But inexplicably felt a burst of comfort.
Not sure how much time passed, when Lou Yi opened his eyes, he found a layer of faint black oil on his body, emitting a kind of addictive stench.
He opened the door, fetched water to bathe at the entrance.
The Qi Family's wall just happened to serve as a cover at this moment.
After washing clean, Lou Yi felt that even the color of his skin appeared brighter than before.
Pressing his skin with his fingers, it was noticeably more elastic and resilient.
Although the lines of muscle on his body had contracted somewhat.
But Lou Yi could be sure that his strength had increased again, he just wasn't certain how many times that of an ordinary person as there was no reference.
Four times, five times?
But his actual combat power had increased too much.
Previously, it was just brute strength, fighting relied fully on recklessness.
Now he knew Axe Skill, his technique far surpassed ordinary people. Probably, he could handle ten or twenty people with no issue?
After all, back in school, someone in his class who knew Sanda was able to take on five or six people alone.
Lou Yi was happily thinking when a hunger more intense than he'd ever felt washed over him.
He swayed in place and almost fell to the ground.
'Next time before a breakthrough, I need to eat more!'
Lou Yi hurried to the stove to grab two baked cakes and devoured them ravenously.
Then he also made a large bowl of rice, mixing in wild vegetables and shredded meat, and made a dish of rice enough for four or five people.
After finishing it off, his stomach felt slightly more filled.
'At this rate, I really am becoming a glutton.' Lou Yi thought helplessly, 'I need to find a way to get some meat, just buying it with my current savings won't cut it.'
...
In the Wei Kingdom, any mountain, forest, or water source of considerable size almost always had an owner.
Just like the small mountain belonging to Landlord Jia.
These landlords and powerful figures paid sufficient silver coins annually to the court, allowing them to claim entire mountains or forests.
Therefore, it was not only prohibited to chop trees from the mountains privately, but any game hunted would also belong to the owner of the mountains and forests.
Unless you paid the owner sufficient silver coins. But if you encountered someone unreasonable, you might end up losing everything.
After long consideration, Lou Yi decided to rely on himself.
He went to find Carpenter Xu in the same village, intending to ask to buy a slingshot from him.
The mountains, the waters, the forests, all belong to someone.
But what about the sky?
The old lady of the Xu Family saw Lou Yi approaching and squeezed out a smile, the wrinkles on her face almost forming a flower.
"Ah Yi, how come you have time to visit?"
"Came to ask Brother Xu if I could buy a slingshot."
"Oh, that thing's not worth much, let me ask him for you."
'You have to be strong to forge iron.' Seeing Xu Granny's kind attitude, Lou Yi felt emotional.
Before his wolf-slaying reputation spread, Xu Granny had always been indifferent to him, but now she seemed like a different person.
A short while later, Carpenter Xu came to the door, his eyes darting around shrewdly.
He handed Lou Yi a small object.
The frame was made of Y-shaped wood, with both ends attached to specially processed cow tendons, and the middle wrapped with a leather pouch.
It was a classic child's toy, a slingshot.
Lou Yi held it in his hand and tried it, pulling the cow tendon with a bit of force.
The elasticity was average, the wooden frame not rigid enough, would break with more force.
Children might find it fun, but it was certainly not suitable for the greatly strengthened Lou Yi.
"This thing is too fragile; Brother Xu, don't you have a more powerful slingshot?"
"A more powerful one?"
"The bow-shaped kind, the body is longer…" Lou Yi gestured slightly.
The oldest slingshot, the predecessor of the bow, only differed by replacing arrows with stones.
The range was equally astonishing, able to shoot stones a hundred meters away, far exceeding this toy slingshot.
Who would have thought, just understanding Lou Yi's meaning, Carpenter Xu's face changed.
"Ah Yi, don't get me in trouble! That thing is prohibited, and you don't have a Hunter's Document, if someone reports us to the authorities, we won't be able to handle it."
"Even slingshots are prohibited?" Lou Yi was speechless.
