Early morning......

The fragrance of rice outside the house was overflowing, and Li Tan also got up early to prepare breakfast, squatting on the side by himself, silently weaving the mesh.

"Xiaofan, I did a good job yesterday, but I was much better than my dad back then. Haha~~~" Seeing Yue Fan come out, his father praised loudly, and his face was full of pride.

Yue Fan shook his head and said gloomily: "Dad, if your foot hadn't been injured, I think you would have done better than me, but it's all to blame for my ...... back then" I was about to continue, but was interrupted by my father waving his hand.

Li Tan sighed with emotion: "Don't feel guilty, I haven't regretted it, you are the hope of me and your mother." And you didn't disappoint us, I think your mother thought the same way!"

Looking up at the sky, he continued: "It's getting late, let's get to work! Next time I go to the city, I will take this black bear skin and sell it, this complete skin should be able to sell for a good price." After a pause, he said, "By the way, after finishing the work, you will divide half of the food you brought back yesterday and bring it to Mr. Wan and them with these bear meats." After saying that, he continued to concentrate on knitting the mesh.

"Okay. Yue Fan nodded in response, very happy. When he thought of Mr. Wan, Yue Fan's heart was full of gratitude and respect. Because back then, it was this Mr. Wan who saved his father's life.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Yue Fan felt the early morning time. He hopes that it will always be so good in the future.

......

Coming to the small forest not far from home, Yue Fan took off his upper clothes, carefully put it aside, and then walked towards a big tree three people thick.

Don't look at Yue Fan's thinness, the dark and strong muscles on his body are exposed, but it makes people feel full of explosive power. Gently close your eyes and feel everything around you, then take a deep breath.

"Let's get started. ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw Yue Fan's hand move, and he took out the woodcutter that was left behind his waist and cut it towards the big tree!

"Peng—"

"Pong-Pong-Pong-"

......

In the forest, Yue Fan kept waving the firewood knife, the movements were very simple and slow, but they were very calm and accurate, and each stroke fell on the same position as the previous one. This seems to be a few simple strokes, but if you want to carry a knife of dozens of catties, swing it back and forth, and the knife is in place, people who do not have a certain skill cannot do it at all.

As time passed, Yue Fan's swing began to speed up, and the splashes of wood chips flew all over the sky, making his vision more and more blurry. And these sawdust didn't seem to affect his movements, Yue Fan, who was still in a state of emptiness, closed his eyes, completely controlling the movement of his body by feeling. The speed of the knife became faster and faster, and the body and hands continued to twist, and the wood knife became a blur in the sawdust......

This is a set of simple knife styles, strictly speaking, it is not even a knife method, because the whole process only has five simple actions of "chopping, chopping, turning, racking, and playing", which is just the cooperation of the body and the formation of repeated swings. But these five actions were Yue Fan's strongest means of dealing with wild beasts! Of course, they were also the best way to chop wood.

......

As the sky became brighter and brighter, after the knife in his hand stopped, the sawdust in the sky slowly regained its calm, and only then did Yue Fan's thin figure appear. At this time, there was an empty village around him, and the ground was full of firewood.

Wiping the sweat from his body with his clothes, Yue Fan looked up at the sky, then piled all the wood together, tied it with a rope, carried it on his shoulder, and returned the same way.

The weight of the firewood didn't slow him down much, but each step was much heavier and more steady than usual.

......

There is a flowing river outside ―――――――――――― Ning County, and people can't remember how long it has been history, only that it has been nurturing the land and people in Ning County, even if it is now a drought, it is still silently paying.

Liushui Village is located not far from the Liushui River, and there are dozens of farmhouses in the whole village, and it is also very quiet.

Although the people here live a hard life, they are living well, especially in the dry season, which is even more harmonious and peaceful. It's just that every time Yue Fan walks here, he has an indescribable disgust in his heart, or rejection.

......

Outside the thatched cottage at the end of the village, an old man is seriously taking care of the medicine field, and he is what people call Mr. Wan.

This Mr. Wan, formerly known as Wan Liuhuai, is seventy or eighty years old, and used to be an official of the imperial court, but because of the persecution of the people in the court, he lost his relatives and had nowhere to go, and later wandered around Lang to practice medicine. Five years ago, Mr. Wan passed by Liushui Village and happened to meet Li Tan who was bitten by an iron-headed snake, so he saved Li Tan's life. In order to repay him for saving his life, Li Tan's father and son erected a simple grass house for the old gentleman at the end of the village, and let Yue Fan come to visit him often.

