"What is this, a wolf?"
"The fur is beautiful; reddish-brown is quite rare. How much?"
"Tsk, tsk, this wolf looks to be sixty or seventy pounds, quite plump."
Lou Yi stood rigidly at the bustling entrance of the vegetable market with two wolves in tow, enduring the scanning gazes of those coming and going.
Sadly, most were just here for the spectacle; few had any intention of buying. Xinxiang was still mostly poor people.
Meanwhile, there were others even more interested in how the wolves died.
"Impressive, wolves always travel in packs. Being able to kill two doesn't necessarily mean you faced only two."
"Young man, did you slay both wolves?"
"Just luck, sheer luck."
"Everyone be careful, don't crowd too much."
Faced with the chatter from the crowd, Lou Yi felt overwhelmed, more exhausting than fighting wolves.
"How much for this one?"
A half hour later, a middle-aged man in a blue brocade robe passed by, stopped, and with interest flipped over the two wolves, asking.
Seeing the man's luxurious attire and extraordinary demeanor, Lou Yi thought there was a chance.
"One tael," he named a price.
Previously, hunters had sold wolves with the market price commonly between six hundred and eight hundred coins, but they were mostly gray wolves.
The wolf the man admired not only had a complete pelt, but its color was an uncommon reddish-brown.
As the saying goes, rarity increases value, so Lou Yi felt one tael wasn't expensive.
The man in blue pondered for a moment and nodded, "Okay."
The next moment, he casually tossed a piece of broken silver to Lou Yi.
"Deliver it to Lan Cloth Workshop for me."
"Alright, right away!" Lou Yi agreed readily.
He tightly grasped the piece of silver in his hand, feeling as refreshing as eating ice on a scorching day.
One tael of silver, equivalent to a thousand coins; Lou Yi had never been so wealthy!
Lan Cloth Workshop, located on the commercial street next to the vegetable market, is the largest fabric store in Xinxiang, supposedly also having a store in Tai City Main City.
After delivering the wolf, Lou Yi returned to sell the other wolf that he had gutted.
In the interim, he met his tree-cutting companion Liu Zi and asked him to inform Steward Yang, the fat man from Jia Family, of his leave.
The remaining wolf was harder to sell, with damaged fur exposing the bloody flesh, making it less appealing.
The wealthy didn't fancy it; the poor couldn't afford it.
It wasn't until noon that someone offered four hundred coins just for its pelt.
Lou Yi was tired of waiting and agreed to the deal, removing the pelt on the spot.
There was still quite a bit of meat left, which he certainly wouldn't waste. He sold part of it and took the rest home.
...
The wolf meat weighed a good thirty or forty pounds, too much for one person to consume, and preserving it with salt wasn't cost-effective.
In these times, salt was far more expensive than meat.
Lou Yi cut five pounds of meat to deliver to the Gu Family.
"This is too generous, too precious." Aunt Gu waved her hands repeatedly, more surprised than pleased.
"Aunt, just take it. Remember me later if you have something good to eat." Lou Yi said with a smile, forcibly placing the meat in her hands before walking away.
Leaving Aunt Gu and her son, Gu Yong, staring with wide eyes.
"Wow, Ah Yi is really generous. Your sister has never tasted wolf meat; I wonder if she will have that fortune in this lifetime." A tall, slender middle-aged woman, Sister Gao, happened to be out choosing vegetables and saw Lou Yi delivering meat to the Gu Family, speaking with a tinge of envy.
Lou Yi smiled at her but didn't reply.
Back when he desperately needed a shovel to dig for Energy, the Gu Family was the only one willing to lend him one among all the neighbors he asked. Lou Yi always remembered the Gu Family's kindness.
As for others, they didn't offer help when he was in need.
Now seeing the benefits, they wanted to just talk their way into getting some. Lou Yi wasn't that cheap.
He divided the remaining wolf meat, placed half into a bamboo basket padded with clean hay, and set out for the neighboring Daihe Village.
From a distance, he could see a small figure diligently weeding in the vegetable field in front of the Cheng Family's home.
The words 'A poor man's child takes charge early' popped up in Lou Yi's mind.
"Gouwa!"
