Sometimes, moves with too much power can be a bad thing.

Just like now, in order to see what this attacker really looks like, Du Chengfeng has to grab the hooded man’s hair and find a way to pull his head out of his chest cavity—but to Du Chengfeng’s embarrassment, there aren’t many strands of hair on the hooded man’s head, which makes an already difficult task even more challenging.

So Du Chengfeng simply bends down and picks up the two boning knives on the ground.

Recently, it’s been either traveling or fighting, and he hasn’t sharpened his knives in a while. Now returning to this old task, Du Chengfeng actually feels a bit nostalgic.

With the Grinding Stone in hand, Du Chengfeng finally relaxes, looks around, and finds a step where he starts sharpening his knives while humming a song.

"It’s late at night, ah the crescent moon is out."

The blade touches the Grinding Stone, and Du Chengfeng feels the uneven dents on the edge.

The flaws on the blade are also flaws in craftsmanship, but it is precisely these mistakes that teach what’s right.

"They all say the crescent moon is like the old moon god oh oh oh."

As he sharpens the blade, Du Chengfeng hums softly.

"The old moon god taught me hey, to carry a knife and just kill people... wait?"

Realizing he sang the wrong lyrics, Du Chengfeng slaps his head.

However, to be strict, this can’t really be called wrong singing, it should even be considered correct.

After all, although the lyrics didn’t match the original tune, they did match the memories on these two boning knives.

These two boning knives originally belonged to a cook, the very one lying underground. This hooded man was the head chef of a restaurant named Qingyang Building in Yanzhou City. Due to his skills and diligence, the hooded man accumulated quite a bit of wealth.

As they say, once basic needs are satisfied, thoughts turn elsewhere. This man began thinking of finding a wife and starting a family. As for his choice, he had long been infatuated with the daughter of a minor official in Yanzhou City.

That lady was a frequent customer of Qingyang Building, often praising this man’s culinary skills and thinking him hardworking and reliable—a good person. This man had toiled in the back kitchen for over twenty years and had never received such praise, especially from a woman. So it was inevitable that he would start daydreaming, even setting a goal of "marrying her or no one else."

However, an aspiration is called an aspiration because it’s difficult to achieve.

Even if they had some mutual affection, they could only stop there. A minor official, though minor, is still an official, while a cook, no matter how good, is just a cook. The disparity in their social status was too vast and unreachable.

Yet the man did not want to give up on this relationship.

The status of a cook was unworthy of a minor official’s daughter, but the status of the owner of Qingyang Building’s boss might make them an acceptable match. Moreover, the girl’s father wasn’t exceptionally old-fashioned, so perhaps it could truly happen.

If he could open his own restaurant, he might actually have a chance.

Although becoming a restaurant owner was quite challenging for a cook, pressure can become motivation. Even though he knew this hope was slim, a slim hope is still hope. To achieve his wish and win the beauty, he was willing to do anything.

"Anything?"

Du Chengfeng’s heart sank.

And indeed, the situation changed at this moment.

The first part of the story was fine, with the man working hard, hoping to earn enough to own his own restaurant. If things developed normally, given his diligence, he might really marry the minor official’s daughter after working hard for a few years.

But the man was too impatient.

Because someone had started matchmaking for the minor official’s daughter.

The one proposing was the son of the boss of Qingyang Building. The man knew this kid, a bully who was idle and unskilled. But the minor official’s family didn’t know this; they only saw that the family of Qingyang Building had some wealth, which seemed like a good match, and the son of the owner put on a show of changing his ways and aspiring to better things, causing the minor official’s family to nod repeatedly.

But in the man’s eyes, this clearly meant the kid was lustful and wanted to deceive the woman he loved!

No matter how anxious he was, there was nothing he could do. He was, after all, just a mere cook, what could he possibly do?

However, in this man’s utmost helplessness, a mysterious, shady figure approached him.

"I’ve heard about your situation."

The shadowy figure stopped the man.

"I can help you, or at least provide you with a way to solve your problem."

A way to solve the problem? How could it be solved?

While the man hesitated, he found that the shadowy figure had disappeared, along with his purse.

In his hands, there was a pair of boning knives.

"When did I buy these?"

The man was baffled, but since the knives were bought and the person couldn’t be found for a refund, he could only chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Though he hadn’t brought much money with him, losing money is still aggravating. In his rage, he saw the boss’s son of Qingyang Building coming from the street corner.

With the boning knives in hand, the furious man suddenly felt rage boiling over and daring overtaking him, rushing up to deliver two swift strikes, killing the son of Qingyang Building’s owner on the spot.

"This..."

Looking at the corpse on the ground, instead of feeling any fear, the man felt a wave of relief.

"Did it really get solved just like that?"

Before the Capturers arrived, the man had already leaped onto the rooftops, as agile as a wildcat, even he couldn’t believe it.

The man suddenly realized that perhaps he didn’t need to follow the rules like before. If killing could make him stronger, then he just needed to keep on killing—compared to this true power, the idea of becoming a restaurant owner seemed trivial in comparison. Once he possessed great strength, like those legendary heroes renowned throughout the world, wouldn’t he have no troubles with love?

So, with this in mind, the man began his hunting spree.

By day, he was still that honest restaurant chef, but at night, he became the reaper of death in the dark. He only targeted solitary individuals, striking decisively and viciously, his leaping attack as fierce as a wildcat pouncing on prey.

Through these continual hunts, his skills became increasingly sharp, his blade technique more and more precise. He even forgot what he originally intended to do, or whose daughter he wanted to marry. All he knew was he wanted to become stronger, to keep growing stronger, endlessly pursuing strength, enjoying the thrill of controlling life and death.

And at the end of this killing spree, Du Chengfeng once again saw his own big face.

"Hmm..."

After finishing sharpening, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but lower his head, looking at his robe.

It wasn’t because this old robe had just been pierced with two holes.

But because, in the memory of that hooded man, the mysterious figure selling the knives was wearing the same clothes as him.

Yet, unlike Du Chengfeng’s robe adorned with knives, the other person’s robe was much lighter.

Clearly, the knives inside that robe had already been sold.