Chapter 23

Very quickly, Xu Jin made a decision.

Judging by their tone, these ruffians were going to wipe out his entire family tonight, kidnap his sister Jiang Er, kill his father, and even take his, Xu Jin's, heart blood.

On the surface, if his sister didn't come back tonight, he and his father could just hide away.

But tomorrow, the day after—could they hide every day? This problem had to be solved.

Very quickly, Xu Jin came up with a solution: an ambush!

In Xujiazhuang, they were all uncles, brothers, and cousins; he could pull seven or eight strong men to lie in ambush and wait. When this gang of ruffians came, they would beat them to death with clubs.

But immediately, Xu Jin rejected this plan.

They couldn't beat them to death.

Because the uncles and brothers of Xujiazhuang were mostly farmers; under the influence of blood, beating these people away was no problem.

But beating them to death—they didn't necessarily have the courage.

And to beat them all to death.

As long as one or two escaped, not to mention Xujiazhuang, Xu Jin's family would definitely face disaster, and he would implicate his uncles and brothers.

Alerting the enemy?

That wouldn't work either.

There is no logic in being a thief for a thousand days, but not in guarding against a thief for a thousand days!

After thinking it over, Xu Jin could only think of one way to completely solve the trouble—cut the weeds and pull up the roots!

But thinking was just thinking.

Xu Jin had only killed a chicken after coming to this world.

But once he thought of the terrifying encounters his sister Jiang Er and his old father Xu Dajiang might face in the future, Xu Jin's heart burned with rage.

The scene of Lu Lu Xianbing shattering a large bluestone with a beam of starlight during practice flashed through his mind.

This was his only reliance at the moment.

If he were given a knife, he might not be able to kill a person with one stab.

But the scene of the starlight directly exploding the bluestone gave Xu Jin confidence.

As long as this starlight exploded on this gang of ruffians, if it exploded on a vital point, they would die on the spot; if it exploded anywhere else, it would also be a serious injury.

This was Xu Jin's only advantage right now.

He had to use this advantage!

With a thought, the Arena of Battle appeared in his mind.

【First-Tier Arena of Battle】

【Battle Master: Xu Jin】

【Received the favor of the stars; worship once a day to receive a wisp of starlight】

【Star Lamp: Solidified Star Art 'Basic Star Shield', can be replaced.】

【Nourishable items: Zero】

【Star Arts: Basic Star Shield (solidified), Basic Star Ray, Basic Star Ring, Basic Star Arrow, Basic Star Light Cover】

【Can ascend tier】

The solidified star art could already be replaced.

And among the five basic star arts mastered by practicing the Five-Battle Killing Fist, the one with the greatest power was actually the Basic Star Arrow.

Because it could leave the body by one meter.

However, performing the Basic Star Arrow required at least the cultivation of the second layer of Meal of Mist; even if he forced it out with his tempered shoulder, the accuracy would be very poor.

Then there was only the Basic Star Ray.

With a slight movement of his mind, Xu Jin had already replaced the solidified star art in the Star Lamp with Basic Star Ray.

A familiar feeling emerged in his heart; Xu Jin knew that after replacing the solidified star art, his Star Ray could already achieve instantaneous release.

However, Xu Jin was still very clear about what his advantage was.

If he rushed in like this, one against five, he would undoubtedly die.

These ruffians, although they hadn't cultivated, had street fighting skills a hundred times stronger than his.

So what Xu Jin had to do was wait for an opportunity.

Wait for an opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Jin kept giving himself psychological preparation, calming his hands that were trembling from nervousness, and moved slowly, observing the terrain of the courtyard where this gang of ruffians lived.

On the roof, the man in green sat very casually, invisible to the outside world.

If viewed from a distance, one could only see the roof, not the man in green.

While watching, the man in green evaluated Xu Jin's behavior.

"Looking at him now, he still has some brains and some patience; he's not too reckless."

"Boss, you guys drink, I'm going to take a leak!" Inside the room, a ruffian suddenly stood up.

"Go ahead, you brat, don't pee in your pants."

"Heh, I can pee three zhang against the wind now..." Amidst the laughter of the crowd, this ruffian swayed out the door.

Just as Xu Jin was secretly happy, another ruffian also stood up, "I'll go pee three zhang too..."

Xu Jin's heart sank as he looked toward the latrine in the backyard.

If these two ruffians solved it in the courtyard as soon as they went out, he wouldn't dare to make a move if there were two of them.

He estimated it would cause a commotion and he would immediately be surrounded.

If they went to the backyard latrine, then...

But Xu Jin didn't dare to overestimate the quality of these ruffians; it was normal to go out and pee after drinking.

The next instant, Xu Jin's eyes moved.

The first ruffian to go out actually turned and walked toward the backyard.

Perhaps because this was the courtyard they lived in regularly, and it was midsummer, he didn't solve it on the spot.

A few breaths later, the second ruffian went out, his gait slightly heavy, his intoxication not too deep, separated from the first ruffian by seven or eight meters.

Xu Jin, hiding in the shadows of the wall corner, instantly made a decision—the opportunity was rare.

Two people, one after the other, and both going to the backyard—this could already be considered a very good opportunity.

The next instant, Xu Jin, hiding in the wall corner, followed slowly.

Suddenly, when the second ruffian entered the backyard, the first ruffian disappeared from sight, having entered the latrine at the corner of the backyard.

And the second ruffian was ten meters away from the room where Deng Hu and the others were drinking, separated by two walls.

Good opportunity!

Xu Jin took a deep breath. He suddenly crouched and rushed out.

Seeming to hear the sound of the wind, the second ruffian turned his head subconsciously.

