A Butcher from the Countryside

Great Qian, Ding County.

"Two pounds of meat, half fat and half lean. Mince it fine."

"Little Qin, the Wang family is wealthy. Why not make a living with them, with those butchering skills of yours?"

"You won't? Suit yourself. If you didn't have those skills, I wouldn't have come looking for you."

The old man left the alley, leaning on his cane and sputtering with indignation.

Qin An picked up a blackened rag and wiped the grease from his hands. A line of black text appeared before his eyes.

[Butcher lv.2 (200/200): Livestock you butcher becomes slightly more delicious.]

[Advancement requirement: Butcher one Qi Concealment Realm Demon.]

[Talent: None.]

[Gain a talent every three levels.]

Qin An looked at the words and rubbed his brow, troubled.

"Demons? Where am I supposed to find a demon?"

Half a month ago, Qin An had struck it lucky: he had crossed over to Ding County, become a butcher, and gained a Golden Finger.

The Golden Finger was a little game he had played in his previous life, called Strongest Life Profession.

As the name suggested, it gave him a Life Skill he could hone to gain proficiency, awakening a talent every three levels.

To advance past level one, he had needed to butcher twenty pigs.

But after maxing out level two, he had to butcher a Qi Concealment Realm Demon.

Great Qian Kingdom was far from peaceful.

Demons stirred up trouble, False Gods rose on every side, and cultivators moved among them.

Not long ago, a Pig Demon had wreaked havoc in a village near Ding County.

It had hidden in a pigpen and eaten half the village. Word of it had spread like wildfire.

As soon as Qin An heard, he abandoned any thought of hunting down a Qi Concealment Realm Demon.

Ding County was dangerous, and its people were weak.

His maxed-out level-two Butcher Profession was hardly powerful. Apart from making the meat he butchered tastier, it offered no other benefits.

Asking him to butcher a demon was nothing but a pipe dream.

That was why his Butcher Profession had been stuck at maxed-out level two for so long.

A few pounds of meat lay on the stall.

Qin An had sold almost the whole half-pig. It was time to pack up.

Thanks to his Butcher Profession, he had more than enough to eat in Ding County.

As he tidied his stall, Qin An spotted someone peering around it.

The newcomer looked to be in his thirties. He wore a thin mustache, and his darting eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

"The usual. I'll take what's left."

Chen Chun lined up a dozen or so copper coins on Qin An's stall and pointed at the remaining two pounds of pork.

Qin An tossed him a lotus leaf without looking up. "Wrap it yourself."

Chen Chun chuckled as he caught the leaf, his mustache twitching. "Old Qin, when you die, I'll make you a custom coffin. Free of charge."

Qin An's mouth twitched. "I'm in the prime of my life. I'm not dying anytime soon."

The man owned the Coffin Shop next door and was shrewd to the bone. He always came by as Qin An was closing to buy whatever meat remained.

He didn't care whether it was a good cut or a bad one. He came to pick up a bargain.

Qin An didn't mind. If the meat wasn't going to sell otherwise, he might as well make a little money from it.

These days, every coin had to be counted, especially in Ding County.

Chen Chun finished wrapping the meat, glanced around, and leaned close to Qin An. "Have you heard?"

Qin An had finished packing up. "Heard what?"

Chen Chun lowered his voice, his eyes darting. "A Pig Demon was causing trouble. The County Magistrate sent constables to slay it. They killed one, but some constables died too. Last night, they came to me for a few coffins to bury them in."

Qin An paused. "What does that have to do with me?"

He had heard about the Pig Demon killing people some time ago.

With a Pig Demon wreaking havoc, it made sense for the County Yamen to send people to slay it.

Chen Chun liked to talk, but he wouldn't dare spread a story like this without reason.

Qin An was certain there was more to it.

"The constables haven't come to you yet?" Chen Chun asked in surprise.

Now Qin An was even more puzzled. "Why would they come to me?"

Chen Chun looked away and pinched the pork wrapped in the lotus leaf. "I don't know. They're looking for butchers, that's all."

Qin An rubbed his chin. Something about this felt strange.

As they spoke, footsteps sounded nearby.

Qin An turned and saw two constables approaching the stall.

Chen Chun's mustache quivered. "Don't tell them you heard it from me," he said hurriedly.

Qin An watched Chen Chun dart into his shop, at a loss for words.

Remembering what Chen Chun had just said, he guessed the constables had come for him.

Sure enough, the two stopped in front of Qin An.

The constable on the left spoke.

"Bring the tools you work with and come with us."

His tone was stiff and commanding.

A discussion?

There was no such thing in Ding County.

The constables here had always considered themselves a cut above everyone else. Calling Qin An by name would have been a courtesy.

Qin An picked up the Sharp Knife beside him. "This is my only knife."

He didn't ask whether he had a choice. Once constables came to his door, there was only one outcome.

Besides, hearing that a Pig Demon needed butchering had reminded him of his Golden Finger.

To raise his Butcher Profession to level three and gain a new talent, he first had to butcher a Qi Concealment Realm Demon.

