Volume One, Chapter Eight: I Still Need a Favor from You

Lin Hu gazed at the stream of skill notifications flashing before his eyes and could no longer restrain his hands.

He kept shooting, again and again!

During this time, he noticed a pattern: hitting vital spots increased his proficiency more.

But he had no time for detailed analysis now. Maintaining a safe distance, he took careful aim at San Donkey and Er Limp, who were fleeing in panic. They tried picking up stones to fight back, but hand-thrown rocks posed little threat and were easy to dodge.

Yet they couldn’t run away either.

Otherwise, they’d earn a reputation for abandoning friends in need, for lacking loyalty.

Until—

With a sharp snap, Er Limp stepped right into a large animal trap.

“Ah…”

The stabbing pain robbed him of any will to resist.

Brotherhood? A man’s pride? Before the threat of death, none of it meant anything.

“Ah…”

“Ah!!”

Writhing in agony, he still managed to crawl up and kneel, begging pitifully.

“Brother Hu.”

“No—Master Hu!”

“I was wrong, I was wrong! Please, spare us! We’ll never cause you trouble again!”

The four Ma brothers, seeing this, were furious.

“Damn it, Er Limp, have you no manly backbone left?”

“Traitor!”

“You damn sellout!”

…

Terrified that the Ma brothers would turn on him, Er Limp forced an explanation: “Boss… we’ve always been brothers, why let it come to this? Just forgive Huzi this once, we’ve got to stand together against outsiders! If Old Guo’s family from Kaoshan Village hears we’re fighting among ourselves, they’ll surely take advantage!”

San Donkey, infuriated by Er Limp’s kneeling, rushed over to kick him. “You damn traitor, today I’ll kick you to death!”

But before his foot landed, a bullet struck him at the base of his thigh.

Ah—

He let out a piercing scream and collapsed.

Er Limp, not a blood relative of the Ma family, had only joined them out of necessity, just like Lin Hu, to avoid being bullied and excluded.

Lin Hu, seeing his proficiency with Er Limp had reached one, felt no urge to continue targeting him.

He turned instead to the two Ma brothers.

“San Donkey, so you’re the tough one, eh?”

“Since Er Limp has already knelt and apologized, I’ll let him off for now.”

“San Donkey, let’s see just how impressive you really are today!”

Lin Hu showed no mercy, firing at him from more than ten meters away!

The other three cousins tried to help, but limping as they were, all they could do was grab clods of earth and pebbles nearby to throw back.

Whoever fought back got a volley from Lin Hu!

San Donkey suffered the worst—while running with hands over his head, he not only got his foot caught in a trap but also pressed his hand right onto a bird snare.

“Ah…”

“Ah… waah, wuuh~ damn you, Lin Dahu, I’m telling my father to beat you to death—dad… ah…”

“Cry!”

“Keep crying!”

…

All five were left half-crippled.

Lin Hu entered harvest mode.

Whizz…

Whizz—

Shot after shot!

[Your shot hit the target’s leg consecutively; Precision skill proficiency +2.]

[Your shot hit the opponent’s vital head area; Precision skill proficiency +2.]

…

As the five lost all will to fight and simply huddled, protecting their heads, his precision proficiency began to rise steadily.

Lin Hu discovered two more patterns.

If he hit the same spot repeatedly, proficiency doubled, and with each consecutive follow-up, it doubled again.

If he hit vital spots, proficiency doubled immediately—keep targeting vital spots, and it kept doubling!

…

At last—

The Ma brothers’ arrogance, which had started as curses and insults, turned to pure defensive agony, then to wailing and sobbing.

Finally, they began to beg for mercy.

“Lin Hu, we give up, alright? We give up! Please stop shooting, or we’ll be riddled like a beehive!”

“Ah… waah, Brother Hu, Brother Hu, San Donkey gives in, please stop, wuu, I think you hit the basket…”

“My leg… I think it’s broken!”

“Someone, get me to the commune…”

“We used to be good brothers, surely you won’t go so far as to kill us.”

