Daily Settlement

The cold wind poured into the alley mouth, howling mournfully.

Lu Zhen tightened his collar, suppressed the restless agitation stirred by this stroke of fortune, and plunged headlong into the shadows.

In this man-eating world, since Heaven had granted him a meal, he had to hold his bowl steady.

At the entrance to Pig Cage Alley, the steamed-bun stall stood deserted.

Hunched-backed Old Liu guarded what little warmth remained, his neck tucked in. Even when he heard footsteps, he did not look up, clutching a worn newspaper tightly in his hands.

"Old Liu, ten mixed-flour buns." Lu Zhen stopped before the stall. "And cut me a pound of pig head meat. Fatty cuts."

Old Liu's cloudy eyes widened. "Meat? That's precious stuff..."

Before he could finish, a Yuan Silver Dollar that rang clear had already been slapped onto the counter.

Old Liu's eyes went straight.

These days, Legal Tender was no better than waste paper. Silver Dollars were the only hard truth.

"Heh, Little Lu, struck it rich?" Old Liu's bitter face instantly bloomed into a flower. Swiftly lifting the steamer lid, he said, "Prices changed today. One silver dollar trades for one hundred and thirty-five in Legal Tender.

"Buns have gone up to one Legal Tender each. Pig head meat may be offal, but it's still twenty-five a pound."

Lu Zhen frowned slightly. "Weren't three buns two Legal Tender last week?"

"A different price every day." Old Liu's knife chopped repeatedly against the greasy cutting board with a thud-thud, and he sighed. "There's going to be war in the north. The railways are sealed off, and nothing can come in by sea.

"The Grand Grain Warehouse put up purchase limits this morning. By noon, prices had doubled.

"Don't think it's expensive. Tomorrow, you may not be able to buy any even with money."

Lu Zhen said nothing.

The great matters in the newspapers—"ceding land," "indemnities"—sounded distant. But when they fell upon ordinary people scraping by for every grain, they became rice prices that rose and rose, and porridge that grew thinner and thinner in their bowls.

Money was becoming less and less valuable.

Life probably was too.

"All right, it's wrapped." Old Liu tightly wrapped the meat in lotus leaf, then stuffed over a greasy, crumpled stack of Legal Tender. "Exchanged at market price. Count it."

Lu Zhen did not even look. He pocketed it and left.

The deeper he went, the dimmer the lights became.

As he passed an adobe house at the street corner, a woman's miserable screams came from inside.

The piercing cries chilled the heart.

Lu Zhen paused, then acted as though he had heard nothing. Clutching the hot food to his chest, he dragged his lame leg and headed straight home.

The room was dim. Lu Wan was curled beneath an old quilt, and at the sound of movement, she poked her head out like a startled little animal.

Though she was sixteen, years of hunger had stunted her growth. She only reached Lu Zhen's chest.

Lu Zhen took out the lotus-leaf bundle. Before he even opened it, the little girl's nose twitched twice, and her eyes instantly went wide.

"Brother... meat?"

Without wasting words, Lu Zhen broke open a steaming mixed-flour bun, stuffed several thick slices of dripping fat meat inside, and handed it to her. "Eat."

With a howl, Lu Wan pounced, seized the bun, and wolfed it down.

Her fingers trembled from the heat, yet she refused to let go. Her cheeks bulged full, and tears were scalded from her eyes as she desperately kept swallowing.

Seeing the grease at the corner of his little sister's mouth, Lu Zhen's heart ached. Then it hardened.

With the Panel, their days would surely improve.

He returned to the bedside. With a stir of his mind, a pale blue Panel appeared before his eyes.

He had spent eight hours running about today. The scattered Legal Tender converted to exactly two Silver Dollars, and the system settled the full amount as well.

But the two Silver Dollars his eldest sister had given him had not triggered settlement.

Lu Zhen rubbed the silver coin in his hand and understood. "Only the labor I put in and the sweat I shed count to this Panel. Charity from others doesn't."

His gaze swept over the hovering words:

[Lu Zhen (30 years old)]

Current Occupation: Rickshaw Puller

Level: Daily Settlement Lv.1 (0/50)

Skill: Pulling a Rickshaw Lv.1 (5/50)

Physique: Blocked Meridians Lv.1 (5/50)

Universal Experience: 5 points

Those five points of Universal Experience were the variable now.

Three paths lay before him.

If he added them to his "Daily Settlement Level," the gains would compound like rolling snowballs, doubling his future income. That was the long road to wealth.

If he added them to the "Pulling a Rickshaw" skill, then no matter how fast he ran, he would still only be a higher-class beast of burden. He dismissed that outright.

Lu Zhen's gaze locked onto the third line: Blocked Meridians.

He instinctively pressed a hand over his stiff right leg.

Twelve years ago, ever since Zhao Jincheng had crippled his meridians, this leg had been like a piece of rotten wood stuck onto his body, cutting off his martial path.

Since the Panel called it "leveling up," there was no way adding points could make it worse and worse.

If he could fill "Blocked" to the limit, would that mean destruction before rebirth?

Lu Zhen's breathing grew heavy.

