It's true what they say: you earn more when you ditch your conscience.
Su Mu stared at his haul, pleasantly surprised.
Despite the panic of his murderous outburst last night, he hadn't forgotten to search the bodies.
He had been too tense at the time, however, so he hadn't had a chance to see what he'd gotten.
Now that he was counting, he found a whopping four hundred and twenty three-zhu coins on the three beggars!
Feng Debao alone had been carrying two hundred and fifty of them.
Besides the three-zhu coins, the rest was just a bunch of random odds and ends: a half-eaten flatbread, a dry, hard steamed bun, scraps of cloth, and so on—nothing of value.
Expecting to find anything good on three beggars was obviously unrealistic.
Getting four hundred and twenty three-zhu coins was already an unexpected windfall; hoping for anything more would just be greedy.
'Four hundred and twenty, plus the three hundred and fifty I already had, means I now have seven hundred and seventy. More than enough to buy a household registration.'
Su Mu carefully placed all the three-zhu coins into a tattered cloth pouch, adding them to the ones he already had.
The weight against his chest was strangely reassuring.
'Money makes a hero bold. It's true no matter where you are—money is power.'
'The money's enough, but Feng Debao and the others were just killed. If I go to get my household registration now, I'm bound to attract unwanted attention.'
After the night's events, Su Mu grew even more cautious.
He was well aware that even though he was a novice with a saber, he was still at the very bottom of the food chain here in Wuling City.
After all, any random member of those gangs could have novice-level saber skills.
Even those who hadn't practiced martial arts, like Feng Debao and his two cronies—if he hadn't ambushed them, Su Mu wouldn't necessarily have been their match in a straight fight.
'Lately, just by chopping a bit more wood, I caught the eye of Feng Debao and his crew. Who knows what kind of trouble will come my way if I suddenly have enough money for a household registration.'
Su Mu mused to himself, 'No rush. I'll wait a bit longer. It's best to wait until my Submerging Wave Saber Technique reaches minor mastery. Then, if something happens, I'll have a better chance of dealing with it.'
......
He waited out the night while planning, and at dawn, Su Mu secretly returned to the ruined temple, only to find that the bodies of Feng Debao and his two companions were gone.
He observed for a while longer and saw no Officials trying to arrest him, nor any wanted posters for him on the streets. He breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed his guess was correct. In these times, three dead beggars were no different from three dead ants; the Officials wouldn't pay them much mind.
But Su Mu didn't let his guard down. He didn't return to the ruined temple. Instead, he found an old ancestral hall two streets away and paid a young beggar two coins for a place to sleep.
Vagrants were vagrants, living day to day with no certainty of tomorrow. No one paid any attention to their comings and goings.
To avoid attracting attention, Su Mu continued to leave the city to chop wood every day.
However, he didn't haul back as much wood as he used to.
He had indeed been a bit too eager before, which was why he had attracted the attention of Feng Debao's group.
Now he earned seven or eight coins a day, which was less than what most beggars made from a day of panhandling.
Several days passed like this. The disappearance of Feng Debao and his crew was like a single ripple in the water, causing no stir in the South City District where the vagrants gathered. Su Mu could finally relax.
One day, he left the city as usual. About three or four li out of town, he stopped by the roadside to rest and pulled a large meat bun from his robes, taking big bites.
Although he hadn't gotten his household registration yet, with money in his pocket, Su Mu wasn't about to mistreat himself.
His living situation couldn't be fixed for now, so he decided to at least eat better.
'At the very least, I should make sure I have meat with every meal, right?'
Whether it was chopping wood or practicing with his saber, he needed strength.
After a few days, Su Mu's complexion had become much ruddier. His once gaunt frame had put on some weight, and even his saber practice felt much smoother.
[Name: Su Mu]
[Identity: Woodcutter (Vagrant)]
[Points: 11]
[Martial Arts: Submerging Wave Saber Technique (Novice)]
'It's been a month, and I've only gained 6 Points.'
Chewing on his large meat bun, Su Mu studied the panel in front of him.
'The Points are accumulating too slowly. One Point every five days... saving up a hundred feels like a distant dream. Isn't there some way to make them grow faster?' Su Mu pondered.
