The First Marquis of Daxuan

Chapter 1 Rogue
Daxuan Dynasty, spring of the third year of Yuanshou.

The river overflowed into the plain, and there was a great famine, and people were cannibalizing each other.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the long street of Wuling City. Su Mu placed the burden on his back in front of a few men, and his waist, which was almost bent at 90 degrees, finally straightened up.

"Su Mu, you chopped a total of 87 kilograms of firewood today. I'll charge you 90 kilograms, which is a total of nine cents."

The leading man asked someone to weigh the burden that Su Mu put down, spat on his fingers, turned a few pages of the account book, glanced at it and said.

"Thank you for your care, Mr. Zhang."

Su Mu put on a smiling face.

Mr. Zhang counted a few copper coins and threw them on the ground, making a crisp sound of tinkling.

Su Mu hurriedly squatted down and quickly picked up the copper coins scattered on the ground.

Seven copper coins.

The quantity is correct.

He went out of the city three times and brought back eighty-seven pounds of firewood. After deducting the two cents of regular tax, he had seven cents left.

…………

"What a lousy place this is! Why is it so hard to survive here?"

Su Mu walked on the muddy street, the anger in his chest constantly surging.

Two months have passed, and Su Mu still can't figure out how he, a graduate from a double first-class university with a bright future, could find himself in Wuling City after waking up.

And he's a complete hooligan!

Those who have no house or land are called vagrants, and those who have no legitimate job are called hooligan.

"Alas, I am even worse than a gangster. Gangsters at least have household registration, but I don't even have a household registration now."

Su Mu walked through the muddy alley and entered a dilapidated temple that was windy on all sides.

A few months ago, the hometown of the predecessor suffered a flood, and the predecessor fled all the way to Wuling City, and finally died of hunger and disease, and was occupied by the current Su Mu.

In order to settle the refugees, the imperial court made a special exception and allowed the refugees to become naturalized in Wuling, on the condition that each household registered 500 wen.

Wuling City is one of the largest cities within a radius of hundreds of miles. Under normal circumstances, a household registration in Wuling City is worth at least dozens of taels of silver.

Five hundred coins was already a preferential treatment given by the imperial court to refugees.

But even so——

"Three hundred and fifty coins are still missing..."

Su Mu couldn't help but sigh, "Damn the firewood gang. Firewood in the city costs three cents a pound, but I only sell it to them for one cent a pound. Even so, they still charge a commission. Countless capitalists are not as cruel as them!"

His body was now severely malnourished and he had no strength at all. Carrying 70 to 80 kilograms of firewood a day was already the limit for him, earning him 7 or 8 cents. After deducting the 2 or 3 cents for daily food, he could only save 4 or 5 cents at most.

If it rains, I won’t even have these four or five cents.

When he just woke up, Su Mu also wanted to live a good life with enough food and clothing by relying on his advanced knowledge.

Before he could do anything, he discovered that the world was not as simple as he thought.

Ever since he saw with his own eyes a man punch through a stone that was more than a meter tall, he knew that this was a world of extraordinary powers and it would be difficult for ordinary people to make a name for themselves.

Besides, it’s not easy to be an ordinary person.

In Wuling City, he couldn't do whatever he wanted.

Every industry and every profession is monopolized by a certain force.

If you want to have a legitimate job, you must first have a household registration.

Even if you do hard labor or hang out in society, you cannot escape the oppression of gangs.

Rice gang, fish gang, firewood gang...

Su Mu had no special skills, could not fish or hunt, and was too embarrassed to beg.

He didn't even have enough strength to carry the heavy bags to the dock.

In other words, chopping wood is a simple job and he can still do it.

"We both traveled through time, so why is there such a big difference? Others were either born in royal families, or are wealthy businessmen, or at least the son-in-law of a wealthy family. Me?"

Su Mu sat down on the thatched straw, took out a cold, hard steamed bun from his arms and began to eat it slowly.

A steamed bun costs one cent, and a dumpling costs three cents.

Now, he can only afford to eat steamed buns.

I work hard every day, dare not get sick or be lazy, but I can only afford to eat steamed buns.

All the hardships that I didn’t suffer in my previous life have been made up in this life.

"It's nothing. I have a golden finger, but I don't know what it can be used for!"

Su Mu was chewing on a steamed bun, and as soon as he thought about it, a translucent panel appeared in front of him.

Su Mu was not the only one in the dilapidated temple. There were also several beggars huddled in the thatched piles.

