The night was dark and windy.
Creak.
The wooden door opened, and a figure glanced around before stepping out onto the street. Then, quietly, he made his way to a street further out from the camp:
Number 3, Number 4…
2nd Street, Number 4!
This was the place.
A padlock hung on the wooden door.
Tang Wen silently unlocked it with a key and slipped inside.
The houses on this street didn't have courtyards; the wooden door he opened led directly into the house.
The interior was pitch black. He pulled out a pre-prepared fire starter, blew on it gently, and a faint flame flickered to life.
The enhancement of his physique had given him vision far superior to that of an ordinary person. Coupled with the fact that he had consumed a lot of bird innards, Tang Wen didn't suffer from the night blindness that plagued most people in the camp.
He lit the oil lamp inside, but the dim yellow light didn't illuminate much.
However, to Tang Wen's eyes, everything in the room was clearly visible.
The wall directly in front of him caught his attention. Hanging there was a large black bow. He casually pulled over a chair, stood on it, and took the bow down.
Hmm, it was heavy.
Nowadays, he had immense strength. Wielding a longsword with one hand felt almost weightless, but this Iron Bow seemed heavier than three longswords combined.
Perfect, just what he needed.
After the recent practical combat, he had been somewhat dissatisfied with the attack range of his Flying Knife and Flying Stone.
He had been thinking about hunting more game to trade for a bow to practice with, but he hadn't expected to find one so easily.
After searching the room, Tang Wen also found a short sword, about half a meter long, made of solid material.
No question, he had to take it.
There was also a cupboard with a missing door, emitting a sour smell; a table with a broken leg, covered in black grime; and several stools of varying heights…
He shook his head and walked toward the inner room, where the smell was even worse.
Inside, there was a wooden bed and a rice jar.
Tang Wen picked up the short sword and, with a look of disgust, used it to lift the blanket on the bed, which had lost its original color.
Nothing there.
He then lifted the pillow, and with a clinking sound, something fell out from the pillow stuffed with dry grass.
What was that?
It sounded like coins?
Tang Wen crouched down, picked up the objects from the floor, and a strange expression crossed his face: "These are actually copper coins?"
The coins were shaped like ancient square-holed round coins.
He had heard Li Da Niu mention that the shops and stores in the city used copper coins instead of bartering.
Merchant caravans from outside also accepted copper coins, but they preferred bartering.
Aside from the copper coins, the Iron Bow, and the short sword, he didn't take anything else.
He quietly returned home.
Under his sister's expectant gaze,
Tang Wen brought out the Iron Bow, the short sword, and several dozen copper coins.
Tang Tang's smile gradually faded: "That's it?"
"These are the most valuable things."
"What's the use of value? What about food? Supplies? Why didn't you bring everything?"
"Huh? We were stealing… well, taking things. Wouldn't it be bad to empty the place?"
"What's wrong with that?" Tang Tang raised an eyebrow: "This is his compensation to us, or you could say it's our spoils of war! Empty it, take everything. I'll go with you."
Her face showed an eager expression.
Tang Wen: …
Reluctantly, the two of them went back.
At Tang Tang's insistence, before leaving, each of them carried a large basket on their back.
Opening the door to the other person's house once again.
Tang Tang searched around: Dozens of pounds of foxtail millet in the rice jar? Take it away.
A few stools and three dirty wooden buckets? Move them.
"You're so silly, there are two salted fish over there, little Wen, you didn't even see them?"
"He has so much firewood in his house..."
Tang Wen quickly stopped her: "Let's leave the firewood, shall we?"
"Leave it?" Tang Tang looked at her brother: "In his side room, half the space is filled with firewood, enough for us to burn until spring."
Hearing this, Tang Wen also realized that the woodshed in the yard was indeed empty.
"Then, shall we take it?"
"Take it! Let's take it together, at most it will take a couple more nights," Tang Tang said with determination.
"Alright, it shouldn't be necessary."
With Tang Wen's current physical strength, he could carry two hundred pounds and still walk briskly.
Tang Tang helped him tie the firewood into bundles with ropes, and Tang Wen carried them.
