Tiger Skin Knife Training, Infiltration, and a Simplified Version of the Killing Knife Te

Chapter 52 Tiger Skin Knife Training, Infiltration, and a Simplified Version of the Killing Knife Technique [Begging for First Subscription!]

"It's past midnight, I should take a nap."

Around four in the morning, Su Yang had mastered the Breaking Army Tiger Soul Saber Technique. He checked the sky, hid the tiger skin, his small wooden sword, and the manual, and then sheathed his sword to rest.

In my dream, a soft knock came at the door.

"Captain Su, are you awake?"

It was Sun Wang's voice, tinged with a hint of caution.

Su Yang got up and opened the door, only to find that the sun was already rising outside. Sun Wang stood at the door, looking reserved, holding a ceramic pot containing warm ginseng and pork tripe soup: "This was just cooked in the kitchen, I brought it to you."

"Let it go."

Su Yang stepped aside to let him in, his gaze sweeping over the man's tense expression: "What is it?"

Sun Wang placed the earthenware pot on the table, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Captain Su, the textile worker with the left hand inquired about your ginseng soup yesterday, asking about the ingredients, cooking time, and the soup chef. He asked very detailed questions. This morning he was also loitering outside the door. I found it suspicious, so I came to tell you. I didn't leave your side for a moment while the soup was simmering."

"Left-handed?"

Su Yang raised an eyebrow. Why would a textile worker from a cloth shop suddenly inquire about ginseng soup?

"Yes, he asked too many detailed questions."

Sun Wang recalled, "I gave him a few perfunctory replies, but he wouldn't let it go. I eventually managed to get away by making an excuse that I had to do some work."

"Go and call him to my room. Tell him I have something to do for him."

Su Yang's expression was calm, but his tone carried a hint of coldness.

The cloth shop appears calm on the surface, but undercurrents are surging. Fei Jianhua's men, Huang's mole, and remnants of the canal gang may all be lurking there. The three-handed man on the left is definitely not just curious.

"good!"

Sun Wang responded and turned to leave.

Su Yang walked to the table, his fingertips tracing the hilt of the ring-pommel straight sword, his gaze falling on the window.

He wanted to see whether this three-handed left-handed man was acting under orders or had ulterior motives.

A short while later.

The door was pushed open, and a man in his forties, thin and with a slightly stiff left arm, followed Sun Wang in. He had a slightly ingratiating smile on his face, but his eyes were somewhat unfocused. He was the textile worker, Zuo Sanpaizi.

"Captain Su, you wanted to see me?"

He rubbed his hands together and bowed slightly.

Su Yang remained silent, his gaze, as cold as a deep pool, fixed on him, his fingers tapping absently on the scabbard. "Tap..."

The "thud" made the air in the room gradually freeze. The man with the left forehanded smile froze, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Sun Wang sensed something was wrong and quietly retreated to stand by the door.

"Master Zuo."

Su Yang finally spoke, his voice calm but carrying an invisible pressure: "I heard that you care a lot about my ginseng soup."

""

The man with the left forked hand trembled slightly, forcing a smile as he explained, "No, no, I was just asking out of curiosity. Captain Su is using good stuff, we roughnecks are just making a fuss."

"Oh? Is that so?" Su Yang stood up, slowly walked over to him, and looked down at him. "From the ingredients and cooking time to the chef who makes the soup—this doesn't sound like a casual question! Who gave you permission to inquire like this?"

"No, no one asked me to ask! I was just curious!" The man with the left hand turned pale and waved his hands repeatedly, but his eyes involuntarily glanced towards the door.

Su Yang suddenly grabbed his injured left arm and released a small amount of internal force.

The man with the left arm felt a tingling and numbness, cried out in pain, and almost collapsed to his knees.

"My patience is limited."

Su Yang released his grip, his voice even colder: "I'll ask you one last time, who ordered you? Tell me, and maybe you'll be spared."

If I were to find out myself—”

His gaze swept over the left-handed man's neck, the unspoken meaning sending chills down one's spine.

The man with the three-pronged left hand clutched his arm, cold sweat pouring down his face. His mental defenses crumbled, and he knelt down with a thud: "I'll tell you! It was Steward Fei Jianhua who asked me to inquire! I owe him money, and he told me to keep an eye on your diet, your daily life, the people you associate with, and especially whether you're taking any tonics or healing substances!"

