My martial arts skill bar can be infinitely merged.

After passing through three or four alleys and five or six lanes, based on the location given by Zhang Dayou and the mental sketch of the outer city's terrain that had been formed during this period, we walked through the streets.

Half an hour before dusk completely fell, Lu Feng found Li Laowu's residence.

This was a shantytown, with a road full of potholes, dead rats, broken poles, and some dark, indistinct things piled up so high there was nowhere to step.

In front of the low shacks, the pedestrians were generally thin and weak. The moment Lu Feng arrived, all of them turned their attention to him.

A stranger appearing in familiar territory is easily recognizable, especially since Lu Feng's physique is much stronger than it was a few days ago. If it weren't for his still youthful appearance, he would definitely have attracted the attention of these shantytown residents.

Eyes scanning the shantytowns, feet firmly planted on solid ground, pausing after each step, they walked from the entrance to the end of the road, finally spotting traces of the black liquid just before entering the next alley.

It was at the very end of the area. While the other shantytowns were bustling with activity, this small area was deserted and eerily quiet.

When the people watching Lu Feng saw him walking towards Li Laowu's house, their expressions changed drastically, and they immediately returned to the shed, not daring to look.

He casually pressed his palm against the wooden wall, the black liquid disappeared, and his martial arts points reached eight.

After doing all this, Lu Feng ignored the way these people were looking at him like he was crazy. He kept his head down and watched the road, step by step, leaving Li Laowu's house. He disappeared from the shanty a dozen breaths later.

On his way home, just as he turned a corner, a figure stealthily followed him, staying right behind Lu Feng.

When there were still quite a few people around, the figure followed cautiously. But as Lu Feng walked into a more secluded alley, the intention behind the footsteps became almost completely undisguised.

at last.

"Friend, are you stupid or do you think I'm easy prey if you just keep following me like this?"

Lu Feng's voice slowly echoed through the alley. His original forward-moving posture completely changed, and he adopted a confrontational stance with the dark figure in front of him.

Hearing this, Song Fei, who had been following behind, was quite surprised. In his memory, the somewhat cowardly boy who only listened to Yunniang could say such sophisticated things.

He stared intently at the other person a few meters away, chuckled twice, and stopped abruptly: "It's nothing, you should thank us brothers for being alive. If it weren't for us, how would you have had the chance to get close to Yunniang, and how would you be alive?"

Lu Feng looked at the other person, who had a crooked mouth, flat nose, triangular eyes, and a roguish air about him. At first, he didn't recognize him, but later he recognized a certain figure from his memory.

She chuckled softly, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "Oh, it's Brother Fei. So, what should I do?"

Song Fei's crooked mouth immediately broke into a smile, revealing uneven, yellow teeth, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Just like before, a few copper coins will do. It took a lot of effort for the brothers to save you, so you should be grateful. I don't need you to kowtow."

"oh--"

Lu Feng drew out his words and stopped abruptly when he was already in front of Song Fei. The two were about the same height, and this thug was less than 1.5 meters tall.

This distance is enough to raise someone's alarm.

Song Fei also sensed that something was wrong.

"you--"

The words had barely left his mouth when they were violently interrupted.

A fist, whipping up a gust of wind, flew towards them like a streak of black light. Lu Feng held nothing back, his fist aimed straight for Song Fei's eye.

In less than a breath, the three great talents had already been activated, and the veins on his entire arm bulged, and with a roar, it slightly cracked.

I felt something soft burst open on the back of my fist, a sticky sensation soaked into the back of my hand, and the smell of blood spread to my nose.

Song Fei felt a sudden change in his vision, and the next second, a sharp pain shot through his left eye, a pain as sharp as a knife, spreading from his eye to his brain, causing his whole body to convulse.

He wanted to scream in agony to release the excruciating pain.

Another gust of wind came flying, aimed squarely at Song Fei's vulnerable throat.

click!

This time, it was a crisp, clearly audible sound; the unspeakable noise was completely silenced by a single punch.

despair!

