I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 8: Counterattack

Before getting close to the blacksmith Cui's house, I could hear the sound of iron hammering in the distance, and in front of the gate of the blacksmith Cui's house were two donkey carts tied.

"Hey, is there a guest coming to Blacksmith Cui's house?"

Just as Zhang Chen was looking at the donkey cart, the door of Wang Wu's house suddenly opened, and five people dressed as old farmers walked out of Wang Wu's house with straw in their arms. Zhang Chen saw the five old farmers, and the old farmers also saw Zhang Chen. In particular, when one of them saw Zhang Chen staring at the donkey cart, he slowly put his hand into the straw, but was held down by an older farmer with wrinkles on his face. He lowered his voice and said, "Don't be nervous, this is the hunter in our village. I have seen him before."

Zhang Chen, an older farmer, had seen him before. He was the farmer who had exchanged the prey from him for five hundred coins last time.

Zhang Chen's pupils shrank when he saw this scene: "Where did Wang Wu get the straw? This is clearly used to deceive people! The straw may contain weapons. These people have a complicated background!"

Especially when Zhang Chen saw one of them put his hand into the straw, he couldn't help but tense up, with countless thoughts flashing through his mind: "Run? You can run away, but you can't run away from the temple. My little sister is still here! If these people ask around, they will definitely be able to track me and my little sister down."

As for the iron knife in his backpack, now that the two sides were face to face, he was afraid that he would not have time to take it out before being chopped into meat paste.

"Unless you run out and report to the police immediately, I'm afraid Cui the blacksmith in the house won't survive and will be killed to silence him." Zhang Chen had a thousand thoughts in his mind. Just when he didn't know what to do, the old farmer-like man looked at Zhang Chen and asked, "Young man, are you a hunter in the mountains?"

"Yes, I bought a shovel on credit from Cui the blacksmith some time ago, so I went hunting to buy some wild animals to pay off the debt!" Zhang Chen had a relaxed expression on his face, as if he had no idea how dangerous the matter was.

The old farmer's eyes fell on the piglet in Zhang Chen's hand: "This is a good thing, do you want to sell this piglet?"

"Of course I'm selling it. If you give me a reasonable price, you can take the piglet." Zhang Chen shook the musk deer in his hand.

"How much do you want?" The old farmer-looking man looked at Zhang Chen.

"When this piglet grows up, it can produce at least three hundred kilograms of meat. I think three taels of silver from you is not too expensive, right?" Zhang Chen said with a smile.

"It's not expensive, of course it's not expensive! I want this piglet and the rest of the prey. How about I give you four taels of silver for them all?" The old farmer's eyes swept over the musk deer and pheasants hanging on Zhang Chen's shoulders.

"Uncle, you are very generous." Zhang Chen nodded with a smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, the old farmer took out four taels of silver from his sleeve, counted them and handed them to Zhang Chen, who then handed over the musk deer: "The money and goods are settled."

"If you hunt a slightly larger animal like musk deer in the future, just come here to find Cui the blacksmith and ask him to take it for me. I won't refuse anyone." The old farmer looked at the prey with a smile.

It is really not easy to eat meat these days, especially catching piglets, which can be raised to grow into a whole litter.

The hunter drove the donkey cart away slowly, and Zhang Chen, who was standing in front of Cui the blacksmith's house, was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He stared at the carriage disappearing into the night, his body trembling constantly: "I am only one step away from being killed! I am really only one step away from being killed! I must become stronger and find new skills as soon as possible. I always feel that this small village will be implicated in the future."

"I must make gunpowder as soon as possible, otherwise I will have no ability to protect myself against these guys. There is no sense of security in this era." Zhang Chen sighed, and became more determined to make gunpowder.

Now that he had lost his prey, Zhang Chen did not need to go to Cui the blacksmith's house. Listening to the clanging sounds in Cui the blacksmith's house, Zhang Chen knew very well that Cui the blacksmith had already boarded the pirate ship and had no chance to retreat, while he had just made contact and could completely escape unscathed.

"In the future, I'll have less contact with Cui the blacksmith." Zhang Chen said to himself.

This time Zhang Chen returned home empty-handed. Fortunately, he had hunted a lot of prey in these days, and the vixen next door had not run out of food yet, so she would not cause trouble for him for the time being.

Meanwhile, the vixen next door was sitting in front of the window, looking at Zhang Chen who had returned safely, with a pair of puzzled eyes: "How strange! Why didn't this kid bring back any prey today? Could it be that this fool has learned to hide his prey? I don't know how far this 'earth rat' has dug, and whether he has found the entrance to the tomb."

