Chapter 5

Hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces, pierce stone and sink feather?

Qin Shuo's heart gave a jolt, his breathing became a bit hurried, and he took several breaths before suppressing the agitation in his heart.

Hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces!

This is a level only divine archers in the army can reach, not comparable to Old Qin's standard of never missing at fifteen zhang.

According to Qin Shuo's knowledge, one 'step' in this world equals 1.5 meters from his previous life.

Hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces—that is, able to hit a willow leaf from 150 meters away, a superlative archery skill.

You should know, the farthest distance in the world archery championship of his previous life was only 70 meters.

And the accurate range of hitting a willow leaf at a hundred paces is twice the farthest distance of the world archery championship.

With such archery skill, the great mountains outside Blackwater City—wouldn't they be free for him to roam?

Not to mention the big wild boar of Dragon Tree Gully.

Even deeper, he dares to touch the blind bear of Black Bear Valley.

Furthermore, according to the Gluttonous Cauldron's prompt, refining this iron-core bow yields two effects,

Besides 【Hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces】, there is also 【Pierce stone, sink feather】.

The former refers to the precision of archery, the latter to the bow's power—an arrow can pierce a huge rock, with even the tail feathers sinking into the stone.

With both precision and power combined, even a 400-catty wild boar he could blow apart with a single arrow.

"A Shuo, what are you looking at? So engrossed."

After leading Qin Shuo into the house, Zhang Xiong went into the inner room to fetch money.

Coming out, he happened to see Qin Shuo staring blankly at the iron-core bow on the courtyard wall, and thus said with a smile:

"That iron-core bow, it's an heirloom of our Zhang family."

"According to my father, our ancestors once had a true divine archer, the kind in the army."

"And my great-grandfather, relying on his superb archery skills, became the renowned hunter of Blackwater City and amassed considerable wealth."

"Later my great-grandfather died young in his prime, and my grandfather, feeling hunting too dangerous, switched to being a butcher."

"Thus our Zhang family's archery was also lost."

"So your ancestors actually had a divine archer—awesome!"

Qin Shuo's face showed admiration, and he timely flattered.

Then he shifted his tone: "Can I try it?"

"Of course."

Zhang Xiong took down the big bow from the courtyard wall and handed it to Qin Shuo, saying: "Be careful, this bow is very hard; ordinary people find it difficult to draw. Even I, before practicing martial arts, had to exert some strength."

Upon taking the long bow, the Gluttonous Cauldron immediately gave a response.

In a daze, Qin Shuo seemed to see a burly figure clad in armor, drawing and shooting an arrow.

Boom!

The bowstring twanged, like a thunder blast!

That burly figure shot an arrow, piercing straight through a tree as thick as a water bucket.

The arrowhead protruded from the trunk's end, the fletching's feathers humming and vibrating, its power extremely terrifying.

"Great archery!"

Qin Shuo secretly sighed, suppressed his inner excitement, and began drawing the bowstring without an arrow.

"So hard!"

Upon picking it up, Qin Shuo felt the difference between this iron-core bow and the horn bow—it was too hard; those with less strength couldn't draw it at all.

Fortunately, Qin Shuo had previously done over ten thousand bow-drawing drills in the past half month; his arm strength already far exceeded ordinary, allowing him to barely pull this iron-core bow open one-third.

"Oh! Your arm strength is really strong!!."

Zhang Xiong beside him felt slightly surprised.

He knew how hard his family's iron-core bow was; before practicing martial arts, he could only barely draw it about half.

But what about his physique, and Qin Shuo's physique?

In his view, Qin Shuo was skinny-armed and skinny-legged; being able to draw it one-quarter would already be good, yet now he exceeded his expectation.

It seems this kid has been practicing a lot at home; otherwise he couldn't have such arm strength.

Zhang Xiong, being a martial artist, had a keen eye and soon noticed the clue.

Qin Shuo appears not very fleshy, but his back and arms are quite solid, a physique only long-term training can produce.

"Not at all, compared to you, Brother Xiong, I'm far behind."

Qin Shuo humbly shook his head.

Afterward he fondled the iron-core bow lovingly, his eyes flashing with fervor: "Brother Xiong, can I buy your bow?"

"You want to buy this bow?"

Zhang Xiong raised his brows, then suddenly realized.

A good bow to a hunter is like a divine weapon to a knight-errant—both are tools for making a living, rare to encounter.

Qin Shuo's obsession with the iron-core bow is understandable.

"Can it be sold?"

Qin Shuo's face bore hope.

"Cannot." Zhang Xiong shook his head.

This is an heirloom; one could say that the old Zhang family built their fortune relying on this bow.

Although nobody uses it anymore, it also cannot be easily sold.

After all, given the Zhang family's current financial resources, they are not short of the money for this iron-tire bow.

Although he had expected it, hearing Zhang Xiong's answer, Qin Shuo still felt somewhat disappointed.

Piercing a willow at a hundred steps, shooting stone and drinking feather!

Gaining the boost of these two archery techniques, his strength will increase greatly.

Not only can he earn money and practice martial arts more quickly, but it can also increase his self-defense ability.

