CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 42: RETRIEVING THE BOW

Qin Yao was just about to ask Da Lang to go again, to test his potential.

There was a "knock, knock, knock" at the direction of the main door.

The "fight" today had to be put on hold temporarily.

Liu Ji had just gone out, Qin Yao told the four youngsters to go back to the room to wipe their sweat, "The wind is strong, don’t catch a cold."

Seeing them enter the shower room, which was also a washroom, a long rope was nailed to the wall, with each of their face towels hanging on it, for personal use.

Only then did Qin Yao throw the firewood stick in her hand back onto the woodpile and went to open the door.

At the door stood a small, thin old man, his hair already gray, holding the rein of a donkey, upon seeing Qin Yao he asked:

"Is this the Liu San and Liu Ji’s house?"

Qin Yao nodded, "Yes, who are you looking for, sir?"

"Then you must be Miss Qin?" the old man asked confidently.

Qin Yao nodded again, "I am."

The old man, having found the right person, breathed a sigh of relief, and told Qin Yao that he came from the town to deliver something to relatives in Liu Family Village, encountered the Yang Family Brothers while passing through Lower River Village, and they had a message for Qin Yao.

"They said that what you wanted has been made and asked you to visit Lower River Village to find them when you have time."

After speaking, the old man was about to leave with the donkey.

Suppressing her inner joy, Qin Yao quickly called him back, went to the kitchen and scooped a bowl of hot water from a warm pot for him,

"Thank you for delivering the message, have a sip of hot water, it’s cold, warm up before continuing your journey."

The old man didn’t refuse, happily accepted and drank it, returned the bowl to Qin Yao, motioned her to stay, and turned to leave.

Liu Ji walked up from the river with a jar of pickles, glanced suspiciously at the old man, and asked curiously at the doorway:

"Wife, what did that old man come to our house for?"

Begging?

Doesn’t seem like it. Besides, he even has a donkey, that’s quite a luxury.

Qin Yao told him to come in, and only after closing the door did she say, "He delivered a message. I’ll go to Lower River Village tomorrow morning to get something."

Saying this, she wasn’t concerned about what the pickle jar contained, and went directly to the storeroom beside the kitchen.

Unlocked it, and took out the six knives that had been hidden inside.

As Liu Ji set down the pickle jar, he saw her take out these knives, terrifying memories that had faded resurfaced, the scene of her mercilessly slaying bandits with each stroke emerged vividly, giving Liu Ji a shiver.

He quickly turned towards the stove, randomly grabbed a handful of firewood and stuffed it into the stove mouth, mumbling to himself:

"Get Da Lang to watch the fire, this kid just knows how to mess around with that stick, if I come back any later, the fire’s going to go out..."

Only when he heard the opposite bedroom door close did he stop, patting his chest in relief after a close call.

But why go to Lower River Village with those six knives?

Of course, to sell them!

Qin Yao found a basket, broke the six knives into pieces and placed them inside, filled the surrounding space with straw, and covered the surface with a layer of firewood to ensure they wouldn’t be noticed.

In the area around Kaiyang County, Qin Yao didn’t know how things were elsewhere, but here, aside from officials and people with special professions like government officials, hunters, and escort agency members, ordinary folks didn’t carry knives.

If one carried knives, it would cause trouble at city entrances during inspections if they couldn’t explain their origins.

Besides, there’s the exiled criminals who were tattooed and sent to the border as military service who would carry weapons.

It was a kind of agricultural knife, called a pu (po) knife, with a blade similar to a hatchet, short and wide, a hollow cylindrical handle that could be fitted onto sticks or barrels to be used as a weapon.

And the knives that Qin Yao obtained from six robbers had clear marks of damage, with a design almost the same as official knives.

Originally she wanted to keep them for her own use, since ancient iron smelting technology wasn’t very advanced, the blades weren’t very durable, the short knife she had been using became dull after cutting six necks.

Now seeing the design and marks on these knives, she instantly abandoned the idea of using them.

She didn’t want to bring trouble upon herself, but throwing them away seemed wasteful, so she thought, why not sell them to the blacksmith while going to Lower River Village.

Anyway, she had already broken the blades so no traces could be seen, along with her original dull short knife, she’d get rid of all of them and expected to get two taels of silver.

The long knife and dagger she had ordered from the blacksmith were already brought back by Qin Yao long ago, along with the slingshot frame and marbles, only missing a rubber band.

After years of surviving in the dystopia, Qin Yao had developed the habit of always carrying weapons when going out.

Before going out, she checked to ensure she had the dagger and half a bag of steel balls, confirmed everything was correct, took three freshly made steamed white buns Liu Ji had just finished, and left.

Dawn had just broken, the early morning cold was the most intense.

In this cold weather, families who had cotton-padded coats would have already put on the thick cotton-padded coats, while Qin Yao only had two sets of unlined cotton robes.

After finishing the buns, she let out a breath into the air, white mist swirled around, blown away quickly by the wind.

She guessed the temperature had probably dropped to around zero degrees Celsius.

Qin Yao got up early, didn’t encounter anyone on the road, walked for an hour and a half by herself carrying a basket, and arrived at Lower River Village smoothly.

The blacksmith shop had just opened, Qin Yao was the first customer of the day, but she wasn’t there to buy things, but to sell things.

Qin Yao and the blacksmith were considered acquaintances, knowing her capabilities, the blacksmith only checked the quality of the knife materials and confirmed them, and threw them into the material pile, then paid Qin Yao.

It amounted to one tael and eight maces of silver, a bit off from the two taels Qin Yao expected.

But these stolen goods were hard to discuss frankly, Qin Yao put the money away and went up the hill to the Yang Family.

It seemed they anticipated she would come eagerly, as soon as Qin Yao reached midway up the hill, she saw Yang Da’s son and daughter standing at the courtyard gate looking out.

Seeing her, the daughter quickly ran into the yard and shouted, "Dad! Miss Qin is here!"

The little girl had worshipped Qin Yao ever since she found out she defeated a black bear, and after notifying her father, she rushed down to meet her.

The fourteen-year-old girl, whose name was simply Fang, was full of energy, with a bright smile, which brought joy to anyone watching.

Qin Yao nodded to her, and the little girl warmly led her inside to the main room to sit.

The main room in Lower River Village was different from that in Liu Family Village, with a raised square platform in the middle, with a fire pit in the middle of the platform, for cooking and dining in winter.

Qin Yao sat on a wooden bench by the fire pit, and Yang Fang brought her a cup of hot tea.

Drinking the tea and warming by the fire, Qin Yao felt warmth spreading throughout her body.

Two rows of rabbit meat hung from the beam, slowly smoked by the fire, some were to be sold, and the family would cut some to cook whenever they wanted meat.

Yang Da’s wife brought out a knife to cut meat and invited Qin Yao with a smile to join them for breakfast, but Qin Yao quickly declined.

"I ate before I came, don’t worry about me, I’ll just sit for a while and leave after getting the bow and arrow."

"Stay for a meal." Yang Er also invited.

Qin Yao declined again, and seeing her insistence, everyone had no choice but to let it go.

Yang Da and his son walked in with the completed bow and arrow, and everyone’s attention immediately shifted to the bow that was noticeably longer than usual.

Yang Da handed the bow over and under the firelight, Qin Yao closely inspected it, feeling delighted.

Impatiently she took the bow and arrows outside, and shot several arrows, unable to put it down.

Yang Fang and her brother wanted to try, but the siblings couldn’t even pull the bowstring, causing everyone to have a good laugh.