Lu Li learned that Zhang Hu was about to break through, so he waited nearby, keeping watch on his house and looking for a chance to kill him in one fell swoop.
He observed keenly that Zhang Hu hadn't brought any underlings with him today. He was all alone.
And he was drunk.
This was the perfect opportunity!
Zhang Hu was in high spirits and wasn't keeping his voice down. Lu Li heard every word he said.
"Just as Uncle Zhao said."
"Damn it, I've already become a hall master, and that old bastard still can't let me go."
How much silver did that old rabbit, Master Wang, give you? Lu Li cursed inwardly.
His gaze grew colder, chilling the air around him.
He was wondering whether to go up and kill Zhang Hu right then and there.
Just then, the howling north wind suddenly rose, and goose-feather snow began swirling down in thick flurries.
Zhang Hu shivered and pulled his padded coat tighter. He glanced behind him, saw no one, cursed the heavens, then suddenly quickened his pace.
Seeing this, Lu Li hurried after him.
Zhang Hu pushed open the door. His parents were waiting inside for him to come home.
When Zhang's mother saw the hideous scar on Zhang Hu's face, her heart ached, and tears spilled from her eyes. "Son, can't you stop working for the gang?"
"Every day, you risk your life. It's too dangerous. I just want you to live in peace."
Her voice choked as she reached to touch Zhang Hu's cheek, but he seized her hand in his iron grip. "Quit your nagging! Who asked you to meddle in my affairs?"
"What the hell do you know? I, Zhang Hu, am a hall master now. I'm rising fast, and my future is limitless!"
Zhang's mother's hand hurt where he gripped it. Zhang's father heard that Zhang Hu wouldn't listen to a word and flew into a rage. "How did I end up with a bastard like you? Let go of your mother!"
Before he'd even finished speaking, Zhang Hu slapped him, then pinned him down and rained blows on him.
"Damn it, shut up! If you two had been worth a damn, I wouldn't have had to join a gang!"
"Now that I've finally got a chance to get rich, you still want to stop me? Get out! Both of you, get out!"
He kicked Zhang's father, knocking him onto his backside in the snow.
Zhang's father's face was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, his eyes dull. He looked utterly wretched.
Snowflakes settled over him, making him look even older and more forlorn.
Zhang's mother sobbed. Her wrist was swollen and bruised purple-red, but she didn't dare try to persuade him again. She helped Zhang's father up, and the two of them staggered back inside.
Zhang Hu snorted. The joy in his heart had been washed away in an instant.
He spat. "You two old bags of bones ruined my mood!"
With that, he went straight inside.
The courtyard fell silent.
Lu Li pressed himself against the corner of the wall, having heard everything.
His eyes widened in shock. He cursed Zhang Hu inwardly, thinking the man was a complete piece of shit.
Zhang Hu hadn't always been in a gang. He'd once been a petty hoodlum.
He'd spent his days brawling, eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, all on the coffin money Zhang's parents had saved up.
His foul reputation had spread far and wide. Many people criticized him and took him as a warning.
Now that he'd made it, he'd abandoned his brothers. That was bad enough, but he even treated his parents like this.
He climbed over the wall quietly.
When he reached the room Zhang Hu had entered, he heard rustling sounds from inside.
Lu Li peered through a crack in the door and took in the whole scene.
Zhang Hu was in a foul mood and seemed to be looking for an outlet.
The woman was worried. She earnestly tried to persuade him to leave the gang and stop fighting and killing.
That only stoked Zhang Hu's fury.
"Even you think you're better than me, you bitch!"
Zhang Hu flew into a rage and beat her with his fists and feet, making her wail in pain.
"I'm the Black Wolf Gang's hall master now. I can have as many beautiful women as I want. You're nothing!"
With that, he snatched up the scissors on the table, looking as though he meant to kill his wife.
Seeing this, Lu Li was enraged. Zhang Hu had lost all traces of humanity.
With a bang, he shoved the door open and charged at Zhang Hu. In an instant, he was upon him, his punch roaring with thunder and shaking the room.
Zhang Hu's instincts screamed danger. Every hair on his body stood on end. The drunken haze vanished, and he snapped back to his senses, hurriedly crossing his arms in front of himself.
But Lu Li's punch, carrying overwhelming force, sent him flying backward and crashing hard to the ground.
"A martial artist—you're a martial artist!" Zhang Hu stared wide-eyed in utter disbelief.
"May I ask which brother from the Blood Wolf Gang you are? I was only following the gang leader's orders..."
Lu Li didn't wait for him to finish. He straddled him and pummeled him with a flurry of punches.
Zhang Hu screamed and thrashed violently, trying to turn over.
But he wasn't a martial artist. On top of that, Lu Li had been eating well lately, improving his physique. He was stronger and had more stamina now. Zhang Hu couldn't break free.
In only three breaths, Zhang Hu could no longer withstand Lu Li's iron fists. Blood streamed from his head, and he lay at death's door.
He stared into Lu Li's eyes, finding them strangely familiar, as though he'd seen them somewhere before. But for a moment, he couldn't remember where.
Lu Li had no idea what Zhang Hu was thinking. His fists clenched with a crackle as he gathered all his strength for a final blow to finish him off.
Just then, Zhang Hu somehow found a burst of strength. His eyes bulged, his throat bobbed, and he stared in utter disbelief.
He remembered! Those were Lu Li's eyes!
Those features were exactly the same!
How could this be?
Lu Li was nothing but a lowly peasant. How could he possibly be so powerful?
But a person's eyes didn't lie. This was Lu Li!
He opened his mouth wide and shouted, "You're..."
Lu Li raised an eyebrow, snorted, and punched him in the mouth, shattering all his teeth. Blood gushed from his lips.
His words were cut off at once.
His face was drenched in blood, his expression pitiful.
Finally, as Zhang Hu stared in terror, Lu Li punched him in the temple, killing him.
Afraid Zhang Hu wasn't dead, Lu Li twisted his neck as well. It snapped with a crack.
After making sure he was dead, Lu Li quickly searched his body and found a money pouch and the Black Mountain Ginseng.
Lu Li pocketed them, turned, and climbed over the wall.
It had all happened in barely ten breaths.
Zhang Hu's wife huddled in terror by the door. She had witnessed Zhang Hu being beaten to death and thought she would be next, so she squeezed her eyes shut.
But then she felt a gust of wind sweep past. When she opened her eyes again, Lu Li was gone.
"Son!" Zhang's mother supported Zhang's father as they staggered over. Seeing Zhang Hu's pitiful corpse, she burst into tears.
"W-who could have done this?"
His wife hesitated, then said in terror, "Zhang Hu said it might have been someone from the Blood Wolf Gang."
Lu Li returned home, latched the door, and took a bath. Once he was sure there was no smell of blood on him, he went to his bedroom to count his gains.
"Not bad, not bad. Thirty taels of silver."
"With the silver I already have, that makes seventy taels."
"That's enough to feed a family of three for seventy months."
Lu Li happily tucked the silver beneath his pillow.
Then he turned his attention to the Black Mountain Ginseng.
That was the real prize.
Before you continue