Chapter 12: A Great Fortune Founded on Martial Arms, Governing the World Together with the Sects!

That night, Li Yuan slept especially soundly. That wisp of blood qi circled his body as it moved, and his whole person felt as if soaked in warm water, making one unconsciously relax.

But after only three shichen, he woke naturally, full of energy, without the usual grogginess upon waking; his mind was very clear.

But, very hungry.

"No wonder the helpers, masters, and guards at the shop have such big appetites—not only do they have to take medicine, they also need heavy salt and heavy oil, the consumption is huge!"

Patting his belly, Li Yuan threw on the winter clothes his sister-in-law had made and got out of bed.

The perceptible self-improvement made him addicted, even giving him an impulse to cast aside all miscellaneous affairs.

But he knew that was impossible.

Practicing martial arts is not shutting oneself behind closed doors to forge a cart, let alone did he have that qualification or condition.

Getting up, he pushed open the door and went out.

The moon had set, the sun had not yet risen, last night's light snow had stopped, and there was a thin layer on the courtyard and rooftops.

In the early winter three in the morning, Gao Liu County was utterly silent. Borrowing the faint light from the accumulated snow, Li Yuan went with the flow, stood his post and lifted his hammer, adjusted his breathing, and quickly immersed himself.

With that wisp of blood qi present, he felt even less fatigued when standing his post, full of energy, and could enter the state of the Liu Hu Xi Fa extremely quickly. This naturally could not be separated from the enhancement of his mastery-level hammer technique.

"Hu!"

"Xi!"

Standing his post, swinging his hammer, the sky quickly brightened. Sensing the sound of dressing from inside the house, Li Yuan went with the flow and put down his hammer, adjusted his breathing, and the sweat around his body scattered with a gust of wind.

"He got up that early again?"

Seeing Li Yuan, Niu Gui, who had pushed open the door and come out, could not help but squeeze his aching arm, grinding his teeth inside.

In this past month, he had not been lacking in secretly competing with Li Yuan in secret.

But what left him sullen was that the fellow had not taken him seriously at all, and, not to mention being more diligent than himself, his physique was also getting better day by day.

"Li Yuan!"

Hearing the voice, Li Yuan turned his head.

Among the apprentices in the middle courtyard, his impression of Niu Gui was the deepest—not because he had always been competing with him, but because this thick-browed, big-eyed, very hardworking kid actually got in through the back door.

"You…"

Clearly the gaze opposite was very calm, yet Niu Gui could not help but feel a bit ill at ease:

"I, I want to have a match with you…"

"No interest."

Li Yuan put down his hammer, preparing to go to the kitchen to wash up. Having just finished exercising, he could not use cold water.

In his previous life he had also roamed the jianghu for several years; as for worldly affairs, not to mention having seen plenty, he was not unfamiliar with them either, so naturally he would not bear a grudge against such a child over this.

He had no connections; if he had, could he not use them?

"Li Yuan, someone's looking for you!"

Niu Gui still wanted to say something, but outside the courtyard, Fatty Sun's voice came through, so Li Yuan had to turn around and leave the courtyard.

"My second brother is here again?"

Li Yuan was used to it.

Li Lin came once every seven or eight days, each time bringing some boiled eggs, or some other snacks.

"government office Runner."

Fatty Sun had a somewhat odd expression: "You kid didn't do anything, right?"

"government office Runner?"

Li Yuan was startled, and had already seen the tall government office Runner in a soapberry uniform, accompanied by Qin Xiong, walking toward him.

'Is this the government office Runner from before who was patrolling the street and posting the bounty for the great bandit Nian Jiu?'

When Li Yuan recognized the person, while his heart was filled with doubt, that government office Runner had also walked up close, and the black mole at the corner of his eye twitched:

"I am Qiu Da, ordered to investigate a homicide case. I have come to make inquiries; if you know and do not report, you share the same crime as the principal offender!"

A homicide case?!

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat, almost thinking something had happened to his own second brother.

"Answer when asked, do not conceal!"

Qin Xiong swept a cold glance over Li Yuan, and the latter gave a start and hurriedly agreed.

"The day before yesterday around midday, when you went to Chai Yu Fang to purchase goods, there was a peddler selling spices, named Liu San—do you still have any impression?"

"Liu San?"

Hearing it had nothing to do with his own second brother, Li Yuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and replied:

"Reporting to my lord, the day before yesterday I did buy some spices at his stall…"

government office Runner Qiu Da's expression darkened:

"Only bought spices?"

"Only bought spices."

Li Yuan answered whatever was asked.

That pair of Liu He boots was a gift, not something he had bought.

"Is that so?"

Qiu Da swept a cold glance at Li Yuan, and still wanted to ask something, but Fatty Sun had already spoken:

"I sent him to purchase ingredients; how much was spent, what the prices were, all are recorded. Even if he had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, he could not deceive me!"

Hearing him say this, that government office Runner could only nod, turn around and leave. And before Qin Xiong left, he glanced at Fatty Sun, seemingly somewhat surprised.

"This Qiu Da is both foul and rigid, so although his Wu Gong is not bad, to this day he is still only a patrolling-street Constable. However, this person's uncle Qiu Long is an extremely formidable figure."