"It really was him!"

A cold glint flashed in Su Yang's eyes as he thought to himself that this bastard was definitely up to no good.

He was just looking for an opportunity to kill him when, unexpectedly, the other man struck first.

"What else did he ask you to do?"

Su Yang pressed for an answer.

"Just these trivial matters, report to him regularly!" The left-handed man kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Captain Su, I was forced into this, please spare me! I have elderly parents and young children to support!"

Su Yang's chill had not lessened. He remained silent, and the "tap, tap" sound of his fingertips tapping the scabbard grew increasingly grating, making the left-handed man's heart tighten.

Seeing that Su Yang remained silent, the man with the left hand felt a tightness in his chest. His survival instinct made him suddenly raise his head, his face a mixture of fear and eagerness to show his loyalty. He lowered his voice to a whisper: "Captain Su—there is something I don't know if I should say."

"explain."

"Manager Fei's purpose in inquiring about the herbal medicine is not simple."

The man with the three-pronged left eye darted around, then lowered his voice: "He's cunning and ruthless; rumors have circulated in the past that he uses dirty tricks to get rid of people. I suspect—he's trying to figure out his methods so he can poison you with your food!"

After saying this, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and kowtowed heavily again, not daring to look at Su Yang again.

Su Yang was silent for a moment, then spoke again, his voice calm but chilling: "Now, I'm giving you two paths, you choose for yourself."

The man with the left hand suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and a sliver of hope.

"The first option is for you to go out and tell Fei Jianhua the truth about what I asked you today, and say that you were scared by me and didn't confess."

"But I will go see Manager Huang immediately and expose your use of money from Jianhua to spy on me. Do you think Manager Huang trusts me, the team leader he hired, or you, a textile worker whose money came from dubious sources? The consequences will be nothing more than being kicked out of Jingling, or even worse!"

The man with the left forehand trembled violently, his face ashen, and he instantly realized that this was a dead end.

"The second option is for you to continue gathering information as Fei Jianhua instructs, but all information must be reported to me by Sun Wang without any error. You can take the reward he gives you; I won't question it."

Su Yang paused slightly, his gaze sweeping across Xiao Zuo's pale face like a blade.

"But if you do a good job and help me get irrefutable evidence that he instructed you, or expose his shady dealings—"

He leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice, and each word sounded like a nail being hammered into a wooden board: "I will use that debt deed from your parents to pay you back. In addition, I will give you enough money to buy two acres of poor land outside the city and settle down. From now on, you and your family can live a peaceful life."

"By choosing this path, you are the nail I planted next to Fei Jianhua. The purpose of a nail is to pierce into flesh and not turn back until it bleeds."

The choice between the two paths was clear. His survival instincts kicked in, and the left-handed man, without hesitation, banged his head on the ground: "I choose the second path! Captain Su, from this day forward I will only listen to you. If I have any disloyalty, may I be struck by lightning!"

"Remember your choice." Su Yang withdrew his gaze. "If I find you wavering even slightly, the consequences of choosing the first path will only come sooner and be more severe, understand?"

"Understood! I understand!"

The man with three left-handedness kept kowtowing.

"Get up. Go back and do what you were doing. Don't let anyone notice anything amiss. If anything happens in the future, tell me through Sun Wang."

"Yes! Yes!"

The man with three left paws struggled to his feet, not daring to linger for a moment, and staggered out, gently closing the door behind him.

Only Su Yang and Sun Wang, who stood by the door with his head bowed, remained in the room.

Su Yang turned around and looked at Sun Wang.

Sun Wang immediately straightened up, his expression respectful.

"You did a good job."

Su Yang took three hundred coins and placed them on the table: "This money is for your mother to use to buy medicine, as a sign of filial piety."

Sun Wang was startled, looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with astonishment and gratitude, and choked out, "Captain Su—how did you know?"

"No need to ask too many questions about trivial matters."

Su Yang waved his hand: "Put the money away and go downstairs. Keep your mouth shut and pay close attention to the three-handed guy's movements. Let me know immediately."

"Yes, sir! I obey! Thank you for your kindness, Captain Su!"

