Chapter 13: A Single Glance, A Wager

“Who are you?”

Several people in the hall turned toward the screen.

The town head recognized a young voice and snapped, “Where did this brat come from? Talking so recklessly, making baseless accusations against good people!”

He had planned to say something even harsher, but remembered how he’d just learned the stablemaster was a mage—his earlier mistake made him cautious.

Yet the anger still simmered.

Because those words had struck at some hidden thoughts of his.

Though he was town head, the Meng family’s influence had overshadowed his these past few years.

And the town’s old families all relied on ancestral wealth, holding land deeds as their main asset.

The Meng family’s wealth came mostly from shops and factories—if a bandit gang really broke into town, even if they couldn’t storm the Meng compound, looting those shops would still be worthwhile.

“I’m Chu Tianshu, just a physician.”

Chu Tianshu stepped out from behind the screen.

Meng Lianfa said, “This is the physician I mentioned earlier—the one who killed the bandit.”

The wealthy families hadn’t heard of the Leopard Cat Warriors’ prowess and hadn’t paid attention to who killed the bandit.

But when Chu Tianshu stepped closer, the elderly men on their chairs grew uneasy.

His body radiated noticeably more heat than the surrounding air.

He looked refined enough, but if you closed your eyes and felt this presence, it was like facing a mountain bear come down to hunt!

A middle-aged man beside the town head—long face, short beard, sword at his waist—saw his employer shrink back and said, “Young man, mastering some martial skill is commendable, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“No matter if you’re a boxer or a physician, you must show respect to these respected elders here.”

Chu Tianshu turned his gaze on him and suddenly smiled: “So I should apologize first for what I just said?”

The long-faced man gave a slight nod: “Admitting fault is good…”

“Indeed, I was wrong—I shouldn’t have relied only on words.”

Chu Tianshu kept smiling. “Judging by your imposing bearing, you must be the best guard the town head hired.”

“I had a hard time killing that bandit. How about we spar a bit? See how it turns out?”

The long-faced man gripped his scabbard and glared: “You want to fight me?”

The town head said, “Wang Fu here used to be chief escort of the Wei Escort Agency. Meng, if your guest challenges him…”

Chu Tianshu cut him off, locking eyes with Wang Fu: “What, are you afraid?”

Chu Tianshu wasn’t challenging randomly.

On the way to the Meng household with the stablemaster, they’d talked plenty.

According to the stablemaster, the Leopard Cat Warriors alone were a serious threat to this town.

Escort agencies and martial schools were most developed in the north, especially near the capital—during the Qing dynasty, some masters there even received imperial rewards. Next came the southeast.

But Yizhou here was a remote southwestern border, relatively poor. Those who came from escort agencies or martial schools to serve as guards for town families certainly had skill and decent discipline, but their solo combat ability… was mediocre.

None could handle a full-grown Leopard Cat Warrior alone.

Wang Fu didn’t know what the stablemaster thought of him, but he was already enraged by this brat before him.

“Fine, boy—I’ll give you a lesson to humble you.”

Wang Fu stepped into the front courtyard, turned sharply on the stone pavement, and in one swift motion—*shing!*—his longsword slid free from its scabbard.

He was experienced—he feared ambush from behind and didn’t want to be caught unprepared.

This sudden shift, stepping forward and spinning to draw his blade, was completed in a single blink.

“I’ve killed over fifty bandits with this blade over the years—maybe eighty. Even men with spears—I’ve chopped off their hands more than once.”

“Boy, what weapon do you use?”

Chu Tianshu stepped over the threshold, hands empty, voice calm.

“You’ll see my weapon when the time comes. Are you ready?”

Wang Fu snorted: “Playing tricks. Come on!”

The moment he spoke, he saw a flicker of silver in Chu Tianshu’s left hand.

*Ding!!*

The silver needle aimed at Wang Fu’s right knee was sliced clean in half by his sword.

But Wang Fu’s face twisted with alarm—he instinctively pulled back, wrist snapping to lift his blade.

Under the moonlight, his sword swept a fan-shaped arc of residual light, guarding from right knee to left shoulder.

The blade just barely intercepted the second silver needle aimed at his left shoulder.

“Hit!”

Chu Tianshu surged forward, his voice booming as he opened his palm and slammed it directly onto Wang Fu’s sword blade.

Wang Fu had just parried the needles hastily—his sword’s spine was outward, his wrist still strained from the sudden change in direction.

Chu Tianshu’s lunge and palm strike didn’t treat the dangerous blade like a blade at all—he struck it as if hitting a sheet of iron.

His palm, through the iron plate, slammed into Wang Fu’s chest.

*Boom!!!!*

Wang Fu arched backward, stumbling three or four steps, his sword planted on the ground, left hand clutching his chest, lips tightly pressed, face flushed crimson.

Chu Tianshu didn’t look back—he turned and walked into the house.

The people in the hall had just moved to watch the fight when they saw Chu Tianshu’s back shift twice—he’d darted out, then turned and walked back.

“What happened? Not fighting anymore?”

The town head stepped to the threshold; Masters Zhu and Tan also leaned out.

Facing everyone’s stares, Wang Fu’s face burned even redder. His throat bobbed—he couldn’t hold it back.

“Puke!!”

He bent over and vomited on the ground, his stomach churning as if a stone pestle were twisting inside. After one heave, he couldn’t straighten up—vomiting again and again.

One glance, and he was vomiting.

Even fools could see: if Chu Tianshu wanted, one more move could knock Wang Fu flat.

The town head stepped back half a pace, stunned.

Masters Zhu and Tan, along with their guards, all changed expression.

They’d all seen Wang Fu kill bandits before—they knew how dangerous he was, which made this scene even more shocking.

