The cold wind wailed.
It swept up the dry leaves and dust on the ground.
Shen Xiuhan's tense muscles slowly relaxed.
Under the cold moonlight, he lowered his head and spread his hands.
His knuckles were bruised purple, and drops of bright red blood slowly seeped from his torn webbings.
His eyes darkened slightly.
Even though his 『Iron Bone Technique』 had reached great perfection and his bones were far sturdier than those of other martial artists of the same rank, he still hadn't emerged from that close-quarters brawl completely unscathed.
Although Gao Nian had not yet broken through to the ‘Bone Tempering’ rank, he had spent many years immersed in the ‘Blood Tempering’ rank, and the blood qi in his body was exceptionally robust and overbearing.
If not for his 『Iron Bone Technique』 and 『Swift Swan, Swimming Dragon』 movement technique to protect him, and if he had relied solely on the 『Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force』, the one lying dead tonight would likely have been him.
“Fortunately, nothing went wrong.”
Shen Xiuhan crouched down and skillfully searched Gao Nian and the other corpses.
A moment later, not only did he retrieve the four strings of copper coins that Scarface had stolen earlier, but his hands were also filled with five bulging coin pouches and two official banknotes printed by the Ministry of Revenue of the Qi State.
Opening the pouches for a rough estimate, there were about a thousand large copper coins, and the loose silver amounted to about three taels.
As for the two banknotes, each had a face value of ten taels, and both had been recovered from Gao Nian's body.
Recalling Gao Nian's words from earlier...
These bits of silver and large copper coins were undoubtedly extorted from the poor families throughout the wards tonight.
Their purpose was to frame someone else—making a fortune before fleeing, while simultaneously dealing a blow to the Luanbo Gang.
When the Luanbo Gang and the Golden Dragon Gang clashed, wasn't it all for the fish stalls, the branch headquarters, and the lucrative territories?
Gao Nian had used the Luanbo Gang's name to collect the spring protection fee in advance.
By the time the Luanbo Gang took over, they would be faced with a ruined mess from which not a single drop of profit could be squeezed.
And what would happen to the poor households who couldn't pay their protection fees?
Gao Nian couldn't care less; he had caused this on purpose!
“To act so maliciously, his death is well-deserved.”
Shen Xiuhan glanced sideways at Gao Nian's face, whose eyes remained wide open in death.
Extorting ruinous money from the desperate, and even silencing the very men who worked for him...
He truly deserved to die.
“It's just a pity I couldn't find his leg technique.”
Shen Xiuhan shook his head in disappointment.
Gao Nian's blood qi had been robust, and the kick technique he used was indeed extraordinary, with clever and ruthless moves.
If he could obtain it and run it through a 『Deduction』, having another kick technique to rely on would leave him with absolutely no weaknesses.
Unfortunately, this person did not carry the manual with him.
Shen Xiuhan withdrew his gaze and ignored the scattered corpses.
With a flash of his body, he silently vanished into the night.
...
The day after Gao Nian of the Golden Dragon Gang died.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
Shen Xiuhan was already standing in the courtyard, performing the 『Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force』 from start to finish.
As his fists whistled through the air, the blood qi within his body gradually became active.
Shen Xiuhan finished his routine and stood upright, carefully pulling the small green porcelain bottle from his robe.
He uncorked it and poured a 『Jasper Blood Pill』 onto his palm.
The pill was entirely green, with a fine, winding bloodline like silk on its surface, faintly emitting a medicinal fragrance.
Just holding it in his palm and taking a sniff caused the blood qi in his body to boil slightly.
Hesitating no longer, he tilted his head back to swallow the precious pill.
The pill dissolved the moment it entered his mouth.
At first, there was a faint, metallic sweetness, but after only three breaths...
Boom!
Shen Xiuhan's eyes flew open.
It felt as if a piece of red-hot charcoal had been stuffed into his stomach, and a violent, scorching current of air exploded in his gut!
“What overbearing medicinal power!”
Shen Xiuhan was deeply shaken.
An elixir made from the Tier Two Precious Beast, the Blue-Spire Chicken, was a world away from the bowl of 『Ebony Qi-Replenishing Decoction』 he had drunk before.
