“What are you doing?”
Li Chen asked in shock.
“Didn’t my lord say that before it grows dark, you wanted to… to shoot…”
The little maid-wife lowered her head as she removed the final layer of underclothing. Her face was crimson red, her voice tiny as a mosquito’s hum, and her words stumbled out in embarrassment.
Li Chen froze for a moment before suddenly realizing what had happened. “You misunderstood. I meant I wanted to test this bow and arrows!”
“Ah?!”
The little maid-wife instantly covered her face and crouched on the ground.
Li Chen felt a stir in his heart, but ultimately restrained himself.
He walked over, picked up her clothes, draped them over her shoulders, then opened the door and stepped outside.
Inside the room, the little maid-wife hurriedly dressed herself. Recalling her humiliating behavior just now, she let out a soft whimper and covered her burning face again, twisting her body and stamping her foot in embarrassment. She wished she could disappear from shame.
…
Meanwhile, Li Chen stood in the courtyard and lowered his gaze.
His body was in shockingly good condition.
It seemed that after transmigrating, there truly was no longer any problem. Tonight, perhaps he could ask his little maid-wife to help him verify it properly?
If he truly had recovered, then he would also be able to enjoy a proper meal.
At that thought, the image of Yu Qingwan’s flawless, jade-like figure from earlier suddenly flashed through his mind.
He shook his head hard, forcibly dragging his thoughts back onto the right path.
Then he examined the bow in his hands.
It was a composite recurve bow made from sinew and horn.
The craftsmanship was excellent, though the design philosophy was outdated and the power merely average.
His father had originally made it for Hunter Zhang from the neighboring village. Unfortunately, before the bow was completed, Hunter Zhang had been gored to death by a wild boar, leaving the bow abandoned here.
That had conveniently benefited the current Li Chen.
As a master-level expert in both cold and modern weapons in his previous life, Li Chen had especially loved archery.
More than once, after exhausting all his bullets in the depths of primitive forests, he had survived by crafting bows and arrows with his own hands to kill enemies and escape alive.
Though this was only a hunting bow, its strength was solid. At full draw, its effective killing range was nearly twenty meters.
Barely acceptable.
Using rotten wood, he quickly fashioned a crude target and leaned it against a distant tree outside the courtyard. Then he began testing the bow.
He drew the bowstring, nocked an arrow, and the instant he focused his mind, the target suddenly enlarged in his vision.
This was an extraordinary perception ability that appeared only under complete mental emptiness and absolute concentration.
Perhaps only one in ten thousand snipers could achieve it.
He released the string.
At twenty meters, the arrow struck dead center.
Li Chen raised his brows slightly in surprise.
Even at the peak of his former life, entering this state of extreme concentration for precision sniping had required at least ten seconds.
But just now, the moment he focused and drew the bow, he had instantly entered that state.
That meant his precision killing ability had improved drastically.
To confirm his theory, he quickly sprinted another ten meters back, turned, drew, and released.
Thirty meters. Direct hit.
He ran another ten meters farther, rolled across the ground, and instantly released another shot.
Forty meters. Another hit.
Every single time, he entered that all-controlling state of super concentration instantly. Li Chen could not help but feel delighted.
Still, forty meters was the limit.
That was already the effective range of the bow. Any farther, and the arrows would lose accuracy.
Leaning against the doorway, the little maid-wife cupped her burning cheeks as she secretly watched Li Chen.
Li Chen returned to the courtyard and was just about to speak when he suddenly looked up and saw a bird flying overhead.
In an instant, he nocked another arrow and drew the bow, holding the string steady.
The small bird magnified instantly in his vision. Even from so far away, he could seemingly make out every gray feather on its body.
Twang!
The bowstring snapped. The bow trembled. The arrow shot forth like lightning.
The bird let out a mournful cry as the arrow pierced through it, and it dropped almost straight from the sky.
Li Chen exhaled slowly, visibly moved.
This kind of instant precision shot would probably place him among the absolute pinnacle of archers, even in this cold-weapon era.
“One who draws a carved bow like a full moon, gazing northwest, shooting at the heavens… bird!”
The little maid-wife at the doorway watched in amazement and softly recited the line.
She ran over, picked up the bird, and timidly held it out to Li Chen. “My lord, your bird.”
Li Chen’s face darkened slightly. Why did that sound strange?
“There are still embers left in the stove. Roast it and eat it. I’m heading into the mountains for a while.”
Li Chen pulled the bird from the arrow shaft and handed it to her.
It was a local iron-beaked bird. Fairly large. After removing the feathers, there would still be around 100 grams of meat left.
“My lord is letting this servant eat the bird?”
The little maid-wife stared blankly at Li Chen, disbelief filling her eyes.
Li Chen nearly stumbled. Pulling the arrow free and storing it away, he walked toward the exit.
Behind him came Yu Qingwan’s voice. “My lord, you can eat this bird however you want!”
“Thank you, my lord…”
The maid-wife was so moved that tears filled her eyes.
Speechless, Li Chen left.
It was already mid-afternoon. Li Chen quickened his pace into the mountains. Otherwise, he would have to spend the night there, which would be extremely dangerous.
Not long after leaving home, he encountered several village women returning from the mountains with baskets full of wild vegetables.
Seeing Li Chen heading out with a bow on his back, all of them looked surprised.
“What’s Li family’s eldest boy planning to do?” one woman around forty years old asked curiously.
Li Chen recognized her. She was Liu Jincui, the wife of Village Chief Xu Jiang.
“Hunting,” Li Chen replied casually.
“Li family’s eldest boy actually wants to become a hunter? Just don’t let a black bear lick away that pretty little face of yours. That would be such a waste.”
Another woman in her thirties named Wang Caifeng burst into laughter.
Li Chen had been handsome since childhood. Even after growing up, he still attracted the attention of many young women and married wives.
If his reputation had not been so terrible, many women probably would have thrown themselves at him or even volunteered to marry him.
“Tsk tsk, if Li family’s eldest boy really brings back prey, don’t forget to call your sister-in-law. Sister-in-law will trade meat buns with you.”
The boldest among them was a woman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight named Ma Lian. Grinning mischievously, she deliberately lifted her chest with one hand.
Though her face was ordinary, her figure was undeniably excellent.
War was raging. In every village, unless a man was the sole son of his family, over fifty years old, disabled, under adulthood, or registered as an artisan, he had been conscripted to Beiyan Pass. They either became soldiers or laborers.
As a result, strong adult men had become extremely rare in the villages. Women, especially married women, were burning with restless desire, and their behavior had grown far bolder than before.
Still, in their eyes, this idle little thug who stole from others actually wanted to hunt?
What a joke.
Li Chen ignored them and continued up the mountain.
“That useless Li family brat actually entered the mountains to hunt? What nonsense got into him?”
“He’s good at beating his wife, but hunting? Forget it. Does he think anyone can just wander into those mountains? In recent years, the rear mountains have been filled with black bears and wild boars. Recently, people even said a tiger appeared there. It’s already killed many people. Nobody dares hunt there anymore. Isn’t he just courting death?”
The two women curled their lips and continued mocking him noisily as they watched his retreating figure.
“That’s enough. That child’s nature isn’t bad. At least hope for something better from him,” the kind-hearted Liu Jincui said with a frown.
She turned to look at Li Chen’s departing back, worry visible in her eyes.
…
An hour later, Li Chen had already entered the deep mountains.
Earlier, he had drawn the bow at full strength five consecutive times. With his current body, it was truly too much strain. His hands were still trembling slightly.
Only after spending some time in the mountains did he finally recover.