Li Dao slept for a full eight hours straight.
It wasn’t until noon the next day that he finally began to wake up.
“So comfortable.”
Li Dao stretched lazily, and his whole body made a series of cracking sounds.
At that moment, a fragrant smell wafted into his nose.
“Meat? Where’s the meat?!”
“It really is meat—I want to eat meat!”
“And I smell wine too! Someone be kind and let me have a sip!”
“Let me have a bite of meat and a sip of wine, I’d be willing to die right now.”
“…”
The aroma quickly filled the prison cell. Upon smelling it, the death row inmates started going mad, especially those who had been locked up the longest—they would rather die than miss the chance for even a bite of meat or a sip of wine.
Clinging to the cell doors, the inmates watched as a jailer walked over carrying a wooden tray.
On the tray was a roasted chicken and a jug of wine.
Seeing this, the inmates went even more berserk.
Some of them desperately clung to the bars, inhaling the scent of the wine and meat like lunatics, then closing their eyes and imagining it in their mouths, as if that alone could satisfy them.
The jailer stopped outside the cell where Li Dao was held.
He unlocked the door and brought the food inside.
“Who is 9527?”
The jailer glanced around at the group of death row inmates and asked.
Li Dao stood up and walked to him. “I’m 9527.”
Hearing this, the jailer chuckled, “9527, you did well on the last mission. This is a special reward from Centurion Liu.”
Li Dao accepted the food and wine with a slight smile. “Please thank Centurion Liu for me.”
“I will.”
Maybe it was because he knew something, but the jailer’s attitude toward Li Dao wasn’t as harsh as it was toward the others.
Before leaving, the jailer gave Li Dao a pat on the shoulder and said meaningfully, “You’d better eat quickly.”
After the jailer left, Li Dao leaned against the wall with the food and wine.
Tearing off a chicken leg, he bit into it without hesitation, then uncorked the jug and took a swig.
The surrounding inmates watched hungrily, all of them swallowing hard, eyes locked on the food and wine in Li Dao’s hands.
Suddenly, one of them couldn’t hold back any longer and walked over to him.
“Little brother, can I have a bite? Just one bite, I promise I won’t ask for more.”
The man even wiped his face carefully, trying to show a kind and gentle expression.
Li Dao glanced at him, his gaze lingering on the man’s face for a moment before asking slowly, “A ‘tooth’?”
The man froze for a brief moment, but quickly replied, “No, I’m innocent. I’m actually a ninth-rank official of the court.”
“Ninth-rank official?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Then do you recognize this character?”
Li Dao casually used his greasy fingers to write a character on the ground.
“This character, I…”
“This is a difficult one.”
“Ah… yes, yes, it’s a tough one. I just didn’t recognize it right away.”
Hearing this, Li Dao sneered, “Sorry, I was mistaken. This character isn’t difficult at all.”
The man’s expression turned awkward, then quickly shifted to anger. “You messing with me?”
“So what if I am?”
“I… I’ll kill you!”
The seemingly kind old man suddenly twisted into a fierce expression and reached out toward Li Dao’s face with his right hand.
Li Dao instantly noticed something in the old man’s hand.
A wooden spike?
Trying to copy what he did earlier and use it against him?
If it had been his past self, he might’ve been caught off guard and suffered for it.
But now, with his quadrupled reflexes, the old man’s move looked like it was in slow motion.
Li Dao swiftly grabbed the man’s wrist behind his back.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, Li Dao snapped the man’s wrist clean in half.
“Ahhh!”
As the man screamed in agony, Li Dao’s expression remained unchanged. He even smiled faintly, saying, “You old fool. Don’t even know the character for ‘death,’ and you think you’re fit to be an official?”
Overwhelmed by the pain, the old man panicked and started begging for mercy. “Don’t kill me! I won’t eat it, I swear—don’t kill me!”
“All ‘tooth men’ deserve to die.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dao kicked out.
Bang!
The old man was sent flying like a ragdoll, slammed into the wall like a painting, and only slid down after a moment. The back of his head was a mess of blood.
