After I left Li Chu, I headed back to where I hid my stuff.

I took a longer route to reapply my techniques in one of the hunting grounds before I went where I hid my things. I lost the concealment technique when I attacked, and I wanted to avoid someone accidentally seeing me entering the forest. I changed the place where I slept a few times per week to be sure, and I also liked to switch places, but I didn't want people to search in the forest if I could avoid it.

I hoped that my warning was enough to stop people, but better be careful, just in case.

After I arrived and began setting up my tent, my mind relaxed. Doing something I routinely did helped me calm down. When I finished I cleaned myself up from the blood, discarding my clothes, and I hit the sack.

I was tired, but I couldn't sleep, so I began thinking back about what made me feel so bad about beating Li Chu.

Everything I did was planned. I wasn't used to violence, and beating a bound opponent wasn't something I wanted to repeat, despite the satisfaction I had when I turned tables on him, but that wasn’t the issue.

The problem this time had been my loss reason when I started beating him. It happened once when I was drunk, but I don't remember that time very well, so it could be considered as my first time experiencing it. It had been exhilarating, and I vented all my pent-up emotions, but it wasn't something I did with purpose – I was acting like a beast. When I came back to my senses and saw the result of my fury, I'd been horrified. That caused my emotions and thoughts to spiral out of control.

What if I start acting like that more? If I rampaged every time someone made me mad?

That was what I was subconsciously thinking at that moment. I was scared that it would keep repeating and that I would start enjoying it.

Of course, it had been a stupid thought. It was probably just the stress of the situation, but at the moment, I couldn't really reason with a clear mind, so I panicked.

I closed my eyes and began thinking back to the moment I started hitting him.

Yes, it had been a conscious choice to let go of my reason. I could’ve stopped myself before I lost it if I wanted.

With that thought, I finally let go of the last bad feelings I had, and soon I fell asleep.

The next day I woke up feeling better.

I did not train since I woke up late and I didn’t want to push my body too much after the fight.

I did my usual morning routine, applied my techniques, and went to work.

Since I didn’t stay in the residential district, I didn’t pass where I hung Li Chu, so I didn't see when they took him down but, when I went to the food district, it was one of the most common topics discussed.

I often ate at the mess, since it was the cheapest place in the food district, despite having to pay with Credits. Most of the seventh district Disciples, and many of the sixth, ate there at least a few times every week, to save some coin.

“Have you heard of Li Chu?” said a girl that was eating near me.

After a moment, her companion answered, “Yes, everyone is talking about it. They took him down before I saw him, but many have seen him. I heard he got beaten pretty badly.”

"Well, it wasn't the worst I've seen, but he did a good job, for a warning," she said. "Though I think the pain is not comparable to the humiliation of being stripped and hung on a wall as a warning. If I was him, I wouldn't be able to show my face for quite a while."

The guy laughed. “Yes, but you're a woman, and he's a shameless bastard. I doubt it would affect him too much. It should be good as a deterrent, though."

"Maybe." She shrugged and kept eating in silence after that.

I spent the rest of the day at the smithy. After that, I went to see if there had been a response from home.

Indeed, I had received three letters addressed to me.

After I ate and set up the tent, I opened them.

One was from my family. Things were proceeding well at the farm. One thing of note was my little sister's new interest in coming to the Sect. She didn’t spend much time training before, so she was still at the early stage of Body Tempering. Like the rest of my family, though, she had talent and, even with a minimum effort, she would probably succeed in entering the Qi Gathering Realm by sixteen.

Sister Qing was doing like usual, it seems. She didn't write much, though.

Hmm, I’ll ask mom to check on her from time to time. I knew that she wouldn’t write it down even if she had problems, and while I would respect her privacy, I wanted to do something for her if I could. She didn't interact with other people much – it worried me that she had no one to lean on.

The last letter was from Uncle. I asked him not to tell my family that I had not yet contacted Cousin, in case he had told him. I didn't want them to worry, and I lied to him, saying I would take an assignment outside the Sect. He may be skeptical, but I had no other choice.

In fact, he asked me if everything was alright. And told me to visit Cousin Guixin as soon as I could – I should probably go to see him tomorrow. He would have already heard about what I did to Li Chu by now and I didn’t want him to write it in a letter. I didn't want any of this to reach my family's ears.

The last thing I had to do was check what I stole the previous night.

As I sat in the tent, I looked at my spoils. Two pouches, two daggers, and a sword. I was more excited to examine them than I thought.

I first examined the sword.

While I still wasn't too proficient in it, I knew how to examine a weapon for structural integrity after handling so many of them at the forge. I also learned a few tricks with qi to help with that.

After a thorough examination, I came to the conclusion that Li Chu didn't know anything about swords. And probably never used it before yesterday.

He probably chose the most expensive-looking one.

It was a crappy weapon. It looked good and could still be used on an unharmed opponent, but it wasn't reliable for a serious fight.

Still, I can probably scam some rich dude with this. If it worked with one, it could work with another.

After thinking about it for a moment, though, I decided not to do it. I didn't want to have any unneeded deaths on my conscience. If the sword broke in a life or death situation, it would likely be the end for that cultivator. And if it wasn't, I'd have to deal with him later.

I would probably still find someone who’d buy this just to showcase it when he walked around the Sect. I could not make as much, but I'd still make some money anyway since the decorations looked good – I’d just have to warn him not to use it in a fight. If he used it despite my warnings it would be his fault.

The two daggers were about as good as the sword.

After I finished with them, I looked at the pouches.

Taking the one belonging to Li Chu first, I emptied the contents on the tent floor and examined them.

Bloody hell!

The guy was loaded.

There were thirty gold coins, a few silvers, two low-grade Healing Pills, and a few other pills I didn’t recognize, but what stood out the most was the Beast Core.

He was probably planning to absorb it to speed up his cultivation speed. The other pills should also be cultivation aids.

I stared at it for a while before carefully putting everything away. A Beast Core was worth around a thousand Credits. A thousand credits were exchanged for around a hundred gold coins, but a Beast Core bought outside the Sect, or from other disciples was worth much more than that. After all, only Beasts equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Disciple or above had one.

Still incredulous I checked the other pouch.

His friend had much less than him. Still, three healing pills, twenty-three gold coins, and a few other pills were not a low amount.

Robbing people was a really profitable business.

I'll not go around stealing from innocent people, but if I find some criminal or someone attacked me. Hehehe, I thought, rubbing my hands.

I could not help but think of all the Evil Cultivators assignments.

Maybe when I got a bit stronger, I could take a trip or two outside the Sect.

Fastus

I'm sorry for my absence, but I was sick last week and other things happened. I'll try to get back to a regular schedule, if I can.