First Kill Two People

Chapter 5: First Kill Two

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In the quiet courtyard, Lin Le had been practicing his punches, from the moon's first rise until it was high in the sky.

Crack! With the final sound marking the end, Lin Le sat quietly by his doorway, having opened and closed it once in the interim.

The moon continued its westward descent. It was now the hour of Chou (1 AM-3 AM), the time when people were most drowsy.

A rustling sound arose. A man was seen stealthily climbing down from the wall.

Glancing around, the man was about to head into the house.

But before he could take a few steps, a heart-wrenching pain shot through his chest.

No, his heart was truly being gouged out!

The man could feel a cold object in his chest.

Fear flashed in his eyes. Just as he was about to let out a cry of defiance, someone seemed to anticipate his shout and covered his mouth firmly with a hand.

"Mmph!" The man struggled, but the dagger plunged into his body twisted, completely severing his life force.

The man's body went limp like noodles.

Lin Le pulled out the dagger and hid in the corner to recover his strength. He remained there until dawn broke and the first rooster crowed in the city.

Did only one come? Or did the one waiting outside know something was wrong and run off?

Lin Le looked at the corpse, rubbing the dagger. He had originally wanted to use this opportunity to condense a lotus seed and try it out, but he would have to wait a few more days.

He looked within his divine ability's Inner Scenery. Inside the lotus, a speck of golden light was faintly condensing. On the lotus stem, a lotus root the size of a baby's fist was quietly hanging there.

'Merit is based on sin, but is killing karma based on the number of people killed?'

Lin Le pondered. When he killed the two brothers, he gained a little merit and two points of killing karma. One point of merit and one point of killing karma were used to activate his divine ability.

Now, after killing this man, he had gained another three points of merit and one point of killing karma.

'So, if I want to use the lotus root to alter my bone structure, do I still need to kill eight more people?'

Lin Le mused. According to the feedback, the lowest tier of lotus seeds or lotus roots required ten points of merit or ten points of killing karma.

Based on the conditions, merit seemed a bit easier to accumulate.

Lin Le stood up, brushed off the dust, and turned to leave.

He ate breakfast with a composed expression and then left.

Not long after he departed, a man stealthily approached Lin Le's house. He cautiously glanced around, confirmed no one was present, and then nimbly jumped into the courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard, the man saw the man lying on the ground and immediately exclaimed, "Old Niu!"

He didn't go to check. The pool of congealed blood on the ground had already told him that his companion was deader than dead.

His heart pounded faster. The man turned directly to leave, knowing he had targeted not a fat sheep this time, but a ferocious wolf.

Creak!

Suddenly, a sound made the tense man jump three feet in the air. "Who!"

The newcomer didn't speak, but charged towards the man.

Before the man could even see who was attacking, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, then his back. He was thrown to the ground.

At this point, he also saw who the attacker was. Wasn't it the fat sheep they had chosen?

"You, you didn't leave?" the man stammered, disbelief evident in his voice.

Lin Le looked at the man with indifferent eyes and said nothing. He simply twisted the dagger forcefully, severing the man's life force.

Another three points of merit and one point of killing karma entered his Inner Scenery.

He stood up, patted the dust off, confirmed no blood had stained him, and pulled out the dagger.

Closing the door, Lin Le looked at the two corpses and stroked his chin. He took a shovel from the house, lifted a stone slab from the ground, and began digging a grave on the spot.

Lin Le didn't finish until afternoon, having buried both men. He also sprinkled some Pure Yang Virgin Boy Urine to suppress the yin energy.

Entering the house, Lin Le immediately lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, in a gambling den, a fierce-looking man frowned. "Where are Old Niu and Old Rat? Why haven't they shown up yet?"

Someone replied, "Brother Wang, they went to find the fat sheep we marked yesterday. They're probably keeping an eye on him right now."

"It's such a hassle to deal with a brat whose parents are gone. You're really embarrassing me!" Brother Wang snorted coldly. "Tell them to bring that kid over too. The kid looks clean and fair; he should fetch a good price if sold to a Boy Brothel."

A Boy Brothel was a place specifically for training male youths to serve people with peculiar tastes.

