Chapter 7: Murder for Wealth!

Boom!

His mind and spirit touched the illusory longbow.

Qin Shuo seemed to incarnate as an armored divine archer, appearing on an ancient battlefield.

He drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and shot at the enemies surging like a tide.

Bang!

The bowstring twanged, like a thunderclap on a clear day.

The arrow, carrying a rolling airflow, pierced an enemy's head.

In reality, Qin Shuo also pulled the bow.

However, with his current strength he could not yet pull the Iron Fetal Bow to full draw; he could only draw it one-third, but that was enough.

After this period of exploration, he also gained some understanding of the refinement pattern of the Gluttonous Beast Cauldron.

At the start of the refinement, he did not need to match the movements of the phantom inside the cauldron exactly.

As long as he focused his spirit and gave it his all, it counted as a refinement.

Just like now, he can only draw the Iron Fetal Bow one-third; each time he draws to that point and releases, it counts as one refinement.

But if he wanted to slack, drawing the bow only to one-quarter and releasing would be an ineffective refinement, not counted.

Thus, every time Qin Shuo drew the bow, he gave it his all.

This is why, in just over half a month, he went from a weak scholar unable to truss a chicken to someone capable of drawing the Iron Fetal Bow.

Prolonged bow-drawing training greatly increased his arm strength.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of the bowstring twanging echoed nonstop in the courtyard.

Only when the Gluttonous Beast Cauldron showed a new prompt did Qin Shuo stop resting.

【Current refinement progress: 1%】

Whoosh!

Qin Shuo withdrew his mind and spirit from the Gluttonous Beast Cauldron, gasping heavily.

This Iron Fetal Bow is too hard; drawing it a hundred times is more tiring than drawing the Ox Horn Bow three hundred times before.

He felt as if he had carried cement all day, his arms sore and numb, his mind in a haze, just wanting to lie down.

But time was pressing, leaving no room for laziness.

After resting a while, Qin Shuo sank his mind and spirit into the Gluttonous Beast Cauldron and began refining the Iron Fetal Bow again.

【Current refinement progress: 2%】

……

【Current refinement progress: 3%】

……

Until he could no longer draw the bowstring, Qin Shuo then quit, clumsily crawled onto bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Early the next morning.

Qin Shuo took the rice balls prepared by Qin Lan and went up the mountain early.

Having practiced archery all night the previous evening, Qin Shuo felt soreness everywhere in his shoulders, arms, and wrists.

But according to prior experience, after a few days his muscles would gradually adapt and the soreness would fade, so he wasn't overly worried.

He left the city.

Qin Shuo still followed the original plan: first stake out Dragon Tree Gully, then go to Lion Hollow, and finally to Old Ginseng Mountain.

Perhaps because he had seen blood yesterday and been startled, today Dragon Tree Gully was very quiet, even the sparrows were fewer.

As for the roe deer and wild boar that Qin Shuo had been longing for, he didn't even see a shadow of them.

After staking out for over an hour, Qin Shuo ate his lunch in Dragon Tree Gully, ultimately shooting and killing a large partridge before leaving.

Immediately after, he hurried to Lion Hollow to lie in wait.

Here there were many hares and pheasants, and sometimes one could see a flock of yellow sheep.

However, the yellow sheep were too alert; at the slightest rustle they would bolt, making them nearly impossible to approach.

Unless he could refine the Iron Fetal Bow and ambush from over a hundred meters away, wanting to eat yellow sheep meat would be difficult.

After lying in wait for a while with nothing happening, Qin Shuo began to take the initiative.

Wielding a mountain-chasing staff, he roamed the grass-choked hollow, striking any dense thicket to see if there were hares or partridges, etc.

Whoosh!

A thick-as-an-arm black-tipped snake was startled and darted out from the other side of the grass, giving Qin Shuo a big fright.

But he reacted quickly, nocked an arrow, and shot straight at the snake's head.

The snake's head was pinned to the ground; Qin Shuo then shot another arrow at its seven-inch point, confirmed it was dead, then went over, chopped off its head, and placed the body in his carrying basket.

Qin Shuo harbored a fear of snakes, worried that this creepy thing might come back to life and bite him.

So, to avoid risk, he chopped off the snake's head.

Afterward, he found a nest of bird eggs in a thicket, plus a speckled chicken, and easily killed it.

With his current archery skill, within fifteen zhang, whatever he sees he must kill; few game can slip away under his eyelids.

After clearing out Lion Hollow, Qin Shuo hurried to his final destination, Old Ginseng Mountain.

