"...The fourth move, Sweeping Thousand Armies—no enemy can escape!"
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Just as Li Daniu had said, this set of Sword Skill was simple, yet very practical.
Each move had several variations. For example, the move Sweeping Thousand Armies involved a sweep to the left, a sweep to the right, and a continuous sweep left and right. It was all about being fast and fierce.
Tang Wen watched every movement intently.
When Li Daniu finished a full run-through, Tang Wen clapped and praised him, "Brother Li, you're too modest! With a Sword Skill set like this, even if seven, eight, or even ten of those Scavengers from outside attacked at once, they wouldn't be able to get near you!"
"Heh heh, I'm not that good. Now, if I put on armor, maybe."
Li Daniu felt a little embarrassed by the praise, and he found Tang Wen even more agreeable. 'This little brother not only knows how to hunt birds and game, but he's also such a smooth talker!'
"Come, Xiaotang, I'll teach you the first move."
One taught and one practiced, both completely absorbed in the task.
Soon, the three repetitions of teaching were done. Tang Wen began practicing from memory while Li Daniu stood by, correcting his movements and filling in the gaps.
After several practice runs, he was sweating all over, but no new Skill had appeared on his Experience Panel.
Tang Wen wasn't worried. Back when he was in school, it took him two whole weeks just to learn the "Eagle Takes Flight" routine.
Although this Sword Skill was simple, he had no foundation, so learning it wasn't that simple for him.
Three days passed. Tang Wen could now perform the entire set of Sword Skill from start to finish without any reminders from Li Daniu.
[Skill: Wind-breaking Blade, Beginner (1/500)]
The Skill had appeared. He had reached the beginner level of the Sword Skill.
"Not bad at all. Kid, be honest with me, you've been eating plenty of meat, haven't you?"
Li Daniu might look simple, but he wasn't simple-minded.
It was the beginning of a cold winter. Who in the camp wasn't huddled at home, never even stepping outside, terrified their grain wouldn't last until spring?
Apart from the Guards, was there anyone else like Tang Wen, who engaged in Sword Practice every day, and so intensely at that?
He himself didn't even practice every day.
"Inevitably, there are birds that don't sell, so I eat a few myself."
"You little..."
By the seventh day of Sword Practice, Tang Wen had given Li Daniu a total of two pheasants and over thirty Red-beaked Sparrows.
In return, he had brought home two daggers and a long blade.
He gave one dagger to Tangtang for self-defense.
The other he kept with him to use as a Flying Blade.
"Open up! Rent's due!"
In the blink of an eye, the end of the month had arrived.
"Brother Li, it's all ready. I was just waiting for you. And thank you for your leniency last month." Tang Wen was holding a sack of Maize. It contained 30 jin of grain, and he planned to pay for three months.
"Well, kid, you look like you're doing well. You've gotten taller and stronger."
"Thanks to you. This is three months' worth of Maize."
"Good!"
A Guard took the sack of Maize and got busy.
Brother Li glanced at the mud-caked hut before them and said casually, "This place is too close to the camp entrance. If you have extra grain, you should ask around and see if you can trade it for a place deeper inside. Let someone else have this little hut."
"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Li." Tang Wen was a little confused.
"Boss, it's 30 jin of Maize, not a bit less," a Guard reported.
Brother Li took something out. "Here, take this token."
Tang Wen took it. It was an Iron Token with the character for "Winter" on it.
He grabbed Tang Wen's wrist, stamped it with a red seal, and left with a parting shot: "End of every month, show the token to get a new stamp." Then he led his men to the next house.
"Sis, besides being cold and hungry, is there anything special about winter here?"
Tangtang wasn't sure either. "I'll ask around today."
"Okay."
In the evening, Tang Wen returned from hunting and went to the blacksmith's shop to deliver his game.
"Brother Li, today—" His words cut off abruptly. "Ah, you have a customer."
A strange man was selecting a weapon.
