Burial, Return to the Village

"Eh? A cultivation skill dropped!"

Lu Shaoyou was overjoyed as he looked at the prompt on the system panel.

Lingbo Weibu—this was a superior movement technique, precisely what he lacked right now.

"System, comprehend Lingbo Weibu!"

Ding. Congratulations to the host on successful comprehension. Lingbo Weibu has reached Beginner level.

In an instant, the profound essence of the technique flooded into his mind.

"Movement followed no constant rule, seeming perilous yet secure; advance and retreat could not be predicted, like leaving and returning."

Attributes Panel

Name: Lu Shaoyou.

Cultivation: Second-rate martial artist.

Cultivation Skill: Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill (Fifth Layer).

Secret Techniques: Shaolin Cudgel Technique (Proficient), Lingbo Weibu (Beginner), Mountain Splitting Fist (Beginner).

Slaughter Value: 510.

Inventory: Ten cubic meters.

"System, consume 500 Slaughter Value to upgrade the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill."

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Shaoyou upgraded the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill once more.

Although secret techniques were also important, cudgel techniques could be said to be the simplest and most brutal among all weapons.

Their movements were simple, using strength to crush skill.

As long as one's strength was great enough, the power would not be weak.

Using Slaughter Value to improve his cudgel technique now was clearly not a wise move.

Cultivation was the foundation of everything!

The Power of Six Dragons and Six Elephants surged through him. Two more of the body's twelve primary meridians had been penetrated, leaving only the final two before they were completely opened.

Once all of them were opened, it would mean entering the first-rate realm.

A first-rate martial artist was already considered a local powerhouse in the mortal martial world.

Lu Shaoyou casually threw several punches. His fist force was swift as a shadow, producing bursts of sonic booms.

Several hours later.

At a mountain ravine, Lu Shaoyou found the corpse of his father, Lu Dahai.

The body was still fairly intact and had not been gnawed on by wild beasts, which made Lu Shaoyou breathe a sigh of relief.

He found a spot with good feng shui, dug a pit and buried the body, then found a stone slab and carved an inscription upon it.

After finishing everything, Lu Shaoyou knelt down and heavily kowtowed three times.

"Father, forgive your son for being unable to observe filial mourning for you."

"Rest assured. I will not let a single one of those Black Wind Village bastards go."

Although he had gained memories from his previous life, those memories were like a dream, too distant from him and somewhat unreal.

Lu Shaoyou had never met his mother, nor had he ever asked his father about her.

Lu Dahai had been both father and mother, raising him from childhood through piss and shit. It had truly not been easy.

"Father, your son is leaving. I will come visit you again in the future."

After taking one deep look at the gravestone, Lu Shaoyou no longer lingered. He turned and headed out of the mountains.

After the transformation of his body, both his stamina and speed were no longer what they had once been. He had to return to Lu Family Village before nightfall.

Lu Family Village.

A remote mountain village under Yun Yuan County, with only a little over a hundred households.

The vast majority were ordinary farmers who faced the yellow earth with their backs to the sky.

At this hour on ordinary days, wisps of cooking smoke would already have risen throughout the village.

But today, the entire village was deathly silent, without even the crowing of chickens or barking of dogs.

Several jujube-red steeds were tied beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance, their heads lowered as they ate fodder.

"There are horses. It seems those bandits haven't left yet!" Hidden behind a large boulder, Lu Shaoyou gazed toward the village from afar.

Upon seeing the steeds at the village entrance, Lu Shaoyou's heart settled. He had rushed back in such a panic precisely because he feared those horse bandits would escape.

If those horse bandits returned to the mountains, finding them again would be difficult. Even the county yamen could not locate Black Wind Village's lair.

For him alone to find it would be as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

After carefully sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, Lu Shaoyou crouched low and crept toward the village.

That morning, he had seen dozens of horse bandits. Charging in directly was definitely not an option.

He planned to sneak into the village first and investigate.

Fortunately, he had lived here for more than ten years and knew the village layout like the back of his hand. The secluded paths were even more familiar to him than a well-worn book.

At this moment, inside a courtyard in the village.

More than a dozen burly men were wolfing down food, while shattered wine jars lay strewn across the ground.

Some had drunk themselves into a stupor, sprawled over the tables and snoring loudly.

"Haha, this feels great... burp..."

Suddenly, one man staggered to his feet, smashed the wine jar in his hand onto the ground, and began shouting loudly.

"Life down the mountain is still more comfortable!"

"There's endless meat to eat, endless wine to drink, and women to play with!"

"How could it compare to life in the mountains? We can't eat well, can't dress warmly, and get bitten by mosquitoes every day."

"Tell me, what do we work so hard for every day?"

"Isn't it for heaps of silver and beautiful women?"

The man prattled on endlessly. Seeing that no one paid him any attention, he slapped the table and roared at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, am I right or not...?"

The man beside him, who was holding a roast chicken and gnawing at it until his mouth dripped with grease, jumped in fright and immediately echoed him.

"Right, exactly..."

"Brother Long is absolutely right..."

"The women down the mountain have far more meat on them than those goods in the mountains!"

"Fair and tender..."

"Hehe..."

As though he had thought of something delightful, the man wore a lecherous grin and let out strange chuckles.

"Xiao San, look at your pathetic face!"

"You lucky bastard, you actually came across a young girl. So, was that little lass delicious?"

Zhao Long draped a large arm around the man's shoulders and asked with a lewd expression.

The man shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Not fun... that little bitch didn't know a damn thing."

"She even dared bite my tongue. I chopped her into two pieces with one slash. I still prefer them ripe..."

"Hehe!"

Slap!

At those words, Zhao Long slapped the back of the man's head and cursed furiously, as though he hated iron for failing to become steel.

"Useless bastard! Even when handed an opportunity, you can't make use of it!"

"Trash!"

"Hahaha..."

A burst of laughter immediately rang through the courtyard.

"Come on, keep eating, keep drinking..."

"I wonder where that Huzi fellow has been for so long. Why hasn't he come back yet?"

"Is chasing one person really that hard?..."

Zhao Long stared with bleary eyes at the sun that was nearly setting and muttered to himself.

"Fifteen men!"

Within the shadow of the courtyard wall, Lu Shaoyou rubbed his fingertips along the Qi Mei Cudgel and narrowed his eyes as he counted the shifting figures in the courtyard.

Several naked female corpses hung upside down from the rafters, their long hair trailing across the ground and brushing through pools of blood.

Lu Shaoyou recognized them. They were all unmarried girls from the village, girls who should have been in the prime of their youth, yet now they had died with eyes that would not close.

One of them had smiled and brought him two white steamed buns just the day before yesterday.

In those blood-red eyes, opened wide in fury, the helplessness and despair she had felt before death were clearly reflected.

"Beasts..."

Those beasts did not even spare minors. They truly deserved to die!

Lu Shaoyou's eyes reddened. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails sank deep into his palms, yet he felt nothing.

"Not yet. Wait a little longer!" Lu Shaoyou took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Rushing in now was not a wise move. Although he possessed the Power of Six Dragons and Six Elephants, he could not afford to be careless.

Those men might look drunk and muddleheaded now, but martial artists had no weak resistance to alcohol.

Lu Shaoyou estimated that the leading horse bandit was not weak. To be safe, he intended to let those beasts grow complacent a while longer.

After the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Several more horse bandits had slumped over the tables. Even the leading horse bandit swayed drunkenly, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, a sharp gleam flashed in Lu Shaoyou's eyes. The leading horse bandit's face was flushed red, and he babbled incoherently as he slumped toward the table.

"We can make our move now!"