Although his father knew his son was very capable—in fact, ever since he turned fourteen, all the family’s work had been done by Henry Stone alone—this boy’s strength was equal to five of his father, so his father had become idle, spending his days hunting in the mountains with the other villagers, which also counted as an extra source of income.

However, Henry Stone’s father was not good with words, and became even more tongue-tied around strangers—a common trait among mountain folk—so he didn’t know how to tell others that his own son was actually a great worker.

The fields in the mountains were scattered, often separated by a ridge between two good plots, so villagers rarely saw each other while working. Even if someone occasionally saw Henry Stone turning the soil, no one would believe that this boy handled all the family’s chores by himself.

Moreover, ever since three years ago when Henry Stone talked back to Mr. Bolton, the The Bolton Family had been making things difficult for the Henry Stone family both openly and behind the scenes. The villagers saw this and no one was willing to marry their daughter into the The Stone Family, fearing that if the The Stone Family suffered, their own families would be implicated as well.

Several matchmakers had tried, but Henry Stone’s marriage prospects still hadn’t worked out.

Henry Stone, on the other hand, wasn’t worried at all. Ever since he was struck by lightning at the age of twelve, for the past three years his soul would leave his body every night to roam the surrounding mountains. Not only had his strength grown, but he had also become increasingly clever.

During these three years, Henry Stone had gone with his father to the county town a few times to sell animal pelts, gradually broadening his horizons. To him, this little mountain village was like shallow water trapping a flood dragon—sooner or later, he would break free.

It was actually Henry Stone’s younger sister, Sarah Stone, who, though only eight years old, was already a pretty little thing. Several well-off families in the village had come to propose marriage, but Henry Stone’s mother couldn’t bear to part with her daughter and hadn’t agreed to any of them.

One day, Henry Stone’s father came back from the mountains empty-handed. After all, he wasn’t a real hunter by trade; when he went with others, he was just there to lend a hand. If he was lucky, he’d bring something back; if not, he just treated it as a bit of fun. Anyway, all the chores at home were done by Henry Stone, so he had nothing else to do.

As soon as he entered the house, he heard someone outside calling loudly, “Is Henry Stone home?”

There was only one person in the whole village who spoke in such an awkward way, and that was Mr. Bolton.

Or rather, he should now be called Mr. Bolton. His father had passed away last year, and Mr. Bolton had inherited the family estate. With the genealogy, land deeds, and storeroom keys in hand, he made everyone call him “Master Zhang.” The mountain folk didn’t know the difference between “Master” and “landlord,” but since Mr. Bolton had a good reputation in the village, everyone just went along with it.

Henry Stone’s father hurried out, bowing repeatedly: “Oh, it’s Master Zhang! Please, come in, come in.” Of course, his father didn’t know how to say anything fancy like “what an honored guest” or “you grace my humble home,” he just earnestly invited the important guest inside.

Mr. Bolton waved his hand in a showy manner: “No need for formalities, old man. Is Henry Stone home?”

At that moment, Henry Stone was coming back from outside carrying a hoe. He was a bit surprised to see the richly dressed Mr. Bolton. As soon as the latter saw him, he immediately beamed, “Henry Stone, you’re back.”

Henry Stone was taken aback. Ever since he had contradicted Mr. Bolton’s opinions that one time, this guy had always found fault with his family. What was going on today?

“It’s like this.” Mr. Bolton took an account book from his chest and flipped through a few pages symbolically. “I checked the accounts for the past few years and suddenly realized we overcharged your family on rent. I’m really sorry, it was all the fault of those careless servants. But don’t worry, I, Zhang, am an upright man and would never take advantage of a tenant.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a string of copper coins from his sleeve and handed it to Henry Stone: “Little Henry, this is to return to you. I’ve already scolded those servants, and I guarantee this will never happen again.” He cupped his hands to Henry Stone and turned to leave.

Henry Stone was a bit stunned. He knew very well that the The Bolton Family had overcharged his family on rent, and he also knew it was Mr. Bolton deliberately making things difficult. The so-called “servants” were just a few hired hands; without Mr. Bolton’s orders, they wouldn’t have dared do such a thing. The reason Henry Stone hadn’t argued with Mr. Bolton was because, after all, they were farming his land, and the extra amount wasn’t much. With Henry Stone as extra labor, life for the The Stone Family was easy, so they didn’t care about a few extra liters of corn.

But over three years, Henry Stone knew full well that the extra corn collected didn’t add up to the value of that string of copper coins.

Henry Stone’s father was also very surprised and quickly urged Henry Stone, “Henry, hurry and return the money to him.” Henry Stone agreed and turned to chase after him.

Henry Stone caught up just in time to see Mr. Bolton sitting on the big millstone at the village entrance, bragging to the villagers.

After listening for a moment, Henry Stone immediately understood.

The Great Xia and the Guirong had gone to war!

The news had only reached the county town this morning, and by noon Mr. Bolton already knew. The first thing he did was hurriedly pull out the account books and check the The Stone Family’s records again, then breathed a sigh of relief: fortunately, he hadn’t gone too far.

He had originally planned to just return the extra rent, but on second thought, he decided to take a whole string of copper coins from the money chest to the The Stone Family, feeling the pain all the way there.

A string of copper coins was an enormous sum in a mountain village like this. Other than the The Bolton Family, no other family in the village could possibly come up with so much money at once.