Slaying the Flower Bandit in Wind and Rain, Hiding His Head in the Cellar

He broke Wang Shanxiong's arm.

Lin Feng did not hit Wang Shanxiong in the face.

Wang Shanxiong's head was worth two thousand taels of silver. If it was smashed to pieces, he would not be able to collect the reward.

Crack, crack. Lin Feng punched and broke Wang Shanxiong's neck.

Wang Shanxiong lay in the icy rainwater, feeling pain all over his body as the cold seeped deeper and deeper into him.

Gradually, he could no longer feel the pain, nor could he feel the cold.

The scenery around him gradually dissolved in his blurred vision, leaving only an indescribable emptiness and loneliness to shroud him.

The events of Wang Shanxiong's life flashed through his mind.

He had been a gifted youth, entered the Iron Fist Sect, and fallen deeply in love with his junior sister.

Everyone believed the two would soon tie the knot. Their wedding date had been set, and all their friends and relatives knew of it.

During that time, he had broken through into the Skin Refining Realm in one fell swoop. He had not told anyone, intending to surprise his junior sister on their wedding day.

He had thought he would reap a double harvest in love and career.

Yet the day before their wedding, his junior sister had suddenly broken off the engagement and become engaged to the son of a City Guards general.

He fell from the clouds and became a laughingstock.

When his mother, who had depended on each other with him for survival, learned of this, her fury struck her heart, and she passed away.

Now alone, with nothing left to hold him back, he took advantage of the City Guards general leaving the city. He personally slaughtered the general's son and the junior sister who had betrayed him, then set the general's residence ablaze.

From then on, whenever he saw a woman who closely resembled his junior sister, he would ruthlessly crush the flower.

He became a notorious Flower Picking Bandit.

In his daze, he saw his junior sister standing beside him in a red bridal gown, while his mother, smiling brightly and dressed in her finest clothes, sat in the hall.

His junior sister said softly, "Senior Brother, what are you standing there for? Hurry and bow to Heaven and Earth."

The two bowed and married, then entered the bridal chamber.

At that moment, Wang Shanxiong fulfilled his long-cherished wish, and his heart brimmed with joy.

After entering the bridal chamber, Wang Shanxiong froze. One by one, the pitiful women he had ravaged also appeared around him.

All of those women were smiling at him.

Seeing them, Wang Shanxiong suddenly felt some regret over everything he had done these past years.

He wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth—

Those women suddenly transformed into vicious ghosts with green faces and fangs, baring their claws as they pounced on him and began tearing into him.

Wang Shanxiong was terrified beyond measure. He wanted to scream but could not make a sound; he wanted to flee but could not move.

At that moment, Lin Feng felt Wang Shanxiong beneath him convulsing without stop.

He guessed Wang Shanxiong was not quite dead yet, so he gave him another two punches.

After a while, Wang Shanxiong's body became cold and stiff.

The notorious Flower Picking Bandit had fallen for good.

Just then, the wind died and the rain stopped. Sunlight pierced the clouds, and a rainbow stretched across the vault of heaven.

Lin Feng felt the fire in his chest finally extinguish as well.

Lin Feng collapsed weakly to one side. Violent pain surged from every part of his body, and his consciousness began to blur.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he seemed to hear several girls calling softly to him.

"Benefactor, wake up."

"Young man, don't fall asleep."

"Benefactor, thank you."

Lin Feng woke in a daze, treating the whispers at his ears as nothing more than an illusion.

Lin Feng first looked at Wang Shanxiong's attribute panel and discovered that it had turned gray.

That meant he was one hundred percent dead.

Lin Feng then looked at his own attribute panel.

When he saw his vitality attribute, his body involuntarily trembled.

A zero had been wiped off his vitality attribute, dropping it directly from twenty to two.

Wasn't he close to death himself, then?

Lin Feng felt weak all over, his eyelids constantly fighting each other as though he might fall asleep at any moment.

If he fell asleep, he would probably be done for.

Lin Feng hurriedly added his remaining two Breakthrough Points to his vitality attribute.

His vitality attribute rose from two to four.

The change in vitality was immediate. Lin Feng no longer felt so sleepy, and his hands and feet could move again.

However, he still could not stand.

Using both hands and feet, Lin Feng crawled toward the bag of food he had dropped.

Hunters generally brought their own food when going into the mountains to hunt.

Lin Feng normally did not bring food when he went into the mountains. He ate whatever he caught.

This time, since he had brought Wang Shanxiong into the mountains and feared Wang Shanxiong might grow suspicious, he had brought a bag of dried meat. Unexpectedly, it really came in handy.

