Starting with the flesh-based stimulant

The peddler's expression remained unchanged as he pointed at the millstone:

"They say it's priceless, but you, carpenter, don't own a city, right? I'll take a loss and trade this millstone for your life. Tell me, is it worth it?"

His voice was playful, and his expression was amused.

The carpenter stood there, head down, seemingly lost in thought.

The axe hung in mid-air, confronting the dropper, while the saw, now silent, lurked menacingly to Zhou He's left.

The carpenter kept his head down.

Zhou He gave the peddler a look.

The peddler seemed somewhat surprised, but quickly realized what he meant and nodded.

Zhou He gripped the knife in his hand, reached out and pressed down on the brim of his hat, took a deep breath, then slowly loosened his fingers and then slowly clenched them again.

"Carpenter, you won't lose money on this deal."

The peddler spoke again, trying to persuade the white carpenter.

Zhou He's steps seemed unintentional as he slowly turned half a circle.

The carpenter finally raised his head:

"Peddler, what do you fancy about me? I can give it to you, but not my life."

The peddler shook his head and continued smiling:

"You underestimate me, don't you? Do you only see me as someone who forces sales? Now I'm the new Master Taochuan, protecting this territory—isn't that my duty?"

The carpenter's eyes grew increasingly sorrowful, and he suddenly turned to look at Zhou He:

"Meat shopper, don't come any closer, I can dodge your knife."

Zhou He wasn't embarrassed by being exposed. He stood there, holding the knife with the tip pointing backward, waiting for the carpenter to continue.

The carpenter shook his head. Seeing that Zhou He did not continue to approach, he pulled out a chair from somewhere behind him, sat down, and waved his hand. Two more chairs of similar design landed in front of Zhou He and the peddler.

"Sit down, peddler. I beg you, I've done good and bad things in my life, but I still haven't lived enough."

The peddler chuckled, then suddenly changed his tune:

"Some people become more afraid of death as they get older. It's a pity, I can't agree to that."

The carpenter sat in the chair, his eyes growing increasingly vacant.

"I still can't figure it out, what are you after?"

His gaze fell on the millstone, then on the chubby baby on it, and he sighed.

"Actually, when I saw you last night, I knew I couldn't hide from you."

"But what exactly are you after? At first I thought you came for this millstone, but now that I think about it, Chen Erlv is a big shot in this business. If you really wanted this thing, I would have to hand it over with both hands."

"If I were to say that I helped Taochuan back in Jincheng... oh, I should say, helped the former Taochuan master, I think you're a businessman, so you wouldn't hold a grudge."

"If you really want to protect someone, I don't believe you even if you say that. Even if the Goddess of Mother Mountain doesn't leave her home, it's not your place to interfere here."

"But if you insist on taking my life, then you're also at a loss. You shouldn't do a business that results in both sides going down together, right?"

"Peddler, what do you want?"

Zhou He frowned and looked at the peddler.

The peddler chuckled and pointed at the carpenter:

"You're really dishonest, Young Master Zhou. I've told you before that the carpentry business is ruthless, but you didn't believe me. If you keep thinking about it, you'll be in your coffin soon."

Upon hearing this, Zhou He nodded, not bothering to consider how much truth the peddler was telling, and slashed his knife, aiming to stab the carpenter all over.

He was already not far from the carpenter before, but now, with the outburst, the distance between them is even closer.

Moreover, as a butcher, Zhou He's knife wasn't meant to cut the carpenter's body.

Instead, it was the dense, gray lines that entwined around him.

The carpenter's cause and effect.

Zhou He hadn't seen many professions in this world, but he knew that every profession had some mysterious methods.

But of all these methods, the flesh-severing causality is definitely the most bizarre.

According to his understanding, cause and effect are connections, and he could clearly see several lines on the carpenter's body that were particularly clear.

Remove the most conspicuous lines that lead far into unknown places, which connect to the axe and saw in the air, the adze hidden behind, and the thicker line next to the adze.

There was one item that Zhou He was somewhat puzzled about.

The millstone in the center of the courtyard.

Logically speaking, the carpenter should have some connection with this millstone, but perhaps because the peddler had already accepted it, the gray causal lines on the millstone were neatly connected to the peddler.

The causal threads on the peddler's body made Zhou He almost afraid to look at them.

It's not just as simple as being densely packed.

One after another, the threads were intricate and complex, each independent yet interconnected, with all the ends stuck inside the peddler's body. Zhou He looked on, feeling dizzy and his head buzzing with a throbbing pain.

Without waiting to see what was happening, he slashed at the carpenter with his knife. The carpenter got up and retreated, reaching out to catch the axe to defend himself.

"laugh"

A barely perceptible thought: the blade traces the gray line connecting the axe and the carpenter.

The axe fell to the ground, creating a shallow crater.

The carpenter stepped back, hooking his cloth-shoe-clad foot around the axe handle, caught the axe, and held it in his hand.

Seeing that Zhou He's moves were getting old, he turned sideways and smashed down with his axe.

Zhou severed a causal line with a single stroke, and without lingering in the fight, he retreated instead of advancing, and then slashed at the saw hanging in mid-air.

This made the carpenter feel somewhat uncomfortable.

The meat vendor is indeed strange. To oppose him, you not only have to guard against getting close, but also against the causal threads that you can't see yourself.

With one slash, the thread broke, and the object in my hand, which I had used for who knows how long, lost its spirit.

Fortunately, Zhou He has only been in the business for a short time. If he had passed the three or four tests and truly understood the techniques of the meat-eater, the carpenter would be waiting to die by now when the meat poison came rushing in.

He now pins all his hopes on this courtyard house.

This courtyard was built by Li Ermao after he met the carpenter in the cemetery that year.

Over the past ten years, the courtyard has also seen some clever touches from carpenters.

Although the peddler can see through it, he may not be able to stop it.

After all, peddlers are known for having a wide variety of goods, but they don't actually have any skills that can kill.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought such a newbie meat customer to find him.

While trying to comfort himself, the carpenter secretly made a hand gesture.

In the backyard, a dozen or so houses of varying heights and strange shapes creaked and rattled, sounding like someone who had been lying in bed for a long time slowly stretching their limbs.

"Old carpenter, don't move around. I'm out of money. I'm the one who's losing out."

The peddler approached at some point and placed his hand on the carpenter's shoulder.

The carpenter's face was ashen, his lips twitching. After a long while, he finally uttered a sentence:

"Peddler, I've only passed five checkpoints. I'll call you grandpa and spare my life."

The peddler chuckled:

"You've got the generations wrong, huh? Alright, enough with the nonsense. Oh, it's a good thing you changed bodies. If it were that old, stale skin, I wouldn't even enjoy eating you."

He turned his fingers, but didn't produce anything.

The carpenter lay slumped on the ground, already dead.