Sun Wang kowtowed deeply, carefully put away the copper coins, bowed, and withdrew.

The room returned to silence. Su Yang picked up the ginseng soup bowl, his fingertips tracing the rim. He thought to himself that Fei Jianhua had actually decided to poison the food, which was more insidious than he had expected.

"Trying to play dirty with me? I'll make your death even more gruesome!"

Su Yang's lips curled into a cold smile.

He drank the ginseng soup in one gulp, took out a tiger skin and a camphor wood knife from under the bed, and began to practice his skills with the tiger image.

Strength is the foundation of success. Focusing on improving proficiency with the Breaking Tiger Soul Blade and the Overlord Blade is the right path. The Killing Blade Technique can wait.

"Thud, thud, thud—" The sound of the wooden sword chopping at the tiger skin echoed in the room again, the rhythm steady. In his mind, the panel notifications kept flashing:

[Tiger Soul Blade Proficiency +1!]

[Overlord Blade Proficiency +1!]

time flies.

At noon, after drinking the "seven-year-old ginseng and pork tripe soup" that Sun Wang had brought him for lunch, Su Yang felt the need to urinate and immediately put away the tiger picture.

He and the tiger skin went out of the room.

[Killing Blade Technique Proficiency +1!]

【Killing Technique (Beginner 1/350)】

Su Yang walked to the outhouse, and suddenly, a panel flashed in his mind.

"What I just did was..."

...You killed it?

Su Yang looked at the display on the panel and was quite surprised. He looked around and realized that he hadn't killed any small animals!

He instinctively moved a step and immediately noticed a black dot where his foot had landed—an ant that had been stepped on and killed.

"Even stepping on an ant can increase your proficiency in the Killing Technique!"

A flash of understanding crossed Su Yang's eyes, which were then replaced by intense joy.

He had previously been thinking about taking some time to go to the slaughterhouse to kill chickens and ducks, and to find insects to crush them.

Ants are everywhere and numerous, making them the best choice for honing one's skills in killing animals!

He crouched down and carefully examined the ground at his feet.

The courtyard of this cloth shop is always piled with cloth and wooden boxes, and ants easily breed in the corners and cracks between the bricks.

At that moment, Su Yang followed the trail of the dead ant and found a small black hole at the base of a wall not far away. Several black ants were dragging food scraps into the hole.

"You're the one!"

Su Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he got up and quickly walked towards the kitchen. He had only taken a few steps when he bumped into Sun Wang, who was cleaning up the dishes and preparing to leave.

"Captain Su." Sun Wang quickly bowed and saluted.

"Sun Wang, go to the kitchen and fetch a bucket of boiling water, and two water floats. Find me at the base of the wall in the southeast corner of the yard." Su Yang's tone was calm, but carried an unquestionable command.

Sun Wang was taken aback. Although he didn't understand why Captain Su was looking for hot water, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly replied, "Yes! I'll go right away!"

He turned and ran quickly toward the kitchen.

Su Yang returned to the ant hole and squatted down to wait quietly.

He could clearly see the ants going in and out, and he was already calculating in his mind that there were at least several hundred ants in an ant hole. If he poured a bucket of boiling water down, wouldn't his proficiency level skyrocket?

Thinking of this, Su Yang felt very excited.

Others practice their skills through hard work, but I... practice by scalding ants with boiling water.

A moment later, Sun Wang arrived carrying a full wooden bucket of steaming hot water, followed by Li Xingyun who was carrying a water ladle. "Captain Su, the hot water is here!"

"Put it here, and give me the water ladle."

Su Yang rolled up his sleeves, took the water ladle from Li Xingyun, and then lifted the bucket. The wooden bucket was heavy, and the boiling water inside rippled slightly, steaming up scorching white vapor.

"Squad leader, be careful not to get burned!" Sun Wang couldn't help but remind him.

Su Yang did not respond.

He used a ladle to scoop up boiling water, tilted the ladle, and a jet of scalding white water was aimed at the ant hole at the base of the wall and poured steadily down.

"Sizzle!!"

The moment the hot water touched the ground, steam rose up.

Countless tiny black dots surged out of the hole, struggling and tumbling in the boiling water before stiffening and floating to the surface.

