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Three days passed in a row.
As soon as dawn broke, Shen Qing sat up from his warm bed, habitually glancing outside through the small window.
The snow that had fallen for so long finally stopped, with not a breath of wind.
The sun shone brightly in the sky, a rare good weather day.
"Today, there's an eighty to ninety percent chance the merchants from the boss in the county will come over. By then, for a bit of money, we can take their cart to the county and sell all the stock from these past few days."
Thanks to the recent harvests, Shen Qing could hunt close to the mountain behind his house these days, catching some wild rabbits and pheasants to fill his stomach.
The rest of the time, he devoted all his energy to practicing martial arts and learning to recognize characters and read, continuously improving in both areas.
The results were quite satisfactory.
Now he recognized nearly a hundred characters, and he was close to mastering the Nine Brocade Technique.
Everything progressed in an orderly manner.
Shen Qing habitually washed his face with snow water in the morning, then stayed in the house continuing his stance training, waiting for Shen Fang to make breakfast.
Shen Fang, who lived in the house with him, couldn't help but feel a little worried seeing her brother train from morning to evening in a strange posture every day. She called out, "Qingzi? Are you okay these past two days?"
"I heard Auntie can draw charms, maybe let her take a look?"
Hearing this, Shen Qing couldn't help but give a silent laugh.
Evidently, he was so busy these days with practicing the Nine Skills and learning to read that he barely stopped.
Even hunting had decreased, making him a completely different person from before, leading Shen Fang to think he had encountered something unclean in the mountains.
Though his sister was pretty and had regular features, her mind was not very bright, nor did she have much opinion of her own.
It wasn't a good thing for her to know too much about some matters.
Shen Qing didn't explain much, casually making up an excuse, saying, "These are insights I've had from reading these days, learned from books, used for strengthening the body. Haven't you seen how I've grown taller recently? I think it might have something to do with this, so I keep practicing."
"Oh." Shen Fang, seeing that Shen Qing's reasoning made sense and didn't seem like he had entangled with any evil spirits, didn't think much more.
She cooked the porridge and gave it to Shen Qing as usual.
This porridge was much better than the grain chaff they used to have as it was exchanged from other households.
Shen Qing held the warm porridge in both hands, squatting on the doorstep.
He basked in the sun, leisurely skimming a circle of rice porridge along the edge of the bowl, savoring the sweet fragrance of the rice syrup.
"Check the situation. If it's convenient today, we can take out the two animal skin coats left by Chen An and his group and bring them to the county to sell. If not, we'll wait for the next opportunity."
Shen Qing was silently pondering how to handle the items in the mountains when he looked up to see Shen Xiaohu running over from behind his house.
He shouted loudly, "Brother Qingzi, something bad has happened!"
"What's happened? Did someone in the village get beaten to death by the Chen family members again?" Shen Qing lifted his eyelids and said.
"No!"
Shen Xiaohu squatted beside Shen Qing, wearing a miserable expression. "It's the merchants from the boss in the city; they won't come here anymore."
"The merchants aren't coming?"
Shen Qing's face also turned a bit more serious.
Hongshan Village was fifty to sixty li away from the county. Generally, when the hunters in these villages got their game, they would sell it to the boss's merchants, saving a trip to the county.
According to the unspoken rule, the prices when selling to these merchants were slightly lower than in the county.
If they caught high-value game and didn't want to sell it to the merchants, they could pay a little money to hitch a ride on the merchants' cart to sell it themselves in the county.
The big households, martial arts halls, government offices, and inns in the county all needed their game and wild products.
If they wanted to sell, it wasn't too difficult.
How much they could earn depended on their skills.
If they encountered thugs or bullies and got robbed, they could only accept their bad luck.
"Yes, they won't come. I heard it loud and clear. My grandpa and the others are talking about it. I guess I won't be able to go to the county anymore," Shen Xiaohu said, his expression was a bit disappointed and distressed.
Shen Qing knew he had always wanted to visit the county. With this situation, his chance to wander the county had become even smaller.
He pondered for a moment, then asked, "What about over at Chen Bazi's place? They are always the most active in dealings with the merchants. What did they say? Are we going to be stuck with all the goods we get?"
"Damn it, don't even mention them. They're the ones behind this whole thing," Shen Xiaohu swore, "I heard from my grandpa and the others that from now on, all the game in the village has to be sold to their family. They'll handle the purchases and sell them in the city. If we don't want to, we'll have to walk to the city ourselves to sell."
After hearing this, two words immediately sprang to Shen Qing's mind—monopoly!
This Chen Youguang, they had taken the entire Hongshan Village as their "property."
The hunters living in this village would work for their family, earning money for them.
Even Shen Qing, who usually had a good temper, couldn't help but cuss silently in his heart.
Upon careful thought, their family had really never done any good deeds in the village.
"Brother Qingzi, my grandpa and the others, even the Zhang Family member had their complaints, but they tend to accept it. As for the other surnamed families, they are dissatisfied but helpless. The Chen family is numerous and powerful. I've heard Chen Yuan knows some martial arts. We can't fight them."
Shen Xiaohu was very downcast.
Many hunters, after selling their game, didn't have much left after deducting their household expenses.
For just a little bit, making a trip to the county, possibly having to stay overnight, indeed seemed unwise.
Once spring came and the game couldn't be preserved, the situation would only worsen.
Inevitably, families like theirs would struggle even more.
Shen Qing couldn't help but feel troubled.
After Shen Xiaohu left, he put down the bowl, firming his resolve to temporarily hold off on taking the Chen Family Brothers' belongings from the mountains.
One must be strong to forge iron.
Since he couldn't hitch a ride to the county for the time being, he decided to continue his practice of the Nine Brocade Technique.
It was just a little more.
Increasing his power first would be the priority.
Two Shi Chen later.
Shen Qing alternated between practicing the Hunyuan Stance, Mao Dun Stance, Tuo Ying Zhuang, and Floating Cloud Stance, until his legs were sore and sweat covered his forehead in big droplets.
Just when he couldn't hold on any longer, suddenly his heart trembled, and the ink-like characters appeared slowly in his vision.
[Skill: Nine Brocade Technique (Small Success)]
[Progress: 203/200 points]
[Status: Can Be Enhanced]
[Note: Continuous practice can improve the progress. When Qi and Blood are achieved to Great Perfection, strength is as strong as a bull, and breath is as fine as silk.]
Great!
Shen Qing was overjoyed.
After days of hard study and practice, he was finally about to move this martial art to the next realm.
With another breakthrough, even if he didn't achieve the Great Perfection of Qi and Blood, it would be almost enough to walk unopposed in the village.
According to his secret inquiries these days, Chen Yuan from the Chen Family hadn't reached such a realm.
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