At the beginning, when Mr. Wan first moved in, the people in the village were still very reluctant and shouted for him to leave. But as soon as people heard that Mr. Wan was not only knowledgeable, but also able to heal people, everyone accepted it happily and even showed great respect. You know, in a place like the countryside, you can not respect the gentleman who teaches, but you must respect the doctor who sees a doctor, after all, people can't starve to death if they don't study, but everyone will get sick sometimes, right?

......

After a while, a little girl walked out of the thatched house, and after gesturing at Mr. Wan, she obediently followed the old man to collect the morning dew in the medicine field.

Ya'er is an orphan who was discovered by Mr. Wan five years ago while washing medicine by the Flowing River. At that time, she was floating on the water, her whole body was soaked, and after waking up, Mr. Wan found that the little girl was mute, and she couldn't remember the past, Mr. Wan felt that she was pitiful, and he had no relatives to accompany him, so he left her behind, and recognized her as a granddaughter, nicknamed Ya'er, who was about the same age as Yue Fan.

The rising sun shines little by little, making the originally smoked village seem so harmonious and quiet, with a kind of tranquility and far-reaching, faint and bright ambition.

At this time, a figure on the village road gradually approached, and it was Yue Fan striding with a large bag of things.

Every time he saw the old and young people having their own fun, his heart was always filled with a kind of warmth, and the smile was unconsciously imprinted on his face.

Xiao Ya'er, who was working, turned around and saw Yue Fan, and hurriedly put down the jar in her hand and ran towards her grandfather.

The little girl tugged at Grandpa's thank you's sleeve, and then pointed to Yue Fan who was standing in the distance, and then ran towards the other party happily.

"Oh, why is Xiao Fan here today? Haha~~~ "Mr. Wan is full of white hair, long beard, red face, white cloth clothes all his life, because he knows how to maintain health, so he looks energetic at such an age, and he looks like a fairy from a distance."

Yue Fan affectionately touched Xiao Ya'er's head, patted the things on her body and said, "I had a good harvest yesterday, and my father asked me to bring some to you." ”

"Hehe, then you're welcome...... How's your father doing now?"

"It's still the same, and it can only temporarily suppress the toxicity. ”

While the two were talking, Mr. Wan took Xiao Ya'er and led Yue Fan into the thatched house.

......

After putting down the things, Yue Fan asked Mr. Wan, "Grandpa Wan, Xiaoya's illness ......?"

Although he asked many times, there was no good news, so Yue Fan seemed a little hesitant.

"Alas~~~" Mr. Wan sighed, shook his head again, and stroked Xiao Ya'er's head.

Of course, Xiao Ya'er knew their worries, so she stood up and kept gessing: "I'm fine now, with you guys loving me, it doesn't matter if I don't speak for the rest of my life." ”

"Hehe, of course Grandpa and Xiaofan will hurt Ya'er. Hearty laughter cut through the dullness of the room.

Mr. Wan continued: "Xiaofan, when do you enter the city, also take Ya'er with you, and let her go out for a walk!"

Yue Fan frowned, hesitated, but still nodded and said, "Okay, I'm going to go to the city later, deal with the bear skin, Xiaoya will go with me." Don't worry, I'll make sure Xiaoya is safe. ”

Mr. Wan stroked his long beard, smiled and nodded, and then chatted for a while.

......

―――――――――――― hot summer, Ningxian County is still lively, with people coming and going everywhere, and all kinds of goods can be seen everywhere.

A young man walked down the street carrying a huge bear skin, followed by a seven or eight-year-old girl, attracting the attention of people on the street, these two people were Yue Fan and Xiao Ya'er.

......

Qiwei Zhai is the largest treasure shop in Ning County, located in the center of the city, every time Yue Fan hunts animal skins will be sent here to sell, and this time is no exception.

"Money shopkeeper, I have goods to sell. ”

"Let's take a look. ”

The money shopkeeper is full of fat, with two mustaches slightly curled, and a playful look in his eyes.