Incredulity was evident in Song Fei's other intact eye, and his hands instinctively gripped the arm.

He was just coming to ask for money like any other day, so why, why did he die?

He didn't understand.

The life force of that one-eyed creature was completely extinguished.

His hands also lost their strength, and with a thud, his entire body crashed backward to the ground.

The impact sent dust flying, which was then covered by a lot of trash.

Lu Feng's eyes were cold. He had chosen this alley specifically because it was being followed, so he naturally had to choose a good place to stop.

This garbage alley was chosen as the burial place for the other party.

No matter who comes, if they bring malice, Lu Feng will not be polite to them.

The threat from Willow Lake remained, and the night ghosts continued to kill people, making Lu Feng feel very depressed.

He looked at the other person and whispered to himself.

You owe me a life, now we're even.

He then squatted down and began to loot the corpse. A moment later, he had an old money bag in his hand. He didn't care how much silver was inside. After putting it in his pocket, he began to cover the body with all sorts of garbage.

No extra steps are needed; the corpse will simply disappear overnight.

As he embarked on his journey home, Lu Feng's heart began to pound violently as he entered the front yard.

Without any discomfort or guilt, a life was lost in his hands quite naturally.

"Perhaps he doesn't feel anything because the other person owes him something."

Lu Feng dealt with Song Fei casually this time, treating it as an unexpected situation.

What you really need to care about is the martial arts points you're about to reach ten. Once you achieve that, you'll gain innate talent, and with innate talent, everything will be different.

Upon entering the main hall, Lu Chen and Lu Zhou were both present. Unlike yesterday, they were not laughing heartily; instead, their brows were furrowed once again.

Clearly, something bad must have happened today.

Upon seeing Lu Feng enter, Lu Chen was the first to speak, his tone heavy.

"Don't go to Old Zhang's place for now. Something's not right outside. I saw the case files at the yamen; three more families died outside the city last night!"

These words made the now completely dark room feel even colder.

Lu Feng also seemed to feel a chill; none of the three talents he possessed could bring him a sense of security.

Three households?

Four or five families died the day before yesterday.

At this rate of death, the outer city wouldn't be enough to kill.

Second Uncle Lu Zhou also sighed and advised, "The Pang family has lost all the night watchmen at one of their shops. I received word from the master that they've temporarily sent them back. Of course, the real reason is that the Pang family is unwilling to pay any possible resettlement fees."

When someone dies, especially in a specific place, a sum of money must be paid in compensation. According to Lu Zhou's information, the Pang family alone spent sixty taels of silver on resettlement fees!

Hearing these two pieces of news made Lu Feng feel depressed. He needed to get martial arts points as soon as possible to replicate his innate talent.

There isn't much time left before the Taoist academy has to recruit people.

Thinking of this, Lu Feng shook his head: "Don't worry about me. The outer city is starting to fall into chaos. The first thing we need to do is stockpile some food."

Uncle Zhang's butcher shop isn't doing well either; the Li family has excess stock. I still have to go tomorrow, before things completely descend into chaos, to buy more meat and make smoked meat, enough for us to eat for a while longer.

What Lu Feng said was also correct, after all, the Night Ghosts only come out at night and are fine during the day, and he works during the day.

These two are currently working more at night, which is why they are temporarily staying at home. The government has also been keeping a lot of people on guard at night these past few days. Although it is safe in the inner city, it varies from place to place. If a ghost appears at night, the county government may have to send people out at night to suppress it.

Hearing his son's words, Lu Chen gritted his teeth, finally convinced: "Alright, buy the grain right away. Second brother, how's the preparation of the tokens for the inner city going?"

The token is proof of entry into the inner city. Even outsiders need a token to stay in restaurants in the inner city; without one, they will be sent to the outer city.

Lu Zhou frowned: "There's no definite answer yet, but the price is high. One tael for one day, five taels for three days, fifteen taels for ten days, and the most is ten days. There's no more than that."