Chapter 81: New-Style Firearms

It was the person who destroyed the bandit stronghold!

Li Yan immediately had a guess in his heart.

The Gu Shui Village tragedy now had a rough outline.

Squire Lu's family had fled from the capital, their background definitely not simple, and more importantly, he carried a precious painting.

This item was absolutely extraordinary, so someone in the capital gave the order to organize the greenwood heroes of Guanzhong and Qilu to come and rob it together, even creating the illusion of a village massacre to cover it up.

Moreover, those plotting for this item were not just one party.

Squire Lu's concubine was a Yan Sect demon, acting as an inside agent, but she took advantage of the chaos to steal the precious painting, and this old man followed closely behind, driving venomous snakes to slaughter the bandit stronghold.

If he hadn't learned of this by chance, he would truly be at a loss.

With so many lives lost, that precious painting must hold a great secret!

Of course, none of this was important to Li Yan.

The key was that middle-aged man; he was definitely a Mystic Sect expert!

If he released the cockscomb snakes, no one present could escape.

Thinking of this, Li Yan moved closer to Sha Lifei while remaining calm, and simultaneously pinched the Yang Seal, wanting to clearly sense what other arrangements the opponent had.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man seemed to sense something and looked over.

This guy can detect supernatural powers?!

Li Yan was startled and dared not act rashly again.

He could already confirm that this was the most formidable sorcerer he had seen so far; even if Luo Mingzi came, he probably wouldn't be a match.

On the other side, the scarred young man also made a move.

The yamen runners threatened him with crossbows, which seemed to thoroughly enrage him; with a low roar, he charged straight over, wielding his mace.

"Fire!"

Guan Wanche ordered without hesitation.

He had already confirmed that these two were definitely not from a legitimate background!

Moreover, the opponent had personally admitted to skinning and exterminating families; in any place, this was a major case sufficient to be submitted to the Ministry of Justice.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three crossbow bolts whistled out.

Crossbows and bows each had their strengths and weaknesses.

A good master archer was naturally stronger and a treasure in any faction or yamen, but talent and years of training were both indispensable; crossbows, however, had lower requirements, high accuracy, and strong lethality.

Against ordinary martial artists, crossbows were more suitable, which is why they became standard equipment for yamen runners and constables of the Great Xuan Dynasty.

At such close range, ordinary people could not dodge them.

However, the scarred young man was not afraid at all; he raised his mace with his right hand, blocking left and right, and with two *bangs*, he directly deflected the two arrows.

This kind of eyesight and reaction was no longer that of an ordinary martial artist.

Even more amazing was that his left hand wasn't idle either; with a reverse hook, similar to a grappling technique, he directly grabbed the last crossbow bolt, his body taking advantage of the momentum to leap into the air, flip, and swing his arm, sending the arrow whistling out toward Zhou Pan.

The series of movements was fluid, clean, and neat.

*Pa! *

Who was Zhou Pan? He directly raised his hand to catch the bolt aimed at his brow, squeezed hard, and with a *crack*, pinched it in two and threw it aside, a fierce light rising in his eyes.

Then, using strength in his legs, he darted out of the main hall.

It was the same "ape-leaping" method, but Zhou Pan's execution was even more extraordinary.

High in dense forests or on deep mountain cliffs, apes are often seen playing and leaping; the saying "A thousand apes leap among cassia trees, peeking at the sky through a single thread" shows their keen agility.

Zhou Pan's leap, with hidden strength erupting from his legs, gave him such powerful force that he launched himself from the spot, leaping directly out of the hall.

When apes leap to climb branches, they often lean forward with their arms extended.

Zhou Pan did the same; almost instantly, he had crossed the steps and met the charging scarred young man, his right claw raking toward the man's face.

The timing of this move was already perfected.

Although the opponent had a weapon, it was useless against him.

If the opponent reacted slowly, he would directly gouge out the man's eyes or shatter his skull with a palm strike.

