The bearded hunter's right thigh was pinned fast to a tree root by a tempered-steel wolf-fang arrow. Blood bubbled from the wound, staining a broad patch of dead leaves red.
His whole body convulsed with pain. His earlier viciousness had flown beyond the ninth heaven, leaving only a deathly pale face and trembling lips.
"L-little brother... spare me! I was blind as a dog! Pig fat clouded my heart!"
Seeing Lin He approach step by step with a woodcutting saber, the bearded man begged frantically, tears and snot smeared across his face.
"Don't kill me! I have an eighty-year-old mother at home and three children to feed. A demon muddled my wits for a moment, and I tried to steal a rabbit... Please be magnanimous! Treat me like a fart and let me go!"
Lin He stopped two paces away and watched him expressionlessly.
An eighty-year-old mother and three children? Was this script standardized across the entire universe?
In his previous life, Lin He had been a programmer who wrote code. Never mind killing a person-he had never even killed a chicken.
But just now, when that cold crossbow bolt had grazed his right arm, he had truly smelled death.
Here in the Cangming Realm, there was no rule of law, only the strong devouring the weak!
When this bastard fired that bolt from hiding, he certainly hadn't considered whether Lin He had an old mother to support!
"Brother, don't play with crossbows in your next life." Lin He drew a deep breath, suppressing the physical revulsion churning in his chest, and tightened his grip on the saber's handle. "The waters of the cultivation world run too deep. You can't handle them."
Before his words had faded, Lin He lunged forward. The saber in his hand became a streak of cold white light and sliced cleanly across the bearded man's throat.
"Urgh-"
The bearded man's pleas cut off abruptly. His body thrashed violently twice before slumping completely limp.
Looking at the blood splattered across the blades of grass, Lin He felt his stomach churn like an upturned sea, but he forced himself not to vomit.
He knew this was a hurdle he had to cross in this world.
"You've got guts." Old Man Sun's slightly hoarse voice came from behind him.
The old hunter stepped forward. A trace of approval flashed through his cloudy eyes as he looked at Lin He's pale face. He had worried that this young master from a wealthy household would be too softhearted and leave trouble alive, never expecting Lin He to act so decisively.
Without wasting words, Old Man Sun walked aside and deftly snapped off several pieces of thick brush and stout branches. Then he scraped up some fallen leaves and dirt with his foot and covered the bearded man's corpse in a few quick movements.
"Young fellow from the Lin Household, don't take it to heart." Old Man Sun brushed the dirt from his hands as he offered reassurance in a low voice. "Ordinary mortals like us aren't worth even a blade of grass in the cultivation world."
"One sneeze from the immortals could kill swathes of us, let alone hunters like these who enter the mountains to scrape a living.
"People kill and rob for a few spirit stones here every day. Once someone's dead, they're dead. Nobody cares, and nobody has the spare time to investigate."
Hearing the old man's chillingly matter-of-fact tone, Lin He could not help smiling bitterly inwardly.
What a fucked-up world.
They strung the three tightly trussed Fanged Spotted Rabbits onto a wooden pole, shouldered one end each, and hurried down the mountain.
As they neared the village entrance, Old Man Sun suddenly stopped.
"Young fellow, this haul was all thanks to your tremendous strength and fine skills." Old Man Sun lowered his load, his tone utterly sincere. "I'm just a decrepit old man. Getting to town isn't convenient for me. Go collect the reward yourself."
Lin He froze. "Elder Sun, we agreed to make a fortune together. That won't do."
"Hear me out." Old Man Sun waved a hand. "These are the rules of the trade. You did the heavy lifting and saved my old life. I'm not one to stand on ceremony, either. All I want is one low-grade spirit stone. I'll have someone deliver it to that good-for-nothing boy of mine working under the immortals."
"The remaining spirit stones, along with whatever the shopkeeper gives you for your trouble, are all yours."
Looking into the old man's cloudy yet resolute eyes, Lin He knew that an old-school hunter had his own rules. Refusing further would be a slight.
"Done! You're a generous man, Elder. Then I'll shamelessly accept. I, Lin He, will remember this kindness!"
Back at the ramshackle wooden hut, Lin He tossed the three rabbits into the yard, then turned and went to draw water from the water vat to wash his hands.
Seated in her wheelchair, Su Qiuran keenly detected the faint smell of blood on Lin He. Her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but she asked nothing. She merely glanced at the three plump Fanged Spotted Rabbits, a smile curling her lips.
"Pretty efficient, Master Lin." Su Qiuran wheeled herself over. "Looks like we can tear a good chunk of meat off the Li Household's bounty."
Lin He shook the water from his hands. Without another word, he picked up a sickle and headed for the abandoned vegetable plot behind the hut.
"Where are you going?" Su Qiuran asked, startled.
"To harvest the Green Spike Grass!" Lin He did not look back.