This world is not peaceful.

Even in a small locust-tree lane, there are ruffians like Qian Biao who can threaten him, so he greatly desires anything that can enhance his strength.

Seeing Qin Shuo's disappointed expression, Zhang Xiong couldn't help but feel his heart soften,

"I can't sell it, but if you're truly interested, I can lend you this iron fetal bow temporarily."

"Lend it to me?"

Qin Shuo was overjoyed, never expecting happiness to come so suddenly.

"Yes, lend it to you."

Zhang Xiong looked at Qin Shuo's undisguised joy on his face, then solemnly said, "But I also have a condition."

"What condition?"

"I hope that when you hunt in the future, you'll pay more attention to strange beasts; this is very important to me."

"That's only natural."

Without Zhang Xiong's reminder, Qin Shuo had already made up his mind to increase his attention to strange beasts in future hunts.

After all, a single red squirrel can sell for five taels of silver; if he could catch a larger one, wouldn't that be worth dozens or even hundreds of taels?

Afterwards, Qin Shuo asked Zhang Xiong some questions about strange beasts and joining the martial hall; Zhang Xiong held nothing back.

Only when the sky gradually darkened did Qin Shuo leave Peach Blossom Lane with the iron fetal bow.

"With this bow, earning money to join the martial hall is just around the corner!"

Regarding martial arts study, Qin Shuo's heart is full of longing.

Now that he has this iron fetal bow, he wishes he could immediately draw it and practice archery, learning the divine archer technique contained within the bow.

Filled with anticipation for the future, his steps became much lighter, and without realizing it he arrived at his own residence in Yellow Mud Lane.

However, as he turned into the lane entrance, the sight before him made his blood surge instantly, almost causing him to nock an arrow and shoot dead the several bastards lying on his house's wall.

"What are you doing?"

Qin Shuo shouted angrily.

The fury in his eyes could almost ignite a person.

Swish!

Qian Biao and his two companions, caught red‑handed, hastily jumped down from the wall.

But when he saw clearly who had arrived, he wasn't panicked; instead he smiled, showing no fear at all,

"Yo~ It's Shuo brother returning from hunting!"

"What are you doing lying on my house's wall?"

Qin Shuo's face darkened as he coldly questioned.

"Nothing much—I haven't seen my Qin Lan sister in a while, so I came to visit her and, by the way, collect this month's dues."

Qian Biao wore a carefree expression, not at all bothered by the wall‑leaning incident, and instead asked:

"By the way, where did my Qin Lan sister go? Why is there no one at your house all day?"

"None of your business!"

Qin Shuo's tone was icy.

Qian Biao, who had just been smiling broadly, suddenly flashed a cold glint in his eyes and then said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes:

"Fine, Qin Lan has nothing to do with me, but the dues certainly concern me, right?"

"Our gang leader has issued an order: this year's dues for the Flying Bear Gang are to be collected in advance, levied per person at one silver coin each."

"With six months left until the year's end, your household of two owes one tael two qian."

"Out of consideration for my Qin Lan sister, I'll only charge you one tael of silver."

"How about it? As your future brother‑in‑law, haven't I been fairly righteous?"

"One silver coin per person, and they're collecting half a year's worth at once—why don't you go rob them?"

Qin Shuo's face turned extremely grim.

Don't think that just because he harvested over five taels of silver today,

but in fact, strange beasts are something you can encounter only by chance.

If it's ordinary, merely hunting pheasants and hares, a daily gain of two hundred cash coins would be considered good.

Even if he gained something every day, a month would yield only six thousand cash, i. e., six silver qian.

Now the Flying Bear Gang demands one tael two qian as livelihood fees, which is equivalent to making ordinary hunters work two months for nothing without food or drink.

This is too bullying!

It's practically cutting off people's means of survival!

"Whether you pay or not is up to you; anyway, I've delivered the message—I'll come for the money at month's end, and if you don't pay, someone will take care of it."

"But don't blame me for not warning you—the gang is short on funds and will do anything."

"You'd better not cause trouble for my Qin Lan sister, or I'll only be able to spend money to see her in the brothel, huh?"

Qian Biao finished speaking, then without waiting for Qin Shuo's reaction, waved his hand and left with his two lackeys.

Watching Qian Biao's suave departing back, Qin Shuo clenched his fists, but ultimately did not strike.

Not to mention that killing these three vicious dogs would invite retaliation from the Flying Bear Gang, even the county office's hurdle he couldn't pass.

Don't look at how the county magistrate now acts like a hands‑off shopkeeper, ignoring everything.

If it really came to taking a life, someone like him—a rootless duckweed that could be pinched to death with a casual hand—could still be used to boost one's official prestige.

"At the end of the day, I'm just not strong enough!"

Qin Shuo let out a soft sigh, his yearning to learn martial arts growing stronger.

If he could become a martial artist like Zhang Xiong, what would Qian Biao and his gang of ruffians dare to provoke him?

Even the Flying Bear Gang would give him some respect.

"We must seize the moment to boost our strength; when we return, we'll practice archery!"

Having personally felt the threat, Qin Shuo had never before felt such an urgent desire to learn martial arts.