Chapter 8: Practice

He never dreamed that Xiao Lin not only set traps, but also had things like crossbows. You know, the cheapest crossbow in the grocery store also costs twenty taels of silver, which ordinary miners can't afford.

He didn't know that Xiao Lin searched Wang Ji and the dead miner for more than ten taels of silver a year ago. In addition, he deliberately chose two months this year and paid more ore. In addition to buying a crossbow, a few arrows, and poison, the rest of the silver was used to buy ground spikes. Xiang Kun never dreamed that someone would be willing to spend such a high price to buy these things.

Xiang Kun secretly regretted that his accumulation over the years was naturally not comparable to that of a young bird like Xiao Lin. He not only accumulated hundreds of taels of silver, but also stored a lot of ordinary weapons. However, he underestimated the enemy and never thought that Xiao Lin would set traps deep in the mine.

Xiang Kun hid behind his subordinates, looking around with his triangular eyes, but the surroundings were terribly quiet, which made Xiang Kun even more frightened.

"Go outside." Xiang Kun whispered to the only subordinate who was still alive.

They walked slowly outside. Xiang Kun had no intention of continuing to deal with Xiao Lin. Not to mention that Xiao Lin had a long-range weapon such as a crossbow, the trap inside also made him choose to temporarily avoid the sharp edge. As long as he could get out, he would gather more subordinates and bring weapons. Even if Xiao Lin had several heads, he would definitely die.

The two walked slowly outside. The cunning Xiang Kun had already turned off the kerosene lamp. In this dark mine, he could not find Xiao Lin. It was not easy for Xiao Lin to deal with them.

After walking for dozens of meters, Xiang Kun's hanging heart was slightly relieved. He gritted his teeth and thought about how to torture Xiao Lin after catching him. In this No. 3 mine, he has dominated for several years. Now he is being calculated by a half-grown child. This really makes him angry.

"Ah~ my feet." Xiang Kun suddenly heard the scream of his subordinate in front of him. As soon as the scream started, he heard a "whoosh" sound. A cold arrow pierced straight into the chest of Xiang Kun's subordinate. Although it was slightly off and did not penetrate the heart, the poison on it was enough to be fatal.

Xiang Kun's last subordinate fell down with almost no struggle and completely lost his breath.

"Xiao Lin, we can talk. If you kill me, another overlord will appear in this No. 3 mine, and Zhu Biao has been eyeing our No. 3 mine for a long time. So, if you let me go, I will let you be my subordinate. Follow me and I will guarantee that you will have meat to eat every day."

In the dark, Xiao Lin, who was crouching, heard this and showed a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew that for the overlords of these mines, they could use silver to buy some special meals in the cafeteria. Those meals were usually specially provided for the disciples of Bailian Hall. Only the overlords of a few mines were qualified to buy them with silver.

"Chi~" A crossbow arrow almost hit Xiang Kun's beard and shot into the cave wall next to him. The part exposed from the cave wall was still shaking.

Xiang Kun was startled and his face turned pale. He hurriedly said: "I can give you half of the money I have accumulated over the years, as long as you don't kill me, and I promise that I will never cause you trouble in the future."

"Light the kerosene lamp next to you." Xiao Lin's cold voice came from the darkness.

Xiang Kun was delighted when he heard this, and hurriedly bent down to pick up the kerosene lamp thrown away by his subordinates. At this time, Xiao Lin's figure slowly appeared from the darkness, holding a crossbow in his hand. The tip of the crossbow arrow flashed a faint green halo through the dim light of the kerosene lamp.

"I don't believe you have accumulated any money." Xiao Lin sneered and said.

"Really, my money is all at the bottom of the No. 3 branch cave. As long as you don't kill me, I promise to give you half, and from now on we will share all the income from the No. 3 pit mine." Xiang Kun cracked his mouth and tried to squeeze out a smile.

"Are you telling the truth?" Xiao Lin showed a surprised expression on his face.

"Of course, Xiao Lin, you are a talent I like. You are so meticulous at such a young age. People like you are exactly what I need." Xiang Kun saw Xiao Lin's expression and was delighted. He took a step forward and promised with a smile on his face.

"Swish~"

The sound of the arrow breaking through the air made Xiang Kun's laughter stop abruptly. He looked down at the arrow on his chest with disbelief. The crossbow arrow had a strong penetration force and directly penetrated his heart, revealing a short inch-long arrow tail.

"I still prefer dead people, because dead people will not plot against me." Xiao Lin had a sneer on his lips. He threw the crossbow in his hand aside. He took out a dagger from his arms and looked at Xiang Kun with a defensive face.

Xiang Kun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he couldn't make a sound. With a "thump", Xiang Kun's fat body fell down, his eyes still wide open, with an expression of unwillingness to close his eyes.

Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and sat down on the ground.

