Black Tiger Gang's Order, Strength Born

"Take them all. Let's get out of here first."

Su Mu, a first-time thief, felt a bit guilty and quickly scaled the wall to leave Willow Village.

In the dead of night, the path empty, Su Mu let loose and sprinted along the mountain road. The wind whipped his face, his limbs light and quick—once again, he felt the power of this body.

He also felt freedom. Su Mu couldn't help but let out a long howl, momentarily forgetting the poison in his veins, forgetting his identity as a death warrior, turning into an unrestrained deer bounding through the forest.

Willow Village and Dongbian Village weren't in the same direction, about twenty-five or twenty-six li apart. When Su Mu cut loose and ran, that distance took him less than two quarters of an hour.

Whoosh!

What a thrill.

Back in the village, Su Mu lit a half-used candle and, by its flame, opened the small wooden box again.

"Black Tiger?"

Su Mu pulled out one of the tokens and was startled. The iron token was engraved with the words "Black Tiger," marking it as belonging to the Black Tiger Gang, the biggest gang in the Qingshui Town area.

The Black Tiger Gang ruled Qingshui Town, making their living mainly from protection money. Word had it the gang leader was related to some official in the county seat, serving as that official's black glove. As a result, no one dared to provoke them lightly, and the local 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 likely connected to the gang too.

But then he thought again—no one had discovered Sun Li's death yet. By now, wild wolves and beasts in the mountains had probably devoured his corpse. With no evidence left, it couldn't be traced back to him.

Letting out a breath, Su Mu put the Black Tiger Gang token away, planning to toss it on some mountain path when he went to town tomorrow. Then he looked at the other token in the box—a crude wooden one.

"Black Market?"

The front of the wooden token was carved with cinnabar characters for "Black Market." On the back, tiny script briefly marked its location.

"Ten li east of Black Stone Village, at the hour of xu, on days ending in one and six..."

The hour of xu was seven in the evening.

"Days ending in one and six" meant market days, like a fair—on the first, sixth, eleventh, sixteenth, and so on each month.

Su Mu had no use for the Black Market token now, but it might come in handy later.

"I'll keep the Black Market token for now."

Besides the two tokens, there was also a Fish-shaped White Jade Pendant. In the dark earlier, Su Mu hadn't paid it much mind. But now, under the candlelight, its luster shone through—clearly valuable.

The pendant felt warm and smooth in his hand, and a cooling, calming sensation flowed into his body. That coolness traveled through his meridians for a few breaths before rising to his brow.

Instantly, Su Mu felt his spirits lift.

"Good stuff!"

Su Mu marveled. This world, with its martial arts, naturally had things that didn't exist in his past life—like this pendant that could soothe the mind and sharpen the senses. But as good as it was, it was also a hot potato.

What to do with it?

Taking it to a pawnshop was out of the question; he'd likely be targeted.

Su Mu also recalled that Sun Li had mocked him as a country boy before dying. This pendant might even be a keepsake of Sun Li's identity. Either way, he couldn't let it be seen now.

"Keeping it at home isn't safe. I'll find a place to bury it tomorrow."

Tucking the silver ingot into his chest, Su Mu tallied his haul from the trip. Then he went to the yard to practice the Five Animal Frolics before officially starting on the Tiger Subduing Fist.

"First form of Tiger Subduing Fist: Tiger Subduing Stance. Before training, calm the mind, sink the intent to the dantian, bow the body, and crouch low like a tiger poised to strike. This strengthens the bones and muscles and increases punching power..."

Everything is hard at the start. The toughest stages of any martial art are entry and mastery. Cultivating any martial art requires bone quality, comprehension, and hard training—none can be lacking.

As the saying goes, half of those who go a hundred miles stop at ninety. But in truth, most martial artists are shut out by the entry threshold. Those with weak resolve never get through.

Under the stars and moon, in a dirt-yard of an obscure little village, a young man took several deep breaths to clear his mind, then curled his fingers into tiger claws and began to attempt the practice.

