Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 46 - 44: Obtaining the Treasure Armor, the Black Tiger Gang’s Annihilation!
Su Mu infused power into his arms, and after twisting Zhao Xuan’s neck with force, he tore the head completely off and wrapped it with the bed curtains from the room, hanging it at his waist.
Then he reached out to strip the treasure armor from Zhao Xuan’s corpse.
"Able to withstand the power of Perfection Tiger Subduing Fist... good stuff."
The treasure armor was as thin as a cicada’s wings, semi-transparent under the moonlight, soft and delicate to the touch, with a slight cool sensation. Su Mu casually put it into his coat, then his hands quickly rummaged over the headless corpse.
Soon he found a stack of silver notes, which Su Mu did not count but stuffed into his bosom. He listened to the approaching footsteps outside the courtyard, lifted Zhao Xuan’s body and threw it towards the entrance to the inner courtyard.
Bang!
The corpse landed heavily at the courtyard door.
Taking advantage of this gap, Su Mu rummaged through the house, and when he opened a hidden drawer, a strong medicinal fragrance hit his nose.
"White Jade Barbarian Bone Ointment... as many as five boxes."
Su Mu’s eyes flickered. It seemed that the relationship between Zhao Xuan and Wu Heng was not as close as the rumors suggested. Right now, Su Mu was not going to be polite. He tore off another piece of bed curtain, twisted it into a wrap, and took all the ointments and other small porcelain bottles.
Just then, the Black Tiger Gang members finally appeared outside the courtyard, and immediately a disturbance erupted at the courtyard entrance.
"This... this body shape and the clothing on the body... Is this the Gang Leader’s corpse?"
"The Gang Leader... is dead?"
Soon someone recognized Zhao Xuan’s body. The Black Tiger Gang members who arrived were all stunned on the spot. For a moment, the unguarded courtyard entrance before them seemed like a thunder pool, and no one dared to step across the threshold.
Inside, Su Mu quickly found a martial arts secret manual from another hidden compartment. He stuffed it into the curtain wrap all at once, and then calmly did a thorough search of the room before tying the package over his shoulder.
He leaped out, jumping onto the high wall over ten feet tall in full view, and after a few more leaps, his body disappeared into the night like a dragonfly skimming the water.
After Su Mu left, the Black Tiger Gang members poured into Zhao Xuan’s inner courtyard, and soon the sounds of slaughter ensued. Wu Heng and Zhao Xuan died in succession, leaving the Black Tiger Gang leaderless.
The lure of wealth tempted the hearts of men, and the Black Tiger Gang members immediately fought violently to seize the treasures inside the house, turning the courtyard into a blood-soaked battlefield.
Of course, Su Mu, having left, was unaware of this, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.
"Lock the doors and windows, guard against theft and robbery."
On the quiet street at night, the night watchman, carrying a lantern, beat the gong in his hand to announce the second watch of the night.
Just then, the watchman suddenly turned his head to look at the street beside him and rubbed his eyes, thinking he saw something passing by.
"Probably just my eyes playing tricks, or maybe a stray cat?"
The watchman continued to walk, repeating the second watch slogan about locking doors and windows, guarding against theft and robbery.
In the pitch-black street, a figure, without alarming anyone, landed lightly on the eaves and leaped onto the second floor of an inn, entering a room facing outward through the window. Upon coming out again, the figure had an additional round package at his waist, one on the left and one on the right.
He left the small town, heading east.
At the waist of Bailu Mountain, Su Mu suddenly saw a great flame rising in the east of the city.
"Isn’t that direction Zhao Xuan’s residence?"
Su Mu was puzzled in his heart. He did not know that the Black Tiger Gang members at Zhao Xuan’s residence were already bloodthirsty from fighting, and the fire was the result of their battle.
After glancing a few times, Su Mu withdrew his gaze. Now, everything was no longer his concern.
Su Mu climbed to the top of Bailu Mountain, took the two packages from his waist, and placed the heads of the Black-armored Strongman and Zhao Xuan in front of Zhou Mountain’s grave.
The early sun dispelled the cold mountain wind, shining all over the earth. Su Mu shouldered his backpack, looked at the rising sun, and heard the sudden call of egrets from the forest. Soon, several egrets flapped their wings and flew high from Bailu Mountain, migrating south.
Autumn has passed, winter is not far.
Egrets leave the Cyan Cloud Mountain, unseen are the clear waters.
There is no feast that does not end. Last night, Su Mu brought the heads of his enemies, and today, after offering one last drink, he got up to leave.
"Uncle Zhou, have a safe journey."
The boy’s steps down the mountain changed from heavy to light and steady. His life’s path is like the rising sun, just beginning. His story still continues.
