Manager Yu Shan

After washing the bloodstains clean, Lu Shaolin walked to the courtyard gate, his brows knitting slightly.

The bolt had been kicked apart.

After thinking it over, Lu Shaolin went into the kitchen, picked out a sturdy piece of firewood, and carried it back to the courtyard.

Picking up the axe from the ground, he measured it against the firewood, then swung twice with a "whoosh, whoosh"!

With two cracking sounds, the firewood instantly became a gate bolt.

He inserted the firewood into the courtyard gate, and it fit perfectly!

After fixing the bolt, Lu Shaolin turned and returned to the house.

With nothing else to do, he might as well head to the outskirts of the mountains to hunt.

With that in mind, Lu Shaolin took the soft bow hanging on the wall, picked up his long spear, and headed for Panshan.

The soft bow had been made for Lu Shaolin by Lu Zhong. Their home had originally possessed a hard bow, but it had vanished along with Lu Zhong's corpse, leaving only this soft bow.

When he reached the edge of the forest, Lu Shaolin did not dare venture deep inside, fearful of encountering a Zombie again.

Though his strength had risen greatly, he was still surely no match for those people from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Holding his bow, Lu Shaolin searched the forest outskirts for traces of prey.

Li Ping's residence in the village.

"The yamen just let that damned Lu brat come back?" Li Ping's wife, Wu Li, cried out.

"The yamen said Jian'er led people in a private break-in." Li Ping muttered expressionlessly.

"What use are you as village head?" Wu Li cursed.

"I'm useless! I'm fucking useless! A village head is just someone who reports matters to the yamen, not a constable! If not for you, why would my son have gone looking for trouble with that Lu brat? You killed my son!" Li Ping suddenly rose, flipped the table over with one hand, and roared.

"You... you... my poor son! Your mother can't go on living either!" Frightened by Li Ping's appearance, Wu Li began wailing again.

"Shut your mouth! Jian'er was still a member of the Blackwater Gang. I'll go find the Blackwater Gang's manager right now and have them avenge Jian'er by killing that Lu brat!" Li Ping shouted.

Without paying Wu Li any further heed, he turned and left.

At the forest outskirts, Lu Shaolin shook his head as he carried two wild chickens.

After busying himself for half the day, he had caught only these two wild chickens. He had encountered rabbits as well, but the soft bow lacked power and its arrows flew too slowly, so he had missed.

Seeing that the sky had already begun to darken, Lu Shaolin carried the wild chickens toward the village.

At the village entrance, he happened to meet villagers returning from the fields in twos and threes.

"Little Brother Lu went hunting!"

"The Lu family's young lad is back."

"Lu..."

The villagers all warmly greeted Lu Shaolin.

Lu Shaolin was briefly stunned, then understood. It was probably because he had killed those two hooligans.

Lu Shaolin smiled and responded to them one by one.

After returning home, Lu Shaolin cleaned both wild chickens. He stewed one into soup and hung the other in the kitchen.

After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Shaolin practiced with his long spear for a while, feeling out the might of his perfected spear technique.

Once he finished, he washed up and entered the bedroom. He was truly rather tired today.

He had killed people and gone to the yamen in the morning.

Then gone up the mountain to hunt wild chickens in the afternoon.

He had been busy all day.

As for whether the Blackwater Gang would avenge Li Jian, Lu Shaolin could not be bothered to think too much about it. Soldiers would come, generals would block them; water would come, earth would dam it!

Placing the oil lamp behind the door, Lu Shaolin lay down on the bed.

Elsewhere, within a small courtyard in Pingshan County Town.

"Manager Yu, Li Jian's father came today. He said his son had been murdered and begged us to kill the evildoer." A burly man in black clasped his hands toward a middle-aged man in brocade within the courtyard.

The middle-aged man had a sturdy build, and his brows were like blades.

"Li Jian? That small dock boss?" Yu Shan asked doubtfully.

"Yes!" The burly man in black nodded.

"The yamen did not arrest anyone?"

"No."

"Then this matter is rather strange. Tomorrow, send someone to investigate. We'll discuss it after getting to the bottom of it," Yu Shan ordered.

"Yes!" The burly man in black answered with clasped hands.

Early the next morning.

Lu Shaolin stretched and climbed out of bed, sitting silently on its edge.

This was the fifth day!

He had only eighty-five days left!

He had to gather twenty taels of silver as quickly as possible and see whether he could enter the Little Knife Society.

He had to take a risk. There was no large prey in the forest outskirts; he needed to go deeper!

Having made up his mind, Lu Shaolin went to the well, washed up, then entered the kitchen to cook.

He did not actually enjoy cooking, but he had no choice. If he did not cook, he would go hungry, and there was no one else to cook for him.

It was still stewed meat. Stewing meat was convenient—once it was chopped up, he only needed to toss it into the pot.

After eating, Lu Shaolin did not take the soft bow. He was going to hunt something big, and only big game was worth money!

Long spear in hand, he headed straight for the forest.

This time, he cautiously made his way deeper in, carefully examining the tracks around him as he searched for large prey.

He wandered around for an entire morning, yet Lu Shaolin found nothing.

Seeing that it was already noon and that he had not brought any dry provisions, he headed out of the forest.

After returning home, he ate lunch and rested for a short while before Lu Shaolin went back to the forest to hunt.

This time, he brought the soft bow, thinking that he had to bring something back, at least!

Pingshan County Town, the same small courtyard.

"Manager Yu, the matter has been investigated. That Li Jian wanted to seize someone else's residence. He broke into the courtyard with weapons and was killed by its owner." The burly man in black reported to Yu Shan, who was sipping tea.

"Oh~ no wonder the yamen did not arrest anyone. Li Jian deserved to die! Though our Blackwater Gang is a gang, we still value righteousness. Seizing another person's residence is not something we would do. There is no need to pay Li Jian's father any mind," Yu Shan said blandly.

"Yes!"

"Hmm? Li Jian had already reached Early Skin Tempering, hadn't he? That little mountain village has someone capable of killing him?" Yu Shan asked curiously.

"This subordinate specifically looked into it. The residence's owner was a hunter who died at the hands of demonic evil some time ago, leaving behind only a youth. It is said that the youth was also injured by that demonic evil and would not live beyond three months. Yet Li Jian and the other two were all killed by this youth!" the burly man in black replied.

"Killed by a youth? And he killed three of them? Was that youth possessed by demonic evil?"

"Impossible. The lords of the Demon Suppression Bureau have been there. If he had been possessed by demonic evil, they would certainly have slain him!"

"That youth has fine skills and fine courage! Do this: send someone over and ask whether that youth is willing to join our gang. If he is, give him the small boss position Li Jian previously held," Yu Shan said in a deep voice.

"Manager, but that youth will not live beyond three months!" the burly man in black reminded him.

"Bullshit! Have you ever seen someone who could not live three months kill three people in succession, one of them even being in the Skin Refinement Realm? Those villagers must be afraid of demonic evil and spreading rumors!" Yu Shan rebuked.

"Yes! This subordinate will handle it at once!" The burly man in black hurriedly said with clasped hands.

"Go." Yu Shan waved his hand.

Lu Shaolin wandered through the forest for another afternoon. This time, he did make a discovery: he found traces of a nest of wild boars.

But by the time he found them, it was already getting late. He left a marker and began heading back. The forest could not be stayed in at night—forget the forest, even in the village, no one dared come out after dark!