Wu Chaofeng stopped ten paces away, laughing, "Lu Qingshan, don't be nervous, I'm just passing by."
He then left with arrogance, taking Li Shi and Li Mu with him.
"Sister-in-law Hai's family is having a hard time."
Wang Cui sighed.
The borrowed grain was taken; they could only rely on wild vegetables and fruits to satisfy their hunger. When winter comes and the wild vegetables and fruits freeze and wither, it would be challenging to find any.
Sister-in-law Hai's husband, Wu Hai was obviously out working, but even if he was home, he could not prevent Wu Chaofeng and the others.
Watching Sister-in-law Hai and her daughter's hugging and crying, Lu Yan heaved a sigh.
He could only offer his sympathy. As for giving out their food, they couldn't afford to do that; they did not even have enough for themselves.
This damned world.
"I'm not going to go hunting in the mountains these days."
Lu Qingshan said.
They already had issues with Wu Chaofeng and the others. If he went hunting in the mountains, without him to warn them off, the others could come and seize their grain, and Lu Yan and Wang Cui would not be able to stop them.
"Dad, I want to learn how to hunt with you."
At this moment, Lu Yan spoke up.
"Okay, I will teach you at home these days."
Lu Qingshan agreed after a little contemplation, which took Lu Yan by surprise.
In his memory, Lu Qingshan did not teach him to hunt in the past. He only asked him to study, aiming for future success. He did not expect that he would agree so readily today.
That said, the world was becoming more and more chaotic. The status of the scholars was decreasing, and they had no place to apply their abilities. It was only natural for an over month-long exile to change Lu Qingshan's mind.
"Hunting involves archery, traps, and tracking. Among them, the most important is archery. So, I will teach you archery first. Wait, I will make a bow for you."
Lu Qingshan said.
Lu Qingshan was an experienced hunter for over a decade; making an ordinary hunting bow was not difficult for him. He used oak for the body of the bow, tough vine tendrils soaked in water as the bowstring, and bamboo as the material for the arrows. By the next day, a brand-new hunting bow was complete.
"Yan, follow me."
Lu Qingshan led Lu Yan to a bamboo forest not far from the village. A wooden target had already been hung on a bamboo tree.
The wood was trimmed into a round shape, and a black dot was drawn in the center using charcoal. With the black dot as the center, nine differently sized circles were drawn, from one to nine, from inside to outside, all marked with numbers.
"In archery, your body must be steady, and your hands and shoulders must be level..."
Lu Qingshan began to explain the essentials of archery, and Lu Yan listened carefully.
"Watch closely."
After explaining, Lu Qingshan stood thirty meters away from the target, drew the bow and arrow, and with a whoosh, the arrow flew out like lightning, hitting the center of the target.
"Yan, your turn to try."
Lu Qingshan looked at Lu Yan.
"Alright!"
Lu Yan held the newly made hunting bow, pulled out a bamboo arrow, and stood thirty meters away from the target. He tried hard to recall the essentials Lu Qingshan explained, then he drew the bow and shot the arrow. With a whoosh... the arrow missed the target by several meters.
Lu Yan's face turned red, but he let out a small exclamation of surprise.
Because just as he shot the arrow, in his mind, the Dao Book suddenly appeared, and a flash of light sparkled.
This was something that had never happened before.
Lu Yan concentrated his mind, trying to communicate with the book, but there was no response.
"Is it related to archery?"
Lu Yan secretly guessed.
Seeing Lu Yan distracted, Lu Qingshan thought Lu Yan was discouraged because he had not hit the target, so he comforted, "Yan, it's your first time shooting an arrow, it's normal to miss. When your father first learned, he was even worse than you. With more practice, you will improve. Your movements just now were somewhat incorrect..."
Lu Qingshan corrected some of Lu Yan's mistakes and asked him to continue practicing.
Lu Yan drew the bow and shot another arrow.
This time, he noticed that when he shot the arrow, the book in his mind indeed popped up again and twinkled once.
Indeed it was because of archery, not an illusion.
Lu Yan was energized and continued practicing. Of course, most of the bamboo arrows missed the target, but with good luck, some did hit the mark.
Every time he shot an arrow, the book in his mind would twinkle once.
He practiced until noon and only stopped when his arms were sore. He went back for lunch, and after a short rest, Lu Yan went back to practice again.
The second day.
"Yan, archery is easy to learn, but hard to master. You have almost mastered the basics, now you need to practice more. Over time, you will naturally integrate and even achieve mastery. I won't accompany you today, you can practice on your own."
Lu Qingshan said. The bamboo forest was just beside the village, so he was not worried about Lu Yan encountering any danger.
"Alright, Dad."
Lu Yan hurriedly grabbed the hunting bow and bamboo arrows, and went to the bamboo forest to continue his practice.
Whoosh...Whoosh...Whoosh...
He practiced over and over again, forgetting the time. As noon approached,
Thud!
The arrow shot hit the target, steady on the 'nine-circle'.
"I hit the target three times in a row."
Lu Yan showed a slight smile. After continuous practice, he finally made progress.
At this moment, the Dao Book in his mind underwent a significant change, emitting dazzling light and a tremendous attraction that sucked Lu Yan's consciousness into it.
Lu Yan felt darkness in front of his eyes, his consciousness sank into the darkness, and the next moment, he was in a vast and boundless land. In front of him, an ancient book was floating, emitting blinding light.
"Is this my mind? Or, is it my consciousness space?"
Lu Yan guessed.
It was not his physical body that entered but his consciousness.
Then, Lu Yan's attention was entirely drawn to the book.