Half an hour later, the village chief's battered wooden handcart was piled high with top-quality Green Spike Grass, lush green with thick leaves. Its weight made the cart creak.
Lin He brushed the grass fragments from his hands. Looking at the hut's broken wooden door, which could not even keep out the wind, he knitted his brows into a knot.
Though the bearded man was dead, he still felt uneasy. What if that bastard had accomplices? What if they followed the footprints to the village?
"No." Lin He abruptly turned to Su Qiuran. "You're coming to town with me."
Su Qiuran raised her brows. "Push a cart full of grass and push me, too? Lin He, do you think you're a production brigade's donkey?"
"Enough talk!" Lin He strode straight over, scooped up Su Qiuran along with her quilt, and set her securely on a small clear patch of planking at the front of the cart. Then he stuffed Goudan into her arms.
Lin He recounted the attempted robbery and murder in the mountains. Listening, Su Qiuran broke out in a cold sweat down her back.
"The round trip will take me most of the day. Leaving you home alone gives me the creeps. We're staying at an inn in town tonight!"
Su Qiuran held the quacking Goudan in her arms, wrapped in the thick quilt like a rice dumpling. She looked up at Lin He's slightly anxious face and felt a little warmth in her heart, though her tongue remained merciless. "Fine. At least you have some conscience."
An hour later, in town.
Outside the Spring Restoration Hall, the gray-clad assistant was yawning in utter boredom. Looking up, he saw Lin He push a mountain-like handcart to a panting halt at the entrance.
"Oh! Young Brother Lin!" The assistant's attitude had now made a complete about-face, and he immediately hurried forward. Once he saw what was on the cart, his eyes nearly popped out.
An entire cartload, all top-quality Green Spike Grass! Its rich medicinal fragrance could be smelled three streets away!
Following the scent, Shopkeeper Qian emerged from the back room. His thin goatee bobbed, and his eyes gleamed.
"Young Brother Lin, did you... clean out a whole herb patch deep in the mountains?" Shopkeeper Qian sucked in a cold breath.
"Shopkeeper Qian, let's skip the chatter." Sitting on the cart, Su Qiuran cleared her throat.
"Five hundred and twenty jin of top-quality fresh grass in total. At our agreed exclusive supply price, eight copper coins per jin. Give us a straight answer. Can you take it all? If not, we'll head across the street to the Preserving Harmony Hall."
"Yes! I can!" At the mention of the Preserving Harmony Hall, Shopkeeper Qian slapped his thigh in agitation. "Assistant! Get the scales!"
Four thousand one hundred and sixty copper coins, exchanged for a little over four taels of silver, landed heavily in Lin He's money pouch. The two had completely cleared out their stock of Green Spike Grass.
But they were not finished yet. The biggest haul was still to come.
Dusk fell, and the evening lanterns began to glow.
Large red lanterns had been hung outside the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. Behind the counter, Shopkeeper Wu was gloomily tallying the day's takings. The Li Household was pressing him hard, yet the rabbits within a hundred li seemed to have gone extinct.
"Shopkeeper Wu, business is booming!"
A teasing voice came from the entrance.
Shopkeeper Wu looked up to see Lin He pushing a half-empty handcart inside. At the back of the cart, three sacks wriggled restlessly.
Shopkeeper Wu's little eyes instantly flared with a green gleam, just like a wolf that had starved for three days.
"Oh, my dear little brother!" Lifting the hem of his robe, Shopkeeper Wu practically scrambled out from behind the counter. "You truly are my living God of Wealth! These... these are..."
Lin He smiled faintly and untied one sack, revealing a Fanged Spotted Rabbit with glossy fur and two little fangs gleaming coldly.
"Three live ones." Lin He raised three fingers and lowered his voice. "Shopkeeper Wu, I've laid a brick beneath that head shopkeeper's seat for you."
"I understand! Believe me, I understand!" The fat on Shopkeeper Wu's face trembled with excitement. "Little brother, you've done this old brother an enormous favor! Someone! Hurry and escort these three 'honored ancestors' to the back courtyard!"
A short while later, in a private room at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, Shopkeeper Wu solemnly pushed three faintly glowing low-grade spirit stones and three taels of gleaming silver pieces in front of Lin He.
"As advertised, three spirit stones! These three taels of silver are a little personal token from this old brother, for tea for you and this..." Shopkeeper Wu glanced at Su Qiuran, bundled in her quilt. "And this sister-in-law! Let's be friends!"
Without any ceremony, Lin He swept the spirit stones and silver into his robe, then raised his brows smugly at Su Qiuran.
"Let's go, wife!" Lin He took hold of the handcart and pushed it forward. "We're not staying in that lousy wooden hut tonight. We're taking a top-grade room and eating roast goose!"
Su Qiuran rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips kept rising uncontrollably. "Look how easily pleased you are!"
Goudan poked his duck head out of the quilt. "Quack, quack!"