9: Chapter 9 You guys... do you understand what it means to snatch food from a tiger's mouth?

Beside the pool, a heavy sound of footsteps suddenly came from the overgrown bank.

"Damn it, where is there any movement in this ghost of a place? Old Li, are you fucking hearing things!"

A rough voice exploded less than two zhang from the water's surface.

"That's impossible. I clearly heard splashing just now. Could some blind Menial Laborer have drowned in there?" another person muttered.

"If they're dead, they're dead. Who cares about some dead piece of trash! Let's go, this ghost place is freezing, and I'm in a rush to go back and report to the manager!"

The footsteps paused briefly on the bank, then, accompanied by a few curses and complaints, the sound of snapping dry branches gradually faded into the distance.

Not until the faint trampling sounds completely disappeared into the depths of the dense forest did the tense air in the pool suddenly relax.

"Whew..."

Under the water, the two people pressed tightly together breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

Qin Feng felt the soft, boneless hand that had been tightly covering his mouth slowly loosen.

After a long while, Yu Jingxiang used the water's buoyancy to step back half a pace. However, the tense atmosphere and the violent struggle underwater had clearly exhausted her energy; her body involuntarily went limp, and she nearly lost her footing and fell back into the water.

Qin Feng was quick-witted and subconsciously reached out to wrap his arm around her slender, supple waist.

"What are you doing?!"

Yu Jingxiang slapped Qin Feng's hand away as if electrocuted, her stunningly beautiful face instantly turning so red it seemed it could drip blood—whether from holding her breath or from shame and anger, it was unclear.

She gritted her teeth and whispered, "You brat, keep today's events buried in your stomach. If you dare to go out and blabber, I'll pull your tongue out and feed it to the dogs, you hear me?!"

"Oh? Are you afraid of people knowing? Afraid of them knowing what?"

The corners of Qin Feng's mouth curled into a playful smirk.

After the marrow cleansing succeeded, not only had his strength skyrocketed, but the suppressed confidence deep in his heart had also been completely released.

Facing the previously high-and-mighty middle-tier female Menial Laborer, he was now not only unafraid but found it exceptionally interesting.

"You—shameless, lecherous wretch!"

Yu Jingxiang was shaking with rage at his brazen, shameless attitude, yet she could do nothing about Qin Feng.

After all, if this were to really blow up, she had a man; if word got out, how would she be able to face anyone?

"Get over there and close your eyes!"

Yu Jingxiang cursed in embarrassment and anger. Seeing Qin Feng sensibly turn around, she scrambled onto the bank in a panic, grabbed the clothes scattered in the grass, and threw them on haphazardly.

Not long after, the sound of footsteps behind her rapidly faded away.

Qin Feng turned his head, watched her graceful figure fleeing in a panic, smiled noncommittally, and muttered softly, "One moment she's shouting about killing, the next she's acting shy. This woman is truly interesting."

Shaking his head, he didn't delay any longer.

Although his strength had broken through to the third stage of the Mortal realm, the Tendon Refining stage, to truly gain a foothold in the Servant District, having strength alone wasn't enough—one also needed money.

He quickly washed away the remaining grime on his body, retied the rag sack containing thirty golden spirit orange fruits on the bank, and strode out of the dense forest.

...

The sun was high, and the main trading road of Servant District 666 was bustling with noise and excitement.

Qin Feng, familiar with the route, found an inconspicuous corner and spread out the rag.

"Fresh spirit tangerine, two for one servant coin! Restores energy and refreshes the mind!"

As soon as his familiar shout rang out, it immediately drew the gazes of the surrounding low-tier Menial Laborers.

After the word-of-mouth fermentation over the past two days, Qin Feng's stall had already gained some fame in this small area.

Many Menial Laborers who had just crawled out of the mine pits, exhausted and half-dead, swarmed up like flies smelling blood.

"Kid, give me four!"

"I want six! Damn it, there was a cave-in at the bottom of the mine today, I almost lost my life, I have to eat something good to recover!"

"Don't grab! Leave two for me!"