Lin Feng crawled to the food bag, opened it, and began stuffing dried meat into his mouth. Once it entered his stomach, it was quickly digested.

Lin Feng had discovered that after gaining the system, whenever his vitality attribute fell below normal, food would digest especially quickly.

The energy produced by digesting food replenished his vitality attribute.

Though it could not heal his injuries instantly, it could speed up the recovery of his wounds.

After he finished an entire bag of dried meat—

Lin Feng checked his attribute panel again. His vitality attribute had increased by one, reaching five.

It seemed eating was quite effective after all.

By then, Lin Feng was able to stand and move around.

He got up and picked up his bow, arrows, and quiver.

The oiled-paper umbrella had already been ruined beyond recognition, so there was no need to take it.

Lin Feng also searched Wang Shanxiong and found ten taels of silver. That was probably just Wang Shanxiong's pocket money.

After returning, he would have to thoroughly search Wang Shanxiong's home. There would surely be more silver there, and perhaps even one or two Martial Arts Manuals.

Finally, Lin Feng cut off Wang Shanxiong's head.

Wang Shanxiong's head was far too valuable. He could claim a reward of two thousand taels of silver by taking it to the yamen.

For Lin Feng's family, two thousand taels of silver was an astonishing fortune, enough to buy a residence in the County Town.

Of course, only in the Outer City.

To enter the Inner City, one needed the corresponding identity and status. Only officials in the city and their relatives could live in the Inner City.

Buying a house in the Outer City of the County Town was already the lifelong goal that most people in Qinghe County struggled toward.

That showed just how much those two thousand taels of silver were worth.

Lin Feng stripped off Wang Shanxiong's clothes and wrapped up Wang Shanxiong's head.

Then he started back.

All the clothes on his body had been torn to shreds, and he was covered in injuries.

With Wang Shanxiong's head in hand as well, he definitely could not go straight home. If his mother, wife, and children saw him in such a miserable state, they would worry themselves to death.

Going to Huzi's house would not work either. Huzi's parents would certainly tell his mother if they saw him.

Besides, he needed to get something to eat.

Without food, it would be difficult for his injuries to recover quickly.

By the time Lin Feng had reached the middle of the road, he had already thought of a solution.

He could first sneak into Wang Shanxiong's home and hide his head in Wang Shanxiong's cellar.

There was no rush to search Wang Shanxiong's home.

After hiding Wang Shanxiong's head, he could first go to Mr. Hong's place and have the maid Yue'e prepare him some food. While he was at it, he could also play up how miserable he was.

Perhaps when Mr. Hong saw how wretched he looked, his heart would soften and he would teach him martial arts.

Best of all, Mr. Hong might take him as a disciple.

Having a master was far too important.

The most elite martial arts in this world were all passed down through sects and lineages, sometimes even from mouth to mouth. There was simply no other way to obtain them.

A master would also teach martial arts knowledge and experience of the jianghu, allowing a disciple to avoid countless pitfalls.

At certain critical junctures in martial arts training, once one took the wrong path, there was no turning back.

A disciple could even inherit his master's property.

And the disciple's main duty was to master his master's martial arts and carry them forward.

Mastering martial arts was far too easy for him. What he lacked were cultivation methods.

For Lin Feng, becoming a disciple would bring nothing but benefits.

During this time, Lin Feng had been bringing meat to Mr. Hong almost every day.

He had already become familiar with the maid Yue'e. If he asked her to prepare some food for him, she definitely would not refuse.

He could go home after eating.

With a plan in mind, Lin Feng began to carry it out.

While the villagers were eating lunch, he secretly ran to the gate outside Wang Shanxiong's courtyard and climbed over the wall.

Huh, Wang Shanxiong had locked the courtyard gate, but the doors to the house were not locked.

Could it be that there was nothing valuable inside? How careless.

Lin Feng was also afraid there might be other people in Wang Shanxiong's home.

Wang Shanxiong's home had only two rooms, a main room and a side room.

Lin Feng carefully checked them. There was no one in either room, nor were there any signs that a second person lived there.

It seemed Wang Shanxiong had simply forgotten to lock the doors.

Lin Feng entered Wang Shanxiong's kitchen and found the family's vegetable cellar.

After opening the cellar hatch, Lin Feng did not dare jump straight in.

Flower Picking Bandits generally had unusual tastes.

There might be something special inside Wang Shanxiong's vegetable cellar, so Lin Feng did not dare jump in directly.

Using Wang Shanxiong's oil lamp and some scraps of cloth, he made a torch.

Then he lit the torch and lowered it into the vegetable cellar to look inside.