The next day, Qin Fang woke early and continued clearing the clutter from his room, sweeping it out into the courtyard.
His body was too weak. He would be drenched in sweat and trembling all over after just a short while, so he could only work for a bit and then rest for a bit.
Not until the sun was high in the sky was there a knock on the courtyard gate.
A thought striking him, Qin Fang walked to the door and peeked through a crack. He saw Elder Wu and quickly opened the gate.
Behind Elder Wu was a sturdy, honest-looking young man pulling a flatbed cart piled high with goods.
"Elder Wu."
Qin Fang greeted him with a respectful bow.
Elder Wu nodded, then turned to the sturdy young man. "Bring the things inside."
"You got it."
The honest-looking young man acknowledged and deftly began moving the items from the cart.
There was a lot of stuff. Not just staples like rice and flour, but also some vegetables. In addition, there were things like bedding.
Qin Fang watched in silence, a warmth spreading through his chest.
The young man worked nimbly, quickly moving everything into the courtyard. When Elder Wu saw the pile of trash by the door of the tile-roofed house, he had the young man haul that away as well.
The young man readily agreed and deftly loaded the trash onto the empty cart.
Elder Wu then gave him a few copper coins. The honest-looking young man accepted them with a grateful bow, said his thanks, and left, pulling the cart full of trash.
"You don't really have a use for furniture right now, so I didn't bring any. You can gradually furnish the place later. I just brought some bedding and other necessities so you can make do for the time being."
Elder Wu said to Qin Fang.
Qin Fang shook his head. "This is more than enough... Thank you, Elder Wu."
Elder Wu nodded, then said after a brief pause, "Wang Long came by this morning."
Qin Fang's heart lurched, and his eyes instantly hardened.
'So he couldn't wait even a moment longer.'
"He... didn't cause any trouble for you, did he, Elder Wu?" Qin Fang asked in a low voice.
In order to survive back then, he had promised them a reward. He could only imagine the fury of Wang Long's gang when, after waiting for things in True Martial County to finally settle down, they came looking for him only to find he had vanished.
"That was nothing. He wouldn't dare act so presumptuously in Huichun Hall."
Elder Wu didn't seem very concerned. He said calmly, "I told him you left as soon as you were slightly better. He looked furious..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Qin Fang. "What did you promise them?"
A helpless look crossed Qin Fang's face. He could only answer truthfully, "You know what my situation was like. To stay alive, I offered them a golden chain I happened to find while I was a refugee... I was afraid they'd take the chain and still not save me, so I had no choice but to say I had more hidden outside the city..."
"So this is what you meant by exploiting their greed?" Elder Wu raised an eyebrow.
Qin Fang nodded.
Elder Wu gave a rare smile and nodded. "I doubt Wang Long will let this go. But how you handle it from here is your own business. I won't interfere any further."
Elder Wu had said as much yesterday. Qin Fang replied respectfully, "You've already done more than enough for me, Elder Wu. I wouldn't dare trouble you further."
"Wang Long himself is nothing. He's trained for years and hasn't even achieved Mingjin... But his younger brother, Wang Hu, has exceptional talent and is already an Anjin Martial Artist... You should consider that very carefully."
Qin Fang's heart grew heavy... He had already learned this from Zhang Hao.
After saying this, Elder Wu changed the subject. He bent down and rummaged through the pile of supplies on the ground, found a Porcelain Bottle, and handed it to Qin Fang.
"Your skin is severely sunburned. Apply the medicine in this bottle to the affected areas once a day, and it should heal soon... Get some rest, put some meat on your bones. Once you don't look so much like a refugee, then you can go out."
As he was now, anyone could tell Qin Fang was a refugee at a single glance. He was too thin, and his skin was covered in severe sunburn... These were the most distinct traits of the refugees.
After a period of recovery, once the sunburn healed and he'd put on a little weight, the refugee "aura" about him wouldn't be so obvious.
At least he wouldn't be so conspicuous walking down the street.
Qin Fang expressed his gratitude.
Elder Wu nodded. "That's all for now. I'll be back in a while."
