"Huh?"
The ruffians were dumbfounded upon hearing this.
They were used to extorting others, being extorted themselves was a first.
But under the eaves, one has to bow their head.
"How much?" one of the ruffians asked.
"Ten taels."
Is ten taels a lot for saving a life?
The ruffians exchanged glances, supported each other to stand up, and then huddled together for a quiet discussion.
One pulls out a piece of ragged cloth, another digs out a handful of Copper Plates, and some go to Wu Biao for money.
All the money they gathered ended up in Lou Yi's hands.
Upon seeing the money in his hands, Lou Yi was a bit stunned.
A few scattered bits of silver, no bigger than peas, and only a few hundred Copper Plates.
Altogether, barely a single tael of silver.
"Why are you guys so poor?" Lou Yi realized he had overestimated these ruffians' wealth.
"If we were rich, who would do what we do?" Yang Er said, a bit embarrassed.
On the other side, Wu Biao covered his face in shame.
"Then where's the rest of the silver?" Lou Yi certainly had no intention of letting them off the hook.
Don't be fooled by how pitiful these ruffians appear now.
In front of others in the villages surrounding Xinxiang, they behave like big shots.
Major evil is uncommon, but small acts of evil never stop.
The atmosphere was filled with silence.
As Lou Yi's gaze turned unfriendly, the tension started to build.
"How about we work off the debt instead?" a ruffian suddenly suggested.
And big ruffian Wu Biao's eyes lit up, bending over to bow: "From now on, you'll be our big brother!"
"Big brother, receive our respect!"
The other ruffians followed suit, all bowing down to express their submission to Lou Yi.
"Hmm?"
Lou Yi blinked, had he become the leader of this group of ruffians just like that?
He was just about to refuse when a thought occurred to him, and a plan formed in his mind.
"Forget about being your big brother, but you can do something for me. Do it well, and I won't hold today's incident against you, plus there's extra benefits."
Lou Yi gathered the ruffians in a secluded area to give them their tasks.
If there's a death anywhere, report to me immediately.
If the information is true, you'll receive a ten-wen reward.
These ruffians roamed around everywhere all day long, who's more informed than them?
The reward money was also to boost the ruffians' enthusiasm.
The price of a piece of information was comparable to what an ordinary person earned from a whole day of chopping trees, not a small amount.
Otherwise, initially, they might work due to Lou Yi's intimidation, but over time, no one would take it seriously.
As for the one tael of silver Lou Yi just confiscated.
Lou Yi had no intention of returning it, and the ruffians tacitly didn't bring it up.
...
The ruffians came full of excitement and left in disarray.
Seeing the situation resolved, the onlookers all dispersed.
Only the little boy, Gou Wa, remained excited, mimicking Lou Yi's earlier actions, either punching or kicking, and shouting "hua hua."
But he was still young, so his movements were not standard, and he kept falling down, yet he persisted, getting up and trying again with enjoyment.
"Sister-in-law, you keep this." Lou Yi took out the money he got from the ruffians and tried to hand it to Sister-in-law Cheng.
Sister-in-law Cheng shook her head repeatedly, refusing to accept it.
"I have to thank you today, Ah Yi, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't know what to do."
"It's nothing. If you encounter any problems in the future, feel free to find me." Lou Yi sighed, "If only Brother hadn't left so early, you wouldn't have to bear so much hardship."
Cheng Chen was famous for his strength, among the woodcutters, his skills in chopping trees were top-notch.
If he were still here, Sister-in-law Cheng wouldn't be bullied by the ruffians.
Mentioning the late Cheng Chen cast a shadow of sorrow over Sister-in-law Cheng's face.
Lou Yi thought to himself he really should have chosen his words better, seeing the atmosphere turn downcast, he bid his farewell.
Before leaving, he patted Gou Wa's head.
"Gou Wa, listen to your mother, alright?"
"Got it, Uncle Lou." Gou Wa nodded understandingly, showing a rare look of yearning for a child, "In the future, I'll be as strong as you, no one will beat me!"
After saying that, he even swung his little fist firmly.
Lou Yi chuckled, unable to resist ruffling the boy's hair.
...
The following days.
Lou Yi's life returned to a peaceful state.
The only difference was the speed of energy acquisition had significantly increased.
In just ten days, he accumulated three points.
Of course, this was thanks to the ruffians led by Wu Biao.
The timeliness of information is crucial in any era.
Like when an old farmer from Shen Family Village was bitten by a Poison Snake and died, or a Tianfang Village resident was killed by a leopard, and a Ding Family Village aunt fell into a ditch while picking herbs, only to be found in pieces.
By the time these news reached Lou Yi, they might already exceed seven days, making him unable to gain energy.
He readily paid, greatly enhancing the ruffians' enthusiasm for their tasks.
After all, it was an easy gain without much effort.
And Lou Yi accumulated enough for three energy points, meeting the conditions to advance Lou's Axe Skill.
That evening, after dinner, he sat on his bed ready to enhance it.
'Attribute Panel, add points for me!'
As the energy hit zero, the attribute panel changed:
[Name: Lou Yi]
[Age: 19/55]
[Realm: None]
[Skill: Lou's Axe Skill (Beginner 0/10)]
[Energy: 0]
A torrent of memories flooded into his brain, causing it to swell momentarily.
At the beginning of the memories, Lou Yi was still his current self and situation.
Every day, it was either going up the mountain to chop trees or splitting firewood at home.
At first, he had some thoughts of not being underestimated in his youth.
Later, it turned into not being underestimated in middle age.
In the end, reaching fifty, after more than thirty years of chopping trees, he remained a nobody.
Aside from his axe skills, which had reached an extraordinary level.
The axe seemed to become a part of his body, any move could be executed with ease.
Splitting, chopping, picking, flicking, pushing, scooping...
Standing, squatting, sitting, jumping...
Whatever ordinary people could do, he could do, and whatever they couldn't, he could find a way to do too.
People jokingly said he made the axe dance.
But he stayed equally poor, dying a widower, despised by others.
Until mountain bandits stormed the village, killing everyone, including the only neighbor child who called him grandpa and respected him.
He had been hiding, but his blood boiled, wielding his axe, he rushed out.
These bandits weren't humans; they were wooden logs!
Lou Yi seized his axe, went mad, unleashing skills honed over thirty years for the first time.
With each swing, another bandit fell clutching their neck.
He was covered in wounds, and in his final clash with the bandit leader, he fell.
In his dying moments, a faint regret surfaced in his heart.
The axe was effective for killing, if only he had learned how to kill sooner, he wouldn't have died today.
His thirty-some years of experience, and the last-minute epiphany before his death, became the foundation for Lou Yi's current strength.
Meanwhile, an intense heat surged within him, rapidly transforming his body.
"Hiss..."
Lou Yi inhaled sharply, feeling as if countless bugs were gnawing inside him, a maddening itch and pain.
...