I asked you to go hunting, and you ended up wearing a yellow robe?

At the same time, at Li's residence.

The study was dimly lit.

Li Long, dressed in casual clothes, was playing with two iron balls in his hand, which made a crisp clinking sound.

On the desk lay a newly opened secret letter, next to a gleaming gold ingot.

Deputy General Wang glanced at the confidential letter on the table: "Sir, are they pressing us hard?"

Li Long nodded and said, "Yes!"

"Have you made contact with Black Dragon Village yet?"

"Reporting to your Excellency, the chieftain One-Eyed Dragon has already received the silver, and there are three hundred men, fully armed."

Li Long's voice was icy: "Pass on my order."

"Tonight, withdraw all the border troops and sentries from the back mountain, let the Black Dragon Village down the mountain, and tell One-Eyed Dragon that there's no need to wait for the autumn harvest; we'll take action tonight. Leave no one alive in the villages surrounding Qi Mountain."

"yes!"

As night deepened, the Qi family courtyard...

Lin Wan sat on the bed.

Tonight it's her turn.

Although I was afraid, I felt an indescribable anticipation.

This man has changed. He has become someone who makes her feel secure, and even makes her feel that being his woman is a blessing.

The door hinges turned, and Qi Shan quietly walked in.

Lin Wan lowered her head, her cheeks flushed red, and her heart pounded.

Lin Wan crawled into bed, her body stiffening.

Qi Shan lay down beside her, not in a hurry to move, but reached out and pulled her into his arms.

The man's body temperature emanated through her thin clothes, causing Lin Wan to tremble slightly.

"Don't be afraid," Qi Shan said softly.

His hand slowly moved up along Lin Wan's waistline.

Lin Wan closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling violently, her hands gripping the corner of the blanket tightly.

The night breeze blew through the window.

The wooden bed inside the room began to make a rhythmic shaking sound.

Lin Wan initially bit her lip, but later she couldn't help but make soft, rustling sounds.

Qi Shan's movements were not rough; on the contrary, they carried a sense of composure and control over the overall situation.

He knew all too well how to break down a woman's defenses; the endurance and precision of a special forces soldier were on full display at this moment.

All night long.

Lin Wan didn't know how many times she had fallen asleep, but she felt as if she were floating on clouds, and her bones felt weak.

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed into the room through the cracks in the window.

Qi Shan opened his eyes.

Lin Wan was still fast asleep in his arms, her cheeks flushed and a trace of tears in the corner of her eyes.

She clung to Qi Shan like an octopus, sleeping soundly.

Qi Shan reached out and brushed the stray hairs from her forehead.

Lin Wan noticed the movement and groggily opened her eyes.

Upon seeing Qi Shan's face clearly, she instantly sobered up, her face turning red to the roots of her neck. She quickly pulled the blanket over half of her face, leaving only her watery eyes exposed.

"Awake?" Qi Shan leaned over and kissed her through the blanket.

Lin Wan was too embarrassed to reply, and mumbled softly, "Husband, it's dawn, we should get up..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qi Shan lifted the blanket and pressed down on him again.

"No rush."

The sound of fabric rubbing came from inside the room again.

Lin Wan struggled symbolically for a couple of moments, then gave in softly.

Three poles in the sun.

Qi Shancai got out of bed feeling refreshed.

Lin Wan was so ashamed that she hid in the kitchen to tend the fire, too embarrassed to face anyone.

Qi Shan disposed of the tiger and deer simply and took them to Baibaolou, the largest leather goods store in the county town, using the village's only oxcart.

The shopkeeper was a lean old man who was fiddling with an abacus, barely lifting his eyelids.

But when he saw the almost intact tiger skin and the plump sika deer, the abacus beads stopped spinning.

"Young man, did you... did you do all of this by yourself?"

In previous years, hunting a fully grown tiger like this would have required a dozen or so top-notch hunters working together to encircle and annihilate it, and would have resulted in the loss of three to five hunters.

"Luckily, it ran right into my knife."

The shopkeeper's lips twitched.

Good luck?

If this gets out, the ancestral graves of all the hunters around the county town will be so angry they'll be emitting green smoke.

He carefully examined the tiger carcass and found that the only fatal wound was a clean, neat cut in the abdomen, and the tiger's claws were severed in two.

This is no hunting; it's a crushing slaughter!

The shopkeeper's gaze towards Qi Shan completely changed, from looking at an ordinary villager to looking at a walking demon.

"Brave warrior...no, sir! Name your price!"

In the end, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth and offered the exorbitant price of forty taels of silver for the tiger skin, tiger bones, tiger meat, and the sika deer.

Clutching the heavy silver coins, Qi Shan felt a little uneasy.

The heads of ten notorious bandits are only worth thirty taels of silver.

This beast, however, is worth forty taels.

In this world, human life is sometimes less valuable than that of animals.

