Magic Item and the Little Widow

Miss Qin was fair-skinned and beautiful, gentle and moving, with a wonderfully graceful figure.

She perfectly matched Su Mo's image of a classical beauty.

But alas, beauty was often ill-fated. She had married a short-lived husband.

Less than two years after the scholar married her, he left behind his lovely wife and young daughter, passing away with his hands thrown wide.

Forced by life, she had no choice but to show her face in public and set up a pancake stall outside her home.

At first, no few hooligans and ruffians came to make trouble.

Yet though the young woman looked gentle and frail, her temperament was fierce. She even dared to hack at people with a knife. As time passed, far fewer people came looking for trouble.

In his previous life, Su Mo had never been someone who liked meddling in other people's affairs.

Especially after coming to this unfamiliar world, he had become even more so, always following the principle of speaking little, doing little, and watching more, keeping a low profile in all things.

But this little widow was different.

From head to toe, from toe to head, all the way to her fingertips—every inch of her was exactly to Su Mo's taste!

Being widowed and having a daughter was not a problem.

The important thing was that she was gentle, beautiful, and had a fine figure!

Still, as a lone, lowly yamen runner, he more or less felt unworthy of her. He had planned to wait until he became a Regular Servant and ate the emperor's grain before confessing to the little widow.

Then a sinister voice reached Su Mo's ears.

"Report it to the authorities?"

"I'll soon be a Regular Servant of the Fast Squad. When the yamen runners come, let's see who they arrest!"

Su Mo's eyelid twitched sharply!

It was Leper Zhou, the man who had snatched his Regular Servant position and caused him to lose more than two taels of silver for nothing!

Enemies truly met on a narrow road!

Leper Zhou continued in that sinister tone, "If you know what's good for you, submit to me and that'll be that!"

"Otherwise, once I'm tired of playing with you, I'll sell you to a whorehouse. After others have fucked you to ruin, we'll see whether you still dare report it to the authorities!"

Su Mo's face darkened at once.

Turning around with a black expression, he saw Qin Bi'er cry out and rush from the ward entrance in terror, clutching up her ruqun skirt.

One corner of her skirt had already been torn to shreds.

Leper Zhou, built like a bear and reeking of drink, clutched half a piece of coarse hemp cloth as he chased after her with a savage grin.

When the terrified Qin Bi'er saw Su Mo in the alley, it was as though she had spotted a lifesaving straw.

"Young Master Su! Save me!"

As she cried out, she hurried over and hid behind Su Mo.

Every day when Su Mo went to report for duty at the yamen, he passed the pancake stall by the ward entrance. From time to time, he bought two multigrain pancakes for lunch.

Though she had exchanged few words with Su Mo, Qin Bi'er knew that he was unlike ordinary yamen runners.

At the very least, he had never eaten at her stall without paying, extorted her, or teased her with lewd remarks!

Su Mo stared at Leper Zhou as he approached.

Leper Zhou actually stopped, glanced sideways at Su Mo, and sneered. "So it's you, brat!"

"You want to stand up for this little widow?"

"Could it be that you're this little widow's lover?"

Su Mo said slowly, "Brother Zhou, we're all from the same ward. Don't go too far."

Leper Zhou burst out laughing. "Too far?"

"A mere yamen runner dares speak to me like that?"

"Me taking a liking to her is her good fortune!"

After pausing, his cross-eyed gaze revealed a fierce glint as he stared at Su Mo. "If you know what's good for you, get out of the way!"

"For Old Man Chen's sake, after I'm done playing with her, maybe I'll even let you have a taste!"

As he spoke, he directly reached out to shove Su Mo!

Su Mo's expression changed abruptly!

Keeping a low profile was one thing, but even a clay Buddha had three parts fire in it. Not to mention that he was now a hot-blooded young man, with the little widow he admired hiding behind him!

Who cared whether Leper Zhou's younger sister was the assistant magistrate's concubine, or whether he himself was the assistant magistrate's concubine!

He would beat him first and talk later!

"Don't mistake a little face for a license to be shameless!"

With a cold shout, he deflected with his left hand and drove his right fist viciously into the hollow of the other's shoulder!

Leper Zhou might be broad and fat, but if it came to a real fight, Su Mo was not afraid of him!

Suddenly, a stream of heat appeared strangely from his waist and swiftly surged into Su Mo's arm.

With a bang, Leper Zhou's body, weighing over two hundred jin, was sent flying more than two meters by Su Mo's punch.

The crack of breaking bone was crystal clear!

