Creak!
Su Wending quickly propped up the fallen door.
At this moment, he was on the verge of collapse.
His family was dirt poor.
Grumble~ Grumble.
He was so hungry his front stuck to his back.
Su Wending turned left upon exiting and arrived at the kitchen.
He opened the rice jar.
The rice jar was cleaner than his face.
He scooped a ladle of well water and gulped it down.
The more he drank, the hungrier he became.
Yet, Su Wending's mind was unusually calm.
He had Transmigrated.
A great beginning.
He scoffed inwardly.
Recalling his three-hundred-square-meter luxury flat, then looking at this dilapidated tile house with bare walls.
The disparity was too great.
"Someone's dead, someone's dead!!!"
A woman's loud cry came from the village.
Su Wending didn't pay it any mind.
He continued to churn through the memories of this body in his mind.
It was a world similar to ancient times.
Great Qian Dynasty, Year 981.
A border ancient city, villagers in the countryside.
Boy Scholar.
No money.
Dropped out of school.
His parents, herb gatherers, had met with misfortune a month ago.
Thinking of this, Su Wending gave a bitter smile.
Seemingly carefree.
Yet, he was without kin or support.
He was cautious and taciturn, with a cold personality.
He was out of place with the villagers.
His neighbors had no connection to him.
Outside the wattle fence, it became increasingly lively.
Villagers, awakened by the commotion in the early morning, began to gather at the home of the villager who had discovered the dead body.
"A monster, it must be a monster that entered the village!!!"
Someone yelled.
Startling Su Wending from his contemplation.
"A monster?!"
Su Wending's expression began to change.
He had an ominous premonition.
Su Wending's parents in this life were herb gatherers who frequented the mountains, skilled in hunting, and excellent hunters themselves.
They were nimble and had some martial arts knowledge.
But the way their two elders died was extremely gruesome.
It didn't seem to be the work of ordinary wild beasts.
It wasn't Su Wending bragging, but with the skills of a mountain herb gatherer, if they encountered a mountain tiger in the forest, it was hard to say who would be the prey.
Their chests were torn open, and their hearts were gnawed.
Their skulls were opened, and their brains hollowed out.
It didn't seem to be the work of beasts or humans.
Su Wending's face was slightly pale.
"Could there really be monsters?"
The memories left by his predecessor did not include any encounters with monsters.
He had read popular legends, but stories of gods and monsters only appeared on paper.
"No, I need to verify this."
If so-called monsters truly existed.
Su Wending would feel as if the sky was truly falling.
Living in this era, it was already difficult to feed himself, and he would also have to be constantly vigilant, lest he accidentally be fed to a monster.
Ignoring his hunger, he ran out of the courtyard in a few steps, rushed along the village road, and headed straight for the lively crowd.
"This house... is Su San's home."
Su Wending's expression subtly changed.
A month ago, many herb gatherers went into the mountains together to collect herbs.
Only Su San came out alive.
Including Su Wending's parents, they all died in the mountain forest.
According to Su San's account, after they entered the mountain, they split up at the three-way fork in front of the mountain.
Su San saw a certain herb, and while picking it, he accidentally rolled down the hill, luckily saved by the pond at the foot of the mountain.
After escaping danger, he climbed back up, and because he had injuries, he was worried that the smell of blood on him would attract fierce beasts, so he returned to the village the way he came.
A coincidence?
Su Wending looked up at the village layout.
The houses in the village were arranged in an orderly fashion, seven vertical and eight horizontal.
The spot where he was standing was the intersection of the fourth vertical and fifth horizontal.
"If a monster entered the village, why did it choose Su San?"
Grumble grumble~~~
His stomach rumbled again.
The attention of the villagers was immediately drawn, and their gazes fell on Su Wending.
Su Wending's old face flushed slightly.
He was truly hungry.
Su Wending quickly reacted.
Su San was dead?
Wouldn't he be able to eat then?
Su Wending immediately became enthusiastic.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
Su Wending squeezed through the crowd and entered the house.
"Wending, don't be mischievous."
The Village Head said with a hint of anger.
Su Wending looked at Su San, who was lying in a pool of blood, and immediately felt nauseated.
He quickly covered his mouth, but his eyes scanned Su San's corpse.
Chest torn open, heart gnawed.
Skull opened, brain hollowed out.
"I'm not being mischievous. Uncle Su San's death is the same as when my parents were killed."
Su Wending suppressed his voice.
But the lively crowd of villagers fell silent.
Village Head, Su Changgui's expression immediately turned ugly.
This matter was difficult to handle.
He looked outside the door.
The villagers' faces were pale, their eyes filled with fear.
Su Changgui sighed faintly: "Wending, you go back first. We elders will handle this matter."
Su Wending hesitated to speak.
Looking at Su Changgui, the Village Head, he thought of something.
Eating up the family's assets?
He finally remembered why he was so poor.
As the son of herb gatherers, his family's foundation should have been quite good.
Although Su Wending had spent a lot of money on his studies.
The teacher's tuition, the academy's teaching fees, and so on.
His family still had a small surplus.
When his parents met with misfortune, this fellow, Village Head, Su Changgui, talked him into things.
His predecessor, in a daze, hosted a flowing feast to entertain the entire village, and also believed Su Changgui's words that his parents' death was inauspicious, a bad omen for the village, so he invited a theatrical troupe to set up a stage and perform.
This series of actions directly exhausted their savings.
It could be seen that his predecessor had no concept of money.
"Do you still have something to say?" Su Changgui's tone was slightly heavier.
Su Wending didn't speak, but his stomach rumbled again.
Su Wending quietly looked at Su Changgui's old face.
The elder had an honest face.
"The body cannot be kept for long, it must be buried as soon as possible."
