You Completely Freed a Man Consumed by Lust

The bright moon hung high, with only a scattering of stars.

A secluded alley off a side street in Qingfeng County.

"Hah... hah..."

Zhao Zhi panted.

He was having trouble breathing.

He forced his eyes open. What greeted him was a wall with yellowed, peeling white paint and an uneven stone-paved ground.

Cold moonlight spilled down, casting a dim glow over everything.

Huh?

Where am I?

He remembered going to the riverside over the weekend and hearing children fall into the water.

Seeing the children about to sink, Zhao Zhi had thrown caution aside and jumped in, struggling to get both of them ashore.

But he had exhausted his strength, and with his leg cramping, the river had swept him away.

Suddenly-

Pain stabbed through Zhao Zhi's head, and a stream of information that did not belong to his memories flooded his mind.

The Great Qing Dynasty.

Zhao Zhi, a constable of Qingfeng County.

Strange noises.

An attack.

He reached up and touched the back of his head. It was wet and sticky. Bringing his hand before his eyes, he saw a smear of red.

Blood!

According to his memories, his predecessor had been patrolling the streets tonight when he heard strange noises down a side street. Following them, he had spotted someone grabbing a young girl and shouting at her.

Then-

A club had struck from behind, smashing into his head and killing him.

Zhao Zhi had arrived in his wake.

To think something like this could actually happen.

Zhao Zhi's head was growing cold. If this continued, he might lose too much blood, his body temperature would drop, and he would die again.

He struggled to his feet, his vision somewhat blurred.

He looked closer.

[Martial arts: Seizing Hand (beginner), Grand Ancestor Saber Art (beginner).]

[Merit: 50.]

[Note: Doing good and accumulating virtue grants Merit. Merit can be used to advance martial arts mastery.]

A system?

Seeing the information before him, Zhao Zhi grasped its meaning.

50 Merit?

Was that a lot or a little?

Had he earned it by jumping into the river to save those children? Or had the original owner of this body accumulated it?

Before Zhao Zhi could think further, voices came from nearby.

"Young master, he's not dead."

"Not dead? Then go beat him to death."

"Yes, young master."

That brief exchange had pronounced Zhao Zhi's death sentence.

Tap, tap.

Footsteps approached.

Zhao Zhi braced himself against the wall and stood upright. His dark eyes turned toward the approaching figure, whose appearance became clear beneath the moonlight.

It was a sturdy man in a gray robe, with rather rough features.

Zhang Er.

Information about the man immediately surfaced in Zhao Zhi's mind.

Li Qingchang's attendant.

Calling him an attendant gave Zhang Er far too much credit. He was nothing but a street thug who committed evil alongside Li Qingchang, the pair colluding like a wolf and its accomplice.

"Zhang Er!" Zhao Zhi shouted. "Killing a constable is a capital crime!"

Zhang Er chuckled and replied brazenly, "You won't even find a stray dog here. Who's going to know I killed you? Besides, even if someone finds out, with Young Master Li around, a little constable like you can die, and that'll be the end of it."

"You?!"

Zhao Zhi's eyes widened.

The man really did have the nerve.

Another wave of dizziness struck, and Zhao Zhi swayed slightly.

In his current condition, he was no match for Zhang Er.

As he watched Zhang Er draw closer-

Zhao Zhi's gaze grew unfocused, and the panel appeared before him again.

I still have this option.

With a thought, Zhao Zhi poured his Merit into the Seizing Hand martial art.

The Merit value on the panel rapidly dropped.

The status of Seizing Hand changed just as quickly.

[5 Merit consumed. Seizing Hand advanced to minor mastery.]

[5 Merit consumed. Seizing Hand advanced to major mastery.]

[10 Merit consumed. Seizing Hand advanced to perfection.]

[Martial arts: Seizing Hand (perfection).]

In an instant-

A vast amount of information flooded Zhao Zhi's mind all at once. Those immense memories felt as though they had always existed, depicting things that had already happened.

Through winter's cold and summer's heat, he had trained tirelessly in Seizing Hand, its every subtlety and powerful application imprinted on his mind.

