Taking someone's life in the mountains is just too easy.

He was acting completely shamelessly.

Since ancient times, taking a life required paying with one's own, yet he was utterly confident that Xu Feng would not dare to genuinely take his life in front of the entire village.

As long as Xu Feng did not dare to touch him, the matter could only be dragged out, eventually ending up in nothing.

Fatty and Skinny Monkey, who had followed him in, were dumbfounded. They never expected Wang Erhu to dare to challenge Xu Feng so openly.

Xu Feng wore no expression on his face. He stood up, slowly walked over to the stone table, picked up the butcher's knife, and weighed it in his hand.

"A fine knife, just a bit dull," he remarked.

Then, he raised his gaze to look at Wang Erhu, a cryptic smile curving the corners of his lips.

"Wang Erhu, are you playing the wrong trick with the wrong person?" Xu Feng's voice was remarkably calm. "Killing you would indeed break the law, and it's not worth it. I, Xu Feng, am a law-abiding, upstanding citizen."

A surge of joy bubbled up in Wang Erhu's heart, making him think his shameless tactic had worked.

"However..." Xu Feng changed his tune, the murderous aura forged on the battlefield unleashing itself without warning, making the temperature in the entire courtyard seem to drop by several degrees. "While I may not dare to kill you, crippling you is well within my courage."

He took a step forward, glaring down at Wang Erhu. "Making you spend the rest of your life bedridden, relying on others for every basic need. Or perhaps, breaking both your legs, so you too can taste what it's like to be a cripple. Which one do you think sounds better?"

The color drained entirely from Wang Erhu's face in a flash. He recalled Xu Feng's ghostly methods and his merciless fists, and a chill rushed straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull.

He had no doubt whatsoever that whatever Xu Feng said he would do, he actually would.

"Stop... stop playing dumb with me," Xu Feng said, a hint of impatience in his tone. "Did you really think I couldn't see right through your little schemes? Trying to welsh on the debt?"

He tossed the butcher's knife back onto the table, producing a loud, echoing clatter that made Fatty flinch.

"The business of building the brick bed and laying the wall is not going to be dropped just like that." Xu Feng looked at the ash-faced Wang Erhu and spoke slowly. "Still, I am not an unreasonable man. You say you have no money, and I believe you."

Wang Erhu was stunned, failing to understand what medicine Xu Feng was selling in his gourd.

Xu Feng pointed at the pile of game by the courtyard entrance. "See that? I've had a great harvest today, and I'll be heading deeper into the mountains continuously from now on; the harvest will only be greater. There's far too much for the two of us to eat, and it'll just rot away if we leave it."

He paused and looked at Wang Erhu. "Therefore, here is how we will handle this. You, take your brothers here, and bring these goods to town to sell them. Use a portion of the proceeds to buy bricks and materials to build the brick bed and lay the walls for my house. The rest can be considered your wages."

As soon as these words were uttered, not just Wang Erhu, but even Fatty and Skinny Monkey were dumbfounded.

Have them go sell things? And pay them wages? Was this... was the sun rising from the west today?

Wang Erhu rapidly calculated in his mind. To him, this deal was like a pie dropping straight from the sky. Not only did he not have to spend a cent, but he could also use this opportunity to legally go to town, complete the mission entrusted to him by Onoda, gather intelligence, and purchase supplies.

"What? Unwilling?" Xu Feng raised an eyebrow.

"Willing! Perfectly willing!" Wang Erhu snapped back to reality, bowing and scraping frantically, the expression on his face instantly shifting from despair to flattery. "Rest assured, Master Xu! Leave this entirely to me! I guarantee I'll handle it flawlessly for you! Every single coin from the sale will be brought back to help build your house!"

"Alright." Xu Feng waved a hand, cutting off his protestations of loyalty. "Don't get too happy just yet; there's more."

Wang Erhu's heart skipped a beat.

Xu Feng continued, "Tomorrow, the lot of you will continue into the mountains with me."

Wang Erhu abruptly raised his head, a flash of wild elation in his eyes, though he quickly masked it.

He had been agonizing over how to trick Xu Feng into going to the rendezvous spot agreed upon with Onoda, and here Xu Feng was, delivering himself right to their doorstep! This was simply a godsent opportunity!

Acting as if he hadn't noticed the shift in expression, Xu Feng muttered to himself, "I can't carry too much game by myself. The lot of you can act as my coolies, responsible for carrying the loads. Work for a day, and I'll give you a rabbit or two pheasants as your wage. How about that?"

"We'll do it! We'll definitely do it!" Wang Erhu agreed instantly, terrified that Xu Feng might go back on his word. "For Master Xu to think highly of us is our greatest blessing! Never mind getting paid, even if there were no money, just getting to tag along and broaden our horizons with Master Xu is an honor!"

Right now, his mind was entirely consumed by how he would lure Xu Feng into Onoda's ambush tomorrow and watch Xu Feng's head get blown off by a gunshot.

"Then it's settled." Xu Feng nodded, appearing quite satisfied with his attitude. "It's getting late today. You lot first carry those two roe deer and that little wild boar away, go to town to sell them early tomorrow morning, and by the way, order the bricks and tiles. As for the remaining chickens and rabbits, divide them amongst yourselves however you see fit; consider that today's wages."

The three of them could hardly believe their ears. Not only had they escaped a beating, but they also got to eat meat and make money?

Professing boundless gratitude, they hoisted the game up from the ground. The little wild boar and the two roe deer were by no means light, but with their hearts brimming with the joy of surviving a catastrophe and their morbid anticipation for the future, the three of them didn't feel the weight at all.

Watching them disappear in a shambolic cluster through the courtyard entrance, Xu Feng finally let the trace of playful mockery fade from his face.

Lin Xue walked out from under the eaves, gently approaching Xu Feng's side. She looked in the direction where Wang Erhu and the others had vanished, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

She picked up the small skinning knife Xu Feng had casually left on the stone table, carefully wiping it with a clean cloth.

"Husband," she spoke softly, a trace of unperceived worry in her voice. "That Wang Erhu agreed far too readily; it's unlike his usual self. Moreover..."

She paused, lifting her eyes to look at Xu Feng. "The way he looked at you... felt somewhat off."

Xu Feng took the small knife from her hand, twirling it deftly so that its blade flashed with a cold glint in the twilight.

He sheathed the knife back into the scabbard at his waist, his tone relaxed. "A few clowns putting on a show, what kind of waves can they possibly make? They were just given a lesson by me and got scared, that's all."

"Yet somehow, it doesn't feel right to me."

Lin Xue walked up to him, helping to tidy his slightly disheveled collar with soft, cool fingertips.

"Tomorrow, when you head into the mountains with them, you must be extremely careful. I heard from the villagers that Wang Erhu's father was an old hunter; he probably knows these mountain forests far better than we imagine."

Lowering his gaze, Xu Feng looked at her, seeing the genuine care shining in her eyes, and a warm sensation bloomed in his chest.

He reached out, gently grasping her slightly chilled fingers, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand.

"Don't worry. Just based on those few useless good-for-nothings?"

A cold, sharp curve formed at the corner of Xu Feng's mouth. "If they honestly act as my coolies and carry the loads, I might let them draw breath for a few more days. But if they harbor any crooked intentions in the mountains..."

His voice dropped slightly, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the dark, receding outlines of the distant mountains. "Xuezi, you don't know this, but out here in the mountains, making a person disappear without a sound is even easier than killing a rabbit or losing a chicken. You might not even find a speck of bone."