Chapter 13: Black Market Blockade, Home Under Surveillance

Father has been dead for three years.

His grave lies on the back mountain, facing the woods.

That was the direction he took on his final journey into the hills.

Each time Li Xing passes by, he instinctively slows his pace—

not to pay respects, but to confirm he still remembers the rules.

The blockade began at dawn.

As day broke, strangers appeared at the village entrance.

Not just one or two, but precisely enough to suffice.

Salt peddlers, wheelwrights, poultry buyers—they scattered in small groups along the roadside.

They didn’t enter the village, yet they blocked every path leading out.

When Mother returned from town, she carried only half a sack of rice.

“Couldn't sell anything today.”

“Few people, and they drove the prices down.”

She didn't say she was afraid, but her voice was noticeably quieter than usual.

A system alert flashed at the edge of Li Xing's vision:

“Household-linked unit sealed off.”

“Risk level: High.”

A home without a father

With one person missing from the courtyard, many things became glaringly obvious.

Neighbors visited more often, their gazes growing more complex.

They didn't ask about hunting, but instead—

“Have you been into the mountains lately?”

Li Xing always replied with just one sentence: “We don't hunt anymore.”

Zhao Yun snorted coldly beside him, but said nothing.

They both knew this was a test.

The Shadow of the Black Market

Third evening.

Outside the courtyard, something was tossed down.

A wild rabbit.

Its throat slit cleanly.

Li Yu glanced at it, his face turning pale.

This wasn't prey.

It was a signal.

The system's cold light flickered:

“Psychological threat confirmed.”

“Target: Family members.”

Zhao Yun cursed under his breath: “Using the dead to teach lessons.”

Li Xing crouched down, dragged the hare away, and buried it.

He recalled a phrase his father had once spoken—

“A corpse must never be left at the family doorstep.”

They spoke of the father.

The fourth day.

A stranger arrived in town.

He sat smoking outside the supply cooperative. Spotting Li Xing, he smiled.

“You look a lot like your father.”

Those words carried more weight than gunfire.

“He refused to bow his head back then too.”

“Too bad the mountains don't recognize people.”

Li Xing didn't reply.

But in that moment, he finally understood—

His father's death had never been an accident.

The First Time Mother Was Cornered

That night.

While packing the grain sacks, Mother discovered two pounds missing.

Not stolen.

Taken.

A crumpled note lay by the door:

“Debts must be repaid.”

Mother sat on the bedside, silent for a long time.

“Perhaps... you shouldn't go into the mountains anymore.”

This was the first time she had ever spoken of retreat.

Li Xing's Decision

Night.

Li Xing stood in the center of the courtyard, staring at the old hunting knife his father had left behind.

Not a Tang sword.

Just an ordinary tool, as common as they come.

Yet it was with this blade that his father had once held the line.

The system interface slowly unfolded:

“Family Defense Line activated.”

“Trigger condition: Proactive countermeasure.”

Zhao Yun walked beside him.

Li Yu silently inspected the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

Li Xing murmured:

“They want to use my father's death to force us to submit.”

“Then let them know—”

“They've crossed the line.”

The Black Market's Miscalculation

The black market assumed that with the father dead, the family would crumble.

They didn't know—

The true heir to the code had already risen.

Night fell.

The blockade remained.

But the first crack

Had already appeared.