Yue Fan walked to the front of the counter, put the bear skin on it and said, "This is a good black bear skin, the fur on the whole body has not been destroyed, you can give a price." ”

When the money shopkeeper saw Yue Fan put on the black and shiny bear skin, he immediately reached out and stroked the fur, squinting his eyes up and down, inside and out, and his eyes gradually flashed with joy.

After a while, the shopkeeper realized his gaffe, and hurriedly restrained his expression and invited Yue Fan into the inner hall!

......

"Ahem!"

Coughing dryly, the shopkeeper said with a smile: "Little brother Fan, this bear skin is definitely a treasure, but you know, now is the disaster." The world is so chaotic, who wants to buy these useless things? So, hehe, this ......" The money shopkeeper kept clasping his hands and looked at Yue Fan with a coquettish smile, which was really different from his attitude just now.

Yue Fan frowned and said, "Do you want to say that this bear skin is not worth anything now?"

"Hehe!" The money shopkeeper's face was already smiling: "It turns out that the little brother also understands! This bear skin can't be eaten, the hair is too thick, and it can't be worn, so naturally it's not worth a few dollars." ”

The money shopkeeper gives full play to the essence of the profiteer, constantly belittling the other party's goods in order to win the maximum profit.

Yue Fan's heart was cold when he heard this, how could he not know what the other party thought. In the past, every time he came here to sell the hides he hunted, he would always be pressed to the lowest few taels of silver. But for the sake of livelihood, he endured it in the end.

But now it's different, with the progress of Yue Fan's hunting skills, there are gradually more opportunities to exchange money for hunting, plus with a fixed income from sending firewood, even if life is still simple, he will no longer worry about food and clothing. Therefore, he naturally did not need to sell the goods to this family. What's more, such a complete and unusually large black bear skin, everyone in the industry knows that it is quite rare, how can it not be worthless? He didn't believe it, now there are only poor people left in this world!

Thinking of this, Yue Fan said to himself: "Since this is the case, then I will wait for the beginning of spring to come again." Ignoring the expression of the money shopkeeper eating turtles, he stopped being wordy at the moment, picked up the bear skin, led Xiao Ya'er and turned around.

......

Seeing Yue Fanzhen leaving, the shopkeeper hurriedly said: "Little brother Fan, if you have something to say, although the animal skin is not worth much now, for the sake of many years of friendship, I will never treat you badly." ”

"Friendship?" Yue Fan turned to look at the money shopkeeper, frowned and said: "Money shopkeeper, I know what you want to say......" His tone turned cold in vain: "But I'm telling you, I just don't want to sell it, hum!" After speaking, he took Xiao Ya'er and walked towards the courtyard gate.

Whether stubborn or self-esteem, this time, Yue Fan no longer compromised.

The shopkeeper's face became more and more ugly, turning red and blue, and he knew that there was no room for redemption, so he shouted outside the house: "Stop them!"

Yue Fan and Xiao Ya'er had just walked to the gate of the inner courtyard when suddenly a group of people dressed in black surrounded him. These black-clothed men are the nurses of the strange Zhai hired by the money shopkeeper.

The twelve guards surrounded Yue Fan and Xiao Ya'er in the middle, wandering and shrinking the encirclement, not allowing them to have any chance to escape.

Looking at such a formation, Yue Fan's heart tightened, and then he turned calm, and only by being calm can he make better plans. So he protected the frightened Xiao Ya'er behind him, looked at the money shopkeeper and said coldly: "What does this mean?"

The money shopkeeper was about to answer, when a shrill voice suddenly came from the back hall and said, "It's nothing, I just want you to leave the black bear skin." The voice fell, and out of the back hall came a man dressed as a scholar in white, with a slender body, a pointed mouth and thin eyes, and a thick pink and rouge.

Seeing the man come out, the shopkeeper and the others all said respectfully to the man: "Second young master!" Then the shopkeeper hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Hehe, second young master, my subordinates originally wanted to ......" Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the man's cold gaze, so the shopkeeper Qian had to stand aside awkwardly, and he had long lost the arrogance when he negotiated with Yue Fan before.

This second young master has a great background, and he is Zhao Tianhua, the second son of Zhao Qianjin, the richest man in Jiangnan. Zhao Qianjin is the largest landlord in the Jiangnan region and is known as the head of the four gods of wealth. is cunning and sophisticated, unscrupulous in doing things, and has a way to go through the underworld and officialdom, so he has become a rich man today.

