All Heavens Strategy Game

Chapter 51. Methods of Making Money, Yang Zhengyi

The cold wind swirled with snowflakes, dancing in the relatively empty streets of Linjiang County.

Su Ming drove the borrowed, skinny donkey cart away from Ouyang Ziming's quiet workshop courtyard in the west of the city.

The puppy "Golden Tiger" nestled in her arms seemed to be asleep, emitting even, soft purring sounds, and a touch of warmth emanated from through her cotton-padded coat.

But Su Ming's mind did not relax. He did not forget his most important purpose in coming to the county town, which was to find a way to make money!

The cooperation with Lin Qingyun is a long-term investment, the order for the strong bow is a guarantee for the future, and returning the wolf skin is Ding Que's act of keeping his word.

These are all important, but they are not his initial reason for entering the city today, nor are they his most pressing goals at present.

He needed to find a way to make money quickly, steadily, and sustainably for Sishui Village, or at least for himself.

This is the root.

Building a new house, raising hunting dogs, and even dealing with various future troubles all require real money.

The donkey cart moved slowly along the street covered with a thin layer of ice. Su Ming was no longer in a hurry to leave the city, but deliberately slowed down. His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, swept over the shops, vendors, and hurried passersby on both sides of the street.

He wanted to carefully observe this era, the everyday life of Linjiang County in the "Great Zhou" dynasty, and compare the scattered and vague knowledge from his previous life with the vivid reality before him, searching for the gap that could unlock his first pot of gold.

Salt trading?

He nipped the idea in the bud as soon as it arose.

The state monopoly on salt and iron was the lifeblood of the imperial court, and anyone who touched it would be subject to confiscation of their property and extermination of their entire family.

Su Ming is now penniless, with a whole village of elderly people and children to support him. This path is a dead end; he shouldn't even consider it.

And what about soap?

Su Ming remembered that the common items used in every household in his previous life might have been novelties in ancient times, and they could clean dirt to the greatest extent.

He seemed to still remember the production principle: plant ash, animal fat—the process wasn't complicated.

But when he looked closely at the ordinary people rubbing their hands in the cold wind, wearing patched cotton-padded coats, and then at the shop assistants who, while respectable, were by no means extravagant, he shook his head.

No.

The people of Linjiang County in the Great Zhou Dynasty are extremely poor.

For most people, cleanliness is a luxury.

Rinsing with plain water, or using soapberry or rice water for a more refined approach, is now the norm.

A bar of soap that can remove dirt is far less practical than two steamed buns for someone who struggles all day for a bite to eat.

For truly wealthy families, there were bath beans, scented soap, or even more refined cleansing products. Using soap beans would not be a problem, and they might not easily accept a "soap" of unknown origin and strange appearance.

The promotion costs are too high, market acceptance is questionable, and he cannot afford the initial investment and risks.

Glass?

Glass?

Su Ming glanced at the windows of the shops facing the street. Most of them were covered with paper. Occasionally, wealthy households used thin and expensive "bright tiles," but they were still murky and had poor light transmission.

The profits from producing transparent glass are undoubtedly staggering.

But—furnace temperature? Alkali? Quartz sand? Blowing technology? He only had some nouns and vague concepts in his mind.

Given his current circumstances, he can't even afford to build a decent high-temperature kiln; this idea is like a mirage.

Is there really no way that is safe, has a market, has relatively simple technology, and has low start-up costs?

Su Ming frowned slightly, his fingers unconsciously stroking the soft baby hair of the golden tiger in his arms.

The little guy hummed in his sleep and licked his fingers.

Just as he was hesitating and his gaze swept over yet another stall selling needles and thread, a slightly warm little shop not far ahead caught his attention.

It was a very small storefront, with a stove set up at the entrance, on which sat a large earthenware pot, steaming hot.

An elderly man with gray hair, hands in his sleeves, and a hunched back was weakly calling out to the occasional passerby: "Sweet soup—hot sweet soup—to warm you up and ward off the cold—"

The voice was old and wavering in the cold wind.

syrup?

A sudden thought struck Su Ming, as if a tiny bolt of lightning had flashed through his mind!

sugar!

How could I have forgotten this!

In my past life, sugar was an ordinary condiment.

In this era, in ancient times with low productivity and crude sugar-making technology, sugar, especially high-quality and pure sugar, has always been an absolute luxury!