If the opponent resisted, he could take advantage of the momentum to grab the man's arm or weapon, using a bone-dislocating grappling technique to directly subdue him.

Zhou Pan leaned toward the second choice.

No other reason, just because of that traveling physician standing opposite.

Although he didn't have supernatural powers, a martial artist's keen sense was extraordinary; he could similarly feel the threat from that middle-aged man, so capturing the young man would serve as leverage.

Both sides moved as fast as lightning, all within a single breath.

Everyone in the hall had also discovered that this young man's skills were extraordinary; in his strikes, hidden strength flowed freely—he was nearly at the peak of Hidden Strength.

But facing Zhou Pan, it wasn't enough.

This old monkey was already a Transformation Strength expert, his strength and spirit unified; his exchanges with enemies appeared effortless, but in reality, they contained profound depth, like flowing water—round when meeting round, square when meeting square; the key lay in the word "transform."

No matter how strong the force of a Hidden Strength expert, he could easily dissolve it.

However, facing Zhou Pan's claw, the young man was not afraid at all; he directly lowered his body, tucked his head and chest, exposing his back to Zhou Pan.

What kind of strange style was this?

The back is also a vital point; Zhou Pan could shatter his spine with one palm.

Kung fu isn't used like this; isn't this purely seeking death?

Everyone in the hall was astonished, but Zhou Pan's expression changed drastically.

Being close, he saw more clearly: the young man's back was bulging, looking like a hunchback, but it was square and structured—it was clearly hiding some mechanism.

A sense of crisis surged in his heart, but unfortunately, Zhou Pan was still in mid-air and couldn't change direction, so he could only cross his arms to protect his vital points.

However, it was all too late.

The young man's left hand had secretly hooked a ring hidden in his sleeve and pulled hard.

*Boom! *

A loud noise, smoke filled the air, and at the same time, needles flew out. The young man indeed had a mechanism hidden on his back; the bottom was inlaid with an iron plate, and the top contained both spring-loaded needles and a small amount of gunpowder, which exploded into a large amount of thick smoke.

"It's poisonous, retreat!"

Li Yan smelled something wrong and hurriedly warned everyone to retreat.

Everyone in the hall had never seen such a brutal method; their expressions changed abruptly, and they retreated one after another. The nearest yamen runners couldn't react in time and inhaled the toxic smoke; their faces turned bright red, and they clutched their throats, coughing desperately, with nosebleeds streaming down.

The unluckiest one was undoubtedly Zhou Pan.

He came from a martial arts school; although he had roamed the martial world, he had always acted according to the rules of the older generation. After becoming the president of the Divine Fist Society, he lived in luxury and rarely fought anyone anymore.

This kind of desperate outlaw's tactic was something he was seeing for the first time.

Even a Transformation Strength expert is still a creature of flesh and blood.

At such close range, the vast majority of the flying needles pierced into his body.

Moreover, it was unknown what poison was smeared on these needles; although not fatal, they stung the nerves, like thousands of red-hot steel rods inserted into his body.

"Ah—!"

!.

Even Zhou Pan couldn't help but let out a miserable scream.

This scream caused his internal strength to dissipate, and he inhaled a large amount of toxic smoke.

The young man was also shaken, blood spilling from his mouth, but the fierce light in his eyes grew even stronger. Hidden strength erupted from his legs, and with a *whoosh*, he charged straight out, his right hand extending the mace in a "Chasing the Stars and Catching the Moon" sword style.

No one noticed that he was also pressing a mechanism on the mace staff.

*Bang! *

This strike hit Zhou Pan right in the chest.

Zhou Pan had already been poisoned and lost his strength; the young man's strike carried hidden strength, and only the sound of bone cracking was heard—Zhou Pan's sternum had been shattered.

However, it wasn't over yet.

The garlic-clove hammer head of the young man's mace sank upon impact, revealing a pitch-black hole, followed by a loud *bang*, and smoke filled the air.