Zhao Zhi lowered his head slightly to look at his hands.

They were long and powerful, with clearly defined knuckles.

A deep, mighty strength seemed to surge ceaselessly from within his body, flowing toward his hands.

"Accepted your fate?"

Zhang Er's voice rang out again. His club whistled through the air as he smashed it toward Zhao Zhi's head.

Zhao Zhi's eyes suddenly flashed, like a cold star streaking past.

His head instinctively tilted aside, and his right hand shot out like lightning, clamping around Zhang Er's neck.

Under Zhang Er's astonished gaze, a crack rang out. His throat bones shattered.

The light gradually faded from Zhang Er's eyes, and his body slumped limply down, bewilderment still lingering in his gaze.

Zhao Zhi glanced at Zhang Er's crumpled corpse and froze for a moment.

His movements had flowed like drifting clouds and running water, executed in one seamless breath, as though decades of arduous training had woven Seizing Hand into his every action.

I killed someone?

Yet Zhao Zhi felt little turmoil inside.

Zhang Er had wanted to kill him.

He had killed Zhang Er.

There was nothing wrong with that.

Instead, it was the information appearing on the panel that caught his attention.

[You stopped a street thug from committing violence. Merit +10.]

Just like that, I earned Merit.

"Zhang Er, let's go once you've dealt with him."

A voice came from nearby again.

Zhao Zhi looked toward the voice ahead, picked up his saber from where it had fallen, and approached Li Qingchang step by step.

When the distance between them fell to less than a meter-

Li Qingchang turned around, one hand gripping the girl's arm.

Their eyes met at once.

Li Qingchang was unremarkable-looking, with a pointed mouth, monkey-like cheeks, and narrow eyes.

Seeing Zhao Zhi rather than Zhang Er, he jumped in fright and cried out, "Zhao Zhi... mmph..."

Zhao Zhi stepped forward, closing in. His left hand covered Li Qingchang's mouth, while the saber in his right plunged into the man's chest with a wet shunk.

"Hah... hah..."

Li Qingchang's eyes widened as he struggled.

"Shh. Don't talk. Take deep breaths. It's normal to feel dizzy."

Zhao Zhi watched Li Qingchang, his voice gentle.

Using Seizing Hand with his left hand, he held Li Qingchang firmly in place while slowly twisting the saber with his right. Blood poured along the blade, staining Li Qingchang and the ground red.

Under his perfected Seizing Hand, Li Qingchang's facial bones were on the verge of being crushed. He could not break free.

A few breaths later-

The light gradually faded from his eyes, and his body collapsed limply to the ground.

Zhao Zhi pulled out his saber. Crimson blood ran along the blade toward its tip and dripped onto the ground.

[You completely freed a man consumed by lust. Merit +10.]

Zhao Zhi: "..."

There seemed to be something wrong with this system's judgment.

Still-

He was somewhat surprised by his own state of mind.

He had killed two living, breathing people just like that.

Yet he felt no agitation, nausea, anguish, or any other such emotion. Instead, he was calm.

So calm, it was as though he had done something utterly insignificant.

Like swatting a mosquito, crushing an ant, or stepping on a cockroach.

Zhao Zhi turned to look at the sixteen-year-old girl standing frozen with a hand over her mouth. Her bright eyes were wide, and tears she wanted to hold back but could not came streaming down.

Seeing Zhao Zhi look her way, the girl shuddered, her fear intensifying.

She was terrified that Zhao Zhi would kill her too.

So she's the daughter from the Wang Family Tavern. No wonder she was out at night.

Recognizing her, Zhao Zhi flicked the blood from his saber and slid it back into the scabbard at his waist. He said softly, "Good. Don't make a sound. I'll take you back."

At those words-

The tavern owner's daughter opened her eyes even wider, huge tears falling one after another.

Huh?

Zhao Zhi paused slightly at the sight. Had she misunderstood something?

The reason he did not want her to make a sound was Li Qingchang's identity. Who knew whether more of his disreputable cronies were nearby?

Just as that thought crossed his mind-

Tap, tap.

Footsteps drew closer.