In the Ruman Village.
The sun had started reaching its boiling point but yet the farmers still working on the field. The heat of the sun was unforgiving as the farmers were sweating heavily.
On the side road, overlooking the field, a young man sat under the shield of roof made out of hay with a middle-aged man right beside him.
"Damn it. Why is it so hot? It's burning today!" The youth cursed while using the fan on his hand to keep himself cool.
Hearing the youth's complain, the middle-aged beside him couldn't help but snorted, "You're still this young and you already complaining you're tired?" The man clicked his tongue in disappointment. "And don't keep the fan just to yourself."
The middle-aged man pressed his body against him and sticking out his head to the side so the cool wind could graze him too. The cool sensation made the man instinctively closed his eyes and his mouth unknowingly opened.
Faced with the man's action, the youth reluctantly repositioned his fan so the airflow could cool them both.
Suddenly something appeared on the youth's mind and a grin etched deep on his lips.
"Say, uncle." The youth said in playful manner.
"Hmm?"
"Why do you keep talking like you weren't young. You're just thirty something. That's not old at all."
Hearing that remark, the middle-aged man scoffed and snorted before saying, "Keep talking like that and I guarantee you your butt won't live to see another day."
After the man done talking, the youth started sweating profusely and tried to appease his uncle the best he could before a shout was heard coming from the field.
"Li Kong, come here and help us!"
"I have to go now, uncle. Bye bye!" Li Kong handed him the fan and skedaddled away.
The older man snorted, "Go ahead. I've had enough of you already."
"I hope your old age doesn't make your back give up, uncle Zheng!" A giant cackle could be heard fading away slowly at distance.
"You little shi-" Zheng Liyang rose up from his seat before sighing.
He sat back and smiled a little. His eyes never leaving the Li Kong's figure.
Looking at Li Kong, Zheng Liyang eyes were filled with nostalgia.
'The little kid has grown so much now. I still remember when he was a child, he was such a rascal.'
He still remember the time he had the opportunity to take care of the little demon and every single day the little demon kept on pranking him non-stop.
One day, he was on the way back home after working on the field and what greeted him when he was opening the door was a water bucket from the sky.
The other day, he was resting and Li Kong offered him a cup of water and it turned out to be a vinegar which resulted the kid's butt became as red as a cherry.
But even after the all-out spanking from Zheng Liyang, the little demon remained headstrong and kept on pranking him and to reciprocate the thoughts, Zheng Liyang would also kept on whooping his butt. It was some kind of pararetard relationship or something else like that.
'Now look at him.' Li Kong was stalking and laughing with other farmers. 'He was an even bigger rascal now.'
Zheng Liyang shook his head in resignation and continued to rest before returning back to the fields.
Today too was an ordinary day.
...
The work on the field had concluded and everyone hurriedly looking for a place to rest from the stinging heat of the sun.
"Heavens! Why is it so hot today! The spring has just started!" One of the workers complained while wiping his sweats off.
"The world is nearing its end." Another person stared blankly to somewhere and somberly replied.
"Bah!" He slapped his mouth and said, "Could you just say something good for once?"
The crowds were talking merrily and Li Kong was taking a nap under a tree not far away from the rest of the group.
Not long after, the women of the village arrived and offered the tired farmers a cup of water.
While on the other hand, Li Kong who was still enjoying his nap, suddenly sensed someone was heading toward his direction.
He opened his eyes and the first thing that greeted him was the face of a beautiful young woman.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Sleepy Head. How was your nap?"
Li Kong rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Terrible. A certain someone disturbed my sleep."
"And may I know who was that certain someone?" The woman inquired, obviously clueless as she blinked.
"I don't know who was it but one thing certain was it couldn't be the daughter of the chief village and the proud flower of the Ruman Village, Yu Mei." Li Kong responded nonchalantly before bursting into a smile.
Yu Mei smiled back in response and she offered him a glass of water and then sat beside with an elegant gesture.
"Thanks!" Li Kong grabbed the cup and gulped down the water.
"Your welcome." Her lips slightly pursed.
After that, they went on conversations with each other. Their chatter and laughter filled the empty spaces under the tree's shades.
"Yu Mei, we're done here!" A figure of a young girl around the same age as them called Yu Mei.
"Ah, wait for me, Tang Xia!" Yu Mei hurriedly packed things up.
