Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

The forest was a blanket of white snow.

Shen Qing trudged through the thick snow, following the tracks he had been chasing, and approached near Chen An's body.

From a distance, he saw Chen An's body lying silently on the silvery-white snow-covered ground,

although it had been only a short while since he left, a thin layer of snow had already covered the body, seeming to merge with the icy, snowy environment.

The thick beast skin he was wearing, originally meant to ward off the severe cold, was now mottled with dried blood, seeping into the snow beneath.

Shen Qing walked over, crouched down, and found that the blood on the chest was no longer bright liquid but had become dull and congealed, sticking tightly to the rough beast skin on Chen An's body.

The cold wind passed, lifting up fine particles of snow and covering the large patches of deep red.

Ignoring the bloodstains, Shen Qing pulled out a complete arrow from his chest, placed it into the empty Arrow Quiver, then used a Dagger to pry open his clothing and searched carefully.

From Chen An's body, he retrieved a pouch, some Beast Medicine Powder, a short knife similar to a Dagger, and other common hunter items.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Shen Qing felt a hard object on Chen An's body, a square object wrapped in cloth with many fresh bloodstains on it.

Shen Qing brought it in front of him and examined it; it appeared to be a small book.

Without hesitation, he unfolded the cloth, and indeed, it was a small blue booklet.

The cover of the book bore three large characters.

Shen Qing did not know many characters in this world, but he recognized the characters for "Nine" and "Skills."

His expression changed involuntarily, and his heart thumped twice.

Lately, everyone in the village knew that Chen Youguang, a mountain driver from the village, had acquired a Martial Arts manual in the county town for his son to practice.

If he remembered correctly, that Martial Arts manual was called "Nine Skills," meant for foundational training and Qi-Blood cultivation for a martial master.

Martial masters held a status above that of workers and farmers in the Great Zhou.

Earlier, when he visited the county town, Shen Qing had specifically inquired about this information.

In today's world, the Great Zhou Court was confiscating all spiritual weapons and controlling Martial Mechanisms; learning Martial Arts was not a simple matter.

They, as rural folks, could not compare to those noble sons born with a silver spoon.

If one wished to learn Martial Arts, one could either join the court as an official, where many Magic Skills for cultivating Martial Arts were available for selection with personal guidance, or one could join a Martial Arts Hall to learn some folk Martial Arts.

But either option was difficult.

The former required local fame for recommendation, whereas the latter required a lot of money.

The saying 'poor in literary arts, rich in Martial Arts' was not an empty phrase.

Shen Qing estimated that, just in terms of silver, such Martial Arts would likely cost ten taels silver to purchase.

And that was if one had the right connections.

On the market, counterfeit Martial Arts manuals were prevalent, and it was easy to be deceived.

If one was slightly fortunate, they would only lose some money.

If one was less lucky, it was feared they might practice until they fell into madness and died from ruptured heart vessels—a no joking matter.

This "Nine Skills" had been practiced by the Chen Family Brothers for some time now, and Chen Yuan had already achieved some proficiency.

It was undoubtedly a genuine Martial Arts manual.

In this impoverished and remote area, such a Martial Arts manuscript was indeed considered extremely precious.

Shen Qing let out a gentle breath, calmed his emotions, and carefully hid the blue booklet recording the Nine Skills close to his body.

Gathering the items he had scavenged from the two brothers, Shen Qing laid them out in front of him and began to inventory them.

Two tattered animal skin coats and two bows.

Shen Qing recognized that both animal skin coats were made of wolf skin, and the bows were fine Elm Wood Bows.

All together, they were worth quite a bit of silver, but he, Shen Qing, knew he could not take these items with him.

In the whole village, only Chen Yuan's family could afford such things.

If he took them back, suddenly appearing wealthy in Hongshan Village would be like a child flaunting gold in the market, inevitably bringing trouble upon himself.

The remaining items included seventy-five wen in large coins, a bag of poison powder, various hunting gear, and twenty-eight feathered arrows.

These items were common in almost every household in the village, so taking them was no issue.

After some consideration, Shen Qing found a hidden spot in the forest, where he concealed the animal skin coats and the two fine bows and marked the spot in a way that only he could understand, planning to retrieve them later when he had the opportunity.

Having done all this, Shen Qing retrieved the wild roe deer he had hunted and, with it slung over his shoulder, he briskly walked down the mountain.

Snowflakes mixed with sporadic snowflakes were gently falling from the sky.

The forest was dressed in silvery white, with tree branches laden with sparkling snow beads.

After Shen Qing left, the once lively forest quieted down again.

A snow wolf, attracted by the scent of blood, found its way near Chen Tai's corpse, cautiously approaching after looking around.

Once it was sure there was no danger, it opened its maw wide and began to tear at Chen Tai's body.

Soon after, seven or eight more snow wolves gathered.

In just a short while, they had cleanly devoured Chen Tai's body.

One snow wolf followed at the end, low in rank among the pack, it stuck out its tongue, licking its lips, exhaling bursts of warm breath, and sniffing as it walked to the other side...

With his successful hunt, Shen Qing's mood was elevated, and he walked briskly through the forest.

By the time he reached the entrance to the village, for safety, he didn't take the main road but chose a small path that led through the bamboo grove behind his house, avoiding the villagers.

Just as Shen Qing rapidly approached his home, he happened to meet Chen Dahu coming back from outside.

Chen Dahu immediately noticed the wild roe deer on Shen Qing's shoulder and the arrows at his waist, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

"Shen Qing, where did you go hunting?" Chen Dahu asked curiously.

His voice was somewhat loud, which didn't quite match his hunched appearance.

Shen Qing paused, his usually expressionless face breaking into a smile, and pointed to the forest behind him, speaking in a normal tone, "Just in that forest. I was lucky today and caught this wild roe deer."

Chen Dahu stepped forward, closely inspecting Shen Qing's catch, and couldn't help exclaiming, "Nice skill, this roe looks quite plump."

"It took me quite an effort to get this roe deer. Would you like to buy some to feast on?" Shen Qing responded with a smile, "Besides this roe deer, I also got three Hunting crossbows, if you're interested, twenty wen each."

Chen Dahu waved his hand and said, "No, no, if I want to eat meat, I'll just go into the mountains myself. Why spend the money?"

"Hahaha... All right, my sister and I probably can't finish this for a while, so if you change your mind, just let me know, I can sell it anytime. But once the snow stops, I'll take it to the county town, and won't sell to you then."

Chen Dahu touched his flat coin purse, sheepishly nodded, and with a look of envy, casually agreed before heading back home.

Watching Chen Dahu enter his house, Shen Qing's face quickly grew cold again. He kicked open the door and swiftly entered.

Once back inside, after placing the Arrow Quiver and other items down and ensuring no one was outside, he closed the door and finally relaxed.