A Test

"Xuan'er, is that you back?"

"Mother, it's me. Look at the good thing I brought back for you!" Duan Xuan rushed into the house in one burst of energy.

Then he pulled out a bundle of cloth tucked deep inside his clothes. Inside was over half a white steamed bun, still giving off a faint warmth.

"A steamed bun?"

Duan Xuan nodded and gently pulled away the weeds and animal hide his mother had been sewing.

He stuffed the bun into his old mother's wrinkled hands.

"Mother, eat it while it's hot. The martial hall gave it to me. Master Chen Feng took me in as a nominal disciple."

Duan Xuan had originally wanted to bring the whole bun back for his mother, but after practicing stance training all afternoon, he had already been exhausted to the bone, so he had eaten half of it.

"Good, good!" Zhou Fang's eyes seemed to have gotten sand in them, and she could barely keep them open.

When she opened them again, tears spilled uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes. Hearing this news made her happier than buying ten hides.

She knew she could not help her son with anything, but she only hoped that everything he wanted to do would succeed, and every place he wanted to go, he could reach.

To have such a sensible child, and for him to happen to be my son—is there anything in the world more blissful than this?

"Is there enough money for the tuition?" Zhou Fang did not hurry to eat. She picked up the handkerchief beside her and wiped the sticky sweat from her son's face.

"Mm, it's enough. Master Chen Feng is a very good man, and Senior Brother Zhang Chen has been especially kind to me.

"Mother, you don't need to worry about anything. I'll bring you steamed buns every day!"

After saying that, Duan Xuan stood up, picked up his bow, arrows, and small knife from the side, and prepared to leave.

"Mother, eat quickly, or it'll go cold soon. I'm going to the back mountain.

"I set a few traps yesterday. I'll see if there's any prey. I'll be back shortly, so don't worry."

Watching her son's departing back, Zhou Fang's heart was both bitter and sweet.

Her man, Duan Jian, had been gone for three years. Her son had truly grown up!

"Among the disciples who came today, either their natural aptitude is better than mine, or their qi and blood is stronger.

"But as long as I advance steadily and fight a secure battle, I won't let them leave me too far behind with the system!"

Duan Xuan had already made up his mind. He would practice at the martial hall during the day and hunt in the mountains at night.

He had deeply committed Master Chen Feng's words to heart. Martial cultivation depended on qi and blood, and qi and blood could not be separated from nourishment, killing, and training.

Of those, nourishment came first, which showed just how important dietary supplements were to qi and blood.

Senior Brother Zhang Chen had also rattled off many powerful tonics for him, but all of them were expensive. To nourish oneself, one needed money.

What Duan Xuan lacked most right now was money, so hunting could not be neglected. He needed to trade those pelts for more money.

One part would support the household, another would deal with those mountain bandits for the time being. The last would prepare for his own future need for nourishment.

"However, Senior Brother Zhang Chen also said that meat is the most natural supplement for qi and blood.

"Though it isn't as valuable as expensive tonics, it's extremely useful in the early stages of martial cultivation!"

Very quickly, Duan Xuan found the six traps buried beneath the snow.

These traps were made from sharpened bamboo stakes. So long as prey stepped into one, it would snap shut at once.

At best, it would pierce the skin. At worst, it would sever tendons and shatter bones.

Two of the traps could shoot prey struggling after falling into them. They were tied high in the treetops.

If a wild rabbit or sika deer stepped into the trap and struggled in place, it would shoot out with a whoosh and pierce straight through the prey's body.

He cautiously examined the snow. The saying that heavy snow sealed off the mountains was no joke.

Especially in a gorge with deep ravines like this, the snow piled up thick.

With sunlight unable to reach in fully, it would take at least one or two months to melt.

Thus, telling the signs apart was an extreme test of eyesight.

"Ah, what a pity. I only caught one gray rabbit again?"

After checking all six traps, only one had caught any prey. The millet in the others had all been eaten, yet nothing had taken the bait.

Duan Xuan frowned, pulled out his dagger, and hurriedly crouched down to reset the traps.

In the end, he tightened the two bamboo animal traps again and scattered two or three grains of millet into them.

As for the two traps with wooden crossbows, he readjusted their angles and widened the range of the animal traps below.

That was right. Duan Xuan intended to gamble big. It would be best if he could catch a sika deer the next time he came.