The vixen stared at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes. Seeing Zhang Chen covered in dust, her heart was full of doubts.

At this time, Zhang Chen returned home, boiled water and washed up, thinking about how to learn to read: "There is only one person nearby who can read and write, and that is Zhang Chen's current teacher, known as Mr. Wuliu. According to rumors in the village, this person is well-versed in ancient and modern times and has real knowledge. After Zhang Chen became his disciple, he was able to decipher all kinds of ancient books, which obviously shows that he has real skills. And since Zhang Chen can become his disciple, I should have no problem either!"

Countless thoughts were running through Zhang Chen's mind. He didn't know how Zhang Chen became his disciple, but if that nerd Zhang Chen could become his disciple, there was no reason why he couldn't too.

Then Zhang Chen began to think about the issue of tuition fees for becoming an apprentice. He now had five taels of silver in his hand, plus the five taels of silver he had saved before, he could make up ten taels. If he also went to the mountains to hunt some pheasants and rabbits as a gift for becoming an apprentice, it should be enough by then.

Zhang Chen was thinking about something. After washing up and eating barbecue, he lay on the bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Zhang Chen went into the mountain to check the traps. To his surprise, two wild ducks, a pheasant and a swan were caught in the traps. Looking at the struggling swan in the trap, Zhang Chen was surprised. He didn't expect that he was so lucky. It seemed that the swan colony nearby had not left yet.

Zhang Chen tied up the prey carefully. He did not dare to go home, for fear that the vixen would carry the prey away directly. So he simply took the prey directly to Mr. Wuliu's house.

Mr. Wuliu does not live in the village, but in a thatched cottage in the mountains.

From a distance, you can see the beautiful scenery of clear springs, waterfalls and flowing water in the mountains. There is a thatched cottage not far from the waterfall. There are more than a dozen strong men with swords on their waists. They are busy in the mountains and forests, cooking or drying books.

This was Zhang Chen's first visit to Mr. Wuliu. Looking at the dozen burly servants with swords on their waists from afar, Zhang Chen's pupils shrank, especially when he saw the tendons that could not be covered under the men's clothes. He was even more puzzled: "Are these servants? Are these scholars? No wonder Mr. Wuliu dared to live in the mountains. It turns out he has guards."

Just as Zhang Chen was slandering in his heart, a man dressed as a servant noticed his whereabouts and shouted coldly, "Who's there?" As he spoke, he stroked the hilt of the sword at his waist and approached Zhang Chen with caution. At this time, the servants around heard the noise and stopped their actions. Their hands fell on the swords at their waists, and they looked at Zhang Chen with covetous eyes. Zhang Chen was so frightened that he quickly raised the swan in his hand:
"I am a villager from the mountain, and I come to seek Master Wuliu's apprenticeship!" "Apprenticeship?" The man looked Zhang Chen up and down for a while, and saw that he was dressed like a farmer, especially his weather-beaten face, which could not be deceived. He could not help but mock him: "What a whimsical person, a poor boy like you is worthy of being our master's apprentice, leave here quickly, so as not to pollute this quiet place."

While trying to drive them away, he swung his sword and hit Zhang Chen with the back of the sword. Facing such a large and powerful group of people, Zhang Chen did not dare to argue and could only retreat silently.

"stop!"

At this moment, a female voice was heard from the thatched cottage, and a girl in white clothes walked out of the cottage holding a scripture in her hand, and began to scold the situation on the scene.

The girl was dressed in white and looked like a fairy. Her facial features were exquisite and beautiful. Even the natural scenery was eclipsed. When the men saw the girl, they all bowed and did not dare to continue to act rashly. Zhang Chen looked at the girl who looked like a fairy and was stunned: "Could this person be Mr. Wuliu?"

"My name is Zhang Chen. Nice to meet you, sir. Please accept me as your disciple and teach me knowledge." Zhang Chen quickly knelt on the ground and presented the pair of swans in his hands.

The girl's eyes swept across Zhang Chen, and then set her sights on the pair of swans, with a hint of surprise in her eyes: "They are rare, even among the princes and nobles, few can taste them. You are thoughtful of using them as a gift."

"As long as you like it, sir." Zhang Chen said quickly.

The girl shook her head: "I'm not a sir, you've got the wrong person."

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this, and his face immediately turned red. He quickly got up from the ground, realizing that he had made a mistake: "I haven't asked for the lady's name yet."

