Eating My Fill

The next day.

Lu Li carried a medicine basket on his back, with a large bundle of meat inside. He covered it with a few medicinal herbs to disguise it and mask the smell of blood.

He hadn't bought all the meat from one stall. Instead, he'd visited several and bought it in small batches, so he wouldn't arouse suspicion.

As a herb gatherer, buying a little meat was fine, but buying too much was bound to make people suspicious.

His current strength was more than enough to deal with ordinary people, but against a Flesh-Refining Realm martial artist, he still came up short.

Besides, there were plenty of Flesh-Refining Realm martial artists in Longwind County.

So it was best to be cautious. If he got mixed up in something, it would do more harm than good.

He continued on his way home.

Along the way, Lu Li kept thinking. Perhaps he ought to find himself a new identity.

He couldn't keep going like this forever. It was too time-consuming and exhausting.

"To change my identity, I need strength. That way, no one will covet what I have."

"Join a martial arts school?"

Lu Li thought it over carefully. "The tuition at a martial arts school is steep. It costs twenty taels of silver just to get in."

"And that doesn't include food and lodging. The expenses would be enormous."

"The quality of martial arts schools varies widely, and there might not even be one that teaches a Fist of Subduing Tigers superior to mine. Selling my identity to get in wouldn't be worth it. That's a last resort."

"The Huang Family keeps quite a few martial artists, some of them real experts. And they don't charge tuition. Food and lodging are free, too."

"But to become a martial artist for the Huang Family, I'd have to make a tremendous contribution to them."

"There was a man who found a rare Purple Gold Flower on the outskirts and presented it to the Huang Family. That let him bargain with them and stay to practice martial arts."

"Hmm, as for rare herbs, perhaps I could venture deep into the mountains and try my luck?" Lu Li turned his head toward the mountains, narrowing his eyes.

He needed rare herbs, too, if he wanted to make rapid progress in martial arts.

If he really did join the Huang Family, he'd be killing two birds with one stone.

"As for leaving the Huang Family later, that'll be easy enough. Once I'm strong enough, I can simply disappear."

"After all, I'm just a lowly peasant. Would the Huang Family really go to all that trouble to hunt me down?"

Having made up his mind, Lu Li quickened his pace.

As he neared home, he saw passersby with sallow faces, like walking corpses.

One person collapsed to his knees. His body was covered in chilblains, and he must have been starving badly, because he scooped up snow with both hands and wolfed it down.

Lu Li studied him from the corner of his eye. The man's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted with resentment.

Judging by his condition, he probably wouldn't last much longer.

Lu Li's heart grew heavy, and he quickened his pace again.

Soon, he was home. Lu Li took out the meat.

He set some fresh pieces aside, then dried the rest one by one.

Watching the meat sizzle and glisten with rendered fat, Lu Li couldn't help licking his lips.

"With my current status and money, I can only afford ordinary pork, chicken, duck, and fish."

"But the fiercer the beast, the more nourishing its meat is for a martial artist. Tigers, leopards, jackals, wolves, and the like."

"Unfortunately, they're expensive. One pound costs half a tael of silver, which is equivalent to half a month's wages for me."

"Looks like making money and finding a new identity have to go on the agenda."

"I also need to practice martial arts harder, so I can deal with the Incense Fragrance Sect. I wonder if they've taken action yet."

As the sky darkened, Lu Li stewed a pot of pork. He picked up a piece about the size of a fingernail with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. Only after a long while did he swallow.

"Not gamey or tough. The cooking time's just right."

He licked his lips, relishing the lingering fragrance. The aroma kept stirring his appetite, and soon he couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring the scalding heat, he dug in.

Now that he'd become a martial artist, his appetite had grown considerably. He polished off a whole pot of stewed meat with some brown rice.

Lu Li sat on a tree stump he used as a chair, satisfaction written across his face.

He'd always been either hungry or full, never once this satisfied!

The nourishment in the food seemed to turn into streams of warmth, flowing through his body and leaving him warm from head to toe, content in both body and mind.

Three days later.

Lu Li had been playing both gangs against each other. He'd robbed the Black Tiger Gang once and the Blood Wolf Gang twice, raking in a total of twenty taels of silver.

