The treehouse was silent.
Chai Xiaomi couldn't tell if the youth was truly asleep or just didn't want to deal with her.
The furnishings inside the hut were exceedingly sparse.
The straw mat Wu Li slept on could barely be called a bed, a carelessly made piece of coarse linen with crude stitching served as his blanket, and there wasn't even a pillow.
On the other side were a wooden bucket and dipper for washing. In the corner, a small, dilapidated wooden cabinet held his clothes, with a patched-together curtain tied to it, likely used for privacy while changing.
The cabinet was old and worn, but the clothes inside were neatly folded and stacked. One compartment was dedicated entirely to books, stuffed full. Chai Xiaomi noticed many of them were Chinese texts.
Had Wu Li learned his Chinese from these books?
She pulled one out and sprawled listlessly on the table to read. The light from the tung oil lamp grew weaker and weaker. Her eyelids felt heavy as lead, yet she had nowhere to sleep.
Chai Xiaomi propped her chin on her interlaced fingers and let out a long yawn.
Suddenly, the prompt from Youtiao (the system) sounded:
"Host, please note! The female lead is about to appear on this map. Prepare to enter the main storyline."
Chai Xiaomi's drowsy eyes snapped wide open.
Wu Li's words from before he slept suddenly surfaced in her mind.
He said that tomorrow morning he was going hunting, and also to Yuebai.
Yuebai, Yuebai...
That place name sounded somewhat familiar.
Ah, she remembered!
The female lead first appeared in Yuebai, the largest stockade village in Miaojiang, with a large population, most of whom were Dong people.
It was said that the chief of Yuebai, Qi Lao, possessed a Phantom Stone capable of absorbing the power of demonic spirits for one's own use.
Meanwhile, the Central Plains were embroiled in war, with evil spirits rising everywhere and humanity fighting amongst itself.
Warlords vied for supremacy. The female lead's father, the lord of Liangya Prefecture, sought to obtain this Phantom Stone through a marriage alliance and trade with Yuebai.
Song Yueyao, though a noble princess, was not favored. With her mother deceased early and her father doting on his concubine-born children, she was used as a pawn and married off.
Song Yueyao had grown up as a hostage in Lingyu Prefecture and was only brought back to Liangya Prefecture after her coming-of-age ceremony.
She had grown up alongside the male lead in Lingyu Prefecture, childhood sweethearts.
The male lead was Jiang Zhiyu, the young master of Lingyu Prefecture. Though a hostage, under his protection, Song Yueyao never suffered any hardship.
Upon learning Song Yueyao was to be married off to Yuebai for the alliance, Jiang Zhiyu immediately set out in secret to intercept the wedding and take her away.
Around that same time, Wu Li also fell for Song Yueyao at first sight and sought ways to get close to her, wanting to plant a love gu (love bug) in her.
His first step in approaching Song Yueyao was to obtain the Phantom Stone from Chief Qi Lao and personally present it to her.
And from that day on, Song Yueyao let her guard down around Wu Li and treated him as a friend.
By the middle of the main story, no one suspected Wu Li's motives were impure. It wasn't until later, when Song Yueyao accidentally witnessed him using cruel methods to kill a cannon-fodder female side character, that he fully revealed his dark side and parted ways with the protagonist group.
"So I can't let Wu Li get the Phantom Stone! As long as he doesn't have the Phantom Stone to give to the female lead, she won't lower her guard against him so quickly."
"Correct, host. You steal the Phantom Stone first, thus depriving the antagonist of one opportunity to get close to the female lead." Youtiao expressed strong agreement, but then fell into worry. "But he doesn't seem inclined to take you to Yuebai. He wants you to stay here and not leave a single step."
"That's easy to handle." Chai Xiaomi slowly curved the corners of her lips into a smile.
Not long ago, she had discovered one of Wu Li's weaknesses.
He seemed to absolutely hate seeing others shed tears.
It wasn't sympathy or pity, but simple irritation, the disdain in his eyes quite evident.
Fortunately, there was no killing intent.
The next day.
The youth rose before dawn. His gaze swept over the girl sleeping slumped on the table, and he subconsciously frowned.
He hadn't slept well last night. Having another person suddenly in his long-solitary space made him deeply uncomfortable.
Even though her breathing was very, very light, a strange, subtle fragrance kept wafting into his nostrils.
He had an innate, keen sense of smell and was extremely sensitive to scents.
That wisp of fragrance was faint and elusive, and he couldn't tell where it came from. It seemed particularly noticeable around her wrists and neck.
The Miao girls all had the habit of making perfumes, but he hadn't noticed any sachets on her.
He had pondered it half the night without figuring it out.
He paid her no further mind, took down the bow from the wall, and ducked out of the treehouse.
