Broken Blade, Crippled Body, Long Street of Blood and Fire

The county yamen's gates had long since been smashed to splinters beneath the battering ram.

Firelight reddened half the sky, and Black Stone County's night seemed torn open by a bleeding wound. Hundreds of Black Tiger Gang members surged into the courtyard that symbolized Great Liang's laws like a swarm of bloodthirsty ants.

"Hold the line! Don't fall back!"

Wang Meng was drenched in blood, and the Wild Goose Feather Saber in his hand had long been chipped and curled. Like a stubborn reef, he stood rooted on the steps before the inner hall.

This was the foundation of an old constable.

He did not possess Ji Ye's unreasonable monstrous strength, but he knew how to kill. Every slash slipped precisely through the gaps between ribs or across the great arteries of the neck—effortless and fatal. The old injury in his left leg had flared up, leaving him with a limp, yet it only made his footwork stranger and more unpredictable, like a drunken butcher.

"Pfft!"

Wang Meng twisted aside from a steel blade, drove his saber backward through a minor leader's throat, then kicked him down the steps, knocking over the two men charging up behind him.

"Ha... ha..."

Wang Meng panted violently, his graying temples soaked with sweat and blood.

He was old.

His strength was draining away at a terrifying rate, and the hand gripping his saber had begun to tremble.

Yet before him, the black mass of people still stretched beyond sight.

"Constable Wang, why bother?"

The crowd parted, and Zhao Hei Hu emerged bare-chested. The string of Buddhist beads around his neck gleamed with an eerie light beneath the flames, while the fierce tiger tattoo on his chest rose and fell with his breathing as if it were alive.

Though he had failed to break through into the Bone Forging Realm, the vitality of his Peak Skin Tempering Realm was still terrifyingly abundant.

"Make way. I only want that boy surnamed Ji." Zhao Hei Hu's voice was calm, but it carried an unquestionable pressure. "Hand him over, and I'll leave you an intact corpse."

"Pah!"

Wang Meng spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, contempt in his eyes. "Zhao Hei Hu, what do you take me for? I'm an officer, and you're a thief! If you want through this door, step over my corpse first!"

"Then I'll grant you your wish."

A flash of killing intent crossed Zhao Hei Hu's eyes. He stamped down hard and shot up the steps like a cannonball.

So fast!

Wang Meng's pupils shrank as he raised his saber to block.

"Clang!"

Zhao Hei Hu carried no weapon. He wore a pair of knuckle guards forged from refined iron, and one punch smashed into the spine of Wang Meng's blade.

A tremendous force crashed into him.

Wang Meng's injured leg instantly gave out under the strain with a crisp crack. He staggered back and slammed into the pillar behind him.

"Old fool, your time has passed."

Zhao Hei Hu grinned savagely and pressed forward, his iron fist driving straight at Wang Meng's face.

If that punch landed, Wang Meng's head would explode like a rotten watermelon.

At that critical instant—

"Boom!"

A brick wall at the side suddenly exploded.

Amid flying dust and shattered bricks, a bruised purple figure with knotted muscles crashed brutally into the battlefield like an out-of-control beast.

He did not go to save Wang Meng. Instead, he rammed straight into Zhao Hei Hu's side!

Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao? No—this was a suicidal charge meant to drag both sides down together.

Zhao Hei Hu sensed the threat and had no choice but to withdraw his punch and defend, swinging his left arm across his side.

"Bang!"

The dull impact of flesh against flesh drowned out the surrounding cries of battle.

Zhao Hei Hu felt as if a charging bull had struck him. He slid three or four steps sideways, his feet plowing two pale tracks across the bluestone before he barely managed to steady himself.

The one who had rammed into him was also flung away by the recoil, hitting the ground hard and rolling twice before climbing back up.

"Ji Ye!"

Wang Meng cried out, a trace of horror flashing through his eyes.

Ji Ye looked utterly terrifying at that moment. His upper body was bare, his skin a corpse-like dark blue-green, and the thick stench of medicine and blood radiated from him. He looked like an evil ghost that had crawled out of hell.

