Chapter 2

The next morning, Su Xin woke up early and saw Xiner still sound asleep. He quietly covered her with a blanket.

Opening the rice jar, he saw that it contained only a dozen or so grains of rice, and his heart couldn't help but ache.

Staggering out the door, Su Xin decided to find something to make a sword.

Having obtained Jing Wu Ming's swift sword technique, he first needed to have a sword of his own.

Pushing open the door, the muddy street filled with sewage and the low, dilapidated houses and the numb passersby all indicated that this was a slum.

A place so poor that even beggars were unwilling to come, yet it had a nice name: Changleye.

Of course, the Changleye of the past was not like this.

The former capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Changning Prefecture, had a total of forty-nine wards. Even the Changleye, which was near the edge, was once a bustling place.

However, since thirty years ago, when the literary and martial emperor, Longwu, emerged, transforming the Zhou Kingdom from a small southern barbarian state into a vast territory that made the former hegemon, the Jin Kingdom, retreat in panic, Changning Prefecture began to decline.

After Longwu moved the capital, it was unknown whether he found the old capital city annoying, but he directly demolished the imperial city and relocated ninety percent of the wealthy merchants and officials to the new capital, Shengjing. As a result, Changning Prefecture gradually began to decline.

Su Xin found a piece of iron about the length of an arm and three fingers wide in the corner, covered in rust. This was previously used to block the chicken coop, but since his mother's death, his family had not raised chickens anymore.

He found two pieces of wood to sandwich the iron piece and wrapped them with hemp rope to make the hilt.

Then, Su Xin found a whetstone and began to carefully remove the rust from the iron piece and sharpen it.

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and Xiner, with sleepy eyes, walked out, rubbing her eyes and pouting, asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"

A gentle smile appeared on the corner of Su Xin's mouth, and he said softly, "Xiner, be good, and brother will take you to eat something delicious soon."

In this life, Su Xin had a good appearance. A handsome young man of sixteen or seventeen, though not exceptionally handsome, his smile was very appealing.

"Okay, Xiner will be good," Su Xiner nodded firmly, secretly swallowing her saliva.

In the past, her brother would always take her to eat the mixed meat noodles made by Grandma Wang at the street corner, but he hadn't taken her there for a long time recently.

"Hey? Su Xin, you're still alive? You have a strong life force."

Two men dressed in clean and neat short martial arts clothing, with a flying eagle embroidered on their chests, swaggered over, their faces showing a look of surprise.

Su Xin looked at them coldly. These two were not strangers to him; in fact, three days ago, they were still brothers who fought side by side!

The Flying Eagle Gang was one of the three gangs and four associations in Changning Prefecture. Besides the gang leader, there were three hall masters.

Under the three hall masters were over ten major heads and more than fifty minor heads.

During the battle with the Green Bamboo Gang, the major head had already given the order: whoever killed the most people would become a minor head, managing a street.

Although Su Xin was young, he had real strength. With his ruthless and fearless fighting style, he killed three members of the Green Bamboo Gang right away, immediately intimidating the opposition.

But unexpectedly, Liu Sandao, whom he regarded as his big brother, suddenly withdrew with the few people who had fought alongside him, leaving Su Xin to be surrounded and beaten to death by the Green Bamboo Gang.

"Liu Sandao is already a minor head? Does he not feel ashamed of the position he obtained by betraying his brothers?" If Su Xin hadn't been betrayed, with his battle achievements, he would have been the one to become the minor head.

One of them shrugged and said, "Su Xin, you were too prominent. In that battle, you killed the most people. If you didn't die, Third Brother couldn't have become the minor head."

"Ha ha." Su Xin suddenly laughed softly. For some reason, the two of them felt a chill run down their spines when they heard Su Xin's laughter.

"I have been following Liu Sandao since I joined the Flying Eagle Gang. Over the years, I have always treated him like a big brother! Even if I had the most battle achievements, I was prepared to give the position of minor head to him!"

"Ha ha, you can't judge a person by their appearance. Only the dead are truly safe."

The other person drew a dagger from his waist and said viciously, "Why is Fourth Brother wasting words with him? Take advantage of his severe injuries and kill him directly! If he lives, it will always be bad for Third Brother's reputation. And his little sister, though young, can be sold as a courtesan in Yangzhou for a few taels of silver!"

Seeing him draw his knife, the passersby in Changleye did not show any surprise; instead, they stopped to watch with interest.

The world of the martial arts was so cruel, especially for those who came from the slums.

Every day, there were fights and even killings among gang members. The death of one or two people was nothing significant; they were just cheap lives, and the authorities didn't bother to intervene.

Su Xin staggered to his feet, still feeling weak.

"Xiner, close your eyes."

Su Xiner looked at Su Xin with concern. She knew what he was about to do, but she still obediently closed her eyes, trusting her brother.

