Faster than expected!
Lu Chang'sheng fired several arrows in a row, and every one hit the bullseye, making Zhao Hu, who was watching him, nearly choke on his wine.
"How are you so damn accurate!"
This wasn't the first time he watched Lu Chang'sheng practice archery, but before, getting one arrow in the bullseye out of two or three shots already counted as good. The rest usually just circled around the target.
Of course, this kind of skill was already very rare for the average villager.
But today, hitting three or four in a row—this was a first.
"Practice enough, and when you build up that experience, the feeling just clicks!" Lu Chang'sheng took a deep breath, let it out slow, and let the joy in his heart settle down.
"If you put that to learning martial arts, maybe you'd really be somebody!" Zhao Hu said.
"Maybe?"
"Heh, learning martial arts isn't as easy as you think. I heard you gotta be born with good Root Bone!" Zhao Hu laughed helplessly.
Back in the day, he'd thought about it too. Martial Artists might not be as respected as scholars, but if you really made it, they were nothing to sneeze at.
Problem is, it's even harder to become a Martial Artist than a scholar. He'd tried for three or four years, wore himself out, and finally had to give up.
So when it came to martial arts, he knew a thing or two.
"Root Bone? Wait—so this Root Bone stat I have on my panel, is it actually the talent for martial arts?"
Lu Chang'sheng suddenly had a bad feeling.
If that's the case, does that mean his Root Bone for martial arts is as bad as it gets?
"Mr. Zhao, do you know how to judge Root Bone?"
"No idea! Martial Artists all have their own little circles—regular folks can't just step in. But I heard sometimes you can spot martial talent in someone's appearance! Not sure if that's true, though." Zhao Hu said.
The wine in the jug was already gone.
Wang Heihou watched him tip it upside down, the last drops trickling into his mouth, and a flash of heartache crossed his face.
It was New Year's tonight, and everyone chipped in a bunch of copper coins for the holiday dinner—they even splurged on two jars of wine, one of which cost fifty, no, sixty copper coins.
Li Nangua was afraid the wine would spill as she poured it from the jar, so she used a ladle to fill up the jug they'd set aside.
Just that jug of wine could sell for twenty copper coins at the Traveler's Inn. The feast hadn't even started and Zhao Hu had already finished it off. How could he not feel the pinch?
"Hey kid, slow down on the wine," Zhao Hu said, sensing Wang Heihou's stare.
"Not a kid anymore! Couple years from now I'll be marrying a wife," Wang Heihou muttered.
But a smile snuck onto his face before he could hold it back.
His family still had an older brother about his age. With their situation, after his brother married, they'd have to wait a few years before sorting out a wife for him.
But now, it didn't bother him. He could earn his own money.
"When I go back with a couple taels of silver, won't any girl in the village be mine for the picking?"
As he thought about it, his eyes drifted over to Li Nangua nearby. In his mind, he imagined her as his wife, hands on her hips, glaring at him... Just the idea made him shiver and snap back to reality.
No way, no way, that temper's way too fierce. Not wife material for me—better leave her to Chang'sheng!
Niu Dazhuang was cooking nearby, glancing up at the harmonious scene now and again, a silly, good-natured smile spread on his face.
His mother's health was always poor, and his older brother worked the fields during the day, so cooking always fell on him. He'd gotten pretty handy at making dinner by now.
When night fell, the lamps of Black Mountain Prefecture lit up street by street, making the whole sky above seem alive with festive glow.
The group sat around a square table, savoring their New Year's meal with happy faces.
The mood soared, and Zhao Hu, cheeks flushed, couldn't help but get loud and chatty.
He started recounting the strangest things that had happened in their village, like the time he snuck out at night and bumped into a talking wolf.
Everyone tensed up, asking, How'd you get away?
Zhao Hu replied, "That wolf stood straight up and stared at me, but it didn't look like it wanted to eat me. It just said it'd seen a rainbow glow come down over the village, so it came to check it out. Then it told me my fate was special, and that I'd amount to something big someday!"
He threw back a drink, eyes full of longing. "That's what made me want to come to Black Mountain Prefecture—but—"
"What amounted to something big? I'm already thirty-six! In a few years, I ought t'start shopping for a coffin!"
