Wei Kingdom, Wangjiang County, Tai City.
A Hundred Feet Mountain more than thirty miles from the main city.
Weeds everywhere, trees providing shade, fragmented orange sunlight filtering through a dense canopy of leaves, a gentle breeze rustling with a 'swooshing' sound.
A thirty-centimeter-long, brightly green-backed multi-segmented insect crawled slowly through the grass.
Its head bore two ghastly white eyes, occupying most of its head. Combined with its astonishingly arched mouth, it looked as if it were making a grimace.
It seemed quite eerie.
'Snap!'
A straw sandal fell from the sky.
The centipede-like creature's body was crushed into a puddle of red and green flesh.
Lou Yi expressionlessly withdrew his foot, continuing to focus on the large gray-white tree that one person couldn't encircle, the notch in it reaching only his knee.
With his hands gripping the axe handle, he bent over, turned sideways, and skillfully struck the notch with force.
'Crack!'
The tree's notch deepened slightly.
Sweat had long soaked his hemp clothing, his hands felt as heavy as if filled with lead, his waist was almost stiff and numb, and his eyelids drooped as if he could fall asleep at any moment.
Yet Lou Yi continued his mechanical tree-chopping motion, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
This was the third tree he had cut down today.
Only by fully chopping it down could he earn the guaranteed income of at least ten wen.
One tree for three wen, three trees for ten wen.
But failing to cut down three trees meant not a single wen could be earned.
This was the rule set by the mountain's owner, Landlord Jia.
It was nearing dusk, and once the sun completely set, the forest at night was often prowled by wild beasts, so no one dared to linger.
Therefore, Lou Yi had to race against time!
Circling the tree, he chopped diagonally, horizontally, continuously expanding the notch in two directions.
When the notch reached a certain depth, Lou Yi looked around and shouted, "Watch out, I'm about to push it!"
Around him, many plainly dressed woodcutters were visible to the naked eye.
Some, like Lou Yi, were diligently chopping trees, racing against time, while others sat resting on stumps, having clearly completed their minimal tasks.
Among these people, from those with half-gray hair to those with baby fuzz on their faces, hearing Lou Yi's warning, stopped what they were doing, focusing their gaze on him.
In fact, following the initial chopping and directional expansion of the notch, Lou Yi was already clear about the tree's falling direction, and the warning was a mere precaution.
With a forceful push,
the tree fell with a 'boom' towards an empty spot, crushing a swath of weeds.
'Phew... ten wen in hand, finally able to rest.'
Lou Yi sat heavily on a nearby stump, wiping his sweat with the back of his hand, picked up a shriveled gray water pouch from the ground, and drank a few gulps.
'Ugh... my back.' Lou Yi grimaced, bracing his back with his hand, feeling a sense of bewilderment.
At this moment, he looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, about 1.7 meters tall, with dark skin, a thin build, wearing a straw hat and a patched hemp garment.
He had been in this world for two and a half years, and nearly two years as a woodcutter, and Lou Yi couldn't see where the road ahead led.
Currently, the country he was in was named Wei Kingdom. According to his memory, it did not belong to any dynasty recorded in historical texts.
The Wei Empire was not a century old since its founding, with the reigning emperor diligently governing, reducing taxes and labor, making the nation strong and prosperous.
Anyone with even one acre of eight-tenths of land could barely make ends meet and wouldn't come to this mountain full of poisonous insects and beasts, risking danger at every turn, to chop trees.
Unfortunately, Lou Yi was not among them.
His father in his previous incarnation was a well-known scholar within a ten-mile radius. To gather funds for his exams, he sold all their land, only to drown on the road in an unfortunate accident.
Upon hearing the news, his mother took to her bed and soon passed away.
When Lou Yi first arrived in this world, his parents were deceased, without land or money, leaving him thoroughly impoverished.
The harsh job of tree-chopping was something he got thanks to the thin face he retained through his father's past reputation.
By selling his labor for ten wen a day, along with occasional support from friends, Lou Yi managed to muddle through until now.
In this era, the scale of industries was low, and even selling labor was not easy. The so-called difficulties of employment in his previous life paled in comparison to the current situation.
Despite being drenched in sweat,
Lou Yi tightened his hemp clothes and straw hat, fearing a sudden attack from poisonous insects.
In his ears, the voices of other woodcutters chatting:
"A band of evil bandits suddenly appeared on Sunset Mountain, slaughtering several villages. Better steer clear from there..."
"Why aren't the soldiers going to suppress them? Aren't Man Slayer and Iron Hand quite daunting..."
"They say there might be something dirty in Liuhe Village's Land God Temple; several people went crazy after offering incense..."
"The third son of Butcher Qi from Erhe Village is said to be extraordinarily talented and has been taken in by the city's Martial Arts Hall. He might become a martial artist with boundless prospects."
