Chapter Summaries

Li Xuan woke to his family’s hardship and discovered he could see people’s and animals’ attributes through a hunting panel. He went into the woods to seek prey and ended the day spotting a wild rabbit.

• Li Xuan learned from his family’s arguments that his past behavior had left them hungry and unable to afford Li Shan’s medicine.
• Li Xuan discovered the hunting panel and saw that it displayed attributes, equipment, and available points.
• Li Xuan gathered a battered bow, rusty blade, and four poor-quality arrows from the woodshed, then left for the hills with a piece of flatbread.
• Li Xuan searched the safer forest fringes for rabbits and pheasants throughout the day, enduring exhaustion, hunger, and thirst.
• Li Xuan spotted a wild rabbit eating a berry and saw its physique and dexterity displayed above its head.

Li Xuan killed a rabbit, gained points, Archery Mastery, and Wild Rabbit Agility, then spent his points to improve his physique and archery. He returned home after dark with the rabbit and overheard Wang complaining that Li Zhong’s third brother had not come home.

• Li Xuan missed his first shot, but his arrow trapped a rabbit in thorny vines and his second shot killed it.
• Li Xuan found a second rabbit nearby and gained five points, Archery Mastery, and the Wild Rabbit Agility trait when he touched the carcasses.
• Li Xuan spent one point on Physique and the remaining four on Archery Mastery, which improved his strength and bow skills.
• Li Xuan freed and carried the rabbit home, moving more nimbly thanks to his new trait.
• Li Xuan arrived home after dark and overheard Wang complain that his third brother had not returned, while Li Zhong urged her to wait.

Li Xuan returned home with two rabbits he had hunted, surprising his impoverished family and easing their worries about food. He agreed to keep the fatter rabbit for a meal and have Wang sell the other rabbit and its pelts for grain.

• Li Xuan entered the family home as Wang scolded him for staying out, then set two wild rabbits on the table.
• Li Xiuer and Li Zhong reacted with delight and disbelief, while Wang questioned whether the rabbits were safe to eat.
• Li Shan examined the rabbits and recognized their fresh arrow wounds, then looked at Li Xuan with stern relief and lingering doubt.
• Li Zhong offered Li Xuan his jacket and urged him to warm himself by the hearth.
• Wang proposed keeping one rabbit and selling the other, and Li Xuan agreed to trade the thinner rabbit and pelts for grain.
• Li Xuan chose the fatter rabbit for the family to eat, and Wang happily began planning a stew.

After Li Xuan brought home a rabbit, his family shared a rare, hearty meal and began to trust that he had changed. The meal earned him 10 points, which he spent improving his archery as he prepared to hunt again.

• Li Shan and Li Zhong welcomed Li Xuan's rabbit, and the family prepared it for dinner.
• Li Zhong shared his meat with Li Shan and Wang, while Li Xuan urged Li Shan to eat his own portion and Xiuer eagerly enjoyed her share.
• Eating the rabbit gave Li Xuan 10 points, and Wang and Li Shan showed greater warmth toward him.
• Li Zhong offered to hunt with Li Xuan the next day, and Li Xuan promised Xiuer they would have meat regularly.
• Li Xuan spent all 10 points on Archery Mastery, advancing it from Unpracticed to Proficient.

Li Xuan’s archery skill advanced to the Proficient tier, and he prepared to hunt before Matchmaker Wang arrived with a marriage proposal from Shopkeeper Xu. She demanded thirty taels and that Li Xuan marry into the Xu Family and change his surname, leaving the Li family horrified as Li Shan rejected the demand.

• Li Xuan gained confidence in his improved archery and planned to go hunting after waking early.
• Matchmaker Wang barged into the Li family courtyard and announced that she had come to arrange Li Xuan’s marriage to Miss Xu.
• Matchmaker Wang said Shopkeeper Xu had raised the bride price to thirty taels and demanded that Li Xuan join the Xu Family and take the Xu surname.
• Li Zhong dropped his axe, Li Xiuer began to sob, and the family feared that Li Xuan might accept because of his former obsession with Miss Xu.
• Li Shan furiously ordered Matchmaker Wang to leave and declared that the Li family would never let their family line die out or change its surname.

