Chapter 28: Sword in the Sleeve

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The man wearing the smiling mask spoke incessantly. Chen Mu could only maintain an awkward yet polite smile, even though the other party couldn’t see his face.

“Is there something troubling you, sir?” The smiling masked man asked eagerly, sensing Chen Mu’s discomfort.

“The item is indeed a good one,” Chen Mu nodded affirmatively at first. After all, he was the one who had painted it.

“It’s just a bit expensive,” Chen Mu said with feigned regret. “How about you knock a little off the price?”

The smiling masked man was overjoyed. Finally, he had found a fool! Unable to contain his excitement, he asked, “Would 180 taels be acceptable?”

Chen Mu shook his head. “What about eight taels?”

The smiling masked man was speechless. Is this how you bargain? Starting by knocking off the hundreds?

Chen Mu gave a sheepish smile. Wasn’t this just a clever way to refuse?

“Eighty-eight taels then,” the smiling masked man replied.

Now it was Chen Mu’s turn to be stunned. This was a technique for body conditioning? So cheap? He had only sold seven copies of the body conditioning manual; the market couldn’t be this bad, right?

...

Half an hour later, Chen Mu walked out of the dilapidated house feeling frustrated. He had copied seven copies of the body conditioning manual, but someone else had copied seventy!

“Old man Jie, you’re really ruthless!”

Only that greedy old man could come up with such a brazen scheme. Only he had the chance, the means, the ideas, and the drive to do something like this.

What frustrated Chen Mu most was that he hadn’t received any royalties!

Should he ask Jie Jia for it?

Thinking of the coffin in the Tianyi Studio, Chen Mu quickly shook his head. Better to stay alive. That old man was a high-level assassin after all.

Shaking off his gloomy mood, Chen Mu patted the book in his arms and finally felt satisfied. This trip to the Ghost Market had achieved its goal—he had successfully bought a suitable sword manual.

With the matter settled, Chen Mu didn’t rush home but wandered around the Ghost Market.

With more people, the market became lively, losing the mysterious aura that once made it frightening.

Chen Mu finally had the courage to explore freely.

Looking closely, the goods sold were still a dazzling variety, even including food supplies.

Curious, Chen Mu asked about a sack of white wheat—it cost a tael of silver.

Over a hundred pounds per sack, originally less than three hundred copper coins. Later price hikes raised it to five hundred copper coins. Now it had jumped directly to a tael of silver?!

“Maybe I should bring some white wheat out from the cellar to sell,” Chen Mu was tempted.

“Forget it, the world is chaotic; silver isn’t as important as food,” he quickly dismissed the thought.

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After another round of browsing and picking up a few secret medical books, Chen Mu prepared to leave.

Near the transfer wagon area, he saw someone selling talismans and amulets.

“Selling talismans at the Ghost Market? Interesting...”

Yellow talisman papers bore vivid red, blood-like characters.

A sign stood nearby, reading “Qingfeng Temple’s Evil-Repelling Talismans.”

Qingfeng Temple? The same Taoist temple where he had once copied sutras?

He had even considered joining the temple to learn martial arts but was directly turned down by the sincere Taoist priest.

Chen Mu glanced twice at the vendor, who was wrapped up tightly and might or might not be a Taoist from Qingfeng Temple.

He shook his head and boarded the horse-drawn carriage to leave. Even if they were, it had nothing to do with him. Better to go home and calmly grind proficiency.

...

Afterward, Chen Mu occasionally visited the Bafang Tower to gather news; otherwise, he stayed home every day.

Mornings were devoted to practicing the Flying Locust Stone body conditioning technique, afternoons the same, with medical books studied during breaks.

His routine was even more regimented and busy than a 996 office worker’s life in his previous world.

Yet Chen Mu did not find it dull. Moderate exercise stimulated endorphin secretion, bringing joy.

Moreover, his visible improvement in proficiency gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.

In the evenings, he rewarded himself with increasingly refined cooking skills—a truly pleasant life.