"In a chaotic world, good people don’t live long... Only what you hold in your own hands can be called fate!"
A gleam of determination flashed in the boy’s eyes, and the resolve to become stronger grew ever firmer in his heart.
At the foot of the mountain, Su Mu met Uncle Li and Brother Xiaohu.
"Xiaomu, you should go back and have a good rest," said Uncle Li, with a hint of relief in his eyes. He had not misjudged, nor had Zhou Mountain.
Su Mu responded and bid his farewell.
"Alright, all the masters are in the shop; you can visit them before you leave," said Uncle Li, patting Su Mu’s shoulder before walking a few steps, leaving Xiaohu and Su Mu some time.
Finally, Li Xiaohu hugged Su Mu, "Su Mu, I’ll come to the city to find you in the future!"
"Alright, I’ll be waiting for you."
The young man replied solemnly before descending the mountain, and the father and son of the Li family headed up the mountain.
"Dad, what are those two dark things in front of Uncle Zhou’s grave?"
When the two approached, they saw it was two bloody heads. Li Xiaohu turned pale with fright and trembled, but Li Tie’s expression changed dramatically.
He recognized one of the heads at a glance as the leader of the bandits who had attacked the town and killed Master Zhou and others at the iron shop.
The other head’s face was damaged, but a head placed alongside the bandit leader must be extraordinary. An image of Black Tiger Gang Leader Zhao Xuan flashed in Li Tie’s mind, and the head before him vaguely overlapped with the figure in his memory.
"The other head is Zhao Xuan’s?!"
Gulp. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Li Tie swallowed hard and suddenly turned to look at the path down the mountain, but the boy’s figure had long disappeared.
"Uncle Li... I, my chest feels stuffy. I’ll go out for some air and be back soon."
Words the boy had spoken days ago surfaced in Li Tie’s mind at this moment.
Scenes flashed by, and on the night Wu Heng forcibly took the thirty-forged long saber, a mysterious strongman broke into Wu Heng’s residence and killed him.
Memory continued to rewind.
Li Tie recalled the day Wu Heng first caused trouble in the shop, it was Su Mu who helped Zhou Mountain. Everything connected in Li Tie’s mind.
"It was Xiaomu... but Xiaomu is only fourteen years old!"
Li Tie was secretly amazed at the prodigy. Meanwhile, Su Mu had returned to the shop and said his goodbyes to the masters before quickly leaving the town. He was going to continue searching for Pharmacist Lin’s whereabouts.
On Bailu Mountain, Li Xiaohu saw his father staring intently at the two heads. He swallowed hard and forced himself to look again. Upon seeing it, he couldn’t help but cry out.
Li Xiaohu recognized one of the heads and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Dad, dad... isn’t this head that day..."
Li Tie interrupted Li Xiaohu, "Let’s go back to the shop, let’s go back!"
The two were still a step late. From the masters’ mouths, they learned that Su Mu had already left. Li Tie pondered for a while before publicly announcing the decision to dissolve the shop.
At present, Li Tie insisted on taking out accumulated savings and distributing a substantial sum of silver coins to each master, despite many masters’ persuasions.
"Masters, these are unsettled times. I plan to take Xiaohu back home, and I hope each of you takes care!"
"Take care, shop master!"
Watching the masters of the iron shop leave one after another, Li Xiaohu felt an indescribable sense of loss and doubt.
"Dad, why do you want to disband the shop even though you don’t want to? This shop is the result of your over twenty years of hard work."
Li Tie looked at Xiaohu, speaking with earnest words.
"Xiaohu, you’ll understand in the future... Our shop will one day produce a truly remarkable person. Xiaohu, let’s go."
The dissolution of Li’s Iron Shop didn’t cause much of a stir in Qingshui Town, all because an even more sensational event happened.
The Black Tiger Gang Leader Zhao Xuan, who had dominated Qingshui Town for nearly twenty years, had his head cut off at night. With the Black Tiger Gang leaderless, the remaining Hall Masters fought amongst themselves, leading to heavy casualties in the scramble for treasure, causing the once mighty Black Tiger Gang to collapse overnight.
The tiger roar from the night Zhao Xuan died was passed from mouth to mouth in Qingshui Town, and the legend of the ancient Mountain Monarch’s apparition quickly spread throughout Qingshui Town, becoming widely known again.
In the following days, Su Mu wandered alone throughout the Qingshui Town area. He heard from several medicine merchants about the whereabouts of Pharmacist Lin over a month ago, but Pharmacist Lin’s current whereabouts were still unknown.
"Let’s head back to Qingyun City first."
