Chapter 22: Moonlit Murder

Senior Brother Yang... he... he's left!

In the courtyard, a disciple who knew the inside story sighed.

"Left?" Guo Huai frowned.

"Well, Senior Brother Yang failed his breakthrough attempt last night, packed up overnight, and returned to his hometown early this morning."

Upon hearing this, the courtyard that had been filled with laughter and chatter instantly grew solemn.

"How could that be? Senior Brother Yang's stance and swordsmanship had been perfected half a year ago; he was our courtyard's best hope to break into internal strength, so how could he fail?"

Guo Huai looked dejected, obviously unable to accept the fact that Yang Tao had failed his breakthrough.

"It's true, Yang Tao failed his breakthrough."

"Just then, Lin Feng, who was in charge of instruction, came out from the inner courtyard."

"His stance is proficient, but his blood vitality is insufficient, so he failed." Lin Feng looked regretful.

Yang Tao was one of the few senior students in the martial hall with over three years of training, his stance and swordsmanship already perfected.

Unfortunately, his family was poor, his accumulated blood vitality insufficient, falling short by a hair.

"Senior Brother, does not drinking the tonic and not eating exotic beast meat truly make it impossible to break into internal strength?"

In the crowd, a plain-clad senior brother gritted his teeth and asked.

His situation was similar to Yang Tao's—his stance and swordsmanship were already perfected; he lacked only accumulated blood vitality.

Originally, he and Yang Tao had agreed to wait a while, let their bodies grow stronger, then attempt the breakthrough together.

Who would have thought Yang Tao couldn't hold out, attempted the breakthrough early, and ended up failing?

Upon hearing this question, some disciples who had previously paid little attention to Yang Tao also perked up, hoping to hear a different answer from Lin Feng.

Out of the thirty-odd people in this courtyard, only a few are well-off.

Who dares claim their accumulated blood vitality surpasses Yang Tao's?

However, Lin Feng's answer sank everyone's hearts to the bottom of the valley.

"As of now, the Six Harmony Martial Hall has never seen anyone break into internal strength without relying on tonic and exotic beast meat."

"Even our master, back when he attempted his breakthrough, had to eat a hundred catties of exotic beast meat and countless bottles of qi-boosting blood tonic to succeed."

"So I advise you, junior brothers and sisters, don't rely on luck; accumulate as much blood vitality as you can."

Having said that, Lin Feng also sighed inwardly.

Exotic beast meat and blood tonic are both costly—the former costs one tael of silver per jin of meat, yet even with a price there is no market.

The latter requires long-term consumption to be effective, and neither is affordable for ordinary disciples.

"Alright, let's begin today's morning lesson!"

Lin Feng did not continue this heavy topic, but instead had everyone disperse to train individually.

"Must we drink the blood tonic and eat exotic beast meat?" Qin Shuo frowned.

His situation is even worse than that of Senior Brother Yang Tao.

Up to now, he has probably eaten less than one jin of exotic beast meat.

The tonic is fine; with the martial hall's preferential treatment, he drinks it every day, but that's all.

The martial hall is not a charity; providing him free tonic is already going above and beyond.

Besides, he still needs to come up with money for the three minor baths and one major bath, as well as the crucially important exotic beast meat.

"We need to hustle for money!" Qin Shuo sighed.

His White Ape Stance is nearing perfection, and the Heavenly Gang Blade, according to his current refining progress, will also be completed by the end of the month.

By then, he will need to prepare to accumulate blood vitality for a breakthrough.

Time flew, and evening arrived.

Qin Shuo instructed Qin Lan to go home early herself, while he returned home, wrapped his bow and arrows in cloth, and headed for West Willow Lane.

West Willow Lane lies in the northwest of the inner city, a secluded spot.

Most of the residents here are migrant workers renting rooms—in other words, the slums of the inner city.

Having scouted the area in the morning and confirmed that Qian Biao was hiding in the Black Widow's house,

Qin Shuo hesitated not at all, climbing straight onto the roof of the civilian house opposite the Black Widow's courtyard, waiting for Qian Biao to appear.

He covered his head and face with a black cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed, and waited silently for the moment.

Time ticked by second by second.

Squeak—

Suddenly, the main hall door of the Black Widow's house opened.

