At this moment, Lin Feng wasn't being picky. He picked up a bun from the ground and began eating it heartily. Since there was no water to drink, he swallowed it dryly and finished the big bun in just a few bites. Observing Lin Feng's eating habits, Li San couldn't help but sneer, "Damn it, is this kid a reincarnation of a hungry ghost?"
Lin Feng then devoured over a dozen large meat-filled buns in less than a minute—a feat driven by the uncontrollable hunger raging within him. Even after finishing the buns, his stomach still felt empty; however, the hunger eventually subsided, and his body stopped breaking down its muscles. The life force on his attribute panel recovered to 7. Although his body's deficit was not entirely replenished, at least he was no longer trembling.
Raising his head, Lin Feng asked, "Is there anything else to eat? I'm not full."
The three robbers were horrified. Could this guy really be a hungry ghost? In such a short time, he had eaten more than the three of them combined. Li San cursed again, "Damn it, you've eaten most of the buns. What else do you want to eat?"
Wang Gousheng squinted at Lin Feng. This kid had eaten so many buns, yet his stomach showed no signs of bulging. Where did all the buns go? He didn't dare to let Lin Feng eat any more. If the kid gained strength from eating and developed the ability to resist, killing him would be difficult.
"So," Wang Gousheng said, "little brother, the death-row inmates in the yamen only get a bowl of noodles before they die. You've already eaten ten big meat buns. We brothers have been generous enough. Go in peace."
After Wang Gousheng finished speaking, Li San made his move. With a whoosh, he swung his club toward Lin Feng's head. Lin Feng suddenly rolled aside, and with a bang the club smashed a large hole in the hard ground.
Still prone, Lin Feng immediately countered with the Wild Donkey Leg Kick from the Beast Hunting Fist. Using his waist and legs, his right foot sprang up and targeted Li San's crotch. Bang—crack—ah ah ah. Lin Feng even thought he heard the sound of bursting fish bubbles.
Li San leaped upward, dropping his club as he landed, then collapsed on the ground, screaming with his legs clamped tightly together. Before Lin Feng could make another move, the clubs of Wang Gousheng and Zhang Er were already coming at him. Reacting swiftly, Lin Feng employed the Lazy Donkey Roll, rolling across the ground to dodge their strikes.
Wang Gousheng and Zhang Er were shocked. This kid had looked as if he were about to die moments ago—how had he suddenly become so energetic? The key was that he also knew martial arts; one decisive move had already crippled the third brother. When they had caught him yesterday, he had been as weak as a chick. How had he transformed into such a powerful fighter overnight?
Rolling a few times on the ground, Lin Feng maneuvered to Wang Gousheng's side and raised his hand to perform the Monkey Stealing Peach. Crack—crack—two crisp sounds echoed. Wang Gousheng leaped up and then collapsed to the ground, screaming. Observing the miserable state of his two brothers, Zhang Er felt a chill in his crotch. With a whoosh, Zhang Er forced Lin Feng back with two clubs and then hurled them as he turned and ran toward the door.
It appeared that Zhang Er believed he could escape alone. But Lin Feng had already noticed his intent and deliberately feigned a vulnerability. As soon as Zhang Er turned around, Lin Feng executed the Eagle Leaving the Nest from the Beast Hunting Fist. He suddenly leaped from the ground into the air behind Zhang Er and followed up with a Poisonous Snake Flicking Tongue mid-air, thrusting out his palm to strike Zhang Er's nape. With a cracking sound, Zhang Er's neck was broken; he staggered a few steps forward before falling to the ground. Lying there, his eyes stared wide open, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and after a few twitching spasms, he fell still—it seemed a single blow had killed him.
In less than ten seconds, of the three robbers, two were crippled and one was dead. The Lesser Accomplishment Beast Hunting Fist proved so powerful—each move was as fatal as a beast in pursuit. Although these three men possessed higher life force than Lin Feng, their martial skills were only at the entry level, making them no match for him.
