"Dad, why bother with all this, even having Second Brother call him dad? That old bastard won't last much longer anyway. He might not make it through the winter. Once he dies, or we finish him off straight away, we just take over his property. You're his cousin; who'd have anything to say?"
"Exactly. I took a look just now—on that broken boat there's only pots, pans, bowls, and a few odds and ends. Packing it up won't fetch much, and the boat's more busted than anything. What's the use of taking it? It'll only cost us a table's worth of liquor for the trouble."
On the black awning boat, two young men stared at their father in bafflement.
"You two idiots!"
Zhang Cheng cursed his sons with frustration: "That dying old bastard doesn't have kids, but he's got plenty of distant relatives. Normally, they don't visit, but when it comes to eating up a household with no heirs, nobody lets it go. A bunch of people will rush here once he's gone—in the end, how do we get to keep it all for ourselves?"
"Hmm..."
The two sons exchanged glances, beginning to understand, but still confused: "Is that really necessary? That old guy's got nothing but trash and a busted boat. Is it worth all this trouble?"
"You know nothing!"
Zhang Cheng cursed again: "In times like these, any fisherman who makes it to old age must have some skills hidden away. That old bastard's never shown his hand; he never even took a wife. He's definitely got some savings stashed. And even if he hasn't got a penny, we can still..."
He lowered his voice: "Use his name to offload those things for cash, all aboveboard. Get it?"
"Hmm..."
"Yeah, we get it now!"
"Dad, you're the clever one!"
Listening to Zhang Cheng, the two finally understood, singing his praises repeatedly.
"Otherwise how would I be your dad, you pair of wastrels?"
Zhang Cheng snorted coldly, then turned to look behind him, sighing: "Oh, cousin, don't blame me. At your age, you've lived enough; best to join your kin in the next world. Don't worry, I keep my word—my second son will definitely carry on your family's incense..."
...
That night, in the cabin, Xu Yang was staring at the knife in his hand. The blade had been sharpened to a frightening edge, reflecting a chilling gleam.
Knife Sharpening (Sharp)
As the name suggests, it's the ability to sharpen blades to razor edge.
As for just how sharp... Xu Yang had tested it. It hadn't reached the level of slicing iron like mud, but for chopping flesh, cracking bone, slitting throats, stabbing hearts—it was all effortless.
Setting the sharp knife aside, Xu Yang looked toward the cabin door. The moon was gone, stars vanished, darkness boundless.
It was the perfect night for killing: dark, and a wind for arson!
He didn't know exactly what Zhang Cheng and his sons were planning, but their actions had already put his safety at risk.
So, they had to die. Tonight!
Xu Yang stood up, stripped off the wide rain cloak, revealing a hunchbacked, frail body. Compared to others, he looked no different than an ordinary old fisherman.
But as he shed his clothing, his hunched frame and withered muscle gradually straightened and filled out, and a strange sound of bone and sinew shifting came from within him.
Moments later, the cabin held not a scrawny, frail old man, but a tall, strong-bodied, sharply muscled... old man?
When he dipped a hand in water and wiped it across his face, all the mottled, wrinkled signs of age vanished, replaced by a young man with fierce features and an iron-hard expression.
Breathing (Turtle Breathing, Strong, Exertion, Longevity, Life Extension)
Disguise (Camouflage, Voice Change, Shrinking bone, Concealing Presence)
Life Extension—a skill characteristic of Breathing—increases lifespan and slows the aging of the body. With that, and his extended years, Xu Yang was no old fisherman at all, but in the prime of his youth.
Of course, something so unnatural couldn't be allowed out, so Xu Yang had practiced a skill—Disguise.
Disguise, how's it done?
Xu Yang didn't know either. But it didn't matter. With attribute-panel skills, once the skill is set, it doesn't matter if you get it or not—if you keep at it, train and generate characteristics, you can turn trash into miracles.
That's exactly what Xu Yang did. At first, he knew nothing of changing faces or altering voices, or shrinking bones—he just smeared mud on his face every day, wore a wide-brimmed hat and cloak when out, hunched over, stooped, and pressed his voice when speaking to others.
Day after day, over time, Xu Yang mastered Disguise, and it branched into Camouflage, Voice Change, Shrinking bone, and Concealing Presence as skill characteristics.
Skill characteristics have the power to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. With a few simple materials—say, river mud—Xu Yang could disguise himself as an ancient fisherman, concealing his true face and Qi Blood. Not just ordinary folks—even Martial Artists couldn't pick up on anything odd.