"Old man, if you're not dead yet, quit gasping over there."

Ji Ye spat out a mouthful of congealed blood and slowly straightened. He held the chipped boning knife in his hand, his eyes locked on Zhao Hei Hu.

"That hide of yours... you trained it well."

Zhao Hei Hu shook his slightly numb left arm. His gaze fell upon Ji Ye, and greed surfaced in his eyes. "To turn yourself into this neither-man-nor-ghost state in so little time... did you swallow my Tiger Bone Paste?"

"Tasted good." Ji Ye grinned, his teeth stained with blood. "Got a little stuck in my teeth."

"You're courting death!"

Zhao Hei Hu flew into a rage. That had been his hope for breaking into the Bone Forging Realm!

"Kill him! Chop him to pieces and feed him to the dogs!"

With a furious roar, Zhao Hei Hu charged again. This time, he held nothing back. His fists became a blur, carrying gusts powerful enough to split monuments and shatter stone as they enveloped Ji Ye's entire body.

The full strength of the Peak Skin Tempering Realm erupted.

Ji Ye did not dodge.

He could not dodge.

His speed and technique were far inferior to Zhao Hei Hu's. His only advantages were his unreasonable strength and that layer of "Dead Flesh Armor."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The dull thuds of fists striking flesh came down thick as rain.

Ji Ye was like a sandbag, beaten back again and again. Every strike from Zhao Hei Hu's iron fists dented his flesh and made his bones groan.

But Ji Ye did not fall.

The muscles within him seemed alive, frantically contracting and dispersing the force, forcibly enduring blows that would have killed an ordinary man.

"Is that all you've got?"

Ji Ye took a heavy punch head-on. His ribs gave an overloaded crack, yet he borrowed the force to lunge forward, wrapping both arms around Zhao Hei Hu's waist like iron hoops!

Close-quarters grappling!

It was the fighting style of street thugs, and Ji Ye's only chance of winning.

"Get up for me!"

Ji Ye roared, unleashing Triple Brute Force to its fullest. The muscles of his waist and abdomen tightened like iron as he actually tried to yank Zhao Hei Hu, the two-hundred-pound brute, upside down off the ground!

"Get off me!"

Zhao Hei Hu was horrified. Once his feet left the ground, half his martial skill would be useless. He drove both elbows down viciously into Ji Ye's back.

"Pfft!"

Ji Ye spat out a huge mouthful of blood, feeling as if his spine were about to snap.

But he refused to let go.

He even opened his mouth and bit down on Zhao Hei Hu's shoulder!

"Ah!"

Zhao Hei Hu screamed. Even at Peak Skin Tempering, flesh on his shoulder was still flesh. With that bite, Ji Ye tore off a bloody chunk of skin and meat.

Madman!

This was a fucking madman!

Zhao Hei Hu was afraid. The ruthless feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those who did not value their lives.

He struggled frantically, his knees repeatedly slamming into Ji Ye's abdomen.

Ji Ye's consciousness began to blur, and his vision turned crimson.

Memories from his previous life suddenly flashed back.

It was Black Stone County, three months later.

The Barbarians' iron cavalry had crushed the city gates. Zhao Hei Hu, the gang boss who ordinarily threw his weight around, had knelt beneath a Barbarian centurion's horse, offering up every woman and all the wealth in the city, begging only to be allowed to live as a dog.

That centurion had cut off his head with one stroke and kicked it around like a ball.

"You think you deserve..."

A muddled snarl escaped Ji Ye's throat.

He released his bite, but his hands still clamped tightly around Zhao Hei Hu. Then, using the last shred of his strength, he shoved him toward the broken half of a stone pillar nearby.

There was a sharp jagged stump there.

"No!!"

Zhao Hei Hu realized Ji Ye's intention. The ferocity in his eyes transformed into utter terror.

"Pfft!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only the sound of flesh being pierced.

Ji Ye drove Zhao Hei Hu into the stone pillar with all his weight. The arm-thick jagged stump pierced through Zhao Hei Hu's back and emerged from his chest, nailing his entire body to the pillar.

