First Blood

Chapter 2: First Blood

Lin Maoxian checked the attributes of the other four men as well. Aside from their identical skills, the rest of their attributes varied slightly. It seemed that differences in their physical condition had led to differences in their stats.

As Lin Maoxian was checking the Yellow Turban Soldiers' attributes, the old man kneeling on the ground pleaded loudly, "Sirs, please spare this old man's life. I'm just an ordinary herb gatherer. Please let me live!"

Li San, the leader, gave a sinister grin. "An ordinary herb gatherer? You went somewhere you shouldn't have and learned something you shouldn't have. You've only got yourself to blame. When you get to the afterlife, don't hold it against us brothers." As he spoke, he raised the broadsword in his hand, ready to bring it down.

Seeing the burly man raise his blade to strike, the old man waved his hands and cried out, "Wait, wait, wait... Sirs, I'm just an herb gatherer. I didn't go anywhere I shouldn't have, and I didn't learn anything I shouldn't have. I truly know nothing! Please spare my life!"

"We can't tell you that. We're just following orders to send you 'down.' Whether you know anything or not has nothing to do with us." Ignoring the old man's cries, he raised his blade, ready to strike.

Listening to their conversation from his hiding place, Lin Maoxian couldn't help wondering if there might be something more to it. Not knowing how many Yellow Turban Soldiers were nearby, he immediately activated his A-rank skills, Copper Skin and Iron Bone. This time, however, the moment he used them, he received a notification from Storage Space:

Adventurer's base Strength and Stamina attributes have temporarily reached 25 points (actual total: 27). You may choose one of the following rewards for your temporary maximum attribute.

Reward 1: Strength +3.

Reward 2: +5 to all Strength checks.

Reward 3: Crushing damage caused by a difference in Strength attributes increases by 100% (a 10-point difference in Strength allows you to crush your opponent, dealing 100% bonus damage; a 20-point difference grants a 200% bonus, and so on).

"Choose Reward 1." After checking the Yellow Turban Soldiers' attributes, Lin Maoxian had seen that none of them had a single attribute above 10. Choosing Strength +3 would let him crush them for double damage, a 200% bonus.

Looking at his current Strength of 32, Lin Maoxian knew he didn't have much time. He skipped the pleasantries and charged straight into the group. Before they could react, he punched Li San, who was holding the broadsword.

Bang! A loud crash rang out. The men saw a figure flash in front of Li San and punch him in the chest, sending him flying. He hit the ground hard, and didn't even make a sound. He was clearly dead on the spot.

After knocking Li San away, Lin Maoxian received a notification from Storage Space:

Adventurer dealt crushing damage to Yellow Turban Soldier Li San. Target lost (32-8)*3*2==144 health. Yellow Turban Soldier Li San has died.

Adventurer killed a target in a one-on-one battle. Condition met: Adventurer completed the achievement "First Blood."

Adventurer received the Black Iron title "First Blood." Title effect: Strength +2 (can be added to any damage or check).

Adventurer completed the achievement "First Blood" and received 2 Contribution Points. You must accumulate 10 achievements to receive Contribution Points again.

Looking at the notifications from Storage Space, Lin Maoxian thought that the title had been easy to earn. No wonder its effect was unimpressive—it only gave him Strength +2. The 2 Contribution Points were an unexpected bonus, though. As for accumulating 10 achievements to earn more, he had no idea when that would happen.

He immediately equipped the title "First Blood." Looking at the 2-point increase to his Strength, Lin Maoxian then turned his attention back to the damage notification. The 8 points must have come from Li San's equipment bonus to his defense, yet Lin Maoxian had still killed him with one punch. Seeing how much damage crushing attacks dealt against opponents with lower attributes, he knew his plan to distribute his points evenly hadn't been wrong. He just needed to max out a few attributes before investing in the others from now on.

Taking advantage of the others' shock at the sudden turn of events, Lin Maoxian punched two more of them, one each.

Bang! Bang! Two loud crashes sounded, and the men who fell to the ground didn't move again. But the noise startled the last two awake. They each shouted and turned to flee toward the woods.

Lin Maoxian had no intention of letting them escape. He took off after them, and with their Agility far below his, he caught up in just a few steps.

Without saying a word, Lin Maoxian gave each of them a punch, finishing them off. Once Storage Space informed him that he had killed five men, he immediately stopped using his skills. In that brief stretch of time, he had already used 40 points of energy. Without counting any recovery, that was a quarter of his total. It would be disastrous if something unexpected happened later and he hadn't stopped.

