Chapter 10

That night passed without incident.

The next day, Xiao Zhi was the earliest man to rise by the extinguished campfire.

After more than an hour of strength training in a secluded spot, his phone vibrated slightly.

Notification: "Due to your diligent and serious training, your strength has increased by 1 point."

Xiao Zhi's character's strength increased from 71 points to 72 points.

Continuing his training, about half an hour later, his phone vibrated again.

Notification: "Due to your persistent and relentless training, your constitution has increased by 1 point."

Xiao Zhi stopped training. He didn't plan to continue, as from yesterday's experience, if he continued, he would start feeling hungry after another hour.

He couldn't repeat yesterday's mistake; he still needed to save his strength for other tasks.

He controlled his character to go to a public well, drew a bucket of water, and had his character drink it all. He then drew a few more buckets to wash his character's body.

After doing all this, Xiao Zhi controlled his character to leave the village.

According to the old village chief, the fields of Yang Xu and Yang Xi should be in this direction.

Following this direction, Xiao Zhi soon found the siblings working in a field, catching insects and weeding the vegetables.

Xiao Zhi sighed with relief in his heart. It seemed his estimation was correct; it was still early, and the siblings were still busy with farm work, not yet heading into the mountains.

Xiao Zhi's approach caught the siblings' attention.

"Stranger, what are you doing here?" Yang Xu straightened up, eyeing Xiao Zhi warily.

Yang Xi, with her large, clear eyes, also watched Xiao Zhi.

Some nearby villagers also paused their work, glancing over.

If Xiao Zhi made any hostile moves against the siblings, they would take action against him, driving him away or even killing him.

Yesterday, a few refugees caused trouble in the village, and one of the village children was severely injured and died.

The refugee who attacked the child was killed on the spot by the village patrol, but this incident made the villagers of Peace Village even more hostile and wary of refugees.

Xiao Zhi stopped about two meters away from the field.

He thought about his words and said, "I came here to thank you both again."

"You already thanked us yesterday. You can leave now," Yang Xu said coldly.

Xiao Zhi didn't leave but stayed where he was and continued, "Yang Xu, don't rush me away. I think we can work together."

"Work together?" Yang Xu was taken aback and then laughed, "I don't see what we can cooperate on."

"There is," Xiao Zhi said, "I can follow you into the mountains. We can hunt wild beasts together."

Yang Xu sneered, "I can hunt wild beasts without you."

"It's different," Xiao Zhi, who had already thought of his words, said, "You can indeed hunt wild beasts, but only small ones. With me, we can hunt larger ones."

Yang Xu stopped laughing and showed a thoughtful expression.

Xiao Zhi continued, "The meat from large beasts is several times, even ten times more than from small ones. It's hard for you to hunt them alone, but with me, the chances of success will greatly increase..."

As a young man of the new era, well-versed in many things, it wasn't difficult for Xiao Zhi to persuade a rural teenager.

Under Xiao Zhi's smooth talk, the young Yang Xu, after some consideration, reluctantly agreed to cooperate with Xiao Zhi.

Half an hour later, Yang Xu had prepared his equipment and set off into the mountains outside the village with his sister Yang Xi and Xiao Zhi.

Yang Xu held a black short blade, a black iron dagger about 20 centimeters long, with a black blade and a sharp, metallic edge.

Xiao Zhi was given a bone spear made from a fierce beast's leg bone, about 70 centimeters long, and a crude wooden shield on his back.

The bone spear and wooden shield were items left by Yang Xu's grandfather, who was a warrior in the village patrol.

However, Yang Xu had never seen his grandfather, as he died in a battle between the village and bandits before Yang Xu was born.

The black short blade in Yang Xu's hand was also a relic from his grandfather.

The background of this character was quite detailed, Xiao Zhi thought to himself.

As for the girl, Yang Xi, she carried food and water, walking in the middle, with Xiao Zhi in front and her brother Yang Xu behind.

Although they had agreed to cooperate, the young Yang Xu was still very cautious, insisting that Xiao Zhi walk in front. Xiao Zhi had no choice but to comply.

To avoid alerting the wild beasts in the forest, the three walked quietly, speaking very little and only in low voices.

After about half an hour of winding through the forest, Xiao Zhi was completely lost.

It was the girl, Yang Xi, who quietly guided him.

During this time, the careful girl also picked some wild fruits in the forest, which they shared.

These wild fruits provided some energy to Xiao Zhi's character.

"That horned sheep should be active around here," the girl, Yang Xi, stopped and scanned the surroundings, speaking softly.

Three days ago, Yang Xu and Yang Xi had found traces of a horned sheep in this area but didn't want to alert it as they weren't sure they could take it down.

"Found it." About 10 minutes later, the girl, Yang Xi, led Yang Xu and Xiao Zhi to the horned sheep.

Through the screen, Xiao Zhi saw that it was indeed a sheep, a gray-furred sheep as big as a calf, with two sharp, curved black horns on its head.

This was the first time Xiao Zhi had seen such a large sheep.

At that moment, the horned sheep was grazing, unaware of Xiao Zhi and the others approaching.

"I'll attack it first to draw its attention. Stranger... Xiao Zhi, you're responsible for intercepting it if it tries to run," Yang Xu tightened his grip on the black short blade and said in a low voice.