Old Ginseng Mountain lies deeper in the Black Mountain Ridge; its terrain resembles primeval forest, many trees are covered in moss, the woods are deep and dense, with occasional fierce beasts.

Therefore, aside from ginseng pickers, few people usually come here.

Of course, hunters go where the game is.

The reason I came to Old Ginseng Mountain today is also to open up a new hunting ground.

Otherwise, going back and forth to just those few places, frequent visits would scare off all the beasts, which is not good for long-term development.

Not long after entering Old Ginseng Mountain, Qin Shuo noticed some movement.

In the depths of the thicket, weeds and shrubs rustled.

Based on the shaking, Qin Shuo judged it was likely a big game, at least a roe deer, possibly even a wild boar.

"I've hit the jackpot!"

Qin Shuo's eyes lit up.

If he could bag a wild boar and bring it back, his goal of entering the inner city to study martial arts would be one step closer.

He had previously learned from Zhang Xiong that to join the Six Harmony Martial Hall, he needed to pay ten taels of silver in tuition.

Last time, the red-haired squirrel sold for five taels.

Adding the upcoming lodging fee and household tax, Qin Shuo estimated he needed to save up fifteen taels.

Otherwise, after paying the tuition, he'd have to go back to eating bran and swallowing bitter greens.

Qin Shuo wanted to study martial arts, but he also didn't want to return to a life of not knowing where his next meal would come from.

So before that, he needed to save more money.

Otherwise, once he went to the martial hall, he'd surely have no time to hunt in the mountains every day.

Then, without a steady income, life would become difficult again.

Besides, Zhang Xiong said studying martial arts is expensive.

To achieve anything in his studies, a daily supply of meat and oily food is the bare minimum.

Besides that, he also needed medicinal baths and soups as assistance.

And all of that costs money!

Qin Shuo's thoughts wandered; while calculating his martial arts plans, he cautiously approached that patch of forest.

He walked each step very carefully, afraid to step on dry twigs and scare off the big game heading out of the mountains.

Swish swish swish!

The weeds and shrubs in the deep forest shook more and more violently.

Qin Shuo nocked an arrow, aiming at the outlet of the thicket.

As soon as the big game appeared, he was confident he could kill it instantly.

Swish!

The thicket split to both sides, and a black shadow shot out.

"A person?"

Just as Qin Shuo was about to release the arrow, his heart tightened and he quickly gripped the bowstring.

"Uncle..."

Qin Shuo greeted him, his heart still unsettled from the fright.

He had almost mistakenly killed a person just moments before.

Given the distance between them, if he had fired just then, the other would surely die.

Hearing Qin Shuo's shout, the middle-aged man who had burst from the thicket was first startled, then loudly said:

"Young man... save me!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three arrows came flying through the air, two aimed at the middle-aged man, one straight at Qin Shuo's face.

Qin Shuo rolled sideways and dove behind a nearby tree.

"Ah!"

The middle-aged man let out a miserable cry and collapsed to the ground.

"Save me... save me..."

The middle-aged man's eyes were blood-red, his sockets about to burst, as he strained to crawl toward Qin Shuo, hoping Qin Shuo would save him.

But Qin Shuo dared not go out.

While dodging just now, he caught sight of three people rushing out of the deep grass, all holding bows.

One against three, his odds weren't good.

Besides, what did this have to do with him?

He just wanted to hunt quietly.

Thud!

The arrow pierced flesh.

The middle-aged man's miserable cry cut off abruptly; he was likely pierced through the head.

"How ruthless!"

Qin Shuo felt a chill in his heart, his whole body tensed to the extreme.

Having lived two lives, this was still his first time being caught in a murder scene.

His heart pounded, sweat beaded on his forehead, his emotions surged, and even his right hand pulling the bow trembled slightly.

Stay calm!

Need to stay calm!

Don't panic, must not panic!

Qin Shuo kept convincing himself to stay calm.

He used deep breathing to ease the tension in his muscles from a sudden adrenaline surge, trying to relax as much as possible.

"Who's behind the tree?"

From the direction of the shrubbery, a man shouted in a low voice.

He exchanged glances with his two companions, and the three spread out in a fan shape, slowly moving to surround the big tree where Qin Shuo was.

The big tree Qin Shuo was hiding behind was thick, completely concealing his figure.

If they wanted to shoot him, they could only attack from the left or right, or drive him out from behind the tree.

So the three aimed their bows at the left and right sides of the trunk; as soon as he showed himself, he would be mercilessly shot.

"Three... three lords... I was just passing by, I saw nothing, and I couldn't make out your appearance. Could you let me go?"

Qin Shuo hid behind the tree, his tone panicked, his voice trembling.