I harbor no ill will toward others, yet others harbor ill intent toward me

Zhao Feng felt a chill shoot up from his tailbone, his scalp tingling. At the critical moment, he rolled on the ground toward the base of the wall. Fortunately, the man in black was slashing wildly and did not linger, fleeing in a panic.

Soon after, five or six burly men in green rushed out of the alley, also brandishing steel blades and slashing indiscriminately to drive away the crowd.

The two groups gradually moved further away. Before long, the sounds of clashing blades and screams echoed from the distance, and finally, silence returned.

Zhao Feng hid at the base of the wall, cold sweat covering his forehead. If he hadn't dodged quickly just now, he would have suffered an undeserved disaster.

"The Black Tiger Gang and the Three Harmonies Gang are clashing again. When will this ever end?"

"Indeed, fighting over territory every single day."

"What's the difference between one gang and another? Aren't they all just scourges to us common folk?"

Passersby, long since accustomed to such sights, shook their heads and sighed.

"The Black Tiger Gang?" Zhao Feng thought to himself. Wasn't Huang Biao the one who claimed to have joined the Black Tiger Gang?

He composed himself before heading to the market to sell his goods. It wasn't until the afternoon that he managed to sell several large chunks of roe deer meat, the intact roe deer hide, rabbit skins, and the roe deer antlers for a total of about two taels of silver—a massive sum, one could say.

It was mainly because the pair of intact male roe deer antlers could be used as medicinal material and were quite valuable. A buyer from a medical clinic had purchased them; otherwise, he wouldn't have sold them for so much.

With this, he now had over four taels of silver. As the market was about to close, Zhao Feng saw a vendor selling roasted chicken at a discount, so he spent forty coins to buy one, wrapped it in oil paper, and tucked it into his tunic.

When he reached the county gate, Old Ding and the others were already waiting there. Seeing him arrive, they hitched the cart and set off back to the village.

"Ah Feng, I asked around for you. The Huo Family Martial Arts School charges ten taels of silver for three months of tuition, and they even include one meal a day," Old Ding said.

"But let me warn you, learning martial arts is different from learning a trade. That money is like water splashed on the ground; if you don't succeed, you won't get it back."

"That sounds perfect." Zhao Feng was delighted.

Ten taels of silver including a meal was exactly what Zhao Feng wanted. As for whether he could succeed, he wasn't worried; as long as he could get in and learn the martial arts techniques, he would surely make progress with the help of his panel.

Sitting on Old Ding's swaying donkey cart, Zhao Feng pondered everything that had happened in the county. He thought about how he had nearly been killed by a random slash from a Black Tiger Gang member, as well as the veiled threat from Huang Biao.

"This world is entirely governed by the law of the jungle; human life is as cheap as grass! I harbor no ill will toward others, yet others harbor ill intent toward me! Even when I have done nothing. If I am weak, I am merely a fish on someone else's chopping block. Since that is the case, I might as well strike first." A plan quietly formed in Zhao Feng's mind.

It was sunset by the time he returned home.

"Second Uncle!" Zhao Bao'er and Zhao Zihuai had been waiting at the door and rushed out to greet him the moment they saw him return. Their two bright, dark eyes stared longingly at his chest.

Before leaving this morning, their Second Uncle had promised to bring them something delicious.

"You two little gluttons, you've been waiting impatiently, haven't you?" Zhao Feng used his hand to give the two little ones' noses a sharp flick.

He took out the oil-paper parcel from his tunic. Before he even opened it, the two little ones were drooling from the intoxicating aroma.

Zhao Feng opened the parcel. "Roasted chicken!"

"Second Uncle brought back roasted chicken!" The two little ones cheered happily, reaching out to grab it.

"Don't grab, one leg each." Zhao Feng gave them each a chicken leg, and the two little ones scurried off to the side to devour them.

"Hey, don't choke!" Zhao Feng laughed. He saw his parents and sister-in-law coming out to meet him.

"Why did you buy roasted chicken? Uncle, don't spoil them too much." Tian Cuihua complained, though she was secretly pleased.

Zhao Feng had been very good to her two children lately, prioritizing the meat for the little ones, which had greatly improved her opinion of him; she no longer resented him for stealing her hairpin.