Lin Feng examined his hands. In just two days, he had been reborn; he was no longer the weak teenager he once had been. This transformation was all thanks to System Daddy. With the system's blessing, his ascent to the peak of martial arts was imminent.
Glancing at the two screaming robbers on the ground, Lin Feng's first thought was to send them to the yamen. But he quickly realized that this was no longer the peaceful, prosperous world of his previous life. Handing them over would mean facing beatings and even conviction. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," he mused.
Lin Feng picked up a club and advanced toward the hoodlum Li San, striking him on the head and silencing him instantly. Next, he approached Wang Gousheng. Enduring the pain, Wang Gousheng begged, "Sir, for the sake of those dozen buns, please spare my life."
Lin Feng smiled and replied, "Is your life only worth a few buns?"
Quickly, Wang Gousheng countered, "I still have silver—it's all under the bed in the opposite room. As long as you spare my life, you can take it all."
Shaking his head, Lin Feng said, "These things are only enough for me to give you a quick death."
Mimicking Lin Feng's tone, Wang Gousheng retorted, "You ate my buns, took my silver—if you don't spare my life, I won't let you go even as a ghost. Go to your mother."
Lin Feng then struck Wang Gousheng's head with a stick. "You're trying to use feudal superstition on me—I'm not afraid of it."
Having killed three people, Lin Feng felt no fear. His prowess with the Beast Hunting Fist and his boundless energy had given him the confidence to act without hesitation. It was also due to the integration of the original owner's memories; that man had witnessed starving people on the roadside and, over time, grown unafraid.
After dispatching the three men, Lin Feng walked into the adjacent room. Inside, a wooden bed made of planks stood in one corner, while a few strings of cured meat and his family's ancestral hunting bow hung on the wall. Under the bed, he found a money bag containing more than thirty taels of silver and a hundred copper coins. These three hooligans had no idea how many lives they had harmed in their quest for black-hearted profit. His family had spent only ten taels of silver to arrange a marriage and build a house—thus, thirty taels of silver was a fortune indeed.
Searching the room further, Lin Feng discovered a "Mad Demon Staff Technique" hidden under a pillow. It was always advantageous to acquire more skills; his eyes lit up as he immediately flipped through its pages. The Mad Demon Staff Technique was an unranked martial art, on the same level as his Beast Hunting Fist. Clearly handwritten—the script reminiscent of Old Zhang's—and containing only the first three layers, it promptly appeared on his attribute panel with the words "Mad Demon Staff Technique (Unranked) (Not Started)." With such high learning efficiency, there was no need to keep the handwritten secret book; Lin Feng discarded it casually.
Even after devouring more than a dozen buns, Lin Feng's hunger persisted—and he was also very thirsty. After searching the bedroom, he walked into the kitchen. There, he picked up a water ladle and scooped several ladles of water from the water tank, quenching his thirst at last.
On the wooden shelf in the kitchen, he found half a bag of rice, half a bag of noodles, and fifty or sixty pieces of cornbread. Cornbread, known for its long shelf-life, was usually steamed in batches of around a hundred, enough to last for eight to ten days. Lin Feng devoured them in two bites each, consuming all of them in mere minutes. Only then did his hunger abate, and the life force on his attribute panel recovered to 8.
After washing his face, Lin Feng gathered the money bag, cured meat, half a bag of rice, half a bag of noodles, and the ancestral hunting bow, then left the small courtyard. The grain could not be wasted—his family still consisted of his elderly mother, his wife, and five babies waiting to be fed, all on the brink of starvation. Before departing, he set a fire to incinerate the bodies and eliminate any traces.
Walking along the mountain road, Lin Feng glanced back at the raging fire. The flames consumed his place of rebirth—a final farewell to the past. The people and things of his previous life no longer held any sway over him. A morning breeze stirred a few strands of hair at his temples as he raised his head to gaze at the fiery red sun in the sky and spontaneously composed a poem:
"Fire rises to cut off the past, smoke disappears to bid farewell to the old.
The past goes with the wind, the red sun shines on the new body.
Brother and sister will embark on the road of Jianghu from now on."
Without looking back, Lin Feng turned and left.