Bows and Arrows

"His legs are gone?!"

Fang Zhixing's heart skipped a beat. From the look of it, Second Dog had been stoned to death, and both his legs had been chopped off.

Killing him was one thing, but why go to the trouble of chopping off his legs?

Unless...

At that moment, Fang Zhixing's thoughts ran wild, and six words involuntarily sprang into his mind:

In years of great famine, people eat one another!

Skinny Dog squeezed through the gaps in the crowd as well. The moment he saw the bloody scene, he cried out, "Holy shit!"

Before long, he too pictured the horrifying scene of people eating people.

Fang Zhixing slowly backed out of the crowd, and Skinny Dog hurried after him.

Man and dog stood at the edge, looking at the villagers one after another, their eye sockets sunken and their faces sallow from hunger. A chill rose from the depths of their hearts.

Not long afterward, the old village chief came pacing over. He looked at the corpse on the ground, frowned, and his expression turned ugly. Without a word, he took out his tobacco pipe.

A mountain village like Crouching Ox Village was far from the county seat, a place beyond anyone's jurisdiction.

When something happened, how it was handled was basically up to the old village chief alone.

After all, he was the village's nominal head.

As for Second Dog, he was a bachelor with no family or relatives in the village. Though he had been murdered, no one wept for him, and no one sought justice for him.

After a moment, the old village chief exhaled a cloud of smoke and asked, "Did anyone see Second Dog yesterday?"

Uncle Bai answered, "He came to my house last night to borrow some grain. I didn't lend him any, so he left."

Auntie Wang quickly added, "He came to my house to borrow grain too. I drove him away."

"Right, right, he came to my house to borrow grain too..."

All at once, many villagers began shouting over one another.

Well now, Second Dog had gone from house to house borrowing grain. Unfortunately, he had poor relations with everyone, and no one had been willing to lend him any.

The old village chief nodded. As if delivering a final verdict with one hammer blow, he declared, "In my opinion, thieves must have snuck into our village last night to steal grain. They happened to run into Second Dog, who was going around borrowing grain, so they killed him to silence him."

The villagers all chimed in, "Right, right, right, that must be it."

"Mm, it looks like we need to strengthen our patrols and watch out for thieves stealing grain." The old village chief gave his conclusion. Then, without further nonsense, he called several people over and instructed them to carry Second Dog's upper body outside and bury it.

The matter was hastily wrapped up, sloppy as hell.

Fang Zhixing and Skinny Dog returned home, their moods inexplicably heavy.

Skinny Dog spoke telepathically, "Tsk tsk, the old village chief really is a master at playing dumb. He's like an ostrich in the desert—at the first sign of danger, he buries his head in the sand and pretends he can't see anything."

Fang Zhixing nodded and slowly analyzed the stakes. "The old village chief's family is the largest household in the village. There are dozens of them, with strength in numbers, and no one dares provoke the Zhao family. So no matter who chopped off Second Dog's legs, they couldn't possibly threaten the old village chief. But if he kept pressing this matter, he might force the murderer into becoming a cornered dog that jumps over the wall."

Skinny Dog gave two soft grunts. "Forget it. It has nothing to do with us anyway."

"How does it have nothing to do with us?"

Fang Zhixing's expression was extremely grave. "Second Dog was murdered because someone was probably starving to the brink and set their sights on him. But think carefully—why did they choose Second Dog?"

Skinny Dog pondered. "Second Dog was a single dog, living by himself..."

Suddenly, he snapped back to his senses. Staring at Fang Zhixing, he said in horror, "You could become a target too!"

"Both of us! If I get killed, do you think you can keep living alone?"

Fang Zhixing's face darkened. He muttered, "Motherfucker, why did I transmigrate into such a fucked-up world?"

Skinny Dog did not dare respond. In the end, the transmigration had happened because he had been too reckless.

Suddenly, Fang Zhixing stood up. Taking three steps as two, he went to a pile of clutter in the corner of the room.

