Kid, asking for death!

The next day.

Chen Anquan woke early and once again checked the attribute panel, his gaze falling on the secret manual laid out on the table.

He was not terribly disappointed, because he had long since prepared himself for the possibility.

If the attribute panel had not awakened the Golden Bell and Iron Robe skill last night, then it was even less likely to activate the moment he opened his eyes this morning.

His system never lagged.

The sky was only just beginning to brighten, and the air outside the basketball court was still faintly chilly.

Chen Anquan stood at the center of the court in a thin black training outfit, his back to the door of his mud-brick house, his eyes fixed on the distant direction of Hollow Back Mountain.

"Please let those cultivated roots ripen sooner. Don't let them find out."

Clenching his fists, Chen Anquan felt a trace of worry rise in his heart.

Last night, after finishing his workout, he had already eaten all the lesser roots; only those dug up from the summit of Hollow Back Mountain remained.

Tonight, after training, he could begin testing those roots from the mountaintop.

The ancient strains of a zither drifted out, and Chen Anquan bent his knees slightly, raised his hands before him, and began practicing Tai Chi.

Tai Chi was, at present, his only close-combat skill. He had to raise it to level three before he could begin training in Tai Chi Sword and the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

"Morning, young man!"

As Chen Anquan moved through his Tai Chi forms, he heard someone passing behind him greeting him.

After living in the mountain village for a month, he knew nearly all the villagers who lived here year-round.

"Morning."

Chen Anquan answered briefly, his movements not slowing in the slightest.

That old man must have gotten up early again to pee and have diarrhea...

The sky grew steadily brighter, and more and more villagers began passing the basketball court.

Chen Anquan lowered his hands and slowly opened his eyes.

His Tai Chi proficiency had increased by fifty points, which pleased him greatly.

In the past, if he had gotten twenty or thirty points of proficiency from practicing Tai Chi first thing in the morning, it would have already counted as a stroke of ancestral blessing.

Today he had to make a trip to the town, for three purposes.

First, to visit the old colleague he once worked with at the town clinic and buy a batch of medical supplies, such as acupuncture needles, moxa sticks, test tubes, flasks, droppers, and the like.

Second, to buy some basic necessities.

Third, to go to the town's herbal medicine market and wait for Kuang Quan to come buy his medicinal herbs.

Chen Anquan found it strange. Since Kuang Quan lived in town, why couldn't he simply deliver the herbs to Kuang Quan's home? Why insist on inspecting the goods at the herbal market?

Unable to make sense of it, Chen Anquan decided not to think about it any further.

After borrowing his second uncle's three-wheeled motorcycle, Chen Anquan rode off in grand style, leaving Hollow Back Village behind.

He could have kept wearing his weighted gear and sprinted the whole way, but at this point he truly had no need to exercise at every moment of the day. Everyone needed time to relax, didn't they?

Everything went smoothly. The old colleague who worked at the town clinic was very helpful, and Chen Anquan did not have to ask around for long before buying a large box of medical equipment.

After loading the box into the back of the tricycle, Chen Anquan headed for the vegetable market.

It took about half an hour and seven or eight hundred yuan, but Chen Anquan finally bought enough meat and vegetables to last him a full week.

By then, he had two overflowing woven sacks on his back and was walking toward the herbal medicine market.

More than ten days had passed since he last sold herbs there.

Chen Anquan actually felt a little nostalgic for that middle-aged man who had claimed to be from East River Village.

And for his two arrogant sons, too. Trying to show off in front of him had been nothing short of courting death.

"Ah!"

Chen Anquan was overjoyed. Sure enough, he spotted the unfriendly-looking middle-aged man in the herbal market.

The so-called herbal market was a small section specially set aside by the relevant authorities to accommodate the business of herb gatherers in town.

The place was not large, but there were quite a few people selling herbal medicine.

Chen Anquan appeared in the market carrying two full woven sacks, and almost every herb gatherer in the otherwise quiet market turned to look at him.

A guest is a guest; anyone passing through here might be a potential customer.