In this man-eating world, money was certainly good. But without fists to protect it, the more money one had, the faster one died.

With strength, he would finally have the right to settle both the Black Snake Gang's debt and the hatred of years past.

"Money can be earned later, but I don't want to drag this leg around for another day."

Lu Zhen hesitated no longer. With a thought, five points of Universal Experience transformed into streams of light and plunged into the "Physique" field.

[Physique: Blocked Meridians Lv.1 (10/50)]

In that instant, it felt as if a red-hot needle had pierced his right knee.

It did not hurt. Instead, a long-lost warmth spread through him.

The heat circled once through his dead-silent meridians. Though it quickly dispersed, the heaviness like decayed wood truly eased by a trace.

Lu Zhen touched his knee. Beneath his fingertips, the flesh that had once been stiff as iron now possessed a hint of springiness.

It really worked.

This leg, crippled for twelve years, could be saved.

After letting out a long breath, Lu Zhen withdrew his focus and looked across the room.

Lu Wan had finished the bun in her hand and was carefully licking the specks of grease from her fingers.

Her eyes kept flicking toward the remaining meat on the table. Her throat bobbed, but she drew her hands back into her sleeves and did not dare take any more.

Lu Zhen picked up a bun, stuffed it full of fatty meat, and placed it directly in her hands. Then he took one himself and bit down hard.

His mouth filled with fragrant grease.

Lu Wan held the heavy bun in both hands. This time, however, she did not wolf it down. She looked up, her murky large eyes filled with confusion and unease.

"Brother..."

Children of poor families grew up early. She knew how hard life was.

How many clothes would have to be washed in icy water to earn this meal of meat?

Her elder brother usually split every coin in half before spending it. What was wrong with him today?

Could it be...

The little girl did not dare think further. Her body began to tremble.

Lu Zhen swallowed the meat in his mouth. Seeing her frightened expression, he smiled softly.

"Don't overthink it. Eat."

"Maybe our days ahead will only get better and better."

Lu Wan froze.

Her elder brother never spoke carelessly.

If he said their days would improve, then they definitely would.

A hope she had never known surged into her heart.

She nodded hard, her eyes reddening, opened her mouth wide, and took a fierce bite of the bun.

It was delicious.

Over the next four days, the wind and snow did not stop.

Ocean City's winters were not merely cold. Worst of all was the dampness that drilled into the cracks of one's bones.

Pedestrians on the road huddled into balls, while Lu Zhen, pulling his rickshaw, steamed all over like an iron man who never tired.

Now that he had something to hope for, this hard labor was no longer simply enduring each day. It had become tempering.

Over those four days, Lu Zhen left early and returned late.

There were seven or eight more silver coins in his pocket, heavy enough to weigh down his hand.

What warmed his heart even more was the line of words before his eyes, visible to him alone.

[Physique: Blocked Meridians Lv.1 (40/50)]

Every night's settled experience had been poured wholesale into "Physique."

The feeling of warm currents washing over withered wood became ever clearer. His once dead-stiff right knee now even had a faint soreness and swelling.

Being afraid of pain was a good thing.

Feeling pain meant the flesh was alive.

Outside Shunfa Rickshaw Firm.

Lu Zhen returned his rickshaw, settled that day's rental fee, and vigorously rubbed his large hands, frozen red and rough.

As long as he endured tonight's settlement and gained those crucial five experience points, the "Blocked Meridians" that had plagued him for years would finally be broken through completely.

Leaving the rickshaw firm, he turned familiarly into Pig Cage Alley.

"Old Liu, the usual."

A flash of the knife—ten buns and a pound of pig head meat, fatty enough to drip grease.

The lotus-leaf bundle was tightly wrapped and steaming, especially warm in his hands on this frigid night.

Carrying the food into the dark alley, Lu Zhen had just turned the corner when he heard a crash from beside the well ahead.

A woman staggered as she struggled with a wooden bucket. The well platform was iced over; her foot slipped, and half a bucket of icy water soaked her thin trouser leg.

"Oh, what a sin..." An old woman with missing teeth shook her head from beneath the wall.

Beside her, Auntie Fatty spat out a sunflower seed shell and lowered her voice. "That He family's wife, right? Beaten again?"

"Isn't that so? I heard she couldn't buy hot porridge this morning, and when she went home, that man smashed her face with a chamber pot." The old woman sighed. "After He the Third became paralyzed, his heart twisted.

"He used to be such a refined man when he worked as an accountant. Now? He spends every day suspecting ghosts and demons, and if the slightest thing displeases him, he beats his wife half to death."

Lu Zhen heard it, and his steps involuntarily slowed.

Memories surged back from more than a decade ago.

Back then, his leg had just been crippled. His parents were dead, and there was still a little sister at home crying for food.

If Shen Yun had not secretly slipped him two Silver Dollars and often brought hot porridge and mended their clothes, he and his sister would have frozen to death in that bitter winter long ago.

"Sister Shen, are you all right?"

The woman looked up in alarm.

Her once delicate oval face had sunk in from years of hunger. The bruised swelling at the corner of her eye stood out starkly against her pale face.

