Martial Arts Manual

"So he can take a beating?"

Qing He Miao was secretly startled.

The bigger the body, the greater the strength. The ancients truly did not deceive me!

His opponent was only three levels above him. Even after taking two heavy punches to his vital points while completely unguarded, he still hadn't gone down?

He's got something to him. He's not like those small fry from before—that huge frame wasn't for show!

His thoughts raced, but he no longer hesitated to strike.

Ora ora ora—!!

Qing He Miao attacked in tandem with his Stand, unleashing a rapid flurry of punches. Like a raging storm, they instantly enveloped Mount Luba's vital points: his head, neck, chest, and more!

"Bang bang bang bang bang—!!"

Dull impacts exploded through the wooden cabin like a string of firecrackers!

Mount Luba had no way to defend himself. His powerful body jerked as though a giant hammer were pounding it again and again. Blood spilled from his mouth and nose, and his eyes bulged.

"Who..."

At last, with an unwilling whimper, his massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The machete fell to the floor with a clang.

[You killed LV13 Bandit Mount Luba and gained a large amount of experience.]

Only when the system notification appeared again did Qing He Miao stop attacking.

Looking at the muscular corpse on the floor, its face mangled beyond recognition and its flesh a bloody mess, he felt a powerful wave of nausea surge up his throat.

"I can't throw up... definitely not now..."

He let out a long breath and forced his churning stomach to settle, then had his Stand pick up the thick-backed machete Mount Luba had dropped.

Killing by controlling the Stand and killing with my own hands really do feel different.

Qing He Miao thought to himself:

And having a weapon really does make a difference in efficiency. Judging by Mount Luba's reaction just now, he clearly "sensed" something. A LV13 martial artist can already sense the Stand's attacks?

Then someone at a higher level might be able to sense them more clearly. This threshold is way too damn low. Doesn't that mean anyone whose spirit exceeds the limits of an ordinary person can start sensing it? That's pretty close to the original story. I'll have to be especially careful from now on.

Once his main body's stats were higher, the Stand, which took damage in sync with him, would instead be a weakness.

He had to be careful when bringing it out. No wonder the system had an equipment slot for the Stand.

Just then, he had no more time to reflect.

The commotion Mount Luba had made earlier had already stirred up a disturbance outside.

He could faintly hear footsteps running this way, and someone was shouting:

"Boss? What was that noise?"

"Chief Lu? Are you all right?"

Qing He Miao knew he could no longer proceed without making a sound.

Controlling his Stand, he made no further effort to conceal it. He grabbed Mount Luba's mangled corpse, pushed open the wooden door, and threw it straight onto the open ground in front of the cabin.

Then the Stand moved swiftly from place to place, cutting the heads off the bandits he had dealt with earlier and dragging their corpses out of their respective rooms one by one, tossing them onto the road.

As for why he hadn't touched Mount Luba's corpse himself,

it was because he was kindhearted. His main body was here, and he couldn't bear the sight of blood and gore.

Before long, corpses and heads lay scattered every which way across the street outside, looking especially gruesome and terrifying in the light of the bonfires.

At the same time, Qing He Miao had his Stand, Cream, smash down the house whose door had been erased earlier, as well as the doors and walls of several nearby shacks where bandits might be hiding.

Wood chips and dust pattered down, swirling through the firelight.

This concealed the traces left by his earlier use of Cream.

Such a huge commotion and the horrifying, bizarre sight before them naturally could no longer be hidden from anyone in the stronghold. It immediately sparked even greater chaos!

"Ghost! There's a ghost!"

"The door! The door's gone!"

"The chiefs! The chiefs are all dead!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Grab your weapons!!"

Panicked shouts, chaotic footsteps, the clash of weapons...

In an instant, the previously quiet mountain stronghold boiled over and descended into utter chaos!

Taking advantage of the opening, Qing He Miao pulled a firework left over from the New Year out of his equipment inventory.

He found a relatively secluded spot along the stronghold wall, planted it there, and took a lighter from his pocket to light the fuse.

"Fssst—whoosh—bang!"

A bright light shot rapidly into the sky, trailing flame and tracing a clear path across the black night before bursting open high overhead with a boom.

