Finally!
Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Ye selected yes.
In an instant, the screen before his eyes changed, and three different paths for career advancement slowly emerged.
[Option one: Cat Burglar] [Description: A night prowler with keen eyes and ears who scales heights and runs along eaves, specializing in stealing from attics and deep within grand residences. Talents: Light as a Swallow, Borrowing Force from Eaves and Corners] [Option two: Tomb Robber] [Description: A gold digger who excavates earth, tunnels into burial chambers and identifies the dwellings of the dead, making a living underground. Talents: Finding Dragons and Locating Acupoints, Feng Shui Mastery] [Option three: Water Bandit] [Description: A wave rider who treads the waves, swims and hides among the reeds, plundering small boats on the waterways. Talents: Riding Waves and Overturning Boats, Seeing Things Beneath the Waves]
Chen Ye studied the three options and fell into thought.
Water Bandit was the first to be ruled out. Even considering that he would have to return to Blackwater Lake eventually, its talents overlapped somewhat with those of his previous Boat Dweller career.
Tomb Robber sounded like a decent choice too, and it would give him the art of feng shui geomancy for free. But it was too limiting, and besides, he was in the capital now. Where was he supposed to find a great tomb?
Only Cat Burglar, whether in its career description or its talents, was best suited to his current circumstances.
When the time came, it would be far more useful than the other two careers, whether for protecting himself or getting things done.
Having made up his mind, Chen Ye selected Cat Burglar.
In an instant, the words on the screen began to rearrange themselves, finally settling into place.
[Career change successful!] [Name: Chen Ye] [Career: Cat Burglar (lv1)] [Talent: Light as a Swallow (Your body becomes lighter, your jumping and balance improve greatly, and you land without a sound)] [Existing skills: Deft Hands lv7, Swift Blade lv6]
The instant the career change was complete, Chen Ye felt a strange warmth well up through every limb and bone. His whole body seemed considerably lighter, and his limbs brimmed with strength, leaving him itching to try them out.
It worked!
Chen Ye was overjoyed, but he made no fuss. Instead, he washed up briefly as usual, then blew out the lamp and went to sleep.
The following night, once the shared courtyard had fallen completely quiet, Chen Ye rose without a sound and slipped out of the courtyard like a wildcat.
He moved quickly through the darkness and soon arrived before an abandoned stretch of city wall.
The place was remote. Though it lay within the city, it was a deserted spot, perfect for testing his new career.
Chen Ye looked up at the ruined wall, more than ten meters high, and took a deep breath. Then he bent his legs slightly and pushed off hard!
Whoosh!
As though hurled from a catapult, he soared more than three meters into the air.
When he came down, his toes touched lightly against the ground, and he stood firm without making the slightest sound.
Was this the boost from the Light as a Swallow talent?
Chen Ye's eyes lit up, and he charged at the high wall again.
This time, when he reached the peak of his jump, with his old momentum spent and new strength yet to come, Chen Ye tapped the wall lightly with his toes and leaped up again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In just a few breaths, Chen Ye successfully climbed to the top of the city wall.
The howling night wind stirred his clothes. Looking down at the city sleeping soundly beneath his feet, Chen Ye felt a surge of heroic spirit swell in his chest.
He even had the illusion that, if he wished, he could go anywhere in this vast capital, into any of its countless homes.
Of course, that was merely an illusion brought on by his increased strength.
After all, Chen Ye understood his current limitations. Though his talent bolstered him, his skills were still sorely lacking.
All of that would take time and practice.
Even so, Chen Ye was confident.
He looked into the distance and could just make out an enormous palace to the north.
That was the imperial palace of the Great Zhao Dynasty.
As he gazed at the vast palace complex ablaze with lights, Chen Ye's eyes shone with excitement.
Once I'm strong enough, I'll have to go inside that imperial palace and take a look.
Oh, and there's the Lin Family!
Though it was the previous owner of this body who had died, Chen Ye had inherited his body, so naturally he had to bear the karma that came with it.
But he couldn't rush this. Facing a long-established, powerful and prestigious family like the Lin Family, he had even less reason to act rashly.
