Killing someone didn't feel all that different!

Li Zhong added with a guileless look:

"Third Brother even saved Miss Shen-the daughter of Master Shen, who owns the biggest rice shop in town. Master Shen was so gracious, he insisted on thanking us. A lot of this stuff was practically forced into our hands."

He pointed at the bolt of fine indigo cloth. "Here, this was one of them. I hear it's pretty expensive."

Li Shan exhaled a mouthful of smoke and shook his head. "That boy Xuan... he's like a different person. He never had this kind of courage or ability before."

He, too, had been hot-blooded in his youth, and had encountered mountain bandits himself.

He knew those men were desperate villains driven into a corner.

From his son and daughter-in-law's animated account, Li Xuan's moves on the road had been clean and decisive, nothing that could have come from flailing around blindly.

"But this martial arts training... ah." He sighed.

"When I was young, I thought about it too. Went all the way to town to find a master. They felt my root bone and waved me away on the spot."

"Martial arts live on talent. The way that boy Xuan used to laze around, his body was barely stronger than an ordinary farmer's. How did he look like someone with good root bone? I'm just afraid it's a passing fancy. He'll go to the martial arts school, smack his nose against a closed door, and come home feeling miserable."

He tapped out his pipe bowl. "When he gets back, I'll have to have a proper talk with him. How could learning martial arts be that easy? Our family's finally starting to live a little better. With his hunting skills, wouldn't settling down, marrying a wife, and raising children be better than anything else?"

Li Zhong scratched his head. "Dad, I think Third Brother's serious this time. Even the look in his eyes has changed."

"Being serious doesn't mean he's got the fate for it..." Li Shan hadn't finished speaking.

"Third Brother! Third Brother's back!"

Xiu'er, who had been watching from the doorway all this time, suddenly cried out in delight, spun around, and ran outside.

The three people inside froze for a moment, then hurriedly got up to meet him.

In the hazy dusk, a familiar figure was striding along the village road. Who else could it have been but Li Xuan?

Though his face looked tired, a smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, and his gaze softened when he saw his little sister running toward him.

"Third Brother!" Xiu'er fluttered up to him like a little sparrow, tilting her small face up to look at him expectantly.

"Hey, Xiu'er."

Li Xuan stopped and rubbed her head, then pulled a little oilpaper packet from inside his robe as though performing a magic trick. "Here. I bought this in town."

Xiu'er took it and eagerly opened it. Inside were several bright red candied fruits and a few pieces of malt sugar candy.

The little girl's eyes lit up at once. She picked up a candied fruit and carefully put it in her mouth, squinting with delight at the sweetness. "Thank you, Third Brother!" she mumbled.

By then, Li Shan, Li Zhong, and Wang had reached them too.

"You really came back? I thought you'd have to stay at the martial arts school!"

As Wang spoke, she looked Li Xuan up and down. Seeing that he was tired but still in good spirits, with no injuries on him, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Zhong grinned. "Third Brother, how'd it go? Did the school take you?"

Li Shan said nothing, merely watching his son with his tobacco pipe clutched in his hand.

Li Xuan smiled and nodded. "They did. The school master read Master Shen's letter and let me stay."

"They really took you?!" Wang was both surprised and delighted. "Oh, that's wonderful! Come on, let's talk inside. The food's still hot! You must be worn out after today."

The family crowded around Li Xuan and ushered him into the house.

The battered wooden table in the main room was already set with an unusually generous meal.

There was a large plate of stir-fried greens, with a big bowl of glossy braised pork in the middle, its aroma filling the air. Clearly, Wang had spared no expense celebrating today's "bountiful harvest."

They sat around the table, and Li Zhong filled a large bowl to the brim with brown rice for Li Xuan.

Li Shan sat down as well, looked at Li Xuan, and slowly spoke:

"Xuan, tell your father-what's it like... inside the martial arts school? The school master didn't give you a hard time, did he? Is the training... tough?"

Everyone's eyes settled on Li Xuan.

Even Xiu'er forgot about her candy and blinked up at her third brother.

After hearing him out, Li Shan and Wang exchanged a glance, the worry on their faces deepening.

With poor root bone, and without even going to the school every day, what could he possibly learn?

"Third Brother," Wang couldn't help saying, "don't push yourself. Martial arts aren't something to play around with. I've heard that if your qi goes astray during practice, it can damage your body! Our family's only just started getting back on its feet. You mustn't..."

"Sister-in-law, I know what I'm doing."

Li Xuan interrupted her, his voice calm yet carrying a certainty that somehow put people at ease.

"A senior brother at the school said I could practice on my own normally. I only need to go once a week to collect the medicinal decoction and get guidance. I'll be careful. I won't do anything reckless."

Naturally, he couldn't tell them about adding points, but his confidence was solid and real. Root bone? What's that? As long as I have prey and points, anything is possible!

Seeing that no persuasion could sway him and his mind was already made up, Li Zhong said guilelessly:

"Third Brother can definitely do it!"

Li Shan opened his mouth, but finally swallowed the words of persuasion.

Forget it. This boy used to be a layabout, and now he's finally decided to do something proper. It might seem a little unrealistic, but it's still better than idling his days away.

Seeing how relaxed he looks, he's probably just going to the school to see what it's like. Once he realizes how hard it is after a while, he'll come back on his own.

Thinking of it that way, Li Shan actually felt a little more at ease.

"All right, then. As long as you've got your own plans. Let's eat, let's eat. The meat's nearly cold!"

Wang stopped trying to persuade him too and urged everyone to pick up their chopsticks.

The meal passed in warm harmony, the aroma of braised pork and the family's laughter filling the humble main room.

After dinner, Li Shan puffed on his pipe and gave Li Xuan a meaningful look. "Xuan, come here a moment."

Understanding, Li Xuan followed his father into the inner room.

Once the door was shut, the ease vanished from Li Shan's face, and he lowered his voice to ask:

"What happened on the road today... tell me the truth. How did you deal with those bandits? Did you really... finish them all off?"

Although he believed his son and daughter-in-law, it still felt a little unreal.

Li Xuan nodded and concealed nothing:

"Yes. I used arrows. Caught them off guard and called their names one by one."

He said it casually, as though talking about shooting a mountain pheasant.

Li Shan stared into his eyes for a long while before slowly exhaling a mouthful of smoke.

"After killing people... didn't you feel uneasy at all?"

Li Xuan fell silent for a moment, recalling how he had felt then.

"A little at first. Nauseous, dizzy, my hands shook a bit. But... it passed quickly."

The discomfort had faded so quickly that even he found it somewhat strange, as though this body-or something deep within his soul-had an extraordinary ability to adapt to such things.

Perhaps this, too, was some sort of change brought about by his transmigra-

tion?

Li Shan gave him another searching look, but didn't pursue the question. He merely sighed.

"The way things are going... it looks like peace really is slipping away. Our area borders the mountains and has always been poor and remote. It's been years since anyone heard of mountain bandits daring to rob people on that road. Now even they've started showing their heads..."

Li Xuan's heart sank a little too.

Although he didn't know much about ancient history, he understood the basic patterns.

Weakened government control and proliferating banditry were often signs that an age of chaos was approaching. The road ahead would probably be even harder to travel.

"When you go to town again, you'll have to be extra careful."

Li Shan warned him, "You were lucky this time. The ones you ran into were just a few petty thieves who couldn't amount to much. What if... what if one or two trained martial artists were hiding among them? Even if they were only at the level of outer-court disciples, those arrows of yours might not work."

"I understand, Dad."