Brilliant, with a strangely untimely hint of festivity.

Now, as long as Huang Wulang outside wasn't an idiot,

he would presumably know it was the signal.

Although the firework briefly stunned them,

it also brought some of the more alert bandits to their senses after what they had just seen.

"Wait! It's not a ghost! An enemy has snuck in! That just now was... some kind of signal!"

A scar-faced man waved his saber, trying to shout down his panicking comrades:

"Don't fucking panic! Grab your weapons and gather together! Someone's attacking the stronghold! Everybody, don't panic!"

"Right! Group up! Back to back, don't get separated!"

Someone answered him.

Having done all this, Qing He Miao took the opportunity to slip into the relatively safe shadows.

He controlled the Stand, machete in hand, and had it cut wherever the crowds were thickest.

"Pfft!"

Again and again, a flash of steel appeared without warning from behind the crowd!

When the others looked over, they saw something flash past, and some of the men would be left with fatal gashes, blood spraying as they staggered and fell.

Pools of blood spread rapidly across the ground, and corpses gradually stiffened.

[You killed a LV5 bandit and gained a small amount of experience.]

[You killed a LV7 bandit and gained experience.]

[You killed a LV5 bandit...]

[Congratulations! Your level has increased to 11!]

System notifications flashed through his mind one after another, and the faint warmth from his increased attributes eased the fatigue brought on by intense concentration.

The survivors scurried about like headless flies, shouting and hiding, yet unable to tell where the deadly threat would strike from.

Even in death, they never got so much as a clear glimpse of their enemy.

The fear brought on by the unknown surpassed even death itself.

Just as the will to resist within the stronghold had been almost completely crushed and the surviving bandits were on the verge of collapse,

"Kill—!"

Earth-shaking battle cries finally rang out from the direction of the stronghold gate!

Chapter 53: Martial Arts Manual

Huang Wulang charged in at the head of the force, a long saber in his hand and a longbow on his back.

He led more than sixty Huang Family soldiers, fierce as wolves and tigers, into the stronghold!

They clearly had a basic understanding with one another, quickly securing the gate, the main thoroughfares, and important locations such as the undamaged granaries and stables.

Faced with enemies they could see and touch, some of the bewildered bandits instead breathed a sigh of relief.

Some mustered the courage to resist, while others simply threw down their weapons, dropped to their knees, and begged for mercy.

Huang Wulang directed his clansmen to split up.

Some wiped out the remaining enemies and bound the prisoners, while others quickly took control of key locations and inventoried the supplies.

With the outcome settled, the battle cries and screams within the stronghold gradually died down, leaving only the shouts of the Huang Family Fort's men and the prisoners' wails.

Only then did Qing He Miao slowly emerge from the shadows where he had been hiding.

His face looked somewhat pale in the firelight, and his breathing was a little heavier than usual.

"Daoist!"

Huang Wulang noticed him immediately and hurried over with a few trusted clansmen.

His voice was full of admiration, mixed with a trace of indescribable awe.

He hadn't figured out how the Daoist had accomplished what happened tonight.

But though he did not understand it, he knew it was formidable. The scene throughout the stronghold was undoubtedly the work of this young Daoist.

"Your divine powers are vast, Daoist. You've truly opened our eyes tonight. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, just a little mentally exhausted. Fort Master Huang, sorry to trouble your men with the rest. And while you're at it..."

Qing He Miao waved a hand, forced himself to stay alert, and glanced around with a slight frown.

"Could I trouble you to find me a cleaner chair?"

"Of course! Please wait a moment, Daoist!"

Huang Wulang agreed at once, his tone carrying a hint of respect. He immediately turned and gave a quick-witted young clansman beside him a meaningful look.

The clansman understood and hurried off.

Before long, he actually returned with a wide wooden chair covered in the fur of some unknown animal, apparently from the room of Mount Luba or one of the other major chiefs.

Though crudely made, it counted as a rare piece of "luxury" furniture in this mountain stronghold.

He quickly wiped the fur with his sleeve before carefully moving the chair behind Qing He Miao.

"Please, have a seat, Daoist,"

the clansman said respectfully.