After they left, Tang Shiyi finally emerged from Qiu Huang’s room.
“Shiyi, you’re finally awake.”
Su Yuexue and Shan Feng looked at her.
At that moment, Tang Shiyi’s walking posture seemed somewhat awkward and stiff.
They both understood why.
After all, before long, it would be their turn as well.
“Why are there only two of you here? Where is everyone else?” Tang Shiyi asked.
Su Yuexue replied,
“Husband went hunting with Yuwei, Yufei, and Meiling. The others went to gather wild vegetables. As for us, we stayed behind to watch the house.”
“I see.”
Tang Shiyi didn’t say much more.
She understood that food was their biggest problem right now.
With eleven people living together, their daily consumption was enormous.
“You must be tired. Come eat. We saved this specially for you.”
Shan Feng took out a bowl of food and a small serving of wild vegetables from the pot and handed them to Tang Shiyi.
“That’s too much. I can’t eat that much.”
Tang Shiyi looked at the meal.
Back at her parents’ home, she was usually allowed only a small bowl of wild vegetable soup. Most of the time, she received little else to eat.
“This was prepared for you by Husband. He said you were exhausted and should eat more to recover.”
Husband…
Tang Shiyi couldn’t help recalling the powerful figure from the previous night.
Faced with that overwhelming presence, she had been completely defeated and unable to resist.
“Alright, I’ll eat.”
Even if not for herself, she had to think about her husband.
If her health remained poor, that would become a problem later.
While Tang Shiyi was eating, Su Yuexue and Shan Feng cautiously began asking questions.
“Um, Shiyi… last night, when you and Husband were together… how was he?”
“Strong. Very strong. I couldn’t handle him by myself at all.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you? If you’re unlucky, you can find out for yourselves tonight. The two of you can go together and see if you can manage.”
“That sounds good.”
The two women exchanged glances.
Their eyes sparkled with anticipation and curiosity.
Perhaps they had really married the right man.
…
“Husband, where exactly are we going hunting? I noticed everyone else stays around the outer areas. Nobody enters this region.”
Qiu Huang led the three women deep into the mountains in search of prey.
He replied,
“The game near the outskirts has already been hunted almost to extinction. Finding anything there is nearly impossible now. If we want prey, we have to go deeper into the mountains.”
Wanyan Meiling said,
“That’s true, but the deep mountains are extremely dangerous. There are all kinds of fierce beasts there.”
Born into a hunter’s family, she had experience hunting.
She knew that venturing deep into the mountains was considered a major taboo.
Countless hunters had ignored the danger and entered the wilderness, only to never return.
Her own father, an experienced hunter who had hunted his entire life, died five years ago after entering the deep mountains and encountering a terrifying tiger.
After his death, their family’s situation collapsed.
They eventually fell into poverty and hunger, forcing her to marry and leave home.
“Don’t worry. Your husband is incredibly strong.”
Qiu Huang showed no fear.
With the strength of ten adults, he was far beyond ordinary people.
Even if he encountered a fierce beast, he was confident he could fight it.
“But—”
Wanyan Meiling wanted to continue, but Qiu Huang interrupted her.
“Shh. There’s prey nearby.”
The three women immediately became alert and looked around.
Wanyan Meiling even raised her bow and prepared an arrow.
Whoosh!
Before they could spot anything, an arrow had already flown from Qiu Huang’s bow.
It pierced through a patch of leaves and struck something on the ground.
Archery Proficiency +1
A notification flashed before his eyes.
“A wild rabbit?”
Following the arrow’s path, the women saw a rabbit lying motionless on the ground.
It was fairly large, probably weighing three or four pounds.
The arrow had pierced straight through its body.
“Husband is amazing!”
Song Yuwei and Song Yufei couldn’t stop praising him.
A rabbit of that size could be sold in town for enough grain to feed the family for quite some time.
“Incredible.”
Even Wanyan Meiling was shocked.
Wild rabbits were extremely alert and agile.
At the slightest disturbance, they would flee immediately.
The distance had been considerable as well—more than nine meters, nearly ten.
Landing a perfect shot from that distance was no easy feat.
Furthermore, Qiu Huang was using a bamboo bow and bamboo arrows.
Their power was far inferior to proper bows with metal components.
Yet despite that, he had still pierced the rabbit cleanly.
Both his strength and his archery skills were extraordinary.
“The Arrow God’s Blessing really is useful.”
Qiu Huang walked over and picked up the rabbit.
With the blessing active, anything within ten meters was essentially a guaranteed hit.
“Yufei, bring the basket.”
“Coming!”
Song Yufei hurried over with the bamboo basket on her back.
Neither she nor Song Yuwei knew how to shoot, so their role was carrying weapons and transporting game.
Everyone had their own task.
Qiu Huang pulled out the bamboo arrow and casually tossed it aside.
Bamboo arrows were generally disposable.
One use was enough.
Practice arrows could be reused repeatedly, but hunting arrows were different.
Many animals had thick hides, and used bamboo arrows lost some of their rigidity after impact.
They were no longer ideal for hunting.
Besides, they had brought dozens of arrows with them.
There was no shortage.
“Here.”
Qiu Huang placed the rabbit into the basket.
“Husband, you’re really amazing.”
Feeling the weight of the rabbit in the basket, Song Yufei smiled happily.
At that moment, she looked almost like one of Qiu Huang’s biggest admirers.
“The thing I’m truly best at can only be experienced at night.”
Song Yufei immediately lowered her head.
Her face flushed bright red.
“You’re awful.”
The other two women reacted similarly, their cheeks turning crimson.
Still, deep down, they were curious.
They genuinely wanted to find out for themselves just how capable Qiu Huang really was.
After joking around for a while, Qiu Huang continued leading the three women deeper into the mountains.
One rabbit alone wasn’t nearly enough.
They needed to hunt much more game if they wanted to feed everyone.