Chapter 87 - 41: Picture Scroll
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and the Third Lady went to prepare a meal.
Fang Rui told the two little girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, to play in the main room, while he went into the inner room himself.
「A short while later.」
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Fang Rui rubbed his stomach, his face a little pale.
This wasn’t due to his Innate Body Weakness. That condition no longer affected him; his Martial Arts had advanced so quickly that it suppressed the weakness, leaving him virtually no different from an ordinary person.
It was like a leaking bucket; as long as you added water faster than it leaked, it had no effect at all.
The real reason was...
Fang Rui had been refining his Power to replenish what he’d lost fighting Lord Hu. But Power wasn’t generated from nothing; it consumed energy, which in turn drew heavily upon his body’s nutrients.
’Other Middle Grade Martial Artists supplement every meal with rich, oily food and even use medicinal cuisine... But I don’t have that luxury.’
Fang Rui had stockpiled some scarce supplies, but not a huge amount. It wasn’t enough to live extravagantly every day.
As the Lin and Xia Families began stockpiling supplies, other prominent families in the city followed suit. Supplies in the Black Market had already tightened. If he tried to buy more now, not only would the prices be absurdly high, but he might not even be able to get much.
As for medicinal cuisine?
He had a batch of medicinal herbs on hand, but among them, aged Old Medicines were rare, let alone Great Medicines over a hundred years old.
—The herbs for a Middle Grade Martial Artist’s medicinal cuisine needed to be, at the very least, aged Old Medicines.
And as for Great Medicines...
Even if Fang Rui could afford them, he might not be able to buy them. They were a resource monopolized by the great families, which was also why Martial Artists like Yuan Da had no choice but to pledge allegiance and serve them like dogs.
’No matter the era, there are always huge restrictions and barriers to climbing higher!’
Fang Rui lamented.
’My nutritional supply issue... I can only eat more, substituting quantity for quality. I can also use ordinary herbs to concoct some crude versions of medicinal cuisine. It’s better than nothing, I suppose.’
These conditions, in truth, would only allow Fang Rui to barely maintain his Realm. For any other Martial Artist in this situation, breaking through would be fundamentally impossible. But he was special; he had Tribulation Points.
’Speaking of which, the rewards for killing Lord Hu weren’t bad. Besides all that silver, the biggest gain was...’
Fang Rui looked at the Skills section of his panel, at a Martial Art he’d obtained from Lord Hu. ’Life-taking Saber Technique! What a simple and unadorned name!’
The specifics of the Life-taking Saber Technique were simple: how to draw one’s saber to kill in the fastest way possible. The process of practicing a Martial Art, progressing from the basics to the profound, was really just about training various responses until they became instinct. The ultimate goal was to reach a state of effortless mastery, where one’s skill bordered on the sublime.
’Practicing at home isn’t a good idea. Mother and Third Sister would be one thing, but it would be easy to scare Ling’Er and Nannan. I’d better just use Tribulation Points to level it up.’
’Of course, my Realm is the top priority. If I reach the Fifth Grade, why would I even need a Martial Art to deal with a Sixth Grade opponent? With my attributes, I could just brute-force it!’
’Even if I have enough Tribulation Points to upgrade the Life-taking Saber Technique, I should save them for now... Before I’ve saved up enough to break through to the Fifth Grade, if an emergency comes up and I need to upgrade a Martial Art, that’s another matter.’
...
At Noon, just as a fragrant aroma began to waft from the Fang Family’s home, a sudden cheer erupted outside the window.
Fang Rui went to the window and listened, and he could make out the faint voices from outside.
"Uncle Changlin, have you heard? Lord Hu... Pah, Zhang Heihu is dead! That damn tiger, someone broke into his house this morning and killed him..." one person shouted loudly.
"I heard about it too. Not just Zhang Heihu, his old man was hacked to death too. All that’s left are the orphans and the widow..." Even the usually composed Uncle Changlin’s voice was filled with joy.
"Damn him to hell, heaven has eyes after all! The Chus’, Guihua’s Family, Sanmiao Family... so many blood debts! He died well, he died wonderfully! If I knew who killed him, I’d definitely set up a memorial tablet for them in my home..."
"Isn’t that the truth? Lord Hu’s wife and kids are still around. Who’s coming with me to take a look?" This was Sister-in-law Cai Gen’s voice.
"I’ll go!"
"Me too!"
...
"Hey, what are you all planning to do? Go to Zhang Heihu’s house to spit on them? To curse them? No need for us! The officers from the Government Office have already gone over. But not to help the Zhang Family get justice, but rather... heheh..."
"That’s right, Zhang Heihu’s wife and kids were taken away by the governmental officers. They said it was for their protection, but only a fool would believe that! The ’family-exterminating officers’ isn’t just a joke! I reckon the Zhang Family won’t get through this without losing a layer of skin..."
"Losing a layer of skin would be getting off easy. I heard Zhang Heihu’s wife is quite a looker. Taken away by the governmental officers... heheh! Heheheh!" The voice was full of schadenfreude.
"That’s a truly miserable fate, but... they deserve it!"
...
’This is how public sentiment turns!’
Listening to the excited discussion outside his window, Fang Rui let out a long sigh. ’You reap what you sow. With Zhang Heihu dead, his family’s retribution has arrived.’
’But, while Zhang Heihu is dead, these neighbors are celebrating too soon. The Tiger Gang isn’t finished yet!’
Moreover, once the news of the county reserve army’s major defeat and the imminent arrival of the Taiping Bandits spreads, these neighbors probably won’t be smiling anymore.
Combined with the news of Zhang Heihu’s death, it would be, so to speak, three shocks in one day.
’When that time comes, who knows how chaotic things will get!’
’So, for now, be happy! Be excited! A little later, and you probably won’t be able to smile anymore. Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing...’
CREAK!
Fang Rui closed the window. What happened to other families was not his business, not his problem, and he couldn’t be bothered with it.
He retracted his gaze and focused his attention back inside the house.
The kitchen.
The clatter of pots and pans mingled with the cheerful voices of Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and the Third Lady. In this warm atmosphere, the tempting aroma of food drifted in, carried on the rays of the noon sun.
Fang Ling and Nannan were playing in the main room, making figures with a cat’s cradle string.