The second floor of the inn.
The innkeeper's wife looked with concern at the long streak of blood on Li Chaofeng's back. She reached out and gently pressed the wound, relieved to find no fresh blood oozing out.
"Luckily, the blade missed by a bit, or else you'd be dead for sure."
She glanced at the short dagger tucked into Li Chaofeng's belt, then gave his lower back a hard slap.
"Getting fooled by that kind of scum, I'm not losing an ounce of flesh over it. Why risk your life?"
Li Chaofeng, who wasn't bleeding, suddenly winced in pain as the slap squeezed the wound, his face twisting in agony.
Missed the blade?Not really. It was just that Li Chaofeng's skin was unusually tough, which saved his life.
As for why the short dagger was stuck in his belt, it was simply because he used it mostly for mundane tasks like killing chickens and cleaning fish—no need for a fancy disappearing knife trick like in killing someone.
The innkeeper's wife did notice something unusual about both Li Chaofeng's body and his dagger, but sometimes in life, it's better not to question too much.
The bloodied wound needed dressing. Holding some medicinal salve, the innkeeper's wife carefully applied it to the long bloodstain on Li Chaofeng's back. Li Chaofeng lay across the chair, looking relaxed as he said softly:
"I'm leaving."
Hearing that, the woman paused her hand, then resumed applying the medicine. Once finished, she asked calmly:
"Can't stay any longer?"
"Mm."
Li Chaofeng's simple grunt answered her question. The innkeeper's wife immediately gave him a smack on the back of the head and scolded him:
"What's wrong with my Yingying? You don't like her? Or has some fox spirit from the alley stolen your heart?"
Yingying was the innkeeper's daughter—the same girl who had almost been bullied earlier. She was only thirteen today.
In this era, girls could marry at fourteen. Over the past five years, Li Chaofeng had been steady, hardworking, and mature for his age—tall and of the right age. Naturally, he was the innkeeper's favorite candidate as a son-in-law.
But Li Chaofeng looked like a sixteen-year-old boy, though inside he was already a grown man. When he first met Yingying, she was only eight.
She wasn't just a little sister—she was almost like a daughter to him.
Even if he had taken care of her for five years, and even if he didn't mind that, he simply couldn't like Yingying that way now.
She hadn't even blossomed into a proper young lady yet—not his type.
Though his body was sixteen, his mind was much older.
Thinking this, Li Chaofeng squinted but didn't reply. The innkeeper's wife sighed as she watched him pretending to be asleep.
A real man's ambitions lie far ahead; her boy had already spent a few years roaming the martial world.
And the child she found five years ago was now ready to leave.
Yes, a child who could afford such fine clothes couldn't be from an ordinary family.
With these thoughts, the innkeeper's wife stopped persuading him, stood, and walked behind the bed. To Li Chaofeng's surprise, she opened a chest.
Inside lay a neatly folded set of clothes. She glanced at it, nodded, and took them all out.
"If Yingying can't win your heart, then here's the dirty clothes you wore back then. I've altered them a bit—try them on and see if they fit."
Human hearts are made of flesh and blood. After five years together, Li Chaofeng wasn't without feelings. Leaving now, he had already made peace with it.
Whether to help the Five-Insect Blade grow or to see what this world was really about, it was time for him to go out and explore.
But when he saw the clothes from those years, his expression suddenly darkened.
Wasn't this the sleeping robe he wore before he transmigrated?Blue-black, pure cotton, seven-day no-questions-asked return policy, delivered within three days by courier.
Now it had been altered into a martial artist's coat—with sleeves featuring built-in wrist guards and a braided belt around the waist.
Still... it was a sleeping robe.
"I wanted to throw this dirty robe away after taking it, but once I held it in my hands, I knew only a noble family could afford such fabric," the innkeeper's wife said.
"After washing it clean, I kept thinking every day about when I could tailor it for that little rascal of mine. But maybe it was meant for you after all, so I left it here."
Though cotton existed in this world, pure cotton garments made with modern techniques—like this sleeping robe—were rare treasures, far from ordinary fabric patched with cotton lining.