When the middle-aged man saw Chen Anquan approaching, he called out to him at once. "Young man, you look quite extraordinary. You must have been into sports back when you were in school, right?"

Chen Anquan stood where he was, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, and a teasing smile appeared on his face.

He was eager to see what the man would do next.

The middle-aged man's smile vanished as if cremated by flame. "You brat, you're the one who stole my business!"

He was furious that Chen Anquan had taken his customers. If that Zhao Xuan woman had bought his cultivated roots, he would have made several thousand yuan.

He was also envious that Chen Anquan actually knew someone in the herbal medicine trade, someone who had bought all of Chen Anquan's herbs in one go.

The moment Chen Anquan entered, he had already noticed that in this tiny herbal market, the middle-aged man's stall was the largest.

"Uncle, I'm late. Please make room for me."

"Damn it, boy, don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" Chen Anquan feigned ignorance.

"If you dare come here selling herbs again, I'll beat you every time I see you!"

"Heh... We're all in business. I won't make things hard for you. Just give me back my old spot."

"Dream on!" The middle-aged man bared his teeth. "You'd better get lost, or you'll learn your lesson!"

"I'll be waiting." Chen Anquan smiled.

"You're quite cocky, aren't you? Just wait." The middle-aged man fumed as he pulled out his smartphone and began making a call.

Chen Anquan knew he was summoning his two sons.

But before his sons could arrive, Kuang Quan had already come.

Kuang Quan was efficient. After inspecting the herbs, he bought nearly two-thirds of Chen Anquan's entire stock.

After Kuang Quan directed a young man to leave with two shoulder poles full of woven sacks, Chen Anquan finally saw two familiar men approach.

One was broad-faced, heavyset, and fierce-looking. The other was tall and thin, yet powerfully built.

The heavyset man strode up to Chen Anquan, planted his hands on his hips, and gave him a sidelong look. "Boy, you've got some nerve."

The tall, thin man bared his teeth. "Boy, you still have time to leave."

"Heh heh, boy, this isn't a place you can just come to!" The middle-aged man was exceedingly pleased with himself. Having raised two bully-like sons, they were extremely useful at critical moments.

By then, a nearby herb farmer had already taken out his phone and started recording video.

Spectators never minded when things got bigger; if anything, they hoped someone would be beaten to death.

Seeing that Chen Anquan showed no intention of backing down, the two men raised their voices and shouted, "Damn it! We're from East River Village. You little punk from some shabby foothill backwater came here to sell herbs? Are you trying to die?"

Those words were like a landmine, instantly exploding all eyes in the crowd.

Soon, dozens of onlookers had gathered.

Looking at the crowd, Chen Anquan noticed that more than half of them had taken out their phones to snap photos or record video.

A satisfied smile curved his lips.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

"Let's be reasonable." Chen Anquan pointed to the one-meter-wide passageway, which had already been occupied by the middle-aged man. "This is a public passageway. In principle, no one should set up a stall here. I used to set mine up there, and whenever anyone needed to pass, I would move it aside. But this uncle not only refused to let me continue, he even wanted his two sons to teach me a lesson. Tell me, is there any justice left in the world?"

The middle-aged man was pointed at by Chen Anquan. He first froze, then noticed that quite a few people were already filming him. At once he glared at Chen Anquan and said, "So what if it is me? I just don't like you, and I just don't want you setting up a stall. What can you do about it?"

"Why is this man so overbearing?" someone nearby muttered.

"Keep your voice down. They're from East River Village. They've always been like this," another person warned softly.

Chen Anquan looked at the middle-aged man with satisfaction. The effect he wanted was gradually taking shape.

"Everyone can see it. Why is this man so overbearing?" Chen Anquan said pitifully, waiting for the people around him to stand up for him.

However, under the watchful eyes of the two fierce-looking men, no one dared to be the first to step forward.

"Boy, are you asking for a beating?" the heavyset man said angrily, walking up to Chen Anquan until their faces were almost touching.

The next second, without warning, he suddenly drove a vicious kick into Chen Anquan's lower abdomen.

"Boy, you're courting death!"