I Am a Rune Engraver, Carrying a Knife Makes Perfect Sense-Chapter 10 - Brother Shen, Please Don’t!

—

Xu Shen’s words left Yang Dian frozen in place, his trembling stopping for a moment.

“You... you figured it out?” Yang Dian stammered, his face pale.

Xu Shen toyed with the black knife in his hand, his tone icy. “Breaking someone’s arm on the main street? Not even someone from the Yang Corporation could get away with that—unless you had someone backing you.”

He smirked slightly. “Let me guess... was it that fat guy?”

Yang Dian shuddered violently, the fear in his heart growing deeper. How did Xu Shen know? Was it just because the Xinhuo Guard hadn’t shown up?

“It seems I was right,” Xu Shen said coldly, his eyes flashing with a hint of malice. He was already considering whether to find an opportunity to eliminate Zhang Ling in secret. Though Zhang Ling was a squad leader, Uncle Wang had mentioned that he’d only risen to his position through connections. His actual cultivation level was trash—on par with the thugs Xu Shen had just taken down.

But after a moment’s thought, Xu Shen dismissed the idea. Killing Zhang Ling would undoubtedly attract trouble, and he didn’t know who Zhang Ling’s backers were.

Instead, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Wu Yun’s number.

—

“Who is this?” Wu Yun’s raspy voice came through the line.

“It’s me.”

“Who?”

“Xu Shen.”

“What do you want? I’m busy.”

“There’s a Xinhuo Guard squad leader named Zhang Ling. Who’s backing him?”

There was a brief silence on the other end before Wu Yun replied, “What did he do?”

“He’s causing me trouble. I want to deal with him,” Xu Shen said coldly.

“Don’t be rash,” Wu Yun warned. “Zhang Ling has connections to Jiang Youyi’s predecessor. With your current lack of background, you can’t take him down.”

Wu Yun sounded genuinely concerned. He knew Xu Shen well enough to believe that the boy might actually try to assassinate Zhang Ling. And if he succeeded, it would cause endless headaches for both Wu Yun and Jiang Youyi.

More importantly, Wu Yun suspected that Xu Shen had killed before. When Xu Shen had drawn his knife on him earlier, Wu Yun had seen a flash of murderous intent in his eyes—a look that only someone who had taken lives could have.

After investigating Xu Shen’s past, Wu Yun had discovered an incident from years ago: Xu Shen had been hunting in the outskirts of Yuan City when he encountered a severely injured human trafficker. The man, mistaking Xu Shen for an easy target due to his young age, had tried to attack him. Xu Shen had responded by smashing the man’s head in with a rock, killing him on the spot.

Although the trafficker had been weakened and lacked ghostly energy at the time, Xu Shen’s decisive action had left an impression on the Xinhuo Guard officers who later investigated the scene. Many of them had remembered the boy ever since.

Reflecting on Xu Shen’s history, Wu Yun couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity. In some ways, Xu Shen reminded him of himself at that age—though even then, Wu Yun hadn’t been as ruthless.

After a moment of thought, Wu Yun spoke again. “I’ll assign Zhang Ling to a mission outside Yuan City. That way, he won’t be around to bother you. How about that?”

“Can you make that call?” Xu Shen asked skeptically.

Wu Yun bristled. “I’m a commander! Of course I can make that call! Just wait for my update.”

“If he’s still in Yuan City causing trouble after this, then it’s out of my hands,” Wu Yun added before hanging up.

Xu Shen sat silently for a moment before deciding to trust Wu Yun.

—

Meanwhile, Yang Dian, who had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation thanks to his enhanced senses as an Awakening Realm cultivator, began trembling again. Tears streamed down his face as panic set in.

He’d overheard too much—Xu Shen was planning to take down a Xinhuo Guard squad leader! Was he going to silence Yang Dian to keep him quiet?

“Brother Shen! Please don’t kill me! I’ll give you fifty—no, one hundred thousand yuan!” Yang Dian wailed as he dropped to his knees and clung to Xu Shen’s leg, sobbing uncontrollably.

Xu Shen’s face twitched in annoyance. He hadn’t even planned on doing anything drastic—just scaring Yang Dian a little. The real problem was Zhang Ling, who had clearly been pulling strings behind the scenes.

