"Take everything. Let's get out of here first."
Su Mu, a first-time thief, felt rather guilty. He quickly climbed over the wall and left Willow Village.
The night was deep and still, with no one on the road. Su Mu let loose and sprinted along the mountain path. The wind brushed his face, his limbs felt light, and once again he sensed the strength of his body.
He also felt free. Unable to hold back, Su Mu let out a long howl, temporarily forgetting the poison in his body and his status as a death warrior. He became an unbridled deer bounding through the forest.
Willow Village and Dongbian Village lay in different directions, about twenty-five or twenty-six li apart. Once Su Mu unleashed his full speed, he covered the distance in less than half an hour.
Whoosh!
What a rush.
After returning to the village, Su Mu lit a half-burned candle. By its light, he opened the small wooden chest again.
"Black Tiger?"
Su Mu took out one of the tokens and examined it in surprise. The iron token was engraved with the words "Black Tiger," marking it as belonging to the Black Tiger Gang, the largest gang in the Qingshui Town area.
The Black Tiger Gang held sway around Qingshui Town, making its living mainly by collecting protection money. It was said that the gang leader was related to some big shot in the county seat, acting as the man's enforcer. As a result, no one in the area dared provoke the gang, and the town authorities turned a blind eye.
Su Mu frowned, sensing trouble. He hadn't expected Sun Li to be a member of the Black Tiger Gang. That meant the Scarred Man Sun Li had called Brother Wang yesterday was very likely connected to the gang, too.
But then he thought it over. No one had discovered Sun Li's death yet, and by now, the corpse had probably been devoured by the mountain's wolves and beasts. With no body or evidence left behind, nothing could lead back to him.
Relieved, Su Mu put away the Black Tiger Gang token. He planned to find a mountain path and discard it when he went to town tomorrow. Then he looked at the other token in the chest, a crude wooden one.
"Black Market?"
The words "Black Market" had been written on the front in cinnabar. Tiny characters on the back briefly described where the market was held.
"Ten li east of Black Stone Village, at the second quarter of the fifth watch. Markets on days one and six..."
The fifth watch was seven in the evening.
As Su Mu understood it, markets on days one and six meant they opened on the first, sixth, eleventh, sixteenth, and other such days of each month, much like a regular market.
Su Mu couldn't use the Black Market token for now, but it might come in handy someday.
"I'll keep the Black Market token for now."
Besides the two tokens, there was also a fish-shaped white jade pendant. Su Mu hadn't paid it much attention in the dark, but now, illuminated by the candlelight, it gleamed with a precious luster. It was clearly worth a great deal.
The jade felt warm and smooth in his hand. A soothing coolness seeped from it into his body, flowed through his meridians for a few breaths, then shot straight to the space between his brows.
Su Mu immediately felt his mind sharpen.
"What a treasure!"
Su Mu exclaimed in wonder. A world with martial arts naturally held things that hadn't existed in his previous life, like this pendant that soothed the spirit and cleared the mind. But as fine as it was, it was also a hot potato.
What should he do with it?
Taking it to a pawnshop was out of the question. Someone would almost certainly take notice.
Su Mu again recalled how Sun Li had mocked him as a country bumpkin before dying. Perhaps the pendant was a token of Sun Li's background. At any rate, he absolutely couldn't let anyone see it for now.
"It's not safe to keep at home. I'd better bury it somewhere tomorrow."
He tucked the silver ingot into his robe. After counting his spoils, Su Mu went out into the courtyard to practice the Five Animal Frolics, then officially began training in the Tiger Subduing Fist.
"The first move of the Tiger Subduing Fist is Tiger Subduing Stance. Before training, calm your mind and breathe evenly. Then sink your intent to the dantian, bend down and crouch low, gathering power like a crouching tiger. This strengthens the sinews and bones and increases the power of your fists..."
Every beginning was difficult. The hardest stages of any martial art were mastering the basics and reaching proficiency. Training in any martial art required good physical foundations, comprehension, and hard work. Not one could be missing.
As the saying went, a journey of a hundred paces was only half complete at ninety. But in truth, more than half of those who took up martial arts were kept out by the first hurdle: mastering the basics. Those lacking resolve could never get started.
