Paying Taxes and Austere Cultivation

"Three taels."

Six constables and tax collectors blocked the doorway, shouting as if they held a grudge, "You must pay now! Or we'll arrest you."

Cui Hao showed them three taels of silver, watched them inspect it thoroughly, and handed the silver over.

The constables used their portable scales to weigh the silver. Once they confirmed it was the correct weight, they turned to knock on Aunt Li's door.

Aunt Li's family had five people, so they handed over five taels of silver.

When they reached Lai Zi Tou's house, it was surprisingly quiet. He had no money to pay taxes, crying, shouting, and begging for mercy.

The constables ignored him, directly locking him up and dismantling his house.

"Aunt Li," Su Yun walked out, looking at the dragged-away Lai Zi Tou and asked, "Didn't Uncle Lai Zi sell his wife and children?"

"He's gluttonous and a gambler. Any money he has usually doesn't last the night."

"Sister Li," Aunt Hua, a thin woman with a pained expression, approached with her thinly dressed daughter, Lingdang, "We're still short one tael of silver for our taxes..."

"Sister Hua, it's not that I don't want to help you," Aunt Li, who had been watching the commotion a moment before, now wore a mask of pain. "After the autumn tax comes the spring tax. You know my husband, I can't help you."

Anxious, Aunt Hua pulled her daughter and knelt down. "Sister Li, please help us, mother and daughter. We'll pay you back before spring."

After all, they were from the same village. Her husband was gone, and they had always gotten along well. Aunt Li gritted her teeth. "I'll lend you five hundred wen. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."

"Brother Hao, Sister Yun," Aunt Hua, kneeling on the ground, turned to them. "Please lend us mother and daughter five hundred wen."

Su Yun was soft-hearted and looked at Cui Hao.

"Sister Yun, you decide."

"Aunt Hua, you and Lingdang get up. I'll go inside and get it for you."

Aunt Hua kowtowed. "Thank you, Sister Li, thank you, Sister Yun, thank you both."

"Don't shout!" Aunt Li stomped her feet anxiously. "If others hear, we won't be able to live!"

Aunt Hua understood. She pulled her daughter up. If others knew she had borrowed money, they would come to borrow too.

A moment later, Su Yun came out and handed the half-tael of silver she had just cut off to Aunt Hua.

Aunt Hua thanked them profusely and left.

"What a sin," Aunt Li sighed, watching the retreating figures of Aunt Hua and her daughter. "She'll probably come to borrow money again in the spring."

Before Su Yun could reply, Zhou Mengyue, wearing a 'Guang' character training uniform and strong as an ox, approached with three ruffians.

"Cui Hao, let me see your Chopping Knife."

Li Hao's hands had no calluses, and he looked like he couldn't even lift a chicken. He couldn't beat his brother head-on, so he couldn't split his brother's skull with his knife.

However, he had searched the entire village and neighboring villages, and found no one who could kill his brother head-on.

Later, he thought carefully. His brother only bullied honest, weak, and sickly people, those who were easy to bully. So, he had been looking in the wrong direction. He started investigating the strong young men, checking the Chopping Knife.

"Sister Yun, please get the Chopping Knife for Brother Zhou to see."

Sister Yun turned and brought the Chopping Knife.

Taking the Chopping Knife, with its rounded tip, from Su Yun, Cui Hao handed it to Zhou Mengyue.

Seeing the dried, black bloodstain at the junction of the hilt and the blade, Zhou Mengyue asked, "What did you chop with it?"

"Snakes and chickens."

"Where did you get the snakes and chickens?"

"Prey caught on the edge of Second Mountain."

"Do you still have the bones of the snakes and chickens?"

"Yes."

"Let me see." Without further ado, Zhou Menglong brought his men and barged directly into the courtyard.

A moment later, Zhou Mengyue came out with three ruffians. They confirmed that Cui Hao had not lied.