The small figure suddenly looked up, revealing a dirty face with only two dark eyes shining like two black beans.
"It's Uncle Lou!"
Gouwa rushed out of the field, "My mom isn't home; she's out. What brings you here, Uncle Lou?"
"I'm bringing you some meat." Lou Yi uncovered the cloth on the bamboo basket, revealing a heap of meat inside.
"So much meat..." Gouwa's eyes sparkled with light.
For an average family, having meat once a month was considered fortunate.
Lou Yi smiled, ruffling his hair, then pulled something red from behind: "Look, what's this?"
"Wow, candied haws!"
Gouwa leaped three feet in the air, drooling with excitement.
Watching Gouwa happily munching on the candied haws, Lou Yi felt a sense of peace within.
'Everything will get better,' he thought.
Indeed, Lou Yi's circumstances were gradually improving.
With increased strength, his tree-felling ability continued to grow, with cutting down seven or eight trees a day now being the norm, more than twice the usual output of an ordinary woodcutter.
And this was with him holding back his strength.
He had thought his rapid improvement in tree-cutting speed might attract some attention.
Yet, as it turned out, no one cared about such lowly work.
Instead, his accomplishment in killing two wolves spread far and wide; combined with his father's accumulated reputation, it became a topic of local gossip.
"Did you hear? Lou the Scholar's son is incredibly strong. He fought two wolves all by himself and killed them both."
"The only son of Lou the Scholar fought off five wolves in a dangerous encounter, killed two, and scared the rest away!"
"Lou the Scholar's son, single-handedly with an axe, chased and chopped ten wolves!"
Even Steward Yang, the fat man from Jia Family, had become more courteous to Lou Yi and didn't mind him occasionally being late or leaving early.
He even instructed Lou Yi to find him if there were any more wolves, as Jia Family would purchase them all.
In Erhe Village, some neighbors even started greeting him proactively.
People like Sister Gao, Mrs. Chang, Uncle Geng, Carpenter Xu's mother, and Grandma Ding...
Previously, they acted as if they didn't see him.
This was a feature of the current era when people held a certain respect for individual martial prowess.
What if a family encountered some trouble, faced with a wild beast or bird of prey, requiring a violent resolution?
Despite the gradually changing circumstances, Lou Yi also had his worries.
Since his body grew stronger last time, his appetite had increased dramatically, raising his demand for meat.
The extra earnings from cutting trees were mostly spent on food.
Moreover, the Energy accumulation was frustratingly slow, with only a slight increase over ten days.
Due to the strict acquisition conditions, requiring close contact with freshly non-natural deaths.
In the whole of Xinxiang, with its surrounding villages, there were barely ten thousand people.
Even though mortality rates were high during these times, most died naturally of old age.
Most critically, due to the slow spread of information, Lou Yi might not even hear about a death in time.
'I must solve this problem quickly,' Lou Yi realized that Energy was fundamental to his survival.
...
On this day.
Lou Yi had barely set foot outside his door early in the morning.
He happened to come across Qi Family's second son, Qi Hu, skillfully mounting a horse, outfitted in an archer's uniform, with a thick pack hanging from the saddle.
Behind him, a group of relatives saw him off, uttering phrases like 'take care,' 'be cautious of the mission,' and 'watch out for blades and swords.'
'Finally, he's off,' Lou Yi thought.
Since Qi Hu returned, the Qi Family had grown increasingly arrogant, even the little chubby Qi Cai walked their dog more often.
At this moment, Qi Hu's gaze happened to land on Lou Yi, scanning him up and down like a hawk.
"I heard you killed two wolves, not bad."
This was the first time in recent years that Qi Hu, the second son, spoke to Lou Yi.
His tone was indifferent, carrying a sense of superiority.
Though phrased as praise, it was more like saying that, in his eyes, it was just that.
"It's alright; killing wolves is probably simpler than killing people," Lou Yi said casually.
Upon hearing this, Qi Hu's expression changed, and his gaze towards Lou Yi sharpened noticeably.
He snorted coldly and rode off.
At that moment, thirty miles from Xinxiang, at the base of Sunset Mountain, quite a few soldiers were gathering and setting up camp, ready to make a move.
...