Black Meat!

On his way home, Zhou Chen spotted several people waiting for him from a distance. One of them sat with one leg crossed over the other, holding a set of bone tiles in his hand and occasionally glancing in Zhou Chen's direction. It was Zhang Mingfei.

It was nearly dark, yet this group was still gathered here. They had clearly grown suspicious when they saw him leave to buy medicine that morning and fail to return for so long. Since they intended to make a move on his younger sister, they naturally had to find out what he had been doing before they could make their plans.

When Zhang Mingfei saw Zhou Chen returning in the uniform of the Zheng Family Martial Arts Hall, the token at his waist clinking crisply as he strolled past them without a care in the world, his expression immediately darkened.

Damn it, this brat had played them! He really hadn't gone to buy medicine!

Though they were furious inside, seeing Zhou Chen dressed like that, Zhang Mingfei and the others did not dare act rashly.

After all, injuring a Martial Arts Hall disciple was the same as slapping the Martial Arts Hall in the face.

Zhou Chen nodded inwardly. Just as expected, after becoming a registered disciple of the Zheng Family Martial Arts Hall, those street thugs had become wary of him.

Still, intimidation was only intimidation. If he could not successfully break through and become a Martial Warrior, Zhang Mingfei and the others would definitely come back.

"Become a Martial Warrior! I have to become a Martial Warrior!"

Zhou Chen slowly exhaled, his eyes full of resolve.

Following the familiar route, Zhou Chen turned into a bustling market and stopped before a meat stall. Rows of fresh meat hung there, but their skins were embedded with tiny eyeballs. Some were half-open, some rolled wildly about, looking everywhere.

Behind the stall stood a woman about Zhou Chen's age. She wore an indigo cloth shirt with her sleeves neatly rolled to her elbows, revealing firm, well-defined forearms. One foot rested on a bench as she bent over and sharpened a knife with a rasping sound, fine white froth splashing between the whetstone and blade.

After sharpening it a few times, she straightened up, blew across the edge, and revealed a face with a touch of heroic spirit.

She was Zhou Chen's cousin, Zhang Ying.

When she spotted Zhou Chen, Zhang Ying froze for a moment and blinked before suddenly recognizing him. She shouted in astonishment, "Ah Chen?! Is that really you? You've gotten taller! Stronger! Oh! That's the Zheng Family Martial Arts Hall uniform. You really went to train in martial arts?"

"Yeah, Sis! I finally saved enough money, so I decided to take a shot at it."

Zhou Chen grinned.

He and Zhang Ying had grown up together. His cousin was fiery and straightforward, a true heroine among women. She had protected him since childhood, and the two had always been close.

He did not mention his father being beaten, lest his cousin impulsively go demand an explanation and end up suffering for it herself.

"Good, good! Just what I'd expect from my little brother, you've got promise! Here to buy meat? I hear people training in martial arts need to eat more meat. I'll give you a few pounds of Gray Meat for free!"

Zhang Ying's voice rang loud and bright as she reached for the meat hanging from the hooks.

"Hey, no, Sis! You work for the Tang Household too. However much meat you give me for free, you'll have to make up for it yourself later." Though Zhou Chen was moved, he hurriedly refused.

Zhang Ying had married several years before him and already had two children. Her husband was a cart-pulling laborer, and their life was tight enough as it was. How could he accept her meat for free?

"I really don't need Gray Meat!" Zhou Chen pointed at the row of meat with especially many eyeballs. "Sis, just weigh me one pound of Black Meat."

"What?" Zhang Ying frowned. "How can that do? No one wants to eat Black Meat. It gives you stomachaches and headaches. How could I let you eat that? It breaks my heart seeing you like this... Did you run out of money after paying the tuition?"

"No, no!" Zhou Chen quickly explained with a smile. "I met a senior brother at the Martial Arts Hall. He keeps a fierce dog at home and asked me to buy some meat to take back for it."

He felt rather guilty saying those last three words.

But to avoid arousing suspicion, he could only bark three times.

"So that's how it is!" Zhang Ying suddenly understood. She swiftly cut off a pound of Black Meat, then sliced away the skin along with all those annoying eyeballs. With a smack, she tossed it onto the ground and stomped down. The eyeballs beneath the skin burst with a series of sharp pops like firecrackers.

"Want anything else?"

"Yes!" Zhou Chen pointed to two other kinds of Black Meat hanging nearby. One was Gel Grub Meat, sticky and drooping like a slug; the other was Fat Silkworm Meat, white and plump, shaped like a fat silkworm. "Give me a pound of each of those too."

