Luo Jiang navigated through the alleys, using the Wind-Riding Technique to leap over walls whenever they blocked his path. Within minutes, he arrived at a grain shop in the west of the city.
Seeing that all the grain shops were closed, he checked the time on his watch. It was past eleven o’clock at night. He used the tip of his sword to pierce a small hole in the watch strap to fit his wrist, buckled it securely, and felt relieved once he was sure it wouldn’t fall off.
"Gurgle!" A sound came from his stomach. Having gone without food for over a day, his stomach finally reached its limit and demanded sustenance.
He was just about to look for a place to eat or find a house with lights on to offer a few silver dollars in exchange for some food—even just a cornmeal bun—when he noticed the door of a nearby grain and oil shop swing open. Light spilled out, and just as he prepared to walk over, two short middle-aged men stepped out. In the dim light, he noticed they were wearing unfamiliar clothing, and they reeked of strong alcohol.
"&&$$&###..." One of the men spoke to the other in a language Luo Jiang did not understand, waving his hands in a drunken stagger.
The way they spoke sounded similar to the Japanese invaders he had killed at the checkpoint. Realizing they were Japanese, he decided to finish them off. His figure flickered as he reached out, grabbed the two men by their throats, and injected a burst of spiritual power, shattering their windpipes before dragging them into the shop.
"#&#$..." No sooner had he entered the door than he heard a woman’s voice from the back room. It was clearly another Japanese woman. He strode over and entered the room. Sure enough, there was a woman. Without a moment’s hesitation, he raised his hand and slapped her on the top of her head.
"Bang!" A mist of blood exploded. Luo Jiang quickly dodged to the side to avoid the splattering, but even so, some flesh and hair fragments landed on him. Disgusted, he tore down a hanging curtain to wipe himself off.
"Pah, pah, pah! Damn it, who knew she was so fragile? I'll have to be more careful next time."
He spat a few times and muttered to himself. He didn't realize how much strength he possessed, especially when imbued with spiritual power. He had originally intended to knock the woman unconscious, not shatter her skull. He knew human skulls were hard, but he hadn't expected it to fail to withstand his strike.
Since he had already killed the three of them, he felt no regret for the woman’s death. Remembering the elderly and children brutally murdered in Liugezhuang Village, he only felt a greater urge to kill more of the invaders.
He found two pistols in the bedroom. They looked like small turtles, so he didn't realize they were Nambu Type 14 pistols, commonly known as "Turtle Boxes." He took them anyway. He also found twenty gold bars, over three hundred silver dollars, and some paper currency he had never seen before, all of which he stashed in his Storage Bag.
After leaving the bedroom, he used his Divine Sense to scan the adjacent room. He found half a side of pork in the kitchen—about forty pounds—along with several large frozen fish, six plucked roosters, and in the cupboard, over ten pounds of beef and two crates of canned goods: one fruit and one beef.
Luo Jiang guessed that because it was winter, the food wouldn't spoil, which was why they had stocked up so much. Regardless, it all belonged to him now. He pushed open the kitchen door and moved all the meat into his Storage Ring.
He then went back into the shop, which sold not only grain but various daily necessities like oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, as well as bolts of cloth in various colors. Not caring whether they were useful or not, he cleared everything out.
Using his Divine Sense, he found a storeroom filled with over a dozen bags of rice and flour. Feeling that the Storage Bag lacked the space, he collected everything into his Storage Ring.
"Huh? What is this?" On the other side of the shop, he saw hundreds of burlap sacks. Thinking they were also grain, he intended to take them as well.
However, after scanning them with his Divine Sense, he realized the bags were filled with a chaotic mixture of moldy soybean cakes, sorghum, black beans, dried sweet potato, sand, and dozens of other impurities. Chaff, husks, and bean cakes were the main ingredients, and the bit of grain mixed in was mostly moldy.
"This is supposed to be food? If people ate this, wouldn't they get backed up and unable to move their bowels? Those hateful, despicable Japanese. It seems I didn't kill them for nothing."
Seeing the contents of the sacks, Luo Jiang realized that this was what the city’s residents had to buy, fueling his hatred and his desire to kill even more of the enemy.
After clearing out everything useful, he left the shop door open, walked out to the main road, and gripped his spiritual short sword. It was time to hunt.
Only on the main road could he encounter patrols. Unfamiliar with the city, this was his best chance to find them.