What he saw was a ball of starlight, and Xu Jin, who was crashing into his arms with his entire shoulder.

Almost simultaneously, the man in green, who was boredly cracking his fingers and waiting to watch the show on the roof, stood up abruptly.

The light on the roof flickered, but the figure of the man in green still did not appear.

But on the man in green's face, there was a look of astonishment.

"Damn, am I not seeing things?

First layer of Meal of Mist cultivation, instantaneous Basic Star Ray—this must be something that can only be practiced with the Great Perfection of the Five-Battle Killing Fist, right?

To be able to practice the Five-Battle Killing Fist to Great Perfection, how could he be only at the first layer of Meal of Mist?

Where did this freak pop out from?"

The Star Ray exploded on Xu Jin's shoulder and then crashed directly into the ruffian's chest.

In an instant, Xu Jin heard the sound of *crack, crack* shattering, and the sound of something *bang* shattering.

He used too much force.

Under Xu Jin's fierce charge, he and the second ruffian fell to the ground together.

But as they fell, he saw fresh blood mixed with pink foam, as well as fragments of internal organs, gushing out from his mouth.

The ruffian's throat made a *gurgle, gurgle, gurgle* sound, but the sound was blocked by the gushing blood foam and organ fragments.

He killed someone!

In an instant, Xu Jin's heartbeat was like a drum, his whole body felt numb and electrified, and his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.

On the roof, the man in green was stunned again.

"Killing a person, and his hands and feet are trembling like this—he's actually a fledgling who has never seen blood?

Strange.

A freak with Great Perfection of the Five-Battle Killing Fist, brave, resourceful, and patient—at least for now.

Such a freak fledgling, where did he pop out from?"

While thinking, a smile with a hint of memory appeared on the man in green's face; it seemed his performance when he killed someone for the first time was about the same as this young man's.

No, even worse.

He remembered he felt like he was going to pee his pants at the time.

As for whether he did or not, he really forgot.

Anyway, he was sweating like a pulp, and with the rain, he was soaked all over.

Almost simultaneously, the ruffian who went into the latrine in the courtyard also laughed, "Tietou, are you a weakling?

Falling down after just this much wine, how will you handle things tonight, how will you handle that little girl?" He must have heard the sound of the fall just now.

Xu Jin, killing and seeing blood for the first time, was nervous; he only felt his blood rushing to his head, his heart rate accelerating, and he was breathing violently.

Crawling beside the ruffian who was still dying and twitching, Xu Jin tried hard to take deep breaths, calming his body's stress response, ignoring the sound in the latrine.

*Hoo! *

After four consecutive deep breaths, his heartbeat slowed down slightly, his hands and feet were still trembling, but they were already under Xu Jin's control, and the sound of water in the latrine gradually stopped.

He was coming out soon.

Xu Jin took another deep breath and crawled toward the entrance of the latrine with his hands and feet.

Just as he reached the entrance of the latrine, he saw the ruffian who had gone in tying his cloth belt, which was just a cloth strip.

It was dark, no lights, only a faint starlight.

This ruffian only vaguely saw someone crawling on the ground ahead.

"Hahahaha, Tietou, you coward, you really fell down." He scolded with a laugh, but subconsciously bent down to help.

It seemed the relationship between these few guys in private was quite good.

Xu Jin, who had originally intended to launch a surprise attack, took the opportunity to rise violently, a shoulder strike, slamming fiercely toward the ruffian's chin.

The moment he struck, the Star Ray suddenly emerged.

*Bang! *

The sound of bone shattering rang out again.

But this time, Xu Jin, who had originally intended to strike the chin, mistakenly struck the throat position.

Under the impact of the Star Ray, not only was the throat bone shattered, but the neck bone was also broken.

Apart from the sound of falling to the ground, no other sound was made.

Xu Jin took the opportunity to lie on the ground, breathing heavily.

On the roof, the invisible man in green looked on, his expression quite surprised.

"To be able to recover from a state of trembling hands and feet so quickly, this kid's mental fortitude is quite formidable."

While thinking, the man in green recalled how long it took him to climb back up after killing someone for the first time?

Half a stick of incense?

Or a quarter of an hour?

He couldn't quite remember.

No, it should have been stronger than this kid, right?

It was Xu Jin's second time killing someone.

But the second time he killed someone, he no longer had the feeling of being electrified, sweating like a pulp, and hands and feet being out of control; he was just breathing heavily.

Lying for a full minute, Xu Jin's heartbeat gradually leveled off, his breathing gradually slowed, and apart from his hands still trembling a bit, most of the stress response disappeared.

Rolling over to the side of the dead ruffian, he fumbled in the ruffian's bosom for a while.

He pulled out a small cloth bag, which was broken silver, but Xu Jin didn't take it, throwing it directly to the side.

This wasn't the time to pick up corpses.

Fumbling again, he pulled out a wrapped ox-ear pointed knife from his waist.

The knife was over a foot long, and it felt cold to the touch.

With the sharp blade in hand, Xu Jin's courage was bolstered again; he looked at the room with the lamplight, his murderous intent fully revealed.

Sure enough, with a sharp blade in hand, the heart to kill arises on its own.

He walked over to the first ruffian he killed and fumbled around; this guy also had an ox-ear pointed knife, but there were two cloth bags in his bosom.

One should be broken silver, Xu Jin wasn't in a hurry to take it, but the other cloth bag was soft and not small.

Xu Jin opened it and saw powder, white, and smelled it; the smell was very faint, not like flour.

What was this?

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xu Jin, and he immediately understood what it was.

(End of this chapter)