Border Soldiers: My granaries are full of grain and meat, and I guard this region.

Qijia Village, three miles away from the temple.

Outside the temple, the wind was biting and the snow was thick.

Inside the temple, candlelight flickered, and long swords were drawn.

"Brother, I'm sorry, but blame the dire situation on the western front and the incompetent emperor. If I don't kill you, I'll be in deep trouble myself!"

"Once we hand over your head, we'll have something to say about it!"

Qi Feng slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view was a gleaming long knife, almost pressed against his neck.

Seeing this, Qi Feng instinctively rolled away to dodge the knife, then looked up, his eyes fixed on the burly man opposite him.

"Wasn't I leading a special operations mission? Where am I?"

The next second, memories flooded into Qi Feng's mind.

"The Great Sui Dynasty... Qi Family Village... Qi Feng? I've time-traveled? This person is also named Qi Feng?"

"You actually woke up, kid?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng looked up and saw a burly man with a red cloth lining, leather armor on top, and a gleaming long sword in his hand—clearly a standard Western Army uniform.

But... why did this Western Army man attack him?

Ma Hu sized Qi Feng up and down, grinned maliciously, picked up the wine pouch at his waist, and gulped it down.

"Don't blame me if you have to! Blame this messed-up, chaotic world! It's forced us to the brink of extinction!"

"Before I took action, I heard you were a scourge on Qi Family Village. Killing you will be doing a service to the people!"

As soon as Ma Hu finished speaking, he strode forward and thrust his gleaming longsword at Qi Feng, the wind it created causing the candlelight to flicker.

Qi Feng's pupils contracted upon seeing this. He suddenly stood up and dodged to the side, taking advantage of the moment when Ma Hu had not yet withdrawn his strength after drawing his knife, and kicked him in the groin.

"oh!"

Ma Hu's face turned pale as he suffered a groin injury, but Qi Feng had already stepped forward, grabbed his wrist, and snatched the long knife away.

"Wait! Wait...!"

puff!

As the long knife pierced Ma Hu's heart, his eyes still held panic and disbelief.

A dignified soldier of the Western Army never imagined that he would be killed by a rogue who would disarm him.

As the light in Ma Hu's eyes gradually disappeared, Qi Feng drew his long sword and took a deep breath.

"How did I end up in this chaotic world? In my memory, the Sui Dynasty was so chaotic that not only did ordinary people have a hard time surviving, but even men like us on the frontier had a hard time."

"Forget it, there's no point in dwelling on this now. The person is already dead; we need to figure out how to clean things up."

He glanced at the longsword in his hand. It was a good sword, but unfortunately he couldn't use it now. If something from the military were to be exposed, it would definitely attract attention.

Qi Feng hid the long knife, then stripped Ma Hu of his clothes and burned them all with the flame of the candle. Finally, he dragged Ma Hu's body out of the temple.

Qi Feng found a secluded mountain valley. It was the dead of winter, and the mountains were covered in snow. The drag marks left by the corpse disappeared without a trace in no time.

"If we leave it here, it'll probably be eaten by wild animals in a few days, which will save us from being discovered."

After doing all this, Qi Feng returned to Qi Family Village following the route he remembered.

As soon as Qi Feng arrived at his doorstep, he noticed something was wrong. A large group of people had gathered at his door, with a constable leading the way.

"Why hasn't Qi Feng returned yet?"

The constable looked impatient. Coming out in the dead of winter was already exhausting enough, and now he had to wait for someone for so long.

Standing beside the constable, Qi Changlai, the village chief of Qi Family Village, bowed low and said tremblingly:

"My lord, this boy has always been fond of gambling and always loses. He'll probably be back soon."

The constable raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

A sharp-eyed villager spotted Qi Feng and immediately shouted out.

"Qi Feng is back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers quickly made way for him, most of them looking at Qi Feng with schadenfreude.

Qi Feng raised an eyebrow and arrived at his front door.

"You are Qi Feng?"

"I am Qi Feng."

Qi Feng was puzzled and looked at the group of people with a question in his mind.

The constable, with his nose in the air, sized Qi Feng up and down before giving him a hard tug.

With the clanking of iron chains, a woman was dragged out from behind the constable!

The woman's hands were tied, her head was bowed, her whole body was trembling, and her feet were red from the cold as she stood on the snow.

If you put her behind the constable, no one will even notice that there's someone else hiding there!

"From now on, she's yours!"

The constable unlocked the woman's shackles, shoved her into Qi Feng's arms, and handed her a contract of servitude.

"But next month, I want to see 500 jin (250 catties) of meat, or my whole family will be beheaded!"

Upon hearing the constable's words, Qi Feng's head buzzed.

Putting aside what exactly happened, with the heavy snow falling right now, where is he going to find 500 jin of meat?

Moreover, there's only one month to complete the task, and if you fail, your entire family will be beheaded. Isn't that practically sending yourself to your death?

Just as Qi Feng was about to speak, Qi Changlai spoke up from the side:

"Qi Feng, you'd better hurry up and thank the master. He knows you're a gambling addict who can't find a wife, yet he still sent you one! Otherwise, with your dilapidated house, who would want to be with you?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng's face darkened, and he tossed the woman aside.

"I never said I wanted a wife, and what's this about paying grain taxes?"

In his memory, there had never been any such thing as paying meat as grain.

Every year, Qijia Village would hand over their grain together. Why are they suddenly asking them to hand over 500 catties of meat, even though it's not grain time yet?

The constable frowned and said coldly:

"The war in the west is critical, and every household must pay grain tribute. This is the imperial court's order! If you refuse to pay, that would be treason!"

Qi Changlai also sighed from the side:

"Qi Feng, you're not getting any younger. Didn't you learn some hunting skills from your father? Even though it's the dead of winter, just one game you hunt in the mountains will be enough to pay your taxes, and you'll even get a wife for free! This is an incredible stroke of luck!"

The surrounding villagers looked at Qi Feng with schadenfreude.

Qi Feng clenched his fists; in his memory, this was by no means a good thing.

Judging from the way this woman appeared, it's clear she's not someone of respectable origin; she's probably a family member of a criminal from the imperial court.

With frequent wars, the imperial court would also send these women to distant places in order to quickly replenish the population.

Even if he doesn't pay grain taxes, as long as he's old enough and hasn't found a wife, he can still receive a share.

Qi Feng took a deep breath, quickly reviewing the laws of the Sui Dynasty in his mind, and finally looked at the constable.

"Don't I have two plots of land at home? Paying tribute of meat and grain is the hunters' job, how could it be my responsibility?"

Qi Changlai, who was standing to the side, exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.

"You silly boy, have you forgotten that you lost the bet yesterday, losing the last two plots of land in the family?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng stiffened, finally recalling this scene from his memory.

Yesterday, while drunk, he made a bet with someone and ended up losing the last two plots of land in a daze!

But Qi Feng knew that although the original owner was a gambler, he would never be so heartless as to take the land out to gamble!

This is most likely a setup!

The constable waved his hand, "Alright, I don't care how you solve it. If you don't see food next month, your head will roll!"