Doomsday: Gain experience by hunting

"What fresh mutton soup! Young man, did you cook this? Oh, there's even sheep's blood in it. Tasting it, this isn't ordinary sheep, is it?"

The speaker was Doctor Li, a physician from the town's clinic.

"It's yellow sheep; glad it suits your taste, sir."

"Oh? That's rare indeed."

Doctor Li, though old, still had a straight back, keen eyes, sharp ears, and a loud voice.

Clearly, he possessed some martial skills.

Li Daniu introduced, "Doctor Li, don't let my brother's young age fool you; he's incredibly accurate with sling stones and throwing knives—though he learned the knife from me, he's already surpassed me. The mutton on the table is from what he hunted a few days ago."

"Oh? Throwing knives and sling stones?"

Seeing Doctor Li's interest, Li Daniu quickly winked at Tang Wen, "Doctor Li, let's eat first. After the meal, we'll have my brother show you a trick or two."

The food on the table could be considered lavish; Li Daniu brought out everything edible from his home.

However, Doctor Li clearly lacked interest in the other foods, favoring the yellow mutton and sheep's blood.

After the meal, he went to examine Li Daniu's wife's pulse.

Li Daniu seized the opportunity to tell Tang Wen, "Brother, this Doctor Li used to be a guard captain."

Tang Wen nodded; he understood what Li Daniu meant.

Performing a sling stone and knife throw was nothing much.

Actually, he really wanted to ask Doctor Li what kind of kung fu he practiced and if he could learn it.

Doctor Li returned from taking the pulse and saw Tang Wen in the courtyard, sticking several pieces of wood, with one end burned red, into the snowy ground.

Then, Tang Wen stood far away under the eaves, casually flicked his hand, and a stone flew past, extinguishing three pieces of wood in a row, hitting the wall with a '啪' sound.

"Not bad," Doctor Li clicked his tongue and added, "The accuracy and strength are both good."

"Is your throwing knife skill at the same level?"

"Yes, about the same." Both were master-level skills.

"It's rare to see at your age. It's just that you're a little thin."

At this point, Doctor Li paused and asked, "Do you have any more yellow mutton? Give the old man some; I won't take it for nothing. I can teach you a health-preserving stance."

"Stance? Yes, yes, I do!" Tang Wen agreed without hesitation, not even asking what kind of stance it was. He left the sentence "I'll go get it now!" and turned to leave.

Tang Tang blinked beside him. She didn't understand things like "stance."

But she also thought her younger brother was a bit thin and hoped that what the old man taught would be useful.

"Heh, this kid!"

In a few minutes, Tang Wen returned with a basket covered with a white cloth on his back.

The basket on the ground was still swaying.

He yanked off the white cloth, revealing a lamb inside.

"Alive? Not bad, not bad." Doctor Li looked pleased.

He didn't lack mutton; there were specialized farms in the city, but wild yellow sheep were rare.

Tang Tang came over for a look, confirmed it was the smallest sheep in the family, and retreated slightly relieved, but her little face still showed some reluctance.

After all, this was several hundred catties of millet!

Seeing this, Doctor Li touched his beard embarrassedly, feeling like he was bullying the weak.

But it was impossible not to take the yellow sheep, so he could only give Tang Wen more compensation.

He stepped forward, had Tang Wen stand straight, patted and tapped Tang Wen's body for a while, and nodded, "Good frame, just a little thin. I'll teach you a health-preserving stance and give you an apothecary's identity plate from the clinic so you can enter the inner city without paying a fee, how about that?"

Exchanging a lamb for a stance, Tang Wen already felt like he had made a great profit, not to mention getting an identity plate that allowed him to enter the city freely.

"Good, good! I'll listen to you, sir!"

"Also, remember to bring me yellow sheep when you catch them in the future; you won't be short of benefits."

"Definitely, definitely will send them to you."

Tang Wen nodded vigorously. At this moment, he had decided not to eat the yellow sheep at home.

He would send one to this Doctor Li every once in a while.

Doctor Li led Tang Wen into the side room and began to instruct him on the stance: "To wash the marrow, start with the stance!"

"Don't underestimate the stance; standing well will strengthen your body, prolong your life. If you go to be a guard in the future, you will also be stronger and faster than others."

