Outside the door stood two officials. One held a ledger, the other a long whip. Tax collectors. There was no need to guess their purpose.
Chen Lei spoke with forced courtesy, "Honored Sirs, if you could grant me another half-month, I will certainly gather the tax silver!"
According to past years' regulations, the final deadline for tax payment should still be about twenty days away. With effort, scraping together three taels of silver shouldn't be impossible.
The tax official snorted derisively. "Barbarians harass our northern borders incessantly, while bandits run rampant in the south. The Great Sheng Dynasty requires your grateful contribution now. How can we wait so long?"
Chen Lei asked, "Then what is Your Honor's deadline?"
"Seven days!" The official held up three fingers. "Within seven days, anyone who fails to deliver the tax silver will be conscripted to Hezhou to dig canals!"
With that, the two petty officials turned and left, pounding on the door of the next tax-delinquent household like harbingers of doom, lashing out with their whips at any who showed poor attitude.
"Why is the tax collection so drastically accelerated?" "Likely due to the warfare."
Chen Lei's village, Yanbian, was already on the northern frontier of the Great Sheng Dynasty. Further north lay military garrisons and the Great Wall, beyond which roamed the barbarian tribes. Over the past decade, barbarian incursions had grown increasingly frequent. There had even been instances of small bands of barbarian cavalry breaching the border, pillaging entire villages before retreating unscathed. It was only three years ago, when the court dispatched a new elite force to garrison the area, that the situation stabilized somewhat—though minor skirmishes near the Great Wall never ceased.
The south was no more peaceful. Though not well-informed, Chen Lei knew of constant peasant uprisings there. While each was suppressed before long, new rebels always rose to take their place.
"Seven days!" "What good does such urgent pressure do? Can commoners conjure silver and grain from thin air?" As a modern man with basic historical knowledge, he recognized the signs: a dynasty in its twilight, an age of chaos approaching, where life for ordinary people would only grow harder.
"Brother Lei, what's wrong?" Qinglian's worried voice came from inside.
"It's nothing." Not wanting to burden her with unnecessary worry, Chen Lei feigned normalcy. As usual, he practiced archery, ate breakfast, then packed dry rations, shouldered his bow, and left.
Having landed at the bottom rung of this chaotic era, he had no choice but to play by its rules and find a way to survive. Gathering three taels of silver in seven days was no easy task. The pressure weighed on him.
He wasn't alone. Villagers everywhere were lamenting their fate. As he neared the village entrance, he spotted several familiar figures and frowned, intending to detour.
"Little Stone." Qi Xiong, leading two thugs, moved to intercept him. "Why are you avoiding me?"
Chen Lei could easily guess the man intended to exploit his desperation. He cut straight to the point. "Brother Qi, if this is about the same matter as last time, there's no need to continue."
"You heard the tax collectors. Fail to gather the silver, and you'll be dragged off to dig canals." Qi Xiong put on a sympathetic, 'good fellow' act. "No one assigned to that duty has ever been heard from again. Why not let your elder brother here take a loss? Give me the little lady you've got tucked away at home, and I'll pay your tax. How about it?"
"If I'm conscripted, I'll accept my bad luck. I won't trouble Brother Qi with it." Chen Lei's expression remained impassive as he finished speaking and moved to leave. Since achieving Initiation in archery, confident in his newfound strength, he spoke with more backbone. Still, there was no need for a direct confrontation yet. First, Qi Xiong commanded a gang of ruffians. Second, the man had a younger brother who practiced martial arts, reportedly quite formidable and not to be trifled with.
Qi Xiong didn't stop him, merely watching coldly as he walked away.
"Boss," one thug grumbled, "why bother offering silver? Why not just snatch the girl?"
"Fool!" Qi Xiong smacked the man on the back of the head. "Do you think the Great Sheng truly lacks laws?" Abducting commoners' daughters had happened often enough in the past, but since the new Liangzhou Governor-General took office, no one dared act so brazenly anymore.
"So what do we do?" the thug asked. "Didn't you say you needed that woman as a gift for Second Brother?"
"Impatient, are you? You think he can really scrape together three taels that quickly?" Qi Xiong snorted disdainfully. "When the time comes, he'll be hauled off to dig canals. Won't cost us a single coin!"
...
"Three taels of silver within seven days." "It seems I must bag significant game." "Once the tax matter is settled, I'll find a way to deal with that Qi fellow."
Upon reaching Tigerhead Mountain, the hour was still early. Many large animals were active at dusk. Unhurried, Chen Lei found a clearing to practice his archery. Drawing the bow now required no strain; it felt smooth and natural. Within forty paces, he never missed. Within fifty paces, he still hit the bullseye over eighty percent of the time.
The only issue was the toll on his arrows.
Snap!Another arrow struck the center of his makeshift target, only to break in two.
Chen Lei winced. A new arrow cost at least ten coppers! But arrows were consumables, and his were all old stock—wear and tear was normal.
[Skill: Archery (Initiated)]
[Progress: (128/200)]
[Effect: Capable of drawing a six-strength bow; infallible accuracy within forty paces.]
The panel appeared. "If I push hard tomorrow, I should advance to the next stage."
After eating some dry rations to fill his stomach, Chen Lei got to work. His senses were keen, missing no subtle trace. Without much difficulty, he found another rabbit near a thicket, guided by droppings. An arrow pierced it clean through without suspense, adding to his bag.
"Aren't there any larger prey?"
Naturally, Chen Lei wasn't satisfied. Yet, even with his Tracking & Stalking skill, he found no signs of large animals all afternoon. As the sun began to set, halfway up the mountain, he finally located a pheasant by a feather.
The arrow flew like a thunderclap! It shot through the pheasant's body, its momentum carrying the carcess to pin it against a nearby tree trunk.
"About four jin. Pheasant is delicious, its price second only to pork. This one should fetch around seventy coppers." "But it's still far from enough."
Chen Lei could now be certain: there were no large prey in the outer reaches of Tigerhead Mountain. With his Tracking & Stalking ability, he would have missed no clue. Finding none meant there truly were none.
[Tracking & Stalking (Initiated)]
[Progress: 101/200]
[Effect: Keen Observation, Lightfooted]
"Tracking & Stalking is also nearing the next stage." "Perhaps... I can try venturing into the deep mountains."
The deeper one went, the more game there was, but also the greater the danger. Only experienced hunters like Uncle Zhao from his village dared go there. Starting from the second ridge, wild boars, even tigers and black bears roamed. Many hunters died there every year. Previously, as a novice, Chen Lei had wisely avoided such risks. Now, it seemed he had no choice. But with his archery on the verge of advancement, it might not be impossible to try.
"I'll prepare properly when I return." "Tomorrow, I'll explore the second ridge!"