The spirit fruits ripened by the water of maturity were full in color and brimming with juice; even just smelling the scent made one feel comfortable all over.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the thirty spirit orange fruits were snapped up.

"Clatter—"

Qin Feng tucked the last few sweat-smelling servant coins into his bosom and weighed them in his hand.

This trip today brought in another fifteen servant coins; adding what he had left before, he now held a massive sum of thirty-five servant coins.

'I'm still fifteen short of paying the full tax. With the remaining money, once I earn a bit more, I'll go to the Trading Shop black market and hunt for a basic Cultivation Technique to take a look at.'

Calculating in his mind, he casually stuffed the rag into his waistband and quietly squeezed out of the crowd, heading toward the Servant District shed area.

But he didn't notice that at the very moment he packed up and turned away, two pairs of greedy and sinister eyes from behind the crowd stared in the direction he left for a long time.

...

The path back to Shed No. 10086 became increasingly remote.

The noise in the air was gradually replaced by a nauseating, foul stench.

Qin Feng's five senses, after being transformed by the Marrow Cleansing Pill, were now more than ten times sharper than an ordinary person's.

Not long after walking out of the Trading Shop area, he keenly sensed that at a distance not too far and not too close behind him, two pairs of sneaky footsteps were following him.

"Targeted me?"

Qin Feng didn't stop walking, but a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

If it were yesterday, being targeted by two low-tier Menial Laborers would have probably sent him running in panic, but now, it seemed he no longer needed to be overly afraid in the low-tier Menial Laborer area.

He deliberately slowed his pace, feigning complete ignorance, and slowly returned to his dilapidated shed...

"Bang!"

A muffled sound suddenly came from behind, and a large foot wearing a tattered straw sandal kicked fiercely against the wooden doorframe, knocking half of the already rotting door panel off.

"Kid, you sure know how to enjoy yourself, huh?"

Two sallow-faced, thin, but extremely fierce-looking low-tier Menial Laborers blocked the entrance brazenly.

The leader was a bald man with a face full of flab, holding half of a sharpened iron mining pick.

The other had triangular eyes and was staring fixedly at Qin Feng's bosom, his eyes almost popping out.

"Gentlemen, is there something you need?" Qin Feng turned around, his expression surprisingly calm.

"Don't play dumb!"

The bald man sneered, pointed the iron pick at Qin Feng's nose, and cursed viciously, "Selling the same spirit orange fruit in the Trading Shop area for three days in a row, do you think we are blind and can't see it?!"

The triangular-eyed man also stepped forward and said sinisterly, "Hand over all the servant coins from selling the fruit, and tell us exactly where the spirit orange tree is! If you dare to say a single 'no', we'll bleed you out today and teach you how to write the word 'death'!"

Facing the two men's naked extortion and threats, Qin Feng slowly clenched his fists, the power of blood and Qi within his body surging slightly.

Just as he was preparing to make a move and reason with them.

"Oh, what's going on?"

Inside the shed, a slightly panicked, sweet cry suddenly rang out.

Immediately after, Bai Yuhe walked out from inside the shed.

She was holding a washed-out, broken porcelain bowl, clearly having been inside making a fire to cook.

The oversized men's linen coat she wore not only failed to cover her alluring figure but instead, because the collar was too wide, revealed glimpses of snowy white skin as she moved.

Coupled with her naturally seductive face and the alluring tear mole at the corner of her eye, it instantly made the two Menial Laborers at the door stare blankly.

"Gulp..."

The bald man swallowed hard, the greed in his eyes instantly turning into naked lust.

"Yo, I didn't see that coming. In this shabby, pathetic shed of yours, you're actually hiding such a stunning little wench!"

The triangular-eyed man laughed even more wantonly, his eyes scanning Bai Yuhe's body without restraint, filth pouring out of his mouth: "This waist, this figure, tsk tsk... Kid, since we ran into this today, we want the money, and we're going to borrow this woman to play with too!"

The two of them were going all in; after all, the Servant District had rules, and their robbery had already broken the overt rules—if caught, they would inevitably face punishment.

