First Hearing of the Martial Path

"You, you—"

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The knight on horseback now looked at Fang Hu with deep wariness, utterly stripped of his previous arrogance.

There was even a trace of terror in his eyes.

"I'm a hunter from the village. You frightened the children just now."

Fang Hu withdrew his hand, scratched his head, and smiled honestly.

"Hmph, why aren't you getting out of the way!"

"We're in a hurry, so we won't hold it against you this time."

Hearing this, the knight seemed to gather a little courage, and his voice grew louder.

But in the end, he made no further move. He called to his companions and immediately headed into the village.

"Uncle Fang Hu, you really know Martial Arts!"

At that moment, Fang Yue walked closer. Looking at the broad-shouldered, burly man carrying a bow and arrows on his back, a clear note of doubt flickered in his eyes.

"What Martial Arts? Just a few Farmers' Moves—not fit for the grand stage."

Fang Hu chuckled and hurriedly waved his hands.

Then, seeing the yearning in Fang Yue's eyes, he added, "Your talent and aptitude aren't up to it. You can't learn."

"All right, hurry home.

Next time you see something like this, don't rush in blindly. If you get hurt, your parents definitely won't be able to bear it."

Fang Hu then rubbed Fang Yue's head, smiled, and left.

His talent and aptitude weren't good enough?

He couldn't learn?

Fang Yue had initially felt a little discouraged, but then he remembered that he had only just awakened his Golden Finger.

His aptitude could increase by one point every day.

Every day, his aptitude would be better than the day before.

If his aptitude was insufficient now and he could not learn, then after ten days, twenty days, a hundred days, or even a year, there would surely come a day when his aptitude met the requirements.

What transmigrator wasn't interested in this kind of transcendent power?

Fang Yue was naturally no exception!

Originally, Fang Yue had planned to find an opportunity to make a living in Xiahe County Town.

He could read, write, and do arithmetic; if he stayed in Daliushu Village for the rest of his life, all he could do was farm.

But if he went to the county town, perhaps he could find some other work. No matter what, it would be better than farming.

But now, after witnessing Fang Hu's immense strength, he changed his mind.

He had to find a way to learn Martial Arts!

That evening, during dinner.

"Dad, today I saw Uncle Fang Hu stop two galloping horses with his bare hands," Fang Yue said.

Naturally, his little scheme was to ask his father about Fang Hu's martial training.

More than that, he wanted to know whether Martial Arts truly existed in this world.

Perhaps this world was not as he had previously imagined.

"Oh, your Uncle Fang Hu studied Martial Arts before. Though he later failed the Martial Imperial Exam, he's still incredibly strong."

Fang Mu said in his muffled voice.

He took a sip of soup, then looked straight at Fang Yue.

"Zhi'er, do you know how many mu of land Uncle Fang Hu's family used to have?"

Fang Yue shook his head.

"Your Uncle Fang Hu didn't used to live in the village. He lived in Xiahe County Town. Outside Xiahe County Town, his family had a full three hundred mu of land."

"You want to ask why your Uncle Fang Hu returned to the village now, why he no longer lives in the county town."

"It was because of learning Martial Arts."

Fang Mu spoke sentence by sentence. He had been quite familiar with Fang Hu since childhood.

Though Fang Hu had lived in Xiahe County Town back then, he would return to Daliushu Village during the summer when he was young.

Naturally, he and Fang Mu, who was both his peer and clansman, had grown up playing together.

With such family circumstances, Fang Hu's family should originally have lived in prosperity for generations.

But later, Fang Hu became obsessed with martial arts.

As the saying went, the poor pursued letters, the rich pursued martial arts. Fang Hu poured enormous sums into martial training, gradually squandering the vast family estate.

More regrettably, Fang Hu took the Martial Examination several times, yet never passed.

Later, for reasons unknown, he returned to his hometown and had remained there ever since.

Early the next morning.

Fang Yue did not hurry out to graze the cattle. Instead, he searched the house for a needle.

Naturally, he had only managed to coax one from Fang Lan's sewing box after much pleading.

Naturally, he also asked her for some thread.

There were bamboo poles at home already. After combining these things into a simple fishing rod, Fang Yue led Old Water Buffalo out to graze.

When he reached the usual spot, there was no need to pay much attention to Old Water Buffalo. It would graze on its own nearby.

Fang Yue dug up quite a few earthworms from the field as bait, then pulled up some Rye Grass from nearby.

It was precisely because he had seen Rye Grass here that Fang Yue became determined to improve their lives by fishing.

After all, fishing was not as simple as hanging bait from a hook and waiting for a catch. First, he needed to chum the water.

Chumming would draw in the fish nearby and improve the efficiency of fishing.

That way, he would not have such terrible luck that he caught nothing and came up empty.

Of course, conditions in ancient times were limited. Although Fang Yue had many highly efficient and quick methods of chumming in his mind—

In this resource-starved ancient age, when even filling one's stomach was difficult, using grain as chum was out of the question.

Fortunately, Fang Yue also knew several ways to chum with grass.

One of them used Rye Grass, and it was perfect for today.

After spending half an hour, Fang Yue divided a large bundle of Rye Grass into dozens of smaller bundles, tied stones to them, and tossed them into the cove ahead. That counted as finishing the chumming.

Next, he waited another hour.

When he felt the time was about right, he picked up the fishing rod, hooked the bait onto the hook, and began to cast.

Perhaps no one in Daliushu Village had ever fished like this in this era.

Or perhaps his luck was simply good today.

Only a few minutes after lowering the hook, Fang Yue felt a bite.

A downward pull tugged on the fishing rod.

Fang Yue immediately began to move, though he had to be careful and not get too impatient.

After all, the rod in his hands was far too crude.

If he moved too violently, the line might snap.

After half an incense stick's time, once he felt the prey on the hook had exhausted itself, Fang Yue slowly reeled in the rod.

"A grass carp weighing two jin!"

Seeing the prey exposed to the air, struggling without cease, Fang Yue could not help but marvel.

The grass carp weighed more than two jin and was over a foot long.

The thought of eating meat today instantly put Fang Yue in high spirits.

With a catch in hand, naturally he had to press on while the iron was hot.

Yet it seemed his luck had run out.

Another hour passed, and he caught nothing.

Seeing the time, Fang Yue was about to put away his rod and head home.

But at that moment, a line of text flashed before his eyes.

Time flies, Heaven rewards diligence, Aptitude +1

Current Aptitude: 2 points

The next instant, Fang Yue felt the fishing rod in his hand grow heavy.

Another fish had taken the hook.

Another half hour passed.

Fang Yue looked at the puddle beside the cove, where five grass carp thrashed about, their mouths breaking the surface and opening and closing without stop.

"Why does it feel like my fishing skills improved after my aptitude increased by 1 point?"

Fang Yue recalled what had just happened. He could clearly feel that as his aptitude rose—

When he fished again, he would instinctively correct subtle mistakes in his technique, making the crude rod in his hands increasingly easy to wield.

His fishing skill had improved considerably as well.