Chapter 1 A Whim

A Ming didn't know why he asked the girl that question. Perhaps it was just a whim, as casual as plucking a rapeseed flower during a picnic.

Life needs rituals, and life also needs refinement.

And "rituals" and "refinement," in essence, when dissected, simply refer to "unnecessary and cumbersome bullshit."

Just like having a bowl of chicken soup to moisten your stomach before a meal or a plate of refreshing cold dishes as an appetizer.

Over there, the middle-aged man also saw A Ming talking to his daughter. He immediately came over with a flattering smile and bowed, saying:

"Sir, do you want this girl? Eight taels of silver, and we'll sign the contract right away. She'll be yours.

After that, you can either have her follow you to learn acrobatics in the Western Regions or simply take her as a concubine, whatever you like."

Like the gatekeeper before, this middle-aged man assumed A Ming was from a Western Regions acrobatic troupe because of his attire.

This was because a few years ago, when the Yan Emperor held his thirtieth birthday celebration after ascending the throne, an acrobatic troupe from the Western Regions performed before the court, gaining fame and making Western Regions acrobatic troupes a popular trend among the people.

A Ming nodded and reached into his pocket.

The middle-aged man immediately rubbed his hands together excitedly at the sight.

However, when A Ming pulled his hand back from his pocket and opened it in front of the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man was stunned.

His palm was empty.

"Sorry, I don't usually carry money."

A Ming's apology was sincere, as he genuinely showed appropriate shyness and apology, seemingly deeply remorseful for not being able to buy the girl at the moment.

In the half-year he spent at the inn, A Ming was mostly responsible for brewing wine and rarely went out. Moreover, in this world, once you solve the problem of food and drink, as a person with modern thinking and habits, you really don't have much need for consumption.

"No... no money? Are you fucking with me?"

The middle-aged man pointed directly at A Ming's face and roared.

A Ming nodded and answered seriously:

"Yes."

The middle-aged man paused, then rolled up his sleeves while threatening:

"I think you're looking for death!"

For a gambler who would even sell his wife and daughter, it would be ridiculous to say he was brave or had integrity. However, bluffing and imitating the thugs in the gambling house to scare people was something he could do.

Unfortunately,

He chose the wrong target.

"Okay."

A Ming reached out and grabbed the middle-aged man's neck directly.

Instantly, a chilling coldness came from his neck. The middle-aged man suddenly forgot to resist. At this moment, he felt like he was being targeted by a sinister beast.

"Hey, if you want to fight, go somewhere else. Don't dirty the reputation of our Hyena Gang," the gatekeeper shouted with his arms crossed.

However,

As a "crack" sound came,

The gatekeeper froze.

He saw that the neck of the middle-aged man who came to sell his daughter was broken in the hands of that Western Regions acrobat in a terrifying arc that ordinary people could not achieve.

Perhaps, even the middle-aged man didn't realize that this strangely dressed guy would really kill someone on the spot.

He knew how to bluff, but the other party really knew how to kill, and even took a mule cart specifically to leisurely come and kill someone in the rain.

Fresh blood began to drip from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

A Ming withdrew his hand.

The middle-aged man fell to the ground with a "thump," his eyes wide open, already lifeless.

After falling down, his face was very close to the face of his daughter, who was also lying on the ground at this time.

The girl's eyes first showed a hint of horror, followed by a faint sadness, but then, she bit her lip, opened her mouth, and began to laugh silently, regardless of the rainwater pouring into her mouth.

A Ming turned his head and glanced at the girl's expression on the ground.

He thought this scene, this scene of the father and daughter now looking at each other, was really beautiful.

It's a pity that in this era, there are no cameras to turn this scene into eternity and keep it for appreciation.

It's really a bit... regrettable.

After looking at it a few more times,

A Ming turned around, strode forward, and walked up the steps.

The appetizer is over; next is the main course.

The gatekeeper was obviously not fully recovered from the previous shock, but when he saw A Ming walking towards him, he immediately turned around, trying to slip into the courtyard first.

He was just a gatekeeper, only a marginal small fry in the Hyena Gang. He could put on airs, but he wouldn't have been assigned to be a gatekeeper if he really had the ability and courage to chop people.

However, just as one of his feet had just crossed the threshold, his shoulder was grabbed by a hand.

So… so fast!

A Ming didn't really like dealing with these small fries, the small fries who didn't even have the courage to attack him head-on. Even killing them wouldn't bring him much pleasure.

But there was no way; he came here today to kill people.

The palm quickly moved from the opponent's shoulder to the back of the opponent's head, and then slammed directly onto the door panel.

"Pa!"

Like a watermelon falling on the ground.

A Ming glanced at the red color on his palm. He instinctively wanted to bring it to his mouth, but then he shook his hand in disgust.

This taste is a bit difficult to swallow.

It seems that only those guys who glow can have blood with a sweet taste.

"Ahhhhh!"

The gatekeeper who had gone in to report and an old man who looked like a white-haired accountant were standing behind the door. After seeing the scene just now, the old accountant was directly frightened and collapsed on the ground, while the gatekeeper was screaming hysterically.