After the two had walked far away, Fatty Sun glanced at Li Yuan again:

"I'm only speaking the truth. If you really get mixed up in a homicide case, it has nothing to do with me!"

"Don't worry, Chef. This matter absolutely has nothing to do with me."

Li Yuan said with certainty, yet was curious who had killed this peddler.

The Dayun Dynasty founded itself on martial prowess; its martial atmosphere was exceedingly fierce. Naturally, punishments were also extremely harsh—murderers, once arrested, could be sentenced to execution without waiting until autumn.

"Liu Liu Laizi's family of six, plus five of his neighbors, were all killed. And it was done by the same person! I suspect the one who killed Liu Laizi is that Liang Liang Ashui, but that doesn't add up either—why would he kill that peddler?"

Fatty Sun shook his head as he walked. Ever since he learned Li Yuan had joined the shop over a month ago, his attitude had improved immeasurably compared to before.

Good heavens, a major serial murder case!

In any dynasty, any era, killing eleven people in a row would be an extraordinary case among major cases!

"What kind of person could be so brutally savage?"

Li Yuan drew a sharp breath, suddenly recalling Liang Liang Ashui who had been hooking spirit fish in succession. Did this person perhaps have a grudge against Liu Liu Laizi?

But why would this peddler…

"Besides gang fights, Gao Liu County hasn't had a case of wantonly slaughtering commoners in many years. You haven't gone out so you don't know—the city is already under martial law."

Fatty Sun yawned and headed toward the kitchen:

"Don't leave the shop lately either. That heaven-killing beast must have gone mad—killing even a peddler who had nothing to do with it…"

Li Yuan froze on the spot, then suddenly drew another sharp breath.

He thought of what connection that peddler might have had with Liu Liu Laizi…

"Six Harmonies Boots?!"

Li Yuan didn't know if his guess was right, but on a cold early-winter morning, he broke out in a cold sweat all over.

"It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?"

Sensing the Six Harmonies Boots on the gray stone platform, Li Yuan only felt his head grow heavy. Over a pair of broken shoes, eleven people killed?

It should be… impossible?

Reassuring himself inwardly, Li Yuan still resolved: until that murderer was caught, dead or alive he would not step out of the Weapon Forging Shop.

After thinking it over, he returned to the middle courtyard and, using a cured fish as payment, had Liu Qing run an errand to the Firewood and Fish Workshop for him, telling his second brother not to leave the house these days.

"Not enough since joining, still not enough!"

In the kitchen, Li Yuan felt a bit vexed.

Such a brutal murder case—past life or present—he was encountering one at his doorstep for the first time, and couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Those were eleven living, breathing people; stacked up, their corpses would weigh half a ton. Who in their right mind wouldn't be afraid?

But he had only just joined, and to advance further was absolutely not something achievable in a few days.

Unless…

Li Yuan thought of the inner courtyard, and also of the storeroom outside the martial training ground.

Practice hammers were, after all, only practice hammers—in ordinary people's eyes they didn't count as weapons at all. But the inner courtyard, the storeroom, must certainly contain graded weapons—real, genuine, killing arms.

And the inner courtyard held the most important part of the White Ape Cloak Hammer: the striking methods.

A Cloak Hammer without striking methods was less effective at hitting people than at forging iron…

"Striking methods, weapons…"

Beneath the rising cooking smoke, Li Yuan gritted his teeth in secret.

……

……

Leaving the middle courtyard, Qin Xiong saw him off all the way, escorting Qiu Da out of the Weapon Forging Shop.

"That kid is hiding something."

Qiu Da's gaze turned slightly cold as he looked at Qin Xiong. The latter shrugged indifferently: "If Brother Qiu suspects him, just take him to the county office."

"Oh?"

Qiu Da showed a trace of surprise, then shook his head: "Without evidence, one cannot arrest people recklessly."

"Brother Qiu is quite upright."

Qin Xiong laughed and asked:

"Brother Qiu isn't heading to the Lihe Martial Arts Hall next, is he? Wang Wang Luan isn't so easy to talk to…"

"So what of the Lihe Martial Arts Hall? No matter how capable Wang Wang Luan is, how does he compare to my uncle?"

Qiu Da scoffed coldly:

"The Dayun Dynasty founded itself on martial prowess—that's true. But after that sentence, there's still another one: the imperial court rules the world together with the sects!"

"Is that so?"

Qin Xiong neither agreed nor disagreed. It was only as Qiu Da turned to leave that he spoke, as if offhandedly:

"I hear that Liang Liang Ashui's talent is extremely high—in less than half a year, his Lihe Scattered Hand is nearly at minor completion. Wang Wang Luan seems to be preparing to send him to 'Divine Weapon Valley.' If Brother Qiu wants to take him, you'd better go soon…"

"Divine Weapon Valley?!"

Qiu Da's foot paused, and his face instantly turned ashen.

Qin Xiong had already laughed loudly and returned to the shop.

The Dayun Dynasty founded itself on martial prowess—that was true. But after that sentence, there was still another one:

The sects rule the world together!

(End of chapter)