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

Tap, tap, tap!

"Qingzi, are you home? Open the door!"

Shen Qing set aside his thoughts.

The scroll in his view was promptly put away and disappeared.

"Coming, coming."

He walked to the door, opened it, and a gust of cold wind rushed inside, "Uncle, what brings you here?"

Although Shen Qing had no parents since his arrival, his father had a brother and a sister.

The fact that he and his sister were still alive, not wiped out, owed much to his uncle's support.

Uncle Shen Er was silent for a moment before he took down a strip of meat from his waist, "This is some hunting crossbows I caught a few days ago, all smoked already. I don't have much left now, you and your sister should eat it sparingly."

"This..."

"Enough talk," Shen Er tossed the meat to Shen Qing and without even pausing to brush off the snow on his clothes, he turned and left.

Shen Qing had wanted to show some backbone, but looking at the meat in his hands, he subconsciously couldn't let it go.

When poor, even one's spirits are diminished.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, Shen Qing hurriedly handed the hunting crossbows to Shen Fang, then braced himself against the wind and snow and rushed out.

"Uncle, uncle, wait a minute, I need to ask you for something."

Walking ahead, Shen Er stopped and turned back, "What is it, Qingzi?"

Shen Qing, without any embarrassment, bowed his head and spoke humbly, "Uncle, I lost my arrow today, could I borrow one to use?"

Shen Er looked at Shen Qing and sighed, "Come with me."

Shen Qing hurriedly said, "Thank you, uncle."

Uncle Shen Er's house was not far from his, just front house to back house.

His house was on the slope, Uncle Shen Er's was downhill, just around a small path, a few steps away.

In Uncle's house lived two sons and one aunt, a total of four mouths to feed.

As an old hunter in the village, Uncle hunted in autumn and winter, collected medicinal herbs in spring and summer; even if the Boss from the county took a cut, they could still earn about 50 to 60 wen a day, roughly enough to buy five kilos of grain.

It seemed alright, enough to scrape by a subsistence for the family.

But in reality, it was far from enough.

Salt, iron, and other necessities required money, as did cloth, oil, and tea, not to mention replacing hunting gear and various kinds of harsh taxes.

Though each expense was small, added together they could crush a person.

Walking behind, Shen Qing saw his uncle, in his thirties, already looking as weary as a man of fifty or sixty, his back even starting to hunch.

A moment later, the two arrived near a mud-brick house.

Compared to Shen Qing's house, his uncle's was clearly bigger and much sturdier.

"Hu Zi's mom, open the door!"

Aunt Wang, hearing the noise, opened the door.

As a woman from the mountains, Wang was not good-looking, even somewhat ugly.

Her dark skin and large bone structure made her appear as robust as a man.

"Wife, fetch an arrow for Qingzi," instructed Uncle as soon as he entered the house.

Aunt Wang didn't say much, just turned to get an arrow, quietly complaining to Shen Er, "We don't have many arrows left at home!"

Wang took down a bamboo tube hanging on the wall, fetched a feathered arrow from it, thought for a moment, then added two more.

She then handed them to Shen Qing, admonishing, "I'm not being stingy with these few arrows, Qingzi, you know your uncle's household doesn't have it easy either, don't lose them carelessly."

"Thank you, auntie," Shen Qing didn't look closely but stuffed them into his coat, gratefully speaking as he stood at the door, looking inside by the dim light.

His two cousins were sitting in the hall sharpening their hunting gear when they saw him; they smiled and called out to him.

"Brother Qingzi, won't you come in and sit?"

"With such heavy snow, I better head back early. I need to go up the mountain early tomorrow. We'll go to town together once the snow stops."

"Alright then!"

Shen Qing turned and said, "Uncle, aunt, you guys carry on with your work, I will head back now."

Once Shen Qing had left, Wang closed the door and spoke to Shen Er, "I heard that our youngest sister is now a concubine at Linfeng Hall given by the Zhao family?"

