Vengeance Sated

Seeing this, Skinny Dog sent a voice transmission. "Great! Now that we have bows and arrows, we can go hunting again."

"Hmph, hunting?"

Fang Zhixing turned his head to look back, a glacial gleam shooting from his clear black-and-white eyes.

Skinny Dog's heart skipped a beat.

He knew that look all too well—sharp as an eagle's gaze, cold and vicious as a wolf's.

Fang Zhixing had the bearing of an eagle-eyed wolf!

"Yes, we should go hunting!" He put away the horn bow and quiver, yet turned around and walked back.

"...Back to the village?"

Skinny Dog was somewhat baffled.

Fang Zhixing said nothing, his gaze cast into the distance.

As his strength gradually returned, his steps grew firmer and faster.

Skinny Dog raced after him, his thoughts churning.

He looked at Fang Zhixing's system panel, then at his own.

[Species: Canine]

[Talent: Dog Bond (When you remain by someone's side for a long time, you can improve in sync with them and awaken more talents)]

[Remaining Lives: 1]

"Fang Zhixing has already improved twice. Why haven't I changed at all?" Skinny Dog could not help but wonder where the problem lay.

What exactly was this so-called [Bond]?

Before they knew it, man and dog had returned to the village.

Fang Zhixing held his head high and chest out as he walked straight toward an earthen-walled courtyard.

It was the old village chief's home.

Only his family had built earthen walls in the village. There were more than twenty mud huts in the courtyard; compared to everyone else's thatched huts and fenced yards, it was practically palatial.

The entire Zhao family lived within that earthen-walled courtyard.

"Huh, isn't that Big Ox?"

Four people were playing cricket fights at the gate: Zhao Dahu's son, Zhao Zikun, and three Zhao family youths, all from the grandson generation.

"Big Ox, what is it?" Zhao Zikun did not even stand up, merely casting a sidelong glance at him.

Fang Zhixing walked up to him and suddenly drew his blade.

Swish!

A flash of steel streaked through the air.

Pfft!

A head flew out, rolling across the ground as blood sprayed five paces away.

"Fuck!!!"

Skinny Dog's eyes went wide, every hair on his body standing on end.

The other three youths were splattered with blood. They were scared senseless, staring blankly at Fang Zhixing.

Fang Zhixing raised his blade and brought it down—one slash to the left, one cut to the right, then one chop—and three more corpses appeared on the ground.

Every strike was fatal, swift and utterly satisfying!

Fang Zhixing wiped the blood from his face and strode through the open gate without slowing.

Two bamboo chairs sat beneath the eaves of the main hall.

At that moment, the old village chief was reclining in one bamboo chair, leisurely fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

In the other chair, Old Madam Zhao was lying sideways, leisurely cracking pumpkin seeds and spitting the shells all over the ground.

There was no one else in the courtyard. The Zhao family's able-bodied men had gone hunting, while the daughters-in-law had gone to the river to wash clothes.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over them.

The old village chief raised his eyelids, then his eyes abruptly widened in shock. He looked at Fang Zhixing, who held a blade in hand and wore a savage expression, and stammered, "Big Ox, y-you, why are you..."

Without another word, Fang Zhixing gripped the hilt with both hands and drove the blade straight down.

Pfft!

The old village chief's face changed drastically. The hunting knife pierced through his chest, and blood poured out in torrents.

He stared at Fang Zhixing, his face full of disbelief.

"Ah!!"

Old Madam Zhao came to her senses and shrieked, "Murder! Mur—"

Fang Zhixing suddenly pulled out the bloody hunting knife and slashed it backhandedly across Old Madam Zhao's neck.

Pfft!

Old Madam Zhao clutched her neck and fell backward.

"Whew~"

Fang Zhixing let out a long breath. Hot blood washed over his face, and an indescribable exhilaration surged through his chest.

Then he entered the main hall and quickly began searching.

Skinny Dog ran over too. He gave Fang Zhixing a deep look, then said nothing and began searching the old village chief's home.

A moment later, Fang Zhixing found the old village chief's private stash: a wooden box containing five gold beans and nine hundred and fifty-seven copper coins.

In Crouching Ox Village, where everyone was too poor to afford trousers, it was a windfall beyond measure.

"Fang Zhixing, I found grain," Skinny Dog sent a voice transmission.

Fang Zhixing immediately went over. In a room with better ventilation, he saw stacks of burlap sacks. Opening them, he found not only rice and soybeans, but flour as well.

A row of crossbeams ran along the wall by the window, with strips of cured meat hanging from them—some air-dried, some fresh.

"Rice, flour, and meat!"

Skinny Dog ground his teeth, so furious that he laughed instead. "We've been starving every day, yet look at the old village chief. That bastard was living the fucking high life!"

Fang Zhixing looked at the pile of grain and cured meat, unable to help feeling a headache. After a moment's thought, he said, "It'll be hard for me alone to carry all this away."

Before his words had even faded, the system panel suddenly lit up.

[Ordinary Archer · Max Level Requirements:

1. Hit the bullseye from at least 50 meters away 10 times (Completed)

2. 100 jin of any grain (Prepared. Complete?)

3. 50 jin of meat (Prepared. Complete?)]

"Huh, it can work like this?"

Fang Zhixing blinked, disbelief appearing on his face.

He had always thought that he needed to eat the grain and meat himself—eat enough of them—for the requirements to count as completed.

But...

Skinny Dog saw it too. Thoughtfully, he analyzed, "It looks like once you find the grain and meat, the requirements count as fulfilled. What comes next?"

Fang Zhixing pondered briefly, then his mind stirred as he selected [Yes].

In an instant, something miraculous happened. The stacked burlap sacks shriveled down in a bizarre fashion.

Almost at the same time, the cured meat visibly shrank and withered, ultimately turning into ashes that drifted down.

Standing there, Fang Zhixing only felt a scorching current surge into his body.

His arms, legs, chest, and back swelled and bulged in the blink of an eye, growing solid muscles.

Invisibly, both his muscle strength and bone density were enhanced.

His build became much sturdier, his whole frame thickening by a layer, like a fitness fanatic who had pumped iron for years.

Fang Zhixing's entire body burned, sweat streaming down him. He exhaled a puff of white vapor and watched as his arms thickened by a full size, the flesh of his thighs bulged outward, and his skin gradually changed from dark to a healthy bronze-red.

That was not all. Even his abdomen rose up, layers of muscle stacking together as the faint outline of eight abs emerged.

"Holy shit!"

Skinny Dog lifted his head high, his eyes reflecting a figure that had suddenly grown a head taller and a whole lot stronger.

"My god, you just developed three years' worth in an instant!"

Skinny Dog was utterly shocked, his jaw practically dropping to the floor.

"Awesome!"

Fang Zhixing clenched his fists, savage power bursting forth. All his previous weakness and fatigue were swept away, replaced by a wild, overwhelming aura.

Just then, Skinny Dog suddenly shuddered, and his system panel lit up as well.