You don't know you're wrong, you know you're going to die!

Su Mu felt a pang of regret. This overcast rain had dulled his senses, and combined with his eagerness to press on, he only noticed someone ahead after drawing too close.

"Leave... better to leave now."

In the rain, the poison inside Su Mu flared up, leaving his body in worse shape than usual. He also noticed the long blade at the man's waist and the Sha Qi radiating from him—this was no ordinary person.

He had likely run into a road bandit.

Su Mu wanted to steer clear, but the Scarred Man had no intention of letting him go. One hand pressed down on his blade as he strode toward Su Mu.

"Kid, be smart and hand over all your cash. I'm only after your money, not your life."

Just robbery?

Su Mu didn't believe it, but he didn't want to clash with this man directly. Lowering his head, he said, "Good sir, I—I'll hand over my money right now."

With that, Su Mu reached into his robe and pulled out a small coin pouch containing over two hundred copper coins. He had just collected last month's wages a few days ago.

Seeing Su Mu cower and his voice tremble, the Scarred Man let out a disdainful snort and took his right hand off the sword hilt.

He began sizing Su Mu up. The kid was scrawny, but his features were handsome with a touch of delicacy—the kind of look that gentlemen with certain tastes favored. A boy this age would fetch a good price.

"You're Su Mu?"

At those words, Su Mu's expression froze, and a chill ran through him. The man knowing his name outright meant this encounter was no coincidence.

He had clearly been waiting here on purpose.

Who was trying to harm him?

Those guys?

No. If they wanted to deal with a poisoned deadman like him, they wouldn't go to such trouble.

For a moment, Su Mu's thoughts churned in chaos, but one thing was clear: since this man had come for him, he wouldn't let it go easily.

Now, only one path to survival lay before Su Mu... a desperate fight to the death.

Today, it was kill or be killed.

"I'm Su Mu... Good sir, please don't kill me. This is all I have..."

Su Mu pretended to tremble all over, his voice filled with terror.

"Hmph, you kept me waiting in this rain for a good while."

The Scarred Man grumbled as he stepped closer to what he saw as easy prey. Within three paces, he reached out to grab Su Mu's chin, wanting a good look at his catch to set a proper price.

A large hand shot out.

In Su Mu's eyes, the trajectory of that grabbing hand was as clear as if it had slowed down. This was the change after his comprehension had risen to Modest Potential—his senses were far sharper than an ordinary person's.

Then, the 54 forms of the Five Animal Frolics flashed through his mind.

"I can do this. I can..."

Tiger Frolic, fifth form: Tiger Pounce, First Style.

Years of practicing the Five Animal Frolics in his past life, plus over half a year of hard training in this world, now paid off.

Su Mu arched his back slightly, then snapped forward, his calloused hands instinctively forming tiger claws as he lunged and struck.

The blow caught the Scarred Man's wrist precisely, clamping down hard.

"Huh?!"

The Scarred Man felt a searing pain in his wrist, bones grinding as if about to be crushed. The harmless lamb from a moment ago had turned into a mountain tiger ready to devour.

"Damn it, let go!"

The Scarred Man cried out in pain, but Su Mu didn't stop. His free left hand shot forward, and he threw himself at the man like a raging tiger.

Before he could free his wrist, the Scarred Man was hit by another surge of force, stumbled off balance, and was tackled to the ground. He looked up at the boy crouched over him like a wild beast.

The Scarred Man panicked. He smelled extreme danger, terror flooding his face. By the time he tried to react, it was too late.

Tiger Frolic, sixth form: Tiger Pounce, Second Style!

Su Mu let out a low shout, tensed his fingers, and swung both arms in a flurry of tiger-claw strikes aimed at the Scarred Man's carotid artery.

The neck held major blood vessels and dense nerves—a full-force blow could kill.

Tiger claws tore through skin and sank into flesh. Blood sprayed out.

"No... stop... stop..."

The second claw hit the same spot, ripping through flesh and catching the artery.

Pfft.

Vessels snapped, the Adam's apple shattered, but Su Mu showed no sign of stopping.

Claw after claw, as if he had truly become a tiger tearing apart its prey.

After who knew how many strikes, Su Mu stopped, panting heavily. His hands and face were covered in blood—the still-warm arterial blood.

An indescribable exhaustion weighed on him. It had only been a few breaths, but he felt more drained than after a full day forging in the shop.

Beneath Su Mu, the Scarred Man lay with his head nearly severed, eyes wide open, face frozen in terror and disbelief. He died with his eyes open, never understanding how a lamb could turn into a tiger in an instant.

Whoosh—whoosh—

After a few heavy breaths, Su Mu wiped the corner of his mouth and steadied his mind. He wanted to leave, but after taking a step, he turned back.

He took another deep breath, then crouched down and began feeling around the corpse. Before long, Su Mu found something wrapped in a cloth bag—it felt like a book inside.

Su Mu didn't open it to check on the spot. He just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, but just then, footsteps came from the direction beside him.

"Brother Wang, did you catch that kid?"

The moment he heard the voice, Su Mu's whole body trembled. The confusion in his mind vanished in an instant, and a terrifying glint of murder flashed in his eyes.

Sun Li!

There was no mistaking that voice—it was Sun Li, his fellow apprentice at the Iron Shop!

Su Mu turned to look.

The next second.

A terrified scream rang out. That scream, of course, didn't come from Su Mu—it came from Sun Li.

Sun Li's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. He saw Su Mu drenched in blood, and beside Su Mu lay the Scarred Man, dead in a gruesome state, his eyes wide open in death.

"Su, Su Mu... how are you still alive..."

Su Mu said nothing. He bent down and reached for the hilt of the blade at the Scarred Man's waist.

Shiiing!

The blade scraped against the scabbard, letting out a dull metallic ring. To Sun Li's ears, that sound was like a death knell.

Thud.

Sun Li's legs gave out, and he landed flat on his backside. The rain washed the grime off the blade, and it reflected his pale, bloodless, terrified face as Su Mu stepped forward, knife in hand.

"No, you, you can't kill me..."

"If you blame anyone, blame yourself."

"Blame me?"

"I slaved away as an apprentice at the Iron Shop for over two years, and you—a country boy who's only been here three months—get to learn forging alongside me? What right do you have..."

So that's how it was. Su Mu took another step forward.

"Su, Su Mu, just spare me this once... I won't do it again, I know I was wrong, really..."

Su Mu gripped the blade with both hands, looking at Sun Li, then shook his head.

"No. You don't know you were wrong..."

"You just know you're about to die."

The blade fell. A flash of cold light dropped, and Sun Li's face showed disbelief. Him—was he really dying just like that? He didn't want to die, so he frantically reached up to cover the wound on his neck.

But the next second, the gash widened.

Sun Li suddenly felt his head grow heavy and light, and a round skull hit the ground.

The last thing he saw was Su Mu reaching into a headless corpse and pulling out a money pouch.

A fine, drizzling rain fell, pattering on without end. There was no need to dispose of the thugs' bodies—tonight, the wolves and beasts of the mountains would take care of them.

In this chaotic age, who would know if a few people died? Who would even care?

The youth cast the bloodstained blade to the ground, his figure growing distant as he walked away.