Black Meat was a general term for meat with heavier contamination. The same mutated beast could yield white meat, Gray Meat, and Black Meat depending on the cut, with different parts carrying different levels of contamination.

But as for which meat was the most contaminated and provided the most vitality and energy, he would have to test that himself.

"Your senior brother's dog sure has a picky mouth. It has to taste every kind of meat?" Zhang Ying muttered, but her hands never stopped moving. She quickly cut and separated the meat, wrapped each portion in cleaned banana leaves, and handed them to Zhou Chen.

Zhang Ying muttered as she neatly divided the meat, wrapped it in banana leaves, and handed it to Zhou Chen.

But in the end, she still insisted on giving Zhou Chen two pounds of Gray Meat: lightly contaminated Tailed Guinea-Pig Meat. It came from a large rat that lived along the banks of the Black River and resembled a guinea pig from his previous life.

Though it was only two pounds of Gray Meat, it was worth thirty or forty copper coins, equal to three or four days of income for Zhou Chen's family. The three pounds of Black Meat Zhou Chen bought cost less than twenty copper coins.

"Train hard. Maybe you'll really make something of yourself!"

Zhang Ying laughed heartily. She wanted to pat his shoulder, then remembered her hands were covered in grease and awkwardly withdrew them.

A woman selling jars nearby, whose eyes were tiny, rolled her eyes at this. She apparently did not get along with Zhang Ying on ordinary days and now sneered, "Make something of himself? So many people enter the Martial Arts Hall every year. How many ever amount to anything? What a waste of money!"

"Bean Eyes, say that again?" Zhang Ying exploded at once, snatching up her knife and pointing it at the woman. "Tired of living? Who are you rolling those mung-bean eyes at? Believe it or not, I'll chop you up!"

The woman was not intimidated either. She craned her neck and stepped forward, shouting, "You manly woman, go ahead and chop me! Chop me! When the Night Patrol Bureau officers come, they'll punch you to death!"

"Hey! You old bitch—"

Zhang Ying rolled up her sleeves and was about to charge over when Zhou Chen hurriedly grabbed her around the waist. "Sis, calm down!"

"Hey, listen to you! Did martial arts train your guts into a rabbit's? Instead of holding her down so I can chop her, why are you holding your sister back? Move aside, or I'll chop you too!"

"Sis!"

Zhou Chen was speechless. How could she actually make a move in front of so many people? If she really had to act, she should do it behind their backs! That was just Zhang Ying's temperament.

"Sister Zhang, calm down! Don't be impulsive!"

The surrounding vendors also stepped in to mediate. After much persuasion, they finally suppressed the farce.

"Fuck her!"

Only then did Zhang Ying throw the knife onto the chopping block. With a dark face, she cursed as she explained to Zhou Chen that the woman's son also worked for the Tang Household. That brat had once tried to grope her and had nearly gotten his manhood chopped off by her knife. Their two families had been enemies ever since.

At last, Zhang Ying waved her hand. "All right, all right, hurry up and go. I need to close up too. Try your best to make something of yourself for your sister. If you don't, I'll beat you to death! I'll pound the shit out of you!"

"Haha! Don't worry, Sis! Once I make something of myself, I'll help you live a good life too!"

"Cut it out. It'll be enough if you can take care of your own family! Stop talking nonsense and get lost!"

"Fine, I'll get lost right now!"

Zhou Chen nodded without getting angry. Instead, he felt especially warm. Waving to Zhang Ying, he carried several bundles of meat wrapped in banana leaves, turned, squeezed through the crowd, and hurried home.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Zhang Mingfei looked at a breathless lackey before him and asked, "Did you find out?"

The man licked his lips and lowered his voice. "I found out. This brat's aptitude is below average. He definitely won't make it within three months. Old Master Chen has urged us several times already. The girl sent over last time got played to death by him, and he's desperate for a new one. He's offering more than before. Brother Fei, let's do it! The Martial Arts Hall won't care much about a registered disciple like him!"

Zhang Mingfei narrowed his eyes, nodded, and sneered. "Fine! We'll make our move tomorrow while he's not home. Knock out his sister and tie her up, without anyone knowing. Heh heh, even if he suspects us, he won't have any proof! There won't be anything he can do to us!"

The group gathered together and finalized the details for tomorrow's operation before scattering. Though these street thugs were lowlifes, they were meticulous when it came to kidnapping people, even deliberately choosing a time when Zhou Chen would not be home.