“Sorry for dirtying the Meng household’s courtyard.”

Chu Tianshu’s voice drifted into their ears: “I only struck the cardia—it won’t truly injure him. Hit elsewhere, and a light blow won’t convince him; a heavy one would waste a good man from town.”

He struck the cardia—the junction of esophagus and stomach, behind the xiphoid process—with pinpoint force.

Vomiting for a while won’t harm his body.

Chu Tianshu looked again at the town head and others—their eyes now avoided his.

“What are you afraid of?”

Chu Tianshu’s brow was cold as he said, “I’m no bandit—I won’t storm into your homes. But that corpse on the ground tore my clothes when he fought me—he nearly killed me.”

“If that whole bandit gang breaks into town and attacks your grand estates, do you really think your individual household guards can hold them off?”

The stablemaster spoke up at the right moment: “And I already said—they’re Jiaozhi people. Even if you wanted to negotiate, they likely wouldn’t understand your words.”

The town head and others turned pale—they finally listened.

Meng Lianfa rose: “I’ll immediately assign half my household guards to coordinate with the militia. If the bandits strike here first, my guards know the terrain and can quickly rally reinforcements!”

Master Zhu, who had earlier mediated, shouted at once: “How can Meng brother bear this alone? I’ll send half my men right away!”

The town head and Master Tan also loudly agreed.

The stablemaster muttered inwardly, glanced around, and bowed: “Since matters here are settled, I must return to the tavern to prepare.”

Chu Tianshu said, “I’ll go with you.”

The town head hurriedly said, “Why not come to my home? Whatever you need, I’ll have it sent from the tavern. If anything’s lacking, I—”

Meng Lianfa stepped forward and stopped him.

The two ignored him entirely—they’d already turned past the screen wall and stepped out the gate. As Chu Tianshu left, he wrapped the straw mat in hemp rope and carried off the corpse.

The stablemaster had drawn a talisman on the corpse to create interference, preventing the bandits’ sorcerers from sensing the death too soon.

But a talisman drawn bare-handed had limited duration—they needed to return to the tavern and reinforce it with cinnabar.

“These people… are such a hassle.”

Chu Tianshu walked along the road. “I finally understand why you’ve held back your abilities—avoiding dealings with these folks.”

The stablemaster strode ahead with his lantern: “This town is already decent. If you entered the city, it might seem safer, but the chaos there? More things can kill you.”

“By the way, you were so restrained before—I didn’t expect you to act so boldly just now.”

The stablemaster’s tone softened. “You’ve only been in town a short while. Haven’t you thought of leaving to avoid trouble?”

Chu Tianshu kept walking, his eyes flickering at the question.

He could find reasons to leave.

But he had many reasons to stay.

For example: being targeted by beastly spirits—he’d be no safer alone than here; hiding in a house wouldn’t be safer than joining a larger group…

Also: gathering demonic material, gaining qi progress, and so on.

But beyond all that, he simply didn’t want to leave.

“This is a chaotic age—newspapers report changes across nations. It’ll likely become an unprecedented chaos.”

Chu Tianshu said, “If I hide here today and there tomorrow, must I just keep scurrying like a rat, accomplishing nothing?”

He deliberately lowered his tone even further, but couldn’t fully suppress the restlessness and ruthlessness within it.

“I hate nothing more than the feeling of having to run away. If you have even a three-tenths chance, you should fight for it!”

Master Ma walked in silence, then after a long while chuckled, “Good. Someone who cultivates both spellcraft and fist arts is truly a man with spirit.”

Chu Tianshu didn’t ask how he knew about his dual cultivation—only smiled in reply.

Old Ma was also an outsider, but he’d arrived earlier, had no family here, and was already so old.

Yet it was clear he intended to fight hard against that gang of bandits—not just for the tavern, but for more than just the tavern.

The old man and the young man both felt a certain kinship in their hearts.

This feeling of having a fellow traveler was quite good.

When he returned to the tavern, Chu Tianshu saw the food left for him on the table, but his stomach wasn’t very hungry—he only poured himself a cup of tea.

“Come with me.”

Master Ma dropped those words and walked ahead briskly.

Chu Tianshu followed, tea cup in hand, stopping at the door of Master Ma’s room.

He saw Master Ma push the bedding toward the inner side of the bed, then lift the entire wooden plank up.

His bed was shaped like a large chest, filled with yellow paper, cinnabar, inkstone and brush, bronze mirror and basin, willow wood staff, and money sword.

He pulled out one pile of items after another, stacking them all on the table.

Finally, he picked up a thick peachwood sword, its hilt carved with talismans, its blade covered in fine cinnabar incantations, its entire body a deep jujube-red, the areas with inscriptions darker still.

“To fight bandits who wield dark arts, you need a proper weapon. This was mine when I was young. Now I’m old, I can’t wield it well anymore—take it.”

Chu Tianshu took the sword in hand and immediately felt its weight was off—he held it, studied it, then pulled with both hands.

Shing!!

Inside the peachwood sword lay a thick-spined iron blade; as it emerged, it gleamed dazzlingly white. Only then did he see the silver-white blade surface covered in scale-like blue forging patterns.

“Peachwood cuts ghosts. Iron cuts men.”

Master Ma’s eyes held a trace of nostalgia as he said, “But the forging method of its edge, the balance of its center of gravity—these are perfect for a fist cultivator pursuing the Dragon-Wrapped-Body style.”

“To rise as a general, to enter as a minister, three united as one—yet I wonder which path you’ve chosen?”

Chu Tianshu, still admiring the sword, asked in confusion, “What do you mean by ‘three united as one’?”

(End of Chapter)