If that decoction was a babbling brook, then this 『Jasper Blood Pill』 was a torrential flood of bursting lava!
The violent medicinal power transformed into countless strands of blood qi, which, like a runaway horse, surged wildly through his meridians toward his limbs, bones, and internal organs.
Beneath his skin and flesh, a tearing, swelling pain washed over him.
Shen Xiuhan dared not delay.
If he allowed this medicinal power to run wild in his body, his meridians would be damaged at best, and his vitality would be severely depleted at worst!
He lowered his waist into a horse stance, spread his arms, and began to perform the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 over and over again.
“Inhale... exhale...”
Guided by his breathing rhythm, the wild, rampaging blood qi was gradually tamed, starting to flow in an orderly fashion along the pathways of the stance work.
The scalding medicinal power washed over his skin, muscles, and blood again and again.
This intense tempering lasted for a full hour.
Crack crack...
Shen Xiuhan's entire body turned as red as a boiled lobster.
The sound of blood flowing within his body was as heavy and powerful as lead and mercury.
The sweat seeping from his body evaporated into wisps of white mist before it could even drip, swirling and rising above his head.
This was the sign of the medicinal power being completely drained and absorbed by his muscles and blood!
“Phew...”
After a long while, Shen Xiuhan slowly finished his routine, opened his eyes, and exhaled a stream of white breath.
The exhaled breath was like a solid white sword of qi in the air, shooting out about a foot before finally dispersing.
Shen Xiuhan clenched his fists tightly, feeling the power inside him that was so abundant it felt ready to overflow.
Whoosh!
With a casual punch, a sharp crack echoed through the air!
“Excellent!”
Shen Xiuhan couldn't help but look pleased.
“My total blood qi has nearly doubled compared to before I took the pill. According to Second Senior Brother, this ‘blood qi like mercury’ phenomenon means I have reached the Minor Accomplishment of the Blood Tempering Rank.”
“A few more 『Jasper Blood Pills』 will push my blood qi to the Great Accomplishment, allowing me to start breaking through to Bone Tempering... This progress is much faster than Master predicted!”
“When the time comes, I will have a much better chance of protecting myself and seizing the treasure on Yunyi Island.”
“It's just...”
Shen Xiuhan glanced sideways.
Seeing that his 『intelligence points』 had not changed at all, he sighed with slight regret.
“It seems... only natural spiritual things like Precious Fish and Precious Beasts can increase my 『intelligence points』. Even pills refined from their flesh and blood only have the effect of boosting blood qi...”
After a moment of contemplation, Shen Xiuhan laughed at himself:
“This is already enough. I'm being a bit too greedy...”
He walked over to the water jar in the corner of the courtyard, scooped up a ladle of well water, and poured it over his head, washing away the sticky sweat and impurities.
The cold water trickled down his muscular contours, and his mind cooled down along with it.
'Logically speaking, the most urgent matter is to continue accumulating 『intelligence points』. Once I have fifteen points, I can perform a 『Deduction』 to raise my martial skills or cultivation techniques to a higher level...'
'But not only did I kill Gao Nian last night, but the attitude of Luo Zhan, the Luo family manager, at the placement meet was also strange... These local tyrants are all ruthless. I can't afford to be careless in the slightest!'
'Forget it!'
Shen Xiuhan set down the water ladle, wiped the water from his face, and his gaze suddenly sharpened as he summoned the golden light screen in his mind:
【Today's Intelligence has been refreshed!】
【Intelligence 1: The Golden Dragon Gang is completely at a disadvantage in its struggle with the Luanbo Gang. Gang Leader Gao Fu has decided to abandon their public strongholds and retreat into the shadows, waiting for the 'opportunity' to open...】
【However, an unexpected event occurred. Gao Fu has learned of the death of his only son, Gao Nian. Fearing that the Luanbo Gang will take this opportunity to eradicate them completely, he and several of his trusted aides are currently hiding in the fifth house of Yeci Ward in the Outer City...】
Huh?
Shen Xiuhan's heart jolted!
Gao Fu, that old fox, had found out about Gao Nian's death so quickly and had even gone into hiding overnight!
But... why did the place where he was hiding look so familiar?
The fifth house of Yeci Ward in the Outer City...
Isn't that Tian Erhu's home?
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