Becoming a Butcher

After entering the city, Chu Feng arrived at Fang Manor's gate by a familiar route and openly squatted in a corner to observe.

An old beggar nearby saw Chu Feng in ragged clothes and assumed he had come to seize his territory.

He compared their builds and found that the boy was skinny as a rake, even weaker than himself. He immediately flew into a rage.

"Hey, brat! Don't you know there's an order of arrival?" The old beggar stood up and reached for Chu Feng's collar.

Chu Feng casually seized the old beggar's outstretched hand.

"Ow... It hurts, it hurts! Let go, quick..."

His claw-like palm creaked under Chu Feng's grip, while his dirty face twisted with pain like a wrung towel.

"Quiet down... I'll only be staying for a while." After giving him a slight reprimand, Chu Feng released his hand.

Freed at last, the old beggar immediately fled, keeping as far away as possible.

He couldn't understand why this fellow, who was even skinnier than himself, had such immense strength.

Chu Feng paid him no mind, his gaze sinking into memories.

Chu Feng hadn't come to fight a beggar for territory out of sheer boredom. It was because that superior Muscle Tempering Technique was in the hands of a servant at Fang Manor.

The servant had entered the Fang family at the same time as Chu Feng. Like him, he was Fang Jian Xing's sparring servant, and his name was Lin Da Niu.

His ancestors had once been martial artists, but the family had later fallen into decline. Forced by poverty, he had no choice but to sell himself to the Fang family as a sparring servant.

When Chu Feng recalled his days as a slave, they had truly been a difficult period.

Sparring servants were the lowest of all servants, mockingly known as "flesh targets."

Fang Jian Xing had a peculiar habit: he forbade sparring partners from using protective gear because he felt it would affect his sense of touch.

Fang Jian Xing had grown up steeped in nourishing medicinal herbs. He practiced superior martial arts, had a warped and vicious temperament, and struck with terrifying brutality. More than a dozen sparring partners were beaten black and blue every day.

Several unlucky ones had even been beaten to death on the spot, yet the Fang family merely tossed out a few strings of copper coins and called it settled.

No one cared about the heavy casualties. They were all worthless peasants, after all. At worst, the family could recruit another batch.

Chu Feng, Lin Da Niu, and the others were the third batch of "flesh targets" recruited.

After signing their deeds of sale, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to. All they could do was grit their teeth and endure.

Some clever people secretly hid bamboo boards, tree bark, and the like beneath their clothes for protection. But when Fang Jian Xing noticed that the feel was off, he struck even harder and beat one of them to death right there!

Later, Chu Feng stole several sheets of pigskin from the kitchen and hid them on his body.

Pigskin was soft yet thick. It could withstand attacks and was difficult for Fang Jian Xing to detect.

Seeing that Lin Da Niu was honest and simple-minded, Chu Feng told him this secret.

The two of them wore three layers of pigskin and suffered somewhat less damage than the others. Yet their injuries accumulated day after day, and after enough time had passed, they still couldn't survive.

Fortunately, before long, Fang Jian Xing broke through his bottleneck and lost interest in their group of weakling sparring partners. That gave the remaining three to five people a chance to live.

Chu Feng was assigned menial work carrying water and chopping firewood, while Lin Da Niu was assigned to miscellaneous chores in the kitchen.

Lin Da Niu was grateful to Chu Feng for saving his life and often secretly took leftover food from the kitchen to prepare extra meals for him.

They had thought life could continue peacefully, but Chu Feng happened to see something he shouldn't have and had no choice but to flee the Fang family.

Still, when one door closes, another opens. If the Fang family hadn't hunted him down, he wouldn't have activated his golden finger and gained the chance to change his life.

Chu Feng waited outside Fang Manor for a long time, but even as dusk approached, he still didn't see Lin Da Niu come out.

"This place really is blessed by good feng shui. Someone even gave me two copper coins. At least waiting half a day wasn't for nothing."

Making merry in the midst of misery, Chu Feng picked up the two copper coins, turned around, exchanged them for two steamed buns, and walked toward the city center while eating.

There was no need to rush when it came to finding someone. It was nearly dark, curfew was about to begin, and he had to find somewhere to stay quickly.

Yong'an City was laid out in a pattern of wealth in the east, nobility in the west, poverty in the south, and lowliness in the north.

The eastern district was mostly home to wealthy clans and merchants, while the western district held officials' residences. Commoners lived in the south, and the city's underclass—beggars, refugees, and the like—lived in the north.

Chu Feng arrived at the central avenue where the eastern and western districts met.

From a distance, he saw a particularly striking building. It stood three stories tall, with sweeping eaves and bracketed arches, and four large characters reading "Hongyun Restaurant" hung above it.

The three-story building looked exceptionally exquisite and splendid among the low structures surrounding it.

It was said that the proprietor of Hongyun Restaurant had specially invited a famous chef from Jizhou's capital. The dishes he prepared were unbelievably delicious, drawing the city's wealthy patrons to spend lavishly there.

It was mealtime, and the restaurant was packed with noise and excitement.

The instant Chu Feng appeared at Hongyun Restaurant, a waiter drove him away with undisguised disgust.