Yu Mei stood up and was just about to bid farewell before she suddenly stopped to closed her eyes and creased her eyebrows while placing her finger on her chin making a funny face on the process.
"Oh!" She jolted off and said, "I almost forgot that Uncle Ye told said today he will go hunting and he ask you to join him."
"Really?" Li Kong stood up enthusiastically. "Tell him that I would like to go too!"
"No way." She stuck out her tongue. "Do it yourself, you lazy. I have something else to do."
She then departed with a smile on her face and humming a happy tune.
Li Kong clicked his tongue. "Petty."
Then Li Kong started to stretch his stiff body.
"Let's go home." He said with a yawn.
...
On the outskirt of the village, a man was leaning on a tree, bored out of his mind.
The man's appearance was that of a robust middle-aged man with an unkempt beard. The man's height reached to almost 190 cm tall. His body was packed with muscles. His figure comparable to a tree trunk. On his side was a bow and its arrow in the quiver and a knife wrapped in a leather pouch hanging on his waist.
"Just how much long would this brat makes me wait? A hour almost passed!" Ye Cheng was filled with irritation and couldn't wait to smack someone to ease his anger.
But fortunately for Ye Cheng, the person he waiting for had finally arrived.
A black-haired young man with a strong stature, dressed in leather garments carrying a large leather bag that he tied with a rope across his body. On his waist was a pouch with a set of daggers hanging on it.
Although the young man's figure couldn't be compared to Ye Cheng's trained body, the young man body was healthy beyond his peers. His body was anything but frail, adorned with just the right amount of muscles.
Li Kong was out of breath. He greedily gasped for air for about a minute before his breath steadied.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Uncle Ye. Granny Qing asked me to help her to find her wedding ring." Li Kong hurriedly explained.
Listening to his explanation, Ye Cheng chose to let him off the hook for this time.
Realizing that he was safe, Li Kong breathed a sigh of relief.
"But if you were late again, I'm not asking you to come with me again." Ye Cheng said while preparing his tools.
Li Kong struck his chest as he solemnly said, "Of course, uncle! When did I ever come late?"
The urge to smack suddenly boiled up again in Ye Cheng but he ultimately decided to hold back and only snorted.
"Let's go." Ye Cheng said.
Li Kong followed after him and soon.
Ye Cheng assessed Li Kong for once again and after some time, he realized something was missing.
Something that was very crucial for general activity of hunting.
"You brat! How many times should I tell you to bring with you your bow!" Anger fueled up Ye Cheng entire being.
Li Kong quickly cowered in fear and cautiously replied, "Bow just wasn't suited for me, uncle Ye. We're not fated for each other in this life!" Cold sweats rapidly formed on his forehead.
"Not fated my ass. Do you think you'll marry the bow or what? You were just lazy." Ye Cheng was about to explode.
Li Kong was indignant at the accusations and replied, "I really don't need a bow, Uncle. Haven't you see already my throwing skills?"
By his mention, Ye Cheng was immediately reminded by Li Kong's throwing dagger skill at a certain evening.
That evening, he saw Li Kong accurately landing his daggers on a flying targets, each of the dagger left mark right in the center of the target.
He was struck of awe at that time and after that, he immediately turned Li Kong into his disciple in learning archery, albeit with a little force.
'That sense of accuracy is terrifying.' Ye Cheng remarked in his head.
'And to waste that talent on mere throwing daggers? Such a waste of a talent.'
Ye Cheng had asked him to learn archery from him many times but he was headstrong, insisting that his throwing daggers was more than enough.
Ye Cheng had to brute force his way so the damned brat could finally learn archery, although reluctantly but the only result that could be said after that was Ye Cheng's judgement was absolutely right.
But in the end, even after learning archery from him, though not very long, Li Kong's still insisted that using daggers was better which threw him into rage but what could he possibly do if the brat himself didn't want to learn it?
Resigned, Ye Cheng just shook his head and sighed.
"I let you off hook just this time but next time you have to absolutely bring a bow with you. You hear me? Or else you won't even left a single step from the village. You understand?"
Li Kong wanted to refuse but he could felt that his uncle wasn't in the mood of joking right now so he reluctantly replied, "Okay."
Ye Cheng let out a loud whiff before saying, "Follow me," and walking slowly to the forest.
"Alright!" Li Kong hurriedly followed after his uncle.
"What will we hunt today, uncle?"
"Deer."