Zhao Tianhua, as the second son of the Zhao family, has been pampered since he was a child, and the things he uses are all valuable, if it is an ordinary thing, how can he look at it? Today, I only wanted to go shopping in Qiwei Zhai, but I didn't expect to see the black bear skin sold by Yue Fan, so I asked the money shopkeeper to buy it.

Originally, Zhao Tianhua thought that as long as he could buy this black bear skin, it would not be a problem how much money he had. Who knew that the money shopkeeper's habitual price reduction angered the other party, making Yue Fan reluctant to sell.

Zhao Tianhua glared at the money shopkeeper, didn't pay attention to him anymore, and just said to Yue Fan: "I want this black bear skin, you can make a price." ”

The other party's voice was shrill, but it was very disgusted when it reached Yue Fan's ears, so he frowned and said, "I said, I don't want to sell it." ”

"Hmph, boy, don't be ashamed, whether you sell or not what I fancy is sold or not, I'm going to decide today. Being rejected by a kid, Zhao Tianhua's face was ugly, and he was very angry.

Yue Fan saw this battle and knew that he couldn't be good today, so he whispered to Xiao Ya'er: "Stay and hold me tight." After finishing speaking, he put Xiao Ya'er with her hands around her neck.

Without any warning, Yue Fan suddenly strung in front of the black clothes near the entrance of the courtyard, and his movements were so fast that everyone didn't have time to react, and when he got up, one person was kicked out and flew out, lying on the ground and screaming in pain.

Years of hunting experience made Yue Fan deeply understand this truth at a very young age.

While the other black-clothed courtyards had not yet been surrounded, he decided to solve the door first, so that he could hope to break out.

But after all, these nursing homes are all invited back by the money shopkeeper with a lot of money, even if they are not in the rivers and lakes, but they are more than enough to deal with ordinary people. Waiting for a black-clothed person next to him to react, he hurriedly picked up the wooden stick and smashed it at Xiao Ya'er behind Yue Fan.

In order not to let Xiao Ya'er be hurt, Yue Fan had to give up and go out and turn around and flash to the side, and after the strength of the wooden stick was exhausted, an arrow stepped forward, grabbed the wooden stick hard, and forcibly pulled the wooden stick out with his hand. This person didn't expect Yue Fan's strength to be so great, and in a moment's shock, he was kicked in the vital part of the lower yin, and he fell to the ground in pain and convulsed.

Because Yue Fan was dragged down, the other black-clothed people took the opportunity to surround him again, and they were more vigilant than just now, it seemed that it might not be so easy for him to break through this time.

Seeing that his two subordinates were injured, the shopkeeper Qian was extremely angry and said: "Stinky boy, you actually dare to hurt people, and there is no royal law." ”

"Wang Fa?" Yue Fan snorted coldly, and didn't pay attention to it, just vigilantly paying attention to the surrounding situation. In such a situation, if you don't resist, are you waiting to fight?

Zhao Tianhua saw that Yue Fan was so ignorant, frowned and shouted angrily: "Stinky boy, if you leave the black bear skin and kowtow to me to admit your mistake, I will let you go." If you don't know how to lift, then you will wait to be abolished. ”

Crisis! Pressure!

Yue Fan stood in the courtyard, the wooden stick was across his chest, his thin body looked so straight, and Xiao Ya behind him was clinging to Yue Fan's resolute back, without a trace of fear in his heart.

Looking around, Yue Fan's expression was solemn. He will not give in!

As soon as the words fell, he rushed to the gate of the courtyard.

......

―――――――――――― the inner courtyard of the strange house was in shambles, and a group of black-clothed people were surrounding a teenager, constantly wandering, attacking from time to time, trying to knock down the teenager.

The young man carried a little girl behind him, constantly changing his position, and kept waving a wooden stick with one hand, resisting the approach of the black-clothed people around him.

Yue Fan is not without experience of being besieged, and when he encountered a hungry wolf pack, he also broke through the siege...... But now the situation is different, Xiao Ya'er needs protection by her side, and she is restrained, which greatly affects the flexibility of her body, not to mention, they are human beings, not beasts, and they can't be killed against them, after all, Yue Fan is just an ordinary hunter, not a person in the rivers and lakes.

