Firewood Gang

Cloud Dragon County.

The setting sun looked like blood, staining the layers of clouds across the firmament into an endless sea of crimson.

On the bluestone-paved streets, the vendors lining both sides had long since ceased their hawking after a full day of toil.

The passersby wore expressions of unconcealable fatigue, hurrying toward their homes.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

In a secluded alleyway, the courtyard gate of one of the houses was knocked upon.

"Who is it?"

"Collecting firewood fees."

"Coming."

A swarthy-faced youth pushed open the gate, and upon seeing the two men outside, he forced a respectful smile onto his face.

Standing outside were two young men; one was stout and fat, his face covered in rolls of flesh, his torso bare, revealing a tattoo of two crossed axes on his chest.

The other was lean, with a delicate and unremarkable face.

"Brother Shen? I never expected you to have joined the Firewood Gang!"

The youth wore an eager smile, deliberately trying to bridge the distance between them.

Shen Mu glanced at the youth and said indifferently, "Just pay the firewood fee."

The smile on the youth's face faltered.

"This is the firewood fee for this month."

The youth took ten copper coins from his bosom and handed them over.

Shen Mu reached out to take the coins, counted them, and after confirming the amount was correct, skillfully tucked them into the money pouch at his waist. The coins inside clinked together, emitting a crisp sound.

Watching the bulging pouch at Shen Mu's waist, a flicker of envy flashed in the youth's eyes; he spent his days going out early and returning late to chop wood in the mountains, yet he couldn't earn this much in a year.

Shen Mu glanced at the youth again and continued, "The higher-ups have spoken. Starting next month, the firewood fee will increase from ten copper coins to twelve."

"Twelve copper coins?"

Hearing this, the youth's expression showed a hint of pain, but he still nodded and said, "I understand. Starting next month, I will pay twelve copper coins."

"Let's go."

Shen Mu glanced at the stout youth, and the two turned to leave.

"Pah!"

Watching their backs as they walked away, the youth's face twisted into a look of resentment. He spat a glob of thick phlegm and cursed, "Acting like a dog with a master's power, aren't you? Just because you became an outer member of the Firewood Gang, you think you're better than everyone else? Weren't you just a woodcutter yourself before?"

Shen Mu naturally heard the youth's backhanded insults, and his brows furrowed, but his footsteps did not falter.

"Brother Shen, that guy is cursing you. Should we go back and teach him a lesson?"

Luo Tao, with his face full of flesh, couldn't hold back and asked with a hostile tone.

"No need."

Shen Mu shook his head and chuckled, "He's right. I was a woodcutter before, too."

"But..."

Luo Tao was still unwilling to let it go.

"Today is our first time collecting firewood fees; don't let it distract us from the real business. Let him curse if he wants; it's not like I'll lose a piece of flesh."

Shen Mu looked at the sky and smiled, "If every woodcutter paid their fees as obediently as he did, we wouldn't have to be out collecting until this late."

Luo Tao looked down at the two axes on his chest and smirked, "I have to say, Brother Shen, you painting these two axes on my chest really works. I'm thinking of saving up some money to find a tattoo artist to ink them properly—let's see who dares not pay their fees then."

"But Brother Shen, I don't think two axes are intimidating enough. Would a skull look better?"

Shen Mu's face twitched at these words.

A month ago, he didn't know if he had transmigrated or simply awakened the "mystery of the womb."

Regardless, he had just finished studying a foreign language when he woke up to find himself in this world.

His predecessor's father had been a constable who died in the line of duty when he was three, and his mother had raised him alone until she passed away from illness when he was thirteen, leaving him to make a living by chopping wood outside the city every day.

Ever since Shen Mu's consciousness took over this body, he had analyzed his situation.

He immediately spent the ten taels of silver his predecessor had saved over years of woodcutting to register as an outer member of the Firewood Gang, tasked with collecting firewood fees.

There were over five hundred outer members like him in the Firewood Gang.

The Firewood Gang held a monopoly over all vegetation within a hundred-mile radius of Cloud Dragon County.

Any local citizen of Cloud Dragon County who wanted to go outside the city to chop wood had to register with the Firewood Gang and pay a monthly firewood fee of ten large coins.

