Chapter 225: Aftermath Ripples

After a night of clamor, Gongliang City was in turmoil, yet the true big shots remained unmoved.

Aside from the martial master Bao Tiefeng who was involved, all other martial arts halls held their ground, watching the situation develop.

The local martial arts halls even felt a bit of schadenfreude, wishing for Bao Tiefeng to capsize in the gutter so they could reap the benefits.

When news arrived after dawn, Du Yan Lu Zhigang had retreated unscathed, not even a single hair of his having been caught.

Bao Tiefeng had suffered the tragic loss of a hand, and his martial arts hall's Disciples and Apprentices had suffered heavy casualties, which could be called a severe blow to his vitality.

Originally able to stand on equal footing with the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall, they had dropped a tier after this single battle, barely maintaining the status of a second-rate martial arts hall.

Wang Laohu sat at home behind closed doors, joy falling from the sky; he was overjoyed upon hearing the news.

"That old brat Bao Tiefeng, he deserved this day, haha!"

Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall...

The events of last night were passed on by word of mouth in the form of countless fragmented pieces of information, flowing into the members of the martial arts hall.

Everyone was talking; this was the most sensational major event to occur in recent times.

The Apprentices were incredibly excited and had no heart to practice their boxing.

Seeing this, Shi Gaofei simply gave them a half-day holiday, letting them do as they pleased.

Two major events happened last night.

In the first half of the night, Du Yan assassinated Bao Tiefeng, severed one of his hands, killed and wounded countless Apprentices and Disciples, and then retreated unscathed.

In the second half of the night, Zhou You displayed great divine power, killing 3 Transformation Phantoms and drawing 4 Ghost-Catching Captains of the City Gate Guard to the scene.

The first event was somewhat distant, but the second event was related to them.

Yesterday during the day, Zhou You left the martial arts hall and became an outcast, yet that night he accomplished such a major feat.

With the current political instability, the existence of Phantoms was gradually becoming an open secret among the low-level Apprentices.

What level were Void Phantoms and Transformation Phantoms? Once they asked around, they learned that even the weakest Void Phantom could kill a Strength Apprentice just as easily as pinching an ant to death.

As for Transformation Phantoms, they were even terrifying existences that Big Senior Brother Lu Qiang could barely contend with.

Yet, such terrifying monsters were killed by Zhou You, 3 of them at once.

No wonder even the high-level officials of the City Gate Guard had mobilized collectively.

The events of the second half of the night instantly overshadowed the assassination by Du Yan the moment they occurred, becoming the most sensational news in Gongliang City that day.

In the Inner Courtyard of the martial arts hall, Lu Qiang detailed the events of last night to his mentor, Wang Laohu.

"Zhou You went to Xingren Tang in the afternoon, claiming he was heavily injured after fighting 4 matches, and stayed at the medicine hall that night."

Wang Jianxiong shook his head upon hearing this, "That guy definitely has nothing wrong with him; he's faking it, purely to avoid the limelight."

"That same afternoon, someone assassinated his parents, but they were killed by the backlash of an Amulet."

Lu Qiang paused, "Master's prediction is correct; the person who attacked deliberately used Dazhuang Fist to frame the martial arts hall."

Wang Laohu's brows twitched, "An Amulet? A martial master? So that's it; he has found a new backer."

A single Amulet revealed a lot of information; at the very least, Zhou You was not a duckweed without roots, and he had someone supporting him from behind.

With a martial master as a backer, many overt and covert methods could no longer be used.

Even he, as his former master, would have to weigh things carefully before wanting to make a move against Zhou You.

"According to inquiries, Zhou You stayed at Xingren Tang, and hearing of Lu Zhigang's appearance at midnight, he perhaps wanted a share of the spoils and moved upon hearing the wind."

"He 'happened upon' a Transformation Phantom harming people and killed it, and the City Gate Guard arrived after the fact."

"The two sides talked until dawn; what exactly they discussed, I could not find out."

After finishing the sequence of events, Lu Qiang stood respectfully with his hands bound, fearing he might disturb his master's contemplation.

Zhou You was currently an outcast of the martial arts hall, and due to Wang Laohu's reputation, he could no longer make it in the boxing and martial arts circles.

