However, until his fingers touched the other's soft skin, the Attribute Panel remained unresponsive.
"Don't mess with me!"
Lou Yi was unwilling to give up and tried many more times, but the result was still the same.
If it weren't for the semi-transparent, pale green Attribute Panel which could be summoned at any time, he would have doubted the existence of his golden finger.
"It shouldn't be, didn't I gain energy from Cheng Chen's body?"
Lou Yi, unwilling to give up, was determined to figure out the conditions for his golden finger tonight.
To be cautious, he buried the pit again and continued digging graves.
The second grave revealed a yellow wooden coffin, unvarnished.
Since too much time had passed, the nails were loose, and Lou Yi easily lifted the coffin lid.
But in the next moment, a stench ten times worse than before assaulted his senses, leaving Lou Yi breathless.
The sight in front of him made his stomach churn even more.
Rotting black flesh, exposed white bones, the skin seemed to have melted, oozing liquid, with maggots writhing actively, showcasing the vitality of life…
Stomach churning, Lou Yi quickly moved aside to catch his breath.
He then held his breath and returned to the spot, extending his right hand downward.
The process need not be detailed, and the outcome again failed to satisfy Lou Yi.
He felt a bit dejected, questioning whether he had chosen the wrong direction.
The third grave had no coffin, only a straw mat.
Coffins were quite expensive, not every family could afford one.
In this era, not only joyful events required grand celebrations, but funerals could also bankrupt some families, and selling oneself to bury a father was often not just an exaggeration.
Opening the straw mat, the scene inside was just as dire as the previous one.
Lou Yi still gained nothing.
He refilled the grave, sat on it, and started pondering where the problem lay.
After a moment, his ears twitched, and looking ahead, he noticed two bright torches in the cemetery.
Lou Yi hurriedly grabbed a shovel and hid in the grass.
The night wind carried the conversation of the newcomers clearly to his ears.
"Are we really going to bury her just like this?" a man's voice said, filled with hesitation.
"Nonsense, if the news of her hanging herself spreads, the neighbors will say we're unfilial. How are we supposed to face people then?" The second voice was slightly shrill, obviously from a woman.
"But if others ask..." the man's voice still sounded hesitant.
"Just say we sent her back to her hometown in Guangzhou. Who would know? Hurry and bury her already. It's pitch dark out here, just get it over with," the woman urged.
Lou Yi listened quietly from the side, not moving a muscle.
Then came the sounds of digging, carrying, and burying soil.
Once confirmed that the two had left, Lou Yi went to the spot where they had been. By the faint moonlight, he easily found a new mound.
He took a deep breath and began digging the grave.
Under the grave was an old woman wrapped in a straw mat, wearing clothes full of holes, her body emaciated, her face dark, limbs stiff, obviously having died not long ago.
A red mark was clearly visible on her neck.
"It seems to be Granny Li from Tianfang Village. I heard she was often beaten and scolded by her daughter-in-law, deprived of food. Truly pitiful."
Lou Yi habitually reached out his hand.
Suddenly, a familiar line of small text appeared: 'Energy +1, absorb?'
"Damn! Amazing!" Lou Yi jumped up excitedly, nearly falling into the pit.
Energy was indeed related to the deceased; his guess was correct.
As for why the previous corpses didn't work, Lou Yi already had a rough guess.
A few more samples and he could confirm it.
After digging and burying four graves, his body was exhausted and his stomach growled. Lou Yi prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he thought for a moment, found a wide wooden stick, and stuck it in front of the grave, serving as a tombstone for Granny Li.
...
He came with trepidation, but on the way back, he was much less tense.
Now possessing the Attribute Panel and having a lead on the energy source, the future seemed full of hope, and Lou Yi was quite invigorated.
Upon reaching home, he first fetched water from the tank and carefully washed himself, removing any strange odors that might have clung to him.
Then, he lay on the bed, continuing to study the Attribute Panel.
Seeing the additional point in the energy column, his mouth involuntarily curved into a smile.
And behind Chopping Trees (not yet initiated 0/1), a faint plus sign appeared.
