A group of people seemed to be escorting a prisoner as they rushed from the Little Ink Workshop straight to the county.
Li Yuan remembered from his memories that there was a blacksmith shop along this road. Besides selling farm tools, it also sold some ordinary swords and the like.
When he came to sell game last year, he vaguely saw bows hanging in the blacksmith shop, but didn't go in...
Firstly, his archery skills were mediocre, so he couldn't even pull strong bows;
Secondly, he was short on cash.
But today is different from the past. Li Yuan was carrying a hundred large coins, which is a whole ten taels of silver!
Normally, he would definitely go straight to the government, handle things, and check out the blacksmith shop afterward.
But when Li Yuan reached the entrance of the blacksmith shop, he suddenly said, "Pardon me, everyone, please wait a while for me."
Then he asked, "Who can hold the rope for me?"
No one answered.
Li Yuan was about to offer more money when suddenly a voice said, "Brother Yuan, I'll hold it for you."
Li Yuan saw it was a tall, skinny young man named Tian Bao, the offspring of Uncle Youcai from the village. He was usually quiet and didn't communicate much with others. The reason he wasn't drafted into the army was that he had an older brother.
Each family was supposed to send one person, so his brother went, and naturally, he didn't have to.
As for Uncle Youcai, he was bedridden with a broken leg, hence not included in the drawing lots.
Perhaps due to the various stimuli, this introverted boy started stepping out of his world.
"Okay." Li Yuan handed the rope to Tian Bao and then walked into the blacksmith shop.
To him, sending Uncle Ma to the authorities was only a secondary task.
His true priority was buying a bow.
...
In the blacksmith shop.
After some bargaining, Li Yuan spent 20 large coins on a decent iron bow.
Due to the famine, food prices had soared four or five times, but the price of weapons hadn't increased much.
Last year, an iron bow would cost 16 large coins.
Having bought the iron bow, he naturally needed arrows. He purchased a small pot of arrows, around ten in total, which also cost 20 large coins.
The blacksmith gave a nice quiver for free.
In the blink of an eye, 40 of the 100 large coins were gone.
Li Yuan held the bow and glanced over his attributes.
Wow, they've improved a lot!
Originally, his overall strength with the Earth Bow was "24~25." Now it had unexpectedly become "(27)39~(28)40."
Instantly, Li Yuan felt a surge of confidence. With the bow on his back, his entire demeanor changed subtly, but he quickly adjusted his stance, walking out of the blacksmith shop without being too high-profile.
But he knew that from now on, he could display his strength of under 10 in comprehensive capability without restraint.
And that strength could be considered the pinnacle among Unranked Martial Artists.
When Li Yuan walked outside, everyone silently stared at him, speechless.
Tian Bao spoke up, with admiration in his voice, "Brother Yuan, can you really pull this bow...?"
Without a word, Li Yuan flipped his left hand, swiftly took down the great bow, drew an arrow with his right hand, nocked it, and pulled it into a full draw all in one breath...
In an instant, a dangerous aura radiated from him.
The companions from the village stared in wide-eyed amazement.
This Brother Yuan was half-dead just a few days ago, but today he's so formidable?
All the underhanded thoughts in people's minds dissipated after seeing this.
And looking at Uncle Ma, everyone gazed at him with sympathy.
Uncle Ma was bewildered...
Heck, if I'd known you'd recover so quickly, if I'd known you'd be so fierce, would I have been crazy enough to try and rob you in the middle of the night?!
After drawing the bow, Li Yuan casually set it down without releasing the arrow, a motion that actually tested his strength even more.
"Brother Yuan, I'm sorry…"
Uncle Ma decided not to play tough anymore and wanted to admit his mistake.
"Everyone's a neighbor here, I'm old now, can't you just let it go?"
Li Yuan glanced at him and said, "Why didn't you think of that when you wielded a knife and used a sleeping powder last night?"
"Live and let live... Brother Yuan..." Uncle Ma continued to plead.
Li Yuan coldly said, "You wielded a knife yesterday.
If my body had been weaker, what would the result be?
If it wasn't me but my wife, what would happen to her?"
Uncle Ma fell silent.
Li Yuan took back the rope from Tian Bao's hand and continued to lead Uncle Ma towards the county government office.
...
...
Li Yuan walked along the streets of Shanbao County, his eyes scanning around.
In this county town, it was indeed much livelier than Little Ink Workshop.
