"Five Poisons Art" (1 / 2)

Previously, to save up for a martial arts manual, he had never dared spend money freely. He had lived on plain, simple meals, occasionally supplementing them with wild rabbit or river fish.

Now that he had not needed to spend the silver, he would have to buy equipment for trapping wild animals. After all, the Clear Radiance Mountains had more than just poisonous creatures; wild beasts were plentiful too. Since he would be setting traps anyway, he might as well set a few more for game and improve his meals.

After buying a bag of loose candies along the way, Zhao Er dared not linger. Carrying his purchases, he hurried home.

The trip from home to the county town had taken three hours because he had been pushing a wheelbarrow. Now, despite carrying quite a few things, he had walked for less than two hours before the village came into view in the distance.

Before he reached the village, however, he spotted four men walking toward the town along another road, chatting and laughing. One of them carried a cloth sack on his back. Clearly, they had just left the village.

Zhao Er had seen these four before. They were leaders in the town's Longwind Gang, responsible for security in the nearby villages. The Longwind Gang also collected the security silver each household paid twice a year.

This so-called security silver was supposedly payment for guaranteeing their safety. In plainer terms, it was protection money.

Soon after transmigrating, Zhao Er had learned that all of Ningjin Prefecture was jointly governed by the authorities and the sects. He did not know exactly how that arrangement worked, but he knew the common people had to pay taxes twice: the authorities collected grain, while the gangs collected silver.

That was why, despite this world's decent productivity, ordinary people struggled to get enough to eat all year round, let alone have any grain left over.

But what were they doing in the village?

Watching the four men leave, Zhao Er silently quickened his pace toward the village.

When Zhao Er returned, he found quite a few villagers wearing worried, miserable expressions.

"Zhao Er, you're back! Hurry home and take a look. Someone beat up your father!"

Someone spotted Zhao Er returning with his purchases and shouted to him.

"Someone beat up Dad?"

Alarm jolted through Zhao Er. Forgetting everything else, he broke into a jog toward home.

"Dad, how are you? Are you badly hurt?"

The courtyard gate stood wide open. As soon as he entered, Zhao Er put down his purchases and called out.

Only after shouting did he notice his parents and younger sister sitting in the main room. His mother, Zhang Xuan'e, looked distraught, while his sister nestled in her arms with reddened eyes.

His father, Zhao Dazhu, hurriedly lowered his head when he saw him return.

But Zhao Er had already seen the swelling on one side of his father's face, covered with medicinal herbs.

"Dad! What happened? Was it the Longwind Gang?"

Zhao Er hurried closer. Only then did he see that, besides the injury on his father's face, a swollen red welt ran across his shoulder and neck, though it was not as severe as the wound on his face.

One look at the injury told Zhao Er that those men from the Longwind Gang had done it. Only they used whips to beat people.

"The Longwind Gang came early this afternoon to collect the security silver..."

His father, Zhao Dazhu, said nothing. Seeing Zhao Er return, his mother could no longer hold back the tears she had been fighting. She explained what had happened as they streamed down her face.

The Longwind Gang had come half a month early to collect the security silver, and had even raised it by twenty percent.

The Zhao family had not expected this year's security silver to be collected early. Zhao Er had taken all their silver with him. How could they possibly come up with the money?

The other villagers had not expected the increase either. Many families could not pay the full amount themselves, much less lend any money to Zhao Er's family.

And so, to intimidate the other villagers, the Longwind Gang leader had lashed Zhao Dazhu once with his whip because he had paid the least. Then he had left, saying they would return in half a month to collect the money.

"The Longwind Gang!"

After hearing his mother's account, Zhao Er could not help clenching his fists.

"Second Son, don't get any ideas. It's only a flesh wound. I've already put herbs on it, and I'll be fine after a few days of rest. Once you become a martial artist, just remember to give them that lash back for me."

Afraid his son might act rashly, Zhao Dazhu hurried to reassure him. But as he spoke, his mouth involuntarily twitched twice, and his voice trembled. Clearly, he was in considerable pain.

"That's right. The Longwind Gang isn't easy to deal with. You must be hungry. I'll go cook."

Zhang Xuan'e ached for her husband, but she worried even more about her son. After hearing her husband speak, she quickly wiped her face and started toward the kitchen.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything rash. And you don't need to worry about the money. Eldest Brother didn't take it. There's good news, too: he broke through and became a martial artist. Sister-in-law also sent lots of things back with me, and I bought Shan some candy."

Zhao Er forced a strained smile. As he spoke, he took the money pouch from inside his robe and handed it to his mother, then shared the good news.

Still talking, he turned and gathered the things scattered by the doorway, setting them on the table.

"I'm going to train."

Seeing that his family's spirits had lifted considerably, Zhao Er said this, picked up the medicinal ingredients he had bought, and headed for the side room reserved for his training.

As for his father's remark about returning that lash once he became a martial artist, Zhao Er merely listened. He did not agree.

If someone slaps me and I slap them back, that isn't revenge. I never wanted to hit anyone, yet I was slapped for no reason. So I have to make them suffer a thousand, ten thousand times more than that single lash. That's revenge. That's fairness.

"Dad... have some candy. Eat a piece and it won't hurt anymore."

As Zhao Er reached the side room, he could still hear his younger sister Zhao Shan's timid voice.

Closing the door, Zhao Er took a deep breath. In these chaotic times, weakness was the root of every sin. He had to become a martial artist as soon as possible. At least then, any gang that wanted to touch his family would have to weigh the consequences.

He took the Five Poisons Art from inside his robe and held it in his hands, studying it carefully.

The Five Poisons Art was indeed an advanced version of the Poison Sand Palm.

Both cultivated the body internally and externally, and both could use the venom of any one of the five poisonous creatures as cultivation material. For external training, the Poison Sand Palm involved thrusting the hands into poisonous sand or striking it, while the Five Poisons Art involved beating poisonous sand against the entire body.

The internal training of the Five Poisons Art, however, was far more profound. It no longer consisted of a simple breathing method, but included a method of circulating qi and blood called Toad Force.

"Qi and blood circulation" was probably what orthodox practitioners called it. Here, "toxin circulation" might actually have been more fitting.

Besides that, the instructions for condensing qi and blood were extremely detailed. There were even sections on the subsequent bone-tempering and sinew-transformation stages. In other words, cultivating this Five Poisons Art would allow him to complete the first three martial artist realms.

Not only that, the Five Poisons Art manual also contained a set of matching combat moves.

There were only four moves in the set: Centipede Shell Retraction, Scorpion Tail Sweep, Spider Entangling Hands, and Spirit Snake Flicking Tongue.

Combined with Toad Force, they truly brought all five poisons together.

Yet after Zhao Er carefully studied the Five Poisons Art, he discovered that his attribute panel had popped up.