Water Margin: Did we kill Zheng Tu today?

"Quickly report to the police! There's been a murder upstairs!" The shouts of alarm from the bartenders and diners downstairs surged up as well.

Seeing the fierce glint in Wu Song's eyes, along with a hint of hesitation, they realized that...

Zheng Tu felt a little relieved and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, just about to speak up and explain.

A dark shadow flashed before my eyes!

The eight-foot-tall body suddenly shot up! In an instant, it was in front of him, bringing with it a strong wind.

"But today, I will not let you off the hook for aiding and abetting the tyrant!!!"

Before the shout had even faded, the blade was already flashing.

Zheng Tu felt a chill on his neck, and the world suddenly began to spin upside down.

His vision blurred, and he saw the roof beams hanging upside down in front of him, the broken door, Ximen Qing's corpse on the ground, and a headless body still standing upright in the same spot, leaning against the corner in a boxing stance, hot blood gushing out of its neck like a fountain.

"Thump."

His head hit the ground, rolled twice, and came to rest face up. His eyes were wide open, his death unresolved.

[Zheng Tu, died. 】

[Survival days: 91 days.]

[Available Points: Thirty points.]

……

"call!"

Zheng Tu suddenly opened his eyes!

A barely perceptible pain flashed across the center of my face, like a needle prick, and vanished in an instant.

He didn't delve into it further; his entire mind was already captivated by the line of superficial words before him.

[Available Points: Thirty points.]

"Thirty points?"

Zheng Tu frowned, his mind filled with doubt.

"Having survived for ninety-one days this time, according to past practice, the [disposable points] should be equal to the [survival days]. Why am I only getting one-third this time?"

He closed his eyes and pondered, carefully comparing his several rebirth experiences.

He died for the first time in Yanmen County, but lived for three days, earning three points; the second time at the Shizipo Tavern, he died on the spot, earning ten points; the third time…

Having gone through this ordeal, he fell seriously ill for several months and recuperated in a remote mountain village. After recovering, he traveled to Qinghe County, where he met Ximen Qing. He then encountered Wu Song at a tavern. All in all, it took him more than ninety days.

Looking back on my experiences in several reincarnations, apart from this life when I fell seriously ill in a remote mountain village and spent several months bedridden, my circumstances were mostly similar.

"That's it!" Zheng Tu suddenly understood. "Those three months in the remote mountain village, though they were alive, were like withered plants, living in a daze. It seems this 'points' isn't just calculated based on the number of days they survived..."

"If one merely ekes out a living and hides in the mountains, even if one lives to be a hundred years old, the points one gains will be meager."

Thinking about it this way, the previous idea of ​​finding a mountain village to hide in until old age and die, then being reborn and using points to improve martial arts, so that one could crush towering mountains and fall down, and turn the tide and bring down hundreds of feet of water, is no longer feasible.

Although Zheng Tu still did not fully understand the mystery, he had guessed most of it and did not delve any further.

The most urgent task is to make good use of these thirty points, so I gathered my thoughts.

"panel."

With a thought, several lines of virtual text appeared before my eyes:

[Name: Zheng Tu]

Martial Arts: Proficient in hand-to-hand combat (5/36)

"Thirty-six is ​​the maximum?" Zheng Tu's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Previously, with only five points, I was able to kill four people in the forest. If I were to reach the maximum..."

Without further hesitation, he focused his mind and poured all thirty of his available points into the "Master of Martial Arts" field!

Martial Arts: Proficient in hand-to-hand combat (35/36)

A surge of heat rose from his dantian and instantly flowed throughout his body! A series of cracking sounds, like popping beans, erupted from Zheng Tu's body.

Muscles bulged, veins stood out, and the originally loose clothes suddenly tightened, with several "rip" sounds as the cuffs, shoulders, and back tore open!

He looked down and saw that his arms had become much thicker, his pectoral muscles bulging like iron, and his muscles clearly defined. Zheng Tu slowly raised his arms, and the bulging muscles on his arms rose and fell with them.

"call……"

Zheng Tu exhaled a long breath, feeling the surging power within his body. This enhancement had more than doubled his strength!

Every gesture he makes is profound and weighty, as if he has the power to split rocks and shatter stone tablets!

Of course, he knew this was just an illusion caused by a sudden surge in power.

However, upon closer examination, my understanding of the principles and techniques of boxing has not increased much. It is as if I have gained twenty years of hard-earned external skills and muscle memory out of thin air.

"It seems he hasn't yet broken through the realm of 'mastery,' but has simply accumulated the hard work of an ordinary person over twenty or thirty years. Ultimately, it's just a matter of quantity, not a qualitative leap," Zheng Tu realized.

"Even so, he is still more than capable of standing out from ordinary warriors."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully comprehending this newly acquired power. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings.

A hundred meters away, a mound of earth rose up, and on the mound, a tavern with its banners fluttered in the wind.

The yellow horse beside him was still there, chewing grass roots with its head down, occasionally snorting.

Right in front of Shizipo!

This was good news for him!

Zheng Tu was overjoyed: "I've been reborn, and I've returned to this place! There's still time..."

He squinted at the Shizipo tavern, his eyes flashing with cold light, already having made up his mind.

Zheng Tu squinted at the Shizipo Tavern for a long time, his eyes flashing with cold light, and he had already made up his mind.

The hatred of someone's death must be avenged.

That shrewish Sun Erniang and her gang slaughtered him like pigs and sheep. If it were up to him, he should have rushed up the slope immediately and slaughtered all eight of them to vent his hatred.

"but……"

Zheng Tu took a deep breath, suppressing the murderous intent in his heart.

The eight people in the tavern were all seasoned veterans of the martial arts world, and the leaders, Sun Erniang and Zhang Qing, were no easy opponents.

Although he had received a 30-point boost, greatly improving his martial arts skills, if he were to fight eight people alone, with swords and spears having no eyes, the outcome would be uncertain.

not to mention……

He turned and looked around, thinking to himself, "I've been 'reborn' twice in this Shizipo Tavern. If this place is truly related to the mystery of the 'points,' keeping it might be of great use in the future!"

Thinking of this, Zheng Tu's mind raced: "This rebirth comes more than three months after Wu Song's furious killing of Ximen Qing at the Lion Tower. There's plenty of time; everything can still be managed!"

"Walk!"

Zheng Tu did not hesitate any longer and mounted his horse.

The yellow horse stumbled under the weight of his sudden increase, its front hooves bent slightly, it snorted in dissatisfaction, and stomped a few steps in place.

"Hahaha!" Zheng Tu laughed, patting the horse's neck. "Good horse, I'll feed you more premium feed from now on!"

This time, reborn, he was blessed with thirty points of strength, his power increased exponentially, and his courage also grew considerably.

No longer do we need to be as cautious and apprehensive in the forest as we were last time.

"drive!"

Zheng Tu squeezed the horse's flanks with both legs, turned the horse around, and whipped it straight towards the official road.

Although this official road was also desolate, it was much easier to travel than the forest. Although the road surface was bumpy and uneven, it was wide and had a wide field of vision on both sides, unlike the dense forest where it was easy to be ambushed.

Horse hooves flew, kicking up a trail of dust.

Zheng Tu made no attempt to conceal himself, letting the sound of his horse's hooves echo through the valley. Since he had decided not to take the dangerous path through the forest, there was no need to hide.

This desolate wilderness was a place frequented by bandits, and Zheng Tu's undisguised galloping on horseback caused quite a stir, which eventually alerted others.