Li Xuan rejected the Xu Family’s proposed marriage terms by demanding extravagant betrothal gifts, leaving Matchmaker Wang and his family stunned. After Matchmaker Wang hurried off to report his words, Li Xuan laughed and asked his family if they knew what “Praising to Death” meant.

• Matchmaker Wang urged Li Xuan to accept the Xu Family’s thirty-tael betrothal gifts and change his surname, claiming he had long loved Miss Xu.
• Li Xuan asked about another household’s fifty-tael offer, then declared that Miss Xu deserved at least a hundred taels, gold jewelry, jade hairpins, and Suzhou brocade.
• Matchmaker Wang eagerly agreed to relay Li Xuan’s demands to the Xu Family and left the Li household.
• Li Zhong, Wang, and Li Shan questioned Li Xuan about his extravagant demands and worried that he was making trouble for the family.
• Li Xuan burst out laughing and asked his family whether they knew what “Praising to Death” meant.

Li Xuan reassured his family that he had no intention of paying the Xu Family’s extravagant betrothal gifts and set out with Li Zhong to hunt mountain pheasants. They laid snares and bait in the woods, then watched as a pheasant dust-bathed just beyond their traps and seemed ready to leave.

• Li Xuan told Li Zhong, Wang, and Li Shan that his promise of a hundred taels was a ploy to keep the Xu Family and matchmaker at bay, and vowed to provide for the household.
• Li Xuan and Li Zhong went into the woods, where Li Xuan used his hunting knowledge to identify a pheasant dust-bathing spot.
• The brothers set concealed foot snares and a crude drop-basket trap, then hid nearby to wait.
• A male mountain pheasant arrived and bathed in the sand, but it avoided every snare and appeared ready to leave.

Li Xuan trapped and killed a pheasant, gaining the Featherfall trait and planning to hunt more effectively. When he returned to the village, he found Xu Wang and Xu Yulian waiting at his home to demand the hundred taels he had once promised, and he faced them without his predecessor’s infatuation.

• Li Xuan used Wild Rabbit Agility and a pebble to drive a pheasant into Li Zhong’s snare, then shot it with a precise arrow.
• Li Xuan gained hunting points, archery experience, and the Featherfall trait, which made him feel lighter and more nimble.
• Li Xuan told Li Zhong to take the pheasant home and planned to return at dawn or dusk to hunt when the birds were active.
• Li Xuan and Li Zhong heard that the Xu Family had come to the Li house expecting the hundred taels, leaving Li Zhong worried.
• Li Xuan saw Xu Wang and Xu Yulian waiting in their donkey cart and judged Xu Yulian far less beautiful than his predecessor had believed.

Li Xuan pretended to accept Xu Yulian's marriage terms, but Xu Wang insulted him and tried to take his pheasant. He called off the match and drove the Xu family and Matchmaker Wang away.

• Matchmaker Wang praised Li Xuan's supposed sincerity as Xu Wang and Xu Yulian arrived to discuss the marriage.
• Li Xuan claimed he remembered promising a hundred taels, gold, jade, and Suzhou satin, then asked for time to gather them.
• Xu Wang demanded Li Zhong's pheasant and called Li Xuan a mud-legged peasant, while Xu Yulian agreed with her mother.
• Li Xuan angrily rejected the marriage and knocked aside Xu Wang's attempt to take the pheasant.
• Wang and Li Zhong backed Li Xuan as he ordered the Xu family and Matchmaker Wang to leave and threatened them with his bow and blade.

Li Xuan drove Wang of the Xu Family and her entourage away by pretending to fly into a murderous rage. After revealing the act, he learned that his outburst had likely destroyed any chance of marrying Xu Yulian.

• Wang of the Xu Family accused Li Xuan of breaking his promises and tried to turn the villagers against him.
• Li Xuan pretended to go berserk, drew the Woodcutter's Blade, and struck the donkey cart, frightening Wang of the Xu Family and the others into fleeing.
• Wang of the Xu Family fell and was struck in the face by donkey dung, while Matchmaker Wang and Xu Yulian scrambled to escape.
• Li Zhong restrained Li Xuan until he dropped the blade, and Li Xuan calmly admitted he had been pretending.
• Li Shan warned Li Xuan that Wang of the Xu Family would hold a grudge and that he had likely lost any chance of marrying Xu Yulian.

