"But, what is this Soul Energy? And what do the plus signs behind Strength, Speed, and Physique mean?"
Bai Ziyue was suddenly taken aback, slightly surprised.
Long before this, he had discovered that he had obtained this peculiar Attribute Panel. He roughly judged that the data reflected the standards of an adult.
With an adult's Strength, Speed, and Physique all being one, the data shown for Bai Ziyue, now an eight-year-old child, naturally was only around zero point something.
However, what had initially appeared before him were just simple numbers.
There were no so-called plus signs or the ultimately emerging Soul Energy.
Obviously, these were newly appeared.
"Could it be because of that little ghost? After the little ghost died and its soul scattered, the Attribute Panel absorbed it, transforming it into Soul Energy?"
Bai Ziyue speculated, vaguely guessing.
Subconsciously, Bai Ziyue focused his awareness on the plus sign behind Strength.
Immediately, his body felt a slight warmth, as if he had gone through some exercise, and then he looked at his body data again.
Name: Bai Ziyue
Strength: 0.26 (+)
Speed: 0.32 (+)
Physique: 0.35 (+)
Martial Arts: None
Soul Energy: 14
...
"Strength increased by 0.01, while Soul Energy decreased by 1. That means consuming one point of Soul Energy can enhance 0.01 of Strength, or Speed and Physique?"
Bai Ziyue quickly judged this, consuming two more points of Soul Energy, respectively adding them to Speed and Physique.
Immediately, his data changed to:
Strength: 0.26 (+)
Speed: 0.33 (+)
Physique: 0.36 (+)
Martial Arts: None
Soul Energy: 12
Although this enhancement was not significant, Bai Ziyue indeed felt himself to be a bit stronger than before.
"It's a pity that Soul Energy is too scarce. And currently, the only known way to obtain Soul Energy is by killing ghosts?
With my strength, I wouldn't even be able to kill a ghost. If I really encountered one, it would surely be a dead end.
Is there any other way to gain Soul Energy?"
Bai Ziyue pondered, temporarily giving up on the idea of using Soul Energy to enhance himself further.
...
The next day, the sky cleared.
Bai Ziyue got up early, washed with willow branches, and then led a skinny old cow to graze on a field not far from the village.
The old cow didn't belong to the Bai Family but was purchased jointly by six neighboring households. They took turns grazing it, and today happened to be the Bai Family's turn.
At this time, a child who was one or two years older than Bai Ziyue was already on the field with his cow eating grass. When he saw him, he excitedly said, "I heard you encountered a ghost, is it true?"
In a small village, news spread fast. Early in the morning, nearly everyone had heard the news about his ghost encounter. On the way, Bai Ziyue had already met several people asking the same question.
Their questions didn't show genuine concern but rather a curiosity, seeking something novel. No one cared about his feelings.
Once he answered, they would incessantly ask about the ghost's appearance, its actions, and whether it was frightening.
So Bai Ziyue ignored him, tying the old cow to a large tree. The lush grass nearby was enough for a good meal, and then he climbed onto a branch, lying down lightly.
Two hours later, Bai Ziyue led the old cow home.
At this moment, his mother, Hee Honghua, was catching chickens.
Although Hee Honghua looked somewhat frail, she was quite nimble in catching chickens. Within moments, she had grasped an old hen by its neck.
"Mom, why are you catching a chicken when it's neither a festival nor a holiday?"
As Bai Ziyue tethered the cow in the barn, he asked.
This old hen laid eggs almost every day and was a treasure in Hee Honghua's eyes.
"Yesterday, your Uncle Ming helped you a lot. Although we can't afford a grand thank you, inviting him for a meal is the least we can do. This old hen is fat and just right,"
Hee Honghua said as she crossed the hen's wings, immobilizing it, then plucked its neck feathers with a few quick motions, brandishing a knife to slaughter it.
Seeing this, Bai Ziyue quickly approached, saying, "Let me help you."
He grabbed the old hen's wings with one hand and its neck with the other.
Although surprised, Hee Honghua smiled slightly, raised the cleaver, and with a swift motion, the hen's wailing was heard as chicken blood flowed into a wooden bowl Hee Honghua had prepared.
After half a bowl of blood flowed out, the old hen gradually lost its strength and soon died.
Seeing this, Bai Ziyue quickly opened his Attribute Panel.
Immediately, his attributes appeared before him.
Name: Bai Ziyue
Strength: 0.26 (+)
Speed: 0.33 (+)
Physique: 0.36 (+)
Martial Arts: None
Soul Energy: 13
"Soul Energy increased by one. Indeed, I can gain Soul Energy when other creatures die,"
Bai Ziyue felt slightly excited.
He had already deduced that Soul Energy was the key to enhancing himself. If obtaining Soul Energy was limited to killing ghosts, his progress would be incredibly slow.
Ghosts were scarce and highly dangerous, beyond his ability to handle.
Thus, he considered whether the death of other creatures could increase Soul Energy. While grazing the cow, he tried stepping on ants and bugs, but that yielded nothing. However, the one point of Soul Energy from killing the chicken finally put him at ease.
In this way, he finally found an effective method to enhance himself.
At noon, Xu Ming arrived as promised.
Hee Honghua, having busied herself all morning preparing seven or eight dishes, filled the table abundantly, almost more lavishly than New Year's.
"Sister-in-law, you are too kind,"
Xu Ming said as he took a seat, invited by Bai Yong.
After a hearty meal, Bai Yong said nervously, "Regarding my son Yue'er, I trust that Brother Ming will take care of him."
"Rest assured, I can't guarantee everything, but Qi'er's situation will never happen to Ziyue,"
Xu Ming said loudly, slightly flushed from the wine.
"Thank you, Brother Ming,"
Relieved, Bai Yong expressed his gratitude.
Qi'er was Xu Ming's third son, rumored to have been beaten to death while apprenticing, which deeply worried him.
With Xu Ming's assurance, he felt more at ease.
...
Bai Ziyue originally thought that even if Uncle Ming agreed to take him to the town, they would have to wait a few days. Unexpectedly, the very same day, he was called over and followed Xu Ming to the village gate.
He didn't carry much, only two spare rough cloth garments and three taels of silver placed by Hee Honghua, folded into a cloth wrap on his back.
Three taels of silver — one thousand copper coins equals one string, one string equals one tael, and one tael equals ten taels, making three taels of silver equivalent to three hundred copper coins.
In modern terms, this amounted to Bai Ziyue's previous life's three hundred yuan, not much.
However, knowing that these three taels of silver came from two months of Hee Honghua's day and night work, sewing nearly a hundred shoe soles, he felt a heavy weight.