“Xiao Xun, I know this doesn’t sound good, but Second Brother Sun said that if you can get his Su Mei pregnant, he’ll give you five taels of silver as compensation!”
“When Su Mei first married into the family, the Second Son of the Sun Family was already paralyzed. She’s still a virgin, so you wouldn’t be losing anything!”
“Once you get the silver, pay off the Blood Wolf Gang and clear your gambling debt. Then your life will be much easier, won’t it?”
“You and your little sister won’t have to live in fear anymore, either.”
......
Chen Xun opened his eyes. His vision was a little blurry.
“Where am I? Didn’t I die alongside that foreign devil who stole our nation’s secrets?”
He rubbed his throbbing head and looked around at the dilapidated courtyard residence.
He had been a practitioner of Xingyi Fist in the twenty-first century and the nation’s elite Soldier King. He had died in battle, and everything here felt strange and bewildering.
Soon, a stream of information surfaced from the depths of his mind.
“I’m Chen Xun? Not Chen Xun the Soldier King, but... the son of an ordinary hunter from Dahe Village?”
His gaze instantly sharpened.
As for the heavily made-up woman beside him, she was Widow Chen, around fifty years old and a well-known matchmaker in the village.
At that moment, Widow Chen stared at Chen Xun, reeking of alcohol, with undisguised disgust.
He quickly understood his situation.
“I’ve been reborn?”
“But this body’s previous owner...”
This was a chaotic era at the end of a dynasty.
His parents had died young, leaving behind a younger sister who was three years his junior. He himself had been a good-for-nothing.
He had run with the village’s gang of thugs.
If his father hadn’t pulled some strings on his deathbed to get him a job at a pharmacy in town, he likely wouldn’t even have had a means of supporting himself.
Even so, he had been a menace in the village, making life miserable for everyone around him.
Now he had even racked up gambling debt.
He came back to himself and thought about what Widow Chen had said.
“What does she mean? They want to use me to father a child?”
Chen Xun furrowed his brow.
Seeing that Chen Xun understood, Widow Chen immediately beamed. “That’s right, that’s right! See? You’re different because you’ve had an education. You catch on right away.”
“Second Son of the Sun Family is paralyzed, and now he’s fallen seriously ill. He’s worried there’ll be no one to carry on the family line, and he’s afraid Su Rou will become a widow and have the family property seized. If she has a son, at least there’ll be a man in the family to look after them.”
“Besides, you can’t refuse. Second Son of the Sun Family once saved your life, and you owe the Blood Wolf Gang money. The Blood Wolf Gang isn’t to be trifled with...”
Chen Xun merely shook his head. “There’s no need for you to trouble yourself over this, Auntie Chen. I’ll find a way to deal with the money myself. As for this matter, we can talk about it later.”
Second Son of the Sun Family had saved his life. He could repay that in other ways, but as for this matter, he’d rather leave it aside for now.
“Hey, you haven’t even seen Su Mei. She’s as beautiful as a celestial maiden...”
Widow Chen tried to persuade him again, but Chen Xun simply rubbed his sore temples.
“Xiao Rou, show our guest out.”
His younger sister, Chen Rou, had been timidly standing to the side until then. Now that she had her orders, she promptly pushed Widow Chen out of the courtyard residence.
“Think it over some more,” Widow Chen said, still unwilling to give up. She glanced at Chen Rou and snapped, “Don’t push me. I can walk on my own.”
Not long after Widow Chen left, Chen Rou ran in, looking flustered.
“What’s wrong?”
Chen Xun looked over.
Outside the door, three thugs came into view. They were clearly his “good-for-nothing friends.”
“What are you doing here?”
Chen Xun asked in a low voice.
The other thugs looked at Chen Xun in surprise.
Before, Chen Xun had never been this composed when speaking to them. He would either fawn over them like a lackey or be so terrified by their imposing presence that he’d wet himself.
“Chen Xun, what have you decided about what we talked about earlier?”
Their leader, Niu Er, didn’t bother with pleasantries and spoke with a sinister smile.
Chen Xun’s gaze turned cold.
Memories suddenly surfaced: the previous owner had agreed with Niu Er to sell Chen Rou for fifteen taels of silver to pay off his gambling debt.
In this chaotic era, there were all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies. Fifteen taels of silver was already a considerable sum.
But even if he really got fifteen taels, he’d still be five taels short of paying off his gambling debt!
His brow furrowed. The previous owner was even more of a monster than he’d thought!
“Chen Xun, fifteen taels of silver is already a lot. And if you can’t repay your gambling debt in three days, it won’t be us coming after you. You know what’ll happen!”
Chen Xun knew all too well.
He had borrowed the gambling money from the Blood Wolf Gang!
For every nine borrowed, thirteen had to be repaid!
And if he couldn’t pay, the Blood Wolf Gang could use the blood contract to seize the house and land. They could even sell off the people in the household for silver!
As for him, they’d cripple both his hands.
In a year of famine, a farmer with crippled hands was all but certain to starve to death.
The Blood Wolf Gang had already ruined countless families this way.
Niu Er himself was also a member of the Blood Wolf Gang...
“The previous owner was set up?”
But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
Just as he was about to speak, Niu Er spotted Chen Rou behind Chen Xun, and a meaningful look appeared in his eyes.
He gave a cold laugh. “Grab Chen Rou!”
Like a frightened rabbit, Chen Rou tried to flee.
Chen Xun ignored her and swiftly snatched up the woodcutter’s knife beside him.
His gaze turned icy. “Let’s see who dares!”
“Chen Xun, you...” Niu Er frowned.
“I’m not selling her anymore. Leave. If you take another step, don’t blame me for what happens.”
The two thugs exchanged uncertain glances.
They’d known Chen Xun for so long. When had he ever shown this much backbone?
Niu Er glanced coldly at the woodcutter’s knife in Chen Xun’s hand. Seeing he wasn’t joking, he held the other two back.
Then he gave a chilling laugh. “Chen Xun, you owe twenty taels, and you’ve got three days.”
“I’ll be waiting!”
He’d seen plenty of people like this. They put on a tough front, but in the end, they still sold their sisters.
“Let’s go!”
He cast a greedy glance at Chen Rou, then turned and left.
Only after the three had gone far away did Chen Xun finally take a deep breath.
If those three had resorted to force, there wouldn’t have been much he could do. His body was simply too weak right now.
Fortunately, the law still had some force, even if most of the time it turned a blind eye to so much human suffering.
Chen Rou looked at Chen Xun with fear and kept backing away.
Chen Xun didn’t pay her much attention, though.
He knew that no matter how he explained himself, it wouldn’t help. Chen Rou wouldn’t feel at ease for some time. He was thinking about other things.
Twenty taels of silver weighed heavily on his mind.
How could he get that much in three days?
“Was his father a hunter before he died?” he wondered.
He went into the room.
A bow hung on the wall.
He took it down.
“If I can hunt, there should still be a way out!”
🟡Archery🔵Novice🟦0/100🟨
“What?”