"Ooo ooo!"

However, his screams didn't last long. His mouth was covered by a hand, and then another hand appeared on his shoulder.

"Crack!"

Like spiking a volleyball, the gatekeeper saw the scenery behind him for the first time, experiencing the superiority of not having to worry about being attacked while peeing in the toilet.

It's just that this sense of superiority didn't last long before he fell to the ground.

After seeing this scene, the accountant trembled, rolled his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and fainted.

A Ming didn't bother whether the other party was really scared to death or just pretending to be dead, because with the screams here, the gang was obviously completely alarmed. A total of twenty or thirty men with all kinds of weapons rushed out from the left and right sides of the courtyard.

This one has a knife, that one has an axe, and this one has an iron rod.

A Ming's eyes swept over them one by one.

Finally,

He smiled,

Because he saw someone with a sword.

Killing people on a rainy day seems to be more suitable for a sword.

A Ming felt that he must have been infected by the blind man, otherwise why would he suddenly become so pretentious?

"Kill him!"

A tall and strong man with animal skin draped over his body was obviously the leader here. With a wave of his hand, he ordered his subordinates.

The two corpses of the gatekeepers at the door had already told him that there was no need for negotiation or establishing relationships.

A Ming's speed was very fast, faster than that zombie, although his strength was not as great as that zombie, it also exceeded the level of ordinary people.

Therefore, the first two gang members, one with a knife and one with an axe, only felt a blur in front of them before A Ming bypassed them. A Ming was a little different from that zombie; he cherished and cared for his fingernails and didn't like using his fingernails to kill people.

Therefore, a file appeared in A Ming's left hand, stabbing into the temple of the gang member with the axe. On the other side, he grabbed the arm of the gang member and twisted it, helping him use the knife in his hand to slit his throat, helping him end this dirty life.

Elegant, fast, and without any sloppiness,

This is not a massacre;

This is an artistic performance belonging to A Ming.

He is dancing in the crowd;

Blood is the flower that the audience voluntarily offers him;

Screams are the cheers of the audience paying for the art.

However, after solving these two people, more gang members gathered, compressing A Ming's space all at once.

The situation in martial arts movies where a group of people surrounds you but are still fighting you one-on-one is difficult to happen in reality. If everyone rushes up, even if you are a general who is a match for ten thousand, you will still die.

Fortunately, A Ming was different. After risking the cost of enduring two knife chops on his back, he broke through this encirclement and went straight to the man with the sword.

The man let out a low shout and thrust his sword at A Ming.

A Ming's eyes revealed a hint of disappointment, because the other party was unable to glow.

His body moved to the side, but his left hand slid down the other party's sword tip all the way, blood splashing from his fingertips. A Ming didn't care, all the way until he grabbed the other party's wrist and pressed it down.

The swordsman staggered. A Ming easily opened his mouth, revealing two fangs, and left his mark on the other party's neck with a dragonfly-skimming speed, like a stapler.

"Thump."

The swordsman fell to the ground, but the sword in his hand was already in A Ming's hand.

"My song is finished, and you're not done yet."

The voice of Blind Bei entered A Ming's ears, and coincidentally, at this time, Blind Bei was still sitting on the mule cart outside, holding a erhu in his hand.

The power of mental energy made telepathy lose its technical barriers.

"I remember Erquan Yingyue is quite long," A Ming replied in his mind.

"I forgot the sheet music below."

"Okay."

"You picked up a sword?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Watch and see."

"Okay, then I'll play it again." Blind Bei felt that he had made a big compromise.

"Actually, there's no need to force yourself, because I don't really want to listen that much."

"Don't worry, no one can defeat you in the BGM I send you."

"Okay, you're blind, you're right."

After a brief mental exchange, the gang members rushed over again. A Ming stood there, not dodging as much as before, because he said he wanted to show Blind Bei his swordsmanship.

"Pfft!"

A gang member's knife hit A Ming's shoulder. The shoulder muscles contracted, clamping the blade, and the gang member was unable to pull his knife out.

A Ming slashed out with his sword, severing the other party's head.

Another gang member hit A Ming's back with an axe. A Ming still didn't move, twisted his upper body, and swept the sword horizontally backward, wiping across the other party's neck. Blood began to spurt from the other party's neck, and he fell to the ground.

Two gang members with spears charged together, holding their spears high. A Ming still didn't dodge, and the spears pierced his body.

A Ming's body trembled, released his muscles, and began to move forward, not caring even though two toothpicks were skewering his chest.

In the blink of an eye, A Ming came to the front of these two gang members, and they were still holding their spears blankly.

A Ming smiled at them, swung his sword, and directly chopped both of them.

They let go of their hands and fell down.

A Ming's body then began to lean backward, with the two spears in his body acting as support, stuck in the floor tiles. A Ming's body tilted backward, not falling, still holding the sword, the sword body parallel to his body, at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and said:

"How's my sword?"

Outside the courtyard, Blind Bei silently put down the erhu,

Took out a handkerchief that the wife of the city patrol captain had given him from his pocket,

Wiped the raindrops off his forehead,

And sighed:

"So cheap."