The martial arts world had its own rules; although various martial arts halls fought openly and secretly, they were superficially harmonious and did not readily take in another's outcasts. However, the City Gate Guard stepping in was different; the City Gate Guard had no relationship with the martial arts halls and possessed an independent training system for martial artists internally.

They chose talent very simply: loyalty and capability were enough, regardless of too many twists and turns.

Captain Ye took Zhang Shiyu as a foster son, regardless of his Dazhuang Fist background, and he had even once visited to challenge the hall, offending Wang Jianxiong.

Now, Zhou You had personally killed 3 Transformation Phantoms; let alone the middle stage of Qi and Blood, even some in the late stage of Qi and Blood could not do that.

Phantoms were unscrupulous, being monsters of pure destruction, slaughter, and gluttony.

The more they ate, the higher their intelligence and the stronger their power, until eventually, quantitative change led to qualitative change, elevating them to a more terrifying level.

Killing a Void Phantom, besides relying on strength, also required talent.

Otherwise, why would a Transformation Phantom near the city walls draw 4 Captains at the martial master level to mobilize?

"If my prediction is correct, Zhou You will sooner or later be a man of the City Gate Guard."

Wang Jianxiong waved his hand, "He really did fight his way to a path of survival; the status of the City Gate Guard is enough to protect him."

He then frowned in confusion, "Zhang Shiyu is also in the City Gate Guard; this is going to be interesting."

"Master, I heard Captain Ye has already entrusted someone to transfer Zhang Shiyu's connections elsewhere."

Wang Jianxiong was choked by smoke and coughed repeatedly, his face turning red.

"What, a dignified Ghost-Catching Captain actually admitted defeat? Is he afraid he cannot protect his foster son?"

Captain Ye was at the scene last night and saw Zhou You's battle record with his own eyes, which was why he understood his terror.

He was likely also stimulated and made arrangements out of love for his foster son, letting him avoid the existence of Zhou You.

Wang Jianxiong suddenly realized that Zhou You's momentum had been established, and he had already become a person of note in Gongliang City.

He began to pay attention to Zhou You's next moves.

"Continue, what is Zhou You doing now?"

"He went home."

Zhou You went home after dawn and saw his parents, who had not slept all night, leaving the door open for him, and felt a sense of guilt in his heart.

"Ahhhhh!"

Tie Niu pulled him to the side to gesture and reconstruct the events that happened during the day.

The two split halves of the Amulet in his palm illustrated just how perilous the situation had been, with his parents hanging by a thread.

"Late stage of Blood Qi, attacking with a Tiger Roar—quite the impressive technique."

Zhou You understood after a moment of thought that this was a vicious scheme to frame and incite, attempting to use his parents as sacrifices to make Zhou You and the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall harbor an irreconcilable blood feud, leaving no room for turning back.

Since the culprit had long since been smashed to pieces, it was truly impossible to find out who the mastermind behind the scenes was.

It could be Bao Tiefeng, it could be other martial arts halls, or it could even be the manipulation of the two great noble families.

This world is too dangerous; even if you want to keep to yourself, there are countless hands pulling you into the game.

Those people were no match for Wang Laohu, so they thought to groom Zhou You, this rebellious disciple, to bite back at his mentor—how malicious their intentions were! Zhou You held no hatred for Wang Jianxiong; leaving the martial arts hall was a "peaceful parting" with no conflict of interest.

Yet there were those who felt the matter wasn't big enough, secretly fanning the flames!

"It seems I cannot be too high-profile; I must act with low profile. Only by staying hidden in the shadows can I observe who harbors malice toward me!"

Having figured this out, Zhou You apologized to his parents.

"Your child resigned from the martial arts hall yesterday; from now on, I am determined to keep to myself and focus on learning to read and write with Ceng Fuzi."

The elderly couple had been worried and frightened all night; only after hearing their son say he was at the medicine hall last night did they finally heave a sigh of relief.

Zhou Laodie nodded upon hearing this, "There is no need to worry about the family's food and clothing expenses; isn't there still your father, this pillar of the family?"

(End of this chapter)