Qin An didn't know what the Qi Concealment Realm was, but a Pig Demon was certainly a demon.

It might be worth a try.

At level three, his Butcher Profession would grant him a talent. Qin An wanted to know what it would be.

The constable froze for a moment, then recovered and patted the saber at his waist. "Come with us."

The other butchers they had approached earlier had dragged their feet and suffered for it.

The constables hadn't expected Qin An to cooperate so readily. They never got to use the methods they had prepared.

There wasn't much at the stall. Qin An soon finished packing, took his Sharp Knife, and followed them toward the Yamen.

The County Yamen.

Ding County was only a small county town.

The County Yamen wasn't large, but no one dared pass by it casually.

Two constables stood guard at the entrance. When they saw Qin An arrive with the others, they let them in without a question.

This was Qin An's first time entering the Yamen since crossing over.

As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a crowd of fellow butchers standing in the courtyard.

Their eyes darted uneasily. They stood in a circle, exchanging a few words now and then.

At the front stood a middle-aged man dressed quite differently from the rest.

He wore a Constable Captain's Uniform. His face was square, and a scar ran from between his brows to his chin, giving him a fearsome look.

Captain Zheng rested a hand on the saber at his waist. As he listened to the butchers talk, his fingers tapped steadily against the hilt.

Qin An walked farther into the courtyard and heard what they were saying.

"Can't cut it. The pork's too tough."

"Try finding the grain and cutting along it."

"Can't cut it even along the grain."

Qin An frowned in confusion.

He hadn't been in Great Qian long, but his level-two Butcher Profession had made him skilled at this work.

He had never heard of pork that couldn't be cut. Curiosity stirred in him.

A constable stepped forward and cupped his fists. "Captain Zheng, we've brought him."

The surrounding butchers instinctively parted to make way.

Captain Zheng turned to Qin An, his brows tightly knit. "Go take a look."

An open space lay ahead. In it rested the carcass of a wild boar.

The carcass was black all over, its coarse bristles jutting out like Steel Spines. It was a chilling sight.

Even lying down, it stood half as tall as a person, with blood-red eyes. A fierce tiger from the mountains would have trembled at the sight of it.

Qin An nodded and stepped up to the carcass, Sharp Knife in hand.

His fellow butchers watched him curiously. So did Captain Zheng.

The other butchers had brought all sorts of knives.

Some had bone cleavers; others had boning knives.

Qin An alone had brought only a Sharp Knife, which seemed rather odd.

Captain Zheng thought Qin An seemed to be doing things his own way, but said nothing.

After the County Magistrate sent men to surround and kill the Pig Demon, he had ordered Captain Zheng to find professional butchers to dress its carcass.

If all they needed was a carcass butchered, Captain Zheng's men could have done it. Yet the County Magistrate insisted that butchers do the work and forbade the constables from interfering.

Captain Zheng didn't know why. Judging by the other butchers, though, the task seemed impossible.

Qin An looked young and hadn't even brought all his tools.

Captain Zheng held out little hope.

Standing before the Wild Boar Demon's carcass, Qin An felt a wave of baleful Qi wash over him.

Even the most vicious bandits probably couldn't match a tenth of this Pig Demon's menace.

So this is a Demon.

Qin An was glad he hadn't acted on a sudden impulse and gone looking for Demons with a knife in hand.

From the look of it, if this carcass could move, he probably couldn't beat it.

"Let's give it a try."

Qin An raised his Sharp Knife and set it against the Pig Demon's neck.

The next moment, his gaze sharpened with concentration.

The Pig Demon's baleful Qi gradually faded from his sight. All he could see was how to take the carcass apart.

The Sharp Knife descended. A piece of pork carrying that baleful Qi came free and fell to the ground.

The butchers' eyes widened. Some even rubbed them in disbelief.

Captain Zheng had nearly given up hope, but the sight of that piece of pork hitting the ground brought him to his feet.

"That young butcher can actually cut up the Pig Demon."

Several constables grew excited, but Captain Zheng held them back.

Seeing how focused Qin An was, Captain Zheng knew better than to interrupt him.

If an interruption broke Qin An's concentration and he couldn't continue, they might never find anyone else who could complete the task.

The courtyard fell quiet.

Qin An remained focused. With each rise and fall of his knife, another piece of pork separated from the carcass.

The heart of butchering was knowing the animal inside out and placing every cut with unerring precision.

The others couldn't carve up this Pig Demon because their Arts fell short.

Qin An's Arts were good enough.

He felt himself growing ever more proficient in the Arts of butchering.

Though he held only an ordinary iron knife, every cut landed with perfect precision on the weakest point of the Pig Demon's carcass.

After the final cut, Qin An put away his Sharp Knife.

A blood-red Flesh Orb floated in midair, the vessels on its surface faintly pulsing.

He had never seen anything like it before and had no idea what the blood-red orb was.

But that wasn't what mattered most. The text before his eyes had changed.

[Butcher lv.3 (0/400): Livestock you butcher becomes slightly more delicious.]

[Talent: Qi Concealment Realm Blade Mastery (You learn Qi Concealment Realm Blade Techniques faster.)]