In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

One victory is enough to wash away all fatigue and fear.

The men unleashed an amazing amount of energy.

They bandaged each other's wounds and then began to deal with the enormous spoils.

Gut, disembowel, cut apart.

The scene was still bloody, but the atmosphere was completely different.

Everyone's face was beaming with a genuine smile.

They worked while secretly glancing at Qin Shaolang.

This man gave them the courage to live, and even more so, the means to live.

From this day forward, the people in the valley will no longer have to go hungry.

When this bloody group appeared at the entrance of the valley, carrying one wild boar after another, the entire valley erupted in excitement.

The women, children, and elderly who stayed behind were terrified when they saw them looking as if they had crawled out of hell.

But when they saw what those men were carrying on their shoulders, their fear turned to stunned silence.

Then came ecstasy.

"Meat!"

"It's meat! My God! It's wild boar!"

A woman covered her mouth, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

The entire valley was immersed in an unreal joy.

Qin Shaolang ignored the cheers behind him.

He walked through the crowd and headed straight for his dilapidated wooden hut.

Su Jin and Su Tang were waiting anxiously at the door.

Seeing Qin Shaolang walk back covered in blood, Su Tang turned pale with fright and hid behind her sister.

Su Jin's heart clenched, but she forced herself to remain calm and went to meet her.

"You...you're injured?"

Her voice carried a concern she herself was unaware of.

Qin Shaolang shook his head.

He didn't speak, but simply turned to the side, avoiding the view from behind.

Su Jin looked in the direction he was looking.

She saw the caravan heading into the valley, and the mountains of pork they were carrying on their shoulders.

She saw the expressions of ecstasy on the faces of the people in the valley.

She turned back and looked at the man in front of her, who was covered in blood but had a calm expression.

This man, using the bloodiest methods, brought the most tangible hope to this land of despair.

Qin Shaolang walked past her and went into the house.

He was exhausted; his body and mind had reached their limits.

As soon as he entered the door, he swayed and almost fell.

A slender hand caught his arm just in time.

It's Su Jin.

Qin Shaolang's body was very heavy.

The tension that had sustained him through the massacre completely dissipated the moment he entered the house.

Exhaustion surged like a tide from every corner of his body, threatening to engulf him in an instant.

A soft yet firm strength came from my arm.

It's Su Jin.

Her hands were small, and even through her coarse cloth clothes, Qin Shaolang could almost feel the warmth of her palms and their slight trembling.

But she held on very steadily.

"I'm fine," Qin Shaolang said softly, trying to straighten up.

But he overestimated himself.

The continuous high-intensity battles and intense mental concentration had already drained the last bit of strength from his body.

Not only did he lose his balance, but his body went limp again, and most of his weight fell on Su Jin.

A faint, pleasant fragrance wafted over; it wasn't any expensive spice, just the scent of soapberry mixed with sunshine.

Very clean.

Su Jin's body stiffened for a moment.

She had never been so close to an adult man before.

The man's body smelled strongly of blood and sweat, a mixture that was unpleasant and even somewhat pungent.

But she didn't push him away.

She gritted her teeth and used her thin shoulders to support this man who was as heavy as a mountain.

"elder sister!"

Su Tang's voice, trembling with tears, came from the doorway.

She was so frightened when she saw Qin Shaolang fall on top of her sister that she almost burst into tears.

"Don't come any closer!" Su Jin immediately stopped her, her voice trembling slightly. "Go...go boil some water! Boil a lot!"

Su Tang was taken aback for a moment, but she always listened to her sister.

She wiped away her tears, glanced at the man covered in blood, then at her sister struggling to stay afloat, nodded heavily, and turned to run towards the simple stove.

Qin Shaolang took a deep breath, forcibly mustered a bit of strength, and leaned against the wooden wall beside him, slowly straightening his body.

"Thanks."

His voice remained flat, revealing no emotion.

Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a slight numbness in her arm.

She didn't respond, but silently took a step back, keeping her distance from him.

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat tense.

Qin Shaolang looked around the bare house, his gaze finally settling on Su Tang, who was busy at the stove.

The little girl was diligently stuffing firewood into the stove, her face flushed red in the firelight, and she would occasionally steal a glance in this direction.

Qin Shaolang's lips curled up into a barely perceptible, tiny smile.

He walked to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and poured it over his head.

The cold water washed away the blood and exhaustion from my body.

He shut his mouth, letting the blood flow down his cheeks and wet the ground beneath his feet.

He poured three buckets of cold water on himself before he felt his mind clear up a bit.

Most of the bloodstains on his body were washed away, revealing several cuts made by the wild boar's tusks.

The wound wasn't deep, but it looked rather gruesome.

Su Jin watched him silently the whole time.

Seeing those wounds made her heart clench again.

Without saying anything, she turned and walked to the wooden box in the corner, rummaged through it and found a piece of relatively clean linen, and then took out a small earthenware jar.

That was the wound medicine Qin Shaolang had used to treat his wounds before.

She walked over to Qin Shaolang and handed him the things.

Qin Shaolang glanced at her, took the pottery jar, but did not take the piece of linen.

Use hot water.

After he finished speaking, he opened the earthenware jar, scooped out the ointment with his fingers, and casually applied it to the wounds on his arms and calves.

His movements were rough, as if it weren't his own body.

Su Jin's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she swallowed it back.

She walked to the stove and waited for Su Tang to boil the water. Then, she used a cracked earthenware pot to scoop out half a pot of hot water and carefully carried it over.

"Use this to wipe it."

Her voice was very low.

After treating his wound, Qin Shaolang looked up at the steaming water in the basin, then at Su Jin.

This time, he did not refuse.

He took the earthenware basin, soaked the burlap in hot water, wrung it out, and began to carefully wipe the bloodstains off his body.

With hot water, the sticky feeling on my body quickly disappeared.

After changing into a clean set of old clothes, Qin Shao-Lang felt as if he had finally come back to life.

He sat down on a small wooden stool, closed his eyes, and prepared to rest for a while.

However, the noise from the valley could be clearly heard through the cracks in the wooden house.

"Hahaha! Time for meat! We're having meat tonight!"

"This pig is mine! I chopped it three times!"

"Bullshit! I was the one who stabbed it first!"

"Stop arguing! The master said these all belong to everyone!"