Chapter 19

"Crack!"

Li Hu’s neck snapped instantly. His head, twisted around, saw a familiar and cold face in the dark night.

"Xu Yang..."

The one who killed him was actually Xu Yang!

He only had time for this thought before his consciousness plunged into darkness.

"Crack!"

Xu Yang continued to exert force until he had twisted Li Hu’s head a full three hundred and sixty degrees before letting go. ===== CHAPTER 36 =====

"Bang!"

Li Hu’s body slumped to the ground, and Xu Yang began to pant heavily.

Having killed three people in less than half a minute, he was still nervous—it was his first time killing, and he had taken down a vicious man like Li Hu.

Plus, he had been holding his breath the whole time. Now that the tension was released, his hands and feet felt weak, and his heart was pounding like a drum; he could even hear the "thump-thump-thump" sound, as if his heart were about to burst out of his chest.

"Too bloody!"

Looking at the blood and white brains all over the ground, he couldn't help but feel nauseated.

Originally, he hadn't wanted to make such a mess, to avoid drawing attention to the crime scene and to make disposing of the bodies easier. But since all three appeared together, he couldn't worry about that if he wanted to kill them all.

Fortunately, it was night, and they were outside the village; the chance of being encountered was almost zero, so he could dispose of them slowly.

He dragged Li Liang and Li Jian to a nearby field ridge to bleed them out, taking the opportunity to loot their bodies.

After searching for a while, Xu Yang discovered that the money on all three of them combined didn't even total two taels—only one tael and a few dozen copper coins. They were poorer than him.

There was also a dagger, but it wasn't worth much.

After a while, he had recovered enough, and Li Jian and Li Liang had bled out sufficiently.

He immediately hid Li Hu’s body in the nearby thicket, then hoisted Li Liang and Li Jian’s bodies and headed toward the mountains.

Over the past few days, he hadn't just been lying in ambush; he had also pre-dug a place to bury the bodies.

Both corpses weighed about 130 catties, making them a bit heavy to carry. It took him half an hour, but he finally buried all three bodies in the mountains a few kilometers away.

He returned to the scene and used tree branches to sweep away the bloodstains, covering them with some soil.

He knew the cleanup wasn't perfect, but as long as he covered part of it, no one would be able to tell who had died here.

Even if people from Dashu Village passed by tomorrow and realized someone might have been killed here last night, no one would care.

When He Shicai was forced to his death, his family didn't even report it; let alone a crime scene where no one knew who had died. Those who saw it would only stay away, fearing trouble.

Returning home, Xu Qing didn't notice he had been out. He washed the blood off his hands and went to bed.

The next day, the first thing Xu Yang did upon opening his eyes was to look at his panel:

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 43]

"Killing people actually gives rewards?"

During this period, other than adding one point to the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist every day, he hadn't touched his points.

When the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist reached the entry level, it rewarded ten points. He remembered having thirty-three points yesterday, meaning the panel had settled ten points for him last night.

"That’s right. Li Hu and his men wanted to kill me; me killing them is also a matter conducive to my martial longevity."

Xu Yang quickly figured this out and then invested all his points into Root Bone, raising it to "34."

That day, no one realized that Li Hu and his two men were dead; neither their families nor the Tri-Union Gang realized it.

They thought the three were still in hiding, believing they were hiding well and were capable of shouldering the burden.

That day, the outer disciples of the Weiyuan Hall noticed that Xu Yang was no longer slacking off or sleeping, but had become diligent again.

The next day, Li Hu and his men still hadn't appeared. The Tri-Union Gang and their families thought they should have come out by now.

After all, five days had passed, and He Shicai’s family hadn't reported it to the officials; it was safe to come out.

"How did Li Hu become such a coward? Why hasn't he come out yet!"

On the sixth day, the three still hadn't appeared, and some in the Tri-Union Gang began to mock them.

"I'm afraid something happened to Li Hu!"

On the seventh day, someone in the Tri-Union Gang finally realized that something might have happened to the three. They sent people to search everywhere, and then everyone knew that Li Hu and his men had vanished.

"Good riddance! Heaven finally took these three beasts."

He Shicai’s family clapped and cheered, and the folks of White Stone Workshop also called it a relief, though they dared not show it openly.

A few days later, the three still hadn't appeared, and the Tri-Union Gang sent new people to take over Li Hu’s affairs. No one cared about the life or death of the three anymore.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Xu Yang and the others entered Weiyuan Hall.

On the plum blossom stakes, his blood and qi calmed down, and Xu Yang slowly withdrew from the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

[Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (30/100)]

[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (61/150)]

Xu Yang exhaled a breath of stale air. The progress of the Turtle-Snake Great Stance was now only half that of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

At this moment, he was confident that his progress in the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist was no lower than Lu Ren’s, and perhaps even surpassed it.

It had only been half a month since the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist reached the entry level. Aside from adding one point of progress via the panel daily, he had cultivated it all himself, meaning he improved by three points of progress on average every day.

At this speed, even if he stopped using the panel to add points, he would be able to cultivate the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to the threshold of the first martial barrier by next month at the latest.

"Xu Yang, come down and spar with me!" Zhang Hong shouted.

By now, everyone in their batch had reached the entry level in the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

For the cultivation of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, Weiyuan Hall required disciples to spar frequently. Although he lost every time, Zhang Hong still often practiced with Xu Yang.

"Alright!"

Xu Yang leaped down from the plum blossom stakes and threw a punch in mid-air. Zhang Hong was shaken and forced to retreat repeatedly.

"Your strength is truly terrifying, man."

Shaking his numb arms, Zhang Hong rushed over with a Bear Pounce, and the two quickly became entangled in a fight.

"Stop, stop, I admit defeat."

After twenty moves, Zhang Hong shouted his surrender and lay on the ground panting.

"Haha... Brother Zhang Hong, you're sparring with Brother Xu Yang again, I see." A voice rang out, and a youth in a cyan training suit walked over with a smile.

His name was Qiu Wenjie, a new disciple of Weiyuan Hall.

In one month, Xu Yang and the others had already become veteran disciples of the outer hall.

When Qiu Wenjie first arrived, it was when Xu Yang was sleeping every day. Seeing that Xu Yang was relatively idle, he came to ask for advice on the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. Over time, he became familiar with Xu Yang and Zhang Hong.

The three chatted for a while, then Zhang Hong got up to practice his punches. Xu Yang also stood up, but was grabbed by Qiu Wenjie.

"Something up?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.

Qiu Wenjie nodded, "My father knows that you’ve been quite helpful to me recently, Brother Xu, so he intends to host a banquet tonight to thank you. I hope you’ll do us the honor."

Xu Yang frowned slightly. He had given Qiu Wenjie a few pointers, but not to the extent that the boy's father needed to host a banquet.

A banquet of thanks would cost at least one or two taels of silver. He didn't think his few pointers were worth that much.

What did he have that the other party could be plotting?

The only thing Xu Yang could think of was the Tri-Union Gang, since he had slaughtered their people. But he thought carefully: the Tri-Union Gang had no high-ranking members surnamed Qiu, and if they wanted to deal with him, they wouldn't need to go through such trouble.

"Speak plainly!" Unable to figure it out, Xu Yang asked directly.

Qiu Wenjie said honestly, "Alright, it’s because my father heard about your situation and has something he wants to discuss with you. He probably wants to help you with your martial arts training."

By the afternoon, Xu Yang didn't want to waste time and intended to eat his bowl of meat before going to the banquet, but Qiu Wenjie said his father had already prepared wine and meat, and dragged Xu Yang away. ===== CHAPTER 37 =====