But as long as they weren't caught, robbery was a crime, and rape was also a crime; doing both while they were at it was fine. After all, as the old saying goes, if you have too many lice, you don't feel the itch!

"You... what do you want to do..."

Bai Yuhe's face turned pale, and the hand holding the bowl was trembling slightly, like a frightened little rabbit, as she quickly hid behind Qin Feng.

"Brother Qin, who are they... I'm scared..."

Listening to the woman's trembling voice behind him, Qin Feng paid it no mind.

Act, keep acting.

If it weren't for having lived two lifetimes and seen all the warmth and coldness of the world at the bottom, he would have truly been deceived by Bai Yuhe's pitiful appearance.

Having had deep exchanges with her, Qin Feng knew this woman was by no means as weak as she pretended to be.

The third stage of the Mortal realm—she might even be above that!

"Hahaha, big beauty, don't be afraid, brother is still very gentle..."

The bald man said with a lewd smile, while his hand had already raised the iron pick to smash down at Qin Feng.

Qin Feng's eyes turned cold, his right hand already fully charged with power. However, at the very moment he was about to counterattack.

Bai Yuhe, who was hiding behind him, suddenly moved!

Her body, which had been trembling just a moment ago, instantly tensed up like a fully drawn powerful bow!

In her watery, fox-like eyes, the original weakness and fear vanished, replaced by a heart-palpitating coldness and ruthlessness!

"Whoosh—"

Bai Yuhe's figure was like lightning; she actually shot out directly from his side, her speed so fast that even Qin Feng felt a trace of surprise.

"Bang!"

Her fair, slender palm turned into an unbelievable afterimage in mid-air, cutting with extreme precision onto the wrist of the bald man who was wielding the iron pick.

Only a tooth-aching, crisp "crack" was heard!

"Ah—my hand!"

The bald man let out a pig-slaughtering scream, and the iron pick in his hand fell directly from his grip.

Before the bald man could react, Bai Yuhe's right leg lashed out violently. The hem of her oversized linen coat instantly tore, and a snowy white leg, like an iron whip, carried a whistling gust of wind and slammed fiercely into the opponent's chest.

"Boom!"

The bald man's body, weighing over a hundred catties, was kicked flying three zhang out of the shed, smashing heavily into a muddy puddle, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and passing out instantly.

The triangular-eyed man beside him was completely stunned; his whole body seemed as if hit by a freezing spell, his legs trembling violently like a sieve...

Is this fucking a low-tier Menial Laborer?! They're both low-tier Menial Laborers, how can the others be so terrifyingly powerful?!

"You... you..."

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and the triangular-eyed man was so scared he stammered, unable to even say a complete sentence.

Bai Yuhe slowly retracted her long leg, turned her head, and cast a cold glance, saying, "Get out. Next time, I'll kill you."

"Yes... yes. I'm leaving, I'm leaving right now!"

Scared out of his wits, the triangular-eyed man didn't dare to stay a moment longer; slapping himself in the face, he scrambled to the mud puddle, dragged the unconscious bald man, and fled quickly like a stray dog...

Watching the two figures fleeing in a sorry state, the shed fell into a brief silence.

Qin Feng folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the broken doorframe, staring at the woman before him with deep eyes.

Was she a helpless, abused wife? Clearly, she was a man-eating flower with thorns!

Seeming to sense Qin Feng's scrutinizing gaze, the coldness in Bai Yuhe's eyes instantly melted like ice and snow.

She reached out to tuck some disheveled hair behind her ear, a seductive blush reappearing on her cheeks, and walked toward Qin Feng with a swaying, serpentine waist, full of charm.

"Brother Feng, how was that? Is my strength enough to protect you?!"

Bai Yuhe's voice became soft and seductive to the bone again as she continued, "You've been running around outside all morning, you must be exhausted, right?"

"I just boiled some hot porridge; do you want to eat first..."

Saying this, she paused deliberately, bit her red lip, and lowered her voice to a whisper, "Or... do you want to take a bath first?"