"Go on, go beg for food somewhere else..."

Chu Feng didn't budge. He said calmly, "I heard your esteemed restaurant is recruiting a butcher. I've come to apply."

"You?"

The waiter's face was full of disdain. He hadn't taken Chu Feng seriously at all.

Although the restaurant proprietor saw that Chu Feng was skinny as a rake and dressed in rags, his expression was calm and composed, carrying a certain bearing. He couldn't help but look him over a few more times.

"Did you flee here from Qingyan City in the north?" The proprietor stopped the waiter, who was about to drive Chu Feng away again, and asked him.

"I used to be a butcher from Taolin Town near Qingyan City. During the year of great disaster, the people fled in droves, and I lost my livelihood as well. I could only flee here."

The proprietor had already supplied him with a good reason, so Chu Feng simply went along with it.

Most of the refugees outside the city had also fled from the north. The earth had convulsed, rivers had swallowed the fertile fields, and the crops had failed completely. Many people had fled their homes in search of a path to survival.

The ordinary people of this world were like weeds, exploited and oppressed by every social class, barely managing to stay alive.

Once natural or man-made disaster struck, they could only leave everything to fate, utterly lacking any ability to withstand calamity.

As for rebellion?

That was utterly impossible!

Those aristocratic clans and nobles high above held transcendent martial power. Ordinary people who rebelled would be suppressed in an instant.

"In chaotic times, human lives are as worthless as grass. We're all suffering people."

The proprietor sighed with deep sympathy, seemingly reminded of something.

He had struggled for more than a decade to make the restaurant as prosperous as it was.

When the Fang family saw how well his business was doing, they had demanded seven-tenths of his profits with a single word, turning him into a long-term laborer for the Fang family.

He hadn't even dared to refuse. He could only kneel on the ground and loudly praise the Fang family's generosity and benevolence.

"You're a butcher by trade, and the restaurant happens to need one. Stay," the proprietor said.

In a martial world, martial artists consumed enormous amounts of meat.

Hongyun Restaurant had the best food and the most prosperous business in Yong'an City. To guarantee the freshness of its ingredients, most of the animals were slaughtered on-site.

"Thank you, proprietor." Chu Feng cupped his fists in salute.

"What's your name?"

"Chu Liu Xiang," Chu Feng replied casually.

The proprietor nodded and led Chu Feng to the restaurant's back kitchen, where he brought out a large, fat pig.

Chu Feng didn't disappoint him. With a small display of his skill, he effortlessly butchered the entire pig, winning the proprietor's wholehearted admiration.

In his previous life, Chu Feng had watched plenty of videos of butchers breaking down pigs. Combined with his Breaking Edge Saber Technique at the perfected level, killing livestock was a little unfamiliar, but it still posed no problem.

[Slaughtered fat pig, Plunder Lifespan: 1 year.]

[Slaughtered black goat, Plunder Lifespan: 8 months.]

[Slaughtered rooster, Plunder Lifespan: 1 month.]

A hint of delight flashed through Chu Feng's eyes. It was a little less than he had hoped, but it was still income.

If he could keep it up without interruption, accumulating it bit by bit, he could still build up a considerable lifespan.

The bloody smell of slaughtering could also conceal his own scent and prevent tracking by wolfhounds. It truly accomplished several things at once!

"Your monthly pay will be one tael of silver. Start work tomorrow," the proprietor said.

Ordinarily, slaughtering and butchering were the cook's duties. However, that famous chef was too precious to touch such rough work and only handled the cooking.

With no alternative, the proprietor had to find a butcher. But the local butchers with real skill looked down on the paltry pay he offered, so he had been unable to find a suitable person.

"Good." Chu Feng agreed without the slightest hesitation.

"Shitou, quickly arrange lodging for Master Chu."

Seeing Chu Feng dressed in rags and skinny as a rake, the proprietor wanted him to rest for a day before starting work.

A highly efficient butcher was hard to find, and he didn't want his new hire collapsing from exhaustion immediately after being recruited.

"Proprietor, I'd like to start working now. Otherwise, I'd feel embarrassed eating for free," Chu Feng said honestly.

The proprietor was even more satisfied with Chu Feng after hearing this.

He instructed the kitchen staff to take good care of Chu Feng, then turned and left.

Meanwhile, Gao Han followed the traces to the place where Chu Feng had fought earlier.

He carefully examined the signs of battle nearby, not overlooking the slightest detail.

"Could this boy have reached the Late Skin Grinding Stage?"

"He's also hiding precious soft armor. Combined with his exquisite saber technique, that must be how he managed to kill so many servants?"

"He definitely has a secret!" Excitement shone in Gao Han's eyes.

He continued tracking. Only after examining the large tree where Chu Feng had stopped did he discover that the trail abruptly ended.

Gao Han continued forward for five more li, but still found no trace.

"Could this boy have returned to Yong'an City?" After searching, observing, and lingering for a long while, Gao Han reached a shocking conclusion.

"How dare he?"

After standing there in a daze for a long time, Gao Han returned to Yong'an City and reported the situation to Fang Jian Xing.