Chapter 2: The Master's Wife Comes Home, the Fengyue Mirror (Please add to your favorites and keep reading!)
"When an ordinary man is enraged, blood stains five paces!"
The icy blade and piercing gaze startled Old Man Qin, sending a chill through him. The sharp sting at his neck made him too terrified to make the slightest move.
"S-Small... Small Chen, don't... don't be rash. Everything is negotiable..."
"Money or a person—I'm counting to three!"
Zhou Chen's voice was frigid, completely unmoved.
"Three..."
"I'll pay!"
"I'll give you the person!" Old Man Qin cried out as beads of fresh blood trickled down his neck.
He had no doubt that had he hesitated a moment longer, Zhou Chen would have truly slit his throat.
"In an hour, I'll come to pick her up!"
Dropping these words, Zhou Chen turned and left without looking back.
"Hiss... When did this kid get so ruthless?"
Watching Zhou Chen's retreating figure, Old Man Qin touched the bloodstain on his neck, drawing a sharp breath as lingering fear gripped his heart.
"The kid's probably out of his mind. Whatever, it's not worth risking my life over!"
Old Man Qin's eyes flickered. Finally, he shook his head and told Qin Hongyu to pack up and get ready.
Zhou Chen returned home, put the wild rabbit away, tidied up the room simply, and pasted up a few red double-happiness characters.
Old Man Cao had prepared all these things long ago, so it wasn't much trouble.
He went over to Wang Eryu's house to borrow a catty of rice for cooking, stewed the rabbit, and then headed straight to Old Man Qin's house to bring back Qin Hongyu, who was now dressed in bridal attire!
In these times, survival was already difficult enough; who had the energy for so many elaborate rituals?
Most importantly, he had no money.
...
Night fell, and the stars hung like water.
After eating and drinking their fill, Zhou Chen and Qin Hongyu returned to the bedroom. The flickering candlelight cast a warm glow against Qin Hongyu's flushed cheeks, adding a threefold allure to her charm.
Looking at the shy beauty, Zhou Chen thought that while she might not be a devastating, kingdom-falling beauty, she possessed a delicate, classical charm. He had to admit that Old Man Cao had a good eye.
Of course, he and Qin Hongyu knew each other.
He and Old Man Cao had been in Dahe Village for eight years.
"Brother Chen, what are you looking at?"
Feeling self-conscious under Zhou Chen's gaze, Qin Hongyu let out a shy, spoiled murmur, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers as she lowered her head.
"I'm looking at a beauty as fair as jade—simply breathtaking!"
Zhou Chen took Qin Hongyu's soft, delicate hand and smiled. "It's getting late. Let's rest."
"Mn."
Qin Hongyu gave a light nod, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, her already flushed cheeks burning hot.
She didn't dislike Zhou Chen; in fact, she was quite satisfied with him. Zhou Chen was young and handsome. Compared to Old Man Cao, she much preferred Zhou Chen.
Yet, as a young woman, she had no say in the matter. When Old Man Qin told her to marry Old Man Cao, she had to marry him.
Now that Old Man Cao was dead, it might actually be a blessing for her.
The shy beauty was heart-stirring.
Zhou Chen cupped her flushed cheeks and leaned in to press a kiss upon her tender, rosy lips. The temperature in the room rose, turning warm and blazing.
The stars twinkled, as if batting their eyelashes.
The bright moon shone clear and full, growing so shy it hid behind the clouds, timidly exposing only half its face.
In the dead of night.
"Good man, no more... please let me go..."
Murmuring to herself, Qin Hongyu leaned exhausted yet happy against Zhou Chen's chest and drifted into a deep sleep.
Suddenly, Zhou Chen's body shuddered, and he passed out.
His consciousness arrived in a misty, gray expanse. There was neither time nor space here, no up or down, no left or right, no sun, moon, or stars, no living creatures—nothing but primordial Chaos.
He knew not how long had passed when the chaotic aura churned. Suddenly, Zhou Chen saw a bolt of purple lightning tear through the Chaos, separating yin and yang, bringing light to the world.
Dazzling light!
The light flooded Zhou Chen's consciousness, and vaguely, he saw that the source of the radiance was an immensely vast and majestic stone mirror.
"Opening the primordial Hongmeng, who is the seed of romance? All for the deep affection of Fengyue..."
An ethereal, indistinct chant echoed in his ears, and Zhou Chen was already lost in its intoxication.
"Brother Chen!"
"Brother Chen, what's wrong with you?"
"Wake up!"
An anxious voice called out, jerking Zhou Chen violently awake.
At that moment, he clearly perceived an archaic stone mirror suspended within his mind.
"The Fengyue Mirror?"
Understanding dawned upon him divinely. His consciousness observed the stone mirror as his heart surged.
"Is this my golden finger finally arriving?"
"The same one from *Dream of the Red Chamber*?"
"Could it be because I read a *Red Chamber* fanfiction before transmigrating and then had a dream about it?"
Thoughts raced through Zhou Chen's mind. Regardless, having one was better than having none.
Besides, he felt that this stone mirror was extremely powerful.
Suddenly, lines of golden characters emerged within the stone mirror, forming a status panel:
[Fengyue Mirror]
[Master: Zhou Chen]
[Cultivation Technique: None]
[Realm: None]
[Supernatural Power: Thunder Light Ruyi Hand]
[Skills: Archery (Proficient 15/20), Tracking (Proficient 5/20), Trapping (Proficient 2/20), Throwing (Proficient 8/20), Fishing (Novice 6/10)...]