The food he'd brought would last for some time. Elder Wu prepared to leave.
"Elder Wu," Qin Fang called out, stopping him.
"Is there something else?" Elder Wu stopped.
"Could you help me find some Hidden Weapons, like Darts or a Flying Knife?"
Qin Fang asked directly.
Elder Wu's eyes narrowed slightly. "You know Hidden Weapon Technique?"
Using a real Hidden Weapon isn't as simple as just throwing a dart. That's just... chucking it.
Hidden Weapons have their own unique techniques.
The more advanced the technique, the more Force and speed it imparts on the projectile with the same amount of effort, making it faster and harder to defend against.
But how would Qin Fang know any of that?
'But then he thought about the Epiphany effect... As long as I can grind out the 'entry-level' status for Hidden Weapons, I should be able to gain the techniques through an Epiphany, right?'
He didn't dare say that for sure, though. He just said, "I don't know any techniques, but I want to practice and see... You know how weak I am. I need some way to defend myself."
Elder Wu squinted at Qin Fang, looking him up and down before shaking his head. "Hidden Weapons aren't so easy to master... Fine. I'll bring you some."
With that, he said no more and turned to leave.
Elder Wu's agreement allowed Qin Fang to breathe a sigh of relief. After seeing the old man off, he went back to tidying up.
He made a pallet on the floor right where he had slept the day before, and just like that, he had a proper sleeping spot.
He continued to work and rest in intervals.
Elder Wu had thoughtfully brought him breakfast—large meat-filled buns—saving him the trouble of making a fire to cook.
Elder Wu returned in the afternoon and handed Qin Fang four Darts.
Qin Fang's eyes lit up. The Darts were no more than three inches long, gleaming with a cold light. They looked far sharper than his previous Dagger. The body of each was diamond-shaped, with a blood groove and a red tassel.
Qin Fang weighed one in his palm. It had an excellent feel.
Seeing his expression, Elder Wu shook his head and repeated, "Darts are not so easy to master."
After he spoke, he glanced at the much cleaner courtyard and room, but in the end, he said nothing more and turned to leave.
After seeing Elder Wu off once more, Qin Fang gripped the Darts, his eyes bright.
He then sprang into action. He found a discarded wooden plank, drew a few circles on it with a piece of charcoal, and propped it up at the far end of the courtyard to serve as a target.
Qin Fang backed up to a distance of about three meters, took a deep breath, gripped a dart, aimed at the target, and let it fly!
SWOOSH!
The dart flew several meters, and then...
...it planted itself in the ground.
Qin Fang checked his panel. There was no change.
But this was what he had expected.
If it were that easy to activate a Skill... he wouldn't still have only the one: Dagger (Minor Achievement).
He wasn't discouraged. He took another deep breath.
'I have to focus completely...'
His expression grew intent as he began to throw the Darts, one after another.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH, SWOOSH...
His throws had no real power behind them.
After all, his body was so weak that their arcs were limp and wobbly.
He just couldn't get the hang of it.
Out of a dozen throws, a dozen would fall to the ground.
Even on the rare occasion one managed to hit the wooden plank, it would just bounce right off without sticking.
'So this really isn't something you can just pick up and master instantly.'
But he remained calm, continuously analyzing his own throwing technique.
He experimented with where to grip the dart and what angle to throw it from, trying to find what made the transfer of power feel smoother, what made the wobbly dart fly a little faster, and what made it hit point-first...
Qin Fang became completely absorbed, even losing track of time.
Until, at one particular moment...
SWOOSH!
This throw immediately felt completely different to Qin Fang. The transfer of force was perfectly smooth, and the dart's flight was noticeably faster.
And the next moment...
THUNK!
A soft thud rang out.
This time, the dart was stuck firmly in the wooden plank.
It hadn't hit the bullseye he'd drawn, but...
...the next instant.
His vision blurred, and the transparent screen materialized before him.
A new line of text appeared on it.
"Darts (Hidden Weapon) (entry-level): 1/500"
Qin Fang's eyes instantly lit up.
'It worked?!'