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

Du Sanqiu cleared his throat. "I hadn't even recovered from my injury for two days when I ran into this crazy old man again."

He told me that I would make a fortune within three days.

Guess what?

The next evening, I had a gathering with friends. After dinner, we played dominoes, and in less than two hours, I won over thirty taels of silver.

At this point, he cleared his throat, "What's even more surprising is that I met him several more times afterward, and every time he said something, it came true."

The last time I met him, I couldn't help but ask him what kind of enlightened path he wanted to show me.

He told me that within a month I would meet a woman, and he described her appearance in detail, saying that if I married her, I would reach the pinnacle of the mortal world and have a chance to reach the heavens.

Lu Fengnian frowned. "The woman you're talking about, is that Xiaoyu?"

Du Sanqiu nodded repeatedly, "Xiaoyu's appearance is exactly the same as that crazy old man described, without the slightest deviation."

Lu Feng snorted, "You've got a knack for making up stories, kid."

Du Sanqiu raised his hand again, "Brother, this matter is absolutely true, I can swear to God."

If you don't believe me, you can come with me to Qinghe County. There are many people there who can testify; they all saw this mad old man.

Hearing this, Lu Fengnian suddenly remembered something and asked, "Tell me, what does that crazy old man look like?"

Du Sanqiu blurted out, "His clothes were tattered, he had a dirty yellow gourd hanging from his waist, and he was missing a front tooth."

Upon hearing this, Lu Fengnian was startled.

The old man Du Sanqiu mentioned was actually the same old man who took Qiu Qingbai away from the Guo family in Qinghe County.

As a result, Lu Fengnian began to believe Du Sanqiu's words.

Nine times out of ten, the crazy old man is a cultivator, possessing abilities that ordinary people cannot understand or reach.

Seeing that Lu Fengnian was somewhat stunned, Du Sanqiu continued, "Brother, what I just said is not a single word of falsehood, nor is it exaggerated in the slightest."

Every word this crazy old man uttered came true; he was practically a living god.

If I marry Xiaoyu, I will be able to embark on the path to heaven and reach the pinnacle of the mortal world.

At that time, our two families will be the wealthiest families in the world.

Lu Fengnian rolled his eyes. "It's not even dark yet, what are you daydreaming about?"

"Look at yourself! What kind of person are you? Do you even deserve my Xiaoyu?"

At this point, he raised his voice, "Du Sanqiu, I'll say it again, don't come to Mao'er Village again, or I'll beat you up every time you come."

When he said this, Lu Fengnian's tone was noticeably more gentle than before.

Du Sanqiu was clearly afraid, but he stubbornly said, "Whether I am worthy of Xiaoyu or not is not for you to decide, but for Xiaoyu to decide."

Lu Fengnian sneered, "What I said means what Xiaoyu means."

Du Sanqiu followed up with, "What if Xiaoyu likes me?"

Lu Fengnian scoffed, "With your ugly, deformed appearance?"

Du Sanqiu was clearly unconvinced, "In Qinghe County, if we're talking about looks, I wouldn't dare say I'm in the top three, but I'm definitely in the top ten..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Fengnian kicked him into the roadside bushes again, "You have no shame! With your looks, you wouldn't even rank among the best in our Mao'er Village."

After that, he ignored Du Sanqiu and turned around, walking quickly towards the village.

Du Sanqiu crawled out of the bushes and shouted loudly at Lu Fengnian's back, "Big brother, hitting is a sign of affection, scolding is a sign of love, I know you are testing me."

Don't worry, my feelings for Xiaoyu are unwavering, and I will come back!

…………

The next day, early in the morning.

Zhao Dagui, Zhao Tianming, and many other villagers from Mao'er Village gathered at the entrance of the Lu family's house.

Lu Fengnian and Zhao Tie, along with eight others, some carrying hunting bows, others with short knives and woodcutting knives tucked into their waistbands, bid a reluctant farewell to their families.

Then, amidst the reluctant and worried gazes of her family, she slowly walked towards the village entrance.

I walked straight to the riverbank at the village entrance, and then went upstream along the stream.

A moment later, the river embankment appeared before them.

On the riverbank, a group of more than twenty people, all fully armed, were gathered; they were from Shangjie Village.

Leading the group was Yang Kai.

The people from the two villages fight every year. They know each other well, but they are hostile to each other.

Lu Feng led Zhao Tie and the others up to the riverbank and nodded slightly to Yang Kai.

"Is this all the people you have?"

Yang Kai frowned and asked Lu Fengnian.

Lu Feng responded in a low voice, "You have too many people. You should reselect your men. With you, eight will be enough. Young, strong men who are good swimmers will be given priority."

Yang Kai looked puzzled.

Lu Fengnian explained, "The water in our river all comes from the Old Turtle Cave. If we can go deeper, the possibility of traveling by water is relatively high."

A raft will likely be needed; having too many people would actually be inconvenient.

Besides, if there really is an old turtle spirit inside, no matter how many of us there are, it won't make a difference."

After a moment's hesitation, Yang Kai immediately gathered the villagers of Shangjie Village together and selected seven people from among them.

Afterwards, the sixteen people gathered together and continued upstream.

Despite traveling together and sharing a common goal, apart from Lu Fengnian occasionally exchanging a few words with Yang Kai, the people of Mao'er Village and Shangjie Village were clearly divided into two groups, one in front and one behind, with a distinct boundary, and neither side paid any attention to the other.

After traveling upstream along the river for about twenty miles, the road ahead was covered by weeds and became impassable.

Lu Fengnian and Yang Kai had no choice but to lead their respective villagers, taking turns using machetes to clear the way ahead.

The pace of travel slowed significantly, but fortunately, the river provided guidance, so the direction remained correct.

Meanwhile, with no human presence, birds and wild animals gradually increased, especially along the riverbank.

Now is the time for hunters like Lu Fengnian, Yang Kai, and Zhao Tie to show their skills.

There are two hunters in Mao'er Village, Lu Fengnian and Zhao Tie.

There are three from Shangjie Village: Yang Kai, Yang Yinfeng, and Yang Sihai.

To avoid causing disputes.

Lu Fengnian and Yang Kai agreed that when they encountered prey, Mao'er Village and Shangjie Village would take turns shooting, and whoever caught the prey would own it.

In this way, when it was their turn to shoot the prey, both sides put in their best effort, bringing their archery skills to the extreme, both to kill the prey and to save face for their own village.

Especially in Shangjie Village, after losing the archery contest on the river embankment, they really wanted to win back.

In Mao'er Village, Zhao Tie usually takes the lead when there are only lone prey, while Lu Fengnian joins in when there are more prey.

Because they had an extra bow, Shangjie Village had a slight advantage. In addition, when it was their turn to hunt, they caught slightly more prey than Mao'er Village, so their harvest was naturally greater.

This made the people of Shangjie Village quite proud.

The people of Mao'er Village were naturally unconvinced. Whenever they encountered prey, those villagers who couldn't shoot arrows were even more nervous than Lu Fengnian and Zhao Tie.

Although Lu Fengnian rarely went hunting with his bow and arrow, he never slacked off in practicing his archery skills. Whenever he had free time, he would pick up his bow and arrow and shoot a couple of arrows to improve his proficiency.