The girl looked at Zhang Chen's embarrassed face and said with a smile: "My name is Zhu Qingyan, and I am the master's disciple. It's a pity that you came at the wrong time. The master has gone on a long journey and it will take at least half a year for him to come back. I'm afraid you can't keep your pair of swans until then. I will pay fifty taels of silver to buy your swans to taste them and save them from dying."

Zhang Chen felt disappointed when he heard this, but he also knew that fifty taels of silver was definitely a high price. Although his pair of swans were rare, they could not be sold for more than twenty taels of silver.

"Just as the young lady said." Zhang Chen said quickly.

The girl was quite straightforward. She turned back to the thatched cottage, took out fifty taels of silver and handed it to Zhang Chen, then told the man beside her to take the swan away.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Chen said goodbye and left. The girl looked at Zhang Chen's back, shook her head gently, and without saying anything more, turned around and walked into the house.

Zhang Chen walked down the mountain, frowning, "What should I do? The master is away on a long journey, how can I decipher the words on the stone tablet?"

Zhang Chen's mind was full of thoughts, and for a moment his brows were frowned. While he was thinking, he suddenly saw a flash of white in the distance. The white-haired fox was squatting on a small hill and looking at him with a playful face.

Zhang Chen looked at the vixen and suddenly an idea came to his mind: "I have an idea!"

"The fox spirit often moves things from my house. If I accidentally send the rubbing to the fox spirit, and the fox spirit shows it to Zhang Chen, and Zhang Chen reads it to the fox spirit, then I will be able to know the content of the article." Zhang Chen secretly praised himself in his heart: "I am really a little genius."

"Of course there is another problem, that is, the ancient tomb is very likely to be discovered by a fox spirit." Zhang Chen had a flash of thought in his mind: "However, there are so many experience points in the ancient tomb, there must be something strange. The fox spirit monitors me every day, I might as well use the fox spirit to explore the details of the ancient tomb. If there is something strange in the ancient tomb, then the fox spirit and the weirdness in the ancient tomb will fight each other, and I can also take the opportunity to make a profit. If there is nothing strange in the ancient tomb, the worst that can happen is that all the property will be given to the fox spirit. With the fox spirit staring at me all day, I can't keep the property even if I get it. The most important thing for me is to decipher the text on the stone tablet. Maybe it is very likely to obtain a new skill. At that time, I will find a way to restrain the fox spirit. This is the most important thing."

"Let's do it!" Zhang Chen made up his mind, then he glanced across the bushes and saw that the vixen had disappeared.

"Ink is a rare commodity, and it is only sold in the city. That vixen is always watching me, and I'm afraid I won't have a chance to leave the village." Zhang Chen was troubled, but soon came up with an idea and set his eyes on the musk deer beside him: "Maybe I can use blood to replace ink."

As for the white paper, although it is precious, it is not that precious. Zhang Chen has some at home. The white paper was left by Zhang Chen's father when he was young. Unfortunately...

When Zhang Chen returned home, he saw the vixen squatting in the yard looking at him. Zhang Chen ignored the vixen and hung the prey directly on the wall. He didn't have to wait long before the pheasant on the wall disappeared. The vixen was now acting more and more arrogantly, half-covering and half-openly.

Zhang Chen ignored her and just hid the silver in front of his chest. Now that he was protected by the golden light, he was not afraid of the fox spirit stealing his silver.

Zhang Chen took out the white paper that his father had brought from the box under the bed, carefully removed the dust from it, then rolled it up and stuffed it into the backpack.

In his memory, his father was a very elegant man, who always had a gentle smile on his face. Unfortunately, he was a short-lived man. Not long after he came here, he married the widow and died.

Zhang Chen took the backpack and went up the mountain again, and then began to hunt traps and pick white hyacinth.

If you want to make a rubbing of the inscription on the stele, the most important thing is Bletilla striata. Mash the Bletilla striata into a paste, and then apply the juice on the stele before you can complete the rubbing.

But Zhang Chen searched for half a day but couldn't find the white hyacinth.

"There is no Bletilla striata in this mountain." Zhang Chen frowned. He didn't expect that his plan of making rubbings would fail just at the beginning.

"How about just using blood instead?" Zhang Chen thought for a long time but couldn't find a substitute, so he could only focus on animal blood.

"We can give it a try." With an idea in mind, Zhang Chen picked up the pheasant and walked towards the cave with his equipment.

ps: Do you have recommendation votes, brothers?
(End of this chapter)