He vaguely remembered reading in some miscellaneous books and popular science videos that ancient sugar had many impurities, a dark color, poor appearance, and a low sugar yield due to limitations in purification technology.

Therefore, the price was high, and ordinary people would only buy a little bit of the lowest grade "sugar feet" to taste during festivals or when they really needed it.

The technology for refining white sugar—especially the relatively primitive methods, which were enough to give it an overwhelming advantage in this era—

Su Ming's heart began to beat faster uncontrollably.

He gave the reins a gentle tug, and the donkey cart moved closer to the dessert shop.

"Sir, how much is the sweet soup?"

Su Ming asked calmly.

Seeing a customer arrive, the old man perked up slightly and hurriedly said, "Three coins a bowl, young man, would you like one? It has ginger slices in it, it's best for warming up!"

Su Ming nodded, took out three shiny copper coins and handed them over; these were the few coins he had left.

The old man skillfully scooped up a bowl of dark red, steaming sweet soup with a wooden spoon and handed it to Su Ming.

Su Ming took it, but didn't drink it right away. He first brought it to his nose and smelled it.

A sweet aroma, mixed with the spiciness of ginger and not quite pure, wafted over. He took a careful sip.

The water was scalding hot and sweet, but after tasting it, you could clearly feel a slight astringency and a rough taste from the impurities on your tongue. The sweetness wasn't "clear" enough.

"Old man, is this sweet soup made with brown sugar?" Su Ming asked casually.

"Wow, you have a good tongue, buddy."

The old man sighed, "I would like to use good white sugar, so that the sugar water will be clear and sweet, but the price—how can my small business afford that? I use cheap brown sugar, and even that doesn't cost much."

"Oh? I wonder what the price of sugar is like these days? If I want to buy some sugar for my own use, which shop would be suitable?"

Su Ming followed up on the conversation, his tone as natural as a young man buying New Year's goods for his family.

Perhaps it was because of the cold weather that business was slow, or perhaps it was because Su Ming had just bought a bowl of sweet soup, the old man was a bit more talkative: "Buy sweets?"

"Hey buddy, you can go to 'Li Ji Candy Shop' on West Street or 'Ganweizhai' in East Market, both are reasonably priced."

"These days, candy is divided into several grades."

He counted on his fingers, as if reciting a familiar list: "The finest is that snow-white 'top-grade white sugar.'"

"I heard that only large workshops in the prefecture produce a small quantity, costing 120 or 130 coins per pound, and often 170 or 180 coins when in high demand!"

"Even the slightly lower-grade 'superior white sugar' costs over a hundred coins."

"Even the 'brown sugar' used by ordinary wealthy households costs between eighty or ninety and one hundred and twenty coins per catty."

"Even the brown sugar I use, which is cheaper, costs sixty or seventy coins."

"The lowest grade is sugar residue," the residue left over from boiling sugar. It has a weak sweetness and many impurities, but it still costs fifteen or sixteen coins a pound.

"

Su Ming listened silently, his mind racing.

Top-quality white sugar, costing between 120 and 180 coins per pound!

That's equivalent to a strong laborer's wages for a month or even more!

Even the cheapest brown sugar costs several times more than millet!

The profit margin within this —

He remained expressionless as he slowly finished the sugar water in the bowl, a warm sensation flowing into his stomach.

After thanking the old man, I drove the donkey cart and headed towards West Street as instructed.

They quickly found "Li's Sugar Shop".

The shop wasn't big, but there were several large ceramic jars on the counter, each labeled with a red paper that read "Pure White Sugar," "Superior White Sugar," "Brown Sugar," "Black Sugar," and "Sugar Base."

Su Ming made an excuse that he needed to take care of some small things at home and might need some sugar, so he wanted to check the quality and ask about the price first.

Seeing that he was dressed plainly but had a calm demeanor, the shopkeeper was quite polite and opened several jars for him to see.

Although the candy was indeed snow-white and delicate, Su Ming still found it slightly yellowish and the grains were not uniform or crystal clear enough.

Brown sugar is dark red, while black sugar is almost dark brown, both carrying the murky quality characteristic of sugar from that era.

Needless to say, sugar dregs are dark brown lumps mixed with visible impurities.

The price was almost exactly the same as what the old man selling the sweet soup had said.

