8: Gao Qiang was furious!
"Perfect."
Li Qing nodded with satisfaction.
The Water Control Talent kills invisibly; it's much easier than hacking with a blade.
On the way back, Li Qing was in a relaxed mood.
The night breeze felt exceptionally refreshing against his face.
Zhao Si was dead.
At least one great mountain had been removed.
And his own talent was so powerful.
It made him feel unusually excited.
Practicing martial arts was also only a matter of time.
"I have money now, and I have the deed to the house. The next step is to find a way to enter a Martial Arts Hall to learn martial arts."
Li Qing calculated as he walked.
Ten taels of silver was already a fortune in the Slum, enough for him to buy plenty of food to support himself and Xiao Jia.
Once his strength was sufficient and even Gao Qiang could do nothing to him.
That would be the time to learn martial arts!
When he passed by Xu An's house, the sound of a woman crying still drifted from within.
Li Qing stopped and pulled two silver coins from his money pouch.
After a moment's thought, he put one back.
He quietly walked to the front of Xu An's house and slipped the silver coin through the crack in the door.
"Consider it a good deed."
Li Qing muttered to himself.
Although Xu An wasn't a good person, he still had an old mother, a wife, and children at home; he couldn't just let them starve to death.
One silver coin would be enough to feed Xu An's family for a long time.
Moreover, doing it this way wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Who would imagine that an orphan from the Slum would have silver to help others?
Returning home, Li Qing carefully checked the secret marks on the door, confirming no one had been there before pushing the door open and entering.
He bolted the door again and lit an oil lamp in the corner.
He carefully hid the money pouch and the deed to the house, then sat on the edge of the bed to count the night's gains.
Nine taels of silver, dozens of copper coins, and most importantly, the deed to the house.
"I'm rich," Li Qing grinned.
Killing Zhao Si was only the beginning.
Behind him was the even greater threat of Gao Qiang.
Once Zhao Si's death was discovered tomorrow, Gao Qiang would definitely conduct an investigation.
But no one would ever suspect that an undernourished orphan like him was the killer.
"Time to check on Xiao Jia."
Li Qing blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the bed.
His consciousness switched to his Clone, and the underwater world became clear once again.
The Spirit Turtle was resting at the bottom of the river. Its body was another size larger than in the morning, now nearly 1.3 meters long.
Li Qing controlled the Spirit Turtle to wander around, swallowing tiny shrimp in one bite.
[evolution value: 29.1/500]
"Only 0.9 away from 30 points."
Li Qing looked at the evolution value with satisfaction.
At this rate, he would be able to Breakthrough the 30-point mark tonight.
He let the Spirit Turtle continue searching for prey in the river while his consciousness returned to his original body to rest.
Tonight's actions had consumed a lot of energy; he needed to recover well.
Lying on the dilapidated bed, Li Qing reminisced about the feeling of using the Water Control Talent earlier.
"If I use the Water Control Talent in the Great River, the power will surely be even stronger."
Li Qing secretly looked forward to it.
The water in the small river was limited and couldn't unleash the talent's true power.
Once Xiao Jia got a bit stronger, he would go and venture into the Great River.
He heard that there were many Vicious Beasts in the depths of the Great River; they were powerful, but their meat was also more delicious.
If he could hunt a few Vicious Beasts, his evolution value would surely skyrocket.
As he thought, Li Qing drifted into a dream.
In his dream, he rode a giant water Dragon, sweeping through the Great River, with Vicious Beasts fleeing in all directions wherever he went.
Early the next morning, Li Qing was awakened by the clamor outside.
"Something big happened! Zhao Si is dead!"
"Is it true? How did he die?"
"I heard he drank himself to death. He got drunk last night, fell into a water vat, and drowned!"
[evolution value: 30.02/500]
The first thing he did upon waking was check the evolution value on his System panel.
Not bad, he had successfully reached 30 evolution value points.
Then Li Qing got up and looked out through the crack in the door, seeing many people gathered in the alley, all discussing the news of Zhao Si's death.
The excitement on everyone's faces could not be hidden.
"Serves him right! This bully is finally dead!"
"Heaven has eyes; evil people get what they deserve!"
