Blocked

Draw it, then. Making money wasn't shameful.

"Please bring Master Wang's usual clothes and accessories."

"The maid who attended to Master Wang's grooming should be called over as well, preferably."

"And bring over a more elegant chair."

Steward Li gave Chen Mu a surprised look. After leaving to seek Young Master Wang's approval, he arranged everything one by one according to Chen Mu's requests.

Normally, the subject of a portrait should be dressed and groomed before being painted.

Unfortunately, judging by the man on the bed, let alone getting dressed and striking a pose, whether he would live to see tomorrow's sun was uncertain.

If Chen Mu had not possessed the Second Tier Drawing skill, he truly would not have dared take the job.

But now, he was brimming with confidence.

The moment he saw Master Wang's clothes, an image of the man fully dressed appeared in Chen Mu's mind.

After carefully asking the grooming maid about her usual routine, Master Wang's face and hairstyle in his healthy state were already clearly formed in his mind.

Add an antique, weighty round-backed armchair.

The full effect of the portrait became vividly clear before his eyes.

Chen Mu looked at Master Wang twice more. Then he immediately lowered his head and began to paint.

An hour later, Chen Mu set down his brush and rose.

"Young Master Chen, what miraculous hands!" Steward Li, whose face had remained stern all along, could not help but be moved.

The person in the painting had a full face, bright and spirited eyes, hair combed without a strand out of place. His overall appearance was vastly different from the man lying sick in bed.

Yet Steward Li knew that this was exactly what Master Wang looked like when healthy!

He had never expected this poor scholar, who had always gone unnoticed, to possess such skill.

Inside the carriage, Chen Mu happily squeezed a Small Cloth Bag.

Inside was the payment Steward Li had given him for the painting: Ten Taels of Silver.

His rent was also waived for a year.

Within Qingshan County, one tael of silver could be exchanged for roughly twelve hundred copper coins.

Three hundred copper coins were enough to cover a family of three's expenses for one month, and they could even eat their fill.

Ten taels of silver, if spent frugally, could support a household for three years!

To Chen Mu, this was an enormous sum!

Yet Steward Li had handed it over casually.

Aside from the fact that his portrait truly stood out, it was more because the Wang Family was wealthy and did not care about such a small amount of money.

"Now I can finally eat some meat!"

He had shut himself away for half a month, exhausting his energy practicing painting. Though he ate until full at every meal, all he had was vegetables and White Wheat.

Not only had he not gained weight, he had grown thinner instead.

When they reached the East Market, he got off the carriage early and hurried to the Butcher Shop, where he bought two jin of pork belly before carrying it home.

After enduring hardship for a month and a half, he was going to have a good meal today.

As he walked, he passed a Martial Arts School.

Hearing the shouts within, Chen Mu could not help stopping to watch.

He had not forgotten Constable Lu, who could cover five or six meters in a single step.

The Martial Arts School had a black plaque with golden lettering, bearing the words White Cloud Martial Arts School.

Chen Mu stood at the entrance and watched without drawing attention to himself.

Some of the trainees were lifting stone locks, some practiced with long spears, and some danced with sabers and swords. The place was a blaze of activity.

After watching for a while, Chen Mu left the Martial Arts School in disappointment.

Those methods were basically just ways to train strength, much like pumping iron in a gym in his previous life.

With such methods, one could never cultivate Constable Lu's ability to leap five or six meters at a time.

"No rush. I'll investigate slowly."

The next day, Chen Mu did not get up and wash until the sun was already high in the sky.

He had staked everything on a month and a half of seclusion. The unfamiliar world and uncertain future had placed immense pressure on him.

But the ten taels of silver he earned yesterday finally let Chen Mu breathe a great sigh of relief.

With this money, at least for the next year or two, he would not need to worry about going hungry.

More importantly, he had mastered a skill sufficient to support himself, even let him live quite well.

"It's just a pity that my first job after opening shop was painting someone's funeral portrait. It would have been nice if a beautiful singer had come instead."

After eating and drinking his fill, Chen Mu took his brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, preparing to return to Anle Ward to continue selling paintings.

The Ping'an Ward where Chen Mu lived was in the southeast of Qingshan County. The houses here were rows of low buildings, a Settlement for commoners.

The roads were all winding little alleys.

Just as he turned a corner, a Burly Man, tall and fat, came toward him.

The man stared straight at Chen Mu. His face was covered in fierce flesh, and the sight of him made one's heart tremble.

Chen Mu instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He turned to leave the alley.

But at some point, a Short Man had appeared behind him.

The man looked at Chen Mu with a grin, his face wearing the teasing expression of a cat playing with a mouse.

He had been blocked!

For an instant, panic rose in Chen Mu's heart. He quickly searched through the previous owner's memories, but found no trace of either man, nor any memory of having made enemies.

"I have an appointment with the Wang Family in the city. Today, I am to paint Master Wang's funeral portrait. If I am delayed, will you two bear the responsibility?" Chen Mu said, doing his best to remain calm.

"Trying to scare me?" The Short Man smiled. "Didn't you finish painting it yesterday?"

Chen Mu's heart sank. These two had come prepared!

"The entire payment is in here. Can you let me pass?" Chen Mu took out the cloth bag. At this moment, he became calm instead.

He decided to spend money to avert disaster.

He knew these people were like dog-skin plasters—once they latched on, they could not easily be shaken off.

But if he did not give them the money, they would certainly snatch it by force, and might even beat him up.

"That won't be enough. You'll have to add something else." The Short Man grinned as he approached, his tone filled with frivolous amusement.

Chen Mu could not help frowning. Other than this bag of money, he had nothing valuable on him.

"Add your hands!" the Tall Burly Man said coldly.

Chen Mu's heart suddenly turned icy.

"Can you tell me who sent you?" This was not simple robbery!

The Short Man looked at Chen Mu in surprise. "You're not afraid?"

"I am," Chen Mu said calmly. But fear would not make these two stop.

The Short Man frowned.

Why did this guy look so unmoved?

Shouldn't he be panicking, falling to his knees, and begging for mercy?

"Break both his arms!" the Short Man said coldly.

Once I break both your hands, let's see if you can stay this calm.

Chen Mu's scalp tightened. He suppressed his instinctive urge to run and carefully swept his eyes over the two men.

He wanted to remember their faces. He could remember their faces too.

"What the hell are you staring at?!" The Short Man grew angry under Chen Mu's gaze.

He kicked Chen Mu to the ground.

"What, you want revenge against the two of us?"

"Once I break both your legs and gouge out your eyes, let's see how you take revenge!" the Short Man said viciously.

They had spent years roaming the streets. Cruel methods were as commonplace to them as daily meals.

The Tall Burly Man took two strides to Chen Mu's side, raised his foot, and viciously stomped down at Chen Mu's hand.

Chen Mu could not help tensing all over.

Bang!

A black shadow flashed before his eyes, but the pain he expected never came.

The Tall Burly Man abruptly flew into the air, sailing three or four meters before crashing onto his back with all four limbs sprawled. His entire body twitched as he twisted like an earthworm, yet he could not get up no matter what he did.

Bang!

Almost at the same time, another sound rang out.

The Short Man was like a Drawing, his entire body uncontrollably plastered against the wall.

Then he slid down to the ground, his face twisted as he sucked in cold breaths.

Chen Mu turned his head. At some point, a figure in tight black clothes, a long saber at his waist, had appeared not far behind him.

"Constable Lu?!"