Chapter 27: No Loose Ends
Time: Late Afternoon.
Location: The Forest Clearing outside the West Gate.
The sounds of Green Willow City had faded into a distant, rhythmic hum. The forest here was dense, the canopy blocking out most of the afternoon sun, casting the undergrowth in a twilight gloom. It was a place of silence, broken only by the crunch of boots on dry leaves and the buzzing of mosquitoes.
Rat-Eye Liu walked with a swagger, but his eyes were not relaxed. His hand rested hovering over the hilt of his rusted dagger. He was humming a tune, but his ears were twitching at every snapped twig.
He was a rat. And rats didn't survive in the sewers of the Cultivation World by being careless.
"How much further?" Liu grunted, kicking a pinecone. "If this stash is empty, I'm taking a finger for every Spirit Stone you lied about."
Luo Feng walked three paces ahead. He didn't turn around. His voice was calm, muffled slightly by the dense trees.
"We are here."
They stepped into a small, natural clearing. It was surrounded by thick briars and ancient oaks. It was a blind spot—hidden from the road, hidden from the city walls. A perfect grave.
Luo Feng stopped. He stood near a moss-covered rock, his back to Liu.
"Dig," Liu commanded. He didn't walk closer. He leaned against a tree ten meters away, pulling out his dagger. The blade was coated in a dark, greenish oil. Poison. "And be quick. I have a game of dice to get to."
Luo Feng didn't move. He stood perfectly still, his hands hanging loosely by his sides.
"Liu," Luo Feng said softly. "Do you remember when you kicked my door down three months ago? You told me that in this world, experience beats talent."
"I did," Liu sneered, his eyes narrowing. "And I was right. You think because you found some money and bought some pills, you're a cultivator now? I've survived twenty years in the slums. I've killed men who were stronger than me because I know when to strike."
Luo Feng turned around slowly.
The look of fear was gone. In its place was a cold, calculating stillness.
"You are right," Luo Feng agreed. "Experience matters."
He took a step forward.
Liu didn't wait. He didn't ask "What are you doing?" He didn't monologue.
The moment Luo Feng's demeanor changed, Liu attacked.
Swish.
Liu's hand blurred. He didn't charge in; he threw the dagger. The poisoned blade flew through the air, aiming straight for Luo Feng's left eye.
It was a veteran's move. Strike first, strike dirty, ask questions later.
Luo Feng's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected the attack to be so sudden. He twisted his neck violently.
Zip.
The dagger grazed his cheek, cutting a thin line through the skin before embedding itself in the tree behind him. The wound burned instantly—the poison was fast.
"Ha! You're dead!" Liu laughed, drawing a second, longer knife from his boot and charging. "You have power, kid, but you're slow! I can see you thinking!"
Liu was fast. He moved like a shadow, low to the ground, zigzagging to make himself a hard target.
Luo Feng felt the poison stinging his face, making his vision swim slightly. He realized his mistake. He had underestimated the Rat's viciousness.
'He's not just a bully. He's a killer.'
Luo Feng didn't try to draw his saber. At this distance, with the poison working, a sword fight was risky. He needed to end this instantly.
He raised his right hand.
"Die!" Liu leaped, the second knife aiming for Luo Feng's heart.
Luo Feng pointed his index finger.
"Spirit Finger: Solar Overdrive."
He didn't just channel a little Qi. He opened the floodgates. He drew the violent, explosive Sun Qi from the depths of his Dantian—the energy from the Flame Spirit Wine—and forced it all into the tiny meridian of his right index finger.
Sizzle.
The reaction was immediate and agonizing.
It felt like he had shoved his finger into a blast furnace. The skin on his fingertip turned black instantly. The meridian inside his arm expanded to the point of tearing. Smoke rose from his own flesh.
"GAH!" Luo Feng gritted his teeth, the pain nearly blinding him.
But the power was there.
BANG.
Solar Bullet.
A beam of golden light, thicker and brighter than ever before, erupted from his finger. The recoil was so strong it snapped his wrist back with a sickening crack.
The beam hit Rat-Eye Liu mid-air.
It didn't just pierce him. It exploded against his chest.
