Several bodies lay strewn across the ground, their fresh blood staining the yellow dirt road a dark red.
The sounds of battle grew closer. Su Yu made a split-second decision and retreated with the panicked crowd toward the shop district deeper in the marketplace. The shops there were run by the city's major powers; even a gang in the throes of a bloodbath wouldn't dare attack them.
As he was running, a small, slender figure darted through the crowd like a loach and bumped hard into him.
Su Yu frowned and subconsciously reached for his chest.
It was empty!
The money pouch with his Broken Silver had vanished into thin air!
"Damn it!"
A cold glint flashed in Su Yu's eyes. That was the last of his savings!
Without a second thought, he broke into a sprint and gave chase.
The thief wasn't tall, but his Body Technique was exceptionally bizarre. He weaved through the packed crowd as if it were nothing. Su Yu, on the other hand, was burdened with a fifty-jin bag of grain and had to dodge panicked bystanders. The distance between them was growing.
Su Yu directly unslung the bag of grain and his other belongings from his back, tossing them to the side.
Freed from the weight, Su Yu instantly felt as light as a swallow.
Unleashing the full power of his Qi and Blood from the first gate breakthrough, he used his brute strength to forcibly plow a path through the crowd, closing in on the gray-clad figure.
The thief clearly hadn't expected this 'fat sheep' to be so persistent. In his panic, he ducked into a dead-end alley.
Su Yu blocked the alley's entrance, advancing step by step.
The thief retreated to the base of the wall. Seeing no escape, a wry smile appeared on his dirt-caked face, which was too grimy to make out clearly. His voice was hoarse and grating. "Sir... Hero, spare my life! Here's your money pouch!"
'To be able to catch me, this guy must know some Martial Arts. I've messed with the wrong person.'
As he spoke, he tossed a money pouch over.
Su Yu caught the pouch, checked that the Broken Silver was still inside, and put it away.
"Not enough!"
'I threw away several hundred wen worth of stuff just to chase him. I have to make that back.'
"Sir, you're my first 'customer' of the day. I really don't have anything else..." The thief spread his hands, looking utterly unlucky.
Su Yu snorted coldly and advanced, preparing to search him personally.
The man adopted a posture of surrender, his face a mask of bitter resignation.
Su Yu didn't let his guard down. As he got close, he lunged, his hand shooting for the man's throat.
Just as he was about to be caught, the thief's body twisted at an unbelievable angle, like a boneless sheet of paper, narrowly avoiding the grab.
"Hm?"
'What a slippery Body Technique!' Su Yu was startled. He immediately executed a White Ape Leaning on the Mountain, simultaneously blocking the thief's escape route.
However, with a shift of his feet and an agile turn, the man dodged Su Yu's charge, circled around to the other side, and bolted for the opening.
"What an excellent Body Technique!"
Su Yu couldn't help but praise him again. He spun around and immediately gave chase.
'This Body Technique is so exquisite! If I could learn it...'
The man, fleeing up ahead, felt his heart sink when he saw Su Yu was on his tail again.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled another money pouch from his clothes and threw it back.
But Su Yu didn't even glance at it, continuing the chase and shouting, "I want the Body Technique!"
The man had just reached the alley's mouth and was about to be caught. He gritted his teeth and pulled out a yellowed booklet.
Just as he was about to toss it, a rush of hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the entrance of the alley.
"Damn it, where did that bastard from the Water Snake Gang go?"
Two large men from the Money Gang burst in, blocking the only way out.
The two men scanned the alley. They didn't see any sign of the person from the Water Snake Gang, only two other people.
"You two, did you see someone from the Water Snake Gang run this way?"
"Haven't seen anyone, sirs," the thief quickly replied, silently tucking the booklet back into his chest.
Su Yu stopped, not making any rash moves. He hadn't expected to run into gang members.
The two Money Gang members' eyes swept the area and spotted the money pouch on the ground. They exchanged a look, a silent understanding passing between them.
"Hand over everything you have, and we'll let you go!"
"You, hand over that booklet you just hid!"
The two Money Gang members blocked the exit, one on each side. One of them, holding a throwing knife, gave it a fancy twirl, his eyes mocking.
Su Yu's expression was calm as he slowly took out the money pouch from his clothes.
