He lowered his voice, anger simmering in it. "A few years back, Old Zhang from our village and Chen Fourth over on the west side went into the mountains to hunt roe deer and water deer. Several times, just when the prey was practically in their hands, that gang cut in halfway and snatched it away. Said everyone who saw it deserved a share, but it was outright robbery!"
"The two villages nearly came to blows over it. They reined themselves in a little afterward, but they still picked on anyone alone or easy to bully. Xuan, if you run into him alone in the mountains, especially if he finds out you've gotten something good, be careful! That bunch have black hearts and vicious hands!"
Li Xuan listened quietly, his earlier suspicions gradually coming into focus.
Wang Kui looked a little older than his eldest brother, Li Zhong, but definitely younger than his father.
No wonder his attributes were a notch above an ordinary person's. He really had trained at a martial arts school.
Still, judging by his father's tone, he probably hadn't amounted to much. Otherwise, he wouldn't have returned to the village to engage in this sort of business.
That meant Wang Kui was almost certainly responsible for destroying his pheasant traps and taking his catches.
He had come all the way from Wang Family Gully to the area around Li Family Village.
Had he hooked up with Widow Zhao, heard from her about Li Xuan's frequent catches lately, and started scheming?
"Got your eye on me?" Li Xuan's gaze chilled slightly. He really wasn't afraid of that now.
Still, out of caution, he wanted to learn a little more about his opponent:
"Dad, you said he spent some time at a martial arts school? Do you know... how good he actually got?"
Li Shan shook his head, his expression a mixture of gravity and disdain:
"Outsiders can't say exactly how far he got. All I heard was that his family apparently came into a little money back then and scraped together enough to send him to a martial arts school in town. He stayed for two or three years, I think. Then they couldn't afford to keep paying, so he came back."
"He did show off for a while after he returned. He was stronger than most people, and his moves looked decent enough. They say two or three ordinary men couldn't get near him. But that's all there was to it. If he'd really become a martial artist who'd developed 'internal force,' why would he hole up in the village doing this sort of chicken-stealing, dog-snatching business?"
He looked at Li Xuan and warned him solemnly:
"But you can't underestimate him, either. He did train properly for a few years and toughen up his muscles and bones. His fists, feet, and weapon skills must be much better than an ordinary farmer's. If it comes to a fight, we'll suffer for it. Remember, try to avoid that gang in the mountains. If you really can't avoid them, give up the prey. Staying safe matters most."
"I understand, Dad."
Li Xuan nodded and said nothing more.
Inwardly, though, his calculations became clearer.
Taking Wang Kui's attributes-Physique 1.8 and Dexterity 1.6-together with his father's words, he was probably at the level of someone who had trained but never amounted to much. Stronger than an ordinary person, but likely still short of the threshold of body tempering or internal force.
Li Xuan had his current attributes, plus his equipment bonuses.
With his proficient-level archery and beginner's boxing skills, he might well stand a fighting chance if they came face-to-face.
Of course, unless necessary, he had no desire to go looking for trouble.
But if the other man really came bullying him and crossed his bottom line again and again, Li Xuan wasn't some soft persimmon anyone could squeeze.
He hurried out again, plunging into the rain-veiled night.
The mountain path was slick and muddy, making the going difficult.
Relying on his memory and the inconspicuous markers he had left along the way, Li Xuan led his eldest brother toward the hidden meat, their steps sinking unevenly into the mud.
By the time they reached that patch of woods, it was completely dark.
They could make things out only by the last traces of daylight and the occasional faint gleam filtering through the trees, shattered by the threads of rain.
"It's in that pit up ahead." Li Xuan pointed at a pitch-black clump of bushes.
He quickened his pace, walked over, and pulled aside the branches and leaves covering it.
The pit was completely empty!
All that remained was a dark red bloodstain blurred by the rain, along with scattered broken leaves and twigs trampled into the mud.
"Where's the meat?!"
Li Zhong froze. He raised his pinewood torch to shine it around, then hurried to the edge of the pit for a closer look.
"Could... could a bear or a pack of wolves have dragged it away?"
Li Xuan said nothing, his face looking grim in the flickering firelight.
He crouched and carefully examined the edge of the pit and the surrounding mud.
The rain had washed away many of the traces, but some remained.
He reached out a finger and poked through the mud, then examined several flattened grass stems nearby.
"It wasn't an animal." Li Xuan slowly stood, his voice cold.
"These are human footprints. At least two people. There are marks from dragging something heavy, too. They went that way."
He pointed in a direction-the very area where he had discovered those unfamiliar traps that afternoon.
Li Zhong immediately flushed with fury, his neck bulging. "After them! Those meat thieves can't have gone far!"
Anger flared again and again in Li Xuan's chest as well.
He could have treated the destroyed pheasant traps and stolen catches as a fluke and swallowed the loss in silence.
But he had risked himself and put in tremendous effort to kill this wild boar, only for someone to steal half of it outright!
This was no longer petty freeloading. It was blatant robbery!
Even a clay figure had a little temper, let alone him, now that he had the strength to back it up.
"Let's go!"
Li Xuan spat out those words and took the lead, pursuing the footprints and drag marks.
Li Zhong and Wang followed close behind, one gripping a carrying pole and the other clutching a woodcutter's blade.
The rain kept falling, making the woods feel even colder and more silent.
Following the trail wasn't easy. The rain had washed away many clues.
But the thieves were carrying heavy prey.
The drag marks and footprints they left in the mud could still be followed.
After pursuing them for a little over half a kilometer and rounding a dense patch of woods, they faintly heard voices and saw a weak glow ahead.
They lightened their steps, crept closer, and hid behind a thick clump of bushes to peer ahead.
In a small, relatively level clearing, a little campfire burned, illuminating three figures.
Three men in hunters' short outfits surrounded a large heap of bloody flesh.
It was the half-carcass of wild boar Li Xuan had hidden!
They were cutting it into chunks with their knives, laughing and chatting as they worked.
"Brother Wang, you've got sharp eyes! That big idiot hid it pretty well. If you hadn't smelled something off, we'd have missed it!"
"Of course. Who do you think I am? Anything going on in these mountains that can escape my eyes and nose?"
A slightly hoarse voice rang out, tinged with smugness.
Li Xuan focused his gaze. In the firelight, that fleshy face belonged to none other than Wang Kui, whom he had seen at the village entrance that morning!
Another man, tall and thin, sliced off a large piece of tenderloin and hefted it in his hand:
"Tsk, tsk, this meat's really rich. Thick fat, too! That kid does have some skill, bringing down such a big brute. Too bad for him-it's all ours now! Hahaha!"
Wang Kui sneered:
"Skill? Just stumbled into a pile of dog-shit luck. That old bastard Li Shan was nothing special even when he was young. What, is his son going to overturn the heavens? This meat was meant to give us brothers a feast! Hurry up. Once it's cut, we leave. This rain won't stop anytime soon."
Listening to their brazen conversation, watching them divide up the prey he had risked himself to hunt,
Li Xuan's gaze turned utterly cold, and the veins on the back of the hand gripping his woodcutter's blade rose slightly.
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