Even a Rogue Who Knows Martial Arts Is Impossible to Stop

Another man said with a laugh, "Of course it's to squeeze another sum of silver out of the employer."

"Second Brother is right. The employer is just an ordinary man; we're not afraid of offending him.

If he pays, we'll beat this kid to death. If he doesn't, we'll let him go.

And we'll tell the kid who hired us to kill him."

The first man to speak gave a thumbs-up. "Big Brother, brilliant! One job, two paychecks."

"Heh heh, who told the employer to have no backing, yet still try to imitate others by hiring killers?

This is only the beginning. Whenever we run short of money in the future, we'll go ask this employer for some.

If he refuses, we'll expose the fact that he hired killers."

The man called Second Brother said, "Big Brother is mighty. That's practically a long-term meal ticket."

Hearing this, Lin Feng understood that someone had hired killers to murder him—and it might even be someone he knew.

The original owner had only dared to throw his weight around at home. Outside, he had been as meek as a grandson, nodding and bowing to everyone. It seemed like he had never offended anyone.

For a moment, Lin Feng could not figure out who wanted him dead.

Just then, shadows shifted in the room opposite. These people seemed to be getting ready for bed.

One of them appeared to be heading outside.

Seeing this, Lin Feng hid beside the window to avoid being spotted by whoever came out, watching the outdoors only from the corner of his eye.

With a creak, the wooden door opposite was pushed open.

A young man who looked two years older than Lin Feng stepped out of the room.

His features were impossible to make out clearly in the night, but Lin Feng could vaguely see that, like himself, the man wore coarse linen clothes.

However, his clothes were new, without a single patch. He looked far wealthier than Lin Feng.

These rogues were lazy good-for-nothings. Their money came from burglary, robbery, and extortion.

The cities controlled by martial sects did have government offices, but they could not be bothered to handle cases. Whoever reported a crime would first be given fifty strokes of the paddle.

Some victims were beaten to death before they could even explain their case.

Over time, fewer and fewer people went to report crimes.

As a result, rogues and bandits were everywhere, and thieves ran rampant.

Still, martial sects possessed tremendous force and were not afraid of this. If things got too out of hand, they would send their disciples out to gain experience and wipe them all out.

The young man who came outside walked to the base of the wall and began relieving himself with a splash.

Lin Feng watched him for a while, then suddenly froze.

He discovered that when he focused intently on this man, an attribute panel appeared above the man's head as well.

Name: Li San.

Health: 9.

Martial Skills:

Mad Demon Staff Technique (Low-tier Martial Arts) (Beginner).

He had not expected to be able to see other people's information too. That was rather powerful.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.

This bandit had some strength. His Health was much higher than Lin Feng's, and he had even learned a Low-tier Martial Art to the Beginner level. Lin Feng had no idea where he had learned it.

And there were two more bandits inside, whose strength was also unknown.

Once one entered the Beginner level in martial arts, one's strength far surpassed that of ordinary people.

If he had not been injured, Lin Feng could have taken down one of them with a sneak attack.

But there were three enemies.

And now that he was badly injured, he was definitely no match for the three of them.

As Lin Feng pondered, the man walked toward him, seemingly intending to come over and check.

Lin Feng hurriedly leaped back down and lay on the ground, pretending to sleep.

Lin Feng moved swiftly and nimbly as a monkey, without making the slightest sound.

Bang! Bang!

The man kicked the woodshed door twice, making the chain lock rattle.

Lin Feng pretended not to hear and made no sound at all.

The man turned and shouted, "Big Brother, Second Brother, come take a look! Could this kid be dead?"

With another creak, the wooden door opposite opened again, and two young men came out.

Through the woodshed door, Lin Feng focused intently on the two men who had emerged.

Name: Zhang Er.

Health: 9.

Martial Skills:

Mad Demon Staff Technique (Low-tier Martial Arts) (Beginner).

Name: Wang Gousheng.

Health: 10.

Martial Skills:

Mad Demon Staff Technique (Low-tier Martial Arts) (Beginner).

Sure enough, all three had high Health, and all had learned the Mad Demon Staff Technique to the Beginner level.

