The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

The shantytown of Qingshan Town.

In the dim, low-roofed shantytown, Wang Shun and his family of three were cramped into a tin shack barely ten square meters in size. A cold wind blew through the cracks, making the fire in the middle of the room flicker wildly and scatter sparks.

"Brother Shun, ladle out a bowl of this porridge later and take it to Embroiderer and the others."

Wu Shi gently stirred the rice porridge with a long spoon to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot if the fire burned too hot.

Beside her, their daughter Wang Xiaoxi fixed her bright, wide eyes on the porridge and couldn't help swallowing.

"All right."

Wang Shun nodded and pounded his aching, swollen knees with his hands.

"Still haven't gotten your wages?" Wu Shi asked.

Wang Shun gave a bitter laugh and shook his head, his eyes dimming.

In these chaotic times, it was far too difficult for ordinary people to survive. Even his wages for hard labor could be delayed again and again. If this went on, he feared they wouldn't make it through the winter.

"It's fine. I'll try asking for the money again in a couple of days."

"Mm. Be careful, Brother Shun. I've heard those people aren't easy to deal with."

"It's fine. I'm not the only one they owe. We'll all go together, and they won't dare do anything to us."

As they spoke, a clamor rose outside.

"That's strange. Why is it so lively outside today?"

Wu Shi was puzzled. The shantytown was usually deathly quiet.

"I'll have a look."

Wang Shun opened the door a crack, and shock quickly appeared on his face.

"What is it, Brother Shun? What's going on?"

"Come see for yourself."

Wang Shun smiled.

Wu Shi peered through the crack and saw Qin Ming striding toward them with a bulging basket on his back.

The basket held new padded cotton coats, rice, flour, oil, and fresh vegetables.

The shantytown residents' eyes turned red with envy at the sight.

In the shantytown, these things that ordinary families had were precious treasures in their eyes.

"Could the rumors all be true?"

Wang Shun murmured to himself.

"What rumors?"

Wu Shi never left home, so she knew nothing of the rumors outside.

"I heard Qin Ming beat Wang Butcher in a pig-slaughtering contest and snatched the New Year pig business from every butcher in town."

"Really? Young Brother Qin looks so thin and frail, but he's actually that capable?"

Wu Shi was astonished.

"You really can't judge a person by their appearance. With a skill like that, even if people look down on pig slaughtering, Young Brother Qin won't have to worry about food or clothing from now on."

There was a note of envy in Wu Shi's voice. "Embroiderer's bitter days have finally given way to sweet ones too."

"Mother, does that mean we can share in Brother Qin's good fortune? Didn't we help him before?"

Wang Xiaoxi looked up, a little excited.

"We can't say that. When we helped Young Brother Qin, we weren't asking for anything and never expected him to repay us. It looks like we should keep this porridge for ourselves after all."

Wu Shi smiled. "Young Brother Qin and Embroiderer can live well now, and I'm happy for them too."

Late that night.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three knocks suddenly came from outside.

Wang Shun grabbed his padded coat and threw it on. After getting out of bed, he seized an iron rod and gripped it tightly.

"Who is it?"

No one answered.

He hesitated for a moment, then gently opened the door. Light snow was falling outside, but no one was there.

Looking down, he found rice, flour, oil, and a package of meat at his feet. He opened the package and found cooked pork ribs and pig offal inside.

"Brother Shun, who is it?"

"Xiaoxi's mother, look."

Wang Shun quickly carried everything inside.

Wu Shi rubbed her eyes. As soon as she saw what was before her, she understood.

"It was Young Brother Qin."

"I'll take it back to him," Wang Shun said, making to leave.

"There's no need."

Wu Shi reached out to stop him.

"Young Brother Qin probably brought it over quietly in the middle of the night because he guessed we'd refuse it to his face. Even if you take it back now, he won't open the door."

"Then what do we do?"

"Keep it. It's a token of his kindness."

Wu Shi smiled.

"I didn't expect Young Brother Qin to turn his fortunes around so quickly."

Wang Shun was deeply moved.

Meanwhile, Qin Ming lifted the bedding and lay down fully clothed.

Embroiderer's cheeks were flushed, and her hair was a little messy. She turned instinctively and wrapped her arms around Qin Ming, pressing close.

After being nourished these past two days, Embroiderer's complexion had clearly improved, and her figure had grown fuller.

[Innate martial art: Pig-Slaying Saber Technique (51/200), beginner]

Qin Ming looked at the panel before him and began calculating the time in his head.

Today alone, he had gained fifty proficiency points.

Slaughtering twenty pigs had earned him forty points, and using the Pig-Slaying Saber Technique to process the offal from twenty pigs had earned him another ten, for fifty points in total.

Previously, he had slaughtered only ten pigs a month at Wang Butcher's. In this single day, he had slaughtered as many as he had in two whole months there!

There's not enough time. I have to speed up!

Qin Ming frowned, a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

Only two days remained until the repayment date he had agreed on with Scarface.

He either had to produce ten taels of silver to repay the debt or make another breakthrough in the Pig-Slaying Saber Technique. Then, even if he couldn't produce the silver, he would have a better chance of winning a fight.

If the next two days were the same as today, with fifty proficiency points a day, he would have only one hundred and fifty points in total, still fifty short of a breakthrough!

The next day, Qin Ming left with his saber before dawn.

That day, Qin Ming slaughtered twenty-eight pigs in total.

On the third day, as the sun set, Qin Ming was already slaughtering his thirtieth pig.

[Innate martial art: Pig-Slaying Saber Technique (196/200), beginner]

"Almost there. Just two pigs left."

Qin Ming panted heavily, his face pale. He took a bun frozen hard from his cloth bag and swallowed it with snowmelt.

The bun was as dry as firewood, scraping painfully against his throat as it went down. After eating two buns, he finally recovered his strength and got up to hurry to the last household.

The last household had two ordinary New Year pigs. Once he slaughtered them, his Pig-Slaying Saber Technique would break through.

"He's moving!"

In the distance, three figures hid in the shadows.

"Why hasn't that bastard Wang Butcher arrived yet? What do we do? The kid's about to leave!"

Zheng Hu frowned deeply.

"Fuck, that bastard's unreliable. We clearly agreed to do this together, but he's so damn late!"

"Forget it, we're not waiting for him. Once we kill the kid, the three of us can split all the silver. He already had three taels on him, and he's slaughtered quite a few New Year pigs these past few days. He's got at least six taels on him!"

After discussing it, the three decided to ditch Wang Butcher and deal with Qin Ming themselves.

Although Qin Ming was skilled at slaughtering pigs, he was already exhausted after a full day's work. The three of them could easily deal with him together.

Little did they know that Wang Butcher was hiding in the shadows at that very moment, secretly watching what was happening.

"Go on, kill each other. Better yet, leave both sides crippled and die together. Then I'll be the one to reap the spoils!"

Wang Butcher sneered.

Once Zheng Hu and his two companions and Qin Ming were dead, wouldn't all the pig-slaughtering business in Qingshan Town be his alone from then on?

With his family's shop the only meat shop left in town, it would be hard not to get rich!

With his backing in the authorities, he could make up a story, saying Qin Ming had ambushed and killed Zheng Hu and the other two, and that he had stepped in just in time to kill the murderer. He might even receive a reward.

As for how many holes the story had or whether it was believable, that didn't matter at all.

They were just a few pig butchers no different from people of the lowest status. If they died, they died. No one would care.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Zheng Hu, oh Zheng Hu, you three dumbfucks are nothing but stepping stones for me! And that Qin Ming, daring to swallow my silver—I'll make him cough it all back up with interest. Fuck!"