Killing

The conversation of the three people behind the tree drifted unmissably into Lu Chuan's ears.

Shock, anger, lingering fear—after various emotions churned through him, Lu Chuan instead grew calm.

He understood the identities of the three at this moment as well.

These three were not bandits; they were the Li Family Three Brothers from the village! They usually spent their time doing scoundrelly things like petty theft and dodging honest work, and there were few people in the village who did not despise them.

He had not expected that their sudden greed this time would be vicious enough to turn to murder and robbery!

If not for his own sharp eyesight, he probably would have long since become a soul under these three men's blades!

Lu Chuan gripped the wooden stick in his hand tightly, and after adjusting his breathing, he quietly waited for the opportunity to arrive.

The cold wind howled, and the Li Family Three Brothers, who had been lurking for a long time, gradually grew lax.

Right now!

Taking advantage of the three dozing off, Lu Chuan wielded the wooden stick and rapidly darted out from the shadows!

He swung the wooden stick in a full arc, smashing it fiercely against the second man's side neck!

"Bang!"

The second man did not even let out a grunt and passed out cold on the spot.

Yet this commotion obviously could not be hidden from the other two.

"Who?!" The eldest was the first to notice.

The third man also jerked his head up, immediately catching sight of Lu Chuan standing right in front of him.

"It's... it's you! Lu Chuan!"

Before the words had faded, Lu Chuan's wooden stick lashed out once more, its target pointing straight at the third man's temple!

The next moment, skin split and flesh tore, the intense pain causing the third man to let out a miserable scream, but it did not knock him out cold.

Clearly, the force and accuracy of this strike had been a bit lacking, but Lu Chuan delivered a swift follow-up blow with yet another strike!

"Ugh, ah!" The third man could no longer get back up.

By this time, the eldest had completely snapped back to his senses, and upon seeing the second and third men knocked unconscious on the ground, he was both startled and furious:

"Little bastard! You fucking dare touch my brothers! I'm going to slaughter you!"

He brandished the long saber in his hand and lunged fiercely toward Lu Chuan.

Yet this seemingly ferocious blade appeared full of flaws in Lu Chuan's eyes.

Lu Chuan did not dodge or evade; the moment the long saber was about to reach him, his wooden stick executed an interception, skillfully striking the hand with which the eldest gripped the saber.

The eldest felt a stabbing pain wash over the spot that was struck, and the long saber flew out of his hand.

He looked at his empty hand, then turned his gaze toward Lu Chuan's icy eyes, the ferocity on his face instantly vanishing without a trace.

The next moment, he was frightened into sitting flat on the ground.

"Spare... spare my life! Lu Chuan... Brother Lu Chuan! Spare me! It was just a momentary lapse of judgment on our part! The silver... we don't want the silver anymore! Let us go!"

Snot and tears streamed down the eldest's face as not a shred of his previous ruthlessness remained.

Lu Chuan picked up the long saber dropped by the eldest from the ground, and as he looked at the eldest, who kept begging for mercy, he said slowly:

"Begging for mercy now? It's too late!"

Just as the words fell, a burst of resolute and ferocious light suddenly erupted in his eyes! His entire figure charged fiercely toward the eldest with the saber in hand!

The eldest was seized with terror, his desire to survive driving him to struggle and climb to his feet.

Yet no sooner had he stood up than the long saber arrived!

"Slash!"

After the eldest let out a shrill, miserable scream, his body twitched a couple of times and fell completely still.

After cutting down the eldest, Lu Chuan hoisted the dripping saber and strode toward the second and third men he had knocked out.

Hand raised, saber fell.

Two more heart-stopping sounds rang out.

Beneath the old tree at the village entrance, fresh blood wound its way across the cold earth.

Once everything was done, Lu Chuan stood in place leaning on his saber, his chest heaving violently.

The fierce momentum that had sustained him in his sudden murderous outburst receded as rapidly as the tide.

Following right behind it came an uncontainable numbness, along with... intense lingering fear.

