A night of indulgence.
The next day, Murong Yanran walked out of the master bedroom supporting her waist.
On her heroic and beautiful face, there was a trace of fatigue, a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, and a subtle charm that even she herself had not noticed, the kind that came after being thoroughly cherished.
Seeing the three women waiting outside with different expressions, her embarrassment turned into irritation. She let out a cold snort, walked to a corner on her own, and began organizing the fabric they had exchanged for yesterday, pretending to be busy.
Xu Lang, on the other hand, looked refreshed and full of energy. He could not help but feel that eightfold constitution was truly remarkable.
Even someone like Murong Yanran, who practiced martial arts, was no match for him… eightfold constitution was indeed invincible!
He glanced outside. The sky was gloomy, and the northern wind carried a growing chill.
“The weather is getting colder day by day.”
Xu Lang stretched his body and said to Hua Yourong, who was boiling water.
“Our clothes are too thin. Just having fabric isn’t enough. Without cotton, they won’t keep us warm at all.”
Hua Yourong nodded with concern. “Yes, Husband. In this famine year, let alone cotton, even cotton seeds are impossible to find.”
Xu Lang smiled and picked up the firewood knife from yesterday.
“If we don’t have cotton, we have fur.”
He walked into the yard, selected a mulberry branch of suitable thickness and strong flexibility, and with a few swift strokes, chopped it down.
With the knowledge granted by [God-Level Craftsman Skill] and [God-Level Hunting Skill], he seemed like an old master who had practiced this craft for decades.
Selecting materials, stripping bark, carving, polishing… every movement flowed smoothly like water, leaving the women watching nearby dazzled.
It did not take long before he twisted strong bowstrings from the stripped bark.
Soon, a longbow with a simple yet powerful design took shape in his hands.
He then carved several straight branches into arrow shafts, sharpened arrowheads on a stone with his knife, and plucked a few long hairs from the rabbit in the pot to use as fletching.
A crude yet deadly set of hunting tools was completed.
“Husband, you… you even know how to make a bow?”
Xia Zhiruo’s big eyes sparkled with admiration. To her, her husband seemed capable of anything.
Xu Lang weighed the bow in his hand and drew it fully. The bow creaked sharply under tension.
“I know a little, just a little.”
He turned to the women and smiled. “Stay home and prepare the meal. When I come back, I’ll bring you some fine animal hides to make winter clothes!”
With that, he slung the bow over his back, tucked the knife at his waist, and strode once more toward the deep mountains.
…
On the eastern side of the village, inside Zhao Dahu’s shabby house.
He had not slept all night, his eyes bloodshot.
Before him lay his tools of survival.
A well-maintained hunting knife gleaming with oil, a hunting bow far cruder than the one Xu Lang had made, and a pot of arrowheads coated with a special substance.
It was a secret poison used by mountain hunters. Once it entered the blood, infection would spread instantly. Anyone struck by such an arrow would not live long.
He knew Xu Lang could fight, and that ice-cold woman beside him was even more formidable.
A direct attack would be suicide.
And hunters understood patience and ambush better than anyone.
“Xu Lang… just you wait.”
Zhao Dahu stroked the cold arrowheads, a vicious smile spreading across his face.
“When night falls, it will be your end!”
He intended to treat Xu Lang’s entire family as cunning prey and deliver a fatal strike when they were most relaxed.
…
Xu Lang entered the deep mountains again, feeling even more at ease than yesterday.
With a bow in hand, he no longer needed to proceed cautiously step by step.
He moved through the forest like a king surveying his territory.
Before long, he discovered a group of wild chickens pecking at seeds in a clearing.
Xu Lang drew his bow and nocked an arrow without pause.
Whoosh!
The arrow cut through the air.
A chicken, busy pecking at the ground, dropped instantly.
Startled, the flock scattered in panic, flapping wildly.
Xu Lang remained calm and nocked another arrow.
Whoosh!
Another plump chicken, the slowest to escape, was shot down from midair.
He stepped forward and picked up his prey.
Two chickens and one rabbit.
One of the chickens was especially fat, heavy in his hand, weighing at least 3.5 to 4 kilograms.
“Not bad luck. This one will make a rich soup, full of flavor.”
Satisfied, Xu Lang decided his harvest was enough.
He did not grow greedy and turned back toward the village.
However, before he reached the village entrance, he was stopped.
It was Wang Erniu, along with several of the men who had worked on the house the day before.
The moment they saw Xu Lang, they surrounded him, smiles full of flattery spreading across their faces.
“Brother Lang! You went into the mountains again?”
“My heavens! You got so much again! Two wild chickens and a rabbit!”
One man stared at Xu Lang’s catch, practically drooling with envy.
“Brother Lang, your skills are better than those old hunters in town! How do you do it?”
Before Xu Lang could reply, Wang Erniu slapped the back of the man’s head.
“What do you know? This is skill! Brother Lang is extraordinary. How can he be compared to ordinary people?”
Turning back, Wang Erniu rubbed his hands and asked eagerly, “Um… Brother Lang, today… are we building again? We’ve all been waiting here for your instructions!”
After eating their fill yesterday and tasting meat, they had gathered early in the morning, hoping Xu Lang would give them more work.
Especially when Xu Lang’s work could save their lives.
Looking at their eager faces, Xu Lang made up his mind.
The house structure was complete, but it still needed a courtyard wall. Most importantly, they lacked a well.
“The house can wait.”
Xu Lang spoke, “Today, we dig a well!”
“A well?”
Wang Erniu hesitated, then showed a troubled expression.
“Brother Lang, digging a well requires skill. No one in our village knows how.”
Xu Lang slung the prey over his shoulder and smiled confidently.
“If no one knows, I’ll teach you.”
[Super Well Blueprint], activated!
Knowledge of locating water sources, positioning the well, and excavation and reinforcement flooded into his mind.
Xu Lang brought Wang Erniu and two of the strongest men back to the new house.
Along the way, villagers watched Xu Lang’s catch and the excited men following him, their eyes filled with mixed emotions.
Envy, jealousy, and a trace of awe.
This Xu Lang was truly different now.
When Xu Lang returned home, the four women were in the yard, clumsily practicing needlework in the daylight.
Seeing the still-bleeding prey on his shoulder, all four pairs of beautiful eyes lit up at once.
“Husband!”
Xia Zhiruo was the first to drop her needlework and rush over like a swallow returning to its nest, clinging tightly to Xu Lang’s arm.
“You’re amazing! You caught so much delicious food again!”
The little girl stared at the fattest chicken, her eyes sparkling with admiration that had reached its peak.
Hua Yourong and Li Xiuzhi also hurried over, one helping unload the prey, the other silently fetching water to prepare for cleaning.
Looking at Xu Lang’s tall back, Li Xiuzhi made a silent vow.
Husband had shown her immense kindness. She had no way to repay him.
She could only… when it was her turn… repay him properly.
Murong Yanran remained seated, unmoving, but her gaze never left Xu Lang.
This man kept overturning her understanding again and again.
Just yesterday, after everything they had experienced, he could still enter the mountains today full of energy and return with so much prey.
What was his stamina made of?
Watching Xu Lang surrounded by the other women, a strange feeling rose in her heart. Irritation… and pride.
This capable man was her husband.
The feeling was unfamiliar, yet not unpleasant.