Lin Maoxian turned back to the old man. Noticing a white glow floating above Li San's corpse nearby, he immediately remembered to use Storage Space's built-in pickup function, which had a range of one meter. He sent the item into Storage Space, then said to the old man, "It's all right now. Get up."

The old man had been stunned by the sudden turn of events. When Lin Maoxian's voice brought him back to his senses, he got to his feet and thanked him. "Thank you for saving my life, benefactor. If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be dead by now."

Putting on an air of righteous heroism, Lin Maoxian said, "Helping those in need is our duty. There's no need to thank me."

Looking at his benefactor's righteous expression, the old man sighed in admiration. "It's thanks to people like you, benefactor, that I escaped with my life!"

"This isn't the time for that. Where are you headed, old man? Let me escort you." Lin Maoxian didn't want to linger there. Who knew whether a large group of Yellow Turban Soldiers might show up? If they did, getting himself killed along with them would hardly be worth it.

"My surname is Sun. Just call me Old Man Sun, benefactor. I'm a physician at a clinic in Pingyang County. I came out to gather herbs, and this happened. Now I want to get back to Pingyang County as soon as possible." Old Man Sun explained who he was and said he wanted to return to Pingyang County.

"That's a coincidence. I'm headed to Pingyang County too, so we're going the same way, Old Man Sun. All the more reason for me to escort you. It's still dangerous here. More Yellow Turban Soldiers could show up at any moment. Let's get going." As he spoke, Lin Maoxian stepped forward to help Old Man Sun up.

Hearing that more Yellow Turban Soldiers might arrive, Old Man Sun quickly agreed. "That's right, we need to leave at once. It'll be bad if more bandits show up."

Supporting Old Man Sun, Lin Maoxian hurried away from the area without lingering.

After walking for a while, Lin Maoxian asked Old Man Sun, "Could you tell me how those Yellow Turban Soldiers ended up surrounding you?"

"Ah!" Old Man Sun sighed before continuing. "There's nothing I can't tell you. I'm a physician in Pingyang County. My son is ill and urgently needs a certain medicinal herb, which only grows on Dilong Mountain, not far from Pingyang County. With Yellow Turban Soldiers gathered outside the city, no other herb gatherers dared to go out. I had no choice but to go to Dilong Mountain myself. Thankfully, I found the herb I needed. But then, out of nowhere, those five men appeared and said I'd learned something I shouldn't have, and that they had to kill me. I found an opening and escaped, but I ran out of strength and they caught up with me before I got far. You know what happened after that, benefactor."

After hearing Old Man Sun's story, Lin Maoxian couldn't help asking, "Is Dilong Mountain close to where that happened?"

"In answer to you, benefactor, Dilong Mountain is about two li to the left of where it happened."

Lin Maoxian thought it over. Dilong Mountain was only about a kilometer from where the incident had taken place. But if the Yellow Turban Soldiers were gathered outside the city, why were there soldiers on Dilong Mountain? Was it an important place? Did the Yellow Turban Soldiers want to hide the fact that troops were gathered there, so they were even willing to kill an old herb gatherer to keep it secret? If he got the chance, he'd have to take a good look around.

Lin Maoxian asked Old Man Sun some more about the Yellow Turban Soldiers outside the city and the troops inside. But Old Man Sun didn't know much. Lately, he'd been so preoccupied with his son's illness that he hadn't paid attention to anything else. He'd only heard from someone who came to buy medicine that the Yellow Turban Soldiers were going to attack the city.

Seeing that he couldn't learn anything more from Old Man Sun, Lin Maoxian said no more. Supporting the old man, he hurried toward Pingyang County.

The Yellow Turban Soldiers were currently gathered twenty li away, so they encountered no trouble on their way to Pingyang City.

"Who goes there? Halt at once, or you'll be killed!" Lin Maoxian and Old Man Sun had barely reached the area below the city walls when a soldier's voice rang out from atop them.

Hearing the voice, Old Man Sun hurriedly shouted back, "It's me, Old Man Sun! I went out to gather herbs this morning. We've met before!"

The soldiers on the wall took a look and saw that it really was Old Man Sun, who had gone out to gather herbs first thing that morning. But a young man they didn't recognize was with him. "It is Old Man Sun, all right. Who's the fellow beside you? The Yellow Turban bandits are about to attack the city. No strangers are allowed inside, in case the enemy has an accomplice within."

Hearing the soldier, Lin Maoxian called up, "Officer, I came after seeing the imperial court's recruitment notice. I want to join the army and serve the court."

"So you're here to join the army. Fine. The two of you can sit in the basket, and we'll haul you up." As the soldier spoke, he lowered a large basket.