"Yes, I'll go notify them right away." The man nodded and turned to leave.

The next morning, Lin Le woke up from his sleep, stretched, and began brushing his teeth, washing his face, and suppressing the corpses. Then, he went out.

After breakfast, Lin Le arrived at the White Ape Martial Arts School and once again started forcefully pulling the Stone Lock.

This time, he began directly with two hundred jin, finding it a bit strenuous.

Warming up his wrists, Lin Le directly challenged the two hundred and forty jin lock.

He still managed to lift it.

'Around two hundred and fifty jin, I'd guess.'

Lin Le put down the Stone Lock and estimated his strength.

He had lifted the two hundred and forty jin Stone Lock, but he could feel he didn't have much strength left. Lifting two hundred and sixty jin was impossible; it should be around two hundred and fifty jin.

'A five-year-old Blood Ginseng can increase strength by about sixty jin. Looking at it this way, the cost-effectiveness seems a bit low.'

Lin Le calculated. If it were just for daily meals, it would take him at most four liang for food expenses and two months to reach his current level.

'It's a shame I need time.'

Lin Le sighed. Two months was too slow. He knew the surrounding order was unstable, and he was being targeted.

Exchanging money for time was the most profitable deal at this moment.

"I need to earn money," Lin Le muttered to himself.

His own remaining money was only a little over twenty liang. The two people who had died were also poor, and the money they had on them added up to just a little over one liang.

A single Blood Ginseng cost fifteen liang. This amount of money was far from enough.

But how could he earn it?

Lin Le pondered and realized that for his current situation, every path was a dead end. Based on his knowledge of this life, every industry was controlled by others. Without backing, a daily business of over a hundred wen was the limit for an ordinary person.

'Without strength, I don't even dare to think about earning money,' Lin Le sighed inwardly. Suddenly, he saw Hou Guang walking in.

A flash of inspiration struck, and Lin Le walked towards Hou Guang.

If he couldn't find a way to earn money, he could ask someone who could.

"Senior Brother Hou, I have a question I'd like to ask your advice on," Lin Le said.

Hou Guang stopped and looked at Lin Le, his expression calm. "Go ahead, what is it?"

"I can read and write, and my arithmetic is pretty good. What do you think I could do to earn money quickly and safely?" Lin Le extended his hand towards Hou Guang.

Hou Guang frowned slightly, but when he saw a small, shiny object in Lin Le's hand, his frown immediately relaxed. "Let me think about it."

As he spoke, he had already taken the small silver treasure, worth one liang, from Lin Le's hand.

Just a few seconds later, Hou Guang said, "Junior Brother Lin, have you ever worked as an accountant?"

"No, but I've done accounting," Lin Le replied. "My family used to run a grocery store."

Actually, it was a convenience store he had run in his previous life.

Hou Guang nodded slightly. "Then let me test your arithmetic. What is thirty-one multiplied by thirty-two?"

"Nine hundred and ninety-two," Lin Le answered instantly.

Hou Guang's eyebrows rose slightly. "Three hundred and thirty-one multiplied by four hundred and fifty-two?"

"One hundred and forty-nine thousand, six hundred and twelve," Lin Le answered instantly again.

Hou Guang pondered, calculating as well. The final result matched Lin Le's, which surprised him. As expected of a genius with high comprehension, his mental arithmetic was outstanding.

"Then for the last question," Hou Guang said.

"I went to your shop and bought a pill. The pill's cost price was thirty-one liang, and it was marked at thirty-six liang. I paid with a one-hundred-liang silver note. You didn't have change at the time, so you exchanged the hundred liang with a neighbor for one hundred liang in small silver pieces and gave me sixty-four liang in change. Later, the neighbor discovered that the hundred-liang silver note was a fake, so you had to return one hundred liang to the neighbor. Question: how much money did you lose in this transaction?"

"Ninety-five liang," Lin Le answered instantly again.

Hou Guang clapped his hands. "Excellent calculation, Junior Brother Lin! Your arithmetic is truly impressive!"

"Just based on experience," Lin Le said humbly.

"With that experience, it'll be much easier," Hou Guang said. "Junior Brother, wait a day or two. I'll let you know if I have any news."

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Lin Le said, cupping his hands.