Zhou Pan's body stiffened and stopped moving.

He looked at his chest in disbelief; a blood hole the size of a fist had appeared.

"The killer, Fire Ghost of Chang'an!"

The young man snorted and turned to leave.

Such a cruel and fierce method left everyone in the hall in shock and suspicion. Although the toxic smoke had dissipated, no one dared to pursue, watching helplessly as the young man and the traveling physician left.

*Thump! *

Zhou Pan fell straight down, his face dark blue, his breath gone.

Zhang Shitong felt his scalp tingle and couldn't help but look at Zhang Yuanshang beside him, "Father, have you ever heard of this style?"

Old Master Zhang's white brows furrowed, "Never seen it."

As for Li Yan, his expression was solemn; he picked up a blood-stained iron ball from the ground, his eyelids twitching slightly, and muttered, "Damn it, this thing has appeared too..."

…………

"Good fellow, you didn't see it!"

Sha Lifei spat as he spoke, describing vividly, "Gunpowder, poison needles, toxic smoke—all killing techniques. Relying on these, a Hidden Strength martial artist forcibly beat the Monkey Zhou into a hornet's nest..."

"The Monkey Zhou calculated well, only thinking of bribing major factions and playing tricks to fool Brother Li Yan, but he never expected to die at the hands of other victims."

Wang Daoxuan sat on the *kang*; although he had woken up, his face was still a bit pale. Hearing this, he shook his head and sighed, "The sun and moon receive heaven's light and can shine for a long time; the four seasons change and can endure for a long time. Virtue not matching position will surely bring disaster..."

Sha Lifei said disdainfully, "With that bunch of people under him, something will happen sooner or later."

As he spoke, he turned his head to look to the side, "Brother Li Yan, what are you looking at?"

Li Yan stared at the iron ball in his hand, his expression solemn, and shook his head, "Nothing, I still underestimated the dangers of the martial world. It seems I need to be careful from now on."

Firearms!

He should have thought of it earlier.

Since the imperial court opened the seas, merchant caravans had been roaming the oceans, and cannons were used frequently; it was naturally not strange to have muskets and firearms.

Of course, firstly, gunpowder was prohibited from civilian circulation, and secondly, martial arts in this world were prosperous; ordinary firearms were no different from powerful hidden weapons to martial arts experts.

But the situation seemed to have changed.

The mechanism on the scarred young man's back used only ordinary black powder, but the gunpowder used in the mace had greater power and a special smell.

Combined with weapons and martial arts, it was impossible to guard against, and even Zhou Pan couldn't withstand it.

Looking at the expressions of the people present, they were also seeing it for the first time.

This indicated that this new type of gunpowder had only appeared recently.

Moreover, after this incident, the Chang'an Commandant's Office sent a large group of people, even urgently closing the city gates to conduct a massive search, and even Qingyangzi from the City God Temple was asked to use sorcery to search.

Unfortunately, those two had vanished without a trace.

Judging from various circumstances, the imperial court also knew about this new type of gunpowder, and it was even very likely that it had leaked from within, which was why they were so vigilant.

If it was truly as he guessed, the world was likely about to change.

If the imperial court equipped firearms capable of killing Transformation Strength experts on a large scale, their control over the martial world would be even more powerful.

Moreover, there is no wall in the world that doesn't leak wind; since this thing had leaked out, it would sooner or later be known by others, and many things would change.

Not to mention anything else, just like saving people before.

Chen Fagui used dynamite packs and also had exquisite puppet mechanism techniques; if he had this new type of gunpowder and stuffed it into his puppets to control them, the ones who would have died in the end would have been them!

And the true culprit who harmed his father, the Maitreya Sect!

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Seeing Li Yan's brows tightly furrowed, Sha Lifei hurriedly changed the subject, laughing, "Anyway, Zhou Pan is dead, so we can sleep peacefully. Let's return to Xianyang today!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 82 =====