The man sneered disdainfully, "What, you still want to fight? Do you think you're still the Su Xin who could take on three strong men at once? You don't even have a weapon. What are you going to fight with? That piece of iron in your hand?"

"It's not a piece of iron; it's a sword." Su Xin's tone was completely indifferent, as if he were stating a fact.

"Is that supposed to be a sword? Ha ha ha! Don't be ridiculous!"

"Anything that can kill is a sword!"

Su Xin's left hand suddenly moved, and the ridiculous piece of iron was already embedded in the man's throat.

Jing Wu Ming's sword was a killing sword! There were no fancy sword techniques, only the simplest and most direct killing skills.

His sword was not a martial art; it was simply a killing technique!

Su Xin slowly pulled the sword out of the man's throat. The rust-covered piece of iron, now stained with blood, looked exceptionally sinister.

Now everyone believed that Su Xin's hand indeed held a sword, a sword that could kill!

A hint of blood red flashed in Su Xin's eyes. For some reason, he did not hesitate at all for his first kill, and seeing the splattered blood did not make him feel the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because of the fusion of memories from two lifetimes. Although Su Xin was a young man in this life, he had already taken a life.

"Killing seems so simple." Su Xin shook the blood off the sword, just like how he died in his previous life, which was also very simple.

Fourth Brother was almost scared out of his wits.

He had known Su Xin for several years and knew he was very capable, but he had never seen such terrifying sword skills!

With just a raise of his hand, Su Xin's sword had already pierced the man's throat, simple and direct, terrifyingly so!

Fourth Brother did not hesitate and immediately turned to run, but he suddenly felt a chill on the top of his head. He didn't realize it, but Su Xin had already cut a lock of his hair!

"If you run again, I'll kill you."

Fourth Brother immediately knelt down in front of Su Xin, banging his head on the ground in fear, "The last incident really had nothing to do with me; it was all Liu Sandao's decision! For the sake of our years of friendship, please spare me!"

"Get up!"

Fourth Brother hurriedly got up, not even daring to breathe heavily.

"Give me all the silver you have."

Fourth Brother quickly took out all the silver he had and handed it to Su Xin.

"Carry him back and give him to Liu Sandao. Tell him that he owes me, and I, Su Xin, will personally come to collect."

Su Xin's face showed no emotion, neither cruel nor angry, but this made Fourth Brother feel a chill from the bottom of his heart.

Fourth Brother dragged the body away and quickly disappeared down the alley.

The other passersby in Changleye hurriedly moved out of the way.

They had seen killings before, but Su Xin's swift and decisive killing left them all trembling with fear.

"Xiner, open your eyes."

Su Xin rubbed Xiner's head and said, "Come, wash your face, and brother will take you to eat beef brisket noodles."

Su Xiner's face immediately lit up with joy. For her, as long as her brother was there and there was food, she was content.

Grandma Wang had been running her stall at the street corner for decades. When Su Xin was young, he often brought Su Xiner here to eat noodles.

Grandma Wang only sold three types of noodles: plain noodles, mixed meat noodles, and beef brisket noodles.

In the past, Su Xin would only occasionally bring Xiner a bowl of mixed meat noodles to satisfy her craving. Only during festivals would he order a bowl of beef brisket noodles, which he would give to Xiner.

"Grandma, two bowls of beef brisket noodles."

Grandma Wang served them two bowls of beef brisket noodles with bright red broth, and she specially added a few more large pieces of beef to Xiner's bowl.

"Good girl, eat slowly." Grandma Wang, with her Hunan accent, watched Xiner eat the beef brisket noodles with large bites, and her face, full of wrinkles, almost broke into a flower-like smile.

"Okay, thank you, Grandma Wang." Xiner eagerly ate the noodles, mumbling her thanks to Grandma Wang.

Su Xin transferred the beef brisket from his bowl to Xiner's and ate the noodles in large bites.

As the food went down, Su Xin felt his strength recover somewhat. After being hungry for three days, his body had recovered more than half of its strength.

Although he had cultivated the初级内功 (初级内功 translates to "初级" meaning "初级" and "内功" meaning "内功") of the Quanzhen Sect, giving him a bit of meager internal energy, this small amount of internal energy was not enough to fully restore his physical strength.

After eating the noodles, Su Xin saw Xiner still eating voraciously and gently rubbed her head, saying to Grandma Wang, "Grandma, I have something to do. Can you take care of Xiner for me?"

Grandma Wang waved her hand and sighed, "Young man, the world of martial arts is dangerous. Don't forget you have a little sister like Xiner."

Su Xin smiled at Grandma Wang. The world of martial arts might be dangerous, but could it be more dangerous than the human heart?

"Xiner, be good, eat your noodles at Grandma Wang's, and brother will come back in the evening."

Su Xiner puffed out her cheeks and nodded obediently.

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**End of Chapter**