纯白糖：120～170文/斤上白糖：100～130文/斤红糖：80～120文/斤黑糖：60~90文/斤糖脚：15～25文/斤「若是买得多，可能便宜些？」苏明问。

"How much do you want, young man? If it's more than ten catties, I'll give you a discount of two coins per catty," the waiter said.

Sugar is indeed very expensive; even if it were cheaper, it wouldn't be much cheaper.

Su Ming nodded to indicate that he understood, and then casually asked a few questions about which candies sold well. He then made an excuse that he needed to visit other shops and turned to leave the candy shop.

Stepping out of the shop and into the quiet corner of the street, Su Ming's calm, questioning expression slowly faded, and a barely suppressed joy flickered deep in his eyes.

Sugar, indeed, is a luxury.

Purified white sugar —

feasible!

The popular science video about "traditional sugar purification" that he had accidentally watched in his previous life was now exceptionally clear in his mind.

The core principle is not complicated: by using the adsorption effect of yellow mud water, pigments and some impurities in brown sugar or black sugar are removed to obtain pure white sugar.

This method may seem outdated in modern times and may leave trace amounts of harmful substances, but in this era where brown sugar and black sugar are the mainstream, it is sufficient to produce "superior white sugar" of overwhelming quality!

Others lack this mature process and try to use rudimentary methods, resulting in huge losses and not worth the effort.

However, he has clear theoretical guidance and a clear concept of steps, resulting in a very high success rate and controllable losses.

Turning brown sugar, worth sixty coins per pound, into pure white sugar worth over one hundred and fifty coins—the exorbitant profits involved...

Moreover, sugar production is not illegal!

At least small-scale self-production for personal use or sale would not offend the imperial court like smuggled salt.

Of course, if the scale is too large and attracts attention, that's another matter, but the initial capital accumulation is more than enough!

"But—I'm broke now."

Su Ming touched his pockets and found that they were empty except for a few scattered copper coins.

The wolf pelt and silver were given to Lin Qingyun, but the money for the bow order was still nowhere to be found.

"No rush, let's go home and try it first! There should still be some sugar at home."

Su Ming remembered that Liu would sometimes buy a little bit of the cheapest brown sugar or sugar candy, but she couldn't bear to eat it herself. Only when her younger siblings really craved it, or during the New Year, would she take out a little bit and dissolve it in water to give to the children as a treat.

If the experiment is successful and it is confirmed that the "yellow mud water sugar leaching method" is indeed effective and can stably produce high-quality white sugar, then the source of the first pot of gold will have a clear direction!

Thinking of this, Su Ming felt relieved, and the tension and vague anxiety he had felt for many days dissipated.

He turned the donkey around, preparing to drive the cart, with Jin Hu in tow, out of the city and back to the village.

However, just as the donkey cart was about to turn out of West Street and head towards the main road leading to the city gate, a man dressed in an ordinary cotton-padded jacket, but with a shrewd look in his eyes, suddenly appeared from the alleyway next to him and blocked the donkey cart.

The skinny donkey was startled, snorted, and stopped.

Su Ming's gaze sharpened as he looked at the newcomer.

I don't know them, but it's obvious they're after me.

"Young man, are you Su Ming, Su Sanlang from Sishui Village?"

The man clasped his hands in a fist salute, forcing a smile, but his eyes held no warmth.

"It's me. And who are you?" Su Ming steadied the donkey cart and asked calmly, his right hand already hanging quietly at his side, ready to move at any moment.

"I'm just a messenger," the man said, his tone polite. "My master would like to invite Young Master Su to his residence for a chat, a simple meal, and to make friends. He specifically asked me to wait here and make sure you can be invited."

"Who is your master?" Su Ming already had a guess in his mind, but he still asked.

"My master's surname is Yang. He works in the county government and is a head constable." The man puffed out his chest slightly, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible arrogance.

Yang Zhengyi!

Sure enough it was him!

A flash of coldness appeared in Su Ming's eyes.

This meal is probably a trap.

A few days ago he sent people to rob the road but failed, so today he wants to use "invitation"?

Is he trying to lure me to his territory, get me drunk, and trick me into revealing information?

Or should we set a trap and frame them directly?

Or perhaps, he simply wanted to find out more about himself?

As for befriending them?

Haha, what a huge joke!

Either way, this meal must not be eaten.

Su Ming sneered inwardly, but on his face, a perfectly timed expression of "surprise" and "fear" quickly appeared. He hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting: "So it was Officer Yang who invited me!"