At that moment, the system notification sounded:
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.09]
Seeing the notification, Li Dao was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected such an old man with white hair to have such a solid body.
But then he remembered the man’s profession, and it all made sense.
To be a “tooth man” without a strong body? He’d have been beaten to death ages ago.
The so-called “tooth men” were human traffickers in ancient times.
Some were elderly or women who used their appearances and manipulative skills to earn others’ trust.
The moment the old man put on that kindly facade, Li Dao had already guessed his identity.
After all, for an old man to survive in a place like this death row prison, he must have had some skills up his sleeve.
And the way he spoke—it reminded Li Dao too much of the fake, gentle smiles he’d seen on the faces of traffickers in photos during his previous life.
If someone smiled like that on the outside, it wouldn’t mean much. But here, in the death row prison? To show that kind of smile meant he really thought Li Dao was a fool.
After finishing off the old man, Li Dao sat back down and resumed eating as if nothing had happened.
Maybe because of how ruthless he had just been, he crushed any remaining ideas in the other inmates’ minds—no one dared approach him again.
Seeing this, Li Dao felt a bit disappointed.
It was all the old man’s fault for being a trafficker. If it had been an ordinary criminal, he might’ve held back. But when it came to traffickers, he had zero patience.
A few minutes later—
Li Dao finished his food and leaned back against the wall.
Some of the nearby inmates watched him with looks of disappointment as they realized Li Dao had eaten every last scrap, even chewing the chicken bones clean.
They had thought they might at least get to lick the bones, but not even a feather was left behind.
Li Dao ignored their reactions and quietly allocated his newly gained attribute points.
[Host: Li Dao]
[Physique: 4.49]
[Available Attributes: 0]
I’m working way too hard… and getting stronger again!
Looking at the chains on his hands, Li Dao felt they probably couldn’t hold him anymore.
But while the chains might not restrain him, the status of a death row convict still did. So he’d have to keep waiting.
Time passed.
Soon, three days had gone by.
In those three days, Li Dao either slept or meditated in silence inside his prison cell.
But he wasn’t anxious.
If he hadn’t shown off his strength, maybe things would’ve stayed quiet. But now that he had, he was sure that people like Centurion Liu in the military wouldn’t let such a useful tool go to waste.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from outside the cell.
A jailer appeared at the cell door. As he unlocked it, he called out into the cell, “9527, come with me.”
Li Dao got up, stretched lazily, and walked toward the door with his shackles clinking behind him.
Along the way, he noticed several other inmates giving him schadenfreude-filled looks.
In their eyes, the only reason he survived his first mission was dumb luck. The second time? He was definitely going to die out there.
After walking out of the prison, Li Dao quickly ran into a familiar face.
Centurion Liu.
“9527, I kept my word, didn’t I?”
Upon seeing him, Centurion Liu greeted him warmly.
Li Dao smiled faintly. “The meat was tasty. The wine was good too.”
Perhaps because they’d dealt with each other before, Liu was fairly casual, even giving Li Dao a friendly pat on the shoulder and chuckling, “If you can complete this mission too, I’ll double the reward.”
Hearing that, Li Dao raised an eyebrow. “Centurion Liu, sounds like this mission won’t be easy.”
At that, Liu’s smile faded. He leaned in and spoke quietly, “This mission is a tough one. We’re going to ambush a unit of Northern Barbarian cavalry.”
Northern Barbarian cavalry?
When he heard that, Li Dao wanted to say it was more than just tough—for most death row inmates, it was a straight-up hell-difficulty mission.
And for good reason: the Northern Barbarians were best known for their cavalry.
The Northern Barbarian Dynasty was a nation made up of countless nomadic tribes, famed for their ability to train horses and horsemen.
It was said that even a three-year-old in the North could ride like a pro—so you could imagine how terrifying their elite cavalry must be.
Plus, cavalry were highly mobile and hard to deal with.
But despite that, Li Dao felt no fear in his heart.
Or rather, thanks to the system’s ability, Li Dao could transform the emotion of fear into excitement.
When it came to fighting others, what he felt was more thrill than terror.