Under his sister's gaze that seemed to say "you didn't eat all that foxtail millet for nothing," he made seven or eight quick trips under the cover of night, filling their own woodshed to the brim before dawn.
Based on the current daily consumption of a few pounds of firewood, it would be enough to last until next spring.
The siblings stood side by side at the entrance of the woodshed, smiling at their haul.
To be honest, the feeling of getting something for nothing was quite nice!
The other items they had moved were piled up in the yard, and Tang Tang said disdainfully: "Chop the tables and chairs for firewood, and we don't need the buckets, salted fish, or foxtail millet, let's trade them for something else..."
After a busy night, they were a bit tired and went straight back to their room to rest.
After lunch, in the afternoon, Tang Wen carried the iron bow and a short sword to the blacksmith's shop.
"This short sword is good, it would be perfect for your sister to carry for self-defense with a scabbard," said the blacksmith, Li Da Niu, handing Tang Wen a whetstone, then looking at the iron bow he had brought.
"This bow?" He took it in his hands and tried to draw the string.
Hey!
Li Da Niu's face turned red, but he could only draw it halfway.
Buzz!
As he let go, the steel string vibrated rapidly.
"Little Tang, this bow is good, but it's too heavy. It's even heavier than the bows I've seen in the guards' camp! It probably takes two big men to draw it."
Li Da Niu was rough in appearance, but he was sharp-minded. Tang Wen didn't mention the origin of the bow, and he didn't ask a single question.
Tang Wen said sincerely: "Yes, yes, it's too heavy."
So heavy that even he could only draw it fully twenty or thirty times in a row.
"If you have copper coins, Brother Tang, you could sell the bow in the city. If a guard captain takes a liking to it, it could be worth a few hundred pounds of mutated beast meat, or enough food to last for several years."
Li Da Niu had mentioned earlier in conversation that for people in the camp to enter the inner city, they needed to pay an entrance fee of 10 copper coins.
10 copper coins could buy 10 pounds of white flour or 20 pounds of foxtail millet in the inner city.
For people on the outskirts of the camp, this was an exorbitant price. Almost no one would go.
More importantly, ordinary people on the outskirts of the camp had no way to earn copper coins.
Tang Wen didn't plan to sell the iron bow, but hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of getting rich.
Not to mention a few hundred pounds of mutated beast meat, Tang Wen didn't even have a few hundred pounds of ordinary meat.
Indeed, crime pays!
He said: "Brother Li, first make me two pairs of finger guards, and some arrows. If I ever decide to sell it, having a complete set would fetch a higher price."
"No problem, leave it to me. I'll also help you maintain the bow."
"How much meat do you need?"
"None, none! That pigskin is enough. Brother, you're really skilled to have hunted a wild boar. But don't venture deeper into the woods; there might still be some uncleared Mutated Beasts."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."
While Li Da Niu busied himself, Tang Wen went to the backyard to practice his saber.
After yesterday's events, his desire for strength had grown even more.
[Wind-splitting Saber, Mastery (109/1000)]
He didn't waste a single moment throughout the entire afternoon.
"Come on, brother, let's spar a bit. Don't leave tonight; stay and have dinner here," Li Da Niu said, having finished his work and now watching Tang Wen practice in the backyard.
"Alright, let me go back and tell my sister first."
"Invite your sister too! The more, the merrier! It's not right to leave her alone at home."
"Sure!"
It's amusing to think that the two of them are good neighbors and friends.
Yet, they've never shared a meal at each other's homes.
After all, food is too precious for the people in the camp.
When Tang Wen got home and mentioned it, Tang Tang agreed to come over for dinner.
"We can't go empty-handed, right?" The young lady's face showed a hint of hesitation.
Tang Wen knew she was reluctant to part with their belongings.
Before he could speak, Tang Tang continued, "Bringing foxtail millet isn't appropriate; they've helped us clean before. How about bringing some meat instead?"
Tang Wen smiled without saying a word.
Tang
Tang pouted, cut about a pound of the braised pig's head they had prepared, and then asked, "Is this enough?"
Tang Wen chuckled to himself: The young lady hasn't changed a bit. Even though we made a fortune last night, she's still as thrifty—or rather, as good at managing the household—as ever.
(End of Chapter)