Slinging the crossbow across his back, Wu Li agilely climbed down the rope ladder hanging from the tree trunk to the ground.
Then, he curled his fingers and let out a sharp whistle.
A clear, long cry responded from the distance. A dark shadow pierced through the morning mist—a falcon shot out like an arrow and landed steadily on his raised arm.
"Ah Nan, find traces of the wild boar."
The falcon understood, flapped its wings, and vanished into the dense forest in an instant.
The news of the marriage alliance between Yuebai and Liangya Prefecture had long spread throughout the Miaojiang lands.
As the largest stockade in Miaojiang, whenever a major event occurred, surrounding villages were required to present generous gifts as a sign of respect.
Hunting a wild boar was the common task assigned by the chief to Chi Lie's group and Wu Li this time. Though termed 'common,' the burden invariably fell on his shoulders alone.
Wild boars were fierce and rare, hiding deep in the mountains and difficult to hunt. The deep mountains were also frequented by evil spirits.
This dangerous chore was always, as a matter of course, pushed onto him by the clan.
Chi Lie, being the nephew of the high priest, was always domineering. If Wu Li disobeyed, the Crimson Blood Silkworm planted within his body would activate, gnawing at his sinews and eroding his bones, making life a living hell.
Wu Li stepped alone into the mist-shrouded depths of the forest, where the woods were hazy and indistinct.
He had long since detected the follower behind him.
The corner of Wu Li's mouth lifted in a cold smile. Chi Lie, ever competitive and eager to win, would always seize the prey he hunted, drag it back to the village, and claim it as his own achievement, eliciting gasps of admiration and awe from the village girls.
Today would be no exception.
The moment he shot the boar, Chi Lie would surely appear and claim the prize.
The falcon's search was swift.
Wu Li found the wild boar with little effort.
Chi Lie, hiding in the bushes, clicked his tongue in envy. If only he could take that eagle for himself too.
Who knew where Wu Li had gotten such an obedient beast from... then again, he himself was a beast. Only beasts could understand the language of beasts.
Driven by jealousy, Chi Lie thought resentfully.
Wu Li fired his arrow without hesitation. The moment the arrow shot unerringly into the boar's forehead, he said calmly, "No need to hide. Come out."
Chi Lie swaggered out from the bushes with a gleeful, gloating air. He busied himself for a moment tying the prepared hemp rope around the dying boar, then turned and cursed, "What are you staring at? Come over and help, you bastard mongrel!"
As usual, Chi Lie not only took the prey but also ordered Wu Li to help him drag it back to the village.
This time, however, Wu Li didn't move a muscle.
Not only did he not step forward, but he also unhurriedly drew another arrow from his quiver and steadily nocked it on the bowstring.
Wu Li calmly raised his bow. The arrowhead tilted slightly, aiming precisely in Chi Lie's direction.
An aura of gloomy, cold ferocity emanated from him. He tilted his head and hooked a playful smile, as if appraising an interesting piece of prey.
"If you don't run now," he softly reminded, though his tone was full of dangerous implication, "it'll be too late."
Chi Lie was first startled, then erupted in fury. "You lowborn wretch! Have you forgotten what you are? How dare you point an arrow at me?"
Wu Li said nothing, merely hooking the bowstring with his slender fingers and slowly drawing it to a full moon.
The mist grew heavier, yet it did not affect his accuracy in the slightest.
Chi Lie knew that Wu Li's archery was the best in the entire stockade; likely, no one in all the Central Plains could surpass him.
He could even shoot a single arrow through a fly swirling in the air.
A chill suddenly shot up his spine. Chi Lie's face paled, then twisted into a snarl. "If you dare harm me, the Grand Priest will make you beg for death! I will ask the Grand Priest to perform rites, to ensure your mother suffers eternally in the underworld without release, to bind your soul forever after death, making you a servant of the mountain spirits!"
"Swish—"
The instant the arrow left the string, its fletching grazed the silver ornament on Wu Li's earlobe, the stirred breeze brushing against his long eyelashes and the hair at his temples.
The youth's profile was as clear, cold, and handsome as if carved by a knife, breathtakingly beautiful and fiercely striking in that moment, causing Chai Xiaomi, hidden behind the tree, to miss a heartbeat.
The sharp arrowhead skimmed past Chi Lie's face, missing by a hair's breadth, leaving only a shallow cut.
Chi Lie let out a heavy breath.
Just as he thought, this bastard didn't dare do anything to him.
He was just about to curl his lip in a sneer, to mock Wu Li for being a coward, when an ear-splitting roar suddenly erupted from behind him, shaking the very ground beneath his feet.
Countless birds in the mountains were startled into a flurry, taking flight towards the sky.
