Su Mu felt a regret arising in his heart, the rain reduced his senses, and in his hurry, he only noticed someone ahead when he got too close.
"Leave... Better to leave first."
On rainy days, the toxins in Su Mu's body acted up, and his physical condition was already worse than usual, and he also noticed the person had a long saber at his waist and an ominous aura, certainly not an ordinary individual.
It seemed he had encountered a bandit on the road.
Su Mu wanted to avoid the trouble, but the scar-faced man had no intention of letting him go. He placed one hand on his saber and strode towards Su Mu.
"Kid, be sensible and hand over all your money to me. I only rob money, not lives."
Just robbery?
Su Mu didn't believe it, but he didn't want to directly confront the person in front of him, so he lowered his head and spoke, "Hero, I'll, I'll take out all the money on me now."
After saying that, Su Mu reached into his chest and took out a small money bag containing more than a hundred copper coins, he had just received last month's wages a few days ago.
Seeing Su Mu acting timidly and his voice trembling, the scar-faced man snorted disdainfully and removed his right hand from the knife handle.
He began to look Su Mu up and down. Although the kid was thin and weak, his features were handsome with a hint of elegance, a look favored by those with a certain tendency, and at this age, the kid could fetch a good price.
"Are you that Su Mu?"
At these words, Su Mu's expression froze, and a coldness filled his heart. The fact that the other party accurately called out his name indicated that this encounter was no coincidence.
The other party was clearly deliberately waiting for him here.
Who was plotting against him?
Was it those guys?
Impossible, if those guys wanted to deal with him, there was no need to go to so much trouble for a poisoned Death Warrior.
For a moment, Su Mu's mind was in turmoil, unable to sort things out, but he knew very well that since the other party was after him, they clearly would not just let it go.
Now, there was only one path left for Su Mu... a fight to the death.
Today, it was either you die or I live!
"So you are Su Mu... Hero, please don't kill me, this is all I have..."
Su Mu pretended to tremble all over, his voice was full of terror.
"Hmph, you made me wait a long time in the rain, kid."
The scar-faced man complained, stepping closer to what he thought was his easy prey, within three steps, the man reached for Su Mu's chin to get a good look at the boy he caught, to better assess its value.
A large hand reached out.
In Su Mu's eyes, the trajectory of this hand was clear, as if slowed down; this was a change that came from his enhanced comprehension, making his senses far sharper than ordinary people.
Immediately, the 54 forms of Five Animals Qigong flashed quickly in his mind.
"I can do it, I can do it..."
The Fifth Form of the Tiger Play, Tiger Pounce First Form.
Having insisted on practicing the Five Animals Qigong for several years in his past life, and after coming to this world, he had intensely practiced it for half a year, and it was now coming in handy.
Su Mu's back arched slightly, and at the moment of extended tension, his upper body leaned forward, and his calloused hands instinctively formed tiger claws, then suddenly lunged forward, striking.
This strike accurately grabbed the man's wrist, and with a swift squeeze, "Ugh?!"
The scar-faced man instantly felt a severe pain in his wrist, the bones seemed to crack as if it would be crushed, and in an instant, what appeared to be a harmless lamb turned into a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
"Damn it, let go!"
The scar-faced man cried out in pain, but Su Mu would not let go, and with his free left hand, he punched forward, then lunged at the man like a fierce tiger.
The man, still unable to free his wrist, felt a tremendous force attack him, stumbled, lost balance, and was knocked to the ground by Su Mu, looking at the boy on top of him, who resembled a savage beast.
The scar-faced man was utterly terrified, smelling an extreme danger, his face showed panic and fear, and he wanted to do something, but it was already too late.
Sixth Form of the Tiger Play, Tiger Pounce Second Form!
Su Mu shouted, immediately tensing his ten fingers, arms, and wrists, both hands turned into tiger claws striking repeatedly at the man's neck arteries in a flurry of blow.
The neck, with many blood vessels and dense nerves, a full strike enough to be fatal!
The tiger claws tore the skin, reaching into the flesh, blood splattering instantly.
"No, stop... stop now..."
The second strike landed precisely on the same place, tearing into the blood vessel artery.
Thunk.
The veins severed, the throat's knot shattered, but Su Mu had no intention of stopping.
One claw after another, as if truly turning into a fierce tiger, aiming to tear apart its prey.
After countless strikes, Su Mu stopped, breathing heavily, his hands and face covered in blood, the still warm arterial blood.
An indescribable fatigue was visible on his face; though it took only a few breaths, it was even more tiring than a full day at the forging shop.
Beneath Su Mu, the scar-faced man's head separated from his body, his eyes wide open, face full of terror and disbelief; he died with grievances unassuaged, unable to comprehend how a lamb could suddenly turn into a fierce tiger.
Huff huff---------
After a few deep breaths, Su Mu wiped his mouth, his mind settled, he intended to leave, but after taking a step, he turned back.
He took a deep breath again, crouched down, and began searching the corpse. Before long, Su Mu found something wrapped in cloth, feeling like a book inside.
Su Mu didn't open it to check on the spot; he only wanted to leave quickly, but at that moment, he heard footsteps coming from a nearby direction.
"Brother Wang, have you caught the kid?"
Upon hearing the voice, Su Mu shivered and the confusion in his mind vanished instantly, while a terrifying glint passed through his eyes.
Sun Li!
There was no mistaking the voice, it was Sun Li, a fellow apprentice at the iron forging shop!
Su Mu turned to look.
The next second.
A terrifying scream erupted, not from Su Mu, but from Sun Li.
Sun Li swallowed a gulp, his pupils shrinking to the extreme; he saw Su Mu covered in blood and the scar-faced man lying dead with a gruesome expression, eyes wide open.
"Su, Su Mu... you, how are you still alive..."
Su Mu did not speak, bending down to place his hand on the hilt of the long saber at the man's waist.
Whoosh!
The blade scraped against the sheath, producing a dull knife cry, which sounded like a death knell in Sun Li's ears.
Plop.
Sun Li's legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, and as the rain washed the blood from the blade, it reflected his bloodless, terrified face, as Su Mu approached, saber in hand.
"No, you, you can't kill me..."
"Blame yourself."
"Blame me?"
"I've dedicated myself as an apprentice at the iron shop for over two years, and you, a country boy who only came three months ago, have been allowed to learn forging alongside me, what right do you have..."
So that's how it is, Su Mu took another step forward.
"Su, Su Mu, please spare me this time... I won't dare anymore, I know I was wrong, really..."
Su Mu, holding the saber in both hands, looked at Sun Li, then shook his head.
"No, it's not that you know you were wrong..."
"It's that you know you're going to die."
The saber rose and fell, the cold gleam descended, Sun Li's face registered disbelief, how could he die like this, he didn't want to die, so he desperately stretched out his hand to clutch the wound on his neck.
But in the next second, the line of blood widened.
Sun Li felt his head spinning, his head rolling to the ground.
The last thing he saw was Su Mu pulling a money bag from a headless corpse.
The endless drizzle, with the rain pattering down, the villain's corpse needed no handling, beasts from the mountains would surely visit tonight.
Who notices, or cares, how many lives are lost in chaotic times?
The youth threw down the blood-stained saber, his silhouette fading into the distance.
...