Chapter 3

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Li Rui slowly opened his eyes, feeling the strangeness in his lower body.

A pillar supporting the sky.

A long-lost feeling.

It seems practicing martial arts is indeed very effective.

During this period, besides the necessary patrols to the stables, he hid in his room to practice, and the results were extremely obvious; he had secretly tried, and lifting a two-hundred-jin boulder was no problem at all.

A seventy-year-old man lifting two hundred jin would be a god of the park in his past life.

The Eight-Section Brocade doesn't have much lethality, but great strength can still kill people.

With Li Rui's current strength, I'm afraid most of the Zhu family guards are no match for him.

Li Rui first patrolled the stables and then practiced the Eight-Section Brocade four times.

It wasn't until he was startled by a commotion outside the door that he walked out.

When Li Rui followed the sound to the front courtyard, he saw a group of servants gathered in a circle, and vaguely heard the painful wails of a person.

Li Rui saw Yang Yong on the very edge of the crowd at a glance.

"Old Yang, what happened?"

Yang Yong: "A kid who just entered the residence stole something from the house and was caught red-handed by the Master. According to the rules, he has to take thirty lashes."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Rui heard a heart-wrenching 'Ah'.

Through the gaps in the crowd, he saw a young man with his upper body bare, his back covered in bloody welts, a shocking sight.

"You ungrateful dog, I took pity on you and took you in, yet you dare to steal! I'll beat you to death!"

He saw the Master of the Zhu family raise his whip and strike down fiercely.

A crisp 'Pa!'

The watching servants couldn't help but tremble in unison.

Yang Yong: "This kid's mother is seriously ill, which is why he sold himself to the Zhu family; he must have wanted to steal to sell for money to treat his mother, sigh..."

He shook his head and didn't continue.

In the end, the young man was carried away by several guards while unconscious; it looked like he had more breath going out than coming in and wouldn't survive.

Li Rui was perhaps the calmest among them.

He had seen too many such scenes in his decades of experience; once a slave, one's life is sold to the master. Even if beaten to death by the master, the government wouldn't care, and dying would be for nothing.

"This man-eating world."

At this moment, Yang Yong suddenly exclaimed: "Old Li, have you been rejuvenated? Your body looks much tougher than before."

He looked Li Rui up and down, making tsk-tsk sounds.

Originally, he thought Li Rui was just joking when he asked for the Eight-Section Brocade, but now it seems he might really be practicing.

Li Rui took the Eight-Section Brocade technique from his chest: "Just in time to return it to you."

Yang Yong took the technique, but the surprise in his eyes grew even more.

"Old Li, do you still want to outlive me?"

Li Rui: "Don't worry, I'm experienced in burying people."

Yang Yong's mouth twitched; he felt he really might not outlive Li Rui. Could it be that Old Li really wants to see him off?

Reversing the heavens!

Li Rui returned to his room, recalling today's scene.

A servant is a servant after all, with no human rights to speak of.

As his martial arts continued to deepen, his consumption grew larger and larger. The stock in the stable warehouse had long been exhausted by him. Although he could steal and hide some every day, this undoubtedly increased the risk of being discovered by the masters.

Even though he had watched the Master of the Zhu family grow up.

But if he committed a crime, the other party wouldn't show the slightest mercy. The previous groom was beaten to death just because a horse got sick.

He was the one who buried the body.

"Looks like I can only go outside to buy."

Fortunately, the groom's monthly pay is generous, and there's nothing to spend money on in the Zhu family. Li Rui has saved quite a bit of money over the years, enough to support him for a while.

Thinking that he had a full thirty taels of silver in assets.

No wonder it's said that some young girls in the city love to trick old men.

When a person gets old, they know many things that young people don't, like this black market.

The black market was built forty years ago.

At that time, he had just buried the old groom and became the new groom of the Zhu family. The black market was quite formal then, and many things only slowly became informal.

The black market is in a corner of the East City, and it takes about two quarters of an hour to get there.

At the entrance, two burly men in black clothes who looked like they weren't to be trifled with stopped Li Rui expressionlessly: "One 'da qian' entry fee; fighting is forbidden inside, otherwise, bear the consequences yourself."

"Understood."

Li Rui had long known the process and skillfully took out a 'da qian' from his chest.

Calling it a black market, it wasn't as mysterious as the legends, just a slightly special gathering point for stalls. The things sold were miscellaneous; there might be treasures, but not many.

Most were villagers from nearby bringing chickens, eggs, and the like to trade.

Although the black market charges an entry fee, it's much lower than the government's tariffs, and ironically, the order in the black market is even better than in the government's market, so many people are willing to come even if it's a bit more expensive.

Truly unspeakable things are usually not discovered by ordinary people even if they see them; specific Jianghu secret codes are required.

Li Rui had been here many times and knew the situation of the black market like the back of his hand.

At this moment, his appearance was very different from usual.

Not only was he wearing a black scarf, but his clothes were also much thicker than usual, and he even deliberately padded his shoulders, making it impossible to tell his age, and just looking at his figure, one knew he wasn't to be trifled with.

Although there are people from the Blood Tiger Gang guarding the black market and nothing would happen inside, it's hard to guarantee that others won't target him and act after he leaves the black market.

Being cautious is never wrong.

"Free-range chicken, pork!"

Li Rui glanced at the stall closest to him; he used to frequent this shop often to buy some meat to improve his meals.

But his purpose this time wasn't meat, but herbs.

There are many herbalists from nearby in the black market, and he's sure to find good things by picking up scraps.

Just as he was looking for an herb stall, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.

"Ma Yang?"

Li Rui didn't expect his apprentice to be in the black market too.

He was the one who told Ma Yang about the black market; back then, the relationship between master and apprentice was still quite good.

Li Rui had no intention of going up to recognize him and quickly found an herb stall.

"Old brother, take a look at this Morinda officinalis freshly picked today; it nourishes the Yang and strengthens the tendons, it's definitely effective."

As he spoke, he also revealed a look that said 'you understand.'

No matter the era, men's kidneys and women's faces are where they are most willing to spend money.

"I want this, this, and this."

To avoid exposing his true age, Li Rui spoke as little as possible and deliberately changed his voice, so the stall owner didn't notice anything unusual.

These herbs were for a prescription called 'Qi-Nourishing Powder.'

He had stolen a glance at this prescription one year when he was taking it for the martial arts-practicing Master of the Zhu family.

He had kept it in his heart and finally used it now.

Taking the herbs wrapped by the peddler, Li Rui glanced calmly at the lean man not far away who was looking up at the sky.

There was a scar on his face, and he looked like he wasn't to be trifled with.

He was being watched!

(End of chapter)