"No way, Mr. Zhao! You gotta live to ninety-six at least!" Lu Chang'sheng teased.
He didn't pay much mind to Zhao Hu's 'Wolf Immortal' story.
Come on, who believes in demon fiends and ghosts?
From what he knew of this world, Zhao Hu was probably just embellishing for effect.
"Ninety-six? What am I, an immortal?" Zhao Hu laughed heartily.
"All right, out with it—what are your dreams, you four? Let's hear 'em!"
"I wanna earn a pile of money, marry a pretty wife, make all the village envy me!" Wang Heihou, a couple cups in, had gotten loose-lipped and blurted it out first.
"Shallow!" Zhao Hu grunted.
Wang Heihou shot back, "Yeah? What about you?"
"Me? Obviously, I want to be an official! Only by having real power can you have true dignity!" He clenched his cup, speaking as if something weighed heavy on him.
"Then my answer doesn't count—I, uh—" Wang Heihou didn't want Zhao Hu outdoing him, but for the life of him, he couldn't come up with a better dream.
Just as he was about to give up, a memory popped in his head and his eyes lit up. "I want to be one of those big shots! If I feel like yelling at someone, I just do it!"
He nearly said 'be a bandit', but then thought that might sound a little too out there, so he went with this instead.
Zhao Hu burst out laughing. "Still sounds like you want to be an official!"
"Whatever, say what you want!"
Wang Heihou shrugged, then turned to Lu Chang'sheng. "How about you, Chang'sheng?"
Suddenly, every ear perked up.
Out of them all, the one whose dream everyone wanted to hear most was definitely Lu Chang'sheng!
"Chang'sheng, I guess!" Lu Chang'sheng smiled.
If only I could really live forever!
After all, who says dreams are for achieving, right?
"Whoa—so you wanna be an immortal!" Zhao Hu and Wang Heihou laughed together.
"Nangua, how about you?"
"I..." Li Nangua suddenly ducked her head, mumbling so softly it was barely audible: "I... want to be Chang'sheng too!"
"Another kid corrupted by those storytellers! I'm telling you, all that forever-stuff is nonsense, you'd be better off dreaming of being the emperor!"
Lu Chang'sheng raised an eyebrow. "Quit drinking so much, you're all talking nonsense now!"
Not that the idea was too crazy—being a transmigrator, wanting to be emperor meant he still respected that seat enough.
Still, this wasn't the moment to bring that up.
At least tonight, with no Black Mountain Army patrolling outside, there was no risk. If someone overheard, they'd still be in hot water.
He didn't notice that when Li Nangua finished speaking, she snuck a peek at his profile. In the glow of distant lanterns, her cheeks had a dreamy look about them!
No one asked what Niu Dazhuang's dream was. After the laughter faded, Wang Heihou keeled over under the table.
He didn't want to knock anything over, so with no small effort, he rolled himself out of the way and plopped down beneath the table.
Zhao Hu called him a lightweight, laughing that he couldn't even hold this little wine—such a disgrace—then toppled over too.
One moment giggling, the next in tears.
"Wine doesn't get a man drunk, but men get themselves drunk!"
Lu Chang'sheng sighed, helpless, and, with the other two, helped the drunkards lie down to the side.
The night was still young. The three of them sat on the stone steps, gazing at the distant lights.
You could just barely hear the drifting sound of opera in the air.
"I heard the officials in the city invited some courtesans to sing tonight!"
Li Nangua murmured softly.
Most of the holiday groceries couldn't be found near the Traveler's Inn today, so they'd had to go into the city. She'd picked up a few tidbits along the way.
"What show are they singing?"
"'The Belle's Smile'."
"I don't get it," Lu Chang'sheng shook his head.
Even in his old life, he wasn't a fan of opera. Now—forget it.
Li Nangua pouted. During the day, she'd gone out of her way to ask an old woman about opera, so she already knew a bit of the story to 'The Belle's Smile'. She'd wanted to tell Lu Chang'sheng, but seeing his lack of interest, she swallowed the words back down.
Sitting a while like this feels pretty nice, too.
Still, there's always that little pinch of regret in one's heart.
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