Chapter 152: That weak part of me is dead.

Heart Like Still Water, Train for Self-Strengthening.

Heart Like Still Water, Train for Self-Strengthening!

A man who looked to be in his thirties wore an expression of numbness, a kitchen knife in his right hand, his left pressing down a fish on the cutting board.

With one heavy strike, he knocked the fish unconscious.

Then he slit open its belly, dug out the innards, and tossed them aside. He packed the cleaned fish into a bag and handed it to the customer in front of him.

“Hey, little brother, you’re really fast with your hands. Boss, you’ve hired a good worker,” the customer said, taking the butchered fish.

The boss forced a dry laugh. “That’s right, that’s right.”

Looking at the man in front of his stall, the boss felt a little afraid.

In the evening, a man appeared—despite the blazing heat, he was dressed from head to toe in long sleeves and pants, covering himself completely—and came to the stall.

He said… he’d help kill fish for free?

Huh? Was this some new kind of scam?

Even though the boss thought this, he let the man try.

But the man didn’t even know how to kill a fish, and seemed too timid to try.

Ha, another gentleman who’s never wielded a butcher’s knife.

Wanting to drive away this troublesome man, the boss was surprised when the man offered to pay to work—one hundred yuan an hour—to kill fish.

Huh? Was this some new kind of pyramid scheme?

Despite his suspicions, the boss still took the money.

The cold-faced man began learning how to butcher fish. At first, he’d smash the fish into pieces with the back of the knife, but soon, his skills started to look like the real thing.

Besides learning to clean river fish, he even learned how to handle baby octopus.

In these times, seafood was hard to come by, and baby octopus sold at a good price. The boss hadn’t wanted this man to mess things up, but the man was stubborn, insisting that—

His hands must be stained with fresh blood!

The man seemed to mutter under his breath: Slaughter is the best way to protect oneself!

There was definitely something wrong with him.

But since the man was paying to work, and actually did a decent job, the boss decided to let him try.

Butchering a baby octopus was simple, but most customers couldn’t bring themselves to do it.

You had to pour boiling water into a basin and scald the little octopus alive.

Night fell. A shaft of light cast intentionally or not across the man’s face, giving him an even more terrifying, sinister air.

He looked like a fallen angel plunged into hell, his whole body exuding murderous intent. The killing aura seemed to frighten even the children in the distance into tears.

Looking at the adorable, squirming baby octopus in the basin, the man poured in the boiling water in his hand.

“Heart Like Still Water, Train for Self-Strengthening!” he chanted.

The little octopuses thrashed wildly, but could not escape the scalding hot water. One by one, they died.

The man’s face remained expressionless. He turned to the boss. “Next.”

Next? There weren’t any more customers for seafood, and even if there were, few knew how to cook it.

The boss was feeling a headache. It was already nighttime, and this man had been butchering all kinds of fish for four hours straight.

Is he some kind of lunatic?

“Boss, next,” the man urged again.

“There’s really nothing left. Look, there are no customers now…” The boss was getting scared—the murderous intent radiating from this man was overwhelming. “How about… you kill a chicken? We’re about to close up.”

“Okay.” The man tightened his grip on the kitchen knife.

The boss pulled out a chicken, and as he was about to pluck it, the man suddenly said, “Let me do it. Just tell me what to do.”

“Uh, fine, just pluck the feathers off the neck first.” The boss didn’t see anything wrong with that.

But the man went at the chicken’s neck with such force that he plucked all the feathers off a whole section.

Uh… The boss explained, “Actually, just the front is enough, but well, too late now. Next, make a cut across the neck and drain the blood.”

The man brought the kitchen knife to the chicken’s neck, hesitating.

Seeing his expression, the boss tentatively asked, “Want me to… do it?”

The man steeled his heart. “No, I’ll do it! Heart Like Still Water, Train for Self-Strengthening!”

With a single slash, he cut halfway through the chicken’s neck. The bird struggled wildly, its blood splattering all over the man.

He gripped the flailing chicken tightly, letting the blood flow into a bowl on the ground.

Under the lamp’s glow, the blood-soaked man looked like a demon straight out of purgatory.

The boss was feeling scared now.

He hurried the man through the rest of the process—scalding the feathers off, removing the innards.

And so, the day’s business came to an end.

As the man left, he even bowed politely to the boss before turning and walking away.

The boss was left completely bewildered. Someone coming to help, but paying to do the job—what kind of madness was this?

Watching the man’s retreating back, he hoped never to see him again.

That man, of course, was Song Wuli.

He continued to murmur to himself, “Heart Like Still Water, Train for Self-Strengthening.”

Reflecting on what he hadn’t done well enough that night—hesitating when killing the octopus and chicken, not being resolute enough.

If I can’t even kill a chicken, how will I ever strike ruthlessly at magical girls or humans?!

I’m still too soft.

Pedestrians on the street avoided him, none daring to come close.

When he got home, he took off his outer clothes and went to shower.

The marks hadn’t faded from his body; his wrists and ankles still bore the rope marks where the bindings had cut his flesh.

Even after scrubbing with cold water, the traces remained.

After his shower, he sat in the hall. Night had fallen, and it was time to get to work, dealing with company matters.

Suddenly, he remembered something and picked up his silver phone to check.

In the group chat of the Jin-Yin-Hong Sisters, the daily chatter continued. They were praising Yin Lin for her performance yesterday—well, most of the praise came from Jin Luan.

Huan Hong was still unconvinced. How could this rookie magical girl be so fierce?

Song Wuli casually replied a few words, just showing his presence in the group.

Huang Yi also left a message: [You fought with Lvyie, didn’t you?]

[We detected two sources of magical energy and traces of a fight. One is you; the other must be Lvyie, right?]

[We’ve kept the news sealed off; it hasn’t been made public.]

[If anything comes up, you can tell me.]

Song Wuli tapped out a quick reply: [Got it.]

And went back to work.

The next day, he continued to take leave from work, got up early, transformed into a magical girl, and, dressed in casual clothes, found an empty lot to drag a tire and run laps, then did push-ups, squats, and sit-ups.

He was drenched in sweat.

In the afternoon, he turned back into Song Wuli and went to the boss’s place to pay and work again, continuing to butcher fish.

With a flick of the knife, the fish head separated.

With a swipe of the blade, the chicken’s head hit the ground.

With a splash of boiling water, the octopus raged.

For three days straight, he kept at it until the boss finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Brother, don’t come tomorrow. I don’t have any customers left,” the boss said kindly.

“I’ll come the day after then,” Song Wuli replied, not understanding.

“No, I mean, don’t ever come again.” The boss made himself clear. “That thing you’re practicing, that ‘Heart Like Still Water’ stuff—you’ve passed. You’ve graduated.”

“You are now the Street’s Strongest Fish Butcher.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.” The boss waved him off, telling him to get lost.

In the end, Old Song really left, but the boss called him back, stuffing the last fish he’d killed into his hands as a parting gift.

Old Song didn’t refuse and accepted it.

His departing back looked both strong and dependable.

Now, I will never cry again. No one can break my defense. The weak Song Wuli has died!