If not a sika deer, then a hog badger, mountain pheasant, fox, or something else would do. Especially a hog badger—its badger oil could be pressed out.

It could treat frostbite on the skin. Though the bitter winter had passed, that did not mean winter itself was gone. There were still plenty of people suffering from frostbite.

He remembered that last year, he had used an entire jar of badger oil and earned two hundred copper coins.

After setting everything up, Duan Xuan carried the wild rabbit and headed quickly down the mountain. Yet just as he reached the western end of the village, people dressed in Wolf Stronghold clothing blocked the road ahead.

"You mangy dog, those two white foxes of yours were caught within the mountains claimed by Wolf Stronghold, weren't they? Who gave you the nerve?"

Two-Scar led his two capable thugs, Jackal and Black Cat. They directly stopped seven or eight hunters.

The hunters who had been smiling moments ago stiffened as though they had seen the star of calamity when they saw the three men.

Yet where there was contention, there was resistance. Old Dai's two sons refused to submit to the gang and directly argued back.

"We caught these in the wild mountains. We've never even gone to the mountains belonging to Wolf Stronghold!"

"Good brat, you dare challenge your Lord Dog? Would Lord Dog not know whether your barren mountain has white foxes? Kneel!"

"I won't kneel! Last time, Uncle Li's sika deer was called one from Wolf Stronghold's mountain too. Why do you get to say the white foxes are yours as well? Look, look at this—I refuse to accept it!"

Smack!

Black Cat's massive palm tore through the air. Dressed all in black, he was almost impossible to see in the night, and Old Dai's two sons were slammed viciously to the ground before they could even make him out.

"You bunch of swine, Wolf Stronghold showed great mercy by marking out mountains for you to survive in. Not only do you not know gratitude, you've even learned to talk back to us. You deserve a beating!"

As the final two words slipped from his lips, Black Cat stomped brutally on Second Dai's neck as if crushing an insect.

With a crack, Second Dai spat out a mouthful of blood. Black Cat did not stop there.

Another vicious stomp followed, and Second Dai's neck was crushed flat.

"Second Brother! I'll fight you to the death!" Eldest Dai yanked out his bamboo knife and lunged to stab Two-Scar in the waist and belly.

Two-Scar's lips curled slightly.

Before the sharp knife point could reach him, Jackal's fist flew through the air. Bang! Eldest Dai's face was smashed apart on the spot.

What followed was the cruel trampling of Jackal and Black Cat.

It went on for a full six or seven minutes. Eldest Dai and Second Dai no longer looked human, and nearly every bone in their bodies had been broken. The surrounding hunters dared to rage but did not dare to speak.

Damn Wolf Stronghold. Jackal and Black Cat are actually trained martial artists! Though Duan Xuan had only encountered martial cultivation today, he had watched the other senior brothers practice.

The two men struck viciously, going straight for vital points.

Moreover, their movements were highly skilled. They had clearly practiced certain techniques.

But compared to the vigorous qi and blood of Senior Brother Zhang Chen—

Duan Xuan judged that neither had crossed the first threshold into the Bright Realm. The same went for Two-Scar.

Just like that, two lives were gone.

Not only did Two-Scar and the other two show no remorse, their faces were filled with demonic smiles.

In the hunters' eyes, they were monsters—demonic beasts that devoured people without even spitting out the bones.

After that display, the hunters had no choice but to hand over every valuable piece of game they had caught.

"You little bastard, when you see your Lord Scar, you don't come out to kowtow? Where are you hiding?"

Two-Scar grabbed Duan Xuan, who had been hiding at the very back of the crowd.

Then he viciously kicked him in the stomach.

Duan Xuan grunted, clutching his stomach as he staggered backward and knocked over two hunters.

"I'm telling you, brat from the Duan family, you're fucking useless!

"Last time, you caught half a wild rabbit. This time, you barely caught one, and it's a scrawny little rabbit just like you. Bring your Lord Scar something good next time!"

When Duan Xuan raised his head, his rabbit and the things held by the other hunters had already been taken away.

The three men hummed a tune as they planned to go enjoy themselves that night.

"Kid Duan, are you all right?"

Several people helped Duan Xuan to his feet.

Duan Xuan thanked them, a smile unnoticed by anyone curling at the corner of his mouth.

He came to a judgment in his heart: This Two-Scar doesn't know martial arts!