Next, they searched Aunt Li's house. To verify that Aunt Li's husband's legs were truly crippled, they beat him with clubs. They confirmed that he couldn't stand up and was not the murderer.

This behavior continued from one end of the village to the other, not even sparing the widows' homes.

"Big Brother," as dusk fell, a ruffian saw a business opportunity and said, "I've noticed that no one dares to resist you. Can we also collect silver from every household, just like the government collects taxes?"

Zhou Mengyue's eyes lit up slightly. This might force out the killer of his brother. "Recruit four or five more people."

The ruffian acknowledged the order.

Zhou Mengyue would definitely not find the truth. But bad people do bad things without reason. Not wanting to be bullied, Cui Hao came to the martial arts school for the second time in the evening to train his strength.

While silently reciting the strength training methods in his mind, he subjected the stone lock to all sorts of torture.

"Junior Brother Cui," after Cui Hao finished his warm-up, Senior Sister Liu Yan, who had tied her hair in a bun and bought seven chicks, approached him. "Do you want to try the stone staff?"

Liu Yan had successfully broken through a bottleneck once and was now a master of the Clear Force stage. Cui Hao took the stone staff, which looked like a baseball bat, weighing about a hundred jin.

"Training your strength with the stone staff not only relieves muscle soreness but also makes your muscles look better. Watch me demonstrate."

"Senior Sister, please demonstrate."

Liu Yan's stone staff weighed three hundred jin. It danced around her body like flowing clouds and water, her movements graceful.

After the dance, Liu Yan explained, "This set of movements can mobilize almost every muscle in your body. Try it yourself."

With the boost to his memory, Cui Hao slowly mimicked the movements, looking the part.

"Not bad," Liu Yan praised. "You're much faster than I was. My third senior brother taught me five or six times before I remembered the movements."

Cui Hao asked, "Who is the third senior brother?"

"Third Senior Brother passed the Imperial Examination and became a Martial Xiucai. He went to the prefectural city and entered the sect."

Cui Hao knew about Martial Xiucai in this world, the concept of martial scholars. He inquired, "What cultivation level is needed to test for Martial Xiucai?"

"At least Clear Force Great Accomplishment. Clear Force Perfect Circle is best."

"Senior Sister Liu is also Clear Force, right?"

"I'm Clear Force Minor Accomplishment. I'm only one step away from Clear Force Great Accomplishment, but the difference in strength is huge," Liu Yan said regretfully. "And I've been stuck for a full year. This might just be it for me."

"Senior Sister, Master said I can at most reach Mortal Martial. Don't compare your hardships with mine."

Liu Yan smiled, accepting the newcomer's comfort. "Practice on your own. I'm heading back."

"Farewell, Senior Sister Liu."

Liu Yan waved goodbye jauntily, her back to Cui Hao.

Cui Hao continued to hone his strength until he was exhausted. Then, he and two other new disciples practiced Broken Fist three times in a row.

"Senior Brother Xiao, Junior Brother Cui," Wang Nian lay on the cold floor, his lungs wheezing like bellows. "I can't fight anymore. I have no strength left."

Broken Fist was a fierce martial art that required full effort. Cui Hao was also quite tired and sat down with a plop.

Xiao Li continued practicing his punches. "Master only gave us two months. If we can't reach Mortal Martial, we'll be kicked out."

Wang Nian weakly lifted a hand. "We only joined a few days ago. Two months is still a long way off."

Ignoring Wang Nian, Xiao Li continued his arduous training.

Observing the diligent Xiao Li, Cui Hao vaguely recalled him.

It was four years ago. Cui Hao was only fourteen then and hadn't yet separated from his extended family in the city.

Xiao Li followed his older brother. The two brothers cleared out cesspits for households, shops, and restaurants that needed the service.

As a result, the brothers carried a certain odor, and everyone avoided them, pinching their noses and walking around them.

Once, the brothers were clearing a cesspit behind the Cui family's shoe shop. Cui Hao remembered the young man with determined eyes at that time.