In this world, martial strength was supreme. Anyone with even a little means wanted to try practicing martial arts. What if they happened to be a prodigy? They could join a sect and soar straight to the heavens.

But most people had ordinary aptitude, and these three bandits were no different.

Zhang Er cursed as he walked to the woodshed door. "Damn bad luck. In this scorching weather, don't let him rot and stink up the place."

Wang Gousheng frowned. "The employer won't deliver that silver until tomorrow morning. He can't die yet."

Lin Feng did not want to make a move now.

The system gave him one Breakthrough Point every day.

After the sun rose tomorrow, he would gain another Breakthrough Point.

Then he could add it to the Beast Hunting Fist and raise it to the Minor Mastery realm. Knocking these three down would be no problem.

The problem now was that he had no food. Lin Feng was thirsty and hungry.

He had eaten everything edible in the woodshed. There was no way to deal with the hunger from his next breakthrough.

So Lin Feng made a weak sound. "Water, food... I want water. I want something to eat."

When the three heard Lin Feng speak, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Li San, who had just finished urinating, said, "Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier? I just finished pissing. If you'd spoken sooner, you could've had some warm stuff to drink."

Lin Feng sneered inwardly. Just you fucking wait. Tomorrow, I'll show you how I kill you all.

Wang Gousheng, the leader of the three, said, "Second Brother, go get some water and dry rations. Give this kid a little.

He has to make it through the night somehow."

Zhang Er turned around to fetch food.

Wang Gousheng opened the woodshed lock with a rattle.

Li San entered and kicked Lin Feng. "You get to live one more night. Why aren't you thanking your three masters?"

Lin Feng remembered this Li San. This bastard had the foulest mouth.

Lin Feng hardened his heart, but outwardly he pretended to be extremely weak and continued calling softly, "Water, food..."

Seeing how weak Lin Feng was, Li San did not dare kick him again.

"Big Brother, I'm afraid this kid suffered internal injuries from the Mad Demon Staff beating we gave him. He probably won't live more than a few days."

"It doesn't matter. As long as he survives tonight."

Zhang Er brought half a bowl of water in a chipped porcelain bowl and set it beside Lin Feng's head, then tossed down three corn buns.

Wang Gousheng looked at Lin Feng and said, "Eat. One more day alive is one more day."

Lin Feng brought his head close to the chipped edge of the bowl and sniffed it, confirming that it was water before taking a sip.

The water tasted incomparably sweet, better than every drop of water he had ever drunk in his previous life.

Seeing that Lin Feng could move, the three turned and left.

At the doorway, Li San turned back and glared at Lin Feng. "I'm warning you—don't start barking like a dog at night.

If you disturb my sleep, I'll beat you to death.

There's no village ahead and no inn behind. You can scream your throat raw and no one will care."

Li San was not wrong.

Lin Feng listened carefully. There was only the chirping of cicadas and birds around him, not a single human voice.

This had to be a sparsely populated place.

After the three left, Lin Feng ate the three corn buns with the half bowl of water.

He had wanted to save two buns for tomorrow's breakthrough, but his stomach was simply too hungry, so he had no choice but to eat them first.

These corn buns contained quite a lot of grain, better than the ones at his home. There was less wheat bran mixed in, so they did not scrape his throat.

After eating, Lin Feng felt much better.

The hunger from his recent breakthrough receded further.

With his body feeling better, his mood improved as well.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, feeling that the air here was exceptionally fresh.

A powerful urge to explore this world rose in Lin Feng's heart.

No rush, no rush. Tomorrow, I'll be going home.

But Lin Feng still had one concern.

What if breaking the Beast Hunting Fist through to the Minor Mastery realm did not solve the hunger problem?

Everything would have to wait until tomorrow.

Lin Feng took some dry firewood from the pile of kindling and spread it across the woodshed floor.

That way, anyone entering the woodshed would step on the dry wood and make a sound, waking him up so that he would not be ambushed.

He was injured and needed rest as well. Going without sleep was impossible.

Lin Feng spread a layer of soft straw beneath himself, made a bundle of straw into a pillow, and lay down on it to sleep.