Sudden Uprising and Killing

It was a moonless night, the wind howling—a perfect night for murder.

The Black Tiger Gang's outer courtyard lay in utter silence. Apart from the footsteps of patrolling disciples, there was only the occasional bark of a dog in the distance.

Wang Mazi was in a good mood.

Today, he had squeezed five copper coins out of that sickly ghost Yan Kui. It was not much, but it was just enough to buy a jug of cheap liquor from the roadside prostitutes, then cop a feel of that aging woman's ass a couple of times.

"Hmph. That sickly ghost probably won't survive the next three days."

Carrying his wine jug, Wang Mazi staggered down the small path back to the dormitories. This road was rather secluded and usually deserted, but he had chosen it as a shortcut and could not be bothered to worry about anything else.

As the alcohol rushed to his head, he felt as though he were walking on clouds.

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind swept past.

The candlelight by the roadside ahead seemed to flicker.

Wang Mazi let out a drunken belch and narrowed his eyes. "Who? Who's playing ghost tricks over there?"

A figure seemed to be standing in the shadows ahead.

The figure wore a tattered single-layered garment, his body looking somewhat thin in the night wind. Yet his eyes shone terrifyingly bright in the darkness.

"Steward Wang, where are you heading so late at night?"

The voice was hoarse, carrying a bone-piercing chill.

Wang Mazi froze for a moment, then recognized the voice. He immediately broke into a vicious grin. "Who did I think it was? So it's you, you sickly wretch! What, can't sleep in the middle of the night, so you came here to scare your grandpa?"

He did not take Yan Kui seriously at all.

In his eyes, Yan Kui was a useless cripple who struggled even to walk, someone he could crush to death with one hand.

"Have you come to demand those five copper coins back?"

Wang Mazi shook the wine jug in his hand and sneered. "Too late! I've already traded them for liquor. If you know what's good for you, get lost. Don't block my way, or else..."

"Or else what?"

Yan Kui slowly stepped out of the shadows. His steps were steady, each one seeming to land upon Wang Mazi's heartbeat.

Wang Mazi frowned, sensing that something was off.

Why had this brat's presence changed?

But the arrogance he had cultivated through years of throwing his weight around made him ignore that faint unease. Cursing, he reached out to shove Yan Kui. "You shameless thing, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit! I'll beat you to dea—"

Before his hand could touch even the corner of Yan Kui's clothes, a large hand like an iron pincer clamped tightly around his wrist.

"What?!"

Wang Mazi's face changed drastically.

He struggled with all his strength, only to find that the other man's grip did not budge in the slightest. The strength was terrifying, as if it were about to crush the bones in his wrist.

"You..."

By the faint moonlight, Wang Mazi finally saw what Yan Kui looked like now.

His once-withered body now filled out his clothes, faint muscle lines visible beneath them. That formerly pale, sickly face was now filled with cold, murderous intent.

How was this still that sickly ghost? This was clearly a savage beast wearing human skin!

"Steward Wang, I'd like to exchange those five copper coins for something else."

Yan Kui's voice was so calm that it made one's heart quiver.

"Exchange... exchange them for what? I'll... I'll give the money back!" Wang Mazi finally panicked, more than half sober now.

"For your life."

Before the words had even faded, Yan Kui moved.

There were no flashy moves, only the opening stance of the most basic Raging Bull Fist—Raging Bull Gores with Its Horns!

But with his current strength of 1.8, combined with the force-generating technique of a master-level fist art, this strike was as fast as lightning and as heavy as a thousand jun.

Yan Kui drove his head fiercely into Wang Mazi's face.

Crack!

The bone-breaking sound made teeth ache.

Wang Mazi's nose bridge shattered instantly, his entire face caving in as blood sprayed wildly.

He did not even have time to scream before the tremendous impact sent him flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Urgh... urgh..."

Wang Mazi lay on the ground, his body convulsing as copious bloody foam spilled from his mouth. His eyes were filled with terror and disbelief.

He could not understand it.

Why could Yan Kui, who had still been a useless cripple yesterday, kill him in a single move today?

Yan Kui gave him no time to think.

He took one step forward, arrived before Wang Mazi, raised his foot, and stomped down hard on Wang Mazi's throat.

Crack!

His neck bones snapped.

Wang Mazi's legs kicked once, and his breath was cut off completely.

Those dead-fish eyes remained wide open, unwilling to close even in death.

[Human Race martial artist killed (Body Refinement Realm). Life Essence plundered.]

[Origin Power: +0.5]

Yan Kui felt no ripples in his heart as he looked at the system notifications.

Killing was nothing unfamiliar to him. In his previous life, in the underground black boxing world, after signing life-and-death waivers, killing opponents was a common occurrence.

Besides, in this world, if you did not kill others, others would kill you.

He crouched down and began searching Wang Mazi's body.

Before long, he found a heavy money pouch containing roughly two taels of Silver Shards. There was also a thin booklet, with Iron Cloth Shirt (Fragment) written on its cover.

"Iron Cloth Shirt?"

Yan Kui's eyes lit up.

This was good stuff. Though it was only a fragment, it was still a genuine hard-body martial art. With his system, he might even be able to deduce the complete version.

After putting away his spoils,

Yan Kui looked at the corpse on the ground and began cleaning up the scene.

He did not bury the body. Instead, he pulled the dagger from Wang Mazi's waist and slashed several random cuts across the corpse, imitating wounds torn open by wild beasts or claws.

"Everyone in the gang is on edge right now. They're all afraid that the ghostly things from the Old Lin Family Manor will come out. If Wang Mazi dies a little more miserably, everyone will only think the unclean things did it."

After finishing all this,

Yan Kui vanished silently into the darkness as though nothing had happened.

He returned to the woodshed.

Yan Kui lit a dim oil lamp and took out the Iron Cloth Shirt fragment.

"System, record it."

As long as he touched a martial arts manual and read it through once, the system could record it.

A moment later, another line appeared on the light screen:

Martial Arts:

Raging Bull Fist: Mastery

Iron Cloth Shirt (Fragment): Not Initiated

"Just as expected."

Yan Kui nodded in satisfaction.

With this hard-body martial art, his chances of surviving the haunted residence expedition three days from now would increase by a few more points.

"Tomorrow night, I'll clear out some of the 'unclean things' around here."

Yan Kui blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the pile of straw.

Since arriving in this world, this was the soundest sleep he had ever had.

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