Before getting close to Blacksmith Cui’s home, a distant sound of metal clanging can be heard, and two donkey carts are parked in front of his door.
"Eh, Blacksmith Cui has visitors?"
Just as Zhang Chen was examining the donkey carts, the door of the blacksmith’s house suddenly opened, and he saw five men dressed as old farmers come out from Wang Wu’s house, carrying hay. Zhang Chen noticed the five old farmers, and they noticed Zhang Chen too. Especially one man whose eyes lingered on the donkey carts while his hand slowly reached into the hay, only to be stopped by an older, wrinkled farmer who suppressed his voice, saying, "Don’t be nervous, this is the village Hunter, I’ve seen him before."
Among the older farmers Zhang Chen recognized was the same one who exchanged five hundred coins for game last time.
Upon seeing this scene, Zhang Chen’s pupils contracted: "Where did the hay come from at Wang Wu’s house? Obviously, it’s meant to deceive! Perhaps weapons are concealed within the hay; these men are not ordinary!"
Especially when Zhang Chen saw one of them touch the hay, his nerves tightened, and countless thoughts flickered through his mind: "Run? You can run from the temple but not from the monk, my little sister is still here! This group could easily find out about my mother and sister."
As for the iron knife in his basket, given the situation, he feared he wouldn’t have time to take it out before being chopped into mince.
"Unless I rush to report to the authorities immediately, but Blacksmith Cui in the house might not survive, and could be silenced." Zhang Chen’s mind was in turmoil, pondering his options when one of the farmer-like men placed his gaze on Zhang Chen: "Young man, are you the mountain Hunter?"
"Yes, recently I borrowed a shovel from Blacksmith Cui here. I’m paying it back with some mountain game I’ve hunted!" Zhang Chen’s expression remained relaxed, as if completely unaware of the danger.
The farmer’s gaze fell on the small piglet in Zhang Chen’s hands: "That’s a good thing, are you selling this piglet?"
"Of course I’m selling, as long as the price is right, feel free to take it." Zhang Chen gave the piglet a shake.
"How much do you want?" The farmer-like man looked at Zhang Chen.
"Once raised, this piglet can weigh at least three hundred pounds. I’m asking for three taels of silver, is that unreasonable?" Zhang Chen said with a smiling face.
"Not unreasonable, certainly not! I’ll take this piglet and the other game for four taels of silver, how does that sound?" The farmer’s eyes glanced at the deer and pheasant hanging on Zhang Chen’s shoulder.
"You are generous, uncle." Zhang Chen nodded in agreement with a smile.
The farmer reached into his sleeve, pulled out four taels of silver, counted them, and handed them to Zhang Chen, who passed the deer over: "A fair exchange of money and goods."
"In the future, if you hunt larger animals similar to deer, feel free to come here and find Blacksmith Cui. Have him collect for me, I welcome it." The farmer smiled at the game.
These days, it’s truly hard to find meat, especially catching a piglet; it could potentially develop into a litter in the future.
The Hunter leisurely drove his donkey cart away, while Zhang Chen stood at the front of Blacksmith Cui’s house, drenched in sweat, watching the cart disappear into the night, his body trembling incessantly: "The line between life and death is razor-thin! I’m really just one line away from disaster! I must strengthen myself, quickly master new skills, I have a feeling this village will be implicated in the future."
"I must quickly produce gunpowder, or else I won’t have any means of self-defense against these people; there is no sense of safety in this era at all." Zhang Chen pondered, solidifying his resolve to make gunpowder.
With the game gone, Zhang Chen no longer needed to visit Blacksmith Cui’s home. Listening to the clanking coming from inside, he was well aware that Blacksmith Cui was already on the thieves’ ship and had no chance of getting off, while he himself had just made contact and could retreat entirely.
"Better to reduce dealings with Blacksmith Cui in the future," Zhang Chen silently decided.
This time, Zhang Chen returned home empty-handed, fortunately having hunted plenty of game in recent days, the Fox Spirit next door wouldn’t run out of food and wouldn’t cause him trouble for now.
Meanwhile, the Fox Spirit across the way sat by her window, watching Zhang Chen return safely, her large eyes filled with curiosity: "Strange! Why didn’t this boy bring game back today? Has this foolish boy learned to keep things to himself? I wonder how far the ’earth rat’ has dug, whether he’s reached the entrance to the big tomb."
The Fox Spirit’s eyes remained fixed on Zhang Chen, observing his dirty and worn appearance, her mind swirling with curiosity.
As Zhang Chen returned home, boiled water, and cleaned up, he contemplated how he might learn to read and write: "Nearby, there’s only one person who can read, Ying, Zhang Chen’s current teacher, known as ’Wuliu’ sir, according to village rumors, this person is well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge, possessing real wisdom. Since Zhang Chen could become his disciple, I should be able to as well!"
Thoughts whirled around Zhang Chen’s mind, unsure of how Zhang Chen became an apprentice, yet convinced that if a bookworm like Zhang Chen could do it, he certainly could too.
So Zhang Chen began pondering the cost of apprenticeship. He now had five taels of silver, along with five taels previously saved, totaling ten taels. Then, hunting some mountain chickens and rabbits as a token for apprenticeship should do the trick.