Leper Zhou collapsed to the ground in an instant, howling miserably without end!

Su Mo looked at his own palm, then at Leper Zhou screaming on the ground.

Was this guy trying to fake an injury?

Did one punch from him really have that much power?

It did not look like an act.

He had heard the sound of bones breaking. There was a ninety-nine percent chance it was a comminuted fracture!

After calming down, Su Mo had no time to investigate why his strength had suddenly become so great.

He turned and looked around.

No one!

He then looked at Miss Qin, whose pretty face had gone deathly pale, his expression solemn and serious. "Nothing happened today. Understand?"

Qin Bi'er took a deep breath and nodded hard. "Mm!"

Su Mo said, "Go back immediately!"

Qin Bi'er bit her lip. "What about you, sir?"

Su Mo said irritably, "Of course I'm leaving too!"

"He got drunk and accidentally broke his own arm. What the hell does that have to do with me!"

Qin Bi'er...

But she was decisive as well. Gritting her teeth, she said again, "Be careful, sir! This humble woman will leave at once!"

With that, she truly ran off!

She even picked up the hemp cloth that had fallen to the ground and took it with her!

She was thorough enough!

After Qin Bi'er left, a fierce light flashed through Su Mo's eyes.

He gripped the rusty iron ruler with its added magic-damage attribute tightly in his hand!

After hesitating for a long while, he ultimately decided that killing to silence witnesses carried too great a risk!

If the authorities investigated, the little widow might not withstand torture under the three wooden instruments.

Besides.

Su Mo did not dare guarantee that no one had truly seen this scene!

In the end, he could only suppress his killing intent and turn away!

After returning to the old two-courtyard gray-brick residence in Jiazi Lane, Ping'an Ward, Su Mo furrowed his brow and pondered deeply.

Something was very wrong.

Though this body of his was fairly strong.

There was no way he could casually throw a punch and give Leper Zhou a comminuted fracture!

If this world still followed the laws of physics.

The force needed to shatter human bones could not possibly be less than two hundred kilograms!

Wasn't that exactly a Martial Arts Master?

Could he possibly be a Martial Arts Master?

Actually, when he had run back from Western Mountain, Su Mo had vaguely felt that something was amiss.

On the way there, he had nearly run himself half to death. On the way back, he had been utterly relaxed, not even breathing hard!

Was it because of the Golden Finger?

Probably not.

The Golden Finger had activated at the City God Temple. It had provided no enhancement when he ran to Western Mountain.

Other than the Golden Finger...

Su Mo untied his money pouch, took out the Demon Subduing Pestle and Golden Lock, and examined them with narrowed eyes.

When he had thrown that punch earlier, it seemed a current of heat had risen from his waist—the exact place where his money pouch hung! The problem was ninety percent likely to lie with these two items.

In one corner of the courtyard stood a stone lock weighing a little over a hundred jin.

Su Mo held the Demon Subduing Pestle in one hand and lifted the stone lock with the other.

With just a little force, the Demon Subduing Pestle faintly grew hot, and the stream of heat appeared again!

He easily raised the stone lock, weighing over a hundred jin, above his head. It felt as though it weighed only twenty-odd jin.

He set down the Demon Subduing Pestle.

The stone lock immediately returned to its normal weight!

So that was it!

The thing that had turned him into a Martial Arts Master was the Demon Subduing Pestle he had found inside the Locust God Statue.

Su Mo also tried the Female Captain's Golden Lock.

Unfortunately, the Golden Lock did not have this ability.

Looking at the tiny Demon Subduing Pestle, Su Mo's eyes lit up!

This thing actually possessed miraculous abilities, just like Lin Moyin's book!

"Could this be the legendary Magic Item?"

"Was this world truly an immortal cultivation world?"

Su Mo tested it again, even steeling himself to draw blood and see whether he could bind it as its master with a drop of blood.

It had hurt for nothing!

The Demon Subduing Pestle showed no reaction at all!

It was as though, apart from increasing his strength, it had no other use.

Of course, that was already very good.

At a crucial moment, it could serve as a trump card!

It was unsafe to keep the Demon Subduing Pestle in his money pouch. If some three-fingered thief stole it, he would not even have tears to cry—though few three-fingered thieves would dare touch a yamen runner's money pouch.

Su Mo searched for a long while but could not find a suitable tough cord to hang the Demon Subduing Pestle around his neck.

The Golden Lock's thin cord was very tough, made of some unknown material. It would be perfect for the Demon Subduing Pestle, but unfortunately, it had to be returned to its owner.