He ate and drank his fill, leaving the table littered with empty cups and plates.
Lu Chen returned to the small courtyard in Sheep Dung Alley.
After nightfall, Lu Chen swallowed the Plum Blossom Pill.
The medicinal power unfolded. At first, he felt only a warm current rise from his belly and slowly spread through his limbs.
Wrapped tightly in his quilt, he lay on the kang and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Before long, the warmth suddenly stalled, then turned into waves of strange, prickling itchiness, as though countless tiny insects were burrowing through his veins.
Cold sweat beaded on Lu Chen's forehead.
Just then, a whisper sounded by his ear.
At first it was a blur of noise, but gradually it grew clearer.
It was a sticky, twisted murmur that he couldn't understand at all.
The voice drew closer and louder, until it pressed against his eardrum and forced out words he could understand, one by one:
"Mother... Mother..."
"Cut open your belly... let me out..."
A child's voice, shrill and tearful, yet every word was ice-cold, as if it had crawled out of his own stomach.
Lu Chen's eyes flew open. He snatched up the liquor by the head of the kang, bit off the stopper, and gulped it down.
The fiery liquor seared its way down his throat.
A piercing, inhuman shriek suddenly rang out from his belly.
Then all was silent.
The strange itch and whispering didn't disappear entirely. Instead, they sank deeper, becoming a whole night of bizarre, fragmented nightmares.
At dawn, he sat up and felt that his blood and qi had grown much more substantial.
He summoned the interface:
Plum Blossom Fist—Incomplete (Rudimentary Proficiency 90.9%)
His proficiency had risen by a full 9%.
That Plum Blossom Pill was indeed sinister—and indeed effective.
If he could get another one, a breakthrough might be just within reach.
He couldn't help starting to plan for the next small test.
That morning, Lu Chen sat down at a roadside stall and ordered a bowl of soy milk and a plate of pan-fried buns.
When he bit into one, he found the filling was chopped-up cabbage stalks mixed with a little pork crackling. It was coarse and bitter.
In the past, he could have devoured three plates of buns like these in one go and still thought them a rare delicacy.
But after going to restaurants with Jin Ming a few times and having several rich meals, his palate had been spoiled without him even realizing it.
He didn't stop. Washing them down with soy milk, he swallowed every bun on the plate, one bite at a time.
After paying a few copper coins, he got up and headed for the martial arts school.
Halfway there, the sky darkened without warning.
At first, Lu Chen thought a heavy cloud had drifted past, but the darkness came too fast and too thick, swallowing the sun in the blink of an eye.
He instinctively looked up—
His scalp prickled.
It wasn't a cloud.
It was insects. Insects blotting out the sky.
Even the smallest were the size of a human head, their carapaces gleaming oily black-brown. The largest were as big as galloping horses, their bloated bodies slowly writhing in the low sky, viscous fluid dripping from their opening and closing mouthparts.
They crowded together in layer upon layer, filling the sky.
The sunlight was completely blocked, and the street plunged into a strange, dusky yellow.
For an instant, the street fell silent.
Then pandemonium erupted.
"An insect plague—it's an insect plague!"
"Run!"
Cries, shrieks, and the sound of stalls being knocked over and smashed apart tore through the morning calm.
People scattered like ants from a kicked nest, shoving and fleeing in panic. Some burst through doorways into houses; others tripped and fell, only to be trampled by those behind them.
Lu Chen had no time to think. He turned and sprinted toward Sheep Dung Alley!
He raced back to his courtyard, barred the door behind him, then crouched by the crack and looked up at the sky.
The giant insects blotting out the sky didn't descend. They merely swept in a dark mass over the county town and headed north.
In less than the time it took to brew a pot of tea, the swarm had vanished beyond the northern horizon.
Insect plagues were among the most terrifying natural disasters in this world.
They devoured people, crops, and livestock. They gnawed through every living thing, leaving cities lifeless in their wake.
No one knew where these dreadful insects came from or how they were born.
People only knew that, if they encountered one, the sole path to survival for the vast majority of ordinary people was to run.
Fortunately, this time they had only passed through.
But the terror they left behind in Wen'an County was all too real.
Grain prices in town rose by thirty percent almost overnight and were still climbing.
People were on edge, business everywhere had slowed, and the once-bustling streets had taken on a desolate air.
The martial arts school also gave its disciples a few days off.
Unexpectedly, business at Lu Chen's lottery stall boomed.
The more precarious life became, the more people longed to clutch at a lifeline, even if it was only an illusory dream.
Spending a few copper coins to gamble on a slim chance of getting rich became a way for many to ease their fear and pin their hopes on a stroke of luck.
More people gathered around the stall than usual.
Blind Man and the others looked after the stall.
Lu Chen stocked up on several sacks of grain, shut himself indoors, and focused on practicing his fist.
His intense sense of danger left him afraid to slack off.
This insect plague had merely passed by. It had been luck, a stroke of fortune. But what about next time? What if the insects had turned and descended straight on Wen'an County?
In the face of a natural disaster like that, what were his few martial arts skills and this little strength worth? He'd likely be swallowed into an insect's belly in a single encounter.
That fear weighed heavily on his heart.
His desire to grow stronger had never burned so fiercely, so urgently.
About ten days passed.
News arrived from the north: more than thirty counties in Ice River Province had suffered an insect plague. In seven of them, everything had been gnawed away, leaving not a single living thing. Only a handful of martial artists had fought their way out through that sea of insects and escaped.
Several counties in Northland Province had also been struck, and many people had died.
In short, the insects had eaten their fill, and the plague wouldn't return for the time being.
The people of Wen'an County were safe.
One by one, the shops on the street took down their heavy wooden shutters. Vendors lit their stoves again, and voices and smoke slowly filled the alleyways once more.
Every day, Lu Chen buried himself in training at the martial arts school.
At noon or in the afternoon, disciples would come over and eagerly invite him to a restaurant.
Some escorts from the escort agencies and managers from local shops also sent invitations through intermediaries, asking him out for drinks.
Lu Chen had gained a little renown in the martial arts world. He had practiced martial arts for barely a month, yet at his first small test, he had taken first place—and then won every match when facing four opponents in a row.
Many veteran instructors in the martial arts world were convinced that Lu Chen would reach External Force within a year.
Once word spread, people naturally rushed to make a good impression on him.
Seeing Lu Chen's reputation rise and more people from all sides currying favor with him, Jin Ming knew he couldn't wait any longer.
That afternoon, he found Lu Chen.
"Brother Lu, I've got a good job here, and you were the first person I thought of!"
"What kind of job?" Lu Chen asked curiously.
Jin Ming grinned.
"You know how our family's rice business often has to go to other counties to transport grain. The roads aren't exactly safe, so we're short a capable hand to escort the wagons and keep things under control.
"If you're willing, I'll pay you ten taels of silver a month, with meals and lodging covered.
"What do you think? I had to wear my father down with endless pleading to get him to agree to that amount. No one else would get this much!"
"Would it get in the way of my training?"
"Not at all. We only transport grain once a month. Each trip takes five or six days, ten at most. It won't interfere with your martial arts training."
Lu Chen fell silent and pondered for a moment.
Ten taels a month for only ten or so days of work, with the rest of the time free for training as usual. It certainly sounded like a good deal.
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