[Fengyue Points: 69]
"Thunder Light Ruyi Hand?"
Zhou Chen's gaze flickered. He had learned the Orchid Acupressure Hand from Old Man Cao.
It was a third-rate martial art.
However, this martial art was severely flawed. It lacked any foundational training methods, containing only a set of combat postures and striking techniques without any real power.
Even after practicing it for decades, Old Man Cao remained an ordinary person—at best, his hands were slightly more nimble and his movements faster, but he could never become a true martial artist!
[Thunder Light Ruyi Hand: Palms imbue thunder, swift as lightning, moves at will, with ultra-fast hand speed.]
Zhou Chen quickly sorted through the relevant information.
So, the scene he saw in his dream last night was the birth of the Fengyue Mirror—a great opportunity brought by the mirror recognizing its master.
If a powerful martial artist had witnessed it, achieving sudden enlightenment and breaking through would have been effortless.
Unfortunately, Zhou Chen knew no martial arts and possessed no cultivation; he only knew an extremely flawed Orchid Acupressure Hand.
Fortunately, it wasn't a total loss.
After watching the birth of the Fengyue Mirror, the flawed Orchid Acupressure Hand had undergone a sudden epiphany, giving birth to a supernatural power: the Thunder Light Ruyi Hand.
"Brother Chen, what's wrong with you?"
Qin Hongyu waved her hand in front of Zhou Chen's eyes. Seeing him unresponsive, she panicked even more and shook his shoulder.
Coming back to his senses, Zhou Chen temporarily set aside the matter of the Fengyue Mirror, smiled gently, and comforted her: "I'm fine, just suddenly thought of some things!"
He looked at Qin Hongyu with even greater affection.
Indeed!
Only by marrying a wife could one activate a golden finger!
"Phew! As long as you're fine, you scared me to death!"
Qin Hongyu patted her full chest, looking utterly relieved.
If Zhou Chen had met with misfortune just a day after she arrived, wouldn't she have become a harbinger of bad luck, a husband-cursing woman?
Besides, her impression of Zhou Chen was quite favorable. Especially after truly becoming Zhou Chen's woman last night, she had begun to view Zhou Chen as her husband from the bottom of her heart.
As for Zhou Chen threatening her father with a knife, she didn't mind; her father had simply gone too far by trying to renege on the debt.
That was ten taels of silver!
A single tael of silver was enough to make people risk their lives!
"Don't worry, my body is in great shape!"
Zhou Chen rubbed Qin Hongyu's head and teased, "Besides, aren't you well aware of that?"
Qin Hongyu's face turned red with shyness, and she quickly changed the subject: "Brother Chen, the food is already warmed up. If we wait, it'll get cold. Let's go eat!"
"Alright!"
Zhou Chen quickly dressed and got out of bed, feeling full of spirit and refreshed.
The meal consisted of leftovers from the previous night, with some rabbit meat still remaining.
Qin Hongyu ate very little, so Zhou Chen finished off the rest.
His expenditure last night had not been small, after all.
A full stomach makes one think of other matters.
However, seeing that their dinner for tonight wasn't settled yet, Zhou Chen had no choice but to temporarily suppress the urge to study the Fengyue Points with Qin Hongyu.
"Hongyu, stay home and rest well. I'm going hunting!"
"Brother Chen, be careful. Don't go too deep into the mountain!"
Although worried, Qin Hongyu didn't try to stop him.
The household was already running out of food to cook.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't bear to let you become a widow right after arriving!"
Zhou Chen smiled. Slinging his back basket and taking his bow and arrow, firewood chopper, and three-pronged fork, he left the house, ready to test out allocating attribute points.
"Yo, isn't this little Chen?"
"I heard you threatened Old Man Qin with a knife and finally managed to marry your master's wife. Look at that glowing, radiant face of yours—your master's wife must be real smooth, eh?"
Two punks, each with a short blade tucked into his waist, swaggered over to Zhou Chen with an arrogant gait and wicked grins.
"Good dogs don't block the path. Move!"
Seeing that the two men had ill intentions, Zhou Chen didn't bother being polite.
A good person is bullied by others; a docile horse is ridden by others.
Though his blade had intimidated Old Man Qin yesterday, it wasn't enough to scare off these two local thugs.
"Damn it, you punk really think you're somebody just because you slashed Old Man Qin a bit with a beat-up chopper?"
Wild Dog twitched an eyebrow, drew the short blade from his waist, and sneered at the corners of his mouth:
"You punk didn't invite us to drink wedding wine when you got married, you didn't let us raid the bridal chamber, and now you still dare act cocky in front of me? If I don't draw some blood from you today, you'll really think I'm made of clay!"
He pointed his short blade directly at Zhou Chen's chest with a fierce expression.
Zhou Chen reached out and grabbed. Before Wild Dog could even react, the short blade was already in Zhou Chen's hand, and his entire arm had gone numb!
The Thunder Light Ruyi Hand: palms imbue thunder, striking like lightning!
Ultra-fast hand speed!
Wild Dog was shocked and hurriedly reached for the short blade at his waist, only to find that the knife at his waist had somehow also ended up in Zhou Chen's hand.
"How is this possible?"