In a world where food was the priority and firewood was the fuel, the Firewood Gang, by monopolizing the firewood of an entire county, was essentially making money while lying down.

"I never managed to reach the point of paying to work in my past life, yet I managed to achieve it after transmigrating to this world."

Shen Mu couldn't help but sigh at the impermanence of life.

Becoming an outer member of the Firewood Gang offered no salary, yet there was never a shortage of people trying every possible way to join.

The primary reason for this was the existence of a martial practitioner cultivation system in this world.

It is said that when a martial practitioner reaches the pinnacle, they can roam the vast seas by morning and the Cangwu mountains by dusk, burn mountains and boil oceans, block rivers with a single finger, traverse the skies and earth, and perhaps even attain eternal life!

As a transmigrator, how could Shen Mu not yearn to become such a mythical figure?

Born as a human, who would not desire longevity and an enduring gaze?

By becoming an outer member of the Firewood Gang and collecting firewood fees for them, Shen Mu received no salary, but he could claim one jin of beast meat every month and gain the opportunity for systematic body tempering to become a martial practitioner.

The ten-tael silver registration fee was essentially the tuition paid to the Firewood Gang.

At the same time, the one jin of beast meat received monthly had a market value of no less than one tael of silver.

As long as one mastered body tempering and advanced to the Boiling Blood Stage to become a true member of the Firewood Gang, they could receive a monthly salary of one tael of silver, while also obtaining more monster meat for body tempering.

This was the very method the Firewood Gang used to absorb fresh blood into their ranks.

Shen Mu and Luo Tao traveled together to Yunxiang Restaurant and walked up to a table by the window on the second floor.

Sitting there was a middle-aged man, currently devouring the chicken, duck, fish, and meat on the table with great gusto.

This man was named Wang Jin, a practitioner at the first level of the Boiling Blood Stage and a true member of the Firewood Gang, responsible for collecting all firewood fees on Yunxiang Street.

"Brother Wang, this is the firewood money from one hundred and thirty-seven households in total. Would you like to count it?"

Shen Mu placed the heavy money bag filled with copper coins on the table and spoke with a respectful expression.

The fierce look Luo Tao had worn while collecting the firewood fees had long since vanished, replaced by a harmless, honest smile.

Several other bulging money bags were already sitting on the table, clearly the firewood fees collected by other outer members.

Wang Jin simply weighed the bag in his hand, confirmed the approximate weight, and said with a look of surprise, "I truly didn't expect you two to be able to collect the firewood fees before the sun went down."

As the saying goes, poor mountains and treacherous rivers produce unruly people.

Trying to consistently squeeze ten copper coins every month from the common folk who made their living by cutting firewood on the mountains was no easy task.

Many outer members had to stay out until the middle of the night the first time they went to collect firewood fees...

It was only because Shen Mu had used some methods that they finished when they did; otherwise, there was no telling how long it would have taken.

"Heh heh, it is all thanks to Brother Wang's cultivation."

Shen Mu said with a humble expression.

"Hiccup~"

Wang Jin let out a loud burp, then pointed to the messy plates and dishes on the table and said, "I'm full. You two can have the rest; just put it on my tab."

"Thank you, Brother Wang!"

Although only leftovers remained on the table, for the two of them, who had been working diligently all day collecting firewood fees and were already starving to the point of their stomachs sticking to their spines, this was no less than a grand feast.

Wang Jin took two wooden tokens from his robes and tossed them to Shen Mu and Luo Tao, saying, "Tomorrow, take these two tokens to the gang headquarters and begin your attempts at body tempering. Come find me again when it's time to collect firewood fees next month."

Shen Mu and Luo Tao gripped the tokens, which had the character "Firewood" carved into them, a flash of joy appearing on their faces.

They had joined the Firewood Gang and paid to work, wasn't it all for this very day?

Watching the excitement on their faces, Wang Jin's thoughts drifted, and he couldn't help but recall the time when he was their age.

He shook his head, waved his hand, and said, "I'm off."

"Safe travels, Brother Wang!"

After Wang Jin carried the firewood money downstairs, Shen Mu and Luo Tao exchanged a glance, immediately sat down, and began to devour the food like a whirlwind.