Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 57: Million Knives
"Boom!"

After brewing all night, the first thunderstorm of the year finally fell before dawn. The rain was so heavy that the water on the eaves soon formed a line.

Listening to the dense dripping sounds outside, Chen Gu felt particularly peaceful. After the sky was completely bright, Chen Gu got up to cook. After a pot of sweet potato porridge was cooked, he put ten salted duck eggs in it and simmered them.

Chen Gu no longer had to chop wood. He now began to practice chopping lit incense heads. Although it also consumed a lot of physical strength, there was no limit on the number of times he could do it, so he had more time. Chen Gu decided to change to eating three meals a day.

This will put less burden on the stomach.

Not long after, Liu Er got up, and Chen Gu came to the house in the mountain village from the back door and called Zhang San to get up and eat.

With a direct kick, Zhang San rolled twice on the bed and hit the wall, then bounced up suddenly.

"Who~!" When he saw that it was Chen Gu, Zhang San held back his curse words and said, "Boss, you don't have to be so cruel, right?"

"The boss cooks for you and still has to come and treat you. How can you be so sleepy all day long?" Chen Gu sneered.

"It's raining. It's so comfortable to sleep. And there's nothing to do. Can't you let me sleep a little longer?" Zhang San lamented speechlessly.

Even though the ghost-head knife in his hand had been sharpened by Chen Gu to be extremely sharp, he still couldn't swing the knife to cut off the tiny incense head.

Zhang San sat on the bed and scratched his head hard to wake himself up a little. Then he got up to wash up. When he came to Liu Er's kitchen, Chen Gu had already washed the duck eggs and put them on a plate. He and Liu Er were already eating.

Liu Er peeled a duck egg, drank a bowl of porridge and put down his chopsticks. Chen Gu frowned and asked, "What's the problem with your body?
No, let's go to Chongqing to find a better doctor. We can also go to Beijing. I heard that there are foreigners in Guangzhou with different medical skills. We can try various methods."

"If you stop bothering me, I can still live two more years. This is an old illness that can't be cured, so just take care of it. Don't worry, I don't want to die yet. I've survived the times when there was no hope. Now that life is better, I want to live even more, a few more years!" Liu Er said.

Zhang San took a large ceramic bowl and scooped out the sweet potato porridge in the pot, filling up a large bowl.

"No, a day's plan begins in the morning. It is natural to sleep at night and get up at dawn. If you go against the laws of nature, it will naturally be against nature. Hurry up and get up and eat." After saying this, Chen Gu turned around and went back.

In fact, chopping incense is more difficult than chopping wood, and it consumes more physical strength. It is like punching a sandbag. If you are hitting a sandbag, you can punch it a hundred times, but with the same force, you can only hit it fifty times with your bare fists.

If Chen Gu had not seen with his own eyes how Liu Er held the knife in one hand and chopped off the incense head with a casual swing, he would have doubted whether the ghost-head knife could cut off the incense head that was so weak that it fell down and was not able to bear any force at all.

"Okay, as long as you know the problem in your mind!" Chen Gu stopped persuading him. Since it was an old illness, he should live with spirit. If he wanted to live, it would not be so easy to die.

If the 15-pound ghost-head knife was used to chop wood, Chen Gu could swing it dozens of times in a row. However, if it was used to chop incense sticks, he would have to take a break after five times. At this time, Chen Gu was still unable to chop off the incense sticks.

After dinner, Zhang San went to wash the pots and dishes. Chen Gu looked at the rain which showed no sign of abating, took out a stick of incense and lit it under the eaves, then started to practice his sword skills with a machete.

Chen Gu had stopped to rest three times. Looking at the incense still burning slowly, he couldn't help but ask Liu Er, "Is there really no trick?"

"No, I can only practice more and get the feel for it. After practicing for a year or so, I will be able to cut it off." Liu Er hesitated for a moment, then said, "Maybe there is a trick. Anyway, my master didn't pass it on to me, and I haven't figured it out myself."

"How long did it take you to practice to cut off the incense sticks?" Chen Gu asked. "Three months, but I could only cut off the incense sticks that were about to burn out. It took me ten months to really cut off the incense sticks that had just been lit. And it was sometimes effective and sometimes not. It took me a full year to fully master the trick.

Moreover, I am more diligent than you, because I have hatred in my heart, and I am more focused than you. I swing my sword more than 5,000 times every day. If you practice so intermittently, I am afraid you may not be able to succeed even in two years!" Liu Er said with a smile.

More than five thousand times a day, more than a million dollars a year!

Chen Gu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "That's not absolute. Maybe my understanding is better than yours, and I can achieve some minor success in three months, and achieve great success in half a year?"

"Haha, if you really want to achieve some success, you can be the one to carry out the Autumn Beheading this year!" Liu Er said with a smile.

"Is there a death row prisoner in the county?" Chen Ju asked with a frown.

"There were no death row prisoners that year." Liu Er sighed and said, "There were murderers, arsonists, highway robbers, and even rebels. How could there not be death row prisoners? What can't people who can't survive do?"

Chen Gu could not help but fall silent. He was born in a relatively peaceful era, and his life became better and better. Although there were always some extremely vicious people who acted recklessly due to greed, they were a minority after all.

If a county town with a population of 200,000 or 300,000 has death row inmates every year, then there is something wrong with the world.

A stick of incense burned out, but Chen still didn't cut off the incense head. The rain weakened at this time. Chen wiped the dagger clean with tung oil cloth and put it away. He took out an oil-paper umbrella and prepared to go to the dock to meet Wang Jian.

Yesterday, Wang Wu brought back a message saying that Wang Jian was willing to meet Chen Gu.

Zhang San took out a bamboo hat and followed Chen Gu. Liu Er never asked about these things. When he saw the two of them leave, he just lay down and leaned back in the rocking chair.

A heavy rain made the whole world fresher, and the faint smell of urine that always lingered in the city completely disappeared.

"Zhang San, what do you think of the Cao Gang?" Chen Gu suddenly asked.

Zhang San thought for a moment and said, "It's pretty good. We are all very loyal. We work together, eat together, and fight together. It would be even better if the gang leader took less money from the brothers.

Of course, it is best to follow the boss. In the Cao Gang, not only do you have to do heavy work, but you can only eat rotten leaves. Following the boss, you can eat meat."

"Meat tastes good, but it's not easy to eat meat!" Chen Gu sighed.

For ordinary people, if they want to eat meat, they have to risk their lives.

In fact, it is not that easy to be the leader of the Cao Gang. He is just a dog raised by a big family. If he is not obedient, he will be beaten and eaten by his master.

So although Wang Jian looks glorious on the surface, he is actually timid in front of the big families and still dares not neglect Chen Gu.

Because today's Chen Gu is also a person sitting at the table eating meat, he is not comparable to the dog picking up bones under the table.

(End of this chapter)