Chapter 5 Sneak Attack
Leng Yiyao, who was sitting opposite, saw Zhou Chen sitting there in a daze and asked, "Brother Chen, what's wrong with you?"
Zhou Chen came back to his senses and said with a smile, "It's okay, come and eat quickly." Then he pushed the meat towards him and secretly opened his attribute panel.

Host: Zhou Chen
Realm: None

Strength: 13
Speed: 2
Skill: None

Martial arts: Ordinary archery (beginner) Liuhe swordsmanship (beginner)

Strengthening points: 0.03
"My strength has actually increased by six points." Feeling the tremendous force coming from his body, Zhou Chen's mouth corners slightly raised.

"Yiyao, I think the snow should stop today. I will go up the mountain again tomorrow."

"Ah, why are you going up the mountain again? Don't you want to rest for a few days?"
"No, I have to stock up on meat for the winter before the mountains are closed."

Time quickly came to the next morning. Zhou Chen had already washed up and was ready to go out, but Leng Yiyao got up even earlier than him and had prepared breakfast early.

Leng Yiyao stood at the gate of the courtyard, watched Zhou Chen leave, waved and said goodbye, "Brother Chen, come back soon."

Zhou Chen didn't look back, but just waved his hand with his back to him and said "I know", then walked towards the mountain. After several days of snow, the road became very difficult to walk on, which made his speed much slower than the previous times.

Just then, a person walked over. Zhou Chen turned around and saw that it was Li Ergou. Zhou Chen's right hand subconsciously placed on the hilt of the knife.

"Brother Ergou, why are you here?" Zhou Chen is not afraid of him now.

Li Ergou walked up to Zhou Chen with a smile and asked, "Xiaochen, are you going into the mountains? I also want to go up the mountain, let's go together." Without waiting for Zhou Chen to speak, he walked towards the mountain on his own.

After walking a few steps, he found that Zhou Chen did not catch up, so he turned around and urged, "Hurry up, Xiaochen."

Zhou Chen then followed Li Ergou slowly. During this time, Zhou Chen's right hand was always on the hilt of the knife, keeping on guard against Li Ergou at all times.

An hour later Zhou Chen said, "Brother Ergou, I'll just stay around here and won't go any deeper."

"What kind of prey can there be out here? Let me take you a little deeper today."

"Let's not do that. It's too dangerous in the deep mountains."

"Hey, what are you afraid of, I'm here with you?" He reached out and grabbed Zhou Chen's hand, wanting to pull Zhou Chen away.

Zhou Chen, who was thought to be at his mercy, did not move at all when he pulled him. Li Ergou turned his head curiously. At this time, Zhou Chen looked at Li Ergou expressionlessly and said coldly, "Brother Ergou, you go by yourself. I won't go." After that, he shook off Li Ergou's hand.

"Since you don't want to go, brother, then forget it," Li Ergou then walked into the depths of the forest alone.

Zhou Chen wandered around aimlessly in the periphery. There was basically no prey here now. Even if he wandered around here for a whole day, he would not get any results.

Two hours later, Zhou Chen found a big rock and sat down. Then he took out a piece of cooked meat from his arms and started eating. This was what Leng Yiyao had prepared for him in advance.

Just as he was eating, an arrow flew towards him from a distance. Zhou Chen sensed the danger and immediately dodged sideways. He looked back but did not see anyone there.

At this time, Li Ergou, who was hiding in the dark, cursed inwardly when he saw that his attack missed, "Damn, this kid's reaction is quite fast", and then he drew his bow and shot an arrow again. This time Zhou Chen found his position, dodged an arrow and took out his own bow and arrow, and shot towards Li Ergou's position. Although he couldn't see who the opponent was from a distance, he would not show mercy to those who dared to attack him.

Li Ergou was not an ordinary man either. He dodged Zhou Chen's arrow easily. Seeing the arrow penetrate into the tree, Li Ergou laughed and said, "What a good bow. I must get it today."

At this time, Zhou Chen pulled the bow again and aimed at the target in the distance. His strength had reached 13 points and he could easily control the longbow in his hand. Li Ergou had just shown his head from behind the tree when Zhou Chen's arrow came up. If he hadn't reacted quickly, the arrow would have passed through his head.

After several attempts, Li Ergou found that he had no chance to fight back at all. "How come this kid is so good at archery? I'd better play it safe and find another chance to deal with you next time."

Afterwards, Li Ergou found an opportunity to leave. The distance was too far and Zhou Chen couldn't do anything to Li Ergou who was determined to escape.

After retrieving the arrow, Zhou Chen wandered around the mountain for a few hours and then went down the mountain. He arrived home before the sun set. When Leng Yiyao saw Zhou Chen coming back, she quickly brought him a basin of hot water for him to wash his hands.

"Something unexpected happened today and we didn't catch any prey."

"As long as everyone is okay, there's no need to rush. We still have food to eat."

At night, Zhou Chen lay on the bed and recalled what happened today. Although he couldn't see the man clearly because of the distance, he was most likely Li Ergou.

"It seems we have to find an opportunity to get rid of this guy." In today's world, the government will not interfere in these matters unless there is absolute evidence.

Early the next morning, the originally quiet mountain village became lively because people from the government had come. It was said that the war on the border was getting tense and the imperial court wanted to collect grain again. However, this time they would not ask for as much as in the previous times, perhaps because they knew that these people no longer had any extra food.

But even so, the people could not produce the quantity they needed. They did not care about the people's lives and went into the house to search. In the end, when they could not find anything, they cursed a few words and went to the next house.

At this time, Leng Yiyao had already taken out more than ten kilograms of food from the cellar and put it in the room. Zhou Chen couldn't afford to offend the official, so after preparing the food, he let Leng Yiyao hide in the cellar. After all, those officials were not good people, and Leng Yiyao was beautiful, so accidents were inevitable.

Soon the gate of the courtyard was kicked open, and Zhou Chen hurried out to greet them, "I wonder if you officers have any instructions for me?"
One of the leaders said, "The war situation on the border is tense. We have been ordered to collect grain. Hand over the grain quickly to prevent our brothers from taking action."

"Okay, go get it right away." All the detectives were stunned when they heard Zhou Chen's answer. This boy was quite straightforward. Then they saw Zhou Chen coming out with half a bag of food.

"Gentlemen, this is all the food I have." The leader took the food and winked at another person, who went straight into the house.

Zhou Chen subconsciously wanted to go to the fence, but was kicked hard by someone. "Stand here," Zhou Chen was kicked and sat on the ground. He was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he didn't dare to get angry, so he just stood up and waited.

Then one could hear the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets in the house, and from time to time the sound of dishes breaking. After a long while, the constable came out with half a bag of food and a piece of venison weighing several pounds.

Looking at the things in his men's hands, the leading constable cursed, "I was wondering why you were so straightforward, it turns out there are good things hidden in the house."

Then they kicked Zhou Chen, and Zhou Chen fell to the ground again. "Brothers, beat him up." Zhou Chen didn't dare to fight back, so he covered his head with his hands and let them beat and scold him.

It was a long time before they left. After they left, Zhou Chen stood up and said, "Don't fall into my hands, or I will make you live a life worse than death." Then he stepped forward and closed the gate.

Zhou Chen's physical fitness was much stronger than that of ordinary people. Although he was beaten, he did not suffer any injuries. After the pain for a while, he no longer felt any discomfort.

(End of this chapter)