Taking Control of One's Own Fate

There were no shortage of fierce beasts in the mountains, most of them emerging at night to hunt for food.

Wild boars, jackals, vultures, even unknown demon beasts that occasionally wandered out from the depths of the mountain range.

If these corpses were left here, the scent of blood would soon draw them over, and before long, the bodies would be gnawed clean.

By then, even the Heavenly King himself would not be able to piece together a complete skeleton.

After turning away, Feng Chen left the back mountain.

But he did not head straight home. Instead, he took a winding path into Green Mountain Village.

Having killed Liu Heigou and the other two, it was the perfect time to see whether their homes held anything valuable.

He was already thoroughly familiar with this sort of thing!

From Liu Dagang to Tiger Liu, he had never forgotten to loot them after dealing with them.

Naturally, Feng Chen knew where Liu Heigou and the other two lived.

In his merged memories, the three households stood on the western side of Green Mountain Village, in the most remote part of the village. Several dilapidated mud-brick houses leaned crookedly against one another, separated from the other homes by quite a distance.

Liu Heigou had a house of his own, with a wife and two children. The brothers Liu Dagou and Liu Xiaogou lived next door in another house, each with their own family as well.

They normally bullied men and oppressed women. Though they had not skimmed as much profit as Liu Dagang, they should have saved up some silver over the years.

Feng Chen reached the western side of the village and approached Liu Heigou's house along the shadows at the base of the wall.

A dim oil lamp still glowed behind the window. Several holes had already torn through the paper pasted over the wooden lattice, and the light spilling through cast irregular patches of warm yellow across the courtyard.

The silhouette of a woman swayed across the window paper. She was probably Liu Heigou's wife, waiting for her husband to return.

The windows of Liu Dagou and Liu Xiaogou's home next door were lit as well, and the faint sounds of children crying could be heard.

Standing in the shadow at the corner of the wall, Feng Chen's expression turned cold.

To cut the grass, one had to pull up the roots, or the spring wind would bring it back to life.

Liu Heigou was dead. His wife and children might pose no threat now, but what about later?

Liu Teng would return tomorrow. If those surviving family members spoke of what happened tonight, Liu Teng would not need much effort to trace it back to him.

It was not that Feng Chen feared Liu Teng coming after him, but he did not want any extra trouble.

Feng Chen put on a mask, covering his face tightly and leaving only a pair of icy eyes exposed.

He climbed over the wall, landed lightly in the courtyard, and pushed open the door.

Hearing the footsteps, the woman inside thought her husband had returned. She came to greet him at the door, but before she could utter a word, she never had the chance to speak again.

A moment later, the oil lamp inside was blown out, and everything returned to silence.

Feng Chen began searching beneath the extinguished lamp.

He moved quickly, turning over chests and boxes. Beneath the bed, in an old wooden case, he found twenty taels of loose silver, along with some copper coins.

He then climbed into Liu Dagou and Liu Xiaosan's homes. The oil lamps in both houses were lit when he entered, and extinguished when he left.

He found ten taels of silver in Liu Dagou's home, and another ten taels in Liu Xiaosan's.

The three households yielded thirty taels of silver in total. Added to the fifty copper coins he had taken from the three men earlier, it was a fairly decent haul.

This silver was likely all the savings the three men had accumulated over the years by mooching off Liu Dagang. Now, every last bit of it had fallen into Feng Chen's hands.

After pocketing the thirty taels of silver, Feng Chen quickly left the courtyards and returned home beneath the moonlight.

When he pushed open the courtyard gate, the oil lamp in the main room was still lit.

Lin Qing'er sat on a chair beside the table, still holding that firewood-chopping knife in her arms. She had turned up the wick, making the flame much brighter than usual.

Her eyes stared fixedly toward the door, her face taut with tension. Only when she saw Feng Chen enter did her little face relax, and she let out a long breath.

She rose and hurried over to him. "Husband, did you run into anything?"

Feng Chen shook his head and patted her shoulder. "It's fine. Everything has settled down."

"Husband, you've worked hard."