"I've long heard of Officer Yang's illustrious name; it's legendary!"

"To have Officer Yang grace us with his presence is truly—truly an honor beyond measure!"

His tone was sincere, with a hint of flattery and awkwardness, and his performance was flawless.

Seeing his reaction, the man's eyes flashed with a hint of satisfaction and a faint disdain. After all, he was just a country bumpkin; he was frightened as soon as he heard the title of constable.

"In that case, young man, please follow me. Don't keep the master waiting." The man stepped aside to make way for Su Ming.

"Of course, of course!" Su Ming nodded repeatedly, but then showed some difficulty and urgency: "But—brother, it's really unfortunate, I'm going to the city today on the behalf of an elder in the village, to deliver some mountain goods on this donkey cart to an old friend of an elder in the city."

"If the goods aren't delivered, the kid won't be able to explain himself when he gets back."

He pointed to the donkey cart, now only containing a few odds and ends, his expression utterly sincere: "How about this? You tell me where Officer Yang is hosting the banquet, and I'll deliver the things there immediately. I'll be there right away, without a moment's delay!"

"At most—at most half an hour!"

"Oh no, in a quarter of an hour! The boy will be there in a quarter of an hour!"

The man glanced at the donkey cart, then at Su Ming's anxious and sincere face, and frowned.

His orders were to "invite" the person, but the master did not say that he had to bring them in immediately.

This country bumpkin looks pretty scared; I doubt he'd dare to try anything funny.

Besides, his father knows his family's situation well; he can run away, but he can't hide.

"Very well, the master is in room number B of the Tianzi section at the Yuelai Restaurant. Go and return quickly, lest you keep the master waiting." The man waved his hand, his tone carrying a warning.

"Definitely! Thank you for your understanding, brother!" Su Ming drove the donkey cart and hurriedly headed towards the other street that the man had pointed out, in the opposite direction from "Yuelai Restaurant".

Once he turned two street corners and was completely out of the man's sight, the fearful and anxious expression on Su Ming's face vanished instantly, leaving only an icy indifference.

"Yuelai Restaurant? Room No. 2 (Tianzi B)?"

He muttered to himself, a completely unsmiling smile playing on his lips: "Officer Yang, you should enjoy this meal by yourself. I'll have to excuse myself!"

Only a fool would go to a banquet that's considered a trap!

Instead of going to Yuelai Restaurant, he flicked the reins, urging his skinny donkey to speed towards the nearest city gate.

The whole "sending mountain goods" thing is just an excuse.

At this moment, the best course of action is to leave the county town as soon as possible and return to the relatively safe Sishui Village.

The donkey cart creaked and soon left the city gate, embarking on its journey home.

The cold wind swept in again, but Su Ming's heart was even colder and clearer than when he arrived.

"This trip to the city has been very fruitful."

This time, he went to the city and formed an alliance with Lin Qingyun, thus launching the "name-creation" plan;

Having fulfilled Old Hu's promise regarding the wolf pelt, he obtained the future hunting dog "Golden Tiger";

They also pre-ordered the powerful future weapon, the Five Stone Bow;

He had spent almost all his cash and all the wolf skins, and was now penniless.

The expected "first pot of gold" has yet to materialize; instead, they've become even poorer.

We didn't even buy the donkey cart as planned; it seems we'll have to wait until next time.

Moreover, Su Ming has completely offended Yang Zhengyi, who has switched from secretly sabotaging him to openly "inviting" him, making his hostility blatantly obvious.

"Never mind all that, let's see if refining sugar is actually useful. With money—everything will be simple—"

As the sun sets, it paints the snow-covered ground with a faint orange-red hue.

The shadow of the donkey cart stretched long across the snow-covered plain.

Su Ming glanced back at the Linjiang County city wall, which was receding into the distance and looked like a giant beast lying in wait, his eyes resolute.

.

Yuelai Restaurant, Room No. 2 (Tianzi B).

The exquisite charcoal brazier was burning brightly, and several cold dishes and a pot of warm wine were already laid out on the table.

:

Yang Zhengyi sat alone at the table, tapping his fingers absently on the surface.

He was about forty years old, with a square face, but his eyes were slightly narrow and long, always looking at people with a scrutinizing and calculating look, but at this moment they were full of impatience.

The door was pushed open, and the man who had previously blocked Su Ming cautiously walked in.

