhao Feng knew Huang Biao was watching his reaction, so he copied the original owner's manner and smiled ingratiatingly. "Thank you for your concern, Brother Biao."

Only then did Huang Biao release him in satisfaction. "Ah Feng, aren't you about to get engaged? You'll need bride-price gifts then, right? Can your family's money hold out? Seeing your family in this state, with another disaster year upon us, it truly pains this big brother's heart."

"Master Li in town is willing to lend money to the villagers now. I can make an introduction for you, and won't that settle the bride-price matter? As for the interest—nine out, thirteen back. Just mortgage your family's three mu of prime fields. How about it? I'm being generous, aren't I?"

Zhao Feng looked at Huang Biao's seemingly amiable smile, and his heart turned icy cold.

So this was why Huang Biao had come to his home in the middle of the night.

"Brother Biao, that's very thoughtful of you. We'll think it over some more. If we truly need money, we'll definitely come to you," Zhao Feng said with a smile.

The smile on Huang Biao's face instantly turned cold. "Fine, then think it over. But this brother will remind you: once this village is past, there won't be another shop. Don't make Master Li wait too long."

The way he said "wait too long" at the end no longer sounded like casual conversation, but a frigid warning.

After saying that, Huang Biao left with his men.

Only after they had gone did Yang Shi and Tian Cuihua dare to come out from the inner room.

"That Li the Landowner is taking advantage of people's misfortune!" Zhao Youlin knocked out his pipe and said angrily.

"Harvests have been poor these past few years. Many people can only survive by borrowing money and grain. In all the villages within ten li, he's the biggest landowner. When people borrow money or grain from him, he makes them mortgage their land. Calculated out, it's nine out, thirteen back. If they can't repay it, the fields become his. Huang Biao collects the debts for him."

"Today, Wang Laoyan's family in the neighboring village couldn't repay their debt. Huang Biao brought people over, beat him until his face was covered in blood, and forcibly took away his land deed."

"I never expected them to set their sights on us today."

"It seems they've had their eyes on our family's three mu of prime fields for a long time," Zhao Feng said.

Huang Biao, that gang leader, was ruthless and vicious. Unless he achieved his goal, he would never give up. This time, he was trying to swindle them. Next time, he would use violence to force them.

He still had to learn martial arts. Though the Great Yan Dynasty's court stressed equal importance for civil and martial pursuits, down here among the common folk, it was still the strong devouring the weak. The biggest fist was reason.

In his heart, Zhao Feng quietly wrote down Huang Biao and Li the Landowner in his little ledger.

Huang Biao's visit cast another shadow over everyone's hearts.

"Father, Mother, Sister-in-law, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I've got a surprise for you. Just wait," Zhao Feng said with a smile, livening the mood.

They watched him leave the courtyard with a mysterious air.

"What is this child up to, acting all mysterious?" Yang Shi said with a fond smile.

Ever since her son had gone mad for a month after falling into the water, he now seemed like an entirely different person.

A moment later, Zhao Feng entered the courtyard carrying an enormous black shape. When he dropped it onto the ground, it landed with a heavy, muffled thud.

"This is... a roe deer!" Zhao Youlin stepped closer, and his eyes immediately widened at the sight.

Yang Shi and Tian Cuihua were frozen with shock as well.

"Shh!" Zhao Feng hurriedly motioned for his family to keep quiet.

He shut the courtyard gate and braced it with a stone.

"Where did you hunt it?" Zhao Youlin asked in a low voice. His voice trembled with excitement.

"At the northern peak of Great Green Mountain."

"You went that far? How could you dare?" Zhao Youlin said, still shaken.

No wonder his son had returned so late. He had gone deep into the mountains.

"Let's not talk about that yet. Father, let's process this roe deer together," Zhao Feng said.

Rabbits were easy to handle; Tian Cuihua could take care of one by herself.

But processing a roe deer was different. To remove the hide and antlers intact required an old hunter like Zhao Youlin. Zhao Youlin first cut off several pieces of meat and had Yang Shi and Tian Cuihua quickly make meat porridge for the starving Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai.

The half rabbit they had salted last time had been eaten up several days ago, and the two little ones had kept clamoring for more meat.

The family also needed meat to replenish their strength, especially since Zhao Youlin's injury needed time to heal. Zhao Feng had Tian Cuihua stir-fry the roe deer's heart and liver with a little oil as a special dish to nourish Zhao Youlin's body.