Back then, Li Chaofeng's modern mindset was obvious. When the innkeeper's wife took away the robe, already filthy and worn, he hadn't even glanced at it.
His attitude convinced her: Li Chaofeng was a fallen noble destined to return to glory someday.
Though the path was strange, her guess had been right.
Li Chaofeng only wanted a place to settle down, a place where he could kill chickens and clean fish.
He hadn't been "picked up" by the innkeeper's wife. He had chosen to work at this inn, purely applying for a job.
A ten-year-old down-and-out boy can find work, can't he?
Child labor was legal in this era.
At first, he only wanted to be a helper killing chickens and cleaning fish, but one day the innkeeper caught him secretly cooking for the little girl, and he was made the kitchen's meat and vegetable handler.
It wasn't that Li Chaofeng's cooking was so delicious that even the imperial chefs of old would feel ashamed—otherwise this inn wouldn't still be an ordinary one, unknown to the world.
It was just that many of his culinary tricks were unheard-of secrets in this era, enough to become family heirlooms.
Thanks to Wang Gang.
Seeing the innkeeper's wife's expression—a look that said, I know you have a deep blood feud, so I won't bring up your sorrows—Li Chaofeng pressed his lips tightly and chose not to explain that this sleeping robe was not a keepsake left by his father.
Five years ago, he was only 1.4 meters tall, while this robe measured a full 1.7 meters—it simply couldn't be his.
But thinking about wearing this robe—a martial artist's garment that everyone thought was just a sleeping robe, but was actually more—while roaming the Jianghu to uphold justice, Li Chaofeng hesitated.
Maybe he should find an excuse to leave the robe here after all.
Get sentimental over his father's keepsake?Leave something behind so the innkeeper's wife would have a keepsake of him?
As he wrestled with these thoughts, a loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the inn.
"I am Jiang Biehe from Jiangnan! The Five Tigers of Tianmen dare to commit crimes in broad daylight? Come out and face death!"
Jiang Biehe???Jiang Biehe!!!
Li Chaofeng knew the name well—anyone who wasn't from the modern world would. But wasn't he supposed to be the Jiangnan hero himself?Known for kindness and helping the weak, since when did Jiang Biehe go hunting down criminals?
Hearing the shout from the hero outside, the innkeeper's wife showed no sign of joy. Instead, she glanced at Li Chaofeng's thoughtful face and warned him quietly:
"The Five Tigers of Tianmen were killed by some passing nameless hero. Don't go stirring up trouble for yourself."
Li Chaofeng blinked, confused. The innkeeper's wife then pointed to his forehead, her face suddenly serious.
"In these times, heroes kill bandits, and bandits kill heroes. You're just a young kid—how many lives do you think you have to dodge the bad guys' attention?"
"Haven't you heard the saying? It's not the thief you should fear—it's being marked by someone. Listen to me on this."
Before she could say more, outside the Four Seas Inn, Jiang Biehe sensed the gazes turning toward him. If he waited any longer, he'd lose the righteous fury he was known for. So, he let out a loud, defiant roar.
"Since you won't come out, I'll go in myself! Ha ha ha ha!"
Amid Jiang Biehe's laughter, he strode closer to the inn, sensing the aura inside. Narrowing his eyes, he slammed his palm heavily against the inn's main doors.
With a loud boom, the double doors flew open half a meter, crashing down to the ground. Outside, Jiang Biehe wore a smug grin full of arrogance and pride.
"Want to ambush Jiang Biehe? You'll need more practice!"
But the laughter stopped abruptly. Peering inside, Jiang Biehe's face twisted with rage and disbelief.
With the doors gone, the scene inside was fully visible. Three bodies lay lined up side by side, carried by several waiters. A quick glance was enough for Jiang Biehe to recognize them as the Three Tigers of Tianmen he had been hunting for half a month.
Another tiger was tied to a pillar, unconscious.
No wonder he could only sense the breathing of the Mountain Tiger from outside—the Four Tigers of Tianmen were almost completely wiped out!