Volume One, Chapter Four: Trading a Steamed Bun for a Grouse

In recent years, the back hills have seen an increase in ferocious wild beasts, leading to the deaths of many hunters. Consequently, few people now dare to risk their lives hunting there. To make matters worse, with the war at the border, the Northern Goose Pass has drafted almost all the remaining hunters. As a result, the game in the hills has multiplied rapidly, and one could say they are visible everywhere.

After crossing a ridge, Li Chen spotted a gray rabbit standing on a grassy slope, looking around. His ingrained survival instincts told him that if a rabbit stands on high ground, there is surely a burrow nearby. He quietly circled around behind it. Sure enough, he discovered a hidden rabbit hole midway up the slope and immediately concealed himself behind some trees. The wary gray rabbit began to descend toward the hole, completely unaware that death was approaching.

Li Chen drew his bow and notched an arrow. His intense focus made the rabbit appear to grow larger in his vision. Just as the creature reached the mouth of the burrow, the bowstring twanged, the arrow flew, and the rabbit was pinned to the ground. A hit on the first try—a successful start that left Li Chen very satisfied.

Next, bolstered by his super-focus buff, Li Chen became an archery god of the Great Yan, unleashing a slaughter. Along the way, whether it was running on the ground, leaping through trees, or flying in the sky, nothing that entered his line of sight could escape. Stopping and going, he fired over twenty shots in just over an hour, bagging a large sack full of game. He retrieved his arrows and, seeing that night was approaching, headed out of the mountains.

However, as he passed a giant, towering pine tree, he stopped in his tracks. Looking closely, his eyes widened in surprise. The solid trunk had been worn into a deep, waist-high hollow, with pine resin oozing from within.

"A wild boar?" Li Chen looked at the pine tree and observed the surrounding tracks, his eyes narrowing.

Pine resin for scratching, boar armor for protection! His survival experience told him this was clearly a wild boar that had spent years rubbing its body against this pine tree, using the resin to rid itself of parasites. Judging by the size of the hollow, the beast must weigh four or five hundred pounds. There were even massive tusk marks on the tree, likely made by the boar as it gouged the trunk while rubbing.

A boar clad in resin armor—in his past life, even a shotgun wouldn't have pierced that hide, and its tusks could easily pierce a human body. It was fortunate he hadn't encountered the beast today; otherwise, with his current weak body and this ordinary hunting bow, death would have been more likely than survival.

Thinking of this, he quickly stood up and quickened his pace toward the foot of the mountain. Half an hour later, he emerged from the woods and reached the entrance of his village, Mu'er Village. The village got its name because, although the men were not officially registered as craftsmen, most knew some carpentry. His predecessor’s father had been a master among them.

Crossing the slope and passing the large elm tree at the entrance—which had already been stripped of its bark and tender leaves—the village came into view. Under the elm, a group of women, including those who had returned from gathering wild vegetables at noon, were gathered. After their meal, they had nothing better to do than sit together, gossiping while sorting through their baskets. No matter the disasters, natural or man-made, a wagging tongue is never lonely.

"Eh? Isn't that the eldest son of the Li family? Didn't you say he went hunting? How is he back so soon?" one woman asked, craning her neck in surprise.

"Probably didn't catch anything," Wang Caifeng, who had seen Li Chen go up the mountain earlier, said with a sneer.

"Exactly. Which hunter doesn't stay out for three or five days? He only left after noon and is back before the sun has even fully set," added Ma Lian, a woman with a voluptuous figure, with a look of disdain.

"Don't mock him. I think he really is carrying something. Could he have actually caught something?" Liu Jintui turned to look, sounding rather astonished.

"Sister Xu, are you seeing things? How could that scoundrel know how to hunt? If he caught something, I’ll feed him steamed buns in front of everyone. Though, rats don't count!" the boisterous Ma Lian laughed lewdly, triggering a burst of giggles from those around her.

But just then, as Li Chen drew closer, everyone saw the two gray rabbits tied together over his left shoulder. Those two rabbits alone were enough to make every woman’s eyes widen. Each one must have weighed six or seven pounds. Furthermore, he was carrying a bulging sack from which small feathers occasionally drifted out. As he walked toward them in the sunset, the women saw him as a walking grain silo—one filled entirely with meat. Everyone swallowed involuntarily, as if they could already smell the aroma of stewed meat.

"Eldest Li, what did you catch?" Liu Jintui asked, her eyes full of shock.

"Just a few grouse and rabbits, nothing much," Li Chen replied with a smile. He had a good impression of the village head's wife; back when they were starving, the kind-hearted Liu Jintui had secretly slipped his young maid-wife a few coarse-flour buns. He remembered the favor. He stopped and took out a grouse, handing it to her. "Auntie Xu, thank you for helping my wife before. This is just a small token of my gratitude."

"Oh, no, no, this is too precious!" Liu Jintui was startled and waved her hands, not daring to accept it.

Over the past six months, hundreds of thousands of refugees had poured into the northern border. With the war at the Northern Goose Pass intensifying, supplies could not be brought in, and the local produce was insufficient to feed everyone. A great famine had arrived. In these times, a few pounds of grain could lead to murder. It was said that starving refugees were dying in the fields, and some had even resorted to trading children for food. How could she dare accept a three-pound grouse that could save a life?

"Auntie, there will be more. Just take it!" Li Chen smiled and set the grouse down.

Liu Jintui swallowed hard, picked up the grouse, and turned to Ma Lian with a smirk. "Sister Lian, does what you just said still count?"

The crowd erupted in laughter. Ma Lian looked at the grouse, greed welling up in her eyes. She breathed heavily and looked at Li Chen. "Eldest Li, if it's seen, it's shared. Why only give it to Sister Xu and not your younger sister-in-law here? If you give me one, I'll trade you for this! But you have to be 'able'—if not, then you'll just be giving me a grouse for nothing." As she said this, she deliberately puffed out her chest, though her eyes were filled with mockery. This pretty boy was all show; rumor had it that he was impotent.

The other women joined in with lewd laughter. "That's right, that's right! It should be shared, you can't play favorites! We can trade with you too, as long as you're 'able'!"

"If you want to eat, go catch it yourself," Li Chen narrowed his eyes. In an instant, his gaze turned icy cold, like a blade pulled from frozen water in the dead of winter.