Trait: Featherfall!

Just then, inspiration struck Li Xuan, and he instinctively activated "Wild Rabbit Agility."

This trait brought more than a lighter body. It also seemed to grant a subtle sense of how small animals behaved.

His fingers twitched. He picked up a pebble beside his foot, gauged the distance and wind direction, and drew on the precision his "proficient" archery gave him. With a flick of his finger, he sent it flying!

The pebble traced a low, flat arc and struck a clump of low bushes behind and to one side of the Mountain Pheasant with a crack, making just enough noise.

Startled, the Mountain Pheasant lunged forward! Its path led straight toward the carefully concealed snare!

Snap! Scrrr-

The thin cord pulled taut, followed immediately by the Mountain Pheasant's panicked clucking and violent flapping!

The snare had caught its foot firmly. The more it struggled, the tighter the slipknot cinched.

"Got it!" Li Zhong growled, grabbing his billhook and starting forward.

"Big Brother, wait!" Li Xuan was faster. He had already risen, nocked an arrow, and drawn his bow!

He knew the trapped Mountain Pheasant still had a good chance of escaping. He had to finish it with a fatal shot.

He had barely known what he was doing when he shot the rabbit before. Drawing his bow today felt entirely different.

With the battered Mulberry Wood Bow in his hands, the muscles of his arms naturally followed the remembered chain of force, steady as a rock.

His gaze, the rusted arrowhead, and the vulnerable chest and belly exposed by the Mountain Pheasant's struggles aligned in an instant.

Without hesitation, he released. The bowstring quivered, and the arrow flew!

This shot was swift, steady, and true! Its sharp, powerful whistle through the air was nothing like yesterday's.

Thud!

The arrow buried itself precisely between the Mountain Pheasant's chest and belly. The force sent it tumbling, and after a few more flaps, it lay still.

[Hunting points +5]

[Archery Mastery experience increased]

[Trait acquired: Featherfall (white)]

[Featherfall (white): Slightly reduces body weight and enhances lightness, providing an advantage when falling from heights or moving through complex terrain. (Active)]

It worked! And I got a complete trait outright!

A fresh warmth flowed into his body, carrying an even more airy feeling than "Wild Rabbit Agility."

Li Xuan felt as though his body had grown a little lighter again. It was not weakness, but a nimbleness that made it easier to control.

He tried rising slightly onto his toes and found it remarkably effortless.

At the same time, a few questions surfaced in his mind.

Can all these traits be equipped at once?

Then if I hunt a hundred different kinds of animals, wouldn't I get bonuses from a hundred different traits?

The thought filled Li Xuan with excitement.

"Fine shooting!"

Li Zhong had already rushed over and picked up the still-bleeding Mountain Pheasant. He hefted it, his face brimming with delight.

"Must weigh three or four jin! Look at those beautiful feathers!"

Li Xuan walked over, pulled out the arrow, and wiped it clean.

The Mountain Pheasant was still warm. Its colorful feathers gleamed splendidly in the sunlight, though they would soon be plucked away.

He cared more about his new trait.

With "Featherfall" added to "Wild Rabbit Agility," his agility and ability to handle difficult terrain already far surpassed those of an ordinary mountain villager.

That would undoubtedly be a tremendous help when he ventured deeper into more treacherous mountain forests.

"Big Brother, pack up the trap. Let's take this Mountain Pheasant home for today."

Li Xuan spoke, making plans in his mind.

"The shriveled grain works as bait. Tomorrow, let's come earlier and ambush them where they feed, when they're active around dawn and dusk. Today... we learned something about the creatures' habits."

Li Zhong had no objections, of course, and cheerfully packed up the trap.

He could not make sense of the increasingly calm, sharp changes in his third brother, but the weight of the game in his hands did not lie.

By the time the brothers headed down the mountain, the sun was nearing its zenith.

On the way, Li Xuan pondered his five new points. Where should he put them this time?