After rummaging through it, he found a rusty hunting knife.

"The only thing in this house that can serve as a weapon is this hunting knife."

Fang Zhixing picked up the hunting knife, but he could not smile.

The blade had snapped in the middle. Its edge was either chipped full of gaps or curled over. One look was enough to tell that it had long since been ruined and could not cut anyone.

Skinny Dog suddenly reminded him, "Did you forget about the bow and arrows?"

Fang Zhixing said speechlessly, "Can a bow and arrow be used as a melee weapon? If you carry that thing around, it's useless when close combat suddenly breaks out."

Skinny Dog thought about it and agreed. The danger came from fellow villagers. They saw one another every day; if someone suddenly ambushed you, it would definitely be at point-blank range.

He consoled him, "Having something is better than having nothing."

Fang Zhixing sighed, walked beneath the eaves, and reached for the straight bow.

[Cold Weapon: Bow, made of honey locust wood, length 72 centimeters, maximum range approximately 60 meters]

The instant Fang Zhixing's hand touched the bow, an electric-shock-like sensation struck without warning, making him shudder.

Fang Zhixing's eyes widened. A translucent rectangular panel appeared out of nowhere before his eyes, glowing faintly.

[Apprentice Archer · Full-Level Requirements:

1. Perform 20 consecutive push-ups (Incomplete)

2. Hit the bullseye at least 10 meters away 5 times (Incomplete)]

"This is..."

Fang Zhixing froze where he stood.

"Holy shit, what is this?" Skinny Dog suddenly jumped in fright. His dog eyes widened, pupils focused ahead.

Fang Zhixing looked down and discovered that a translucent panel had also appeared above Skinny Dog's head, its glowing text flickering.

[Species: Canine]

[Talent: Dog Bond (When you remain by someone's side for a long time, you can receive synchronized improvements and awaken more talents)]

[Remaining Lives: 2]

"Fang Zhixing, look..." Skinny Dog raised his head, and then he saw the panel before Fang Zhixing as well.

Man and dog stared wide-eyed at each other, crying out at the same time.

"The cheat is here!"

"Our cheat ability has arrived!"

It was too exciting, too surprising!

Neither the troubled man nor the troubled dog had expected their cheat abilities to suddenly appear this way. It was a delightful surprise beyond all expectation.

Had it been triggered because Fang Zhixing touched the bow and arrows?

Skinny Dog stared at Fang Zhixing's panel and asked in surprise, "What kind of cheat is yours? What do these full-level requirements mean?"

Fang Zhixing pondered. "Based on my many years of gaming experience, mine should be a 'full-level cheat.' In other words, as long as I meet the corresponding requirements, I'll instantly obtain the result. For example, becoming an Apprentice Archer has two requirements. As long as I fulfill those two hard requirements, that's enough."

Skinny Dog was shocked. "You mean skipping the middle process and reaching the result in one step? Plant a seed and it blooms; when the flower opens, you see Buddha?"

Fang Zhixing nodded. "That should be how it works."

Skinny Dog found it utterly unbelievable. Clicking his tongue, he said, "If that's really the case, then it's far too heaven-defying."

Fang Zhixing added, "Your cheat looks pretty awesome too."

Skinny Dog considered it. "My [Bond Talent] seems to require binding myself to someone before it can take effect. Who should I bind to?"

At those words, Fang Zhixing sneered. "What's that supposed to mean? You weren't planning to bind to me? You want to hold out for a better price?"

Skinny Dog chuckled. "We're family, no need to talk like strangers. You understand me. Since I'm a dog with a cheat ability, if I don't find a few beauties to keep me company, I'd be letting myself down!"

Fang Zhixing understood. The moment this dead dog got his cheat, his true nature was exposed. He was already getting carried away.

His expression turned stern as he asked seriously, "What's with that [Remaining Lives: 2]? Do you have two lives?"