"Sister-in-law, I couldn't redeem your hairpin this time, but I will definitely get it back once I have the money," Zhao Feng said.

In the evening, everyone divided the remaining meat from the roasted chicken and boiled the roe deer offal into porridge, enjoying a hearty meal.

Although no one in the family said anything, there was hope and a faint sense of warmth in their eyes.

Zhao Feng lowered his head and ate his meal mouthful by mouthful, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes. There were some matters that needed to be settled.

At the end of December, the sky was dark and the north wind blew fiercely, signaling that a heavy snow was about to arrive.

That night, in a house in Little West Village, Greenhouse Township, the cold wind howled outside, but the stove inside burned brightly, warming a pot of inferior yellow wine.

The table was cluttered with wine, meat, and thick flatbreads. Six burly men were eating and drinking heartily. The leader was none other than Huang Biao.

With the New Year approaching, Huang Biao, as a gang leader specializing in debt collection, was living even more comfortably during this year of famine. Yet, his comfort was nourished by the blood and tears of how many poor people?

"Big Brother, when are we going to the Black Tiger Gang headquarters in the county? Haven't we already joined the gang?" one of the men asked.

"We'll go after the New Year. Once we pay our respects at the incense hall and officially join, it won't just be our Greenhouse Township—the entire town will be ours," Huang Biao said triumphantly. During this time, he had been using the Black Tiger Gang's name to bully others and commit evil deeds in the township, effectively becoming the leader of the local thugs. Once he officially joined the Black Tiger Gang, he would have a proper backer. How could the thugs from other townships compete with him then?

Previously, they had used a mix of threats and deception to make many peasants borrow money from Master Li, and they had taken a significant cut through violent debt collection. But it wasn't enough! Thinking of Zhao Feng's family, he narrowed his eyes.

"Damn it! That useless Zhao fellow has grown some backbone; he didn't take the bait! He even learned to play the fool. It seems he won't learn without a lesson." Thinking of Wang Jinlian's tearful complaints to him, Huang Biao bared his teeth and muttered to himself.

"In a couple of days, I'll find a chance to ambush him and give his family a taste of reality. If they still don't agree, I'll break one of his hands. His old man loves this son the most; once I show up at their door again, I'm sure he'll listen obediently." Huang Biao calculated in his heart, his face revealing a hint of cruelty.

He had to hurry and squeeze more oil out of these peasants. Once he joined the gang after the New Year, having money on him would give him more confidence.

After eating and drinking their fill, the men dispersed.

Huang Biao, burping and wearing a felt hat, drunkenly headed toward the neighboring Cypress Village to visit his mistress, Widow Hu.

By this time, goose-feather snowflakes were already falling in the night sky. The world began to turn white, bit by bit.

In the woods along the only dirt road leading to Cypress Village, Zhao Feng crouched silently. In the darkness, he was like a clump of withered leaves, motionless, letting the heavy snow gradually cover his entire body.

Not long after, a staggering figure appeared on the dirt road in the distance—it was Huang Biao. He walked unsteadily, nearly falling several times.

"The opportunity is here!" Zhao Feng quietly exhaled a breath of stale air.

For the past few days, he had been lurking outside the hideout of Huang Biao and his men every night, observing in secret. Huang Biao's parents were long dead, and he usually hung out with his subordinates, living together, but sometimes he would spend the night at his mistress's house in the neighboring Cypress Village.

Tonight, it looked like he was going to his mistress's house again, and he was alone and drunk. There were no other passersby on this road at this hour; it was a heaven-sent opportunity.

Zhao Feng quietly took down the arrow he had been sharpening for several days. With a sharp blade in his possession, his intent to kill surged!

One hundred paces!

"Ninety paces!"

"Eighty paces!"

"..."

He counted silently in his heart. At thirty paces, given the target's slow, drunken gait, he would basically never miss! But he needed to get closer to ensure a one-shot kill without making any noise.

The target drew closer and closer. Hiding in the small grove, Zhao Feng could already hear the target's increasingly heavy breathing.

Huang Biao's drunken profile became clearer and clearer.