Chapter 4

Black Mountain City has an inner and an outer city.

The inner city is the original urban area of Black Mountain City, while the outer city is a mixed residential area formed by the migration of nearby villages over the years.

It is not only dirty but also chaotic.

During the day, it's still manageable, but at night, few people dare to go out alone in the outer city.

Yang Yu worked at the government office, and although he was not even a temporary officer, he had heard plenty of stories about murders and robberies.

Therefore, as soon as the evening came and the person tailing him left, Yang Yu took the deeds to his house and land, grabbed a broken sword, and set out.

The traces of the heavy rain from a few days ago were still visible, and the road was still muddy.

Yang Yu carefully made his way through the alleys, avoiding the ruffians wandering the streets, heading towards the inner city.

"There are many factions in the outer city, including large religious groups like the Life Compassion Sect. But I can't do business with them..."

Yang Yu pondered deeply.

A year was enough time for him to gain a general understanding of Black Mountain City. Compared to the chaotic outer city, the inner city was much better.

At least the appearance was not as ugly.

"Sniff, sniff~"

On the road, Yang Yu could faintly hear someone sobbing, and many households had white cloth hanging.

"Another death."

Yang Yu sighed in his heart and quickened his pace.

Where there are corpses, there are vultures circling. It's not just his family that would face such a situation.

Before the inner city gates closed, Yang Yu entered the inner city, familiarly turning through several streets and arriving at a small alley.

In the year since he had come to this world, he hadn't been idle. Whenever he had free time, he would either listen to lessons at the village school to learn to read and write or come here to learn martial arts.

Of course, this was not a martial arts school, and his family could not afford the high tuition fees.

Everyone knows that the poor study literature and the rich study martial arts, but in reality, neither literature nor martial arts have much to do with ordinary people.

Knock, knock, knock~

The door was not locked, but Yang Yu still knocked before quietly entering the courtyard.

...

"Human beings have twenty-four bones in their back, which may vary slightly between men, women, the young, and the old, but not by much!"

"When wielding a knife to behead, one must recognize the bones. This is a skill and a form of compassion!"

"Once a person dies, all their affairs are over. If a criminal has committed a crime, they will face the law. We act on orders, not harming the moral law, but remember..."

"One cut, and only one cut! One cut is the law, two cuts are torture, which truly harms the moral law!"

"This is the greatest rule of our profession!"

...

Inside the grayish-white courtyard wall, a group of teenagers squatted in the corner, holding wooden knives horizontally with stones tied to their wrists and the blades.

It was already cold in autumn, and even cooler in the evening, yet the few of them were sweating profusely.

An old man sat on a wooden chair, watching the group of teenagers intently, occasionally scolding them.

The old man was quite old, with gray hair under his hood and a face full of wrinkles. In his arms, a gray, dull old monkey squatted.

His withered old hand continuously stroked the back of the old monkey's neck.

"Phew!"

Yang Yu stood outside the courtyard, not moving forward, quietly listening to Old Wei scold his disciples.

This limping Old Wei was quite famous in Black Mountain City.

It was said that he had joined the army with the villagers when he was young, returned with severe injuries, and then became an executioner. Many of the executioners in Black Mountain City were his disciples.

Not counting his time in the army, he had personally beheaded nearly a hundred people in recent years.

He was a truly ruthless character.

Yang Yu remained silent, quietly watching the young men practice with their knives.

These young men had started much earlier than him, with some practicing for seven or eight years and others for three or four.

Three years of miscellaneous work before they could hold a wooden knife—this was Old Wei's rule.

Yang Yu had been there for less than a year, so he had heard plenty of scolding but had never touched a knife.

"Practice well. If you learn what I teach, you will at least have three meals a day and a roof over your head. At the very least, you won't end up on the streets eating dirt."

Old Wei scolded his disciples slowly, and at the end, he glanced at Yang Yu.

"End up on the streets eating dirt..."

Yang Yu smiled bitterly. Wasn't he talking about him?

More than a year ago, he woke up in this world as a homeless child without parents. If it weren't for the old Yang couple who adopted him, he would have almost starved to death outside the city.

When a person is about to starve to death, they will eat anything.

He had really eaten dirt...

"Many people look down on our profession, but we act on orders and earn our living by our skills. What is there to be ashamed of?"

Old Wei stood up, holding the monkey and walking into the house, one step deep and one step shallow.

"Starving to death on the streets, that's truly shameful!"

Yang Yu's face was expressionless as he silently followed.

"Speak your mind."

Old Wei waved his hand, and the old monkey "chirped" a few times, jumping onto the old locust tree in the courtyard.

"I knew I couldn't hide anything from Master..."

The light inside the room was dimmer, and Yang Yu lowered his head slightly, smiling bitterly as he explained his purpose.

His gaze swept over the decorations in the room and landed on the table in the center.

On the table lay a large, unsheathed knife.

The knife was broad and thick, with a ghost head carved on the handle. It was bright and white, but the bloodstains could not be hidden, making it look chilling.

Yang Yu recognized it; this was the executioner's knife that Old Wei had used to behead nearly a hundred people.

Old Wei usually treated it like a treasure, never allowing anyone to touch it.

In the past, Yang Yu had envied it but had no intention of touching it. But now, as he glanced at it, his heart couldn't help but race.

"Could this ghost-head knife also be an ingredient?"

"Ha ha~"

Old Wei picked up his teacup, sat straight, and replied indifferently:

"The Yang family is nothing, but why should I buy these fields and properties and invite trouble?"

"It's not a purchase, it's a gift!"

Yang Yu gave up on his侥幸 (侥幸 means '侥幸' in Chinese, which can be translated as '侥幸' in English, but in this context, it means '侥幸' or '侥幸'.) and gritted his teeth.

He took out the deeds to the house and land and slapped them on the table.

Old Wei was the person he had long planned to deal with.

First, this Old Wei wouldn't fear the Yang family's relatives, and second, he was learning under him.

Although they weren't master and apprentice, there was still a bit of a connection.

Compared to others, he was much better off.

"Oh?"

Old Wei looked at Yang Yu with some surprise and then sneered: "You're selling your grandfather's land without a care! Old Yang spent most of his life accumulating these things."

"No matter how much you have, if you can't protect it, it's useless."

Yang Yu was very clear.

Rather than being stripped clean by those so-called relatives, he would rather give the land to someone and make a deal that benefited him.

Old Wei had many disciples, and he didn't believe this old man would take these things without any consideration.

"You've surprised me, young man."

Old Wei put down his teacup and looked at Yang Yu deeply.

He didn't have a deep impression of this young man who had joined his school, but he remembered that he had once eaten dirt.

Now, he was truly surprised.

Yang Yu kept his head down and said nothing.

"Hmm..."

Old Wei picked up the land deed, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

"You call me Master, so I won't take these things for free. This way, you can skip the two years of apprenticeship and start practicing with them from tomorrow."

"Phew!"

The heavy burden in his heart lifted, and Yang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief:

"Yes, Master."