The increase in Points was related to his identity. If he could get a household registration, he would no longer be a vagrant, and the rate of Point growth would surely increase.
But getting a registration now was still risky.
'My vagrant status is stuck for now, but maybe I can change my profession?'
Back when he was a 'hooligan', his points increased by only one every ten days.
After he started chopping wood, he became a Woodcutter, and the time it took to gain a point was halved.
'Maybe… I can give it a try.'
Su Mu thought to himself, 'When you're out here trying to survive, isn't your identity just what you make it?'
Gradually, a serious expression appeared on his face, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
......
PFFT!
A flash of a blade, and blood splattered.
A rabbit fell to the ground, twitched twice, and then went still. Its head was no longer attached to its body.
Su Mu was slightly out of breath.
'So this is what a novice-level saber technique is like.'
'It's this much work just to kill a rabbit.'
He had lain in wait for three whole days before finally catching sight of this rabbit, and he had nearly let it escape just now.
With a thought, he summoned his panel.
His identity on the panel was still Woodcutter.
Su Mu wasn't disappointed, though. His identity had only changed to Woodcutter after he had chopped wood and sold it.
He wrapped the wild rabbit in some leaves, tucked it into his robes, and hurried back toward Wuling City.
"Su Mu, what's with you these past few days? You're chopping less and less wood. If you keep this up, I'm going to have to raise your dues."
He had just entered the city when he ran into Zhang Chong from the Chai Bang, who grabbed him.
"My apologies, Master Zhang," Su Mu explained. "I caught a cold a few days ago and haven't had any strength…"
"Like I care."
Zhang Chong cut him off. "If you want to keep getting by here in South City's Guangfu Square, then don't try to pull any tricks on me!"
"Master Zhang, here are today's dues. Thank you for looking out for me."
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Su Mu had already stuffed two three-zhu coins into his hand.
Eager to test his theory about his identity, Su Mu had no desire to get tangled up with Zhang Chong.
While Zhang Chong was still dazed, he had already scurried away.
Zhang Chong looked at the two three-zhu coins in his hand, then his nose suddenly twitched.
"Something's not right. Why does that kid Su Mu stink of blood?"
Zhang Chong narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flickering in his pupils.
The Chai Bang might be one of the weakest gangs in Wuling City, but a gang was still a gang. Zhang Chong had been in a few brawls with other gangs before, so he was no stranger to the smell of blood.
"Interesting. That kid's as skinny as a stick, but he's capable of robbing and killing? He paid his dues today without even selling any wood. Looks like he made a good haul."
Zhang Chong stroked his chin, a greedy look spreading across his face.
......
Su Mu never imagined that such a casual action would get him targeted again.
Even if he had known, there was nothing he could have done.
Life at the bottom was just that cruel. People would rob and kill for a few hundred coins. No matter how cautious he was, he couldn't guard against every villain.
When you had no power, there were simply too many bad people around. It was impossible to guard against them all.
"The wild rabbit is seven jin. Two coins per jin, that's fourteen total. I'll just take two coins for the fee. Here's twelve, take it."
A burly man with knotted muscles counted out twelve three-zhu coins and tossed them to Su Mu.
He was the Hunting Gang's Steward in Guangfu Square. Just like with the Chai Bang, any Hunter who wanted to sell their game here had to go through them.
This wasn't an official rule, of course. But if you didn't go through them and they found out, you'd get a beating at best. At worst, you could lose your life.
A wild rabbit like this would sell for at least five coins per jin at a restaurant. Now, not only was the price cut by more than half, but he also had to pay a two-coin "protection fee." It was clear just how black-hearted these gangs were.
Su Mu didn't want any trouble, so he could only grit his teeth and swallow this bitter pill.
Taking the three-zhu coins, he offered a reluctant thanks, then turned and ducked into a small alley, eagerly calling up his panel.
[Name: Su Mu]
[Identity: Hunter (Vagrant)]
[Points: 11]
[Martial Arts: Submerging Wave Saber Technique (Novice)]
'It changed! It actually changed!'
......