Beneath the stars and moon, in a humble village courtyard, the youth took several deep breaths to clear his mind. He curled his fingers into tiger claws and began his training.
Huh?
Su Mu couldn't help letting out a surprised murmur at the very start. He hadn't expected to meet so little resistance when beginning the Tiger Subduing Fist. Instead, everything flowed as naturally as water running downhill.
In less than an hour, Su Mu had already found his rhythm. Holding Tiger Subduing Stance, he felt his blood and qi stirring within him, especially in his arms, which had ached from forging all day.
As his blood and qi quickened, warmth welled up and coursed through his limbs and meridians. Though it was nighttime, Su Mu felt as if he were bathing in the sunlight, his whole body warm and comfortable.
"What a strange feeling. Ranked Martial Arts really are extraordinary!"
The clear response so early in his training delighted Su Mu. He also knew that the Tiger Subduing Fist came so easily because the Five Animal Frolics he had practiced for over half a year had laid a solid physical foundation.
His comprehension had also reached five points, giving him some potential. Among ordinary people, that made him a young prodigy, with a training efficiency five times greater than when he had first begun.
On top of that, the Five Animal Frolics already included thirteen forms of Tiger Frolics. All these factors combined made Su Mu's progress in the Tiger Subduing Fist far faster than most people's.
"Second move of the Tiger Subduing Fist: Fierce Tiger Pounce!"
While the feeling was fresh, Su Mu didn't stop to rest. He went straight on to the second move. It was a little harder to learn, but he still met with little resistance. Before long, another wave of warmth rose within him.
Su Mu smiled and continued training until deep into the night, when he finally stopped, reluctant to call it a day.
"I should rest. I still have to forge weapons tomorrow."
The next day, Su Mu woke without feeling tired, and his strength had recovered by around seventy or eighty percent. After mastering the Five Animal Frolics, his physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people.
After washing his face, Su Mu practiced the Five Animal Frolics and the Tiger Subduing Fist in the courtyard, then left the village early.
On the way, Su Mu casually tossed the Black Tiger Gang token down a ravine. Then he found an oddly shaped boulder in the mountains, dug a pit, and buried the fish-shaped white jade pendant along with the small chest.
"Why hasn't Sun Li shown up today? Could that kid be drinking with those thugs again?"
Inside the forge, Zhou Shan frowned and grumbled.
No one had discovered Sun Li's death yet. At a separate forge nearby, Su Mu hammered a red-hot piece of iron. He planned to turn it into his first long saber.
"A piece of iron needs tens of thousands of hammer blows and at least ten rounds of folding and forging before it's strong enough to make a weapon..."
A skilled blacksmith at the Iron Shop needed more than ten days to hammer a piece of iron like this. In a month, he could forge only two ten-refinement weapons.
By day, Su Mu hammered iron in the forge. At night, he went home to train hard in the Tiger Subduing Fist and the Five Animal Frolics. The days that followed were especially full, and time passed one day at a time.
On the fifth day, after Sun Li had failed to show up at the shop for several days in a row, Zhou Shan reported the matter to the shopkeeper, Li Tie. The two went to Willow Village that same day but couldn't find Sun Li.
They learned from other villagers that Sun Li hadn't been seen for several days. After hearing this, they immediately decided to report it to the authorities.
Clang!
Another hammer blow landed. Su Mu lifted the iron with his tongs and inspected it carefully. At last, he let out a breath, his brow relaxing.
"Another half day and the iron will be ready... I can start the next step tomorrow afternoon."
As for Sun Li's disappearance and the report to the authorities, Su Mu wasn't worried. The authorities couldn't even find Sun Li's bones, so how could they solve the case? Besides, in these troubled times, plenty of people died in gang conflicts every year.
Su Mu figured the matter would soon be dropped.
After closing the furnace, Su Mu returned to the village early.
"I'll practice my fist for a while."
The night chill set in, but Su Mu took off his padded jacket and wore only a thin shirt. At first, he felt cold. But as soon as he entered his training rhythm, the chill faded, and warmth spread through him.
"Tiger Subduing Stance."
"Fierce Tiger Pounce."
"Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain."
Move after move, Su Mu was about to finish for the night when, deep in the night, his eyes suddenly lit up. His whole body trembled slightly, and he felt a faint current of energy forming within him.
Strength had been born!
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