Su Mu ignored them and just looked at the panel in front of him.

This panel had appeared since he woke up, and no one else could see it except him.

……

[Name: Su Mu]

[Identity: Woodcutter (Refugee)] [Points: 15]

……

When I just woke up, the identity on the panel was a gangster.

When Su Mu started chopping wood, he removed the word "mang", but the word "liu" remained.

Over the past two months, Su Mu has studied the function of this panel whenever he has free time.

At first he thought he could rely on his golden finger to change things against the will of heaven. My destiny is in my own hands. The world is so big, it’s not too much for me to take a bite, right?
As a result, after two months, he figured out how to use this amount of money.

The only attribute on the panel is identity, and points cannot be added at all.

"It has been verified that points are related to status. The higher the status, the faster it increases. It is like a person's starting point. Some people are born in Rome, while others are born as cattle and horses."

Su Mu thought in his heart.

When he was still a gangster, the points would increase by one point every ten days.

After he became a refugee, the points increased by one point every five days.

"Is it true that I can only gain points after learning the martial arts of this world?"

Su Mu couldn't help but sigh.

He secretly inquired about it and found out that there was a way to learn martial arts. There was a martial arts school in Wuling City, and one could learn it for only ten taels of silver per month.

There are also some martial arts sects that open their doors to recruit disciples from time to time.

At worst, there are martial arts secret manuals for sale in the pawnshops in the city, and you can usually buy one for a few dozen taels of silver.

No matter which one it is, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven for Su Mu now.

He hadn't even saved up the 500 coins needed to buy a household registration. Even if he knew that one day the road to heaven would be not far away, he could only sigh helplessly.

……

"call--"

Su Mu pulled out the rusty, worn-out hatchet that he was holding and chopped it hard to vent his anger.

"It's dead!"

At this moment, a sudden terrified scream broke the silence of the night.

Su Mu was stunned. He just swung the hatchet, and he could kill people from a distance?
The next moment, he heard a wild beast-like roar.

Then, all the lifeless beggars in the dilapidated temple jumped up and ran out with fear on their faces.

"Oh no, demon!"

Su Mu's heart sank, and his whole body felt like it was falling into an icy cave.

After coming to this world, he heard the legend of demons when chatting with the homeless beggars around him.

It is said that the dilapidated temple where they live has been attacked by demons before, and all the people on the entire street were slaughtered, so this place has become dilapidated and has become a gathering place for refugees and beggars.

As for what the monsters are, none of these refugees can explain it clearly. Anyway, they have green faces and fangs, are bloodthirsty and cruel, and have great strength, able to tear wild beasts apart with their bare hands. Except for powerful warriors, ordinary people will die if they encounter monsters.

Thinking of these legends, Su Mu jumped up without hesitation and ran with the team.

Although life was bitter, he didn't want to die in the mouth of a demon and become its food.

There is still hope when you are alive, but when you die, there is nothing left. Who knows if you will have another chance to travel through time if you die again.

The beast-like roar was getting closer and closer, and Su Mu ran faster.

He kept overtaking the skinny and pale homeless beggars.

I can’t outrun the demons, and I can’t outrun you?

Now is not the time to be noble and upright.

Soon, Su Mu realized how naive he was.

It's no use running faster than others, demons are not tigers, they are a hundred times scarier than tigers!
On the long street, a figure nearly five meters tall leaped high over the heads of the crowd and crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

"Crack!"

The refugee running in front was caught in the demon's hand like a chick, and the demon bit the refugee's neck with his mouth.

Throwing away the refugee whose neck was bitten off, the demon rushed into the refugee group with fangs and claws. Every time it waved its hands and feet, a refugee was knocked flying.

Some are even more tragically captured by demons and bitten to death.

This is simply a one-sided massacre!

Su Mu's whole body was cold. Facing a giant who was nearly five meters tall and possessed tremendous strength, he couldn't even escape, let alone resist.

"Could it be that dying in the hands of a demon is my fate, Su Mu?"

Seeing the demon getting closer and closer, Su Mu could even smell the fishy and bloody breath from the demon's mouth, and his heart beat faster and faster.

"If this is my fate, then I choose not to accept it!"

Su Mu could only hear the thumping of his heartbeat, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes. "Even if I die, I will splatter your blood!"

He gripped the hatchet tightly, took two steps, and then jumped high.

With one blow, the knife hit the demon's knee.

(End of this chapter)