Hearing the noise, the man turned to size him up. When he saw Tang Wen's youthful face, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Tang Wen also got a clear look at him: a long, thin face, triangular eyes, and a hooked nose. He was wearing several layers of linen clothes, all of different styles and sizes.
"Brother, take the firewood to the backyard first." Li Daniu shot Tang Wen a look, then turned to the customer and said, "He's a brother of mine."
"Oh."
The man with the triangular eyes flashed a set of yellow teeth and gave Tang Wen's departing back a long, deep look.
First move, a fierce frontal slash—Wind-breaking Blade.
Tang Wen practiced the Sword Skill set twice in the backyard before Li Daniu came in carrying a few fish.
"Brother, that guy just now is bad news. Be careful if you run into him."
As he spoke, he lifted the fish in his hand and shook them.
Tang Wen could clearly see that of the five fish, three had teeth marks on them.
It reminded him of his first day after crossing over, when he saw Scavengers fight to the death over a single fish.
"Okay," he agreed, then added, "Brother Li, you have a wide network. Could you help me keep an eye out for any vacant places deeper inside the camp?"
Li Daqiang's smile vanished. He frowned and asked, "What? Brother Tang, you're still living on the outskirts of the camp?"
"Yeah!" Tang Wen nodded. 'It's not just the outskirts,' he thought, 'it's the absolute edge.'
"You need to move, and quickly. Once it's deep winter and the Mutated Beasts attack the camp, it'll be too late."
"What do you mean? Please enlighten me, Brother Li."
Li Daqiang started cleaning the fish as he explained, "The Mutated Beasts are ferocious! They're certain to start eating people in the winter. All those Scavengers outside, except for the ones who hide, will run toward our camp. The Mutated Beasts follow them. When the Guards engage, the beasts just throw themselves at the walls. If a strong one shows up, even the Guards can't stop it. It's not uncommon for a few to slip through. It happens every year..."
Tang Wen's expression grew grim.
The Mutated Beasts that slipped in would first prey on the people living at the edge of the camp!
Then, either a master from the Inner City would come out to kill them, or the Mutated Beasts would leave on their own after eating their fill.
'Of course. In this world, it never just gets bad; it always gets worse.'
Tang Wen, who had originally planned to just hole up in his hut for the winter, went home and told his sister. The two of them stayed up all night discussing what to do.
Move. They had to move.
But moving required capital.
Some families that didn't have enough grain for the winter might be willing to trade houses if offered enough food. After all, living on the outskirts wasn't an automatic death sentence.
As long as you hid well, you could still survive. For example, by digging a hole and sleeping underground.
Compared to giving their Maize to someone else, Tangtang would rather dig a hole and sleep in it.
Tang Wen disagreed. What if the Mutated Beast that showed up happened to be good at burrowing?
Besides, against a Mutated Beast, their hut's Defense Power... you couldn't say it had zero, but you could say it was utterly undefended.
And in the dead of winter, even if they weren't hurt, if the house got knocked down, rebuilding it would be a massive undertaking.
Over the next few days, Tangtang spent her time reinforcing the hut with wooden stakes and hemp rope, and digging a pit inside with a shovel.
Every day, Tang Wen would leave the camp with a jin of roasted Maize, and his harvests were substantial.
Spreading a large amount of Maize would always attract pheasants, and at the same time, he would bag at least thirty or more Red-beaked Sparrows.
Tang Wen had Tangtang clean the pheasants and store them for the time being.
The weather was cold enough that the chicken meat would keep.
The Red-beaked Sparrows were taken to various grain shops to be traded for grain. As the weather grew colder, Tang Wen was forced to break his rule of not visiting the same grain shop within three days.
Almost every day, he had to visit several different grain shops to trade for grain.
Several days passed, but there was still no news from Li Daniu.
Tang Wen took two cleaned pheasants and went to the Guard Battalion.
"Kid, who are you looking for?"
"Brother Li, I'm looking for Brother Li. Could you please let him know? I'm here to deliver something."
"Wait here."
"Okay, okay..."