After making up his mind, Chen Sansi started to clean up the scene.
When he was handling the wild chicken, he used too much force and accidentally broke the arrow shaft that was stuck in it.
"The quality of used arrows is worrisome!"
Chen Sansi shook his head, retrieved the arrowhead, and carried his game down the mountain.
Having hunted all day, his stomach had been growling, but his spirit was still very full, always alert to his surroundings.
"It must be the effect of 'spirit refreshed.'"
"It seems that I should sparingly read more books at night, and not just think about happy times with Sister Lan."
"Archery, hunting, reading, I want to be a diligent person."
It was still early today. When he passed through Yanbian Village, many villagers saw Chen Sansi with a chicken in one hand and a rabbit in the other, carrying a full load.
"You boy are capable!"
"Little Shi is really amazing; just started hunting and can bring something home every day."
"Psht~ Like father like son."
"Lai Zi, look at you, sour grapes, can't stand to see others do well."
"What do I have to be sour about, this little money is not even enough to pay the taxes!"
"Really though."
When the topic of taxes came up, complaints could be heard everywhere.
How many people's savings of a full year were squeezed clean.
"Brother Shi, wait up, I was looking for you!"
"Shun?"
Chen Sansi looked at the skinny and dark teenager running towards him, "What's up, Shun?"
"Brother, do you need my help?"
Zhang Shun had come to ask about the situation immediately after selling fish today due to the issue of early taxation.
"You... aren't you still practicing your martial arts?"
Chen Sansi was somewhat moved.
Gathering three liangs of silver in seven days, no one had a hundred percent certainty.
If he could borrow the money in advance, it would naturally be better than good.
If worse comes to worst, he could save up and double repay it, making a proper thanks.
"Martial arts doesn't urge in these two days, paying taxes is urgent."
Zhang Shun scratched his head and said honestly, "Brother, come with me to my house, we have some silver."
Three liangs of silver!
For ordinary folks, this was absolutely a huge sum.
Chen Sansi was touched, "Nine for thirteen return, I can't just use your money for free."
"Brother, what are you saying."
Zhang Shun said, "Not to mention that you taught me literacy since I was young, but do you remember that time we played in the river? If it wasn't for you pulling me up, I would have drowned by now, why mention this!"
It's one thing to say, but to help during tough times is indeed precious.
"Brother, wait here, I'll go home and get the money!"
Shun didn't give an opportunity to refuse and turned and ran back madly.
Since the other party wasn't asking for interest, Chen Sansi felt uneasy about using the money with no return.
He carried his wild chicken and rabbit and followed, planning to offer them as a thank you gift.
The two families lived not far from each other, reaching the destination in ten minutes. Shun's house door wasn't even closed.
Just as Chen Sansi was about to visit, a gust of wind brought the sound of an argument to him.
"Shun, three liangs of silver, are you mad?"
"Mom, that's my Brother Shi who saved my life when I was young!"
"Saving your life, so what? Hasn't our family repaid him? When he fell ill before, wasn't it our family who paid for his treatment?"
"Mom..."
"Our whole family has been working day and night for so many years, barely saving some silver, isn't it just so you can enter the Martial Arts Hall and become a martial master? At least, have some pity on your father? He's been lame for half a year and still hesitant to spend money on treatment, and you just give away three liangs of silver to someone outside?"
"…"
Chen Sansi stopped in his tracks, silently set down a wild chicken, and turned to leave.
He did not hold any grudges for the unanswered help. In fact, he respected Shun's sentiment even more.
Neither of them was from a wealthy family; everyone had difficult days.
He really had to rely on himself!
Chen Sansi became even more determined to go to Second Layer Mountain.
He reached the county's Eight Treasures Building before sunset.
The rabbit weighed almost as much as the last one, sold for seventy-one wen.
With the money in hand, he didn't rush home but went to the market to prepare for the trip to Second Layer Mountain the next day.
"Yo, Young Shi here again?"
Old Xu greeted him warmly.
"Uncle Xu, I'd like to buy some arrows."
Chen Sansi's willow leaf arrows were okay for hitting rabbits and wild chickens, but if he truly met a large game with tough skin, they were not lethal enough.
"What kind are you thinking of, uncle here has them all."
Looking around, there were seven or eight types of arrows on display at the stall, all of high quality, some of which were obviously not something a civilian shop could make, belonging to the category of military ordnance.
There was a garrison station fifty li outside Po Yang County city, and military ordnance circulating in the market was not a surprising matter.
Not to mention, Old Xu was from a military household, and with his son succeeding him and becoming a small flag, having a channel to resell some ordinary military goods was nothing unusual.
Chen Sansi's gaze wandered over the stall.
Most of the arrows were made of poplar wood, with bird feathers hanging on the tail, and their main difference lay in the arrowheads.
Different arrowheads, different purposes.
There were ones with strong penetrating power, ones with large wound profiles, ones for shooting horses, ones for naval warfare, and even specialized signal arrows for messaging, truly a wide variety.
He finally chose a uniquely shaped arrowhead.
Wolf Teeth Arrow.
As the name suggests, the arrowhead had two side hooks shaped like protruding wolf teeth.
Once this arrow hit, the side hooks would firmly lodge inside the body, and trying to pull it out would tear off a large chunk of flesh; if not removed, it would continue to grind the flesh. Whether for hunting beasts or hunters, it had a very strong lethality.