Chen Ye slowly breathed out, then leaped off the city wall.
As he fell, Chen Ye occasionally tapped the wall lightly with his toes to slow his descent.
Thus, when he finally landed, Chen Ye felt only a slight jolt in his legs and made no sound at all.
Chen Ye continued testing his abilities for a long while. Only when his excitement had subsided somewhat did he return to the shared courtyard, still wanting more.
Over the next few days, Chen Ye went to the city wall to practice every night. Finally, on this day, he unlocked a Cat Burglar skill through practice.
[Running on Eaves lv1 (Can adhere to walls and the corners of eaves, climbing rapidly)]
After taking up a career, the boost from its talents made training related to that career's characteristics more than a matter of getting twice the result for half the effort. It was as if the gods themselves were lending a hand.
This was also one of the greatest benefits of the career panel. Besides that, there were heaven-defying bonuses such as retaining a skill forever once learned, and reaping a harvest for every bit of effort put in, but there was no need to go into those.
In short, Chen Ye now practiced with even greater enthusiasm.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth lunar month.
The weather grew colder, but with the new year approaching, the capital was livelier than usual.
The marketplaces, long in decline, came alive again. Shops everywhere hung lanterns and colorful decorations, and some temples began holding grand fairs to pray for favorable winds and rains in the coming year.
For Fang Tao and his gang of Brushing Walls, this was also the busiest time of the year.
Brushing Walls was jianghu slang for a thief who picked pockets and pilfered purses in the streets.
Their counterparts included Scaling Heights, who ran along eaves and walls; Opening Dens, who slipped through doors and pried open locks; and Picking Lines, who held people up on the road.
These were the four main schools under the Rong Character Gate. There were others who had carved out their own paths, but they were too few in number to become mainstream.
The crowded temple fairs naturally became the best hunting grounds for Brushing Walls.
Fayuan Temple.
The temple had been built in the previous dynasty and had a history of nearly a thousand years, making it a venerable temple worthy of the name. It drew a thriving stream of worshippers and was famous far and wide; its temple fair, in turn, was one of the largest in the capital.
Chen Ye squeezed through the crowd and first spent two copper coins at a roadside stall on a bowl of piping-hot tofu pudding. He ate it with a freshly fried dough stick, feeling comfortable from head to toe.
As he ate, Chen Ye wandered around the fair with great interest.
Not far away, a strongman had a huge stone smashed on his chest, a pretty young woman swallowed a sword, and a jianghu performer swallowed clouds and breathed out mist, drawing waves of cheers from the onlookers.
Among the Eight Great Schools of the jianghu, these all fell under the Cai Character Gate, whose members made their living through extraordinary skills.
Chen Ye watched for a while, then moved on.
He hadn't really come to enjoy the fair.
He had set rules for himself. Beyond his bottom line of three kinds of people he would not steal from, he had added another: he would not steal money from the poor, and would target only the wealthy and cruel, those who used their power to bully others.
Before long, a target came into view.
He was a potbellied man with a shiny, greasy face.
At that moment, he was standing in front of an old man's candied hawthorn stall, arguing until he was red in the face over the price of a single copper coin.
"You old bastard, you dare charge three coins for this candied hawthorn? Those hawthorns look nearly rotten to me! Two coins, and not a copper more!"
The old hawthorn seller hunched over, the wrinkles on his face bunching together as he forced a smile. "Honored sir, that's truly what it cost this old man. There have been natural disasters this year, and everything is expensive..."
"Bullshit!"
The man glared, then, without a second thought, raised his hand and gave the old man a ringing slap!
"Smack!"
The crisp sound silenced the surroundings in an instant.
The blow sent the old man staggering. One cheek quickly turned red and swollen, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he didn't dare make a sound. His eyes were full of terror and humiliation.
Still not appeased, the man cursed as he tossed down two copper coins, picked up a skewer of candied hawthorn, and turned to leave.
Chen Ye silently watched the scene from the crowd. He finished the last mouthful of tofu pudding, then followed the man.