Killed

Taking Trash Fish's whip kick head-on, Chen Ping'an felt as though a heavy sledgehammer had slammed violently into his chest. For a moment, the pain was intense. But... that was all. Having reached greater mastery in Iron Shirt, his resistance to blows was extraordinarily high. While this whip kick could injure someone at the qi and blood second layer who had not trained in hard martial arts, Chen Ping'an could withstand it! The instant the whip kick struck him, Chen Ping'an seized the leg tightly with both hands. He jerked his arms with sudden force, yanking Trash Fish toward him. In a split second, Trash Fish lost his balance and fell toward Chen Ping'an. "How is that possible?!" Trash Fish's face was stricken with shock. Though it was the dead of night, his opponent had an ordinary build and was a whole head shorter than him—details Trash Fish had observed with ease. Thus, from the very start, the combat-hardened Trash Fish had ruled out any possibility that the youth trained in hard martial arts. The boy most likely followed an agility-focused path, which was why Trash Fish had opted for such a simple, brutal whip kick. Yet now... This delicate-looking youth actually practiced an external hard martial art?! The present situation gave Trash Fish no time to think. The surging power transmitted from his right leg caused him to instantly lose his balance. He snapped his upper body downward, using his trapped right leg as a pivot. Driving through his waist, he whipped his left leg violently upward. His target: his opponent's head. Whoosh! A gust of fierce wind swept in! Chen Ping'an, whose greater mastery of Iron Shirt had granted him rich practical experience, instantly made the right move. Releasing his grip on the man's right leg, Chen Ping'an drove his right foot hard against the ground and leaped into the air. Bending his left leg, he drove his knee upward with furious power straight toward Trash Fish's left leg. The point of impact was none other than the vulnerable side of Trash Fish's knee. "Damn it!" Trash Fish's face drained of color. He had never expected this seemingly ordinary youth to react with such astonishing speed. In desperation, he tried to shift his posture, but suspended in midair without any footing, he was completely powerless. "Too late!" Crack! The sound of bone snapping rang out. Trash Fish's left knee was shattered by Chen Ping'an's strike. Their forces had moved in opposite directions, colliding at an offset angle, and this was the inevitable result. The broken bone sent a flush of crimson across Trash Fish's face. His eyes were bloodshot from the agony, yet sheer grit compelled him to hold on. Landing on his right foot, he tried to steady himself and unleash a heavy punch. Chen Ping'an, however, had no intention of giving him the chance. Borrowing the recoil of the clash, Chen Ping'an touched down a step ahead and stomped toward Trash Fish's right foot, aiming for the exact spot where it was about to plant. Thud! Trash Fish felt as if the instep of his foot had been crushed. No longer caring about the pain racking his body, he lashed out like a madman, raining heavy punches down on Chen Ping'an. Chen Ping'an raised his forearms to shield his head, meeting the punches head-on. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!... Flesh slammed against flesh. Trash Fish possessed formidable strength, but Chen Ping'an parried every strike. The barrage caused him little trouble. With both legs practically crippled and no footwork to support him, Trash Fish had lost nearly all his mobility. Seizing the opening, Chen Ping'an took a punch to the chest as the price to raise his fist high and drive it straight into Trash Fish's face. Bang! Bang! Two impacts landed almost simultaneously. Chen Ping'an felt a tightness in his chest and paused for a brief second. Trash Fish, meanwhile, took a heavy blow to the face, blood instantly gushing from his nose. The tremendous impact made stars burst before his eyes, leaving him swaying. Enduring the discomfort in his chest, Chen Ping'an swept a leg out, sending the already unbalanced Trash Fish crashing to the ground. Then, pushing off with his left foot, Chen Ping'an launched himself into the air and drove his knee down like a weapon, slamming straight into Trash Fish's throat. "Die!" "No!" Trash Fish roared in terror. If not for being a wanted fugitive unable to buy food even with money, why would he have resorted to stealing provisions in the dead of night? He never could have imagined that a household he chose at random would spell his end tonight. He had weathered towering waves and treacherous storms, only to capsize in a ditch! Crack! The knee crashed down, crushing his windpipe. Trash Fish, senior chief of the Black Carp Gang, was dead! Yet Chen Ping'an did not stop. He kept grinding his knee into Trash Fish's throat until it was completely mangled before finally pulling away. Chen Ping'an collapsed to the side, his body going limp as he gasped for air. "Haaah... haaah... haaah..." Sweat soaked his hair, and his arms and thighs trembled faintly. This was his first true battle, and he had not dared to hold back in the slightest. In that desperate struggle, only a single thought had consumed his mind: kill him! Give him no room to breathe! For he knew full well that if he grew slack or held back for even a fraction of a second, the one lying dead might very well have been himself! Now, Trash Fish was dead, and the dust had settled. As Chen Ping'an caught his breath, everything felt like a dream. The scene of the fight flashed through his mind in rapid sequence, feeling utterly unreal. Trash Fish was dead? Slain by his own hands? Chen Ping'an stared at his hands, his mind entirely blank. This was his first fight, and his first kill. The sensation was impossible to put into words. It took a long while before Chen Ping'an's thoughts finally cleared. Looking at Trash Fish's corpse beside him, he felt no fear, no regret, and none of the shock he might have expected. Once he accepted the reality of having killed Trash Fish, his heart grew surprisingly calm. "Is it because of the golden finger? Or because of the world I live in?" Chen Ping'an could not tell, nor did he care to dwell on it. As a runner, he had seen too much of the world's harsh truths. Right now, he only wanted to live well. To take care of his little sister, live properly, and live with dignity. To be bullied by none, threatened by none, and live freely without worries. And to attain all of that, Chen Ping'an knew he needed sufficient strength and a status that commanded respect and fear. Right... Status! His head cleared completely. "Trash Fish, senior chief of the Black Carp Gang, accomplished in skin tempering, stepped into flesh tempering, martial cultivation at the qi and blood second layer. Anyone who provides effective leads will receive five taels of silver and a minor merit. Anyone who kills or captures him on the spot will receive a medium merit and ten taels of silver." Killed on the spot—a medium merit! In the darkness, Chen Ping'an's eyes lit up. A medium merit! To him, that meant the status of a registered runner. "Right, I need to report this immediately!" Chen Ping'an instantly realized what he had to do. "However..." Thoughts raced through his mind. "I cannot let anyone know I was the one who killed Trash Fish. My martial cultivation cannot be exposed just yet! If I reveal it now, the martial art itself might be explained away, but the process of practicing this external art... if anyone digs into it, I won't have an answer." "Now... what should I do?"