Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Chaos The first time hunting in the mountains, the harvest was plentiful. But they also witnessed the various dangers: Zhang Ze's carelessness almost cost him his life, the hunters of the Li family fortress harbored ill intentions, and the beasts and poisonous insects lurking in the jungle—all were potential threats. Gu Sheng was even more determined in his heart that he must exercise utmost caution when entering the mountains in the future. No matter how skilled his archery became, he couldn't afford to be complacent, or else he wouldn't even know how he met his end. The four of them carried the wild boar back to the manor. Immediately, they attracted waves of exclamations and envious gazes. "Er Niu, you guys have such good luck! You've managed to hunt down a wild boar again this time!" "Next time you're heading into the mountains, you must let me tag along!" Some hunters, seeing their harvest, couldn't help but feel jealous. Gu Erniu simply grinned honestly and nodded. Back home, the four of them began dividing the wild boar according to the agreed shares. The wild boar was decent in yield—nearly three hundred pounds of boar could offer a meat yield of about fifty to sixty percent. Gu Sheng got twenty-five percent, about forty to fifty pounds of boar meat; the rest included pig bones, blood, and other odds and ends. Seeing the abundant spoils, everyone's faces finally lit up with smiles again. No matter how dangerous this hunting trip had been, the outcome was good. A pound of wild boar meat could be exchanged for about three pounds of millet. With this meat, even those who needed to support their families could manage comfortably for a while. If they were frugal and supplemented it with rice husks, they might not need to hunt in the mountains for one or two months! As for Gu Sheng, living alone without needing to feed a family, it was even better. However, Gu Sheng was currently focused on rapidly strengthening his body, so he never limited himself in terms of food. He made sure to eat meat with every meal, and rice was always plentiful. His personal consumption was quite significant. Still, no matter how much he consumed, this was undeniably a particularly fruitful haul. Such excellent harvests rarely occurred, even across an entire year of hunting. "If calculated based on market prices, this haul alone would be worth at least one or two taels of silver. Truly high risk, high reward!" Gu Sheng sighed inwardly. "If I sell a portion of the boar meat for money and combine it with the savings I already have, I'll have enough to pay the one-tael martial arts tuition fee! But it's not urgent for now; I'll first meet my nutritional needs. Since hunting can now bring in money, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn more in the future." He was in a very good mood. The speed at which hunting accumulated wealth was far faster than chopping wood—an entirely different league. "Once I've entered the mountains a few more times with Er Niu and the others, gain some experience, and my archery reaches Great Success, I can try hunting alone." "The martial arts tuition fee is only the beginning; the subsequent expenditures are the real bulk. I need to save as much money as possible!" "But for now, I'd better go trade some millet—eating rice husks every day has become tiresome!" If it were just about bad taste, Gu Sheng might be able to tolerate it, but the key issue was its low nutritional value and lack of satiety. Now that his circumstances had improved, he naturally wanted to trade for some millet. Not that he was expecting to eat millet at every meal, but he could at least mix it in occasionally. Watching Gu Youfu and Zhang Ze leave, Gu Sheng also said goodbye to Gu Erniu: "Er Niu, I'm off to trade for some millet. Leave the meat here for now; I'll come back for it later." Gu Erniu immediately replied: "Wait a moment, it just so happens that my family's out of rice too—I'll go with you." The two walked together toward the trading post in the manor. The so-called market was essentially just a small trading point. After all, Gu's Manor only had about a thousand households. This trading post was originally established by the manor's main household for procurement purposes. Over time, it gradually evolved into a place where villagers also exchanged goods, though the scale was very small—usually involving trades like a chunk of meat for a pound of rice. In troubled times, with bandits and marauders everywhere, ordinary villagers could only stay huddled within the manor. If they wanted to go to Canghe County, they'd have to join a convoy from the manor. Every so often. The manor would dispatch martial artists to accompany the convoy, heading to Canghe County to procure supplies for the villagers to trade. Though prices were slightly higher than buying supplies directly in town, the difference wasn't much, and safety was guaranteed. Gu's Manor was still fairly conscientious. Gu Erniu guided Gu Sheng to the only official trading point with practiced familiarity, greeting Manager Wang with a cheerful smile: "Manager Wang, I've come to trade some millet." The middle-aged manager, squinting in the sunlight, immediately widened his eyes. Seeing Gu Erniu, his expression turned even more cheerful: "Er Niu, ah, wow, you've hunted another wild boar—impressive!" "You young rascal, ever since you entered the mountains with Lord Changming, fortune has favored you!" Gu Erniu quickly responded modestly: "It's all thanks to Lord Changming's blessings. Otherwise, I'd never be so lucky." Manager Wang chuckled and nodded, pulling out a scale. "How much millet do you want to exchange?" Gu Erniu handed over the wild boar meat Gu Sheng was carrying. "Altogether, this is twenty pounds of boar meat. How much can I get for it?" "This meat looks pretty good. Still the same rate: one pound of meat for three pounds of millet. I'll give you sixty pounds of millet." Gu Erniu expressed his gratitude repeatedly, while Gu Sheng stood quietly behind, watching the two chat without intervening. Since Gu Erniu had developed some connection with Gu Changming during their previous trip to the mountains, many people now treated him with greater courtesy—especially the manor's managers, who were aware that Gu Changming had promised to lend Er Niu a hand if he ever needed it. Seeing them packing the millet, Manager Wang hesitated for a moment, then pulled Gu Erniu aside and whispered: "If you're planning to trade for rice, you'd better exchange more while you can." Gu Erniu, no fool, immediately grasped the implication. His eyes widened as he asked: "Are you saying the rice prices are about to go up?" "Keep your voice down. I heard it from Manager Gu Renxu, who handles the procurement. Yun Province is suffering from a severe drought, with no harvest, and it's been devastating. Grain from surrounding provinces has been sent there, and I hear there's been military conflict..." "We're far from Yun Province over here in Canghe County, so the impact is smaller, but rising grain prices are inevitable—it's only a matter of time. These are chaotic times, indeed..." Manager Wang couldn't help but sigh, his face showing concern. Against the tides of history, a small trading manager like him, let alone Gu's Manor, was nothing more than a speck of dust. Gu Erniu's face paled. In truth, he didn't have much understanding of what Yun Province entailed—after all, the farthest he'd traveled in life was Canghe County. But he knew all too well what rising grain prices would mean for common folk. Life would become significantly more difficult. Gu Sheng, with his innate wisdom from a past life, had a broader perspective than Gu Erniu. Hearing this unexpected news, his heart sank. If it were merely a drought, it could still be viewed as a natural disaster. But if drought was followed by war, it signified that the dynasty had already lost its order, and chaos was beginning to unfold! Natural disasters and human calamities, a collapsing dynasty—the difficulty of survival would multiply. Lines of emaciated corpses, desperate parents trading children for food—it would no longer just be stories in books. Gu Sheng couldn't help but ask: "May I ask, Manager Wang, do you know the situation of the battles in Yun Province? Was it a rebellion of refugees or an uprising of rogue armies? Is the fighting still ongoing?" Manager Wang glanced at Gu Sheng in surprise but shook his head and replied: "I'm not clear about the specifics. Manager Gu Renxu mentioned hearing it from a storyteller—the news reached us about a month ago. The fighting is likely over by now, but the aftermath there will certainly take time to clean up. Stockpiling more rice definitely won't hurt." Gu Sheng let out a sigh of relief. If the rebellion was swiftly suppressed, it meant the dynasty still had deep roots and wasn't collapsing just yet. What Gu Sheng feared most was full-scale national chaos; in such a scenario, survival would become a matter of chance, with no room for self-preservation at all.