Lin Qing'er stood on tiptoe and wrapped both arms around Feng Chen's waist. Her small body pressed against his chest, trembling faintly all over.

Feng Chen knew that everything which had happened today had been rather overwhelming for Lin Qing'er.

Ever since she had been bought and brought here, she had lived in poverty, but she had never personally witnessed anyone being killed.

Three people had died at once tonight, right in front of her. Anyone would need time to recover from that.

After embracing for a while, Feng Chen took Lin Qing'er to wash up.

He washed the mud and grass fragments from her hands, then heated water and wiped her face.

Once they had cleaned up, they lay down. Feng Chen did not make her continue practicing the Tiger Fist Stance. Instead, he sat beside the bed and gently patted her back with one hand to soothe her.

Lin Qing'er curled up on her side beside him. Her eyes slowly closed, her breathing gradually evened out, and at last she fell into a deep sleep.

Once she was sound asleep, Feng Chen rose quietly, carrying the oil lamp into the other room.

The flame stood steady in the lamp, and its dim yellow glow cast his solitary shadow upon the wall.

He stood in the room for a moment. Listening to the occasional cries of night birds outside the window, that heavy feeling rose in his heart once more.

What had happened today filled him with even greater urgency.

He had wiped out Liu Heigou and the other two with a casual wave of his hand, but this was only the beginning.

Liu Teng would return tomorrow.

Liu Teng was a disciple of the martial hall, a genuine Martial Artist. His realm was unknown, as was his strength, but he was certainly far stronger than someone like his brother, Tiger Liu.

If his own strength had not been sufficient, Liu Heigou and the other two alone could have thrown his peaceful life back into turmoil tonight.

Only greater strength would allow him to take control of his own fate.

He gripped the short blade in his hand again.

For now, he had no qi-blood medicinal herbs. Even if he cultivated the Giant Strength Art, he could not rapidly raise his realm.

But he could practice the Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber. Sharpening the martial skills already in his hands into something keener was also a good choice.

Swish!

Swish!

He slashed out one stroke after another. The blade light flickered beneath the oil lamp, and the sound of it slicing through the air was especially clear in the silent night.

His movements were smooth and focused. His footwork shifted continuously in tandem with his saber forms, and every stroke carried an increasingly fierce killing intent.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn,

Ding dong, Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber proficiency increased by one.

His saber became a fraction faster.

An hour later,

Ding dong, Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber proficiency increased by one.

Ding dong!

It has been detected that the host is diligently practicing the Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber. Destiny Talent A Thousand Miles a Day has activated.

The flickering saber light became a surging torrent. The twelve saber forms were tempered over and over again, each transition growing tighter, each air-rending sound deeper and more forceful.

Within the cramped room, his figure twisted, leaped, and shifted, tracing smooth arcs between the four walls.

In the blink of an eye, it was midnight.

The moon emerged from behind the clouds, spilling silvery light across the old window. It passed through holes and cracks into the room, falling over Feng Chen.

His saber-wielding arm carved a fierce arc through the moonlight. At the instant the blade split the air, it seemed to cleave even the moonlight in two!

Where the blade passed, the moonlight twisted faintly for an instant before closing together again.

This was the most beautiful stroke he had delivered that night. Its force, angle, and speed were seamless and natural.

Ding dong, Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber proficiency increased by one.

Ding dong, Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber has reached the Major Mastery Realm. Host, please check it promptly.

Along with the Destiny Talent's notification, an immensely weighty insight of Major Mastery surged through his mind!

All the mysteries of the twelve forms of the Five Tigers Gate-Breaking Saber fused together completely at this moment!

The fierceness of Tiger Bursts from the Forest, the stability of Tiger Crouches on the Mountain Ridge, the tricky unpredictability of Tiger Tail Sweeps the Leaves, the violent savagery of Hungry Tiger Pounces on Prey—every point of exertion and every trajectory for changing forms had been honed to the level of Great Mastery.

He closed his eyes and quietly absorbed the wave of insight. When he opened them again, the short blade in his hand seemed to have become another hand extending from his body. The saber moved with his will; where his intent arrived, the saber followed.