For this, Xu Yang even ran a few tests: facing Martial Artists from the Goldfish Gang and other factions on Dongting Lake, not a single one saw through him. That's proof of the Disguise skill under the characteristics.
Stripping off the disguise, returning to his real appearance, Xu Yang walked out of the cabin wearing only shorts, his sharp knife and a cloth pouch tied to his waist.
"Ooh!"
Just then, a piercing cry rang out; a black shadow dropped, landing smoothly on the black-awning boat.
It was—a cormorant, and a massive one at that.
Breeding (Taming, Growth, Strange Fish, Fish Eagle)
In this stratified world where climbing the ranks is nearly impossible, Xu Yang had always searched for ways to protect himself. Martial Arts were out of reach, so he started from other angles.
So, Xu Yang mastered Knife Sharpening, next trained Flying Stone through skipping stones, and at night secretly swung his blade, honing a cleaving skill with powerful characteristics.
Via his Breeding skill, and acquiring the Taming characteristic, he tried to go the beast-tamer route—getting himself shrimp soldiers, crab generals, or some flying birds and beasts as bodyguards.
The follow-up wasn't too promising; no shrimp soldiers, crab generals, or Spirit Beasts with supernatural powers ever appeared. But the combination of Growth and Fish Eagle gave him a valuable ally.
Growth: as one would expect, it means growing big. Animals bred grow better, faster, and end up larger than average.
Fish Eagle allows him to tame cormorants, obey commands, and boosts their abilities.
This huge cormorant was Xu Yang's carefully cultivated companion—named Laoliu!
Why call it Laoliu?
Because the previous Laoda, Laoer, Laosan, Laosi, and Laowu all died!
Laoliu had just come of age, reaching its prime, so it could still accompany him awhile.
"Did you find it?"
Xu Yang looked at Laoliu, who nodded back almost like a human.
"Good."
"Go!"
Xu Yang said no more. At his command, Laoliu took off, soaring into the night sky with a resounding cry to mark the direction.
Xu Yang then leapt from the bow of the boat, plunging into the dark depths of the lake.
"Splash!"
Late autumn, and the waters of Dongting Lake were already biting cold.
Yet Xu Yang felt nothing at all—plunging beneath the surface, his body flicked forward at astonishing speed.
Swimming (Like a Fish in Water)
Xu Yang had found through testing that skill characteristics come in grades: two-character ones are ordinary, four-character ones are rare, stronger, and more potent.
'Like a Fish in Water' for Swimming is a rare four-character trait. It lets Xu Yang behave like a fish in water—how a fish swims, he swims, matching the abilities of a fish his own size.
Given Xu Yang's physique, he was practically a spirit monster among fish his size in the water.
With that, his underwater performance was remarkable. Even if the Zhang Family's boat was over ten miles away, Xu Yang could reach it swiftly by swimming, avoiding the risk of being spotted by sailing above.
"Ooh!"
Following the cormorant's cry, Xu Yang slid like a fish through the water, soon arriving at the area where the Zhang Family had anchored.
Xu Yang surfaced, saw ahead in a natural harbor a large black-awning boat moored.
Fishermen don't always live on their boats—if they own land and have homes ashore, they usually settle on land, only taking to boats for fishing.
Only the truly destitute, whose whole life's belongings are one broken boat, weather wind and rain, damp and sickness, on those unstable crafts.
Xu Yang was like that, and so were the Zhangs—three of them lived aboard their big black-awning boat.
The boat was anchored in the bay, a small lantern lit to prevent other boats from crashing in the night.
Xu Yang glanced at the sky, estimated the time, and decided against sneaking aboard immediately.
Though he was strong, backed by the sharp knife, the odds of a sneak attack were high—but not absolute. Strong as he was, three opponents meant he wasn't guaranteed to win.
Fists can't beat four hands. All three Zhangs were able-bodied, and he'd never studied formal Martial Arts. Aside from his strength, he didn't have much edge. Storming the boat could go awry.
So...
Xu Yang opened the pouch at his waist and took out a fist-sized river pebble.
Flying Stone (Precision)
One more attack skill, obtained from skipping stones—Flying Stone—currently with only the Precision characteristic, meaning outstanding accuracy within a certain range.
Just the one trait, but as an attack method it was enough. Xu Yang doubted any of the Zhangs could take a headshot from his Flying Stone.
Now, all he needed was patience—wait for someone to get up at night to take a piss.
Of course, if no one came, or if they had the good habit of keeping a chamber pot in the boat, then Xu Yang would climb aboard and kill them by force.