Su Wending returned the same words.
Su Changgui was stunned, his old face slightly red.
"I know, I know."
Su Changgui waved his hand.
The villagers outside the door finally recovered from their fear.
Many people's eyes lit up.
Su San was a wealthy person in the village, and he was alone.
The more than two hundred people in their village could all get some benefit today.
Most of Su Family Village was in poverty.
Su Wending had started a good trend.
They could eat up the family's assets again.
"Grumble grumble~~"
Su Wending's stomach rumbled again.
Su Changgui frowned tightly, showing disgust.
A line of text suddenly floated before Su Wending's eyes.
It was so sudden.
Leaving Su Wending momentarily unsure how to react.
"Su Changgui has a jar of silver buried under the big tree in his courtyard."
Brother System? Is that you?
Su Wending's heart began to shout with excitement.
But he received no response.
Su Wending immediately suspected he was hallucinating from hunger.
Should he verify it?
"Grumble grumble~" His stomach rumbled again.
Su Wending stared at Su Changgui's face.
"Uncle Gui, I remembered, Uncle Su San once borrowed ten catties of rice from me."
Su Wending shamelessly made an excuse, quietly watching Su Changgui.
Su Changgui felt uncomfortable being stared at and awkwardly turned his face away.
He knew he wasn't being decent.
When Su Wending's parents died.
He had practically scraped clean all the family's assets.
Leaving this child's rice jar empty.
The other villagers understood perfectly.
A month ago, they had a good feast.
"Go on, go on." Su Changgui waved his hand, it was only ten catties of rice, right? Just take it.
As for Su San's matter, Su Wending had reminded him of it.
Su Changgui began to ponder how to get his hands on everything of Su San's.
He certainly couldn't do it alone.
He looked at the other peers in the village.
He nodded imperceptibly.
Su Wending ignored them.
He squeezed out the door.
People were clustered in the courtyard.
"Uncles and aunties, please make way."
Su Wending quickly raised his hands and clasped them together.
Whispers reached his ears.
"This scholar is utterly heartless. The body isn't even cold yet, and he's already rushing to grab Su San's rice."
"Who's to say he isn't?"
"And he shamelessly claimed Su San borrowed ten catties of rice from him."
...
The gossip was incessant.
Su Wending sneered inwardly: The pot calling the kettle black. If only you had shown mercy back then, this body wouldn't have had to drink well water for three consecutive days to fill its stomach.
I'm now so hungry I'm panicking, my limbs are weak, and even lifting my leg is an effort.
You say I'm shameless?
Whatever.
Losing face won't kill me, but if I continue to starve, I, Su Wending, will definitely become the most miserable Transmigrator in history.
The first Transmigrator to starve to death.
Su Wending entered Su San's kitchen.
He found a wooden bucket used for washing vegetables.
He opened the rice jar.
The glistening white polished rice made him secretly swallow his saliva.
He used the bowl from the rice jar to scoop rice into the wooden bucket, bowl by bowl.
At first, some people watched him.
But they saw the rice jar was full of glistening white rice, and Su Wending's wooden bucket couldn't hold much anyway.
Su Wending remained calm.
With his other hand, he plunged it deep into the rice, searching constantly.
Finally, he touched a hard object.
"Gold: one tael."
He quickly pulled out the tael of gold and stuffed it into his long cloth shoe.
He searched again, and only when there was nothing else in the rice jar besides rice did he stop.
Su Wending laboriously lifted the wooden bucket full of rice with trembling arms.
He looked at the cured meat hanging in the kitchen.
Su Wending took down another small piece.
He placed it on top of the rice in the wooden bucket.
"Make way, make way!!!"
"Wait, this meat..."
A villager noticed the cured meat on the rice.
Su Wending glared: "What? This is mine. Last month, when my family hosted a feast, Uncle Su San ate a lot of meat. Oh, and I remember you, you also ate my family's meat."
Su Wending's face flushed, his eyes red, like an angry bull staring at the villager.
The villager shrunk his neck, his face flushed, and said nothing more.
The other villagers kept their distance.
Worried about being entangled by Su Wending.
Su Wending was a pauper now.
If he came to their homes to borrow rice and brought up old matters again, would they lend it or not?
"Su Wending, hurry up, hurry up."
Su Changgui called out with a tone of disgust.
Su Wending hugged the wooden bucket to his chest, glaring fiercely at the others, almost baring his teeth to bite them.
He walked out of the courtyard step by step.
Protecting the wooden bucket.
His eyes fiercely stared at the group of villagers.
After leaving the courtyard, he stumbled and hurried home.
Actually, he did this to distract the villagers' attention.
His goal was achieved.
It also allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
This was gold.
One tael of gold could be exchanged for ten taels of silver.
One tael of silver could be exchanged for one string of cash.
One tael of gold was very valuable.
How much did rice cost per catty?
"Su Changgui, Su Changgui, did you really bury a jar of silver under the big tree in your courtyard?"
Su Wending's heart stirred.
In his opinion, this Village Head was definitely not a good person.
He also thought that this matter with Su San was definitely not simple.
This Su Family Village seemed very dangerous. Should he escape this place and go to the county town?
Su Wending cooked white porridge and stir-fried one-third of the cured meat.
After eating, he lay down for half an hour before recovering his Origin Qi.
"From now on, eating porridge and rice will depend on you."
The treasure hunting hint ability greatly boosted Su Wending's confidence, who had just Transmigrated.
In this world, he should still be able to accomplish something.
"Su Changgui's jar of silver."
It lingered in his mind, becoming an obsession.
After resting for half an hour, this thought popped into his mind every moment.
Digging up the silver from Su Changgui's house.
A jar of silver.