Hearing this, Lou Yi perked up slightly.
Not only because Butcher Qi was his current neighbor, but the words 'martial artist' deeply stirred his spirit.
In this era, aspiring to success meant choosing between two paths: literature or martial arts.
Studying literature, Lou Yi knew he did not possess the talent of his late father. Moreover, the imperial examination pass rate of Wei Kingdom was as difficult as it was in the ancient times of his previous life.
Learning martial arts to achieve greatness is somewhat easier.
But the threshold is higher; just the enrollment fee for a Martial Arts Hall is something an ordinary person may find unattainable in their lifetime, the saying goes, "poor in writing, rich in martial arts."
Of course, the rewards after mastering it are quite substantial.
Whether joining the City Lord's Mansion or the Inspection Bureau, or even overseeing the Big Commerce Association, or establishing one's own business, none of these are difficult.
This world is similar to ancient times in the last life, but much more dangerous.
Not only are there large numbers of fierce beasts and birds of prey, but tales of wild beasts becoming spirits and haunted houses seem not to be just legends.
The martial artists who can combat these creatures naturally hold an especially high status.
"Ah Yi, come to my house for porridge tonight, okay?" A middle-aged man's voice suddenly interrupted Lou Yi's thoughts.
Looking up, he saw the honest black face of a man.
Cheng Chen from the neighboring village, having been grateful for the kindness shown to him by his deceased scholar father in his youth, has been supporting Lou Yi for the past two years.
He is strong enough to chop down five trees a day, ranking among the top woodcutters, and his wife is skilled in female crafts, so his household is better off than Lou Yi's.
If he hadn't called Lou Yi over to his house for porridge every couple of days, Lou Yi might not even have the strength to chop trees due to hunger by now.
In such a vicious cycle, fearing starvation, one might have to beg, with uncertain survival.
Calling him half a lifesaver is no exaggeration.
Lou Yi wanted to refuse.
He opened his mouth, but the 'gurgle' coming from his belly stopped him from uttering a word.
Cheng Chen, with a simple smile, patted his shoulder and turned to leave.
At this moment, most people had completed the minimum task of chopping three trees, chatting while waiting for the Jia Family steward to come for inspection.
"Roar!"
At this moment, a roar filled with menace suddenly came from above.
Lou Yi felt a tingling on his scalp, instinctual fear engraved in his genes frantically urging him: Run!
He didn't hesitate and turned to run.
"It's a tiger, run!"
"How can a tiger appear on this small mountain!"
Cries and screams erupted from the crowd.
Lou Yi's blood surged as he charged forward relentlessly.
The thicket and underbrush he usually dared not enter seemed to form a natural barrier protecting him now.
"Roar!"
The roar of the tiger still felt close in his ears.
In panic, Lou Yi scrambled up a tree, climbing quickly.
Hidden within the layers of leaves, he finally felt a fragile sense of safety.
Though he knew tigers could climb, there was no room for more thoughts now.
His entire body clung to the tree like a gecko, his heart pounding fiercely.
"Ah!"
A scream echoed, and inexplicably, Lou Yi felt a brief relief.
However, his heart immediately tightened, wait, why did that voice sound familiar?
Not knowing how much time had passed, with his limbs going numb, Lou Yi still clung to the tree, not daring to move.
"Everyone, where are you? The tiger is gone, come out now!"
Hearing the calls of the Jia Family steward, Lou Yi finally dared to slide down the tree with difficulty.
Only then did the pain throughout his body come to him; Lou Yi found his clothes had numerous holes, and several places on his skin had been scraped and were bleeding.
But compared to the shocking scene before him, these were nothing.
A bloody, ragged body lay there, its insides completely gone, with hardly a piece of intact flesh to be found; around it were bones, skin, meat fragments, and blood splatters.
Only a severed, bloodstained head remained intact, eyes wide open, full of terror.
It was Cheng Chen...
Lou Yi felt a blockage in his chest, remembering how Cheng Chen had just invited him for porridge, tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes.
People around were petrified, not daring to go forward.
Lou Yi steeled his heart, grabbed a handful of grass to cover Cheng Chen's remains.
"Alas..." Two people from Cheng Chen's village also sighed and did the same thing.
However, as Lou Yi's hand approached Cheng Chen's corpse, a line of semi-transparent text appeared suddenly before his eyes: 'Energy +1, absorb it?'
"Yes..." Lou Yi subconsciously answered in his mind.
Suddenly, a faint green screen unfolded before his eyes:
[Name: Lou Yi]
[Age: 19/55]
[Realm: None]
[Skills: Chopping Trees (Uninitiated 0/1), Splitting Firewood (Uninitiated 0/1)]
[Energy: 1]
...