Li Xuan convinced his family that he had truly broken with Xu Yulian and explained how he had publicly ruined the Xu Family’s reputation. After sharing a mountain pheasant meal with his family, he gained hunting points and strengthened his physique.

• Li Xuan told Li Shan, Li Zhong, and Wang that he no longer cared about Xu Yulian and had deliberately exposed the Xu Family’s excessive marriage demands.
• Li Shan accepted that Li Xuan had moved on, and the family gathered to eat the mountain pheasant Wang had cooked.
• Li Xuan gave Li Xiuer a piece of leg meat, and the family enjoyed the meal together.
• After eating, Li Xuan gained 10 hunting points and spent all 15 available points on Physique.
• Li Xuan’s Physique increased from 1.0 to 1.3, boosting his strength, endurance, and senses.

Li Xuan showed Li Shan that he could handle the family’s powerful hunting bow, and his father gave it to him to use in the mountains. Meanwhile, Li Xuan’s growing success became village gossip.

• Li Xuan asked Li Shan to let him try the Mulberry-Hardwood Bow so he could hunt larger game.
• Li Shan taught Li Xuan the bow stance and how to draw using his back and shoulders.
• Li Xuan performed the drawing motion with remarkable skill, astonishing Li Shan, Li Xiuer, and Xing'er.
• Li Shan gave Li Xuan the bow and warned him to be careful in the mountains.
• Women gathered beneath the village’s old locust tree and discussed the meat coming from the Li family’s home.

Wang defended Li Xuan against village gossip and Widow Zhao’s accusations, but grew alarmed when she realized he had gone into the mountains alone as snow began to fall. She hurried home intending to send her husband to search for him.

• Village women questioned Wang about Li Xuan’s sudden success as a hunter, and Wang said he had learned the skills his father and grandfather left behind.
• Widow Zhao accused Li Xuan of faking his hunting success, and Wang angrily defended him.
• Wang and Widow Zhao argued until Widow Zhao revealed that Li Xuan had entered the mountains alone that morning despite the worsening weather.
• Seeing snow begin to fall, Wang panicked, rushed home, and resolved to have her husband search for Li Xuan.

Li Xuan tracked and killed an adult wild mountain goat with his Ox-Horn Bow, gaining hunting points and the Swiftness trait. As he prepared to take the goat home, a nearby wolf pack howled across the snowy mountains.

• Li Xuan checked his traps, found fresh wild mountain goat tracks, and followed them through the snow.
• Li Xuan shot the goat from sixty paces, pursued it, and killed it with his Woodcutter's Blade.
• Li Xuan gained eight Hunting Points, significant physique experience, and the Swiftness trait.
• Li Xuan planned to take the goat's meat and sell its valuable skin to buy warm clothing and better equipment.
• A pack of wolves howled from beyond a distant ridge, and Li Xuan realized they were only one or two ridges away.

Li Xuan discovered that his hunting panel could tame beasts and contracted a dying wolf cub before racing home through the blizzard with meat and hide. As Wang and Li Zhong went to search for him, he returned to the village carrying a large animal’s hind legs and hide.

• Li Xuan found an abandoned wolf cub, spent five hunting points to contract it, and unlocked the beast-taming module.
• He tucked the cub inside his clothes for warmth and hurried downhill with the mountain goat’s legs and hide, leaving his pheasant trap unchecked.
• Widow Zhao mocked Li Xuan and predicted that Wang and Li Zhong would find him hiding or gambling.
• Wang and Li Zhong headed toward the mountain to search for Li Xuan despite Widow Zhao’s taunts.
• Li Zhong spotted Li Xuan approaching through the snow with two enormous animal hind legs and a roll of hide.

Li Xuan returned to the village with two hind legs and the intact hide of a mountain goat, silencing Widow Zhao’s earlier mockery and earning the crowd’s admiration. At home, he reassured his family about the wolves, planned to keep one leg for meat and sell the hide for winter clothing, then hinted that he had brought Li Xiuer another surprise.