Soon, a patrol came into view. Luo Jiang walked straight toward them. Had his Divine Sense not been limited in range, he would have attacked sooner.
The patrol shone their flashlights forward and, seeing only a child, thought nothing of it, planning to run him through with their bayonets as they passed. They never expected that when they were two meters away, a flash of white light would sweep through. Their heads tumbled to the ground, and blood sprayed two meters into the air, blooming like crimson flowers.
After killing the patrol, Luo Jiang collected their firearms, ammunition, and money, then moved on.
On the way from the west to the north of the city, he encountered six more patrols. He dispatched them all with his spiritual short sword. He collected their weapons and stripped them of their valuables, netting about a hundred silver dollars, some paper money, over sixty rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and fifteen watches of various styles.
Over an hour later, Luo Jiang checked his watch. It was past two in the morning. Reaching the city wall, he used the Wind-Riding Technique to leap to the top, vaulted over, and dashed toward the Taoist temple.
He arrived back at the temple at five in the morning. Famished after a day and a night, he went straight to the kitchen to knead dough for pancakes, boil some congee, and stew a pot of pork. Since it was cold, the food wouldn't spoil, and he could just reheat it later.
He now had enough grain, oil, and salt to last him months. He decided to wait until after the Lunar New Year to return to the city and resume his hunt.
During this time, he planned to learn a few more Magic Arts and practice the Wind Blade. In the future, he would use Wind Blades to kill the invaders so he wouldn't have to keep summoning his spiritual short sword. Plus, once he mastered the Fireball, he could burn them to ashes.
After a full meal, he went to his room to sleep. The seven patrols—seventy soldiers in total—along with the three Japanese from the grain shop, were discovered by villagers cleaning the latrines that morning.
The Japanese headquarters in Beiping immediately declared martial law, ordering a manhunt for the killer. Collaborators and puppet troops scoured the city, searching for suspects.
The commotion was massive. While they didn't catch the killer, they arrested some members of the Nationalist Party and a few from the Red Party. Some remained defiant, while others, unable to withstand the torture, surrendered and became traitors. Based on their intelligence, the Japanese arrested more people and threw them all into prison for interrogation.
When Luo Jiang woke up, it was already afternoon. He looked at the watch on his wrist and found the hands were not moving. He shook it, but they remained still. Using his Divine Sense to scan the internal structure, he realized he needed to turn the small crown on the side to wind the mainspring.
Once he understood the mechanism, he checked his other watches. Several were still running. He synchronized his watch, wound it fully, and watched with delight as the hands began to tick.
After dinner, Luo Jiang washed his feet with hot water, returned to his room, took out a dozen spirit stones to set up a spirit-gathering array, and sat cross-legged on his mat to cultivate.
The next day, after breakfast, he went into the mountains behind the temple to learn the Fireball and continue practicing the Wind Blade.
Standing by a meteorite behind the temple, he recited the incantation for the Fireball, channeled his spiritual power, and extended his finger, but nothing happened.
He wasn't discouraged. He tried again, channeling his power and casting, but still, no fireball appeared. He remembered that it had been the same when he first practiced the Wind Blade, until a tiny blade finally materialized.
After practicing for over an hour, a small spark finally appeared on his fingertip before extinguishing. His heart leaped with joy. He knew that now that he had manifested it, further practice would make him more proficient.
He practiced continuously. The fireballs grew larger and larger until a fireball the size of a watermelon appeared in his hand, which he then hurled.
"Boom!" A loud explosion echoed as the fireball struck a rock in the distance and spread out, covering an area of nearly five feet. The snow on the rocks melted instantly, and the fire continued to burn, melting the stone and earth into a sulfurous slag.
"What a powerful fireball! Hahaha..." Luo Jiang exclaimed, then broke into hearty laughter.
Feeling drained of spiritual power after so much practice, and noting it was midday, he returned to the temple for lunch.
After resting and recovering his spiritual power through meditation, he returned to the mountain. He first practiced the Fireball and then moved on to the Wind Blade.
This time, he wanted to increase the effective range of his Wind Blade so he wouldn't have to wait for the enemy to get so close.
He swung his hand to cast the invisible blade. It dissipated three meters away. He continued to channel his power and practice.
As he cast the blades more frequently, his speed increased, and their range extended—three meters, then three and a half, four, four and a half, five... he didn't stop until dusk, when he finally returned to the temple.