Strange Rumors

At noon, the sunlight was a ghastly white, carrying not the slightest warmth as it fell upon him.

The Black Tiger Gang's rear kitchen reeked of grease smoke and blood.

"Cough, cough..."

Yan Kui wrapped his threadbare single-layered coat tighter around himself and squatted in a corner of the kitchen. He held a blunt knife in his hand, and before him was a pile of live chickens awaiting slaughter.

He had volunteered to help here.

In the gang, no one usually wanted a sickly man like him. But today, he had offered to work without pay, asking only for a hot meal. The fat head chef had reluctantly agreed and tossed him the filthiest, most exhausting job—slaughtering chickens and ducks.

It was a miserable chore to others, but to Yan Kui, it was a gold mine.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

A large rooster struggled desperately in his grip, its wings beating up a cloud of dust.

Yan Kui remained expressionless as his knife rose and fell.

Splurt.

The chicken's head hit the floor, and fresh blood spurted into the wooden basin below.

[Slain poultry (Unranked), plundered Life Essence.]

[Origin Power: +0.02]

A sharp gleam flashed through Yan Kui's eyes as he saw the numbers appear on the light screen.

It really worked!

Although one chicken provided only a tenth of the Origin Power of a Corpse Rat, there were plenty of them, and it was safe!

As long as no one noticed, this was a steady channel for farming points.

Yan Kui did not stop. He deftly grabbed the next one.

While he was bent over "farming points," two kitchen hands nearby chatted as they washed vegetables.

"Hey, did you hear? The list of ten unlucky bastards going to Old Lin Family Manor has been finalized."

"I heard about it ages ago. That consumptive ghost Yan Kui from the outer yard is on it too. Tsk, tsk, that place really isn't somewhere anyone should go."

"Yeah. I've got a cousin working at the yamen, and he let something slip. He said what's haunting Old Lin Family Manor isn't some ordinary ghost—it's a 'Red Fiend'!"

"Red Fiend? What's that?"

"I don't know the details either. Anyway, they say its resentment is incredibly heavy. Half a month ago, the Lin Family's newlywed concubine supposedly hanged herself in the main hall while wearing a Crimson Wedding Dress. Even in death, her eyes never closed, and she stared straight at the front gate..."

"Hiss—stop talking. That's creepy as hell."

"There's something even stranger. They say the reason the Zhao Family is in such a hurry to have our gang scout the place is because there's a well in that manor, and something is locked inside it..."

Yan Kui's hand paused slightly at those words.

Red Fiend, Red-clothed Female Ghost, Dragon Locking Well?

Those fragments of information pieced together a terrifying image in his mind.

If he did not raise his strength quickly, entering that place in three days would be certain death.

"Get back to work! Why are you spouting so much nonsense?"

The fat chef's shout cut off the kitchen hands' chatter.

Yan Kui lowered his head and continued slaughtering chickens.

He kept killing for a full three hours.

Only when more than half the chicken cages on the ground had been emptied, and his arms were so sore and numb that he could barely lift them, did Yan Kui finally stop.

He had slaughtered over a hundred chickens and ducks in total.

He secretly glanced at the panel:

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[Crimson Modifier]

Origin Power: 2.2

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"2.2 points of Origin Power..."

Yan Kui's heart pounded wildly.

This was even more than he had expected!

With this windfall, he could finally try to deduce the Raging Bull Fist, a martial art he had never managed to master.

"Hey, sickly ghost, pour out this chicken blood, then get lost."

The fat chef tossed him two cold, hard steamed buns, dismissing him like a beggar.

Yan Kui silently put away the buns, lifted the bucket of foul-smelling chicken blood, and headed toward the slop ditch in the back alley.

No one noticed the beastlike gleam flickering in his eyes as he poured out the blood.

It was a thirst for strength.

Because he was a "Dying Person," the gang had driven him out of the communal sleeping quarters and into this firewood shed used for storing odds and ends, all to isolate his tuberculosis. Instead, it made things more convenient for him.

Yan Kui returned to the dilapidated little house in the outer yard.

He locked the broken wooden door and stuffed straw into the gaps around the window.

Yan Kui sat cross-legged on the cold floor and wolfed down the two cold buns in a few bites, recovering a little strength.

"System, add points."

He took a deep breath and focused his gaze on the Raging Bull Fist entry.

[Raging Bull Fist]: Beginner +

This fist art was the Black Tiger Gang's foundational martial art. It emphasized immense force and crushing momentum. Once mastered, one could possess the strength of a raging bull and split steles and shatter stones.

The original owner had trained for two and a half years without even reaching minor mastery, remaining only at the beginner stage. First, his aptitude was poor; second, his body was too weak.

But now, neither of those was a problem.

"Upgrade!"

As Yan Kui's will descended.

The numbers on the light screen began to jump wildly, while the Origin Power value rapidly decreased.

[Consumed 0.2 Origin Power. Raging Bull Fist, Minor Mastery.]

The years he had spent practicing the fist art had not been without effect. Yan Kui had merely lacked the opportunity to break through to minor mastery. Now, with the system's aid, it naturally fell into place, and he reached the minor mastery stage.

[Consumed 2.0 Origin Power. Raging Bull Fist, Major Mastery.]

A vast, violent current of heat appeared out of nowhere within Yan Kui's body. Unlike the gentle warmth from adding points to his constitution earlier, this heat was full of aggression.

Crack, crack, crack!

The bones throughout Yan Kui's body let out a string of crisp pops like exploding beans.

His originally thin, shriveled muscles seemed to inflate with air, swelling and stretching at a visible pace.

On his arms, thighs, and chest... muscle lines became distinctly visible. Though they were not exaggerated, he had already escaped the state of being little more than skin stretched over bones, and was filled with solid strength.

More importantly, there were the memories.

Countless memories of practicing the fist art flooded into his mind, as though he had trained it through bitter winter and scorching summer for ten years, twenty years.

Every move and every stance was deeply branded into his muscle memory.

Yan Kui suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. The breath shot out like an arrow for three feet, striking the dust in the corner and kicking up a cloud.

Though his complexion was still somewhat pale, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

He rose to his feet and threw a test punch.

A crisp explosive crack sounded in the air.

This was Clear Strength!

Yan Kui felt his skin beginning to burn, while his arms brimmed with explosive power.

When everything settled.

He looked at the panel again:

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[Crimson Modifier]

Host: Yan Kui

Status: Suboptimal Health (Blood Qi vigorous, tuberculosis forcibly suppressed)

Body Data:

Strength: 1.8 (An ordinary person is 1; bonus from Major Mastery Raging Bull Fist)

Agility: 1.2

Constitution: 1.5

Martial Arts:

Raging Bull Fist: Major Mastery

Origin Power: 0

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Strength 1.8!

That was nearly twice that of an ordinary adult!

Wang Mazi, who had bullied him, had trained for several years and had only just reached the beginner stage. His strength was at most around 1.2.

"Wang Mazi..."

Yan Kui clenched his fists and felt the power surging through his palms. A sinister smile curled onto his lips.

Outside, the sky had already gone completely dark.

The night for killing had arrived.