Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 32 First Arrival in the County Town

At dawn, the largest mountain market in the southern part of the city had already opened. Crowds thronged the market, which was filled with all kinds of mountain products, and merchants came and went in an endless stream.

Wearing a scarf to shield himself from the wind, Zhou Ye arrived at the market carrying salted fish. He found a stall selling wild game, neither too big nor too small, and approached it, asking, "Boss, would you like some salted fish?"

"Oh, let me see... Hmm? Your salted fish looks pretty good. How about I give you 77 coins per catty?"

"Can."

Such transactions occur countless times every day in the market.

After entering the mountains, the mountain herders would often pickle various kinds of wild game in order not to waste their prey. As for where the salt came from? That's obvious, there's no salt production near the county town, so it must have been sourced from the canal transport guilds.

Furthermore, the entire county town has a considerable purchasing power; over 100 jin of salted fish were consumed in no time. It was so inconspicuous, like a drop of water falling into a great river.

As for the higher price? That's because Zhou Ye uses a generous amount of salt. Of course, this time they're only selling salted fish, and they absolutely dare not add any more salt.

A seemingly insignificant little business deal came to an end quietly.

Zhou Ye stuffed the eight taels of silver into his pocket and mingled into the crowd, not leaving. He patiently observed the other transactions, carefully noting the prices of various herbs, furs, game, and mountain products…

More than an hour later, Zhou Ye left the market, found a breakfast stall, and ordered two fried dough sticks and a large bowl of noodles with chili oil and minced garlic.

After finishing his meal, Zhou Ye realized it was almost time, so he went home to pack up all the extra tools and then headed to the blacksmith's shop...

"Manager Sun, is my shield ready?"

"Hey, Xiao Zhou, it's been better for days. I'll bring it to you, try it on first. If it doesn't fit, we can fix it."

"good!"

Zhou Ye was very satisfied after trying out the modified fish-scale shield.

With the addition of iron gauntlets behind the fish-scale shield, one hand is completely freed up. It won't hinder movement under normal circumstances. In case of combat, there's a grip for an even more secure hold.

"By the way, Manager Sun, do you buy these things? I can offer you a discount."

"Huh? So many? Where did you rob them from?"

"During this trip into the mountains, we happened to discover an illegally operated charcoal kiln. There was no one inside, just these tools," Zhou Ye casually fabricated a reason.

"Huh? Then where did that person go?" Sun the blacksmith asked curiously.

"Hehe, what do you think?"

The two exchanged a smile. According to Zhou Ye's explanation, those people were basically in grave danger. However, such situations were not uncommon in the mountains.

"Little Zhou, I didn't expect you to be so lucky! You managed to find so many tools for free? How about this: three pieces for one tael, let me make some money too."

"Don't give me that. You only see my good luck, but you don't see the risks involved in mountain running?"

"..."

After some joking around, the tools eventually sold for a little over 11 taels, which was considered a small fortune.

On his way home, Zhou Ye went to Wang Yaren's place again and retrieved the rental agreement, his household registration, and his identity document...

During lunchtime, Zhou Ye stayed home, focusing on his training. He repeatedly threw his throwing knives at the woodpile in the yard. Finally, the moment arrived.

Basic Throwing finally maxed out - Basic Throwing (Underdog): Perfect (1000/1000)

Perfect reward: Strength +1, Agility +1, 2 free attribute points.

面板很快浮现，力量+2→力量+3；敏捷+7→敏捷+8。而自由属性点已经积累了8点之多。

Zhou Ye stretched comfortably and smiled.

He then discovered that the maximum level reward this time was only 4 points, a full point less than the previous reward. There should also be a limitation; the maximum level reward for martial arts skills of the same level is limited to only five.

Additionally, even after reaching the maximum level in basic throwing, there is still no "+".

Another aspect is the categories of rewards, which are basically centered around strength and agility.

Currently, Strength is +3 and Agility has reached an astonishing +8? Both have exceeded the range of ordinary people, which can be considered as having two innate specialties.

尤其是力量的+3，从-3到+3？使得基础盾击的经验值变成了每天8点，连基础锤击的经验值也达到了每天8点！

If things go as expected, the max-level rewards for martial arts skills will definitely make strength and agility increasingly prominent. It seems a bit wasteful to continue allocating free attribute points.

Therefore, it's necessary to strengthen several other basic stats. Spirit Essence is already sufficient, and as for Charisma... well, let's forget about that.

Therefore, one is health points, and the other is constitution. These two have become of paramount importance.

However, just as Zhou Ye was feeling happy, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Upon opening the courtyard gate, two thugs stood at the entrance. The leader, with a forced smile, said, "You must be Little Zhou? I heard you're a brother of Big Dog from the Woodcutter Gang. We should get to know each other better. We're from the Flower Snake Gang, and I'm Black Six, the one in charge of this area. We're here to collect toilet paper fees today, 50 coins per person per month. If you want us to clean the toilets, it's 15 coins per person."

Alright! The protection money collectors have finally arrived. Although they had already paid one share to the Woodcutter's Gang, they couldn't avoid paying their share to the local gang as well. It's just that with their Woodcutter's Gang affiliation, they would generally give them some face and wouldn't charge exorbitant fees so carelessly anymore.

"Night soil fee" is just a euphemism for protection money. In reality, it's not a small amount. For a family of four, it's 200 coins. As for the 15 coins? The Flower Snake Gang also hires some old women to clean the toilets every morning.

Zhou Ye smiled slightly, took out eight large coins, and handed them to Hei Liu: "Brother Hei Liu, this is just a small token of my appreciation, but please have a cup of tea with it. One person, one toilet. But I'm often not home, so if I'm out, I don't need to do it. I'll still pay for cleaning the toilet."

"I understand, I understand. I heard you're the mountain guest? If you're not home, I'll tell them to put the toilet outside."

"..."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries. After seeing Hei Liu off, they dropped their fake smiles and shook their heads with wry smiles.

However, before they had taken more than a few steps, the door was knocked on again.

"You must be Xiao Zhou? It seems you haven't been home these past few days." The visitor was an elderly man in his fifties. "My surname is Gu, and I'm the head of this neighborhood. I heard you've settled down, and it's time to pay your taxes at the yamen. According to the rules, you have to pay for the whole year. The head tax, the gate tax, and the fees charged by the people handling the tax all add up to 265 coins."

"Oh, is that all?"

"No, what I just mentioned was the regular tax. If you want to pay in cash instead of labor service, the cost will be split equally among all households, plus an additional 450 coins."