"Though it's a slingshot, and not as armor-piercing as a curved bow, if it hits someone's head, it can still be lethal." Carpenter Xu shook his head.
'We're not in a true time of chaos yet, the control is still very strict.' Lou Yi thought.
"Why do you want that?" Carpenter Xu couldn't help but ask.
"Those trees around my house always have birds chirping, keeping me up at night." Lou Yi casually found an excuse.
"I see." Carpenter Xu nodded, though whether he believed it or not was unclear.
He still reminded Lou Yi, "You could try a Stone Whip, but accuracy is hard to control and requires a lot of practice."
'Stone Whip—isn't that just a slingshot?' Lou Yi's eyes brightened.
Though less penetrating than a longbow, a slingshot also had many advantages.
Such as low cost, 'ammunition' stones were easy to find, long attack range, and single-hand operation.
After leaving Carpenter Xu's house, he thought for a moment, and headed to Daihe Village.
Soon he saw a small figure standing in the fields swinging a tree branch while making "hum-ha" sounds.
With a pigtail, barefooted, and dirty clothes, who could it be if not Dogwa?
"Uncle Lou!"
Dogwa looked up to see Lou and his eyes lit up, his little feet flew as he charged over.
Lou Yi scooped him up into his arms, feeling Dogwa's impact akin to a dog's, something most people probably couldn't handle.
He asked casually, "Where's your mom?"
"Mom's inside weaving clothes."
"Sister-in-law." To avoid suspicion, Lou Yi called out from the door.
"Ah Yi's here, come in for some tea." The short Cheng Sunshi, whose head only reached Lou Yi's chest, smiled.
Her skin was dark, her face with a sickly hue, having aged quite a bit due to her husband's untimely death.
Although she was only in her twenties, she looked similar to a forty-year-old woman from Lou Yi's past life.
"Sister-in-law, I have a favor to ask of you." Lou Yi didn't enter, speaking directly.
"No need to be polite, I just worry I won't do a good job," Cheng Sunshi said, a bit embarrassed.
"It's simple." Lou Yi described to her the shape of a slingshot, "Two hemp ropes, one thick, one thin, with a fabric pouch in the middle…"
"It might take a few days." Cheng Sunshi said.
"No rush, just have Dogwa let me know when it's ready," Lou Yi smiled.
Three days later.
The finished slingshot was in Lou Yi's hands, as he stood by the river fiddling with it.
The slingshot was made of two hemp ropes of different thicknesses but the same length, cut about four feet long, with a small cloth pouch half a palm in size in the middle, the end of the thicker rope had a finger-ring.
"Let's give it a try first."
Lou Yi picked a stone twice the size of a soybean from the ground and put it into the cloth pouch, gripping the two ends of the rope and spinning it at his side.
'Whoosh whoosh whoosh!'
Due to the stone, the sound was quite noticeable.
At some point, Lou Yi released the thin rope, and the stone quickly slung out along the tangent of its circular motion.
'Swoosh!'
The stone flew across the riverbank, soaring over a large stretch of barren grass, entering Daihe Village before hitting the ground.
"Which son of a bitch hit my latrine!" An angry shout came from the opposite village.
Lou Yi had casually thrown it, and it flew at least two hundred meters.
If he used full force, it would be hard to utilize in the village, but achieving a twofold increase from now shouldn't be a problem.
After all, Lou Yi's strength was several times that of an ordinary person.
Of course, the power of the stone would sharply decline with distance, and precisely hitting a target within a hundred meters was what he should focus on.
Lou Yi looked at the Attribute Panel, seeing no change.
He was not discouraged and continued practicing with the slingshot by the riverbank for the next few days, aiming at willow trees.
On the fifth day, the Attribute Panel finally changed:
[Name: Lou Yi]
[Age: 19/55]
[Realm: None]
[Skills: Lou's Axe Skill (Beginner 0/10), Stone Throwing (Not Introduced 0/1)]
[Energy: 1]
...