Ning-shi watched Xue Ning leave, then cleaned her husband’s body and tidied up before preparing breakfast.
After breakfast, Ning-shi was getting ready to go to the village chief’s house, but the village chief, being considerate of her, arrived first.
Xue Family Village was located in the suburbs of the capital. Although land usage wasn’t extremely tight, villagers still had to follow procedures to build houses.
Those like Xue Dashan and Ning-shi, who wanted to change their land base for a new house, had to obtain the village chief’s consent.
The base area Xue Ning had sketched out the previous night was nearly three times the size of the original Xue family base.
Fortunately, land prices for local villagers were cheap.
Ning-shi paid the difference, obtained the land deed and construction permit, informed the village chief of her requirements, and entrusted the construction matters to him.
Upon receiving Ning-shi’s commission, the village chief immediately gathered men and assigned tasks:
One team went up the mountain to gather building materials, while another team stayed in the village to lay the foundation.
Country folk worked briskly.
As soon as the village chief gave the word, everyone sprang into action.
While everyone was busy fulfilling their roles with great fervor, Xue Ning had already entered the territory of the deep mountains.
In the deep, old forests, the threats to humans included various wild beasts as well as the environment itself.
Xue Ning’s Wood-type Ability was close to nature; by leaving her own marks along the way, she didn’t have to worry about getting lost in the forest.
Her luck was good. Not long after entering the deep mountain territory, she encountered a small pack of wild boars.
This small pack consisted of ten wild boars in total, seven adults and three juveniles.
If she had encountered this pack yesterday, Xue Ning might have had to come up with a careful plan to take them down.
Today was different.
After spotting them, Xue Ning walked directly into their territory.
Wild boars were short-tempered and highly territorial.
Xue Ning’s intrusion made the pack very displeased.
One wild boar unceremoniously issued a warning to Xue Ning.
Seeing that Xue Ning remained unmoved, the boar immediately charged at her in a rage.
Xue Ning clenched her fist and threw a punch at the pouncing boar.
Wuuu…
With a miserable cry, the wild boar was sent flying by the punch.
This particular boar happened to be the leader of the pack.
Seeing their leader beaten, several adult boars immediately rushed forward.
Bang, bang, bang…
Xue Ning took them out with one punch each. The sound of heavy objects hitting the ground echoed through the forest.
Animals are prone to avoiding harm when they sense danger.
Realizing that Xue Ning was not to be trifled with, the boar pack tried to flee.
Xue Ning activated her Wood-type Ability, using the forest plants to trap the boars.
Because her Space could not store living creatures, Xue Ning killed the adult boars and threw them into her Space.
As for the three juvenile boars, Xue Ning estimated they had already learned how to survive in the forest and let them go.
After all, she had to consider sustainable development.
She would wait for these three boars to grow up.
The three fleeing juvenile boars: “…”
Having harvested seven adult wild boars all at once, Xue Ning stopped focusing on hunting.
The deep, old forests were full of treasures.
While searching for prey, Xue Ning also turned her gaze toward the forest’s plant life.
Any wild fruits, wild vegetables, or wild flowers she took a fancy to, she would gather and put into her Space.
There were also some medicinal herbs; although she didn’t recognize many, she would take away any that she could identify.
Time passed unknowingly.
As the sun began to tilt westward, Xue Ning hurried back home, finally arriving before dark.
Returning so late, she had worried Ning-shi terribly.
“Where did you go? Why are you back so late?”
Xue Ning smiled. “In the future, I’ll try to come back earlier. If I’m ever late, don’t worry. Although I was raised in the inner chambers before, I secretly learned a few moves from the martial arts master of the Marquis’s heir. Besides, I’m naturally strong; taking on eight or ten people by myself is no problem.”
Ning-shi: “…… Alright, let’s get ready to eat.”
Xue Ning nodded, washed her hands, and sat down to eat.
Tonight’s dinner was sweet potato rice and steamed eggs. Simple, but delicious.
By the time Xue Ning finished her meal, it was dark.
By the dim light of an oil lamp, Ning-shi asked Xue Ning if she wanted to bathe.
Fearing that Xue Ning might catch a cold by taking another cold bath, she had boiled hot water after finishing the cooking.
Having roamed the deep mountains all day, Xue Ning’s clothes had been soaked with sweat and dried repeatedly; she naturally needed a bath.
There was no cover inside the cowshed, so Xue Ning had to carry the bucket of hot water outside to a sheltered spot to wash up quickly.
After bathing, Xue Ning changed into the clothes she had washed that morning and returned to the cowshed with her dirty laundry.
Ning-shi took the dirty clothes from her. “In the future, just throw your dirty clothes into that basket. I’ll wash them for you.”
Xue Ning agreed, “Thank you, Mother.”
Ning-shi smiled. “It’s what a mother should do.”
Her biological daughter had grown up in a wealthy household; by all rights, she should have been someone who never had to do manual labor, yet she didn’t seem that way at all.
Based on her few interactions with the Marquis and his wife, they seemed to cherish their children.
So why was it that her biological daughter, who had been raised as a young miss of a Marquis’s manor, showed no discomfort at all after returning to the countryside?
In Ning-shi’s eyes, the only explanation was that her daughter had suffered in the Marquis’s manor.
Thinking of this, Ning-shi couldn’t help but feel heartbroken. They say a wound on the child is a pain in the mother’s heart; the mere thought that Xue Ning might have suffered in the Marquis’s manor made her feel immense heartache.
Xue Ning had no idea that her easygoing attitude and the simple act of washing her own clothes that morning had caused Ning-shi to think so much.
After night fell, Xue Ning cultivated as usual.
This body’s physical constitution couldn’t compare to her body from the end of the world, where she had survived for ten years.
Fortunately, cultivating her Ability also served to restore her body; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the stamina to leap about in the mountains.
Around the fourth quarter of the Hour of the Ox (2:00 AM), Xue Ning quietly left the cowshed.
Under the faint light of a star-filled sky, Xue Ning headed straight for the gates of the capital.
The gates of the capital opened every day at the Hour of the Tiger (3:00 AM). When Xue Ning reached the gate, she heard the drum beat signaling the gates’ opening.
Though it was early, people were already waiting at the gate.
Among them were those entering the city early for business and those who had returned too late the previous day and were locked out.
It wasn’t a time of emergency, so citizens could enter and leave the city easily without being stopped for inspections.
After entering the gate, Xue Ning first ducked into an alley to change into black clothing, then headed straight for a restaurant she used to frequent—Fugui Tower.
Fugui Tower was somewhat like a future five-star hotel; under normal circumstances, guests who could afford to eat there were either wealthy or noble.
Xue Ning went to Fugui Tower to sell the wild boars.
No matter the era, the more wealthy and powerful people were, the more particular they became.
Wild boar meat was finer in texture than domestic pork, and Xue Ning believed those wealthy and powerful people would like it.
By the time Xue Ning reached Fugui Tower, the lights were already on as they prepared for the morning market.
Standing outside Fugui Tower, Xue Ning first put on a mask. Then, under the cover of the night, she took a wild boar out of her Space, dragged it inside, and spoke in a strained voice:
“Manager, are you buying wild boars?”
The manager, who was busy behind the counter, looked up at Xue Ning’s words. His eyes went wide, and he immediately rushed out from behind the counter.
“Yes, yes, yes…”