Huh?

Right from the start, Su Mu couldn't help but let out a surprised sound. He didn't encounter much resistance in practicing Tiger Subduing Fist; instead, it felt smooth and natural, like water flowing into a channel. This caught him off guard.

Within an hour, Su Mu had even found the training state. In the Tiger Subduing Stance, he felt his blood and qi stir to life, especially in his arms, which had been sore from forging all day.

As his blood and qi flowed faster, warmth arose and coursed through his limbs and meridians. Even though it was night, Su Mu felt as if he were basking in the sun, warm all over.

"What a strange feeling. Ranked martial arts are truly extraordinary!"

Having such a clear reaction at the start delighted Su Mu. He also knew that the reason Tiger Subduing Fist came so easily was that his half-year of hard practice in the Five Animal Frolics had laid a solid physical foundation.

On top of that, his comprehension had reached five points—a small talent among ordinary people, equivalent to five times the training efficiency of a beginner.

And since the Five Animal Frolics already included the 13 forms of the Tiger Frolic, the combination of factors made Su Mu's progress in Tiger Subduing Fist far faster than normal.

"Second form of Tiger Subduing Fist: Fierce Tiger Pounce!"

Striking while the iron was hot, Su Mu pressed on without pause into the second form. It was slightly harder, but still no major obstacle. Soon, another surge of warmth arose.

Su Mu smiled and kept training until late into the night, only reluctantly stopping.

"Rest now. Tomorrow, I still need to forge weapons."

The next day, Su Mu woke up without fatigue, his stamina restored to seventy or eighty percent. After mastering the Five Animal Frolics, his physical fitness far exceeded an ordinary person's.

After washing his face, Su Mu went to the yard to practice the Five Animal Frolics and Tiger Subduing Fist, then left the village early.

On the way, Su Mu casually tossed the Black Tiger Gang token into a mountain stream. Then, finding a strange rock in the mountains, he dug a pit and buried the Fish-shaped White Jade Pendant along with the small box.

"Where the hell is Sun Li today? That kid's not out carousing with those thugs again, is he?"

Zhou Shan frowned inside the forge, his tone dripping with displeasure.

No one had yet discovered Sun Li was dead. Su Mu, at a separate forging station not far away, was hammering a piece of red-hot iron. He planned to use this iron to forge his first long blade.

"A single piece of iron needs tens of thousands of strikes, folded and hammered at least ten times, before it gains the strength to forge a blade..."

A skilled blacksmith in the Iron Shop would take over ten days to hammer such a piece of iron, producing only two ten-fold blades in a month.

By day, Su Mu hammered iron in the forge; by night, he returned to practice Tiger Subduing Fist and the Five Animal Frolics. The days that followed were exceptionally fulfilling, and time passed one day at a time.

On the fifth day, after several days without Sun Li showing up at the shop, Zhou Shan reported the matter to the shop owner, Li Tie. That day, the two went to Willow Village but didn't find Sun Li.

They learned from other villagers that Sun Li hadn't been seen for several days either. After gathering this information, the two immediately reported it to the authorities.

Clang!

Another hammer blow landed. Su Mu clamped the iron with tongs, examined it carefully, then let out a light breath, his brow relaxing.

"Half a day more 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 officials couldn't even find Sun Li's corpse, let alone solve the case. Besides, in this chaotic age, no small number of people died each year from gang conflicts.

Su Mu figured Sun Li's matter would just fizzle out after a while.

He banked the furnace and returned to the village early.

"Let's practice the fist forms first."

The night chill crept in, but Su Mu stripped off his padded coat, leaving only a thin shirt. At first, he felt cold, but once he entered his training state, his body no longer felt the chill—instead, it grew warm.

"Tiger Subduing Stance."

"Fierce Tiger Pounce."

"Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain."

Form after form. Late into the night, as Su Mu was about to wrap up his practice, his eyes suddenly lit up. With a faint tremor running through his body, he sensed a weak energy born within him.

Force had been born!