"Little Lu..." Shen Yun recognized him, and her tense body relaxed somewhat. Hurriedly, she smoothed her disheveled hair over her injury. "I'm fine. The ground was slippery. I wasn't paying attention."

Lu Zhen said nothing. He opened the lotus-leaf bundle, grabbed three scalding buns, tucked several slices of minced meat inside, wrapped them in paper, and forced them into her hands.

"Take them."

Shen Yun shrank back as though burned. "I can't! Little Lu, you have it hard too. Wan'er is still waiting..."

"Eat while it's hot. Don't let anyone see." Lu Zhen's tone was stiff.

Shen Yun froze. Her eyes reddened, and her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Thank you, Little Lu."

Lu Zhen lifted the remaining half-bucket of water one-handed and carried it to her door. Then he turned and left.

Yet after he had only walked a few steps, a roar erupted from behind that battered wooden door.

"It takes half an hour to fetch a bucket of water?! Were you making eyes at some wild man by the well again?"

This was followed by the sound of things being rummaged through.

"What's this? Buns? Still hot! Ah, so that's why you took so long—you went to meet a wild man! Who would give you white-flour buns for nothing in times like these?"

"Was it Old Liu the meat seller? Or The Barber? Speak! You shameless—"

"No, Third, listen to me, it was—"

Slap!

A porcelain bowl shattered, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object striking flesh and Shen Yun's muffled cry of pain.

"You still dare talk back! Now that I'm paralyzed, you can't stand being lonely, is that it? I'll beat you to death, you slut!"

The clattering sounds of smashing and breaking mixed with filthy curses, piercing the alley's dead silence.

Lu Zhen halted, his brows drawn tight. His fist clenched, then loosened.

In the end, he did not turn back. He only quickened his pace and vanished into the night.

Returning to that shabby plank house, he shut the doors and windows tight, sealing out the cold wind and clamor outside.

[Daily Settlement Panel activated]

[Today's Settlement: Pulled a rickshaw for nine hours, traveled one hundred and twenty miles]

[Obtained: Silver Dollars +3, Occupation Experience +5, Physique Experience +5, Universal Experience +5]

[Current Daily Settlement Level: LV1. Daily rewards additionally multiplied by X1]

Lu Zhen's eyes blazed.

[Physique: Blocked Meridians Lv.1 (45/50)]

With these 5 points added, it was exactly full!

Lu Zhen drew a deep breath and silently said in his heart:

"Add points!"

In an instant, an unprecedented scorching torrent exploded within his body.

"Crack, crack."

Lu Zhen clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, yet he did not utter a sound.

Pain! Pain that bored into his heart and gnawed at his bones!

Meridians that had been severed for years reconnected, while black, filthy blood seeped from his pores, giving off the rancid stench of age.

Current Profession: Rickshaw Puller

Level: Daily Settlement Lv.1 (0/50)

Skill: Pulling a Rickshaw Lv.1 (30/50)

Physique: Strong and Healthy Lv.2 (0/200)

Universal Experience: 0

Lu Zhen panted heavily, drenched from head to toe as though he had been washed in water.

He tried moving the toes of his left foot—nimble and free.

Bracing both hands against the bedframe, he slowly stood up.

This time, there was no need to lean on anything, no swaying.

Both feet planted firmly on the ground, his heels truly touching down.

That long-lost sense of balance, that solid feeling of standing on the earth, made Lu Zhen's eyes burn.

He walked to the center of the room, suddenly raised a leg, and stomped down hard.

"Thud!"

Dust flew up, and the floor trembled faintly.

Force rose from the ground, power passing through to his toes.

"Good!"

Lu Zhen assumed a stance. His right fist moved with his will and shot forward in a fierce punch.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound rang out—the sound of force punching through the air.

"Early Lianli Realm."

Lu Zhen withdrew his fist and stood still.

In these troubled times, the first step of martial practice was "Lianli."

At the early stage, one needed to temper one's strength and stamina, swinging a single arm with two hundred jin of force. Many young men who could endure hardship could reach it.

The middle stage required force to flow through the entire body, with five hundred jin in one arm. Among martial practitioners, no more than one or two in ten could hope to achieve it.

As for the late stage of Lianli, it was one in a hundred.

Looking at his fist, Lu Zhen was not complacent.

Though that punch had sounded impressive, it was ultimately only brute strength.

Back at Jingcheng Middle School, the instructor had taught only the barest fundamentals of stance training and bone tempering.

The true art of moving one's qi and blood, washing over skin and flesh to cultivate Bright Force, was the closely guarded secret of every martial arts school.

"I need to find a master."

Lu Zhen calculated in his heart.

He could not return to school, and at his age, they would not accept an "old student" like him.

If he wanted to advance further, he would have to apprentice himself to a martial arts school.

Ocean City had many martial arts schools, and quite a few capable people among them. As long as he was willing to spend money, he would always be able to learn something real.

Though money was tight, with this strength, he would only earn more and more from now on.

He made up his mind.

Tomorrow, after pulling his rickshaw, he would visit several martial arts schools in the south of the city and sound them out.