...

At dusk, in House No. 1 on the far east side, Chen Mu used this place as his kitchen and ate only here.

A square table was set up in the yard, with Chen Mu basking in the sunset glow.

He picked up a piece of golden, delicious honey-glazed roast pork; the perfectly balanced sweet and savory flavors delighted his palate.

Chen Mu nodded happily, savoring the moment, “As expected of me! My skills are impeccable!”

In his previous life, he had dreamed of being a gourmet who both savored and cooked exquisite food.

Now, the proficiency system had given him this chance.

Chen Mu summoned his proficiency stats:

Calligraphy: 1495/10,000, Level 2;
Painting: 1365/10,000, Level 2;
Throwing: 2503/10,000, Level 3;
Red Falcon Body Conditioning: 6134/10,000, Level 2;
Cooking: 4516/10,000, Level 1;
Pharmacy: 6042/10,000, Level 1;
Sleeve Sword: 359/10,000, Level 1.

After nearly four to five months of no business in calligraphy and painting, Chen Mu had stopped investing effort there, so those proficiencies barely improved.

Throwing was practiced constantly, but at Level 3, using the Flying Locust Stones slowed progress.

It was best combined with various unique hidden weapons, which Chen Mu lacked the means to craft.

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Since Flying Locust Stones still helped increase proficiency, he had no plans to create unusual hidden weapons.

Chen Mu was very focused on the Red Falcon Body Conditioning technique, as it transformed the body.

Now proficiency had exceeded half; in two to three months, he could break through to Level 3 and complete the bone transformation.

His progress in pharmacy was surprisingly fast. He had merely read a few more medical books quietly and had surpassed 6000 points.

Level 1 was the foundation; Level 2 would bring a qualitative leap.

He looked forward to the changes that Level 2 pharmacy would bring.

The Sleeve Sword technique was something he had recently picked up from the black market.

It was simple, even straightforward.

Essentially: conceal a sword in the sleeve and launch a sudden deadly attack.

The manual detailed how to hide the sword, concentrate force when drawing it, and the secret angles for a stealthy strike.

Chen Mu spent several days just to grasp the basics.

With proficiency aiding his practice, he now trained daily, making rapid progress.

With his proficiency improving and Qingshan County’s environment relatively peaceful, Chen Mu was quite content with his life.

Only one thing troubled him: his meat supply was running low.

Zheng the butcher had been closed for a long time.

Chen Mu had asked around; Zheng said even he couldn’t get meat and had lost weight.

He wanted to buy some dried ham from Chen Mu, but Chen Mu naturally refused.

His intense daily training required plenty of protein.

If not for the five old hens providing eggs, his meager meat reserves would have been gone long ago.

Moreover, meat was hard to store, and he had never bought much to begin with.

Now his stock had reached a critical low.

...

May 21, Bafang Tower, Anle District.

“Now Li County Deputy is almost on par with the County Magistrate, right?” a guest whispered while spitting out sunflower seed shells.

“The magistrate is gone. The three shifts of constables report to Deputy Li. Even the city’s defense commander is a relative of the Li family. Now it’s just the magistrate’s title that’s missing,” another explained.

“Did the other two prominent families agree to this?” the first asked in confusion.

“There’s no disagreement. Counting upwards, not just three families—if you include the wiped-out Wang, Zhou, and Zheng families, six major families are all related by marriage,” the other said with a sneer.

“You have a point.”

“Times are truly turbulent. Centuries-old families vanish in an instant. Sigh...” another joined in.

“Exactly. If not for the eldest son of the Zuo family making a move, the Zuo family might have disappeared too.”

In a corner, Chen Mu listened quietly to the spreading news.

“It seems Qingshan County is temporarily stable.”

“But outside Qingshan County, it’s still chaotic.”

Before coming here, he had stopped by Zheng the butcher’s place—still no meat.

He could only try his luck at the street of vendors in the East Market.

Sometimes hunters from the surrounding villages came there to sell wild game.