Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Refusal Lou Yi scrutinized these four characters for a long time, yet he couldn’t discern any particular meaning from them. His body hadn’t undergone any changes, and the vast memories of chopping trees and firewood remained intact in his mind. Perhaps only after truly mastering this skill would he perceive a hint of its profundity. ’Grr...’ A sound of hunger emanated from his belly. Lou Yi went to the stove and took out the flatbread he had bought during the day. His appetite had been growing, sometimes waking up hungry in the middle of the night, forcing him to keep flatbreads and similar food handy. If this continued, chopping wood might not even be able to sustain him. Moreover, he couldn’t chop wood for his entire life. He had to come up with other ways to make money quickly. Learn a craft? Slow to see results, and it wouldn’t earn much money. Start a business? He had neither capital nor resources and channels, making it unrealistic. Join a gang, go the dark route? There weren’t any big gangs in Xinxiang, and it was too dangerous. While he could definitely fight now, he was still no match for poisons and hidden weapons, swords and knives, after all, he was only flesh and blood. Besides, he could have developed steadily, there was no need to take such risks. Thinking it over, Lou Yi couldn’t find a stable way to make money. Although he was now much stronger than ordinary people. The root of the problem was still that he wasn’t strong enough. If he were a Martial Artist now, families and escort agencies would vie to have him sit in, and the City Lord’s Mansion would also have a place for him. ’Still need to develop slowly.’ Lou Yi took a deep breath, suppressing all his restless emotions. ... ’Crack!’ ’Crack!’ ’Crack!’ A big tree, requiring even a person’s arms to encircle it, stood at seven or eight meters tall, was now ’buzzing’ with tremors, its branches swaying, wood chips flying everywhere, and the notch on its trunk expanding rapidly to the naked eye. It was evident what level of force was being applied to its ’body’. The Woodcutter, nearly 1.8 meters tall, with well-developed muscles stretching his clothes tightly, gave the impression that his strength was about to explode. Every swing seemed to make the tree emit exaggerated ’screams’. Other woodcutters around stayed far away, occasionally casting looks of awe. Lou Yi pretended to progress bit by bit each day during this period, to not arouse suspicion from progressing too quickly. Currently, he could start chopping eight or nine trees, without accounting for being late or leaving early, spending less time than others did. His individual yield was equivalent to at least three people’s. By comparison, the achievement of killing two wolves seemed unremarkable. Fortunately, he chopped many trees to afford his increasingly large food intake. "AYi." Yang the Fatty, the Jia Family Steward, wearing a clean set of blue cloth garments, and stepping in black leather boots, walked over with ’ta-da-ta’ sounds, evidently having something to say. The two of them came to a secluded spot behind the forest to talk. "Master Yang, what’s up?" "AYi, I’m asking you, do you want to switch to another line of work? You’re born with Divine Power, cutting trees here is a waste of talent." "Please, Master Yang, advise?" "Eh, don’t call me Master Yang in the future; it feels distant, just call me Brother Yang." Yang the Fatty pondered for a moment and then got to the point, "My Jia Family always craves talent, the Landlord has heard of your capabilities and is quite interested, asking if you’d like to become a guard?" "A guard?" "The Jia Family has many businesses, and this little mountain is just one of them; they’re looking for capable people to guard it. Our Landlord is also targeted by petty people, sometimes encountering dangers, and need someone for personal protection." Yang the Fatty extended a finger, "Food and lodging are provided, first-year’s monthly pay is one tael, increasing by ten percent each subsequent year, plus substantial bonuses at the end of the year." Lou Yi understood, the Jia Family clearly fancied his martial prowess and wanted him to risk his life for them. Strong and able to kill two wolves, he was considered elite among ordinary folk. A monthly pay of one tael wasn’t actually that much more than he had now, but the key was that meals were provided, saving him many Copper Plates. Don’t underestimate the importance of food; most of Lou Yi’s current expenses were spent in that area, and he was sometimes struggling. Of course, there were many downsides. For one, it was definitely more dangerous than now, who knows what businesses the Jia family did, whether legal or not, what dangers the Landlord might encounter. More importantly, once you became a guard, you’d definitely have to sign a contract. Although it wouldn’t be an overbearing master-servant contract, even the loosest agreement would significantly restrain personal freedom. At that point, it wouldn’t be very convenient to go out and search for fresh corpses, right? Thinking it over, Lou Yi declined, "Brother Yang, thank the Landlord for his kind offer for me. But I’m used to being wild and can’t settle down." Yang the Fatty wasn’t angry hearing this, rather he smiled and expressed understanding, "I know you have concerns, after all, with your father’s great name, coming to our Jia Family as a guard would be beneath you." "Whenever you change your mind, just come find me." He casually patted Lou Yi’s shoulder and left gracefully. ’How fitting, you even helped me with a reason.’ Lou Yi stood there, chuckled, and went back to chopping trees. ... "Xiao Qing, Xiao Qing where are you running to?" "I’ve caught you, I’ve finally caught you!" "Hehehe..." On the way back to the village, Lou Yi encountered Zhou Erfan again. This simpleton was squatting in the paddy field, patches on his pants revealing a large torn hole, gripping a struggling frog in his hands, with both of the frog’s legs already torn off. Upon hearing the commotion, he turned around to reveal his jet-black face, with remnants of blood at the corners of his mouth, making him look quite sinister. "Don’t eat that; it’ll make you sick." Lou Yi frowned, fetching a flatbread from his pocket and handing it to him. "Bing, bing, ... tasty, tasty..." Zhou Erfan stuffed the bread ravenously into his mouth and then resumed playing his frog-catching game. ’Respect others’ fate.’ Lou Yi shook his head, knowing that talking sense into this simpleton was futile, he could only let him hope for his own good fortune. As he neared home, he began to hear the barking of dogs and the cries of children. It sounded a lot like Dogwa’s voice. "Not good!" Lou Yi’s heart raced, he sprinted swiftly, reaching the front gate of his house in a few strides. Eight or nine-year-old Dogwa was collapsed on the ground, unable to get up, his face covered in tears and fear. Beside him, the chubby lad Qi Silang was gleefully watching his big black dog baring its teeth, circling Dogwa, continually shouting, "Bite him, bite this beggar!" ’Smack!’ A stone suddenly struck the black dog on its head, startling it into a whimpering retreat. "Who is it?" Qi Silang was furious and turned to see Lou Yi with a sullen face. At this moment, Lou Yi appeared larger and more muscular than even his older brother, exuding an aura of power. His eyes seemed to emit a murderous intent, and when he clenched his fists, there was an explosive ’puh-puh-puh’ sound. With the black dog not by his side, Qi Silang’s face turned fearful, hurriedly turned around to run home, even tripping over in the process. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Lou Yi quickly picked Dogwa up from the ground. Dogwa cried, "Uncle Lou, there are bad people at my house, help my mom quickly!" "What?!" Lou Yi was shocked and angered. ...