Killing for Blood

The sun sank westward, the lingering glow red as blood.

Song Wen walked down the street, somewhat disheartened.

As he walked, two gorgeously dressed young women in thin clothing suddenly blocked his path.

"Sir, come in and have some fun."

The two women linked arms with Song Wen from either side, their half-hidden, bashful breasts rubbing against his arms.

The friction stoked Song Wen's lust. Looking up, he saw a three-story building before him. More than a dozen scantily clad young women stood on its balconies, striking seductive poses at passersby and drawing countless sidelong glances.

Song Wen realized that he had wandered into a brothel without noticing.

His heart immediately stirred. He felt that he needed somewhere to vent his stifled frustration, and the brothel before him seemed just right.

Just as he was about to follow the two women inside and sample the flavor of an ancient brothel, a sharp soreness suddenly rose from his waist.

He abruptly came to his senses. He was terribly weak right now; even if he entered the brothel, he would probably be powerless to do anything but stare and sigh in longing.

Song Wen suddenly exerted himself and broke free from the two women's hold, hurriedly explaining, "Next time, next time."

Watching Song Wen flee in panic, one of the women gave a disdainful snort. "Hmph, all looks and no use. So young, yet already weak as can be. What a waste of such a handsome face."

After leaving the brothel, Song Wen noticed the setting sun and realized it was time to return.

Since the medical halls in the city could not cure his poison, he could only return to the Heavenly Baleful Gang. There might still be a sliver of hope there.

He worried that after night fell, Salt City's criminal underworld would emerge. If he kept wandering through the city, he might encounter danger.

He was currently in Salt City's northern district, while the Heavenly Baleful Gang was in the southern district. To return, he would have to cross the entire city.

Since successfully drawing qi into his body, Song Wen's thinking abilities had greatly improved. He silently considered Salt City's approximate layout and the route he had taken today. Before long, the shortest route back emerged in his mind.

During the day, Song Wen had traveled only along the main roads. Now, in order to return to the Heavenly Baleful Gang as quickly as possible, he could not avoid cutting through some narrow alleys.

By the time darkness had fallen and everything had become shadowy and indistinct, Song Wen was already close to the Heavenly Baleful Gang's compound. He only needed to pass through the alley ahead and reach the main road beyond it, and he would soon arrive at the Heavenly Baleful Gang.

The alley before him was rarely frequented. The open sewer beside it periodically released waves of foul stench.

When he had gone halfway through, Song Wen suddenly saw two figures ahead, one tall and one short.

They must be father and son!

The light was too poor for him to make out their faces, so Song Wen gave it no further thought and continued forward.

After taking the Blood Qi Pill, his cultivation had advanced to the late stage of the first layer. Though he had never cultivated any combat techniques or spells and could not wield his true strength, ordinary people were still no match for him with spiritual power alone.

When they were three zhang apart, Song Wen gradually made out their general appearances. It was a burly man with a child of around ten.

The burly man's muscles were so developed that they stretched his robe taut and bulging.

Could he be one of those martial artists rumored to cultivate external hard arts?

Having spent more than two months in this world, Song Wen had gained a preliminary understanding of its martial strength.

He had once seen external-training experts of the Heavenly Baleful Gang casually lift boulders weighing several hundred jin, then smash stones to pieces with a single punch.

Yet it was the smaller child who made Song Wen's vigilance surge.

The child was none other than the little beggar who had fought Song Wen over steamed buns and been injured by Song Wen's kick.

At this moment, the little beggar across from him also recognized Song Wen. He suddenly grabbed the burly man and said with hatred filling his voice, "Brother Biao, this is the brat who injured me last time and made me stay in bed for over a month."

Brother Biao flew into a rage at once. He controlled twelve little beggars in total, and his daily expenses all depended on what those beggars brought in.

The boy beside him was the most skilled beggar under his control and his assistant in managing the other little beggars. That was also why the boy still had all four limbs intact.

To arouse pity and beg for more copper coins, Brother Biao had turned all the other little beggars into cripples of one kind or another.

During the time the boy had been recovering, Brother Biao's income had plummeted. As a result, he had not had any silver to buy Six-Flavor Rehmannia Pills recently.

The sister-in-law he had been fooling around with had begun suspecting that he had found a new mistress outside, and she had been giving him the cold shoulder.

In recent days, Brother Biao had also discovered that his sister-in-law had often been exchanging flirtatious looks with Old Wang next door.

Brother Biao felt that both he and his elder brother had green hats growing atop their heads. Him fooling around with his sister-in-law was merely keeping the good water from flowing into outsiders' fields; even if the meat rotted, it would still rot in the pot.

After all, his elder brother was away from home year-round. It was only natural for him to look after his sister-in-law.

Even if she became pregnant with his child, it would still be his family's bloodline.

But if his sister-in-law hooked up with Old Wang, it would mean their family's cabbage had been eaten by another family's pig. If she got pregnant with Old Wang's child, then his elder brother would truly become a great fool raising someone else's child.

This was utterly intolerable.

The source of it all was the brat before him.

Brother Biao's rage instantly soared as he glared fiercely at Song Wen. "Brat, you dared lay hands on someone belonging to your Lord Biao? I think you're tired of living."

Before his words had even faded, Brother Biao clenched his casserole-sized fist and smashed it down at Song Wen's head.

Faced with Brother Biao's sudden attack, Song Wen was initially startled. But he reacted in an instant. Though Brother Biao looked fierce, he carried no imposing aura whatsoever. His punch had no form or method, relying entirely on brute strength.

Still, Brother Biao's strength was terrifying. If that punch landed solidly, Song Wen would surely end up with a bloodied head and spinning vision.

Song Wen lowered his body and nimbly dodged Brother Biao's fist.

At the same time, his right hand reached into his boot and drew the dagger he had obtained from the tool shed in the medicinal garden.

Song Wen pushed off with his toes and lunged forward two steps, crashing straight into Brother Biao's chest.

The dagger in his hand thrust forward with the motion, sinking directly into Brother Biao's chest without the slightest deviation.

Song Wen's entire sequence of murderous movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest hesitation. By the time the dagger pierced his heart, Brother Biao, the victim, had not even reacted.

Scalding blood flowed down the dagger, and with it drained Brother Biao's strength and courage.

Brother Biao's eyes flew wide open, his face filled with disbelief and terror. The sky was dim, and he had not even seen how Song Wen struck.

"You..."

Brother Biao wanted to say something, but found that he could not utter a single word.

In stark contrast to Brother Biao's fear at death's door, Song Wen's eyes gleamed with vigor. He looked exactly like a psychopath killing someone, his twisted heart receiving immense satisfaction.

Of course, Song Wen was no psychopath.

The instant he stabbed the dagger into Brother Biao's body, he felt a stream of heat travel through the dagger and into his own body.

The depleted blood qi caused by taking the Blood Qi Pill was rapidly replenished, and his somewhat weak kidneys instantly brimmed with vitality.

Song Wen felt every cell in his body cheering and leaping. Even his mind became intensely exhilarated.

The feeling was exquisite—light as if ascending to immortality, supremely comfortable, intoxicating, and enough to make one forget oneself.

As for Brother Biao, his robust body rapidly shriveled and withered.

The water that made up sixty to seventy percent of the human body rapidly evaporated in the span of only a few breaths.

In the blink of an eye, Brother Biao's body had become a dried corpse.

Brother Biao's robe became exceedingly ill-fitting, hanging loosely and limp over the corpse.