Five-stone Bow

Night.

Daliushu Village, Fang Mu's home.

In the dim room, Chen Shi tossed and turned, unable to sleep at all.

Then she reached out and patted Father Fang beside her.

"Dear, do you think Zhi'er might run into some accident on this trip?"

"He's never traveled far before. Xiahe County Town is so far away—what if something happens to him on the road?"

"Ah, I shouldn't have agreed to let him go yesterday. How did I let lard cloud my heart and agree to it?"

She kept rambling on, but after talking for ages, she received no response.

"Are you even listening to me?" Chen Shi raised her voice several notches.

"Hm? What did you say? Yes, yes, you're right!" Father Fang's voice was somewhat confused, but he seemed to suddenly come back to himself and hurriedly replied.

"Then what did I just say?"

"You said... this, you said... that..."

Father Fang hemmed and hawed. His eyes flew open, and he was fully awake now. Though it was the autumn tiger and the lingering heat had yet to fade, a cold sweat broke out all over him at this moment!

"You definitely weren't listening! Zhi'er is going on a long journey for the first time in his life, and you're not worried at all!"

"You heartless man!"

Chen Shi viciously pinched Fang Mu's back, making him suck in a sharp breath.

He did not dare make a sound, afraid of waking Fang Cheng and Fang Lan in the other two rooms next door.

He could not lose face in front of the children.

Mm, he could only endure it.

"Zhi'er has Brother Fang Hu with him. You know his capabilities—he goes to the County Town every month. Following him is even safer than following the villagers."

Father Fang bared his teeth and sucked in cold breaths as he rubbed the spot she had pinched, explaining in a low voice.

"Mm-hm, I know that too, but I just can't help worrying. My Zhi'er is still so young." Chen Shi naturally knew that following Fang Hu would be safe. She was simply worried.

When a son traveled a thousand miles, his mother worried; the thread in a loving mother's hand stitched every seam tightly before her child set out. Since ancient times, it had always been so.

"Sleep now, sleep. Zhi'er will be back in a few days."

"Are you all right? Does it still hurt? Let me rub it for you."

"It's fine, it's already fine. Hurry up and sleep."

In the wild countryside, at the Camp.

The firewood they had picked up by the river was somewhat damp, and the bonfire crackled and popped.

"Uncle Fang Hu, you haven't slept for most of the night. Let me take over the watch."

Fang Yue opened his eyes and looked up at the stars filling the sky, roughly estimating the time.

There were still more than two shichen until dawn.

"Hehe, no rush. Since you're awake, there are some things I should tell you."

Fang Hu smiled faintly. In the firelight, only his white teeth showed, while his bright gaze seemed able to pierce the darkness.

"Please, go ahead," Fang Yue said.

"Originally, I planned to take you to Xiahe County Town next month. But this time, I brought you along instead. Do you know why?"

Fang Hu was extremely solemn, making Fang Yue tense up for no apparent reason.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yue immediately understood.

This time, Fang Hu had brought him to Xiahe County Town not simply to broaden his horizons. There seemed to be another purpose.

It was related to his performance yesterday, wasn't it? After his aptitude had reached one in a hundred yesterday, his training in stance work and the Breathing Technique seemed to have entered an entirely new level.

If he had not seen wrongly at the time, even Uncle Fang Hu had been startled.

And then there was that moment when Uncle Fang Hu had made him drink two bowls of medicinal tea. He had given Fang Yue even Fang Ergou's bowl.

Although Uncle Fang Hu had covered it up, Fang Yue could not possibly fail to notice such unusual behavior.

Then came this trip to Xiahe County Town.

Er Gou had told him before that they only went to Xiahe County Town in the middle of each month, yet it was only the beginning of the month now.

All the signs showed that this trip to Xiahe County Town had another purpose.

With that thought, Fang Yue said, "Is it because of what happened yesterday?"

He was unlike an ordinary village boy.

Over the past few months, he had gradually revealed this trait, and those around him had slowly accepted it.

Therefore, his current behavior was perfectly normal. He did not need to worry about anyone thinking he had been possessed by evil.

"Mm, that is indeed the case. You're very clever. If Er Gou were even half as clever as you, I wouldn't need to worry so much."

Fang Hu sighed softly, then continued:

"However, do you know why I alone have the best hunting skills in the village, while almost no one else goes hunting?"

Hearing this, Fang Yue had been about to say it was because Fang Hu possessed Martial Arts, which was why his hunting skills were the best.

But then he realized that explanation did not seem to hold up, because there truly did not seem to be any other hunters in the village.

Could it be that, just because their hunting skills were limited, they simply did not become hunters?

After all, even among the village boys who had copied him in fishing, there had been several who persisted.

Only later, when the water level dropped—a change in the heavens beyond human power to alter—had they been forced to stop fishing.

But the mountains and forests could be entered in all four seasons.

So why was there no second hunter?

Could it be that merely because they caught little game, they chose not to become hunters?

After all, this was not fishing. Fish could only be eaten themselves or traded within the village for some grain.

Yet certain pelts and Animal Bones acquired through hunting could be used to pay taxes.

The significance was different. It should have attracted quite a few people to make it their profession.

But in all of Daliushu Village, over all these years, it seemed—apparently—only Fang Hu had been a professional hunter.

He had never thought there was anything strange about it before, but after hearing Fang Hu say this, doubt arose in his heart as well.

"I... don't know." Fang Yue shook his head.

"To enter the mountains to hunt, the minimum requirement is being able to skillfully use a Five-stone bow. A Five-stone bow requires a thousand jin of strength!"

Fang Yue could not help sucking in a cold breath.

He knew that in this world, a one-stone bow meant one hundred and sixty jin of force. Thus, a Five-stone bow had a starting requirement of eight hundred jin of strength.

That was merely enough to draw a Five-stone bow to full draw, but one would surely be exhausted after firing only a few arrows.

So to use it normally and skillfully, one's strength naturally had to be even greater.

One naturally needed more than a thousand jin of strength.

Yet in these times, ordinary people could not even eat their fill and had little strength left for work. Even if they could eat as much as they wanted, eat meat, and never worry about hunger, it was likely still impossible to train up a thousand jin of strength.

Thus, this requirement was naturally extremely high.

In Fang Yue's estimation, only those who practiced Martial Arts could likely meet it.

And if the minimum requirement for hunting was this high, there could only be one reason: the prey was exceedingly fierce!

"If you can't draw a Five-stone bow, entering the mountains is sending yourself to your death. Those tigers and leopards won't show you any courtesy."

"And if you want to achieve that, you must learn Martial Arts."

"This time, I brought you into town to formally take you as my disciple."

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