Of course, part of that was because his strength had grown.
If he were still as weak as before, he’d probably be trying to run and hide by now.
“We’re taking the lead again?”
While Li Dao was chatting with Centurion Liu, he noticed a number of jailers leading various other death row inmates over.
Liu didn’t answer directly—he just gave a wink and glanced at Li Dao’s clothing.
That was as good as confirmation.
From there, the process was almost identical to the last mission.
Li Dao and the others were taken from the death prison, brought to a military tent to change clothes, and then given a mission briefing by Liu.
When the group of death row inmates heard that the mission was to ambush a squad of Northern Barbarian cavalry, every single one of them had a look of resistance on their faces.
But when they saw the Daqian soldiers nearby unsheathing their blades halfway, no one dared to say another word.
If they fought, there was at least a slim chance of surviving. But if they caused trouble now, they’d die on the spot.
Possibly due to the urgency of the mission, Liu had the soldiers distribute weapons right after the briefing.
Unlike last time, when the weapons handed out were broken and rusty, this time, the weapons given to Li Dao were two brand-new, gleaming long blades.
The moment that happened, the surrounding inmates—each of whom had been handed junk weapons—immediately felt outraged.
“This is unfair! Why do we all get garbage weapons and he gets shiny new ones? I want a new weapon too!”
“Exactly! We’re all death row inmates, why is he different from us?”
“This is discrimination! That pretty boy doesn’t deserve those weapons!”
“…”
The death row inmates quickly began to vent their dissatisfaction.
“Quiet, all of you!”
Suddenly, a voice cut through the noise and silenced everyone.
Liu looked coldly at the inmates and said, “You want weapons like 9527’s? Fine. Go take them from the hands of Northern Barbarian soldiers—plunder them. If you succeed, they’re yours.”
“Then what about him?”
Liu let out a chuckle and looked at the person who asked. “Sorry to disappoint you. Those two blades of his were taken from Northern Barbarian soldiers—during the last mission.”
Hearing that, the inmates were stunned.
This time, it seemed the selected group was particularly strong and burly.
Li Dao, despite his recent enhancements, still didn’t look that different on the outside—still a bit on the lean side. Among the other inmates, he looked practically “petite.”
That’s probably why so many questioned him.
Noticing their doubt, Liu smiled and turned to Li Dao.
“9527, you can try… persuading them.”
Hearing this, Li Dao nodded and looked at the inmates with a faint smile.
“Anyone who’s not convinced—step forward. Beat me, and these two blades are yours.”
The moment those words left his mouth, someone immediately pushed through the crowd and stepped up.
He was nearly two meters tall, dark-skinned and massively built—a real brute of a man.
Seeing this, some of the other inmates who had hesitated instantly regretted not stepping up first. Had they known the “pretty boy” was so easy to provoke, they would’ve taken the opportunity themselves.
The big guy, sensing he’d gotten lucky, grinned broadly.
He looked at Li Dao with mockery and said, “Pretty boy, hand over those blades now, and I might consider going easy on you. Otherwise, I might just ‘accidentally’ beat you to death.”
Swish!
A blade flashed and struck the ground right in front of the brute.
Li Dao raised a hand and hooked a finger. “Cut the crap.”
“You’re dead.”
Enraged by the taunt, the big man grabbed a long blade and swung it horizontally straight for Li Dao’s face—clearly aiming to kill.
In response, Li Dao calmly lifted his own blade—and swung.
Just as everyone thought Li Dao would be done for—
Crack! A sharp shattering sound rang out.
Everyone’s eyes snapped back to the two men, only to see that Li Dao’s blade was perfectly intact.
The brute’s weapon, however, had shattered—only half a blade remained in his grip.
Rip!
A tearing sound followed.
A clean gash extended from the brute’s forehead all the way down to his stomach.
A torrent of blood gushed from the wound, and the man collapsed to the ground.
[Enemy killed. Attribute gained: 0.22]
The system’s prompt lit up Li Dao’s eyes—this brute hadn’t wasted all that muscle. The attribute gain was a solid bonus.
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