Chapter Four: The Hand Crossbow

“Big Ox, the airflow in your furnace isn’t right—if the temperature can’t rise, you’ll never make good iron!” Zhao Hengyi had already inspected the tools Big Ox forged; they simply didn’t last. There were many reasons, but the greatest was the low furnace temperature and the poor quality of the crude iron he bought.

Fortunately, Zhao Hengyi had anticipated these problems. He’d purchased ore powder in town to improve the iron quality, and, with a few modifications to the furnace, it should just about suffice.

Big Ox was not a man of words. After being persuaded by Zhao Hengyi, he changed the furnace, and soon saw the flames burning much stronger!

Well, it seemed that after a stint in prison, Foolish Hengyi had finally grown clever!

The two of them toiled away in the smithy all through the night. When dawn broke, Zhao Hengyi finally produced the thing he’d wanted.

A hand crossbow.

By Zhao Hengyi’s standards, it was a crude, even shabby weapon. The most crucial part of the entire crossbow was a strip of soft iron, painstakingly forged from the various ore powders he’d bought with his last coins.

Under Big Ox’s puzzled gaze, Zhao Hengyi raised the rough crossbow, aimed at the earthen wall twenty paces away, and pulled the trigger.

Thunk!

The bolt buried itself deep in the wall!

Was this really something he and Foolish Hengyi had made in a single night?

Big Ox stood there gaping, watching as Zhao Hengyi carefully pulled the bolt free, feeling as if he must be dreaming.

During the making of the crossbow, Zhao Hengyi hadn’t tried to hide what he was doing—after all, his own skill was still not up to Big Ox’s. The only real secret lay in the mixture of ore powders; everything else was of little consequence.

Even so, to Big Ox, this was an incredible windfall! He’d never seen a weapon like this before, but seeing the crossbow bolt nearly punch through the wall, he knew how valuable this ugly thing really was.

This was a skill one could pass down to one’s descendants!

“Hengyi… I’ve learned your craft. What am I supposed to do now?”

Zhao Hengyi didn’t mind, but Big Ox was already anxious. “Hengyi, I didn’t mean to steal your technique, but I saw it all—I can’t forget it! Should I give back your grain?”

Seeing the befuddled Big Ox, Zhao Hengyi found it both funny and bittersweet. In his previous life, if someone accidentally stumbled upon a trade secret, they’d immediately start their own business and make a fortune.

But in the Great Yan Empire, the government was unreliable, officials careless, and yet the common folk were incredibly honest.

“Big Ox, what are you saying? Without your help, I couldn’t have made this.” Because he was considered a fool, Zhao Hengyi could see things that others in the village could not—like human nature. “This isn’t some rare skill anyway. Once I make some money, I’ll improve it even more!”

Yet this time, Big Ox was uncommonly stubborn. He even offered to put up his family’s entire smithy as collateral for his debt.

That’s right—collateral. Big Ox felt that learning a craft that could feed his family for generations was a debt to Zhao Hengyi, one he could never repay.

“How about you take me as your apprentice?” Zhao Hengyi, exasperated by Big Ox’s persistence, joked offhandedly.

“Master, please accept my bow!” Big Ox dropped to his knees in all seriousness and kowtowed.

The joke had gone too far.

But Big Ox was set in his ways, and for the moment, Zhao Hengyi could do nothing about it.

Never mind, he thought. Let’s make some money first. Maybe in a few days, Big Ox will change his mind.

After swearing Big Ox to secrecy, Zhao Hengyi wrapped the crossbow and five bolts in an old burlap sack and slipped quietly home.

Miao Xiaoyu had kept watch in their shabby thatched hut all night without sleep, while the six little ones slept soundly.

“Elder sister, don’t leave me… Brother-in-law, fight off the bad guys!” Little Xiaoying murmured in her sleep. Miao Xiaoyu gently patted her frail back to help her rest more peacefully.

Now that she had a husband, she and her sisters would finally have someone to rely on, no longer forced to live in constant fear.

When Zhao Hengyi appeared in the doorway, Miao Xiaoyu felt an indescribable sense of relief.

“Cook some porridge. Once I’m full, I’ll head into the mountains and hunt for some game so we can trade for more grain.”

This time, Zhao Hengyi didn’t hold back. He downed a big bowl of wheat porridge, grabbed the crossbow, a hatchet, and an old sack for game, and set off for Daqingshan.

Villages like Yushu Bay and the nearby ones all had hunters, but their efficiency was low—their bows were weak, and without hounds, game was scarce.

This was the opportunity Zhao Hengyi had seen in town. A bow with decent range was complicated and expensive to make—ordinary hunters couldn’t afford one, and most used their own homemade weapons.

But Zhao Hengyi was different. In his previous life, he’d been well acquainted with crossbows. Though this one was crude, its range and accuracy far surpassed the bows the hunters used.

“Well, Hengyi, you just got married yesterday. Why aren’t you at home keeping your wife company?”

“Hengyi, don’t you know your wife has a reputation for bringing misfortune to her husbands?”

“Not to be nosy, but you better be careful, Hengyi!”

On the sunny southern slope of Daqingshan, groups of young women and wives were already out gathering wild vegetables at dawn, accompanied by fearless aunties who never missed a chance to gossip.

The aunties might be talkative and blunt, but their words were meant for Zhao Hengyi’s good.

“Xiaoyu is a good woman. All those rumors were spread by people who hated her family—they don’t matter.” With a smile, Zhao Hengyi explained calmly. In time, the villagers would forget all about Miao Xiaoyu’s reputation. “I’m just going into the mountains to see if I can get some game. You all go on with your work.”

“Hengyi, you shouldn’t go alone—there are wolves in those mountains!”

“Yes, and I’ve heard there are bears too!”

“And hunting isn’t easy. Old Wu says the rabbits and pheasants up there are clever as can be—even for a seasoned hunter, catching something once in three trips is considered lucky!”

“Oh, you just won’t listen, will you? Never mind, let him learn the hard way.”

“They say Hengyi finally got smart, but I guess he’s still a fool!”

The aunties continued gossiping and gathering vegetables, soon forgetting all about Zhao Hengyi.

The sun crept across the sky, and before long, it was evening.

Miao Xiaoyu grew anxious at home. Thinking of her supposed curse, she couldn’t stop worrying about Zhao Hengyi in the mountains.

She told her sisters to stay at home and not wander, and went out to ask after him herself, finally reaching the southern slope of Daqingshan. As soon as she arrived, the women gathering wild vegetables surrounded her, all talking at once.

“Your man has never hunted before—I don’t know what possessed him this time. No one could stop him!”

“That’s right, Xiaoyu, don’t worry. Hengyi definitely wouldn’t dare venture deep into the old woods. When he catches nothing, he’ll come back on his own.”

“Men are like that—always stubborn. They have to suffer a little before they’ll admit defeat.”

The aunties tried to comfort her, but Miao Xiaoyu only grew more anxious.

By now, the sun was nearly set, yet Zhao Hengyi still hadn’t returned. Miao Xiaoyu was so worried she began to cry.

“Hengyi couldn’t have gotten lost, could he?” Sixth Aunt’s offhand remark was enough to break Miao Xiaoyu’s composure completely; her tears flowed like beads from a snapped string.

At that moment, a figure appeared at the mountain path—it was Zhao Hengyi!

Over his shoulder hung a bulging, blood-stained burlap sack. Good heavens, not only had Foolish Hengyi made it back safely, he seemed to have caught some game!

Everyone began to talk at once. How could someone like him possibly have caught anything?