Chapter 11: Returning Full, The Opportunity of Martial Arts

The forest was blanketed in white snow.

Shen Qing treaded through the deep layers of snow, following the traces from his recent chase, and walked to the vicinity of Chen An's body.

From afar, he saw Chen An's body lying still on the silvery white snow.

In just a short while, the body had already been covered by a thin layer of white snow, as though it had become one with the icy world.

The thick animal hide draped over him was originally meant to ward off the cold, but now it was mottled with dried blood, seeping into the snow beneath.

Shen Qing walked over, crouched down, and found that the blood stains on the chest were no longer bright liquid but had turned dull and congealed, closely adhering the originally rough hide to Chen An's body.

The cold wind blew, bringing tiny particles of snow that covered large patches of red.

Shen Qing, disregarding the bloodstains, pulled out an intact arrow from his chest and placed it into his empty quiver. Then he used a dagger to cut open his clothes and carefully searched.

From Chen An's body, he found a money pouch, some beast medicine powder, a short knife similar to a dagger, and other common hunter's items.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Shen Qing felt a hard object on Chen An's body. It was something wrapped in cloth, square in shape, with many fresh, red blood stains on it.

Shen Qing brought it to the front for a closer look. It seemed like a book.

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

Three large characters were written on the cover.

Shen Qing didn't recognize many characters of this world, but he recognized the words "Nine" and "Skills."

His complexion involuntarily changed, and his heart raced twice.

Recently, the people in the village knew that Chen Youguang, the mountain driver of the village, had obtained a martial arts manual in the county for his son to train.

If he remembered correctly, that martial art was called "Nine Skills," a martial art used as a foundation for martial masters to temper their qi-blood.

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

Earlier, when Shen Qing went to the county, he specifically inquired about this kind of news.

Today, throughout the world, the Great Zhou Court confiscated spiritual weapons and martial mechanisms, making it no simple task to learn martial arts.

They, these country folk, were no match for those noble sons born with golden keys.

If they wanted to learn martial arts, they either had to enter the court and become officials, where there were many martial skills available for selection, with special personnel to guide them, or they had to join a martial arts hall to learn some folk martial arts.

But either way was very difficult.

The former required a local reputation for recommendation, while the latter required a substantial amount of money.

The saying "Poor in literature but rich in martial" wasn't just empty words.

Shen Qing estimated that, speaking purely of money, this kind of martial art might cost ten taels silver to buy.

Even then, it would depend on relationships.

The market was flooded with counterfeit martial arts, a mix of good and bad.

A single careless mistake could lead to falling into a trap.

If one was lucky, they might just lose some money.

If unlucky, they might train themselves to death through qi deviation, with heart veins breaking, and it wasn't a joke.

The Chen Family Brothers had already practiced this "Nine Skills" for a while, and Chen Yuan had already achieved some proficiency.

It was undoubtedly a genuine martial art.

In this backwater area, such a martial art was unquestionably valuable.

Shen Qing gently exhaled a breath to calm his emotions, then carefully tucked the blue booklet recording the "Nine Skills" close to his body.

Gathering all the items he had scavenged from the brothers, Shen Qing laid them out before him and began to check them.

Two worn-out animal hide jackets and two bows.

Shen Qing recognized that these two animal hide jackets were made of wolf skin, and the bows were excellent elm wood bows.

Combined, they could fetch quite a bit of silver, but Shen Qing knew he couldn't take these items with him.

In the entire village, only Chen Yuan's family had the financial ability to use such things.

If he took them back, suddenly getting rich would be like a child flaunting gold in Hongshan Village, surely bringing trouble upon himself.

What remained were seventy-five wen large coins, a bag of poison powder, scattered hunting gear, and twenty-eight feathered arrows.

Almost every household in the village had such items, so taking them wasn't a big issue.

After some consideration, Shen Qing found a hidden place in the forest to stash the animal hide jackets and two good bows, making a mark only he could understand, planning to retrieve them when the opportunity arose.

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

Snowflakes mixed with sporadic snow crystals drifted leisurely from the sky.

The mountain forest was draped in silver, with branches glistening with snow beads.

After Shen Qing left, the bustling forest returned to its quiet.

A snow wolf, having caught the scent of blood, found its way near Chen Tai's body, surveyed the surroundings cautiously, then approached carefully.

After confirming no danger, it opened its blood-filled maw and began to tear at Chen Tai's corpse.

Following after it, seven or eight more snow wolves gathered.

In a few moments, they cleaned up Chen Tai's body.

A snow wolf, the last to arrive and of low status within the pack, stuck out its tongue, licked its lips, puffed out warm breath, and sniffed towards another direction...

With his spoils in tow, Shen Qing was in high spirits, walking briskly through the forest.

When he got to the village entrance, he decided to take a side path for safety, avoiding the main road, and went through a bamboo grove behind his house to avoid the villagers.

Just as Shen Qing quickly reached near his home, he happened to encounter Chen Dahe returning from outside.

Chen Dahe immediately noticed the wild roe deer on Shen Qing's shoulder and the arrows at his waist, a hint of surprise flashing across his face.

"Shen Qing, where have you been hunting?" Chen Dahe asked curiously.

His voice was somewhat resonant, at odds with his hunched appearance.

Shen Qing paused, a smile suddenly appearing on his usually expressionless face, pointed to the forest behind him, and said in a casual tone, "Just in that forest. Today was lucky, got this wild roe deer."

Chen Dahe stepped forward, took a close look at the prey Shen Qing was carrying, and couldn't help but praise, "You've got real skills, this roe deer looks quite fat."

"I put a lot of effort into getting this roe deer. Do you want to buy some to have a feast?" Shen Qing asked with a smile. "Besides this wild roe deer, I also got three hunting crossbows. If you're interested, they're twenty wen each."

Chen Dahe waved his hand, saying, "No, no. If I want to eat meat, I'll just go hunting. Why waste the money?"

"Hahaha... Alright then, I guess my sister and I won't finish it anytime soon. If you change your mind, just let me know. I can sell it to you anytime. But once the snow stops, I'll be taking it to the county, won't sell it to you then."

Chen Dahe touched his deflated money pouch, nodded sheepishly, and with a bit of envy, casually agreed before heading back inside his home.

Seeing Chen Dahe return indoors, Shen Qing's face quickly turned cold, and he kicked open the door, swiftly slipping inside.

He finally felt at ease once back home, after putting down the quiver and other items, confirming there was no one outside, and closing the door.