Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 4 Chen Yuan
“Hahaha, I got it!”

The pheasant flapped its wings continuously, swayed a few times, and then fell to the snow.

Shen Qing was overjoyed.

He ran over, grabbed the pheasant which was still flapping its wings, and looked at it carefully.

People in the county like to use this kind of feathers to make feather crafts, feather fans and feather headdresses.

This pheasant has gorgeous feathers, a full and colorful tail, and can be sold for a lot of money.

Not only that, pheasant meat tastes delicious whether it is fried, boiled, stewed or roasted. It is a rare game delicacy and is enough to fill his and his sister's stomach for a day.

Finally there is something to gain.

Shen Qing pinched the pheasant's neck, exerted force with his wrist, broke its neck, and hung it around his waist.

Then he looked up at the sky. There was a bit of brightness somewhere under the dark clouds. It seemed that it was still noon.

It’s still early, so we can go deeper.

Now that he had made a breakthrough in archery, the bow and arrow became as easy to use as his arms and fingers, without any of the unfamiliar feeling he had before.

Just now, I hit the target with one strike from a hundred steps away, which was something I would never have dared to think about before.

Even if there was a snow wolf in front of him, he would probably be able to hunt it down.

Thinking of this, a rare smile appeared on Shen Qing's face. He took the bow, stepped on the snow, and walked deeper into the cave.

There are many villages like Hongshanzhai near Shicheng Mountain that make a living by hunting. Generations after generations have already known this mountain very well.

This mountain, which stretches for nearly a hundred miles, seems to be quite large, but in fact there are only dozens of places suitable for hunting.

Other places are either too dangerous, with monsters and wild beasts roaming around; or too barren, with very few prey.

If an inexperienced hunter from outside came into their honest mountain, he would get nothing in ten days, let alone one day.

Today he was able to hunt a pheasant in half a day. In addition to his breakthrough in archery skills, it must be said that some luck also played a role.

Sure enough, in the next half day, he didn't see any prey.

The prey in this mountain disappeared suddenly as if they had made an agreement.

Shen Qing stood in the snow, thinking: "Maybe I have been playing too much here in the past month. I need to find a chance to change places."

When he thought of this, the image of the deer from yesterday appeared in his mind.

"Let's try there again tomorrow."

Shen Qing made up his mind and turned and left.

Because he left early, it was still bright when he returned to the village.

I happened to meet a few villagers who lived in Hongshan Village.

When they saw the pheasant hanging on Shen Qing's waist, they looked surprised.

"Qingzi, you're lucky today. You didn't come back empty-handed."

"This pheasant is of good quality. Would you like to sell it to me? I will exchange it for five kilograms of brown rice."

"Old farmer, do you think I don't know the value of things? You want to exchange your five catties of brown rice for my pheasant. Is your brown rice made of gold or silver?"

Shen Qing smiled and said, "Now the market price of a pound of brown rice is about twelve coins, and five pounds of brown rice is sixty coins. My pheasant can be sold for at least one hundred and fifty coins in the county, so don't try to take advantage of me."

After saying that, he squeezed out from among the crowd.

Poor mountains and bad waters bring out unruly people.

Having lived here for more than a month, Shen Qing already knew that these people would climb up if given a pole.

If you give in a little, they will push further.

The people behind him didn't care when they were rejected by Shen Qing and they all went away.

After passing through several houses, Shen Qing soon arrived at his own door and found that it was open.

There was a sturdy man sitting inside, wearing a grey cotton suit and with a face full of flesh. When she saw Shen Qing coming back, a hint of joy flashed across Shen Fang's face.

The sturdy man sitting on the chair turned his head and stared at Shen Qing, and said in surprise: "Hey, Qingzi is back."

The sturdy man stood up, a head taller than Shen Qing.

He is strong and robust, and you can tell at first glance that he is someone who is not someone you want to mess with.

This person was none other than Chen Yuan, the eldest son of the mountain herder in Hongshan Village.

It was said that the boss Chen Youguang had some connections in the county town, and got a martial arts book called Jiugongjin for his three sons to practice.

Among the three brothers, the eldest brother is the most talented and has figured out some tricks. He is far beyond the reach of a man like him who only eats bran.

But Shen Qing was not a timid person. He quickly calmed down, his face was normal, and he said with a smile: "Why did Brother Yuan come to my poor place today?"

"It's cold, come and visit me if you have nothing to do." Chen Yuan glanced at Shen Qing and walked towards the door. When he came to Shen Qing's side, he lowered his eyes and said, "You are lucky today. The pheasant you shot is very beautiful."

Shen Qing reacted and knew what Chen Yuan meant. He said cleverly, "It's God's gift. Since Brother Yuan likes it, why not give it to Brother Yuan?"

"Haha, Mr. Shen is very dull, but I didn't expect his son to be so smart." Chen Yuan patted Shen Qing on the shoulder and said, "I don't want the pheasant anymore. I'll come to find your sister after the snow stops. You two should discuss it at home. This is a good thing for you two siblings."

After saying that, Chen Yuan turned and left.

Shen Qing stared at Chen Yuan as he left, his face looking a little grim.

He doesn't even want the best pheasant, and he probably wants more from them, the siblings.

The two siblings had no property and their family was extremely poor.

The only thing he can show off is his good looks.

The eldest sister Shen Fang, who looks a bit rustic, turns into a real beauty with just a little dressing up.

Not to mention himself.

There is no one in the village who can compare to him.

However, beauty is a gift from heaven for middle-class families, but a disaster for lower-class families like them.

Since the heavy snow began, Chen Yuan has been watching his elder sister Shen Fang more diligently.

He must have found some ways outside to take over Shen Fang.

Shen Qing estimated that when they were left with nowhere to go, Chen Yuan would eat them up completely.

"Qingzi... I'm glad you're back... He kept trying to persuade me, and I really didn't know what to do..."

Shen Fang, who was hiding aside, looked evasive.

Seeing Shen Fang like this, Shen Qing knew that she was a person without her own opinion and was probably moved by what Chen Yuan said.

"Don't pay too much attention to him. Don't forget that his family was wiped out when Mom and Dad left."

"I know."

Shen Fang murmured softly: "But what else can we do?"

The sound is barely audible.

Shen Qing looked outside the house.

The snow fell lightly.

The silvery-white world was shrouded in a chill.

There were gusts of cold wind, and Shen Qing felt the biting chill in the air surrounding the two siblings.

"When I'm not home later, you can stay at my aunt's house. It might be safer there with my uncle and aunt."

Shen Qing returned to the house, untied the pheasant from his waist, threw it on the ground and said, "Kill it!"

(End of this chapter)