"Where is he?" Yang Zhengyi didn't look up, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Reporting to Master, Su Ming said he was going to deliver some mountain produce to the elders in the city and would be here soon. I—I told him to wait here, and—I came back first." The man's forehead was slightly sweaty.

"Coming...right...by...you?" Yang Zhengyi slowly raised his head, a cold glint flashing in his narrow eyes. "What time is it now?"

The man's legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud: "Master, please calm down! I saw that he agreed readily, so it didn't seem like he was faking it. Besides, his home is in Sishui Village, so I thought he wouldn't dare—"

"Dare not?" Yang Zhengyi scoffed, slamming his wine glass on the table with a loud thud, spilling wine everywhere. "He's making a fool of me!"

His face darkened: "He agreed so readily on the surface, but he'll probably just head straight out of the city and go home! What a slippery fellow!"

"I've wasted so much time waiting here!"

The man lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to utter a word.

Yang Zhengyi's chest heaved a few times as he took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger of being fooled.

His original plan to get Su Ming drunk and extract information to create leverage to send him to jail seems to have fallen through.

This kid is more wary, or rather, cunning, than I imagined.

"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences." Yang Zhengyi muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. "The death of my cousin Yang Zhengxiong is absolutely related to you! Even without concrete evidence, you won't get away with this."

He paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "When will the next batch of conscription slots sent from above arrive in the county?"

The man quickly replied, "According to past practice and the courier reports, it should arrive around the end of next month."

"The end of next month—" Yang Zhengyi tapped his fingers lightly on the table, a cold and sinister smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Okay, very good."

"Once the quota is allocated, add the name 'Su Ming' from Sishui Village to my list."

"Choose the section with the hardest, most tiring work, and the most deaths."

He paused, then added, "Do it discreetly, but let people know it's an allocation 'according to the rules.'"

"I want him to go there with a legitimate reason, and then—with a legitimate reason—not to come back!"

"Yes! I understand! I will definitely get it done!" The man kowtowed immediately.

Yang Zhengyi waved his hand, signaling him to step back.

The room fell silent again, with only the occasional crackling of the charcoal fire.

He poured himself another glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and looked out the window toward Sishui Village, as if he could already see that arrogant young man struggling to his death in hard labor.

For him, crushing a village boy from the bottom of society was as easy as crushing an ant.

As dusk settled, Su Ming finally returned to Sishui Village before it became completely dark.

Su Ming drove the donkey cart all the way back to his own courtyard.

Liu and Su Yuanbao were waiting at the door. They were surprised to see him return safely, carrying a fluffy little creature.

"Why did you bring a dog back?" Su Yuanbao asked.

The fourth and fifth brothers came bounding over, surprised by the puppy's adorable appearance: "Such a cute little dog!"

Su Ming briefly explained the origin of the puppy, saying it was a hunting dog puppy given to him by an acquaintance in the city, and that it would be useful if raised properly.

"Golden Tiger? That's a majestic name!" Su Yuanbao curiously poked the puppy's head.

The little golden tiger seemed to be able to distinguish its own people. Its wet eyes looked at the new environment, and it wasn't afraid of strangers at all.

"Second sister, please take good care of this dog."

Su Ming handed the golden tiger to Su Yuyu, who came out after hearing the noise: "It's a hunting dog breed, it grows fast, so you need to feed it some meat, don't just give it scraps."

Su Yuyu took the soft puppy, and when she heard that she was going to feed it meat, her beautiful brows furrowed slightly: "Dogs need to eat meat? Can't they eat some leftovers? When they're starving, they'll even eat poop. Feeding livestock meat is such a waste!"

"This isn't a mongrel; it's a helper that will come with me into the mountains in the future. It can help with hunting and is also a great guard dog."

Su Ming explained, "Investing in it now will be a great help later. In a month or two, we'll see its basic structure. It can be used for guarding the house and protecting against bad guys."

Upon hearing "hunting helper" and "guard against bad guys," Su Yuyu said no more, but gently stroked the puppy and nodded: "I understand, I will think of something."

She knew that her younger brother was different now and that he had his reasons for acting.

Although Liu felt sorry for the meat, she felt even more sorry for her son, so she acquiesced.

After settling Jinhu in, Su Ming asked Liu, "Mother, is there any sugar left at home? I need some."

"Sugar?" Liu was taken aback for a moment, then turned and went into the house. From deep inside an old cupboard, she carefully took out a small, rough earthenware jar.

