Abandoning literature for martial arts, starting by unleashing the beauty's bow.

He put away the bow and retrieved the arrows from the two corpses.

Lu Fengnian looked at the man with a headscarf, and saw that he was still tightly clutching a hunting bow in his hand.

Unfortunately, the bow was broken in two.

Lu Fengnian's arrow just now broke the bow before it pierced the man's chest.

Unfortunately, at least four qian of silver were gone.

Fortunately, the skinny man's bow was intact, and he also obtained more than twenty arrows: five iron arrows and eighteen bamboo arrows.

He threw the two corpses and the broken hunting bow into a nearby ravine. Lu Fengnian then cut some branches and firewood on the spot and, just like last time, hid the fox and the captured hunting bow in the firewood.

However, he deliberately left air holes in the firewood so that the fox wouldn't suffocate.

After the prey dies, it is best to skin it within an hour; otherwise, the hide will be damaged as the prey rots or rigors of death.

The two civets we hunted last time had their fur quality affected because we skinned them a little late.

If Fang Tong from Fuyuan Leather Shop hadn't been in such a hurry, it probably wouldn't have sold for 220 coins.

With everything settled, Lu Fengnian picked up his bundle of firewood and continued on his journey.

Soon, he arrived at the place where the pit traps had been set up.

Fortunately, both traps yielded results: one trap contained a civet cat, while the other contained two.

However, one of the three civets was clearly pregnant, its belly swollen.

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Fengnian released the pregnant civet cat back into the wild.

Then, the other two civets were tied up like foxes.

After another round of maneuvering, they stuffed all three foxes and two civets into the straw basket.

Because there was a bit too much prey, the two bundles of thatch naturally grew larger, and when they were lifted up, they completely covered Lu Fengnian.

Looking at the time, it was almost noon.

Lu Fengnian ate all the crispy rice crusts off his body with water, rested for a while, then picked up his load and headed towards Blackwater Ridge.

Having experienced what he had just gone through, he became much more cautious along the way, walking slowly and constantly paying attention to his surroundings.

Fortunately, after reaching Heishui Ridge and walking all the way to the entrance of Mao'er Village, we didn't encounter anyone else along the way.

As luck would have it, Aunt Ma, Sister Liu, and Aunt Zhang gathered together again under the old willow tree at the village entrance, chatting animatedly about the Zhang family and the Li family.

These women are so idle all day long, it must be because the men in their families aren't paying their dues.

Lu Fengnian cursed under his breath and continued walking towards the village with his load on his shoulder.

Sister Liu, with her sharp eyes, spotted Lu Fengnian immediately and called out with a loud laugh, "Scholar Lu, off hunting again?"

Lu Fengnian hummed in response but did not reply. He quickened his pace and headed home.

Aunt Ma added, "Scholar Lu, next time you go out, don't bring your hunting bow. Just take your wood-chopping knife."

Since I can't catch any prey, I might as well just chop wood—it's easier and less troublesome.

Aunt Zhang grinned and said, "Let's not make fun of him. Haven't you noticed that he chopped a lot more firewood this time than last time? He's made great progress."

If there's progress, you shouldn't laugh at it; you should praise it.

…………

Lu Fengnian kept his head down and walked forward, too lazy to pay attention to the three gossipy women.

Sister Liu, Aunt Ma, and Aunt Zhang continued chatting and laughing after Lu Fengnian had gone some distance:

"This bookworm has gone mad; he really wants to become a hunter and compete with Zhao Gang."

"What are you thinking? All the hunters in our village started practicing archery when they were seven or eight years old, and they would go into the mountains to practice every now and then."

He's never even set foot in the fields in his entire life, and he wants to hunt? Is he dreaming?

"With such delicate skin and tender flesh, it would be such a waste if they had to go into the mountains to hunt and ended up feeding the tigers."

"What, you have other ideas? Tired of whole grains and want to eat refined grains?"

"Don't tell me you didn't think about it; when you looked at Scholar Lu just now, your eyes were practically glued to him."

In our Mao'er Village, there's only one man with fair skin and tender flesh...

…………

Lu Fengnian was carrying his load on a shoulder pole and walking forward when he saw two people coming towards him.

This is a young couple.

The man was tall and muscular, and looked very strong.

The woman was petite and pretty, wearing a yellow dress made of fine linen, which was not common in Mao'er Village. The fabric was brand new and looked like it had just been bought.

The woman was none other than Li Xiaorou, the original owner's childhood sweetheart.

The man, without a doubt, is Zhao Gang from the Zhao family.

The Zhao family was the number one hunter in Mao'er Village. All four of their strong men were skilled hunters, and the father and sons rarely returned empty-handed from their mountain expeditions.

In Mao'er Village, they were considered one of the wealthiest families.

The new clothes Li Xiaorou was wearing were most likely provided by the Zhao family.

The moment Li Xiaorou recognized Lu Fengnian, she was clearly startled, then her pretty face turned red and her eyes darted away.

Zhao Gang had always harbored feelings for Li Xiaorou, but Li Xiaorou was always thinking that once Lu Fengnian passed the imperial examination, she could become an official's wife, and she always ignored Zhao Gang.

Now that Lu Fengnian's studies were hopeless, he let his backup, Zhao Gang, take over.

After all, it was Li Xiaorou who kicked the original owner out.

Moreover, the original owner had visited the Li family several times in the past few days, but Li Xiaorou avoided seeing her and even told her father not to let the original owner into the house.

Now that she's run into him head-on, she feels somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, that's quite unusual. Scholar Lu can actually chop wood?"

Zhao Gang recognized Lu Fengnian and laughed out loud.

As he spoke, he deliberately moved a few steps closer to Li Xiaorou.

Just last month, the original owner and Li Xiaorou walked side by side on the road in the village, while Zhao Gang could only watch from afar with longing eyes.

At the same time, the long robe Lu Fengnian was wearing made him feel extremely inferior.

Now, he stands beside Li Xiaorou, while Lu Fengnian has shed his scholar's robes and gone to the mountains and fields to forage for a living.

Seeing this, Zhao Gang felt extremely comfortable.

Lu Fengnian glanced at Zhao Gang and Li Xiaorou indifferently, picked up his load, and continued walking forward.

Zhao Gang spotted the bow and arrows hanging on the straw bundle and laughed, "Where did you get a hunting bow? You think you're some bookworm who can't even kill a chicken, planning to go hunting in the mountains?"

Lu Fengnian resisted the urge to kick him away and said calmly, "What's it to you?"

"Oh! You've got quite a temper."

Zhao Gang's smile remained unchanged. "Of course it has something to do with me. Everyone knows that in Mao'er Village, when it comes to hunting skills, besides my father, it's me."

"If you want to learn hunting, for Xiaorou's sake, I can teach you a couple of tricks."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaorou's face showed anger. "Lu Fengnian, what do you want to do?"

Do you think that just because you somehow managed to concoct a hunting bow, you can win back my heart like Zhao Gang did?

It's over between us. No matter how much you pester me, it's useless. I won't come back.

Stop doing such ridiculous things; it only disgusts me and serves no purpose whatsoever!