• Li Xuan arrived beneath the old locust tree with the mountain goat’s hind legs and hide, and the villagers praised him while Widow Zhao muttered that he was merely lucky.
• Wang checked that Li Xuan was safe and led him and Li Zhong home, where Li Xiuer and Xing'er gathered around the goat legs.
• Li Shan reacted with astonishment when Li Xuan said he had killed the goat himself and left most of it on the mountain after hearing wolves howl.
• Wang and Li Zhong warned Li Xuan not to return to the mountains soon, while Li Xiuer eagerly hoped to eat the goat meat.
• Li Xuan said the family would keep one leg to eat and sell the intact hide to buy cotton, then told Li Xiuer he had brought her a little something.

Li Xuan brought home an abandoned wolf cub and invited Xing'er to stay for a meal, then chose to roast the goat meat instead of stewing it. As the fat dripped onto the coals, the room filled with the aroma of roasting meat.

• Li Xuan showed Li Xiuer the wolf cub he had rescued, and Li Shan warned him that its mother might come looking for it.
• Li Xuan explained that the cub had been abandoned and nearly frozen, so Li Shan allowed him to keep it with caution.
• Xing'er tried to leave, but Li Xuan and the family persuaded her to stay for dinner and promised to send soup to her grandmother.
• Li Xuan stopped Wang from stewing the goat leg and prepared to roast its meat over charcoal.
• The goat fat dripped onto the coals, filling the house with the aroma of roasting meat.

Li Xuan roasted the wild goat for his family, earning Hunting Points and a surge of physique experience from eating it. After arranging to accompany his brother and sister-in-law to the town market, he examined his Hunting Panel and noticed its Beast Pet and Enhanced Body Part entries.

• Li Xuan roasted the goat leg, and his family praised the meat while Xing'er saved some for her grandmother.
• Li Xuan gave Xing'er a bowl of goat soup to take home, then gained physique experience and 20 Hunting Points from eating the goat.
• Li Xuan proposed going to town with Li Zhong and Wang to sell the goatskin and herbs, and promised Li Xiuer a future trip with treats.
• That night, Li Xuan inspected his Hunting Panel and noticed the unnamed forest wolf cub listed as his Beast Pet and an Enhanced Body Part stat.

Li Xuan discovered that Little Gray had a severe congenital heart defect and used Hunting Points to cure it, then increased his own Dexterity before setting out for town with Wang and Li Zhong. The group was traveling through the snowy mountains when Wang and Li Zhong marveled at Li Xuan’s effortless agility.

• Li Xuan examined the beast companion panel and learned that Little Gray’s heart was failing and it had only five to twelve days to live.
• Li Xuan spent ten Hunting Points to cure Little Gray’s heart, stabilizing its life and increasing its growth speed by 35%.
• Li Xuan named the wolf cub Little Gray, left it in Li Xiuer’s care, and spent fifteen Hunting Points to raise his Dexterity from 1.0 to 1.4.
• Li Xuan, Wang, and Li Zhong set off before dawn for the town market, carrying medicinal herbs and other goods along the frozen mountain road.
• Li Xuan navigated the snow and ice with remarkable ease, leaving Wang and Li Zhong astonished by his stamina and agility.

Li Xuan’s strength and endurance amazed Li Zhong and Wang as they traveled through the snow, and he discovered large fish beneath a frozen river. He quietly scraped a small hole in the ice and baited it, leaving the family waiting to see whether the fish would approach.

• Li Zhong and Wang marveled at how quickly and easily Li Xuan carried his heavy load along the icy mountain trail.
• Li Xuan stopped at a sheltered spot to let his exhausted brother and sister-in-law rest, then noticed a frozen river nearby.
• Li Xuan spotted large fish moving beneath the ice and pointed them out to Li Zhong and Wang.
• Li Xuan asked Li Zhong to gather stiff reeds and a flat stone while Wang gave him crumbs of flatbread.
• Li Xuan scraped a small hole through the ice without making much noise and dropped crumbs into the water.
• Li Xuan, Li Zhong, and Wang waited as shadows began approaching the bait beneath the hole.