"There's still some brown sugar left. I bought it last year, and I've been reluctant to eat it. There's still a little bit left."

Su Ming took it; it was very light. When he opened it, he saw that it contained some dark brown sugar that had already clumped together. It was of poor quality, just the cheapest kind of "brown sugar" or "sugar residue."

He pinched a little with his hand and put it in his mouth. The sweetness was very faint, and the astringency and slightly strange taste from the impurities were very obvious.

Even so, this is already a precious "luxury" in this family.

"I took it; it's somewhat useful."

Su Ming didn't explain further and took the candy jar back to his room.

After closing the door, he carefully recalled the steps of the "yellow mud water sugar rinsing method".

The village has plenty of yellow mud, which is needed.

You need to make a funnel and a clay funnel (a type of earthenware funnel-shaped vessel). You can ask someone in the village who knows how to make pottery for help, or modify existing tools.

The most crucial factors are the ratio, temperature, number of rinses, and timing.

He doesn't have the money to buy a large quantity of brown sugar for experiments right now, so the little he has at home must be successful on the first try, at least to prove that the method works.

He calmed himself down, first taking a small amount of brown sugar and dissolving it in hot water to observe the color and any sediment.

Then he went outside, took some fine yellow soil from a shady spot in the yard, and mixed it with water to make a smooth, viscous yellow mud water.

Back inside, he found an old earthenware jar with a narrow neck and wide belly that had originally been used to hold water, carefully cleaned it, and used it as a makeshift vessel.

"Wa Liu".

Dissolve the remaining brown sugar in hot water and pour it into a ceramic jar.

Then, take the prepared yellow mud water, roll it into a ball with the few remaining pieces of gauze in the house, place it on the sugar, and then pour the yellow mud water along the wall of the jar very slowly and evenly onto the surface of the syrup.

In addition to these, there were other things to pay attention to, which he completed one by one with great care.

The process of rinsing sugar with yellow mud water is a process that requires patience.

The muddy water will slowly seep into the syrup, absorbing the pigments and impurities, and gradually sink to the bottom.

The syrup on top will gradually become clear.

Time passed slowly, and the flame of the oil lamp flickered slightly. Su Ming was completely focused, controlling the speed and amount of rinsing, and observing the changes in the color of the syrup.

After an unknown amount of time, when he poured the last bit of yellow mud water over the syrup and let it sit for a while, he looked at the top of the originally dark brown syrup in the jar under the light and found that a layer of light-colored, almost light yellow crystals had appeared!

Although it's still far from being snow-white and crystal clear, the change is visible to the naked eye!

"It works!" Su Ming was overjoyed.

He knew that this was only the initial purification process. To obtain high-quality white sugar, he needed to repeatedly rinse and crystallize the sugar, while carefully controlling the conditions.

The amount of sugar at home is too little to complete the whole process, but it's enough to prove that this approach works!

He carefully hid the partially processed syrup in a corner of the room.

Next, it's time to wait for the results, and—find the capital for your first "entrepreneurial venture".

"It will probably take about a month—" Su Ming murmured, looking at the pottery jar.

It will take Lin Qingyun a month to complete the process, and it will probably take about the same amount of time for the sugar to be completely purified. The day the bow is completed will also be a month from now.

A month is too long. In this month, he must solve the meat problem and prepare as much as possible for the upcoming "business" and possible turmoil.

"We're out of meat at home, and I've run out of money. I need to hunt and sell the meat to earn some money, and maybe have some leftover meat to eat. I need meat to practice my martial arts!"

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Su Ming had finished packing.

The newly replaced broadsword gleamed coldly, the quiver was filled with homemade ordinary arrows, and the ordinary hunting bow that he had received from Su Shunfa was slung over his shoulder.

He had dried meat and tumbleweeds tucked into his arms.

He gently pushed open the courtyard gate, and a rush of crisp, fresh air greeted him.

The little golden tiger raised its head in the old basket that Su Yuyu had prepared for it and barked twice at him.

Su Ming glanced back at his quiet home, then looked towards the distant, snow-capped Xiaochong Mountain, which was faintly visible in the morning mist.

We're out of money, and out of meat.

So, mountain, here I come.

He gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, strode forward, and once again stepped into the vast, desolate forest that he had just cleansed with his blood, yet which was eternally teeming with life and danger.

On the snow, a new, solitary, yet resolute line of footprints was left.