The thief, trembling, pulled the yellowed booklet from his clothes, looking scared out of his wits. "Sirs, this is all I have..."
"Bring it here!"
The two men reached out to take them.
In the next instant, everything changed!
The thief's feet seemed to generate wind as his figure slipped like a phantom through the tiny gap between the two men.
The man with the throwing knife reacted faster. Furious, he raised his hand to throw it.
But as his hand came up, his expression changed drastically—it was empty!
The throwing knife had somehow appeared in the thief's hand!
"See ya!" the thief chirped, ducking out into the street.
"Fuck! You dare trick me!"
The knife-wielder was furious, but it was too late to give chase. He could only vent his rage on the one who remained: Su Yu.
"Kid, this is just your unlucky day! In your next life, be more careful who you mess with!"
BANG!
Before the knife-wielder could say another word, Su Yu had already seized the opportunity. He unleashed a White Ape Leaning on the Mountain, and the immense force sent the man flying.
CRACK!
The sound of ribs breaking was clearly audible. The man let out a pained scream as he was knocked off his feet and slammed heavily against the wall.
The other man froze for a second, but just as he was about to counterattack, Su Yu had already kicked him in the stomach, causing him to double over like a cooked shrimp.
"Die!"
Su Yu clenched his right fist. His spine coiled and snapped like a great dragon, and all the Qi and Blood in his body converged into a single point as he punched his enemy in the throat.
This strike mobilized all of his Qi and Blood, displaying the full power of the first gate breakthrough.
The throat is a vital point, dense with blood vessels and nerves. Even an ordinary person could inflict a fatal wound there, let alone someone with Su Yu's strength.
With a dull THUD, the enemy's larynx was instantly shattered. His eyes bulged as he clutched his neck, making a gurgling, wheezing sound. He collapsed limply to the ground, twitched twice, and then went still.
"A... a trained fighter?!"
The knife-wielder who had been sent flying had just scrambled to his feet in time to see his companion's gruesome death. He was scared out of his wits.
'He'd really kicked an iron plate this time!'
'Run!'
He turned and fled, wishing he'd been born with two more legs.
'Think you can get away?'
Su Yu had already caught up, landing a punch on the back of the man's head.
THUD!
The man fell flat on his face.
Su Yu closed in without a moment's hesitation. He slammed a fist into the man's temple, following up with several more punches until the person beneath him stopped moving entirely.
'When you kill, leave no witnesses. When you cut weeds, pull out the roots!'
Huu...
Su Yu stood up. Looking at his blood-soaked hands, his heart was pounding, but he didn't feel much fear.
'So this is the power of the first gate breakthrough!'
'Killing ordinary people is as easy as slaughtering dogs!'
'If I truly become a Martial Artist, I could probably kill ten soldiers on the battlefield without exhausting my Qi and Blood, just like Senior Brother Xu said.'
He quickly crouched down and began to loot the bodies.
These two members of the Money Gang had clearly just been looting the outskirts of the marketplace. They were quite well-off.
Two heavy money pouches were a very welcome sight.
But what truly delighted Su Yu was the thin, thread-bound book he found in the knife-wielder's inner pocket.
In the dim light, he saw the three words "Golden Coin Toss" written on the cover.
"A Martial Arts manual?"
Su Yu's heart jolted.
'Did I really get this lucky and find a Martial Arts manual? Even though that thief got away, I ended up with a different one by chance.'
Resisting the urge to examine it immediately, Su Yu shoved the booklet and the money pouches into his clothes and hurried out of the alley.
Back on the main street, the Money Gang seemed to have been defeated. The Water Snake Gang was now clearing the area.
Su Yu skirted the battlefield and returned to the spot where he had dropped his things. As expected, the bag of grain was long gone.
He then immediately headed for the deepest part of the marketplace to hide in the shop district.
Near the shop district, a large crowd had gathered—all people who hadn't managed to escape and were trapped in the marketplace.
Su Yu thought he might still be able to find his belongings, so he searched around. Soon, in an empty alley, he spotted two people.
One was tall and thin, and on his back was... his own missing bag of grain! The other person was short and stout...
Su Yu narrowed his eyes. The backs of these two looked familiar!
'But they took my things, and I've run into them. Naturally, I'm taking it back.'
So he walked into the alley, came up behind them, and spoke coldly:
"You two. That's my property!"