An indescribable, strange smell, mixed with the earthy odor, wafted through the air.

Almost simultaneously, the panel in Su Yang's mind kept flashing.

[Killing Blade Technique Proficiency +1!]

[Killing Blade Technique Proficiency +1!]

【————】

【Killing Knife Technique (Beginner 1/700)】

【.

.】

【Killing Knife Technique (Beginner 236/700)】

The notification sounds came one after another, and the proficiency number on the panel skyrocketed.

"This is so simplified! Awesome!"

Su Yang was overjoyed, but his wrist remained as steady as a rock, controlling the water flow to ensure that every drop of boiling water was poured into the depths of the cave without wasting a single drop.

The mental panel kept flashing.

Sun Wang scratched his head, puzzled. Captain Su had always practiced martial arts diligently.

Could it be... that today is a time to relax?

The bucket of water was quickly emptied.

The cave had been scalded to the point of complete silence, leaving only a chaotic black ruin.

Su Yang looked at the panel: [Killing Blade Technique (Beginner 649/700)].

A sizable ant hole yielded nearly a thousand skill points, indicating that nearly a thousand ants had just been scalded to death. To perfect the killing technique, one only needs to find a few more ant holes.

His gaze swept across the courtyard, and he instructed Sun Wang, who was standing beside him, "Sun Wang, go and find them. Not just ant holes, rat burrows, insect nests, cockroaches, any living creature nests you can find, mark them and tell me."

"yes!"

Sun Wang was startled and dared not ask any more questions. He quickly called Li Xingyun and began to search the inside and outside of the cloth shop carefully.

Shortly after, Sun Wang returned with his report: "Captain Su, the ant nest under the old tree in the backyard is huge! There are also ant holes at the base of the kitchen wall, cockroach nests in the cracks of the rice granary wall, and rat holes at the base of the woodshed wall!"

"Lead the way, first to the old tree roots in the backyard."

Su Yang picked up the freshly boiled water and gave instructions.

"yes!"

Although Sun Wang did not understand the meaning, he reacted very quickly and immediately bowed to lead the way.

A corner of the backyard.

An old locust tree, requiring two people to encircle its trunk, had gnarled roots that arched out of the ground, the soil between them damp and black, riddled with tiny holes. Sun Wang pointed to one of them: "Captain Su, this is it. The entrance isn't big, but it goes very deep inside, with ants constantly going in and out; it's probably a fairly large nest."

Su Yang approached, gathering his inner strength in his eyes, and saw clearly.

Beneath that inconspicuous opening, the soil structure has been hollowed out by the ant colony, forming a complex three-dimensional nest. At this moment, worker ants are still busily moving around at the entrance.

"Sizzle!!"

Without further hesitation, he picked up the water ladle, aimed the scalding water at the entrance of the anthill, and poured it in forcefully!

The sound was even more muffled than before, as if boiling water had been poured over a parched sponge. The water surged wildly along the ant trails, seeping in and spreading.

A massive black tide of ants surged out of the hole, but their struggles were insignificant in the face of boiling water. They were scalded to death, scattered, or simply disappeared into the churning muddy water.

[Killing Blade Technique Proficiency Level 1!]

[Killing Blade Technique Proficiency Level 1!]

【————】

In Su Yang's mind, notification sounds rang out like a sudden storm.

【Killing Knife Technique (Minor Success 542/3000)】

After the bucket of water was filled, the area around the cave entrance was a desolate mess. At the same time, his mental panel flashed, and his mind was suddenly jolted as a flood of information about the Killing Blade Technique rushed in.

It has the techniques for generating power when wielding a knife, the accurate judgment to lock onto the target's vital points, and the methods to enhance one's momentum by using the force of killing.

Furthermore, it incorporates the killing intent into the moves, ensuring that every strike is fatal.

These information streams were not obscure texts, but rather as if they had been practiced a thousand times, clearly imprinted in his mind, instantly giving him a thorough understanding of the Killing Blade Technique.

A surge of heat suddenly spread from the dantian, flowing through the meridians to the limbs and bones.

He could clearly feel the muscles in his arms bulging slightly, and his already powerful strength surged even more in an instant, while the sensation in his fingertips became even more acute!