Abandoning literature for martial arts, starting by unleashing the beauty's bow.

The people from Shangjie Village lost and refused to pay their debts.

The people of Mao'er Village naturally objected, but Zhao Dagui waved his hand and led the villagers to rush up the embankment.

Not to be outdone, the villagers from Shangjie Village picked up sickles and hoes and charged forward menacingly.

Lu Fengnian frowned, anger rising in his heart. He tightened his grip on the hunting bow, preparing to take action.

At this moment, Yang Kai shouted, "Stop right there!"

Upon hearing this, all the villagers of Shangjie Village stopped in their tracks and turned their gazes toward Yang Kai.

Yang Kai raised his head slightly. "Zhao Gang is Zhao Gang, and I am me. If I lose, I lose. I, Yang Kai, can afford to lose."

"Break the dike, and the river water will be divided equally between Mao'er Village!"

The villagers of Shangjie Village were clearly hesitant.

Yang Kai added, "I will take responsibility for the consequences of the arrow I lost."

Within six months, I will give each of your households three qian of silver.

Upon hearing this, the villagers of Shangjie Village sprang into action, grabbing hoes and beginning to dig the dike.

Lu Fengnian turned his gaze to Yang Kai.

Just then, Yang Kai also turned his gaze over.

The two locked eyes.

Although Yang Kai lost the arrow battle, he did not admit defeat. His eyes were fixed on Lu Fengnian with a sharp gaze.

Lu Fengnian smiled slightly and nodded at Yang Kai.

This reaction caught Yang Kai off guard, and his expression became noticeably embarrassed.

He then forced a smile and nodded in response to Lu Fengnian.

Lu Fengnian slung the bow and arrows over his back, slowly turned around, and walked down the embankment.

At this moment, Zhao Tianming hurriedly spoke up: "Fengnian, Gang'er is still being held by the people from Shangjie Village. You have to save him."

Yang Kai frowned and turned his gaze to Lu Fengnian, waiting for his response.

Lu Fengnian continued walking, looking at Zhao Tianming calmly, "When you came to me yesterday, you didn't mention this matter."

Bringing this up today would definitely be too late.

The Shangjie Village has already made concessions; if I make further demands, it would be pushing my luck.

If things go wrong, we might not even get the water, and then our two villages will have to fight each other again.

After saying that, he quickened his pace and walked down the riverbank.

As Yang Kai watched Lu Fengnian's retreating figure, his brows gradually relaxed, and he seemed lost in thought.

Zhao Tianming looked at Zhao Dagui beside him, "Village Chief, you should quickly persuade Lu Fengnian to help save Gang'er."

Zhao Dagui looked bitter. "Tianming, as you know, I don't have much of a relationship with the Lu family. I've already gone to great lengths to invite Lu Fengnian here today, begging and pleading to visit the Lu family more than a dozen times."

I don't have much influence with Lu Fengnian either. If you can't persuade him, how can I possibly do so?

Now that water is flowing towards Mao'er Village, Zhao Dagui felt relieved and naturally had no intention of worrying about Zhao Gang's affairs anymore.

Zhao Tianming turned around, wanting to ask Lu Fengnian for help again, but saw that he had already walked quickly past the corner and disappeared from sight.

The people of Mao'er Village were still in a state of great joy, and only a few noticed that Lu Fengnian had already left.

…………

When Lu Fengnian returned home, Liu Yunjuan and Lu Xiaoyu were leaning against the door, eagerly waiting for him.

Upon seeing Lu Fengnian return, they all breathed a sigh of relief and were overjoyed.

"Big brother, is the matter resolved?"

Lu Xiaoyu went to meet him and helped Lu Fengnian take the bow off his back.

Lu Feng said in a young voice, "When I came back, I could already see water coming down from the river."

Liu Yunjuan smiled broadly, "It's good that it's resolved; it's a way of giving the village an explanation."

Lu Fengnian continued, "Mother, if Zhao Dagui or Zhao Tianming come again, you should still say that I went hunting and am not at home."

"Will they come looking for us again?" Liu Yunjuan asked, her face showing doubt.

Lu Fengnian nodded. "Our Mao'er Village only got half of the water from the river, which is still not enough."

Furthermore, Zhao Gang and several others are still being detained in Shangjie Village and have not been released.

Liu Yunjuan looked puzzled. "Fengnian, why didn't you rescue them all?"

Lu Fengnian shook his head. "Zhao Gang and those guys are untrustworthy. They didn't honor their bets and even tried to sabotage others."

The fault lies with them; I have no obligation to save them.

If you make a mistake, you must pay the price.

Lu Xiaoyu's face showed worry. "Big brother, if you don't go to save Zhao Gang, the villagers will probably think that you're letting him die because of Li Xiaorou."

Liu Yunjuan added, "A good harvest, Xiaoyu is right, there will definitely be people in the village saying that."

Lu Feng chuckled softly, "If that's what they want to say, then let them say it."

I've obtained half the water for Mao'er Village; I've done what I should have done.

Earlier, on the riverbank, when Lu Fengnian was competing with Yang Kai in archery, many people from Mao'er Village scolded him.

Lu Fengnian heard this and, although he did not respond, he kept it in mind.

Our roots are in Mao'er Village, and it is our duty and responsibility to fight for water resources for Mao'er Village.

As for things beyond one's duties and responsibilities, whether or not to do them depends on one's mood.

Back home, Lu Fengnian went to the back of the house, immediately took out his bow and arrows, and began practicing rapid-fire archery.

Just now on the embankment, inspired by Yang Kai, he learned a technique of rapid-fire archery. Although he hit the target, he was not yet proficient.

He wanted to strike while the iron was hot and completely master this archery skill.

On the riverbank, the projectile only traveled a distance of sixty zhang.

Once behind the house, he pushed the distance to his limit—eighty zhang.

…………

Lu Fengnian's prediction was correct. In the evening, Zhao Dagui and Zhao Tianming arrived, but not together; they came separately for different reasons.

Zhao Dagui wanted Lu Fengnian to step in again and lead the people of Mao'er Village to the river embankment to block the river leading to Shangjie Village.

Zhao Tianming wanted Lu Fengnian to help rescue Zhao Gang.

Following Lu Fengnian's wishes, Liu Yunjuan politely declined, informing him that Lu Fengnian had gone hunting in the mountains again.

Both of them knew that this was just an excuse.

However, Lu Fengnian was unwilling to show his face, and there was nothing they could do about it.

…………

Mao'er Village and Shangjie Village share the river water equally. Shangjie Village relies on its numerous old wells to solve its water problem.

But in Mao'er Village, half the water is far from enough.

Two days later, a dispute arose in the village over the distribution of water, which escalated and even led to physical violence.

Left with no other choice, Zhao Dagui went to the Lu family again, but after several days, Lu Fengnian did not show up.

Aside from Zhao Dagui, Zhao Tianming also started going to the Lu family.

Because of Zhao Gang's matter, Zhao Tianming went to Qinghe County, hoping to ask the county magistrate to intervene and get Zhao Gang back from Shangjie Village.

However, upon hearing that the matter was related to a dispute between two villages over water resources, the Qinghe County government immediately chose to distance itself from the situation. After a series of Tai Chi moves, Zhao Tianming was left dizzy and disoriented, and was then sent back to his village.

Left with no other choice, Zhao Tianming had to ask Lu Fengnian for help again.

However, just like Zhao Dagui, he also couldn't see Lu Fengnian.