"We can live in peace from now on."
Listening to the crowd's discussions, Li Qing sneered in his heart.
It seemed Zhao Si was indeed guilty of many crimes, as no one even felt sympathy for his death.
However, he also knew that the good days might not last long.
Gao Qiang would soon learn the news, and he would definitely conduct a thorough investigation then.
"I need to speed up my Cultivate speed," Li Qing determined secretly.
Only by becoming stronger could he deal with the upcoming changes.
He dressed neatly and prepared to go buy some food.
With silver, he could buy better rice and even some meat to improve his diet.
More importantly, he wanted to scout for information about the Great River.
To prepare for his Clone's early entry into the river.
We children of Great Xia do not fight unprepared battles!
Li Qing straightened his clothes and placed ten copper coins in his bosom, while the rest of the silver remained hidden in a safe place.
He understood deeply the principle of not flaunting one's wealth.
Pushing open the door, the morning sunlight spilled onto his face, and Li Qing felt a sense of relaxation like never before.
Zhao Si was dead, the deed to the house was back, and he had silver.
Life was this beautiful for the first time.
"A new day has begun."
Li Qing took a deep breath and strode toward Boss Ma's grocery store.
Today he would buy good rice and good vegetables to reward himself properly.
"Uncle Ma, I want two catties of brown rice."
Boss Ma was pricking up his ears to listen to the gossip outside and was stunned upon hearing this.
He looked up and saw it was Li Qing, feeling somewhat surprised.
"Yo, kid, you still have money?"
Li Qing gave a faint smile.
"This is the last of the money my grandmother left; once it's used, it's gone."
Bah?
Who knows if you got it by selling your backside.
Boss Ma nimbly weighed the rice.
Li Qing paid the money and asked as if casually.
"Uncle Ma, I want to know, I heard there are many types of fish in the Great River, different from the ones in our small river?"
Boss Ma said while collecting the money.
"Isn't that right? The Great River is vast, the water is deep, and the fish are fat; there are all sorts of strange fish."
"But, that river is also dangerous. I heard there are big fish that can even capsize boats; ordinary fishermen wouldn't dare go."
He paused and lowered his voice.
"Some fish can even increase your strength if you eat them, but those kinds of fish are precious; I've never even seen one."
Boss Ma had kept this shop for half his life.
He couldn't travel around.
He could only sit in the shop and listen to gossip.
Passing the time.
Li Qing had accidentally asked the right person.
Li Qing nodded, asked no more, and turned to leave with his things.
It seemed the Great River was indeed a good place to go.
Just as he walked back to the entrance of his alley, he felt the atmosphere was wrong.
The neighbors who had been buzzing with discussion were now as silent as cicadas in winter.
They shrunk back and hid at their doorways, looking toward the depths of the alley in terror.
Toward Zhao Si's house.
Several fierce figures blocked the entrance to Zhao Si's house. The leader was a burly man with a grim face—it was Gao Qiang!
Behind him followed several subordinates, each with bulging temples and steady breathing, obviously all Trained Martial Artists.
They were more than a grade stronger than a hoodlum like Zhao Si.
"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Gao Qiang kicked open the courtyard gate of Zhao Si's house and led his men straight inside.
Li Qing felt a chill in his heart and quietly observed from within the crowd.
Gao Qiang paced in Zhao Si's courtyard, his face so dark it looked like it could drip water.
One subordinate was checking the water vat, while another was examining Zhao Si's corpse.
"Brother Qiang, Zhao Si smells strongly of alcohol. At first glance, it looks like he accidentally fell into the water."
A subordinate reported.
Gao Qiang walked to the edge of the water vat, staring at the water level inside, then looked at the position where Zhao Si had collapsed, his brow furrowed.
"Drowned? The water in this vat only reaches his waist. How could a ruffian who's spent years on the streets drown so easily?"
He walked to the corpse again, squatted down to examine it closely, and when he felt that Zhao Si's bosom was empty, his expression changed abruptly.
"Where is the money pouch on him? And where is the deed to the house of that kid from the Li family?"
"Zhao Si told me yesterday that he had already gotten it!"
The subordinates looked at each other and shook their heads one after another.