Blood streamed down the stone pillar, dyeing Ji Ye's face red.

Zhao Hei Hu's eyes bulged wide. His limbs twitched, blood foam bubbling from his mouth. He wanted to say something, but could only make hoarse choking sounds.

Those hands that had slaughtered people without number now hung limply at his sides.

The underground emperor of Black Stone County died on a broken pillar.

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

The Black Tiger Gang members still fighting nearby stared at their gang leader nailed to the pillar, and the weapons in their hands clattered to the ground.

When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered.

Ji Ye slowly released his hold. His body swayed, and he toppled backward.

A rough, large hand caught him.

It was Wang Meng.

The old constable was covered in wounds, but his eyes remained sharp. He looked at the unconscious Ji Ye, then at Zhao Hei Hu, who had died with his eyes open, his expression complicated.

"This kid..."

Wang Meng murmured softly, "He really did poke a hole in the heavens."

Three days later.

Ji Ye awoke in agonizing pain.

He found himself lying on the familiar communal bed, wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Even the slightest movement felt as though his body had been pulled apart.

"You're awake?"

Wang Meng sat beside the bed, wiping down a new saber. His left leg was splinted, clearly injured badly.

"Where's the Black Tiger Gang?" Ji Ye's voice was hoarse.

"Scattered." Wang Meng blew across the blade. "Once Zhao Hei Hu died, the remaining leaders started fighting among themselves for his position. I took men and swept through their turf a few times while I had the chance. We caught some, and some ran. Now, what we say goes in Black Stone County."

Ji Ye nodded and tried to sit up, but Wang Meng pressed him back down.

"Don't move. Three of your ribs are broken, and your internal organs suffered shock as well. Your body is bizarre enough that you survived. Anyone else would already be buried."

Wang Meng paused, then took a token from his robes and set it at the head of the bed.

It was a constable chief's badge.

"I'm going to the prefectural city to recover." Wang Meng looked at Ji Ye. "This leg is ruined. I can't keep doing this job. I've already made arrangements with the County Magistrate. This constable chief position is yours now."

Ji Ye looked at the badge without showing any joy.

He turned to look out the window.

It was the depths of winter, with heavy snow swirling through the sky.

According to the timeline of his previous life, it was this very winter that the northern Barbarian tribes suffered a snow disaster not seen in a century. Countless cattle and sheep froze to death. To survive, they began gathering a great army to march south.

Black Stone County, a small county town on the border, would be among the first targets to be slaughtered.

Less than three months remained.

Though they had won this gang conflict, it had exhausted Black Stone County's already meager military strength. The Black Tiger Gang had been destroyed, and the county yamen had suffered grave casualties. Black Stone County now was like a beautiful woman stripped bare, completely exposed beneath the Barbarians' curved blades.

"What? You think the post is too low?" Wang Meng asked with a frown when Ji Ye remained silent.

"No."

Ji Ye withdrew his gaze, his fingers lightly rubbing the cold badge.

"Chief, when you go to the prefectural city, help me deliver a message."

"What message?"

"Tell everyone who can run to flee south." Ji Ye's voice was soft, yet it carried bone-deep cold. "This year's snow is heavier than any before it."

Wang Meng froze for a moment and looked deeply at Ji Ye, as if he had understood the fear and resolve in his eyes.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Ji Ye clenched the badge, feeling the power within his wounded body slowly recovering.

He remembered the self who had been beaten to death over half a steamed bun, and the self who had been trampled beneath others' feet.

If he did not obtain an SSS rating, he could only struggle forever in this hopeless cycle. And running away would never earn him an SSS rating.

"I have to stay."

Ji Ye closed his eyes, and that system panel surfaced in his mind.

Since he had already been reborn, since he had traded his life for this strength and authority—

Then he had to make a big gamble.

"I'll wait here for someone."

For those Barbarians who rode wolves and drank human blood.

For the chance to completely turn his fate around—and perhaps even rewrite the fate of this world.