Zhao Tianhua sat leisurely in the main hall, watching all this with great interest, and took a sip of the teacup from time to time. On the contrary, the money shopkeeper on the side was anxious, and he was even more distressed to see the nursing homes fall to the ground and be injured. Of course, the money shopkeeper is not distressed for them, but distressed for his own money, not only does it cost money to break things, but it also costs money for his subordinates to see doctors when they are injured!

"Damn, I really didn't expect this stinky boy to be so good at fighting, and this is a miserable loss. Look, my flower bed...... Alas~~~" The money shopkeeper's face turned pale, and he wailed in his heart.

Seeing the expression of the money shopkeeper, Zhao Tianhua of course knew what he was thinking, so he said casually: "Old Qian, as long as you get your hands on things, your benefits are indispensable." ”

Hearing the promise of the second young master, the shopkeeper suddenly smiled, and shouted at a group of nurses: "Whoever wants to take down this stinky boy and reward him with a hundred taels of silver, you all give me some strength." ”

There must be brave men under the heavy reward, and the words of the money shopkeeper really have an effect. When the dozen or so nursing homes heard this, they couldn't care about the pain in their bodies, and rushed towards Yue Fan in unison.

Yue Fan suddenly felt the pressure increase, his body kept twisting, and the wooden stick in his hand swung faster and faster, and the shadow of the stick filled the sky for a while, making it impossible for people to get close. But this also made Yue Fan's physical strength deplete rapidly, and after supporting it for a while, he felt that his hands and feet were getting heavier and heavier, his chest was undulating, his breathing became faster, and sweat was falling like raindrops.

"No!" Yue Fan said in a hurry: "It's not long since we continue to support like this, and we must fight quickly...... Kill the wolf and kill the king first!" Suddenly, the stick style changed, no longer the defense of the stick shadow in the sky, but a simple swing attack, although simple but extremely fast, each stick has a speed of several times the speed just now.

There was no wooden stick to defend, in order to prevent Xiao Ya'er from being harmed, Yue Fan could only rely on his hands and body to protect Xiao Ya'er.

After a while, he was hit a few times, his head was injured, and blood flowed down his face, staining the clothes on his chest red, looking a little hideous. Xiao Ya'er's eyes widened and she looked around in horror, but the only thing she could do was to lie behind Yue Fan tightly and not let the other party worry.

Although Yue Fan was injured, the effect of the attack just now was obvious. Because these guards were afraid that they would escape, most of them were blocked at the exit of the inner courtyard, but there were only three or four people surrounding the courtyard, so Yue Fan's attack was directed at these people, and before everyone could react, they were knocked to the ground by Yue Fan one by one.

The gap in the human wall had been opened, and before they could surround it, Yue Fan kicked hard with his left foot, jumped out of the encirclement, and rushed towards Zhao Tianhua in the house with a wooden stick.

This sudden change made Zhao Tianhua and the money shopkeeper panic for a while, and they wanted to escape, but the money shopkeeper kept retreating back. However, Zhao Tianhua seemed to suddenly think of something, and returned to his demeanor just now, and his eyes were full of mocking smiles.

Seeing the change in Zhao Tianhua's expression, Yue Fan suddenly became alert, as if he had a feeling of being targeted by a beast.

"Not good!"

When he was only one step away from Zhao Tianhua, the strong uneasiness made Yue Fan change his decision, stretched forward with his right foot and stepped hard, his body turned sharply, and he suddenly rushed towards the money shopkeeper, almost throwing Xiao Ya'er out. Even so, Yue Fan was still uneasy in his heart, and when he looked back habitually, he was shocked, and a slender white qi chased after him, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of him, and the target was Xiao Ya'er.

The sudden change made Yue Fan's cold hair stand on end, and with the hunter's intuition, he was sure that if he was hit by this slender white qi, then Xiao Ya'er would definitely die.

"Roar—"

The roar resounded throughout the hall, and Yue Fan desperately grabbed the bear skin on his right shoulder, and forcefully blocked the slender white qi.

"Peng—"

With a thought, the bear skin was instantly shattered, and scattered in all directions, and at the same time, Yue Fan was also shocked and flew out, just landing in front of the money shopkeeper, spitting blood, and his left hand was already bloody.

At this moment, Yue Fan knew that the meridians of his left hand had been broken, and now his internal organs were also injured, but ...... Can't fall now, can't!

......

――――――――――――