"Open your legs, shoulder-width apart. Relax your neck, tuck your chin slightly. Finally, kid, remember to hold the one and guard the origin."

Tang Wen memorized the stance in one go.

Doctor Li praised him, not saying much. He had experienced many things and seen many young people who learned quickly, but stance alone didn't reveal much.

"Doctor Li, how do you explain holding the one and guarding the origin?"

"Relax your breathing, clear your mind of distractions."

"You practice; I'll see if there's anything wrong."

Tang Wen immediately put his hands in a virtual embrace and adopted the stance.

However, once he calmed down, his mind was filled with thoughts. He wondered if practicing the stance well would increase his attributes. He also wondered what the city was like and whether he should take the time to visit since it wasn't far from where he lived.

A quarter of an hour later, his stance was already standard. Doctor Li instructed again, "If you can't clear your mind of distractions, then focus on your breathing. When exhaling, silently say the word 'exhale'."

Tang Wen did as he was told, but he still easily got distracted.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and suddenly, the experience panel reacted:

[Skill: Health-Preserving Stance, Entry (0/500)]

"Remember the posture, practice diligently, and the clinic is at shop number 8 in the city. If you have yellow mutton or other rare wild animals, just go there to find me!"

After speaking, Doctor Li threw him a round copper plate with the word "医" (medicine) written on it.

Below it was a number: thirty-five.

"Thank you, Doctor Li."

"Don't thank me. Who told me to like this! I'm leaving." Doctor Li led the yellow sheep away.

The winter was bitterly cold, and the snow on the ground was mixed with mud, completely frozen into solid ice.

Tang Wen practiced his kung fu at home every day.

The health-preserving stance, being newly learned, required a lot of practice.

The Eight Section Brocade exercise couldn't be put down either, and his knife skills were about to level up, so he had to practice diligently. There wasn't enough time!

Every day, besides eating and sleeping, the half-hour he spent teaching Tang Tang knife skills was Tang Wen's rare rest time.

"We won't be able to eat the mutton at home for more than a few days. Should we slaughter another one?" Tang Tang gnawed on a lamb's trotters at the dinner table.

"Let's raise the sheep for now; I'll go out for a walk."

"It's winter!"

"I'll be back before dark."

After a while, the young lady lowered her head, unwillingly, "Okay, then."

"Don't worry."

The next day, before dawn, Tang Wen arrived at the camp entrance.

The snow in the wild was even thicker. Stepping on it, he sank to his calves.

Going out like this would be exhausting just from walking.

Tang Wen took out a pair of large wooden snowshoes from his basket, stepped on them, and tied them to his cloth shoes.

With the increased contact area, his feet wouldn't sink.

Relying on his abundant physical strength, he quickly came to a high ground, took out his binoculars, and observed his surroundings.

However, after searching, he found nothing.

He continued to go deeper, climbed a tree, and observed the surroundings.

After changing positions several times, he still found nothing.

So, he had to take out his fire starter and light a small pile of flames, heating the roasted sweet potatoes and potatoes on it.

The aroma was even more enticing in the desolate forest.

Tang Wen crumbled the roasted sweet potatoes into small pieces and scattered them in the wind.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."

After a while, the familiar chicken call came.

Tang Wen casually rewarded it with a stone, with just the right amount of force, the stone hit the pheasant's neck, knocking it unconscious.

In the afternoon, he harvested three pheasants, a pair of wild rabbits, and about 20 red-billed blue magpies.

He was not satisfied. As the saying goes, a poor scholar and a rich warrior, practicing martial arts and kung fu requires a lot of meat.

These few prey, even if eaten sparingly, would only be a few days' worth of food.

Step, step.

Something was approaching. As if sensing that there was no danger, it rushed to the extinguished fire and ate the sweet potato peels on the ground.

"A roe deer?"

Pa, pa!

Two stones knocked the roe deer to its knees.

Only when it knelt did it realize what was happening. Its white tail exploded, and then it didn't move, not even struggling to escape.

"Silly roe deer, silly roe deer, it really is like the legends say."

"Eh~"

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound dragged a long tail.

"A signal arrow?"

"Are there guards nearby?"

Tang Wen frowned and quickly tied up the roe deer and stuffed it into his basket.