But seeing Yang Dian groveling like this gave Xu Shen an idea. A sly smile spread across his face.

“Brother Shen... don’t smile like that... it’s terrifying,” Yang Dian whimpered, trembling even harder.

“Relax, Little Dian,” Xu Shen said soothingly as he patted Yang Dian’s bandaged head. “I’ll let you go... but I have one condition.”

“Anything! Just name it!” Yang Dian cried desperately.

“Take off your shirt.”

“What?!”

—

Outside the office, several of Xu Shen’s workers exchanged uneasy glances as they overheard snippets of the conversation.

“Take off your shirt”? What was going on in there?

“Ahhh! Brother Shen, no! Please don’t! Don’t stick it in! Ahhh!!!”

A scream echoed from inside the office, followed by the sound of fabric tearing.

The workers’ faces turned pale as they took a few steps back. Was Brother Shen... that kind of person?

“But wait,” one of them muttered. “Doesn’t Brother Shen have a childhood sweetheart? Could he really be... into guys?”

More screams followed from inside: “Ahhh! Brother Shen, it hurts! Stop moving—it hurts so much!”

The workers’ expressions grew increasingly horrified. This was bad—Brother Shen might have gone too far this time.

But then, to their surprise, the screams gradually gave way to sounds of... joy?

“Brother Shen! What is this? How are you doing this?!”

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“Oh my god! Brother Shen, don’t stop! Please don’t stop!”

“I’ll pay you three hundred thousand yuan—just keep going!”

The workers’ faces twisted into expressions of utter confusion. What on earth was happening in there?

—

When the door finally opened, Xu Shen stepped out looking satisfied and relaxed, his eyes half-closed as if savoring a pleasant memory.

Behind him, Yang Dian emerged shirtless, blood trickling faintly from several shallow cuts on his back. His bandages were gone, revealing a swollen but strangely blissful face.

In just half a day, Yang Dian had broken through to mid-Awakening Realm—all thanks to Xu Shen’s knife work.

Yang Dian couldn’t believe it. He’d seen Rune Engravers at work before—his father had once hired one to modify his own rune—but their methods were always precise and methodical, involving specialized tools and materials.

But Xu Shen? He’d used nothing but a rusty black knife and brute force—and it had worked better than anything Yang Dian had ever seen.

“Brother Shen,” Yang Dian said earnestly as he stepped forward. “I was wrong before. From now on, I’m your loyal follower. Whatever you say goes!”

He pulled out a bank card and offered it to Xu Shen. “This is for compensation—and to help renovate your shop.”

Xu Shen raised an eyebrow but didn’t take the card. “Are you serious?”

“I am,” Yang Dian said sincerely.

“We’ll see,” Xu Shen replied noncommittally before walking away.

Yang Dian watched him leave with a determined expression. To him, Xu Shen wasn’t just a Rune Engraver—he was someone worth following.

—

Leaning against a bridge in a secluded spot later that day, Xu Shen reviewed his system panel:

Engraving Points: 50

He’d experimented on Yang Dian’s Skyhawk Rune by adding five new lines to it. While he hadn’t passed out from exhaustion this time, he’d still felt lightheaded after finishing.

“It seems the Engraving Points required depend on the target’s cultivation level,” Xu Shen mused. “Uncle Wang was at peak Flame Mastery when I worked on his rune—that’s why it drained me so much.”

“But Yang Dian was only at early Awakening Realm, so it wasn’t as taxing.”

Satisfied with his conclusions, Xu Shen decided not to reject Yang Dian outright as a follower. He wanted to observe him further and see if he could be trusted.

“If he proves himself useful... I wouldn’t mind helping him refine his rune further,” Xu Shen thought. “But I’ll never strengthen someone who might become my enemy.”

—

Just then, his phone buzzed—it was Wang Bing.

“Where are you? Get back here now! We’re heading to Experimental High School today for the post-awakening lecture.”

Xu Shen smacked his forehead. He’d completely forgotten about the mandatory lecture on cultivation techniques and rune selection for newly awakened students.

“You guys go ahead—I’m nearby,” Xu Shen replied before hanging up and heading toward the school at a brisk pace.