As his tense nerves relaxed, he felt exhausted all over, but he knew that now was not the time to rest. He spent half a day burying the bodies of Xiang Kun and several subordinates, and found more than 30 taels of silver from them, which made him a little excited. With this money, he could buy some arrows, and more importantly, the crossbow he had always wanted to buy was also very promising.

The crossbow is the most powerful weapon sold in the grocery store, at least in Xiao Lin's opinion. The crossbow can fire three crossbow arrows at the same time, which is much more powerful than the one in his hand. However, the crossbow is expensive, requiring fifty taels of silver. This price is really a bit outrageous for Xiao Lin.

After doing all this, Xiao Lin left the mine as if nothing had happened. After paying the task ore, he was indeed recorded as a great merit and received a reward of five taels of silver. He happily returned to the hut with the silver in his pocket and fell asleep.

In the evening of the next day, after he finished his meal, he observed that there were no miners outside, so he walked towards the grocery store.

The disciple of Bailiantang in the grocery store was an old man with slightly white hair and wrinkles on his face. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties. In Xiao Lin's opinion, this old man probably had no great value to Bailiantang, so he was arranged to open a grocery store here to provide for his retirement.

The old man was very stingy, and he could not bargain for anything in the grocery store. Xiao Lin had tried to persuade him to sell his crossbow at a lower price, but the old man refused to budge. No matter how he tried to persuade him, he only said "No". Later, Xiao Lin completely understood that it was impossible to bargain when buying things in this grocery store.

"Hey, Xiao boy, it seems that you have made a fortune recently?" Seeing Xiao Lin coming in, the old man's eyes lit up and said with a smile on his face.

"What kind of fortune? It's good to be alive." Xiao Lin was quite dejected. He worked hard to earn some silver, but in the end, he gave it all to the old man in front of him to save his life.

"Hey, the crossbow I sold you is useful, right? You should know that although the Qingshui Lake Mine prohibits miners from fighting, these rules are not enforced in the mine. It is very common to be shot by someone. It is definitely worthwhile to buy some life-saving things from me."

Although Xiao Lin was unwilling, he had to admit that the old man made sense. He had not planned to buy the crossbow a few months ago. After all, twenty taels of silver was almost all his worth. But after what happened the day before yesterday, he was somewhat grateful to the old man in front of him. If he had not bought the crossbow, he would probably not have the opportunity to talk to the old man here now.

"Old Fu, have you bought any good stuff recently? The kind that can save your life." Xiao Lin said to the old man. After a few months of contact, Xiao Lin knew that the old man was called Fu Feiran, an outer disciple of Bailian Hall, and had been running a grocery store here for more than ten years. He has been here almost since the Qingshui Lake Mine opened.

"Of course." Fu Lao's eyes lit up, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face: "Do you want to buy that crossbow?"

Shaking his head, Xiao Lin smiled bitterly: "Unless Fu Lao can sell me the crossbow at a 30% discount, I can't afford it."

"That won't work. The things I sell are genuine and of guaranteed quality. Fifty taels of silver cannot be less than a penny." Fu Lao shook his head and sighed, then said: "But I recently wholesaled a few basic martial arts secrets. Are you interested?"

Hearing this, Xiao Lin's face was even more bitter: "Fu Lao, don't joke with me. I can't even afford the crossbow, so how can I afford those basic martial arts that cost more than 100 taels of silver each?"

"Hehe, you naturally can't afford the general basic martial arts, but there is one martial arts that you can afford. I bought it from a down-and-out homeless man. Although the skills are not very good, the price is relatively much cheaper."

"Oh? Can I take a look?" Xiao Lin's eyes lit up and he immediately became interested.

Old Fu didn't waste any words. He took out a book with a yellowed cover from under the counter and threw it to Xiao Lin.

A few years ago, when there was no famine in the village, Xiao Lin followed a declining squire in the village to learn Chinese for two years, so that he could finally recognize the written words.

"Ku Shui Jing?" Looking at the three words on the yellowed page in front of him, Xiao Lin couldn't help but be speechless.

He had seen the basic martial arts secrets sold by the old man before, such as [San Yuan Quan], [Wu Xing Jian], [Kai Mai Gong] and so on. They were all powerful skills that could be seen at a glance, but what was the Ku Shui Jing in front of him? No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a martial arts secret book, but more like a miscellaneous book.

Seeing Xiao Lin's expression, Old Man Fu smiled slightly and said mysteriously: "Don't underestimate this Dry Water Scripture. You should know that the homeless man's family was once glorious hundreds of years ago, and even controlled the entire Huai County behind the scenes. But later, for some unknown reason, it fell into decline. This Dry Water Scripture is the cultivation method passed down from their family's glory. If he was not really desperate, he would not want to sell it to me?"

Xiao Lin naturally didn't believe what the old man said. He knew that the buyer was not as smart as the seller. If it was really as powerful as Old Man Fu said, how could he sell it to him so cheaply? However, for Xiao Lin, who was eager to find a cultivation method, this was also a good opportunity for him. After all, those basic martial arts that cost hundreds of taels a copy were too unrealistic for him.