He had killed someone.

He had genuinely killed someone.

Earlier, when wrestling with the Great Serpent on the cliff and shooting wild game in the forest, the feeling had been completely different.

That was combat against beasts, a contest for survival.

Yet at this moment, the ones lying at his feet were three living, breathing human beings.

A turbulent churning swept through his stomach, but he forced himself not to vomit, his hand gripping the hilt of the saber trembling slightly.

After quite a while, that intense physical discomfort finally subsided slightly.

Once he calmed down, Lu Chuan realized that since he had killed people, he also had to handle the aftermath properly.

He squatted down and began rapidly searching the three corpses.

The three of them were dirt poor; after searching their bodies from top to bottom, the scattered silver and copper coins added up to no more than a little over one liang of silver.

"Truly poor... well, that makes sense. If they had money, they wouldn't be doing this kind of murdering and looting."

The most valuable item among this haul turned out to be the long saber the eldest had used.

Although the style was ordinary, the iron material was solid, and the edge was sharp—the quality was quite a bit better than those sabers handed out by the Martial Arts Hall, and it was worth at least two liang of silver.

As for what the second and third men used, one was an ordinary firewood chopper, and another was even a kitchen knife brought from home; although they were also worth a bit of money, Lu Chuan did not plan to take them.

Stashing the silver and coins away, Lu Chuan set about dealing with the bodies.

Suppressing his exhaustion, he dragged the three corpses, which still retained some warmth, over to the edge of a remote and steep mountain cliff outside the village.

When he finished all of this, Lu Chuan was nearly exhausted, and his mind felt drained to the absolute limit.

He raised his head to look at the sky, where the night had grown pitch-black.

"I can't delay any longer. If I don't go home now, Father and Mother will worry."

Dragging his legs, he walked toward his family's thatched cottage.

The familiar courtyard gate appeared before his eyes, and he pushed the door open.

Inside the house, when Lu Danian and Mother Lu saw him, the hearts hanging in their chests finally settled.

"Chuanzi, you're finally back! Why... why are you back so late?" Mother Lu stepped forward eagerly.

"This saber..." Lu Danian had sharp eyes. "Chuanzi, this long saber on you... was it issued by the Martial Arts Hall?"

Facing his parents' questioning, Lu Chuan managed to force out a smile:

"Father, Mother... can we talk about this later? Right now I want to eat something first."

"Alright, alright, let's eat first! Sit down quickly!" Mother Lu turned and hurried off to busy herself by the stove.

Before long, Mother Lu brought over a large, steaming bowl of coarse rice, accompanied by a simple yet substantial dish of Yam Stewed Meat.

Without standing on ceremony, Lu Chuan picked up the bowl and wolfed his food down.

With the warm, solid food in his stomach, his body regained a trace of strength as well.

Watching him eat in such a rush, Mother Lu repeatedly urged, "Eat slowly, eat slowly, don't choke."

The bowl of rice quickly hit bottom, and Lu Chuan wiped his mouth, meeting his parents' concerned gazes:

"Father, Mother, I've entered the Martial Arts Hall."

Lu Danian and Mother Lu immediately perked up, anticipation and tension written across their faces.

"There are quite a few people at the hall, and the rules are strict too. The master checked my Bone Root, said it's intermediate, and that I can follow him to learn."

Mother Lu hurriedly said, "Intermediate is fine too! As long as you can learn! My son will definitely be able to master it!"

Hearing that their son had successfully taken on a master, Lu Danian and Mother Lu finally let go of the heavy stones in their hearts.

"It's good that you've entered the Martial Arts Hall..." Lu Danian exhaled a puff of smoke. "Once you have a path and a master, the rest depends on your own fortune."

"Your father is right!" Mother Lu's eyes were filled with encouragement.

"Chuanzi, don't be afraid of hardship, study hard! You don't need to worry about things at home!"

"I know, Father, Mother." Lu Chuan nodded heavily. "I will."