Start your cultivation journey by allocating points to your Destiny.

Shahu County is quite large, named after Shahu Lake, which is located a few hundred meters outside the town.

A small river, about three zhang wide, flows past the town of Shahu. The river surface glistens with light, and willows are planted along the banks, hanging down with green ribbons. Several ancient fishermen are fishing on the riverbank.

Fishermen are rowing their boats on the river.

At the city gate, people were coming and going, creating a lively scene.

Lu Chen's predecessor had been here several times and was quite familiar with the place.

He went straight to a teahouse near the Green Bamboo Gang's headquarters, ordered the cheapest tea, and sat down to listen to other people chatting.

Gather intelligence.

The biggest event these past few days has been the tragic deaths of Lu San and his gang of hooligans.

Lu San fell into a cesspool and died.

Lu Si died from poisoning due to vomiting and diarrhea.

Teng Jun and Luo Yong were forced to vomit with fecal water, but they still died.

The people of Shahu County hadn't seen this kind of death in over a decade.

Lu Chen also managed to hear some useful information.

"Lu San, Lu Si, and the others are all subordinates of Cheng Datou, a minor leader of the Green Bamboo Gang. Cheng Datou is a subordinate of Wang Bao, a hall master of the Green Bamboo Gang. Wang Bao is the younger brother of Wang Hu, the leader of the Green Bamboo Gang."

They belong to the inner circle of subordinates.

He even heard from the people drinking tea about Cheng Datou's favorite brothel and his residence.

This is common knowledge in the county.

As for whether Cheng Datou had multiple burrows or other hidden dwellings, that remains unknown.

Lu Chen asked the waiter about Cheng Datou's appearance, explaining that he had only been there a short time and was afraid of unintentionally offending the man.

The waiter said, "This Cheng Datou's real name isn't Datou. He just got that nickname because he has a big head. Also, his most distinctive feature is that he's skilled with a big knife. He has thick arms, a round face, and a full beard. He looks very imposing. Anyone who hasn't seen him before can recognize him at a glance."

Lu Chen was slightly startled.

Skilled at using a large knife, with thick arms?

Could he be a master?

He decided to do more preparation.

After putting down the money, Lu Chen went straight to the blacksmith's shop and bought a dagger for 200 coins, an ordinary goose feather knife for 1 tael of silver, and also ordered some iron pellets, ten throwing knives, and a long spear. After paying the deposit, he went elsewhere to buy some lime and rope.

He also wanted to buy a fishing net, but unfortunately he didn't know how to use it, so he decided against it.

"My life points are only 98 right now. It takes 50 points to upgrade a skill from minor to major. If I upgrade another level, it will probably take three digits."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen bought some vegetarian steamed buns and searched for beggars all over the city.

He wanted to see if he could get some life points from the beggar.

He hadn't walked far when he saw a dirty beggar sitting on the ground with a broken bowl in front of him, weakly begging from passersby, but no one paid him any attention.

Lu Chen walked straight over, not minding the dirt, squatted down in front of the beggar, and handed him the steamed bun: "Here, take this and eat."

The beggar froze, hesitated for a moment, then quickly grabbed the steamed bun and wolfed it down, thanking Lu Chen as he ate, his voice trembling with a hint of tears: "Thank you, thank you, young master, may you make a fortune."

Lu Chen found it somewhat strange.

This is quite different from the beggars he's ever seen.

Those beggars could sing ballads and similar songs so fluently, with a whole repertoire of lyrics.

"You're welcome. Just live well."

He stood up, sighed, and thought back to when he was on Earth, he was cheated out of money by an elderly couple who said they had no money for the bus fare home.

He actually knew that the elderly couple were scammers, and passersby had even stopped him and advised him not to give them money.

Unfortunately, he was too naive at the time, and also too soft-hearted to bear seeing such things, so he still gave him 20.

All I can say now is that he was both stupid and kind.

Seeing Lu Chen sigh, the beggar brushed aside the hair hanging in front of his eyes, looked at Lu Chen's face, then lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and continued to eat the steamed bun with big bites, though his eyes were a little red.

After leaving the beggar, Lu Chen suddenly realized that this was the street where Cheng Datou's residence was located, which he had heard about before.

What a coincidence?

He immediately went to scout the location.

As soon as Lu Chen arrived at an alley, he heard a notification sound.

[Under the host's influence, Zhao Mancang's fate has changed.]

[Hit Value Bonus: 10]

"Oh, it actually works?"

Lu Chen was very surprised.

I just bought a few steamed buns and got 10 life points in return. It was such a great deal!

If we become rich in the future, and distribute grain throughout the city, even if each person only receives 1 point of life value, wouldn't we still make a fortune?

Setting aside his fantasies, Lu Chen pondered how to utilize these 108 points of life energy.

He didn't know how strong Cheng Datou was, but he did see a lot of people carrying weapons walking on the street, and no one thought it was strange.

It should be a world that reveres force.

I went to a storytelling place to listen to some, and I did hear quite a few myths, but they were obviously not very useful for reference.

To be on the safe side, he felt that the best approach was still a surprise attack.

We cannot confront them head-on.

After weighing the pros and cons, Lu Chen decided to add points to Throwing, upgrading it from Lesser Mastery to Greater Mastery, and then add points to Vigorousness, upgrading it to Greater Mastery, for a total cost of 100 points.

The reason he didn't improve his slashing or agile footwork was because he didn't know how good Cheng Datou's swordsmanship was, and he didn't want to get into close combat with him.

The best outcome would be to take it out remotely.

With that in mind, he decisively added more points.

Throwing Mastery (1%)

Life value -47.

Full of energy and strength (1%)

Life value -49.

With 12 life points remaining, he simply added them to his stabbing ability.

Small success rate (1%).

Life points remaining: 3.

Lu Chen felt the heat flowing through his body and glanced at the sky.

The sun is about to set.

He easily found Cheng Datou's house by following the alley.

There were people inside.

A slight thought crossed his mind, and he walked silently down the alley, catching a glimpse of the person out of the corner of his eye.

He has a round face, a full beard, and a rather large head.

That should be the big one.

At that moment, he was drinking and eating with a middle-aged woman, occasionally feeding each other.

Lu Chen didn't look closely at the middle-aged woman, but there was one very obvious feature.

He has a mole on his chin that looks similar to Huang Chao's.

Could they be relatives?

Lu Chen quickly left the alley.

After turning a corner, I went to the back of the house from the other side, but I didn't find a back door. So I went to the front door and found a secluded spot to hide.

From this vantage point, he could see Cheng Datou's house, but Cheng Datou couldn't see him from here.

It got dark.

Lu Chen took out a steamed bun and started eating it.

The light came on in Cheng Datou's room, and there were shadowy figures moving around.

Lu Chen was very patient.

He is waiting.

Time passed slowly.

The once bustling county town gradually quieted down.

Late at night, Lu Chen had already changed locations several times to avoid being discovered.

All sounds are silent.

The lights in Cheng Datou's house had been off for a long time, and the middle-aged woman had left quite some time ago.

Lu Chen calculated the time; it was almost two or three in the morning.

This is the time when people are sleeping the most soundly and are least alert.

It's time to get started.