Wielding the Saber in Hand, Cleaving Through a Clear Thought

The rain stopped in the latter half of the night, and Chen Xu returned to Ping'an Alley silently in the darkness with the silver box.

He divided the silver from the box into several portions and hid them separately in his room. Then, he summoned the Cauldron Scripture to check the latest data.

[Total Likes: 767]

[Free Attribute Points: 13]

[Firework Value: 113]

This trip was not in vain. Not only did he obtain a considerable amount of silver, but the various data on the Cauldron Scripture also increased significantly.

He was getting closer to accumulating 1000 likes, and Chen Xu's three-yuan attributes could even be maxed out by him at any time.

Chen Xu wasn't in a hurry to fill up the points. He wanted to leave himself some leeway to avoid his three-yuan attributes overflowing before the God of Cookery Cultivation Scroll was unlocked, which would affect his perfect Foundation Establishment.

Now, he was more concerned that his Wood Chopping Saber Technique Level 1 had reached completion, and he should unlock the Level 2 cultivation method next.

However, he had checked before, and Level 2 Wood Chopping required 160 Firework Value to unlock.

He didn't have enough Firework Value yet.

So, was tonight over just like this?

Go home, sleep, and wait until the next day for new Firework Value to arrive before unlocking Wood Chopping Level 2?

Chen Xu had indeed thought so at first, but after returning to his room and lying in bed, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The glimpse of the sheep's head he had seen earlier kept reappearing in his mind: white fur, red eyes, tear stains on its eyes, and curved horns like two scimitars inserted into the darkness.

Chen Xu's heart pounded, and he suddenly sat up from the bed, cursing, "Damn it, let's do it!"

If he didn't do it, his mind wouldn't be at ease.

What was this? Selling sheep transformed by the Livestock Creation Art openly on South Market Street? If he hadn't known, it would have been one thing. But now that he knew, why couldn't he wield his saber and right the wrongs?

The wood chopping saber was in the Embers Kitchen. Chen Xu later discovered that the saber could be taken out and put away at any time.

It was one of the few non-food items in the Embers Kitchen that could be taken out and put away.

Chen Xu regulated his breathing and didn't rush to take out the saber. Instead, he listened to the sounds outside. After the night watchman made another round, he quietly left his home and headed straight for South Market Street.

Chen Xu knew that some of the permanent vendors on South Market Street actually lived in Ping'an Alley. However, the sheep vendor didn't live there; he lived on the other side of South Market Street, in Jingsha Quarter.

Jingsha Quarter, homophonous with Jingsha Quarter.

It was said that butchers and sheep vendors killed too many living beings, resulting in too heavy Sha Qi, and strange occurrences were common at night.

Therefore, the meat-related stall owners on South Market Street gathered and lived in the nearby neighborhood, pooling money to hire an expert to change the neighborhood's name to Jingsha Quarter.

After that, the so-called strange occurrences indeed stopped happening, and the neighborhood became peaceful and harmonious again.

Chen Xu had only moved to Ping'an Alley not long ago and had heard this legend.

In the past, he had only treated it as a folk tale and had even planned to make up some related stories to write in his story collections.

At that time, in his ignorance and fearlessness, how could he have imagined that gods and monsters were far more bizarre than he could have imagined? His imagination was too barren!

Chen Xu stepped into Jingsha Quarter under the cover of night.

The ground was damp, and the air carried an indescribable humidity and fishy smell. The night was deep, with no stars or moon in the sky. The clouds were so thick that it felt like another night's rain could fall at any moment.

Chen Xu didn't know which house the sheep vendor lived in, but after his three-yuan attributes reached a balanced thirty points, his sense of smell gradually became exceptionally sensitive.

Just by walking past a dark street corner, he could distinguish by smell—

For example: this stall sold pork, this stall sold fish, this stall sold mutton... It should be real sheep; the smell of real sheep was different after all.

Chen Xu carefully recalled the details he had smelled on South Market Street before and continued to walk deeper into Jingsha Quarter.

Occasionally, he encountered scurrying rats on the road. They were large and dark, moving like lightning, appearing and disappearing in a flash, unlike the cute two mice in Chen Xu's home.

Suddenly, Chen Xu's footsteps stopped in the shadow of a wall in a corner of Jingsha Quarter.

Because in this deep night, a cart had inexplicably appeared from the other end of the street, being pushed along with a rumbling sound.

The cartwheels were making noise, but the sound was actually not very loud.

Chen Xu's eyesight had also improved now. He looked into the distance in the darkness and could vaguely distinguish that the cartwheels were wrapped in cotton and soft cloth.

The person pushing the cart was a short but stout old woman. She pushed the cart with huffing and puffing sounds and arrived at the back door of the house at the corner.

Before she could knock, the person inside, as if they already knew, suddenly opened the door, and a low voice asked, "How is it? Is there a lot of goods this time?"

Chen Xu recognized the voice; it was the white sheep vendor from South Market Street!

He hadn't gone to the wrong place; he had found the main culprit.

The old woman pushing the cart had a rough and hoarse voice. "Hurry up and help me push. They're all stubborn brutes, so heavy."

The sheep vendor quickly came out to help push the cart. Their movements were practiced, indicating they did this often.

The cart was pushed inside, but no one noticed that in the gap as they pushed the cart and closed the door, someone had already nimbly climbed in from the shadows on the other side of the wall, entering the courtyard ahead of them.

Chen Xu hid in the corner of the wall, sticking to the shadows, and first carefully observed his surroundings.

At the same time, he listened to the conversation between the sheep vendor and the old woman pushing the cart.

The sheep vendor lifted the cloth covering the cart and exclaimed in surprise, "So many, one, two, three, six, a total of six! Six of them, Mother, how did you trick so many sheep?"

So the old woman was the sheep dealer's mother.

The old woman said in her rough, hoarse voice, "They're all so stupid. I just watch for a while, find a child or a young girl who's alone, and then I ask for water or offer candy. It's easy to trick the sheep into coming with me.

A Zhu, you should learn from me too. I can't be the only one who knows this skill. If I don't pass it on to you, what will happen when I get old?"

The sheep dealer seemed reluctant. "Mother, you know as well as I do that you look kind, but I look ugly. You can easily trick those stupid sheep, but if it were me... not a single one would pay me any mind. It's not that I don't want to learn, it's just too difficult. What can be done?"

"Fine," the old woman said. "Then we'll wait and find you a wife later, and have your wife learn. Come, let's slaughter the sheep before it's light, to avoid any trouble overnight."

The sheep dealer said, "Then Mother, you get the pot and boil water. I'll go get the knife."

He turned to leave, but unexpectedly, a lightning-fast flash of a blade appeared from the side.

The blade came too quickly, like a thunderclap tearing open the night sky, descending from above, pushing mountains and overturning jade. With just one strike, it directly severed the sheep dealer's head.

The sheep dealer didn't even have time to let out a scream, nor did he have time to grab the knife meant for slaughtering sheep.

"Ah—" From behind, his mother watched his head fly into the air, cleaved by the blade, and suddenly let out a piercing scream.

Swish, another strike.

Chen Xu turned and sidestepped, the second blade slashing directly at the screaming old woman.

The old woman immediately reached into her waist, as if to pull something out, but her hand moved too slowly.

It couldn't keep up with Chen Xu's blade.

The second strike descended fiercely before her eyes!