บท 18: Fire Deer

"What bad news?" Uncle Liu and Aunty Mei Fong asked in unison.

"The tax officials will be coming over the next few days. Better to have more money just in case," Lin Fan said.

Uncle Liu and Aunty Mei Fong looked at each other, then lowered their heads.

They were aware that Lin Fan was right.

The tax officials weren't angels to deal with; they would sometimes slash open the grain bags, let some of the rice flow out, then account for those as lost in transit.

If you didn't have enough rice when the grain bag was put on the scale, you would have to pay up in copper coins.

Uncle Liu, as a hunter, only needed to pay up in silver and copper coins, but you could never know what the tax officials would have up their sleeves.

"Thank you so much. I will try to return your money next spring," Uncle said.

Lin Fan drank the cup of water and smiled, "It's all right, Uncle Liu. Your help back then is worth more than these copper coins. I could've died back then."

"At the most, come join us for dinner every day. It's the least we can do," Mei Fong said.

"Great! I can't cook, and I'm already getting sick of having roasted rabbit every day," Lin Fan replied.

"When spring comes, I will find the matchmaker and help arrange someone suitable for you. You need someone virtuous to take care of you."

"Matchmake?!" Lin Fan nearly spilled the water in his cup.

"Aunty Mei Fong, I'm not interested."

He was not looking for any wife.

His life focus now was to join the Qing Feng sect and become one of the best.

Uncle Liu saw Lin Fan's response and laughed, "He still doesn't know what a woman is. I'll teach him when I have time."

Uncle Liu looked at Lin Fan and said sheepishly.

"You dirty old man," Mei Fong's face flushed red at what Uncle Liu had said.

"Then this dirty old man will have to rest for the next few nights," Uncle Liu teased Mei Fong further.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Mei Fong walked away and went into the kitchen to bring out the dishes for dinner.

"Are you sure you won't regret it?" Uncle Liu continued teasing.

Liu Han looked at everyone with a confused look, not knowing what they were talking about.

Lin Fan smiled, happy to be part of this precious moment with the Liu Family.

...

Meanwhile at the Tan Mansion.

Housekeeper Lee knelt on the floor with both of his knees.

His head looked down at the ground.

A small puddle had appeared as his sweat dripped onto the ground.

In front of him no longer sat Master Tan.

A huge screen with silk etching of a lotus now stood where Master Tan had sat.

"How could you fail?"

Master Tan's voice boomed out loud from behind the screen.

"Ho Fu, that old fox, had something up his sleeves. And that Lin Fan... I think there's something with him. He was able to kill the helpers the Dark Lotus sect had sent."

Housekeeper Lee said with a shaky voice, his body trembling.

"Lin Fan, isn't he just a helpless teenage boy?" Master Tan asked.

"He miraculously survived and became strong. He might have had some encounters in the woods as he started hunting; a cultivation Master must have taken him as a disciple or something."

Master Tan thought for a moment about his chance encounter with the Dark Lotus sect.

"Take this and then kill Lin Fan. If you can't finish him off, then I will kill you myself. Remember, I control the life and death of slaves like you."

Clank. Clank.

A black-colored bottle rolled and appeared in Housekeeper Lee's vision.

Housekeeper Lee had no choice but to open the bottle, take out one of the black-colored pills, and pop it into his mouth.

Then, a loud scream erupted from the Tan Mansion.

The other servants in the mansion used their fingers and closed their ears.

The scream was too scary and unbearable to them.

...

Next day.

After breakfast, Lin Fan carried all his weapons, bow and arrows, ax, and belt sword, then went to the open fields to hunt for wild rabbits.

He was still short of money for the entrance fee to Qing Feng sect, and winter was approaching soon.

The thing for him to do now was to try and earn as much as possible.

Once he started to supply his rabbits to Quan Wei Xuan, he could double his income.

He had waited in ambush for at least an hour, but no rabbit was in sight.

"Something is not right," Lin Fan thought to himself as he activated the Rabbit's Hearing ability.

Nothing.

He couldn't hear the movements of any rabbits.

When he was about to give up, he heard something at the edge of the woods.

He pinpointed the location and slowly moved toward it.

As he approached nearer, an orange flash caused him to cover his eyes.

A deer was rubbing its antlers against a huge tree trunk.

But this deer was different.

The antlers on the deer emitted flames when it rubbed against the tree trunk.

A demonic beast!

Fire deer, to be exact.

Its close presence to the open field must have caused the wild rabbits not to come out of their burrows.

Lin Fan thought for a moment whether he should try and kill this fire deer.

What if the fire deer was too strong for him?

After careful deliberation, Lin Fan decided he had no choice but to try.

He would stay and shoot at the fire deer from as far as possible; with his system, he should be able to know how many vengeance points this deer was worth.

If the points were too high, then he had some distance as a head start to start running.

With his plan ready, Lin Fan shifted his distance to fifty meters away from the fire deer.

It was the maximum range of his bow.

He aimed at the deer, took a deep breath, held it, and then, woosh!

The arrow tore through the air, turning into a small dot from Lin Fan's view.

When the arrow came near the deer, the deer's ears lifted like a radar, and it jumped aside.

Thud.

The arrow landed at the tree trunk, with its end wobbling for a few moments before stopping.

[Ding!]