Kill Two First

Smack! Smack! Smack!

In the quiet courtyard, Lin Le kept practicing his fists, from when the moon first rose until it hung high in the sky.

Smack! With the final crack, Lin Le quietly sat at the door of the house, opening and closing it once midway through.

The moon continued slanting westward. It was now the Hour of the Ox, when people were at their sleepiest.

A faint rustling sounded, and a burly man was seen stealthily climbing down from the wall.

After looking around, the man prepared to head inside.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, a heart-rending pain erupted from his chest.

No—it truly was his heart being gouged out!

The man could feel an icy object lodged in his heart.

Terror filled his eyes. He was about to let out an unwilling cry, but someone seemed to know he would scream; a hand had already clamped tightly over his mouth.

"Mmgh! Mmgh!" The man tried to struggle, but the dagger piercing his body twisted, completely severing his life.

The man's body went limp like a strand of noodles.

Lin Le pulled out the dagger and hid in the corner to recover his strength. He stayed there until the sky gradually brightened and the first rooster crowed within the city.

Only one came? Or did the one waiting outside sense something was wrong and run away?

Lin Le looked at the corpse and rubbed the dagger. He had originally wanted to take the chance to condense a lotus seed and sample something fresh, but he could only wait a few more days.

Within the inner realm of the Inner Vision Divine Ability, a point of golden light was slowly gathering inside the lotus flower. On the lotus whip hung a lotus root the size of an infant's fist.

Merit depends on sin and karma. Does killing karma depend on the number of people killed?

Lin Le pondered it. When he had killed the two brothers before, he had gained one point of merit and two points of killing karma. One point of merit and one point of killing karma had been used to unlock the divine ability.

And 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 lotus root to alter my Bone Structure, do I still need to kill another eight people?

Lin Le considered it. According to the feedback, even the lowest-grade lotus seeds or lotus roots required ten points of merit or ten points of killing karma.

Judging from the conditions, merit seemed easier to accumulate.

Lin Le rose, dusted himself off, and turned to leave.

After calmly finishing breakfast, Lin Le departed.

Not long after he left, a man stealthily approached Lin Le's house. After cautiously checking his surroundings and confirming that no one was there, he nimbly jumped into the courtyard.

The moment he entered, he saw the burly man lying on the ground and cried out, "Old Niu!"

Yet he did not go over to inspect him. The pool of congealed blood on the ground had already told him that his companion was dead beyond all doubt.

His heart raced as he immediately turned to leave. He knew that this time, his target was not a fat sheep, but a vicious wolf.

Creak!

A sudden sound made the tense man leap three feet into the air. "Who's there?!"

The newcomer said nothing, merely charging at the man.

Before the man could see who it was, pain stabbed through his chest, followed by pain in his back as he was knocked to the ground.

Only then did he see his attacker clearly. Wasn't it the fat sheep they had chosen?

"You... you didn't leave?" The man's voice came out in broken fragments, filled with disbelief.

Lin Le gazed at him with indifferent eyes and said nothing. He merely twisted the dagger hard, severing the man's life.

Another three points of merit and one point of killing karma entered the inner realm.

After getting up and dusting himself off, Lin Le pulled out the dagger once he had confirmed that no blood had stained him.

Closing the door, Lin Le looked at the two corpses and stroked his chin. He fetched a shovel from the house, pried up the stone slabs on the ground, and began digging a pit on the spot.

He worked until the afternoon before burying the two men. He also sprinkled some Pure Yang Virgin Boy Urine over them to suppress the yin energy.

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

Meanwhile, inside a gambling den, a vicious-looking man frowned. "Where are Old Niu and Old Rat? Why haven't they come over yet?"

Someone replied, "Brother Wang, they went after the fat sheep they were watching yesterday. They're probably still keeping an eye on him."

"A little brat without parents, and they still have to make such a fuss? They're embarrassing me!" Brother Wang snorted. "Tell them to tie that brat up and bring him over too. The little brat looks fair and clean. He should still fetch some money if sold to a boy brothel."

A boy brothel was a place specially meant to train young boys for the enjoyment of people with unusual tastes.

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

Early the next morning, Lin Le woke from his sleep, stretched lazily, brushed his teeth, washed up, and suppressed the corpses before heading out.

After breakfast, Lin Le arrived at the White Ape Martial Arts School and once again lifted the Stone Locks.

This time, he began directly with two hundred jin, and it took some effort.

After loosening his wrists, Lin Le directly challenged two hundred and forty jin.

He still lifted it.

Around two hundred and fifty jin, probably.

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

He had lifted the two-hundred-and-forty-jin Stone Lock, but he could feel that he did not have much strength left. Two hundred and sixty jin was impossible; his limit should be around two hundred and fifty jin.

One five-year Blood Ginseng can increase strength by around sixty jin. Judging from that, its value for money seems rather low.

Lin Le calculated. If he simply ate regular meals, at most he would need four taels of food money and two months to reach that point.

Unfortunately, what I need is time.

Lin Le sighed. Two months was too slow. The order around him was not stable right now, especially since someone had set their sights on him.

Trading money for time was the most worthwhile deal at a time like this.

"I need to make money," Lin Le muttered.

He had only a little over twenty taels left, while the two dead men had both been paupers. All the money on them combined had amounted to barely over one tael.

Yet a single Blood Ginseng cost fifteen taels. This money was nowhere near enough.

But how was he supposed to earn it?

Lin Le thought it over, then realized that for the current him, every route was a dead end. From what he had seen in this life, every trade and profession was controlled by someone. Without anyone backing him, a business earning over a hundred coins a day was the limit for an ordinary person.

Without strength, I don't even dare to make money. Lin Le sighed inwardly, but then suddenly saw Hou Guang entering through the door.

An idea flashed through his mind, and Lin Le walked toward Hou Guang.

If he could not find a way to make money, he could ask someone who knew how.

"Senior Brother Hou, I have a question I'd like to ask you," Lin Le said to Hou Guang.

Hou Guang stopped and looked at Lin Le with a calm expression. "Go ahead. What is it?"

"I can read and write, and I'm fairly good at arithmetic. What do you think I could do to make money quickly while staying safe?" Lin Le held out his hand toward Hou Guang.

Hou Guang's brows furrowed slightly, but when he saw the small silver object gleaming in Lin Le's hand, his brows immediately relaxed. "Let me think."

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

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

"I haven't, but I've done accounts," Lin Le said. "My family used to run a general store."

In truth, he had run a convenience store in his previous life.

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

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

Hou Guang raised his brows slightly. "Three hundred and thirty-one times four hundred and fifty-two?"

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

Hou Guang fell silent as he calculated it himself. In the end, his result matched Lin Le's, and he could not help feeling astonished. As expected of a genius with high comprehension—his mental arithmetic was truly exceptional.

"One final question," Hou Guang said.

"I bought a medicinal pill from your shop. The pill cost you thirty-one taels, and you priced it at thirty-six taels. I paid for it with a hundred-tael banknote. You had no change, so you exchanged that hundred-tael note with a neighbor for a hundred taels in loose silver, then gave me sixty-four taels in change.

"But later, the neighbor discovered that the hundred-tael banknote was counterfeit, and you had no choice but to repay the neighbor a hundred taels. How much did you lose in total from this transaction?"

"Ninety-five taels," Lin Le answered instantly once more.

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

"Just experience," Lin Le said modestly.

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

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Lin Le cupped his hands.