Lou Yi pressed it with his thoughts, turning the skill of Chopping Trees, like chopping firewood, into an initiated state.
[Name: Lou Yi]
[Age: 19/55]
[Realm: None]
[Skills: Chopping Trees (Beginner 0/3), Splitting Firewood (Beginner 0/3)]
[Energy: 0]
A memory of chopping trees suddenly emerged in his mind.
He transformed into a woodcutter, chopping trees day after day, without a single day of rest, for a full six years!
The speed of chopping trees became faster and faster, and his use of the axe grew increasingly agile and effortless.
At the same time, a warm current appeared within his body, traveling around pleasantly.
He didn't know how much time had passed before the warmth dissipated, and Lou Yi leapt up from the bed.
There were sizable bulges on his arm, the eight-pack abs on his stomach clearly visible, and even the fatigue from digging graves vanished without a trace.
His strength had increased again.
Lou Yi grabbed the edge of the water jar with one hand, and astonishingly lifted the jar that was seventy percent full!
Previously, even with both hands it was a struggle for him.
Without testing equipment, it's unclear how much his strength had specifically increased, but he estimated it was over fifty percent.
Among ordinary people, he was definitely at an above-average level.
And his two skills were just at the beginner level. What if he advanced further?
How strong would he become then?
Might the strength to lift a cauldron, renowned for ten miles around Xinxiang, not be just a dream?
Energy, I need more energy!
Lou Yi tossed and turned excitedly on the bed, eventually falling into a deep sleep.
'Knock knock knock!'
'Knock knock knock!'
A series of urgent knocks on the door woke Lou Yi.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Liu Zi."
Lou Yi opened the door to see a square-faced man with thick eyebrows and big eyes.
He said hurriedly, "Ah Yi, Landlord Jia has sent someone to drive away the big tiger, the small mountain is safe now, we can go back to work!"
With that, he turned and left.
"Thanks, Brother Liu, won't you have a drink?" Lou Yi tried to make him stay.
"No, I still have to inform others."
Lou Yi stood there, pondering for a moment, then decided to return to the small mountain to chop trees, even though he wasn't sure if Landlord Jia really drove the tiger away.
Why? Because of poverty.
As the saying goes, oppressive rule is fiercer than tigers, and what's oppressive about rule is the silver, after all.
Even with the awakening of the Attribute Panel, how to fill his stomach remained a major issue.
After finishing breakfast, Lou Yi, carrying his axe, headed to the small mountain and found that only a little more than half of the usual people had come; it seemed not everyone was unafraid of death.
"If you don't come tomorrow, you needn't come at all!" Yang the Fat, the steward responsible for the small mountain in the Jia Family, said coldly.
His eyes were small, and he was overweight, wearing clean clothes, full of spirit, a stark contrast to the thin, dark woodcutters.
His usual duties included checking the number of trees chopped and preventing anyone from stealing wood.
According to David's law, Landlord Jia and the government had bought this mountain, so all its yields should belong to him personally.
Whether it be timber or prey caught, taking them down the mountain privately was forbidden.
Anyone caught would have their hands broken.
Of course, bringing back some twigs or wild vegetables was overlooked, as long as it wasn't excessive.
'Crack!'
'Crack!'
'Crack!'
The sounds of chopping echoed throughout the forest, and Lou Yi returned to the familiar rhythm.
There's a technique to chopping trees, you can't just aimlessly chop one spot.
The most scientific method involves one diagonal and one straight direction, forming an angle and preventing the axe from getting stuck.
Now that Lou Yi had begun mastering tree chopping, the benefits were a greatly enhanced accuracy rate, avoiding crooked or misaimed chops.
And the grasp of rhythm—when to exert force and when to save energy—was full of nuances.
Thus, his tree chopping speed had increased significantly compared to before.
With some time left before dusk, Lou Yi had already chopped down six trees, nearly doubling his previous performance!
'Great, great, great, I can earn twenty coins today!'
'If every day is like this, I could buy more food and never go hungry again. It's like solving the eternal biggest problem!' Lou Yi mused, delighted.
...