Shen Er hummed in affirmation, "It's a recent development."

Wang tentatively proposed, "Could our youngest sister be asked to speak to the Martial Arts Hall, to get Shanwa into the hall? If Shanwa becomes a martial master, our days could improve a lot. After all, Shanwa is her biological nephew, and you are her own second brother."

Shen Er scoffed, "Do you think the Martial Arts Hall belongs to your family? Just enter whenever you say? I've already inquired; even entering the outer gate costs ten taels silver. Asking our sister for help, to say the least, would cost five or six taels, it is not a small sum."

Wang Family said, "Today, the son of Chen Family mentioned that families in town are buying wives, they are willing to offer five taels silver. Xiao Fang is not young anymore..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Er unconsciously glanced up and down at Wang Family and said, "Can Chen Family really be that kind-hearted? They almost wiped out my elder brother's family. If it weren't for my intervention, there would have likely not been a scrap of meat left for the siblings. They're probably just fooling you, a woman without worldly experience."

Wang Family did not speak again, but after a while, she said in a slightly complaining tone, "The heavy snow keeps falling, don't just think about those siblings, consider Shanwa and Hu Zi a bit more."

"Got it. I am well aware."

...

Behind Shen Qing's house, there was a bamboo forest that had been flattened by the heavy snow.

There was a large, bent bamboo with a wooden post attached to it; a part in the center had been flattened.

It was covered with dense pits.

This was where Shen Qing usually practiced bow shooting.

Having gone home to retrieve his bow, Shen Qing skillfully nocked an arrow borrowed from his uncle onto the bowstring.

Shen Qing drew the bow fully, maintaining a distance of three feet between the bow and his arm.

Whoosh!

Fifty steps away, the feathered arrow left the bow and struck near the edge of the wooden post, almost missing the target.

Expressionlessly, Shen Qing re-nocked the arrow on the bow.

This bow, left by his father, was made from elm wood and strung with deer tendons.

Although it wasn't a top-quality bow, it was certainly better than simple single-piece wooden or bamboo hunting bows.

At least, it could be used to hunt mountain pigs and wolves, unlike the latter which were only suitable for pheasants and hares.

This bow could be sold for one tael silver, representing one of the few assets he possessed.

Whoosh!

Another arrow was shot.

It missed the target.

Shen Qing continued his archery training, once, twice, three times...

He didn't know how many times he repeated until the sky had darkened, then he finally stopped.

At that moment, Shen Qing's glance fell upon the crude panel within his view, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

[Skill: Bow Technique (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 100/100 points]

[Status: Upgradable]

[Note: Heaven rewards the diligent, and a gentleman strives ceaselessly for self-improvement! Continuous practice can break through skill level.]

"Finally, it's enough!"

Without any hesitation, Shen Qing thought, "Break through for me!"

A muffled sound echoed in his mind; in the crude panel, the numerical value of the progress was rapidly changing, resembling the screen on a gas pump in his previous life.

When the progression numbers reset to zero, the panel in his view vibrated slightly.

[Current Skill: Bow Technique (Skilled)]

[Progress: 0/200]

Shen Qing seemed to feel something, his eyes fixated on his own hands.

Visibly, calluses bulged out on his hands while the muscles on his arms unbelievably strengthened at an incredible rate.

This feeling was like... like he had truly been practicing archery for a long time...

Various key points about Bow Technique emerged in his mind.

Shen Qing's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached for another feathered arrow and drew the bow.

His arms stretched comfortably long, pulling the bow into a full moon.

The movement sequence became incredibly skillful.

Thump!

The bow vibrated mysteriously.

A hundred steps away, an arrow struck the target center; the feathers quivered!

The snow on the large bamboo fell rustlingly.

The bent bamboo straightened its body slowly.

With an excited face, Shen Qing slowly lowered the bow in his hand, looking at the ink-like crude panel in his sight.

He realized that this seemingly simple panel might just be the foundation for his existence in this world.