Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 10: How a Bandit Comes to Be

Zhao Changhe followed Instructor Sun as he took a few steps toward the exit of the training grounds. The instructor asked, “Are you here to ask for advice on the Vicious Blood Art?”

Zhao Changhe nodded. “Yes, instructor. Please give me some pointers.”

Instructor Sun looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself. After a long pause, he said, “The power of the Vicious Blood Art is unparalleled. It’s indeed very impressive and is suitable for someone your age... However, it comes with many problems. In the future, you must switch to the Blood God Art to remedy them. Unfortunately, obtaining the Blood God Art is not an easy task. Even for core disciples that have accomplished great deeds, being allowed to see the full Blood God Art manual is a tall order. If you have the desire to practice the Blood God Art in the future, you must prepare yourself for this.”

Zhao Changhe showed his respects once more. “Many thanks, instructor. I understand.”

Instructor Sun nodded. “Other than this. You cannot just cultivate and ignore combat. I trust that you’ve seen the Tome of Troubled Times yesterday. Our cult leader has broken through one more heavenly layer than Yue Hongling, so why was he defeated? Much of the reason is because he fell short when it came to martial arts. The cult leader has been busy with managing the affairs of the cult these past few years. Maybe he’s been neglecting his training. His recent defeat is not necessarily a bad thing.”

Zhao Changhe coughed dryly and kept quiet. You can just insult the cult leader like this? Anyway, that’s a good example, makes sense and it’s easy to understand.

Instructor Sun continued, “We all train the saber here. Do you know why we only train the saber rather than other weapons?”

Zhao Changhe answered without much thought, “It’s because the saber is the quickest weapon to pick up, isn’t it? As long as one has strength, randomly hacking and slashing is bound to count for something. A beginner that’s just picked up a sword definitely cannot display as much ferocity.”

This was the reason that Zhao Changhe refused to swap the broad saber in his previous dreams for another weapon even though the ground was littered with swords... Even until now, he had never concerned himself with how carefree the sword was. A life where one desired only poetry and to gracefully cut down his foes with his sword—Zhao Changhe wanted none of that. What he needed was a quick way to up his fighting capabilities. Being free and unrestrained could not put food on the table.

“Not bad. Yes, sabers and spears are the easiest weapons to pick up. The sword, on the other hand, is much harder to learn.” said Instructor Sun. “There are many great men in the jianghu who have never practiced any internal arts or high-end external arts, but even so, with a saber in hand, they have cleaved through a piece of heaven and earth. The saber is the most universal weapon in the jianghu.”

Zhao Changhe thought to himself, No shit. All the small fries in wuxia series use sabers. It’s very common.

“The Vicious Blood Art comes with complementary fist techniques, sword techniques, saber techniques, all the trimmings. As for the Vicious Blood Saber Art, it’s unmatched in its ferocity. Since you’ve received the Vicious Blood Art, you have what it takes to learn this saber art. However, you’ve never learned how to use a saber. There’s no rush... This just happens to be a newly built branch. All the fresh recruits are learning from scratch. Come here to train the fundamentals with them tomorrow. When the time is right, I’ll teach you the Vicious Blood Saber.”

Zhao Changhe was delighted. “That’s great news. I thought I’d have to get this saber art some other way.”

“There’s no need for that. You’ve already presented a show of dedication to the cult. What should be yours, should be yours. A true man shouldn’t need to haggle over every copper coin or bargain all the time. That’d be fucking small-minded.”

There was clear discontentment with Branch Master Fang hidden in Instructor Sun’s words. Zhao Changhe did not dare say anything, but he secretly felt good about it.

Instructor Sun did not seem like any ordinary instructor. If we were at the Head Altar of the cult, he’d be an elder? Or maybe a protector? That was a position just under the direct command of the cult leader. Instructor Sun probably occupied a high position in the branch, at least enough to challenge the branch master.

“Enough of the pleasantries.” Instructor Sun had the blunt temperament of a bandit. He spoke nothing superfluous and began teaching. “The Vicious Blood Art does not involve any directing of your qi. It only has techniques to invigorate your blood. The fundamentals of this technique must be paired with practicing fundamental movements. Just following the manual will be enough... You won’t comprehend the secret to directing your strength from just reading, though. You must do it like this...”

Zhao Changhe was immersed in the instructor’s words. They floated around his ears, and Zhao Changhe felt that he could already visualize the flow of qi and blood in his body. It was like a stream that initially flowed gently, but slowly began to billow and surge.

Before long, Zhao Changhe could feel a burning heat rising up from within him. It was like the fury he felt when he watched his favorite team lose the world cup. His eyes had turned red and his head had felt dizzy. As soon as his boiling blood had rushed to his head, he was ready to smash the television in front of him to pieces.

The strength one can draw out in such a state is extraordinary. It looks like the Vicious Blood Art is supposed to allow me to enter this enraged state on command?

What was even stranger was that the soreness in his legs from practicing the movements in the manual last night seemed to be washed away by a wave of heat coming from some unknown source. At the same time, the wave of heat strengthened Zhao Changhe’s flesh and bones. He felt that he could now hold those movements for much longer.

So this is what demonic arts are like...and this is just the beginning. What will it look like if I train this to a high level?

The instructor’s voice was now far away.

The atmosphere around Zhao Changhe felt tense. He could hear a clamor eerily similar to the sound of the school cafeteria after the end of classes.

Zhao Changhe slowly opened his eyes.

What the fuck, it really is a cafeteria!

There was a cook pushing a cart over on which stood a cask of rice with corn. There were vegetables mixed inside together with, unexpectedly, some meat. The fragrance of the food wafted over from far away. The disciples at the training grounds all swarmed over with bowls and chopsticks like bees. The cook began giving out the food.