The sheer heat vaporized Liu's leather armor. It punched a hole the size of a fist through his torso, incinerating his heart and lungs in a microsecond.
Liu was dead before his brain registered the flash. His momentum carried his corpse forward, crashing into the dirt at Luo Feng's feet.
The Cost of Power.
Luo Feng stood in the silent clearing, chest heaving.
He gripped his right wrist with his left hand. He was trembling.
His index finger was a mess. The skin was blistered and charred black. A thin trail of smoke was still rising from the nail bed. The pain was a deep, throbbing agony that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
"Too... much..." Luo Feng gasped, sinking to his knees.
He had overpowered the technique. His body, even with the Iron-Skin Yam reinforcement, wasn't ready to channel that much raw Sun energy.
"He was experienced," Luo Feng muttered, looking at the corpse. "If I had hesitated for one more second... if I had tried to use the saber... he would have gutted me."
He touched his cheek where the poisoned dagger had grazed him. He quickly pulled out a detoxification herb from his pouch and chewed it, spitting the paste onto the cut. The burning sensation on his face faded.
"I won," Luo Feng whispered. "But it cost me."
The Clean Up.
He forced himself to stand. He couldn't leave the body here.
He searched Liu's corpse with his good hand. He found the pouch with 15 Spirit Stones and the slum keys. He took them.
Then, he pulled out a Fire Talisman.
He dropped it on the mangled body.
"Burn."
Whoosh.
Orange flames consumed the Rat. Luo Feng watched the fire, the heat soothing the chill of the adrenaline crash. He waited until only ash and bone fragments remained, then scattered them into the undergrowth.
"No loose ends," he said, his voice raspy.
He wrapped his burnt hand in a strip of cloth torn from his inner shirt, hiding the injury inside his wide silk sleeve.
He turned and walked back toward the city. The walk was long and painful. Every step jarred his injured hand. But his mind was clear.
He had killed his past. The victim was dead. The survivor remained.
The Partner Plan.
Luo Feng returned to the Farming Space just as the sun set.
He washed the ash from his face and changed out of the silk robes. He applied the Mutated Yam sap to his burnt finger. The cool, earth-attribute sap soothed the fire, but he knew it would take days to heal.
Inside the bedroom, Luo Xia was sitting up, folding the new baby clothes into the Spirit Wood crib. She looked up, her face lighting up.
"You're back," she smiled. Then her eyes narrowed. "You look pale."
Luo Feng hid his hand behind his back. "Just tired. The market was crowded."
"Did you get everything?"
"Yes," Luo Feng nodded toward the crib. "Everything we need."
He didn't tell her about the fight. He didn't tell her about the poison or the burn. She needed to feel safe so the baby could grow. He would carry the scars so she didn't have to.
Later that night, Luo Feng sat by the Spirit Spring, staring at the water.
He thought about Rat-Eye Liu.
He thought about the Assassin.
He thought about Fatty Wang.
"I can't keep doing this," Luo Feng realized. "Selling loose bottles... carrying cash... it makes me a target. I'm spending half my energy just dodging rats."
He looked at his burnt finger.
"I need a shield. A big one."
Fatty Wang was a businessman. He was greedy, but he was smart. And he had a clan behind him.
Luo Feng pulled out a piece of paper and dipped his brush in ink. He began to draft a proposal.
[Project: The Spirit Alliance]
He wasn't going to sell the wine to Wang anymore.
He was going to propose a Partnership.
The Pitch: Luo Feng provides the exclusive supply of "Spirit Surge Wine" and high-grade "Mutated Yams."
The Cover: Luo Feng acts as the representative of a "Hidden Master" (a fake persona to explain the resources).
The Demand: Luo Feng doesn't want just Spirit Stones. He wants 30% Shares of the profit and Clan Protection.
"If I am a partner," Luo Feng mused, "then attacking me means attacking Fatty Wang's money. And Fatty Wang will kill anyone who touches his money."
He grinned in the darkness. It was a bold move. It required him to walk into the Treasure Pavilion not as a customer, but as an equal.
"Tomorrow," Luo Feng decided, closing his eyes to meditate. "Tomorrow, I stop running from rats and start building an empire."
[End of Chapter 27]
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