“Yeah, just yesterday we snuck off to drink together—why turn on us today? Ah… please, no more…”

It wasn’t that they lacked backbone—it was just that if they didn’t beg, Lin Hu would really go for the kill.

Now they were all bloody and battered, with swollen lumps on their heads. If they kept trying to act tough, their lives would be forfeit.

Seeing this, Er Limp knelt and kowtowed, begging even harder: “Master Hu, from now on I’ll be your loyal servant, just spare us, please! Any more and someone’s going to die.”

Lin Hu, watching their pitiful state, felt his rage subside a little.

But his voice remained cold. “So now you beg for mercy? When you bullied me before, did you ever think you’d see this day?”

Li Er adjusted his kneeling posture, sobbing earnestly. “Brother Hu, I know I was wrong. You’re the bigger man—please, forgive us this once! We’ll never dare again. We’ll even elect you as the boss of our village, alright? None of us will contest it…”

“Brother Hu, please let us go! My brother’s in the commune with a concussion after your beating, and we don’t even know what’s happened to him. We just got carried away… wuu~ please, give us a chance!”

Ma San Donkey kowtowed repeatedly. “Brother Hu, I’ll never dare again, just treat me like a fart and let me off!”

“Yeah, show some mercy. If you really kill us, you’ll have to pay with your life too.”

…

With all of them pleading, Lin Hu had no intention of continuing.

Because at this moment, his Precision skill had leveled up.

[Skill: Precision (Beginner)]

[Proficiency: 0/1000]

[Effect 1: Born Sharpshooter—when using thrown or ranged weapons, you can activate Precision talent.]

[Effect 2: Target Lock—within a range of 100 meters, every shot hits, and beyond that, the system auto-corrects a certain margin of error, making it much easier to hit the target.]

…

“Amazing!”

“Hits within a hundred meters every time?”

“Auto lock-on?”

“Hahaha~ Now I finally have real confidence!”

Lin Hu was ecstatic.

His eyes bulged, fists clenched, and his heart soared with joy.

In his past life, he’d been a nobody, looked down upon by all, a good-for-nothing who couldn’t do anything right, who never had his fill, and whose whole family was torn apart because of him.

They say a prodigal’s return is worth its weight in gold.

As long as you’re willing to turn back, Heaven will lend you a hand.

I’ve awakened one incredible skill after another—let’s see who dares look down on me!

“Ma Biao, you old bastard, you killed my parents back then. Today, I’ll settle this blood debt with you!”

“Last time, I couldn’t beat you.”

“But this time, I’ll make every one of you pay.”

“You’ve got that lousy shotgun—so what? I’ll use my slingshot to make you piss yourself, make you taste what it’s like to be at someone else’s mercy.”

Thinking of his suffering in his past life, of the grievances his parents and sisters had endured, a surge of hatred flooded Lin Hu’s heart.

But he also knew not to push them too far, or things could get out of hand and end badly for him.

Besides, the one most deserving of death was Ma Biao!

After a moment’s silence, Lin Hu spoke:

“Today, since you’ve begged for mercy, I’ll let you off this time. But remember—if any of you dare bully others in the village or cause me trouble again, next time I won’t go so easy. I’ll make sure you lose half your lives!”

Ma Er Donkey and the others nodded eagerly.

“Brother Hu, don’t worry, we’ll behave from now on. We’ll never dare again!”

“We won’t mess with you anymore.”

Enduring the pain, Ma Er Donkey and the others threw aside the traps, helped each other up, and limped to their feet.

“Stop!”

“Did I say you could leave?”

They froze.

“Sit down back-to-back and help each other tend your wounds. Sit and wait!”

A short while later, they’d managed to bandage themselves and stop the bleeding.

Lin Hu checked his Arm Strength proficiency again.

[Skill: Arm Strength (Novice)]

[Proficiency: 74/100]

[Effect: None]

…

“Sorry, brothers, but I’ll still need one more favor from you.”