By this time, Zhao Changhe could hear his stomach grumbling. He’d only trained in the Vicious Blood Art for one morning, but he felt as if he hadn’t eaten for a week. He raced to his room to grab a bowl.

Luo Qi was nowhere to be seen, but Zhao Changhe did not care. He took his bowl and rushed back to receive his food.

This bandit nest of a mountain stronghold was, at the end of the day, still a branch of a cult. There were rules to follow. The scene of people chaotically pushing each other that Zhao Changhe imagined did not come to fruition. All the disciples lined up properly. Zhao Changhe was used to sticking his head out while queuing to check things out. He realized that the cook paid particular attention to who he was giving the food out to. For some people, there was not a single shred of meat in their bowls, while others, like Zhang Quan, were given a small piece of red braised pork.

The others looked at the meat in their bowls with envious eyes, but they did not show their temper to the cook. Perhaps Instructor Sun was in charge of meting out rewards and punishments. Whoever he permitted to eat meat could eat meat.

After a long while, Zhao Changhe finally reached the front of the queue. The cook cast him a glance and gave him a piece of red braised pork. It was even larger than the one Zhang Quan received. Zhao Changhe was ecstatic. Instructor Sun indeed treated him pretty well. Right now, to be able to eat meat was incredibly important to Zhao Changhe!

With his bowl in his hands, Zhao Changhe happily made his way out of the crowd, only to be met by Zhang Quan and a few other people. Their smiles seemed not like smiles.

“Yo. It’s a whole piece of meat...”

Zhao Changhe’s expression darkened and he furrowed his brow as he said, “There’s no need to break the peace like this. Acting like such a moronic villain is quite low of you.”

“Peace? The hell kinda peace are you talking about?!” Zhang Quan did not understand what Zhao Changhe meant by low[1], and laughed coldly. “A little traitor entered the cult by slaying his own family’s young master and obtained the Vicious Blood Art. That was enough even by itself, but you just had to suck up to Instructor Sun and now our meat portions are smaller. Where is this peace you speak of?”

Zhao Changhe was speechless. “So you’re doing this all for a piece of meat?”

Malice flashed across Zhang Quan’s eyes. Of course it’s for a piece of meat. What’s so strange about it?

Zhang Quan could not be bothered talking to Zhao Changhe anymore. He waved his hand and commanded, “Get him!”

From both directions, the bandits rushed forward. With Zhao Changhe’s hands holding his bowl, how could he fight back? He had received quite a few hits to his back while trying to protect the bowl in his hands for a while. Eventually the food spilled all over the floor.

The people watching by the side all cheered. It looked like such scenes were common here.

Zhao Changhe could faintly hear someone whisper, “This Zhao Changhe has been in the limelight for too long. I don’t like it. This is a beautiful display of strength from Zhang Quan.”

“Instructor Sun seems to treat him pretty well. They were speaking in private by the training grounds... Isn’t Zhang Quan afraid of getting on the bad side of the instructor?”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Anyone with two eyes can see that Branch Master Fang dislikes Zhao Changhe. Just how much special treatment can Instructor Sun show?”

While the people whispered amongst themselves, no one noticed that Zhao Changhe’s eyes were becoming redder and redder, like blood.

That feeling of wanting to smash the television while watching the world cup flared up within Zhao Changhe. Finally, he no longer suppressed it, and he smashed his bowl against the ground. “What makes you people think you can eat if I can’t eat!?”

Peng!

The bowl shattered. Its broken shards mixed together with the food on the floor. Now no one could eat it.

Zhang Quan and his goons were taken aback. “Fuck, this guy is ruthless.”

“Ruthless?” Zhao Changhe suddenly turned around. His eyes were filled with crazed rancor. “You think that’s all?”

The people were still feeling sorry looking at the wasted food on the floor. Before they could even react, Zhao Changhe rushed toward Zhang Quan in a single step and grabbed his collar.

Zhao Changhe moved with unparalleled swiftness. Even he himself did not know when he had become able to move at such a speed. Hot blood qi surged through his legs as he shot forward like an arrow in flight. When he grabbed Zhang Quan’s collar, even Zhao Changhe was stunned at what he had done.

Zhao Changhe did not have time to think about what he was doing. He simply tripped Zhang Quan and flung him to the floor. Then, he grabbed the man’s hair and viciously pressed his head against the food on the floor. “You want to eat? I’ll let you eat till you’re full!”

Thud!

“Aaargh!”

Zhang Quan screamed in pain, and everyone present shivered. This guy was ruthless! There was not just rice on the ground, but also shards from the broken bowl! Zhang Quan’s face was completely shredded. If one of the shards poked his eye out...

It was only now that Zhang Quan’s lackeys realized what was happening and rushed over. Some of them kicked Zhao Changhe with all their strength, while others tried to pull him away. However, Zhao Changhe simply endured all of their attacks and continued smashing Zhang Quan’s head against the floor. Nobody could pull him away.

After Zhang Quan was smashed against the ground four or five times, the people trying to pull Zhao Changhe away carefully released him; the ones kicking him no longer dared to do so. All of them slowly backed off.

Zhang Quan was no longer breathing.

Zhao Changhe was panting as he stood up. His face was expressionless as he looked at them. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to eat my food? Don’t you want to blame me for being too full? Don’t you guys want to eat?”

Zhang Quan’s men trembled with fear as they avoided Zhao Changhe’s terrifying gaze.

Everyone cleared a path for Zhao Changhe as he walked away.

1. In the raws, Zhao Changhe literally says the English word “low.” 赵长河神色沉了下去，皱眉道:“不至于这也要伤和气吧，这种脑残反派有点LOW。” ☜

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