Lu Li was already quite satisfied. The gang members bullied the poor, but they weren't rich and powerful like the lords.

Getting ten taels of silver in one go had been pure luck.

He counted the money on him. He had a full forty-five taels.

Over the past three days, he'd never gone without meat. Perhaps thanks to a martial artist's stronger digestion and his progress in training, Lu Li's body had visibly filled out.

His cheeks had gained a little flesh, and his high cheekbones were no longer so prominent.

"Back then, as people in my previous life would've put it, I was a walking skeleton. Now I'm finally a normal person."

Lu Li looked at his face in the bronze mirror and smiled faintly.

He checked his wrists, too. They'd gained a layer of flesh, and he nodded with satisfaction.

He also felt full of strength, and practicing martial arts had become much easier than before.

He went out into the courtyard and began practicing the Tiger-Subduing Fist, one move at a time.

His fists cut through the air in a flurry, sending snow flying as he darted back and forth like a fierce tiger in the snow.

Lu Li looked at his status panel and saw that his Tiger-Subduing Fist proficiency had reached 150 points.

Ever since he'd started eating his fill at every meal, practicing martial arts no longer left him feeling as if his body had been hollowed out. Now that he was stronger, he could even practice the Tiger-Subduing Fist twice more.

So his progress was faster than ever.

"I'm fifty points short. It'll probably take another three or four days. If only I had another pill, I could break through tomorrow." Lu Li looked at the glowing panel and thought to himself.

One pill could save me five or six days of hard work.

Ever since he'd used a pill, Lu Li couldn't stop thinking about them.

But he was still too poor. If he bought one, he'd be left penniless again.

A cheap pill wouldn't have nearly the same effect.

After thinking it over, Lu Li gave up on the idea.

The Incense Fragrance Sect hadn't come looking for him yet, and he could still handle the gang members. He could afford to wait a few more days.

Thinking about the gangs, Lu Li hesitated for a moment. He'd been playing both sides against each other. Could they have noticed?

Lu Li wasn't afraid that the gangs would find out it was him and retaliate.

After all, he was just a lowly herb gatherer. How could he possibly be a martial artist?

What he feared was that if the gangs called a truce, he'd lose his best way of getting money.

Then he'd be worrying about money all over again.

At the same time.

The Black Tiger Gang.

The gang leader, Zhao Heihu, was eating.

He was tall and burly, with a face full of flesh. His arms were bare, the muscles knotted like mountain ranges, ridged and rolling with power.

The table was piled high with delicacies, including bear paws and tiger meat—rare ingredients that were delicious in both aroma and taste. A meal like this would cost at least ten taels of silver.

Suddenly, someone rushed in, looking anxious. "Boss, bad news! For no apparent reason, fifteen of our men have died over the past few days!"

Zhao Heihu paused mid-bite and raised his head, frowning. "What did you say?"

The man repeated himself, then added, "Lately, some of our men haven't seen their usual companions around, so they went looking for them. They found some dead under mysterious circumstances at home, and others dead in alleys. Whoever did it was ruthless, striking at vital points every time."

"Most of them had only one wound. It was definitely a single fatal blow!"

Zhao Heihu froze for a moment. Then fury surged through him, and his face twisted into a savage scowl as he slammed his rice bowl onto the table.

"It must be that damn Old Dog Lin, using underhanded tricks! Damn him! Fighting over territory is one thing, but now he's killing people with dirty tactics. Does he want my Black Tiger Gang and him to destroy each other?"

He hardly gave it a second thought before deciding the Blood Wolf Gang was responsible.

Their business might be despised and had earned them plenty of enemies, but even if someone wanted revenge, how could all fifteen men have offended the same person?

The only explanation he could think of was that the Blood Wolf Gang had attacked them in secret.

"Damn Old Dog Lin! I'll make the Blood Wolf Gang pay for every drop of blood!"

At that very moment, a roar that shook the heavens rang out from the Blood Wolf Gang as well.

"Arghhh! Old Cat Zhao, you treacherous bastard! I, Lin Batian, will wipe out your Black Tiger Gang!"