Chapter 6: Internal Energy and the Forum

Once the people at the seaside cottage had departed, Wen Xiuting asked in a low voice, "Did they discover your identity?"

"The handsome old man in the combat boots and olive-green uniform is my grandfather’s elder brother—essentially my grandfather, too," Shen Ye said with a shrug. "My initial crimes were committed in Quliqing City, in the land of Colorful Clouds. My methods were quite crude back then; I used chopsticks. After I returned to N County, I used chopsticks again. It was easy for them to identify the 'Chopstick Hero' as me."

"It’s fortunate that the old gentleman had long ago secretly destroyed the evidence of my crimes. That’s why the authorities don't know yet that I am the Chopstick Hero."

"However, the old man said that my recent activities have been growing in scale, attracting more and more attention. He’s finding it hard to cover for me anymore."

"So, he told me to stop for a while."

Wen Xiuting was stunned. She had never imagined the situation would be so complex. After a long pause, she asked, "The Shen family has relatives like that?"

She had once been Shen Die’s wife, but she had never heard of this.

"That old gentleman has always lived in the world of the Jianghu, which is relatively darker. Fearing that he might implicate our family, he never contacted us. It was only when I plunged headfirst into that world that he reached out to me," Shen Ye explained with a shrug.

"So, you won't be acting as a chivalrous hero anymore?" Wen Xiuting asked. She realized that she had grown fond of that bold and righteous version of Shen Ye.

"Nonsense. Of course, I’m going to continue being a chivalrous hero. The old man told me to join the Special Operations Group. The group itself has a certain legal authority to use lethal force, which allows me to continue my work in the light. It’s just under a different banner. If I encounter someone with a background too powerful to touch, I’ll re-emerge as the Chopstick Hero. It’s not that I can’t use that identity, just that I can’t use it too frequently or attract too much attention." Shen Ye smiled.

"In martial arts novels, the Four Constables are also government officials, yet they still roam the Jianghu, eradicating evil."

"It doesn't matter where I am, as long as I can purge evil, it’s all the same." Shen Ye was very calm; his mindset hadn't changed at all due to joining the Special Operations Group.

...

After that, Shen Ye went quiet for a while. He kept his shop open for six hours a day and spent the rest of his time practicing the *Shaolin Internal Power* manual.

Shen Ye was actually quite curious. His current strength was entirely derived from attribute points granted by the system. He wondered what strange effects might occur if he learned internal power from the martial arts world.

Of course, Shen Ye was no martial arts prodigy, and the Shaolin internal energy was not a fast-practicing technique. Thus, the progress was agonizingly slow. But slow as it was, it would eventually have an effect.

After practicing for over half a month, he suddenly noticed that his attributes had changed.

Shen Ye, Knight-Errant, First-Class Profession.

Level: Six.
Affiliation: Justice Faction.
Initial Base Attributes:
Spirit: 3.5 (The average adult male is 1. The higher the spirit, the more powerful the spells.)
Strength: 8 + 0.1 (The average adult male is 1.)
Agility: 5.5 (The average adult male is 1. Note: Higher agility increases movement and attack speed.)
Defense: 7 (The average adult male is 1. Note: Higher defense reduces damage taken.)
Constitution: 7 (The average adult male is 1. Note: Higher constitution increases stamina and recovery speed.)
Possessed Internal Power: Shaolin Internal Power.
Note: The data after the "+" sign represents the boost from internal power.

So, the attributes gained from practicing internal power could be directly added to his existing ones! This was fantastic! Other Jianghu practitioners only had one source of attributes, but he could benefit from two: his internal power and the points given by the system.

However, the points were quite meager. He had practiced for over half a month and only gained 0.1 points. It was truly very little.

Shen Ye looked down on such a tiny increase, but then he reconsidered. It was impossible for people in the Jianghu to cultivate very quickly; someone like Du Sha had practiced for twenty or thirty years and still only had attributes similar to his.

Therefore, the fastest way to improve his strength was still to slay villains. After all, he was only a tiny bit of experience away from reaching level seven, which would grant him a significant number of attribute points.

...

Furthermore, he had rested enough; he hadn't taken action for twenty days. It was time to make a move.

Out of habit, he opened the official Chopstick Hero forum to find a target.

First, he decided to ignore anyone outside the vicinity of Yangcheng for now, as he was unable to reach them. He scrolled down the forum.

"Chopstick Hero, greetings. We are from Lingxi Town, under the jurisdiction of Luoxia District near Yangcheng. There is a local tyrant in our town named Song Feiguo. This man is extremely arrogant, keeps many thugs, and has forcibly seized vast amounts of farmland. We hope the Chopstick Hero can come and investigate, confirm his crimes, and slay this man."

A town tyrant, huh?

Shen Ye nodded slightly and planned to keep reading. If no better target appeared, he would choose this one.

However, just then, a message caught his eye.

"Chopstick Hero, I am a resident of Yangcheng named Yang Ling. My ID number is 4XXXXXXXXXXXX. My younger brother is Yang Feng, ID number 4XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. My brother works at a factory in Yangcheng. Yesterday, I suddenly received a text from his phone saying he had been captured by a kidney-harvesting gang. I beg the Chopstick Hero to save my brother’s life."

Below that, others on the forum were asking, "Have you checked the factory where your brother works?"

"I did. They said my brother left after finishing his night shift yesterday. Since the roads are dark at night, we don't know which stretch of road he disappeared on." Yang Ling's reply was very quick.

Priorities had to be set! Clearly, saving someone from a kidney-harvesting gang was far more important than killing a tyrant.

Shen Ye registered a new ID named "Green Grass by the Riverside" and, pretending to be an onlooker, replied to the thread: "If you want the Chopstick Hero to act, you need to provide more information."

Yang Ling replied quickly: "There is no more information. He finished the night shift at 9:30 yesterday and then vanished. The factory is Yunfa Jeans Factory in Sanjiang Town, Zengzhi District, Yangcheng. Today, our whole family has been searching everywhere but can't find him. We reported it to the police, but it’s unlikely they will find him. We are just hoping the Chopstick Hero can appear and save my brother."

Shen Ye frowned. Yang Feng had been taken by a kidney-harvesting gang and could be operated on at any moment. He didn't have much time.

Using the Eye of Justice to hunt them down one by one would be difficult. It was time to leverage the power of the Special Operations Group.

Shen Ye dialed his deputy, Lu Yi.

Lu Yi gave a bitter smile and said, "Within the group, we ordinary members don't have the authority to access those files. You need to go to the Special Operations Group’s Yangcheng base yourself. There’s an intelligence center there; you’ll have to ask them yourself."

Fine, he would have to go to the base. Shen Ye didn't waste any more words: "Where is the base?"

"It’s at Youquan Villa. On the surface, it looks like a villa complex, but it’s actually where our group’s office is located," Lu Yi answered over the phone.

"Got it." Shen Ye hung up, searched for "Youquan Villa" on the map, and found it wasn't too far away—only about ten miles.

He hopped into his new Ford and drove straight toward the location.

Saving a life is like fighting a fire; there was no room for hesitation or delay.