Treasure-Crazy

As soon as the words left his mouth,

Chen Shouyi sprang into motion like the wind.

Before the young man could react, Chen Shouyi's left foot shot out like a spring and slammed into his stomach. The kick sent him flying two or three meters before he crashed to the ground.

He rolled several times, his face deathly pale and his body curled into a tight ball like a shrimp. Cold sweat poured from his forehead as pain wracked him, as if his guts had been kicked apart.

There were different levels of Martial Apprentice. Some, like Chen Xingyue, had only just passed the test and were newly minted apprentices. Others, like Wang Ruyue, were seasoned apprentices on the verge of becoming true martial artists.

But now, even Wang Ruyue probably wouldn't have fared much better against Chen Shouyi, whose body had been strengthened once again.

His physical reflexes and speed alone were enough to crush her.

The girl in the distance had been about to rush over and persuade her boyfriend not to hit anyone. Seeing what happened, she covered her mouth in shock and stopped in her tracks.

Chen Shouyi glanced at her with a cold smile, then strode over to the young man.

He grabbed the young man by the hair and lightly patted his cheek.

Humiliated, the young man's neck veins bulged as he glared at Chen Shouyi. "You son of a—!"

"Martial Apprentice? Heh. Once you become a martial artist, then you can tell me to 'do you a favor.' Maybe I'll consider it then."

The young man's pupils suddenly shrank. He had been about to threaten Chen Shouyi and save face, but the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't get them out.

Chen Shouyi let him go. A few steps later, as he passed the girl, he glanced back and said coldly,

"You can have this place!"

The girl turned pale with fright, her whole body stiff. Only after Chen Shouyi had walked more than ten meters away did she come to her senses and hurry to her boyfriend.

As he walked along the mountain path,

past the lush green trees on either side,

the agitation in Chen Shouyi's heart gradually subsided.

He thought back over what he had just done. Ever since the two killings, he had felt his bloodlust growing stronger and stronger.

For a moment, he had even felt a trace of murderous intent.

Fortunately, at the last moment, he had held back some of his strength and changed his kick from the young man's chest to his stomach.

Otherwise, with his current, ferocious strength, the young man might well have died on the spot, despite being a Martial Apprentice.

Chen Shouyi couldn't help but warn himself to stay clearheaded from now on. He should use force as little as possible.

If he accidentally killed someone and got discovered, he would have no choice but to wander the world as a fugitive.

The fourth day without power.

After dinner,

the candle on his desk burned quietly, its flame occasionally flickering and spitting tiny sparks.

He pressed the power button on his phone, but the startup screen didn't appear. The last scraps of its battery had finally run out.

The only good news on the streets today was that the traffic jam had finally been cleared that afternoon.

The process had been chaotic. Dongning City was in turmoil as road rollers mercilessly crushed countless stalled cars into iron pancakes. People were so worked up that they nearly started a riot.

In the end, it took a large deployment of soldiers and police to suppress the unrest.

But it had also stirred up the disquiet in many people's hearts. In a neighborhood not far from his home, a young couple had been killed by masked intruders that evening. They weren't discovered until their blood had flowed out beneath the door.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Brother! Brother, open up! I need to talk to you."

Chen Shouyi hurriedly picked up Shell Girl, who had been idly playing with two glass beads, put her in his briefcase, and quickly zipped it shut.

Only after he was done did he go over and open the door. "What is it?"

"What took you so long? What were you doing? Don't tell me you were doing something gross." Chen Xingyue peered suspiciously left and right, as if searching for evidence. She had heard the zipper just now.

"Don't project your dirty thoughts onto me. If you've got something to say, say it." Chen Shouyi sounded impatient.

In the end, Chen Xingyue found nothing useful to hold over him, so she told him what had happened.

"Uncle Wang and his wife just came by."

"Uncle Wang?"

"Wang Debiao, Old Man Wang's eldest son," Chen Xingyue quickly explained.

"What did he come for? Didn't they just finish the funeral?" Chen Shouyi asked in confusion.

"They haven't finished yet. They were going to cremate him after the roads were cleared at dusk, but the highway over there was still blocked, so they had to come back. And something happened to Old Man Wang's body yesterday. Fortunately, the police found it and fired a few shots, so they brought him back." Chen Xingyue spoke cautiously.

"That family's really been having a run of bad luck. But what does any of this have to do with you? You're not even related. What are you getting at?" Chen Shouyi was thoroughly baffled.

Chen Xingyue quickly lost ground under the force of his words. She'd been away for a while, and her brother seemed to have gotten sharper-tongued. She wasn't used to it.

"I'm a Martial Apprentice, remember? Everyone around here knows now, so they want me to go over and suppress the Killing Intent. Mom and Dad told me to decide for myself."

"Why would you go? Our parents care about saving face. They've been neighbors with those people for decades, so it'd be awkward to turn them down outright. But why should you care about saving face?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too!" Chen Xingyue gave an awkward laugh at her brother's sharp retort, then hesitated.

His mind was sharp now, and he could tell from her expression how things had gone. "You agreed, didn't you? How much are they paying you?"

"I'm mainly doing it to build up my courage."

She still tried to cover it up.

"How much?"

"Five thousand!" Chen Xingyue gave an embarrassed laugh.

My dear little sister, who'd have thought you were such a money-grubber? They bought you for five thousand.

Chen Shouyi gloated. "Since you agreed, then go ahead. Old Man Wang got shot a few times last night. I doubt he'll be able to make much trouble today."

From what he had seen last night, that "Old Man Wang" looked frightening but wasn't actually dangerous. He moved so slowly that even a three- or four-year-old could outrun him.

"You're not expecting me to go with you, are you?"

Chen Xingyue nodded vigorously.

"Dream on." Chen Shouyi shot down her fantasy. "I'd rather sleep."

"I'll give you a thousand."

"You're so generous. You get four thousand, and your big brother gets just one?" Chen Shouyi said, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Two thousand!"

He sneered, unmoved.

"Three thousand, tops. You can take the bigger share, all right?" Chen Xingyue said indignantly.

"Deal. You said it!" Chen Shouyi replied at once.

He wasn't very interested in that little bit of money anymore, but he still felt uneasy about letting his sister go out alone. Besides, he wanted a closer look at what these bizarre things could actually do.

"When are we going?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"Right now!" Chen Xingyue said resentfully.

She wasn't happy about it, but she'd already said the words and couldn't take them back. Still, she let out a long breath of relief. She really wouldn't have dared to go alone.

"Wait here a moment. I'll change."

After Chen Xingyue left, Chen Shouyi immediately shut the door.

He found a jacket and put it on.

What if these bizarre things carried corpse poison, like the zombies in the legends?

If he got scratched by accident, at least the clothes would protect him.

Of course, he thought the odds of getting scratched were tiny, given his reflexes. Still, better safe than sorry.

Next, he dug out a down jacket he hadn't worn in ages and spread it under the bed.

Then he took Shell Girl out of the briefcase.

After a brief negotiation,

Chen Shouyi finally bought a night of Shell Girl's freedom for one tiny, mung-bean-sized glass bead.

She eagerly clutched the bead as Chen Shouyi tied her up with a thin string, sealed her mouth with Tape, and tucked her onto the down jacket under the bed.