Chapter 6: Refining the Iron Fetal Bow!

Creak!

After Qian Biao and the others had walked away, the door of Zhang Dame's house suddenly opened, and a white-haired woman poked her head out,

"They left?"

"Mm, they left!" Qin Shuo nodded

"Brother!"

Qin Lan, who had two little braids, heard the conversation between Qin Shuo and Zhang Dame, and ran out from the courtyard.

"You weren't scared, were you?"

Qin Shuo rubbed Qin Lan's head.

Fortunately, he had greeted Zhang Dame in advance when he left home this morning, asking her to take in Qin Lan for a while; otherwise, he would inevitably have to suffer another fright today.

"Thanks a lot today, Dame, for your help."

Qin Shuo sincerely thanked Zhang Dame.

"Little Qin, what are you saying? I'm an old woman living alone, and I was worried about having no one to talk to. Having Lan keep me company is exactly what I wish for."

Zhang Dame waved her hand, telling Qin Shuo not to worry.

"However, little Qin, this isn't a long-term solution."

In my opinion, Lan is no longer young; it would be better to find her a good family, so she won't have to live in fear every day, don't you agree?

Zhang Dame spoke sincerely, truly considering the siblings' welfare.

"To be frank with you, I won't be able to help you for much longer."

In a few days, my son will come to take me into the inner city; then, even if I wanted to help, I would be powerless.

The old woman glanced at the well-behaved Qin Lan standing aside and let out a faint sigh.

The Qin family were all good people; it's just that their fate was harsh—the father died before the children grew up, leaving the two children orphaned and helpless.

"Dame, you're going into the inner city?" Qin Shuo said, slightly surprised.

As far as he knew, Zhang Dame's son worked as a vegetable chopper at an inner-city restaurant, and his life wasn't well-off either; how could he think of bringing Zhang Dame into the inner city?

You know, the inner city is not like the outer city; every inch of land is extremely valuable.

Even just renting a place to live is a considerable expense.

"Yeah, the outer city has been getting more and more chaotic."

One moment you have to pay household tax, the next you have to pay residency fees—where would we get that much money?

Who knows what the officials of Heishui County are up to, not even bothering to manage things properly.

Besides, my son told me that recently a strange illness has appeared in our outer city.

Especially in the northern district, many people have been infected, growing strange hair on their bodies, like… like wolves, yes, just like wolves.

Many wealthy people there have fled to the inner city.

In short, you siblings should make plans early.

Who knows, that strange illness might spread to our western district at any time.

The old woman chattered on, saying many things, repeatedly urging Qin Shuo to make plans early, to find a good family for Qin Lan, and not let Qian Biao and his ruffians ruin her.

Qin Shuo listened quietly, nodding in agreement from time to time.

Unlike the half-dead old fogies like Elder Zheng and Granny Sun, Zhang Dame genuinely cares for them, and Qin Shuo can feel it.

At parting, Qin Shuo offered a tree sparrow to Zhang Dame, but she refused to accept it, exchanging pleasantries for a long while.

Only when Qin Shuo said that Qin Lan would still need to come to her place tomorrow to take refuge, and that it could count as Qin Lan's meal for tomorrow, asking the old lady to help tidy up, did she finally accept.

Returning home.

Just as they entered the door, Qin Lan lowered her head and muttered, "Brother, I don't want to get married."

"What, do you want to become a nun?" Qin Shuo joked.

"Brother…" Qin Lan coquettishly said.

Don't worry, I won't force you to marry until you meet someone you truly like.

Qin Shuo rubbed the little girl's head, then put the bamboo basket on the ground,

Hurry up and make something good to eat for your brother; I'm about to faint from hunger.

Sure thing!

Having received Qin Shuo's promise, Qin Lan happily went to check the basket.

Wow! Pine chicken, wild rabbit, tree sparrow… Brother, you've hit the jackpot today, catching all this?

"How are you talking?" Qin Shuo raised an eyebrow.

This little girl, when she gets carried away, lets the cat out of the bag; her usual obedience and good behavior disappear.

Qin Lan also realized she misspoke, stuck out her tongue, and swiftly began cleaning the tree sparrows, intending to first make her brother a bowl of tree sparrow porridge.

It wasn't until the moon was high that Qin Shuo finally got to eat dinner.

Fortunately, he had earlier eaten a few bran cakes, which were hard to swallow but really staved off hunger.

The fragrant tree sparrow porridge came out of the pot, and both siblings drooled.

Since the death of Old Man Qin, this is the first time the siblings have eaten meat.

Is it good?

Qin Shuo gnawed on a tree sparrow leg, smiling as he watched Qin Lan happily eating.

Delicious, so delicious!

Qin Lan had forgotten her ladylike image, eating with oil dripping from her mouth, her speech slurred.

From now on, don't secretly eat bran porridge anymore; from today onward, our family will eat only white rice.

Saying that, Qin Shuo placed the five taels of silver given by Zhang Xiong on the table—four silver ingots and ten pieces of broken silver.

Silver... silver money...

Qin Lan's eyes went wide, she even forgot to chew the meat in her mouth.

She grabbed a silver ingot, placed it in her mouth and bit hard, "Really, brother, this is really..."

Xiao Ni Zi's expression excited, she jumped up from the stool, stretched her hand toward Qin Shuo, urgently said:

"Brother, pinch me once, quick, pinch me once, see if this is a dream."

"This isn't a dream!" Qin Shuo shook his head.

Seeing Qin Lan so happy, he was also happy.

He still remembers those days when he was seriously ill, when Xiao Ni Zi each day fed him, those small hands covered in blisters.

Those blisters, many had already broken skin, turned white from soaking in water, but whenever I asked her if it hurt, she always laughed and said, "Brother, I don't feel pain!"

"Brother, did you go rob someone? How did you suddenly have so much money?"

After the excitement, Qin Lan regained her composure and began to worry about her own brother.

Don't look at how officials ignore those gangs; if these ordinary commoners dare break the law, the officials' swords won't show mercy.

Ordinary commoners, their lives are like grass.

Usually it's fine, no one notices.

But if they break the law, destroy the officials' peaceful scene under their rule, the outcome is only one...

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey!

"Robbery? Look at my scrawny arms and legs, who could I rob?" Qin Shuo was laughed at.

"That's also true."

After Qin Lan seriously thought it over, she also felt her brother's words made sense.

Afterwards, Qin Shuo explained in detail the origin of these five taels of silver to the little girl.

"One strange beast, five taels of silver?"

After Qin Lan learned the truth of the matter, she was completely stunned.

"Brother, if you could kill a strange beast every day, wouldn't we get rich?"

"You're dreaming!"

……

After finishing the meal, Qin Lan tidied the kitchen, while Qin Shuo began to refine the Iron Fetal Bow.

With experience refining the Ox Horn Great Bow, Qin Shuo was practiced, his mind sank into the Taotie Cauldron, and a long bow illusion identical to the one in his hand appeared in the cauldron.

At the same time, a string of text appeared beneath the cauldron:

【Ingredients: Iron Fetal Bow】

【Refining Conditions: Mastery of Basic Archery, pull the bow ten thousand times!】

【Refining Effect: Hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces, shoot stone and drink feathers!】

【Current Refining Progress: 0%】