"Featherfall" focused on lightness. Perhaps he could add more to Physique, building a stronger foundation of strength so he could draw a heavier bow.

Or...

Should he save them and see whether his next prey required a particular attribute to unlock a better trait?

When Li Xuan and Li Zhong returned to the village entrance carrying the Mountain Pheasant and their tools, they found the place buzzing.

Several youngsters raced past.

"Quick, get to the Li house! The Xu Family's fairy is here again! There's red cloth tied to the cart. It must be something wonderful!"

Baffled, Li Xuan stopped one of the children to ask.

"The Xu Family came in person?"

"Yeah, Brother Xuan! Everyone's gone to watch the fun. You're the star of the show-hurry up!"

In the village, household gossip traveled fast, and everyone knew everyone else.

Several gossiping women seated near the village entrance were also talking about Li Xuan.

"Did you hear? The Xu Family went over again! This time, Xu Yulian hasn't even gotten off the cart. She's clearly waiting for the Li family's third son to kowtow to her!"

"A hundred taels! Gold bracelets and jade hairpins! Li Laosan has blown his boast sky-high this time. Let's see how he gets it back down!"

Li Zhong's legs nearly gave way. The Mountain Pheasant in his hand suddenly felt as hot as a branding iron.

He looked at his younger brother, his voice trembling.

"Third Brother... those hundred taels... they haven't really taken it seriously, have they? What are we going to do?"

Li Xuan glanced toward the Li house in the village, somewhat surprised.

The "astronomical price" he had tossed out earlier had really been nothing more than an offhand remark.

Surely anyone with a working head could tell it was unreasonable?

He had never expected them to have the gall to demand it!

They really thought he was a lovesick sucker whose devotion never changed, and had climbed right up the pole he offered to demand he make good on it.

But Li Xuan did not care in the slightest.

"Let's go home." His voice was even, betraying no emotion. "It's a blessing, not a curse."

They were still some distance from home when the clamor washed over them.

The donkey cart with its faded red cloth still blocked the gate in the fence, with Xu Wang and Xu Yulian sitting primly upon it.

Xu Yulian was the Miss Xu his predecessor had been infatuated with.

She wore a pale pink outfit of fine cloth that was still in fairly good condition. In a village full of coarse gray and brown clothing, she certainly stood out.

Her face had clearly been carefully made up, with rouge applied to her cheeks.

But whether from poor technique or coarse rouge, the two patches of red looked pasted on, their edges distinctly unnatural.

In short, she was a rustic village girl with a little beauty.

Xu Wang was Xu Yulian's mother. She had a classic pair of triangular eyes, their outer corners drooping slightly, and always looked at people with a habitual gleam of appraisal and calculation.

Her cheekbones were high, and her lips were thin.

Even when she was not speaking, she habitually pressed them together. One look told him she would be difficult to deal with.

This was the fucking goddess my predecessor groveled over?

Li Xuan's gaze swept across their faces, and an overwhelming sense of absurdity caught him completely off guard.

Isn't she just an ordinary village girl?

In the information-saturated age of his previous life, Li Xuan had seen thousands of beautiful women, if not tens of thousands. His standards had long since risen.

Xu Yulian's looks were at the level where, if she ate from his fruit platter at a karaoke lounge, he would have called the police.

Absolutely insane!

Li Xuan almost wanted to pry open his predecessor's head and see whether it was stuffed with straw.

Seeing Li Xuan look over, Xu Wang's triangular eyes flashed with shrewd delight, and she smugly nudged her daughter.

Taking the cue, Xu Yulian lowered her eyes. The two unnatural patches of rouge on her cheeks seemed even more obvious as she twisted her handkerchief between her fingers and coyly called out:

"Third Brother Li..."

That "Third Brother Li" wound through a hundred lilting turns. In the past, it would probably have melted the original owner's bones.

But to Li Xuan now, it sounded utterly affected.