Instead of going home, he turned around and went into a blacksmith shop in the west of the city.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The furnace was burning brightly, and a burly blacksmith was swinging his hammer to smash a red-hot iron billet.

"Boss, I need to ask you something." Qi Shan cut to the chase, slapping several sketches filled with various parts onto the workbench. "Can these be made?"

The blacksmith put down his hammer, picked up the blueprints, and his brows furrowed instantly.

The parts on the drawings were oddly shaped, with various slots, shafts, and triggers; their intricate structure was something he had never heard of before.

"What...what kind of mechanism is this?"

"It's too complicated. There are some parts that require a level of precision that my equipment can't handle."

"I'll do my best. A little less precision is fine," Qi Shan said in a deep voice. "I need two sets, as fast as possible. How much?"

"This job is too demanding; it will take three to five days to finish. One set... costs at least five taels of silver."

Five taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family to live on for a year.

Qi Shan immediately offered two ingots of silver:

"I'll give you ten taels."

"We'll do it tonight, and I'll come pick it up the day after tomorrow morning. Money is no problem."

The blacksmith stared wide-eyed at the gleaming silver, then suddenly thumped his chest:

"Don't worry, sir! My apprentices and I won't sleep tonight. We'll work until our eyes pop out, but we'll get the job done for you!"

Two days later, at dawn.

Qi Shan received two sets of parts that were somewhat rough but structurally complete, as promised.

When he got home, he locked himself in his room, and Zhou Xue and Lin Wan could only hear a series of clanging and knocking sounds coming from inside.

Half an hour later, Qi Shan came out carrying two strangely shaped bows.

It is shorter than a regular bow, and has a wooden quiver and a handle for stringing the bow.

"Husband, what is this?" Su Yue asked curiously, her big eyes blinking.

"nice one."

Qi Shan picked up a gun, aimed it at the old locust tree in the yard, and pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

There was no drawing of the bow, only the soft click of the mechanism, and five short arrows were fired in quick succession in a single breath, all embedding themselves in the tree trunk, their fletching still buzzing.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Su Yue clapped her hands, her eyes filled with admiration.

But then, tilting her head slightly, she asked uncertainly, "Husband, this is... a repeating crossbow?"

Qi Shan was taken aback.

This little brat knows what this thing is?

What he made was a simplified version of the standard crossbow used by special forces in his previous life. It utilized the principles of levers and gears, making it an absolute game-changer in this era.

Before he could ask, Zhou Xue explained softly:

"Husband, have you forgotten? Yue'er's father used to be a craftsman in the Ordnance Bureau, but he was demoted to civilian status after committing a crime. She has been studying various military blueprints with her father since she was a child."

Qi Shan suddenly looked at Su Yue, as if he were seeing his young wife for the first time.

That's it!

Su Yue felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, her face flushed slightly. She stepped forward, picked up another repeating crossbow, and began to fumble with it, muttering to herself:

"My lord, this is ingenious... However, if the crossbow arm were made of oil-soaked mulberry wood, its toughness would be better, and the range would be 30% greater. Also, this mechanism can be simplified further by combining the two gears into one, which would save half the effort of cocking the crossbow and increase the rate of fire..."

As she spoke, she gestured with her fingers to indicate the name, her eyes focused and bright, completely unlike her usual timid demeanor.

Qi Shan was utterly shocked.

He was just a user who drew a rough structure from memory.

Su Yue, however, could immediately see the advantages and disadvantages and propose improvement plans!

This is no timid little girl; she's practically a walking arsenal!

I've struck gold!

Qi Shan felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Looking at Su Yue's cute yet earnest little face, he wished he could take her back to the house right now and give her a good "reward".

He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Su Yue's slender waist from behind, rested his chin on her hair, and chuckled softly:

"My little Yue'er is so amazing, tonight... I'll have to teach you some new things and review your lessons."

Su Yue's body went limp instantly, her cheeks flushed crimson, and she whispered in a barely audible voice, "Husband...you're so naughty..."

As night deepened, the candlelight flickered inside the room.

Just as Qi Shan was preparing to have an in-depth exchange on human anatomy with his little genius.

...........

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The courtyard gate was being pounded on so loudly it was deafening, the sound urgent as if demanding death.

Qi Shan frowned, put on his clothes, and opened the door.

Jia Hui was standing there, holding a fine horse by the hand. She was dressed in a plain-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her clothes fluttering in the wind, exuding a clean and neat temperament.

She wasn't wearing a headscarf, and her jet-black hair was blown by the night wind, fluttering gently in the breeze, giving her an even more heroic and graceful air than when she was dressed as a man.

Wearing women's clothing, she was indeed quite different; Qi Shan almost didn't recognize her.

"Qi Shan! Let's go!"

"The people of Black Dragon Village have gone mad! They've come down the mountain early tonight!"

"Li Long has withdrawn all the sentries from the back mountain, and three hundred bandits on horseback are charging towards your village!"

"If we don't run now, it'll be too late!"