Chapter 3: Killing Intent Erupts!

Decisive.

Chen Mu turned and walked into the street, and in the distance saw a group of people crowded together, pointing and gesturing at the center.

He stepped forward quickly and squeezed into the crowd.

Soon, Chen Mu saw a middle-aged man of about forty, with a face full of stubble, disheveled hair, and a stern, upright countenance, lying on the ground.

The man had wounds on his chest, abdomen, and shoulders.

His entire abdomen had been stabbed by a sharp blade countless times, and nearly all the internal organs had been pierced to mush.

Bright red fresh blood pooled across the ground, already congealed — clearly he had been dead for some time.

After taking a look, Chen Mu pretended to be curious and approached the corpse.

【Corpse discovered. Pick up?】

"Yes!"

Card obtained!

Without a flicker of expression, Chen Mu backed away and left.

Walking out of the crowd, Chen Mu reached into his pocket, his fingertip touching a new card that had appeared.

A skill card!

Just as he'd expected — different this time.

Suppressing his excitement, Chen Mu used the card.

The next instant, a bundle of information appeared in his mind, and at the same time his limbs trembled and shook slightly.

Chen Mu hurriedly gritted his teeth and held his breath, while at the same time turning quickly into a side alley, walking to a corner to endure the remodeling of his body.

This skill card was, remarkably, a martial technique.

"Heart-Piercing Sword"

A killing sword move with only one form.

It stresses speed, viciousness, and precision!

It requires no internal force, something only acquired Wu Gong martial artists possess — even an ordinary person, even a child, can kill after long practice and modest attainment.

The middle-aged man who had died on the street had cultivated this single form of "Heart-Piercing Sword" to a realm of perfection!

Chen Mu used the card.

This "Heart-Piercing Sword" at the realm of perfection was thus copied by him in the span of a few breaths!

"Huu…"

He drew a deep breath and calmed his excited mood.

Chen Mu clenched both fists and swung one hard.

The new card's function was even more powerful than he had imagined.

Whatever realm the Wu Gong of a Jianghu martial artist possessed in life, once a card was formed by picking it up from the corpse, Chen Mu possessed that same realm.

This move — too satisfying.

No cultivation needed, direct possession!

Simply ecstatic~

"Huff… haa~!"

Several deep breaths, to steady his emotions.

After a good while, Chen Mu regained his composure.

Glancing back at where the middle-aged man lay, Chen Mu cupped one hand in the other and bowed with a fist.

Then he turned and strode away.

At that moment, the voice of a Constable came from behind.

"Make way, make way, all of you step aside."

"It's just a dead man — what's there to see?"

"…"

……

"Heart-Piercing Sword" is a sword art; even though it has only one sword move, it is still a martial technique, and one needs a sword in hand to bring out its power.

But weapons are expensive — any ordinary iron sword costs several dozen taels of silver, and even the cheapest is over ten taels.

Chen Mu, as a low-ranking member of the Great Saber Gang, earned a monthly wage of at most seven or eight taels, at least three or four.

That money was enough to eat and fill his belly, but not enough to practice martial arts, let alone buy a weapon.

So, Chen Mu thought of a compromise: he went to a blacksmith's shop and bought an iron rod three chi long, sharpened one end, and wrapped the other end with hemp rope for an easy grip.

A "thrust-sword" that could not be more crude — was thus successfully born.

Chen Mu hid it on his person.

With a "sharp weapon" on him, the boldness in his stride as he walked the road grew considerably.

……

Seven days in a row.

Chen Mu was out running around every day.

After one trip to the western mass grave, he harvested thirty-six Power Cards, plus a number of Energy Cards and Stamina Cards.

All the Power Cards were used, strengthening his physique and increasing his strength — totaling over two thousand jin!

After this windfall, the number of cards picked up began to decline.

After all, a mass grave doesn't get corpses dumped at it every day.

For the two mass graves, Chen Mu only made a trip every three days.

The rest of the time, he wandered aimlessly around the city.

Gang members had to patrol their territory every day.

However, the original host had never patrolled, but whenever there was a gang fight, he was always charging at the very front, fighting as if his life didn't matter.

With Huang Feiyang watching over him, the other gang members said nothing.

Chen Mu inherited this temperament along with everything else.

East District, West District, South District, North District—wherever there was a brawl, that's where he'd burrow in.

Of course, when going to other districts, he wore a simple disguise.

After several days, he'd run into plenty of brawls, but only one death—and he arrived late, the body already taken away by the Constable, sent to the morgue for an autopsy. Chen Mu couldn't get close to it at all.

……

With no corpse, Chen Mu eased up as well.

That day, on his way back to Changping Ward, passing the neighboring Changlong Ward, he suddenly heard a great shout, and a group of people burst out, running down the street.

Pedestrians on the road saw this and hurriedly dodged to both sides.

Chen Mu had been dodging along with them, but then saw that the running people were all members of the Great Saber Gang, led by none other than Huang Feiyang.

Immediately, he quickened his pace and chased after them.

"Uncle Zhou, what happened?" Chen Mu caught up with a man in his forties and asked.

The man he asked—face full of flesh, a knife scar over his left eye—was the very burly fellow Chen Mu had seen first upon transmigrating. Surnamed Zhou, his given name was unknown.

"The Blood Wolf Gang's whelps have overstepped their bounds!"

Old Zhou answered as he ran, "Brother Hu got the news and gathered us at the first moment to deal with them. Those wolf whelps have to be dealt with!"

Gang members overstepping their bounds did happen occasionally.

In such cases, you only needed to beat them off—no need to fight to the death.

Chen Mu set his mind at ease and ran along with the crowd.

……

"Who was that person who raised his arms and called out just now?"

On the second-floor balcony of a tavern by the street, two men in long robes watched the Great Saber Gang members running off into the distance. One of them said casually, "Quite the rallying power."

"Seems to be Huang Feiyang, from the neighboring Changping Ward."

The other answered with a light laugh, "This Huang Feiyang has the nickname 'Downhill Tiger.' He's quite well-known in the Great Saber Gang, famous for daring to fight, daring to throw his life away. They say he has several lives on his hands."

"Hah, what 'Downhill Tiger'—just a street-level thug, and he dares call himself a tiger?" The man who spoke first sneered, his face showing contempt. "So what if he can fight? Still a thug—at best, the head of the thugs."

"Huang Feiyang isn't even a boss yet." The answering man laughed, "Still, he's a man of loyalty. Plenty of gang members are willing to follow his word. Just like when he raised his arms and called out just now—a whole group ran out to follow him and fight the Blood Wolf Gang's people. With that kind of charisma, give it some more time and he could become a boss too."

"What charisma? He'll end up dead in the street sooner or later." The man who spoke first wore a mocking expression.

"Enough about these thugs. Come, let's keep drinking."

So saying, he turned and walked back inside.

"Alright."

The answering man acknowledged and followed behind.

Neither of the two noticed.

Right above them, Xing Yong leaned against the window, his face dark as could be.

A man of loyalty?

Plenty of people willing to follow Huang Feiyang's word?

In some more time, he could become a boss?

Huang Feiyang was his, Xing Yong's, little brother!

Number one enforcer—that's still a little brother!

If Huang Feiyang becomes a boss, what does that make him, the big brother?

"……"

The main street had returned to normal, the various cries of street vendors rising and falling one after another.

By the third-floor window, Xing Yong's face was dark as still water, and in his hawk-like eyes, killing intent burst forth!