The book was ancient. It was neither gold nor jade, and he did not know what material it was made of. Lines like runes were continually flowing on it, and the light was emitted from these lines.
Gradually, the glow faded, and two words appear on the surface of the book: Dao Book.
Following that, the Dao Book automatically flips open producing an immaculate white page with no script, yet an image of a human figure emerges.
After a moment, this human figure astonishingly detaches itself from the book and lands next to Lu Yan.
What shocks Lu Yan is that this human figure has fully transformed into a 'person', all facial features are clear, looking exactly like Lu Yan.
However, it's not dressed, with a transparent body, muscles, veins, bones, and internal organs are all clear to see.
"There are words on its head."
Upon closer inspection, Lu Yan sees the words: Avatar, Basic Archery, Initial Understanding (1%).
After the Avatar appears, a hunting bow materializes in its hand, with a quiver of light arrows appearing at its side. It pulls out a light arrow, secures it on the bowstring, assumes the right posture, and shoots the arrow.
The posture of shooting the arrow is exactly the same as that of Lu Yan.
After shooting an arrow, the Avatar, undisturbed, takes out another arrow, continuing to shoot.
This time, the posture and power are both adjusted compared to the last shot, better and steadier.
Lu Yan's mind is also suddenly filled with enlightenment, as if he was the one who had just shot the arrow, and his understanding of archery slightly deepened too.
Though not many, he's indeed making progress.
Could it be, the progress of the Avatar in archery will be feedbacked to him?
Lu Yan is thrilled, enthusiastically staring at the Archery Clone.
The Archery Clone, without distractions, focuses on shooting arrows as if it doesn't know tiredness.
After a while, the number above the Archery Clone's head changed.
Avatar, Basic Archery (2%).
And Lu Yan's comprehension of archery is noticeably deeper.
"If it's like this, don't I just need to practice and keep progressing in archery?"
Lu Yan is overjoyed, excitedly clenching his fist. This is his opportunity to change his destiny.
"How should I exit the consciousness?"
Just as he had this thought, his consciousness brushingly retreated, returning to his physical form.
But as long as he concentrates, he could still see the scenes in his mind clearly.
The Archery Clone continues to practice archery wholeheartedly. Each time it practices, Lu Yan's understanding of archery increases.
But less than half an hour later, the Archery Clone stopped, motionless, and the number also stopped at 3%.
At the same time, a growling sound comes from Lu Yan's stomach, and a strong sensation of hunger descends.
"Does the Archery Clone need to absorb energy to continue practicing? Now that I'm hungry and there's no energy supply, it stopped."
Lu Yan speculated.
To figure this out, he'll know after validation. Lu Yan immediately returns home, just in time for lunch.
Lunch is wild yams with wild vegetables.
Lu Yan was starving, he directly devours two wild yams over a pound and a plate of wild vegetables.
As expected, after becoming full, the Archery Clone starts to move again, continuing its archery practice.
But about an hour later, the Archery Clone stops again. The progress also stops at Initial Understanding (8%).
Two wild yams and a plate of wild vegetables roughly increase the progress by about five percent.
Lu Yan's stomach growls again.
Lu Yan didn't want to say that he was hungry again, so he waited another hour before telling Wang Cui that he was hungry.
"You're growing, it's normal to get hungry faster, I'll cook two more wild yams for you."
Wang Cui says with a smile.
Two huge wild yams are eaten, and the Archery Clone starts moving again, but stops an hour later.
The progress indeed increases by 5%, stopping at 13%.
Lu Yan notices a pattern, the progress of archery is related to the energy contained in the food.
The following two wild yams are slightly bigger, equivalent to two wild yams and a plate of wild vegetables at lunch, so the progress is the same, 5% each.
There are still several hours until dinner, and it would be inappropriate for Lu Yan to ask for food again.
First, there isn't much stored food at home and it can't withstand consumption.
Second, getting hungry too quickly is abnormal and will raise suspicion from his parents. He doesn't wish for a second person to know about the Dao Book.
It's not that he doesn't trust Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, but in case they inadvertently let it slip, it would be disastrous.
Lu Yan suppresses his hunger and practices archery in the bamboo grove.
Whiz!
The bamboo arrow steadily hit the target, landing on the sixth ring, showing great improvement from before.
"A few short hours of practice is worth half a month of hard training."
Lu Yan grips his hunting bow, full of expectations for the future.
"I wonder if the Dao Book will react if I practice martial arts."
Lu Yan ponders, planning to first increase his archery skills, then go hunting with Lu Qingshan, sell the hunted game, and once they've saved enough money, go to the martial arts gymnasium for training.
Dinner is wild yam stewed with wild rabbit meat.
Wang Cui serves Lu Yan a big bowl, most of it is rabbit meat.
Lu Yan doesn't put on airs, finishes everything in the big bowl, the faster he improves, the better he can repay the old couple.
After eating, Lu Yan lies quietly in bed, minimizing the body's energy consumption, allowing more energy to be absorbed by the Dao Book.
The Archery Clone starts practicing again, and this time, the progress has increased by 30%, reaching Initial Understanding (43%).
As expected, meat provides more energy, far exceeding wild yams and vegetables, one pound of meat increases the progress six times that of two wild yams.
Time flies, by the afternoon of the third day since the Archery Clone's appearance, Lu Yan is sitting in the bamboo grove, waves of insights about long-term practice of archery emerge in his heart, his comprehension of archery is rapidly increasing.
Avatar, Basic Archery: Slight Achievement (1%).
Archery has entered a new level.