Having a cheat is awesome!
Lou Yi seemed to see an incredibly bright future waving at him.
The improvement of skills can enhance one's strength. And if it's like this after just one improvement, what about the second, third, and Nth times?
In this world, being able to fight is very important.
If you reach the level of a Martial Artist, you'll be free from worries for life.
What I need to do now is to find as much energy as possible.
But how should I acquire energy?
The first bit of energy was obtained from the deceased Cheng Chen. I should dig into this.
Various speculations surfaced in Lou Yi's mind, but they all needed further verification.
With all these doubts, he lay on the wooden bed laid with straw and gradually drifted into a dreamless sleep.
This was the most restful sleep Lou Yi had since coming to this world.
'Cock-a-doodle-doo!'
'Cock-a-doodle-doo!'
The rooster crowed, and Lou Yi leapt out of bed.
He opened the door, scooped water from the water jar, brushed his teeth with a twig, and washed his face with his hands.
The water surface in the jar reflected a slightly childish face, with thick eyebrows and a bit of heroism.
The rice measure at home was empty to the bottom. After much effort, he grabbed a handful, mixed it with some wild vegetables picked from the mountain, scattered it into the pot, adding water and kindling.
Half an hour later, it turned into a bowl of thin vegetable porridge, becoming Lou Yi's ration.
He had been living like this for over two years.
'The hill with the tigers is temporarily a no-go. The urgent thing is to head to the market to buy some rice.' Lou Yi thought, 'And verify a few speculations.'
Leaving home and locking the door, he hadn't walked a few steps before hearing a childish inquiry.
"Hey, Lou the Beggar, when are you moving out?"
Lou Yi turned around and saw, ten steps away, a chubby kid about eleven or twelve, holding a strong black dog.
The chubby kid wore colorful clothes, his figure round like a top, his complexion rosy, and he stared at Lou Yi with impatience.
His address for Lou Yi was filled with disdain, a term usually used to call beggars.
"Why move? This is my home." Lou Yi replied calmly.
"I'm about to come of age, need to have my own house just like a few older brothers, otherwise, I'll be laughed at." The chubby kid said as if it were only natural, then pointed his chubby finger menacingly at Lou Yi, "If you don't move, my dad will kill you for me! "
His eyes widened fiercely, his tone ruthless, unlike a kid of eleven or twelve.
"Woof!"
The black dog bared its teeth at Lou Yi, barking with blood-stained bits of meat between its teeth.
Lou Yi glanced at the chubby kid and his dog, disinclined to pay them any attention, turned, and continued on his way.
Indeed, this chubby kid was the fourth son of the neighbor Butcher Qi, Qi Cai, and the only one not yet of age.
According to the village rules, they'd eventually have to build a house for him before he came of age.
Previously, the three large houses faced a long ditch on the west side, with Lou Yi's house to the east.
If they wanted four houses together, the best solution was to tear down Lou Yi's house.
But the Qi Family never expressed any intentions to him. Was it his own suspicion, or did they simply disdain to say it?
A shadow of gloom quietly crept into Lou Yi's heart.
...
Outside Tai City, the largest market in Xinxiang, about three miles from Erhe Village, was next to a commercial street.
The market was transformed from an abandoned temple, still retaining red walls, iron gates, and flying eaves, with a constant flow of people in and out, showing its busy traffic.
Just stepping through the entrance, a lively atmosphere greeted him.
"Big cucumbers, fresh cucumbers, just picked this morning, not fresh, no charge!"
"Purebred native hens, ancestral hens, our shop has been honestly run for twenty years, no deception!"
"Big brother, look at our bok choy, they're really juicy and tender, absolutely delicious!"
For a moment, Lou Yi thought he was back on Earth.
But seeing the long-haired, cloth-clad, robe-skirted, and turban-wearing vendors, along with the black-lettered white banners: Li Family Vegetable Stall, Wang Family Beef House... he was instantly brought back to reality.
Lou Yi quickly arrived at the 'Cai Family Chicken House' stall.
This was the largest individual chicken seller in the market, offering all kinds of chickens, yellow, black, white, roosters, old hens, eggs, and sliced chicken meat—everything was available.
The sounds of clucking were incessant, and the smell of chicken manure was overwhelming.
"Young man, looking to buy a chicken?" Despite Lou Yi's shabby appearance, the Cai vendor was still very enthusiastic.
"How much for a live chicken?"
"Ah, you've asked the right person! The chickens from the Cai Family are definitely the most tender and fairly priced in the entire market! Look at this yellow chicken, it weighs six pounds and only costs one tael and six silvers!"
'One tael and six silvers, which is 160 wen, equal to 27 wen per pound.' Lou Yi silently calculated in his heart.
"Do you offer slaughtering services?"
"All-inclusive!"
Lou Yi's gaze then shifted to a line of freshly plucked chickens hanging above the table, asking, "What about these butchered ones? Fresh?"
As he spoke, his hands didn't stop.
He checked them here and there, seemingly inspecting the quality of the chicken meat.
"All slaughtered today! The Cai Family's reputation, you can rest assured!" The vendor hurriedly replied.
However, after inspecting them, Lou Yi shook his head in disappointment and turned to leave.
"Hmph, broke fool, pretending to buy!" The vendor spat on the ground discontentedly.
He didn't know that Lou Yi was truly disappointed because the chicken bodies didn't provide him with any energy.
Next, he saw fish, ducks, rabbits, and pigs at the market, even a live sheep being slaughtered on the spot.
Unfortunately, the attribute panel remained unresponsive.
For convenience, Lou Yi had named this pale green transparent display that only he could see as the attribute panel.
'It seems like I might have to resort to finding dead bodies.' Lou Yi sighed.
Finding dead people isn't easy.
The easiest place to think of is the cemetery located in the wasteland at the easternmost part of Xinxiang.
Historically, the villagers preferred burying coffins at the doorstep.
But as more people died, that bit of land wasn't enough, so people from towns and villages targeted the wasteland to the east.
Perhaps, he'll have to become a grave robber.
But digging graves during the day is too conspicuous; being found out would definitely result in being beaten to death.
Going at night... might be even more dangerous.
This world is full of wild beasts and birds, not to mention tales of spirits and demons, especially active at night.
Some nights, villagers walking on the road were snatched up by tigers or leopards.
At night, every household would lock their doors; going out required great courage.
The cemetery was already eerie enough, and it was rumored that there had been zombie incidents there a couple of years ago.
Lou Yi's expression became somewhat conflicted.
Forget it, better try other methods first.
He first bought three pounds of old rice, spending about a dozen wen, leaving only a few coins in his pouch.
Quickly, he appeared at the entrance of a shop on the commercial street next to the market.
Its signboard had the two large black characters 'Woodworker', exuding a somber aura.
...