Lin Wanru's maiden home was in Linjia Village, ten li away, and it would take at least an hour to walk there.
Furthermore, she didn't know her parents' intentions yet, so time was not ample.
Therefore, she hurriedly gave Zhang Dajian a few instructions, telling him to be careful and stay safe, then wrapped herself tightly in a cloth sheet and went out the door.
As soon as Lin Wanru walked out of the courtyard gate, Zhang Dajian immediately ducked into his own room.
The weather was cold now, so he had to make some preparations.
He took out a set of thermal underwear from under the bed, tore off all the box tags, and stuffed them into an invisible crevice.
Then he started putting it on.
Although it was a women's style and quite a bit smaller, he could somehow force himself into it.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhang Dajian was panting, a satisfied smile on his face.
He had finally managed to force the thermal underwear onto his body, with his arms and calves exposed, looking rather mismatched.
Despite this, wearing the thermal underwear still made him feel much warmer; at least his body wasn't as cold.
"Damn it, I need to get some silver quickly and buy a proper set of cotton clothes and shoes, otherwise this is too embarrassing," he muttered.
He bundled up the thin quilt, hiding the glaring pink color, put on his straw sandals, slung his bow and arrows over his back, grabbed his machete, and headed out the door.
Outside the door, the north wind was a bit weaker than last night.
The scattered snowflakes had stopped, and the sun was hazy, but the weather was much better than yesterday.
Villagers were heading towards the village entrance in twos and threes, all hoping to catch some game to fill their stomachs while the weather was good.
"Dajian? You just caught two prey yesterday, why are you out again today?" a villager asked sourly.
"You took a shit yesterday, why are you taking one again today?" Zhang Dajian retorted impolitely.
"You..."
The villager was choked speechless, his face full of surprise. What was wrong with Zhang Dajian today?
He usually greeted him with a smiling face, but this time he was like he had eaten gunpowder.
Zhang Dajian couldn't be bothered to pay attention and strode forward.
He now had a system backing him, so he didn't need to waste words with these 'lemon spirits' (jealous people).
He was a simple person: if you were good to him, he would be even better to you; if you were sarcastic, he didn't need to be polite.
After he left, two figures quickly caught up, none other than Liu Mazi and Ge Wulai.
Ge Wulai stared at Zhang Dajian's retreating back and spat fiercely: "Damn it, that Zhang Dajian is out again. Boss, you must avenge me. I can't let that kick yesterday be for nothing."
Liu Mazi showed a sinister smile: "Don't worry, today we'll hide in the shadows and shoot him with a sneak attack. To kill him, I even brought out the old man's treasure."
After speaking, he patted the longbow on his body.
This longbow was dark and shiny, with a tightly strung ox tendon string. It was an old item his father had hidden under his bed before he died, said to be able to pierce a wild bear's skull from a hundred paces away.
However, drawing this bow required a force of one shi, which was 120 jin (60 kg). Liu Mazi could only draw it three times at most before collapsing from exhaustion.
Ge Wulai's eyes lit up; he had long heard of the power of this bow.
With this sharp weapon in hand, assassinating Zhang Dajian would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?
Liu Mazi turned his head and glanced at him: "Let's be clear beforehand. I'll help you kill Zhang Dajian, and you give me five jin of millet. Also, that little slut Lin Wanru must belong to me."
Ge Wulai's face wrinkled: "Boss, five jin of millet is no problem, but I'm also very fond of Lin Wanru. How about this: after you're done, let me have a turn? We can take turns, what do you say?"
"Get lost!" Liu Mazi's face turned dark. "I have no interest in sharing women. Either you agree to my terms, or you go challenge Zhang Dajian by yourself."
Ge Wulai quickly softened: "No, no, no, Boss, I'll agree, alright? Let's hurry and chase him, don't let that fellow Zhang Dajian disappear."
Liu Mazi smiled when the other party agreed.
He had been lusting after that little slut Lin Wanru for a long time, but with Zhang Dajian and Zhang Da Shan around before, it was difficult to make a move.
But now Zhang Da Shan was dead, leaving only Zhang Dajian, and yesterday he had injured Ge Wulai.
To get revenge, that dog Ge Wulai actually took out the five jin of millet he had secretly saved, just hoping that he could help him.
Five jin of millet was enough for him and his wife to last ten days. What's more, as soon as Zhang Dajian died, wouldn't the helpless Lin Wanru be at his mercy?
Comparing the two, although he felt that Zhang Dajian seemed to have changed and become much more formidable than before, under the temptation of profit, he still gritted his teeth and agreed.
Zhang Dajian quickly arrived at the foot of the mountain, circled around, but found no trace of prey.
"I really can't stay at the foot of this mountain anymore; I can't even find pheasants or snow rabbits."
He grew increasingly anxious. He had boasted that he would catch a large prey to exchange for grain in town.
Now, he hadn't even seen a hair of prey. Even with his Grandmaster-level Archery, it was useless.
After circling again, seeing that it was already the hour of Si (9-11 am), Zhang Dajian gritted his teeth and headed towards the mountainside of the Da'an Mountains.
In the distance, Ge Wulai saw this scene and immediately smiled.
"Haha, it really is heaven helping us. I was worried about being discovered by villagers at the foot of the mountain, but now it's fine. This guy actually went up the mountain, so we can't be blamed for being ruthless."
Liu Mazi, however, hesitated, looking at the misty mountain forest, and frowned: "The depths of the Da'an Mountains are rampant with fierce beasts. It would be troublesome if we encountered one."
Ge Wulai urged: "Boss, that kid isn't afraid, so what are we afraid of? Follow behind him; if we encounter a fierce beast, it will eat him first. At worst, if we see things aren't right, we can just run away."
Liu Mazi thought that made sense, so he and Ge Wulai crouched low and followed far behind Zhang Dajian up the mountain.
Half an hour later, Zhang Dajian reached several hundred meters below the mountainside.
The snow here was half a chi (about 16 cm) thick, and the pine branches were weighed down with heavy snow clumps, which rustled down with every gust of wind.
His straw sandals made a "creak, creak" sound on the snow, and every step required a great deal of effort.
Aside from the howling wind in the forest, he occasionally heard wolf howls and beast roars coming from the mountainside.
Zhang Dajian already had his bow and arrows in hand, his nerves taut, ready to respond to any wild beasts that might appear.
"As expected of the Da'an Mountains. We haven't even reached the mountainside yet, and there are already so many animal tracks and droppings."
On the snow, a line of footprints and fresh droppings were particularly conspicuous.
"Good heavens, looking at the size and depth of these footprints, it must be at least three hundred jin (150 kg), probably left by a wild boar. But wild boars always travel in groups, so why is there only this single set of footprints? Could it be chased by a fierce beast?"
Zhang Dajian couldn't quite figure it out, so he simply squatted down, intending to observe carefully.
The moment he squatted down, a whooshing sound suddenly erupted. An arrow grazed his head and "thudded" into the tree trunk behind him, its fletching still violently trembling.
Zhang Dajian's blood boiled. He instinctively rolled on the ground and hid behind a large tree.
Not far away, two voices sounded.
"Damn it! Just missed! Why did that kid squat down?"
"It's okay, Boss. Take this opportunity to draw your bow again and shoot that dog! Let him suffer for what he did to me yesterday!"
The voices of Liu Mazi and Ge Wulai came from thirty meters away, and Zhang Dajian's eyes instantly turned cold.
He slowly nocked an arrow and drew his bow, aiming the arrowhead in the direction of the voices, a sinister smile curving his lips.
Since you want to die, don't blame me for being impolite!