Stalls lined both sides of the street, selling all sorts of goods: there were fruit tea vendors, fabric sellers who would make clothes on the spot, sellers of steamed buns, filled buns, and meat soup, wine vendors, sellers of women's hair accessories, children's toys, sugar figurines, and candied haws...
In a word, the variety of goods was far beyond comparison to Little Ink Workshop.
As for security, you could tell a thing or two just by looking at the people walking on the streets...
On this street, people could at least openly buy and sell goods.
Surprisingly, despite the county soldiers' defeat, the disappearance of the County Magistrate and County Captain, the county's public order was still so good.
Incredible as it was, Li Yuan couldn't help but feel a longing in his heart.
If he could live here, at least now and then he could take Sister Yan for a stroll, buy a couple of new clothes.
At night, he could also come out for a walk, indulge in a little romance, enjoy a moment of luxurious relaxation amidst the tension of turbulent times, unlike in Little Ink Workshop where once it got dark there was nothing else to do.
...
Soon, the group arrived at the County Government Office.
The gates of the County Office were closed, with no place to submit a complaint.
Li Yuan handed the rope to Tian Bao and stepped forward to beat the drum.
Thump, thump, thump...
After a while of drumming, the County Office doors remained closed.
Li Yuan waited for a moment, but still there was no response.
He picked up the drumsticks again, flexed his arms, and started drumming.
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound echoed far and wide.
After a long while, the County Office doors finally opened slowly, and a young man wearing a government official's uniform came out.
Li Yuan glanced at this sword-bearing official, his overall strength rated a "7~8".
He took the complaint written by Lady Yan, handed it over with both hands, and politely said, "Lord, yesterday Ma Liu from Little Ink Workshop entered my house with a knife, intending to steal and commit violence, and I caught him.
The villagers can all testify."
The official glanced at the mud-legged fellows in front of him, but didn't take the complaint paper. Instead, he looked at Uncle Ma and asked, "Did you enter the house with a knife? Attempt theft and violence?"
Uncle Ma hurriedly said, "Injustice... I did not..."
The official glanced at Li Yuan and said, "All right, go back."
Li Yuan was stunned and asked, "Caught red-handed, why not interrogate? And whether to interrogate should be decided by the Chief Clerk, right?"
The official frowned and said, "Are you questioning me?"
Nearby, Uncle Ma's eyes rolled around, suddenly saying, "Lord, Lord, I have something to report!"
The official said impatiently, "What is it?"
Uncle Ma glared at Li Yuan and said, "Him! It's him!
He's the most formidable person in our village, and he evaded military service!
More than a month ago, when the officials came to draft soldiers at Little Ink Workshop, he ran to the mountains!"
The villagers were silent, but Tian Bao angrily said, "Don't talk nonsense, when Brother Yuan returned in such a miserable state, who didn't see it? Is that what hiding looks like?"
Uncle Ma snorted coldly, "Isn't he all right now? That means he was hiding!"
Tian Bao said, "That's because Sister-in-law was willing to spend money to buy good medicine for Brother Yuan!"
Uncle Ma ignored him, looking only at the official and saying, "Lord, evading military service is a serious crime. If you report this, wouldn't it be a great credit to you..."
The official gave him a peculiar look, then glanced at Li Yuan and asked, "Did you escape to the mountains to dodge military service?"
Li Yuan shook his head and said, "No, absolutely not."
The official waved his hand and said, "All right, just go back."
Then, he glanced at the Iron Bow strapped to Li Yuan's back and asked, "Can you pull it?"
Li Yuan nodded.
The official gave him a look and said, "Give it a try."
Li Yuan flipped his hand to take down the Great Bow, notched an arrow, drew the string, stopping when he felt he had reached around 10 in overall strength.
The official nodded, praised, "Good one! Put it away!"
Li Yuan put it away.
The official stepped forward and whispered, "Seeing you're a good man, I'll tell you the truth, consider it befriending.
The Chief Clerk in the county is dead, and now Shanbao County is ruled by two families and one household.
They're the ones maintaining public order.
If that old man troubles you, take care of it quietly if you see fit, no one will mind now."
Saying this, the official patted Li Yuan on the shoulder.
Li Yuan tactfully handed over ten large coins and asked, "How do I address you, brother?"
"Cai Ze, and you?"
"I'm Li Yuan."
The two exchanged a clasp, then the official closed the door again.
Behind the door, Uncle Ma was dumbfounded, so frightened that he almost wet himself, collapsing to the ground in a heap.