Old Xu said, "This Wolf Teeth Arrow is good quality, I sell it to others for twenty-three wen each, but for you, twenty wen."
"Can't it be cheaper?"
"Any cheaper and I'd be losing money."
Chen Sansi bit his teeth and bought five.
But he understood the principle of sharp ax making light work; to make a sale, you have to be willing to invest.
If conditions allowed, he would also like to buy a heavy bow.
After all, the main force in killing with a bow and arrow lies in the draw weight.
He intentionally took a longer look; the heaviest one on this stall was just the Four-Force Bow, with nothing heavier available.
Only a heavy bow could pierce armor.
It seems there was a limit to how far one could go in dealing in military arms.
Money paid, goods delivered.
The two arrowheads he had worn out previously, added together, deducted eleven coins, making the final payment eighty-nine coins.
"A day's work for nothing, and quite a bit out of pocket to boot!"
Chen Sansi put the Wolf Teeth Arrow into his bag and hurried home.
On the way back.
Chen Sansi ran into Qin Xiong and his ruffian followers, squatting on the essential path home, casting malevolent glances his way.
They were clearly using this method to intimidate him on purpose.
"The evil spirit never leaves; it's impossible to hide."
"Better pay the tax first then think of a plan."
Chen Sansi chose to ignore them and went straight home.
"Big brother, he's very arrogant!"
"Shall I go beat him up?"
The ruffians gritted their teeth and discussed sneeringly.
"Beat him up?"
Qin Xiong pointed at the bow and arrows on Chen Sansi's back and asked, "Do you know what those are?"
"Bow and arrows."
"A Four-Force Bow, enough to shoot you stone-cold! You think you can beat him if he can handle that thing?"
Qin Xiong was somewhat frustrated.
At first, he thought Mr. Chen was just a scholar, and that going hunting in the mountain was simply a stroke of luck.
But after some inquiries, he learned that the kid could actually make sales two days in a row, proving he really had strength, and wasn't just fooling around.
Hunters in the village were actually not easy to provoke.
They had only bullied the kid because his father had died and he was just a scholar.
Of course, in this world, having strength was useless; having money was important.
Rabbits and wild chickens weren't worth much silver.
If he couldn't gather three taels of silver in a few days, he'd still be under Qin Xiong's thumb.
…
Late at night.
Chen Sansi got out of bed agilely.
As for Sister Lan, she was too tired and had fallen asleep.
"I'm still too young and impetuous."
Chen Sansi was somewhat annoyed; he had promised to study at home.
With no time for reading, he couldn't delay practicing archery any longer.
Before going to the mountain, it was best to advance his archery to the next stage.
He took his bow and stepped outside, coming to the clearing in front of the forest behind his house, beginning to practice archery under the moonlight.
As arrow after arrow shot out, his proficiency continued to climb.
He kept practicing until the late hours of the night, only then did Chen Sansi return to his room to sleep for a few hours, getting up immediately upon hearing the rooster's crow to practice archery.
"Shiu—"
Another arrow shot out, directly hitting an early-rising sparrow looking for food from the treetop.
Simultaneously, the panel changed.
[Skill: Archery (Master)]
[Progress: (0/500)]
[Utility: Physical enhancement, Natural Bowman, Effortless operation of a stone-bow, within seventy steps, three shots in the blink of an eye with unerring accuracy]
This time, when the panel upgraded, not only did Chen Sansi's strength and archery improve drastically, but even his muscles and bones changed, causing his physique to surge.
With this physique, even though he had never practiced martial arts, he could easily draw a one-stone heavy bow, hitting a target the size of a palm from eighty meters away with every arrow.
In the Dasheng Dynasty, one stone is approximately one hundred and fifty kilograms.
This weight of bow and arrows was generally only used by those practicing martial arts.
A target the size of a palm, seen from eighty meters away, actually appears as just a dot.
As for the finger snap triple-shot.
Buddhist scriptures have recorded: twenty finger snaps make one Luo Yu, twenty Luo Yus make one moment, and one day and night consist of thirty moments.
According to this explanation, a "finger snap" calculation comes to about seven seconds.
Finger snap triple-shot.
That is to say, the four actions of drawing the bow, setting the arrow, and firing, take about two seconds for one accurate shot.
A one-stone bow, eighty meters, two seconds.
Taken alone these do not sound exaggerated, but when these three terms are combined, they are quite terrifying.
Chen Sansi was somewhat surprised.
He never imagined that proficiency could not only improve technique but also enhance physique.
He felt his bones become more compact and solid, his arms and fingers noticeably longer.
"I don't know if this physique will be helpful for martial arts in the future."
Anyway, he felt more confident about catching large game within six days.
"Brother Shi, it's time to eat."
The gentle voice brought Chen Sansi back to his senses.
After hastily eating breakfast, he took all the remaining salted duck eggs in the house, along with half a bag of sorghum.
"What are you up to?"
Gu Xinlan was puzzled.
The salted duck eggs were understandable, but raw sorghum couldn't be eaten. What was he taking it to the mountain for?
"Gifts."
Chen Sansi answered succinctly and was about to leave.
"Brother Shi, be careful these days."
Gu Xinlan looked worried, "Yesterday when I was on my way back, I saw Mr. Qin loitering near our house again. I'm scared…"
"I know."
Chen Sansi's tone was firm, "Don't worry, my dear, he can't hurt you."
My dear?
Gu Xinlan's cheeks flushed slightly.
Having Brother Shi say that, she indeed felt much less afraid.