A disheveled woman stepped out, her clothes loosely hanging open, revealing a glimpse of the red chest binder wrapped inside.

Behind her followed a burly man, his thick arm slung over her shoulder, his hand roaming freely over her chest.

"You've been groping her all night and still aren't satisfied?"

The woman was somewhat unwilling, trying to pull his hand away.

But the man was as strong as a bear, his arm thicker than her leg—how could she move it?

"Hehe, how could that ever be enough?" the burly man chuckled lewdly.

Whoosh!

An arrow shot through the air.

Before the lecherous grin on the burly man's face could fade, the arrow had already pierced his brow, bringing blood with it, and lodged in the wall at the center of the main hall.

The arrow was too fast.

The woman hadn't even reacted when the man's legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

By the time she came to her senses and looked out toward the courtyard, there was not even a half‑person silhouette to be seen.

Left West Willow Alley.

Qin Shuo rewrapped his bow and arrows in cloth; his heart had not a ripple.

Qian Biao repeatedly harassed Qin Lan, intending to plot wrongdoing, so he must die.

I kept him until today just to wait for a chance that wouldn't drag me into trouble.

Now he seeks his own death, betraying the Flying Bear Gang and provoking its Divine Arrow Hand Elder Wu Kai; instead of hiding properly in the Heavenly Wolf Gang, he runs to the inner city to mingle with the Black Widow.

He has taken heaven's timing, earth's advantage, and human harmony all for himself!

If he doesn't die, who will?

After dealing with Qian Biao, Qin Shuo did not go home but headed stealthily toward the West City District.

After the plague crisis was lifted, the inner city lifted its curfew, the city gates stood open, and Qin Shuo could move freely.

He guessed that the rebellious behavior of Qian Biao and his two companions likely also displeased the Heavenly Wolf Gang, which is why he did not grant them shelter.

So he planned to visit Chen Qiang and Wang Meng's homes to try his luck.

As he expected, Chen Qiang and Wang Meng had not received the Heavenly Wolf Gang's protection, but were hiding in their own homes.

The two were merely lackeys, the profits they'd scraped together were less than Qian Biao's, they had no way to find another hiding place, so they could only stay at home.

Moreover, they harbored hopes of luck.

They thought Elder Wu Kai was not acquainted with them and might not know their residence.

As long as they kept a low profile, the other side might not be able to find them.

But they did not expect that Elder Wu Kai would not find them, while Qin Shuo would come to their door first.

Even before the two and Qian Biao came to harass Qin Lan, Qin Shuo had already been gathering information about them, naturally including their address.

Now, Qin Shuo came to the door with his bow and arrows; the two were shot down as soon as they appeared, not even having time to utter a cry before they died on the spot.

After dealing with the three ruffians, Qin Shuo rushed back to the inner city overnight.

Just as he entered the gate, he saw Qin Lan sitting at the stone table under the jujube tree waiting for him.

"Brother!"

Qin Lan rose to her feet, her eyes full of worry.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I'm waiting for you."

"Hmm, it's fine now, go to sleep."

Qin Shuo showed a doting smile, rubbing her little head.

Qin Lan wanted to speak but held back, eventually unable to keep from asking: "Brother, are they all dead?"

"Do you know what I went to do?"

Qin Shuo was somewhat surprised, but not worried.

"I'm not stupid; after Xiong Ge told you about those three people yesterday, you kept staring at the bow and arrows in a daze, and then sneaked out this morning……"

Qin Lan didn't continue, but instead asked again: "So…… brother, are they all dead?"

"Hmm." Qin Shuo nodded.

His feelings were a bit complicated.

He wasn't worried that this little girl would inform on him.

He just felt she was too clever; if she ever had any secret, it would be hard to keep it hidden!

"Thank you, brother!"

Qin Lan bowed deeply to Qin Shuo, tears glistening in her eyes.

She clearly understood why her brother had taken the risk to commit violence.

It was all for her sake!

"Little girl, are you being polite with your brother again?"

Qin Shuo dotingly rubbed her little head, indicating she should go to sleep.

"Brother, when I learn martial arts in the future, let me protect you, okay?!"

Qin Lan lifted her head, her big eyes blinking brightly, a sincere look on her face.

"Sure!"

Qin Shuo smiled and nodded.

At this moment he suddenly felt that transmigrating to this world wasn't so bad after all.