Mindset II

"People from the Incense Gathering Cult again?" Wei He's heart stirred, and a vicious gleam flashed through his eyes.

"Hiding beside my home at a time like this—if they aren't bad people, then they have evil intentions. Kill them first and ask questions later!"

He suddenly spun around and threw a fierce punch at each of their backs.

He had abruptly turned and launched a sneak attack from behind.

The two did not know him at all. They had been hurrying along with their heads down, so how could they have expected a random passerby to suddenly attack them?

Moreover, they were merely ordinary Incense Gathering Cult members, and their reactions were much slower to begin with.

Two muffled thuds rang out. Wei He knocked them both to the ground with one punch each, their spines shattered.

Their bodies twisted at strange angles as they threw back their heads, about to scream.

With two crisp cracks, Wei He caught up and stepped on each of their faces, forcefully crushing their cries into the dirt.

His expression did not change as he twisted and ground down with his feet.

After two more crisp cracks, the two fell silent.

Wei He dragged the corpses swiftly to the river beyond the wall, tossed them into a heap of dry reeds, then took off a straw hat and put it on. He turned and pursued Xu Wei in the direction he had left.

As he ran at full speed, recalling Xu Wei's strength and reactions just now, he no longer hesitated. The Boundary-Breaking Pearl at his chest pierced and exploded.

A vast surge of scalding qi and blood immediately flooded into his body. Wei He's muscles rapidly swelled and filled with blood, while blood-red spots seemed to bloom densely over his skin. A dull grayish-white gradually surfaced over both fists, like stone.

In only a few breaths, Wei He's body had grown a whole size larger.

Qi and blood coursed through his entire body, surging like towering waves.

The killing intent in his eyes intensified, and his feet moved even faster. In a few flashes, he vanished into the alleyways.

Xu Wei was leaning against a wall, waiting for the cult members to summon other incense masters and kill Wei He.

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps and looked up.

"They got here so fast?" he muttered doubtfully, looking toward the alley entrance.

But the moment his eyes fell there, he saw a burly Wei He striding toward him.

He hesitated slightly. The man approaching wore clothes similar to Wei He's from before—common gray trousers and a long gray shirt—but his build was completely different. He also wore the wide-brimmed straw hat standard to the Incense Gathering Cult.

"May I ask which incense master has come to lend a hand?" He cupped his fists and asked.

The other man reached up, grasped the straw hat, and removed it.

The instant the hat revealed his face—

Pfft!

A cloud of quicklime was flung straight at his face.

Xu Wei was caught off guard. Though he reacted swiftly, hurriedly raising his hands, shutting his eyes, and retreating several steps, some still got into his eyes. His vision blurred with searing pain.

"You!"

His qi and blood churned as a gust of evil wind rushed at him. He immediately shut his eyes and struck forward with a Black Lotus Palm, determined to block the opponent's attack.

Yet the moment he struck, he sensed something wrong. His right palm had hit something sharp, like a spike.

He grunted, and his palm was pierced, blood spilling out.

"You!!" Shocked and enraged, he was about to shout for help. But the instant he opened his mouth, another cloud of quicklime came raining over him, most of it falling onto his face and into his mouth.

"I—!!" Xu Wei was in agony, his words slurred as he wildly swung his palm forward again.

Unfortunately, he still met that same spike.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!!

Three times in succession, all three consecutive palm strikes were pierced by the spike. Xu Wei felt his palms go numb and lose all sensation of pain. Horror surged through him as he turned to run.

Pfft!!

A fist smashed violently into the back of his head, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

Wei He stepped forward, expertly planted his foot on Xu Wei's cervical vertebrae, and twisted hard.

Crack.

A perfect finish.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

A faint round of applause suddenly came from the mouth of the alley.

"Fine martial arts." A man stood calmly at the alley entrance, looking toward Wei He.

"Your moves are ruthless, Your killing intent decisive. You truly kill with swift resolve and act with lightning speed."

Before his words had even faded, his vision blurred. Wei He, who had just been some distance away, had already lunged before him, punching straight at his face.

The man was greatly alarmed. He raised his hands to block and retreated, trying to flee.

But it was already too late. The fist crashed into his arm with Great Strength beyond the Second Stage Qi and Blood, like a heavy hammer. A crack like snapping branches rang out.

The man screamed and fell backward. He was just about to roar for help, but once again, he was too late.

Wei He stepped forward and kicked viciously at the side of his head.

With a soft snap, his neck broke on the spot. His eyes remained wide open, and he died with grievances unfulfilled.

Wei He quickly dragged the two corpses away. At the place where he had discarded the bodies earlier, he pulled out the corpses from the dry reeds as well and threw them, one by one, into the Feiye River.

The Feiye River was a great river. Though it had dried up considerably now, its current was still swift. Once the bodies were thrown in, they vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

It was an ideal place to destroy corpses and erase evidence.

After cleaning up all traces, Wei He slowly returned to his own courtyard before long.

If not for his sharp eyesight, which had caught the faint trembling in that last man's legs and the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, he might truly have been bluffed by the man's unhurried demeanor.

Unfortunately, after breaking through in qi and blood and reaching Stone Hide, his five senses had become keener. Combined with his innate caution, he would never be fooled so easily.

That man had probably seen that he would not have time to flee, so he had decided to pose as some expert, pretend he was not with the Incense Gathering Cult, and first try to deceive him with words.

Unfortunately, he had been far too naive.

After finishing everything, Wei He slowly strolled back into the courtyard.

Wei Ying had already been drawn out by the commotion. She stood in the courtyard holding a stick, her face full of vigilance.

The moment she saw Wei He enter through the side gate, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Little He, where did you go just now? I heard sounds outside and got scared. I wanted to find you, but I couldn't see you anywhere."

Relaxing, Wei Ying hurried over.

Then she suddenly noticed specks of blood on Wei He's clothes over his chest.

"Oh! Why is there blood on you!?"

She was greatly alarmed.

Wei He's expression remained unchanged as he fiercely pinched his own nose.

"I had a nosebleed just now. Mm." He quickly tilted his head back, letting a little blood drip from his nostrils.

"Oh! You really have a nosebleed! How could you—" Wei Ying immediately became worried.

"Wait here. I'll find something to plug it up." She hurriedly turned around to look for something to stuff into his nose.

After bustling about in a flurry, she quickly plugged Wei He's nostrils and finally relaxed.

"Why would you get a nosebleed? Could the weather be too dry?"

She thought that tomorrow she would stew something to cool her little brother's internal heat. The weather was probably too dry, causing him to get overheated.

Wei He sat down and felt the changes after breaking through to Stone Hide and achieving his second breakthrough in qi and blood.

Blood gurgled through his entire body. Every moment, his body seemed to be transforming, continuously changing under the remolding of ever more immense qi and blood.

His body's capacity was greater, his skin tougher, his explosive power stronger, his five senses sharper, and his body lighter.

So this is what a breakthrough feels like? He lowered his head, pulled open his collar, and looked at the pattern of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, now emptied once more.

Emptying the Boundary-Breaking Pearl for the second time left a hollow feeling in his heart.

I had clearly planned to slowly try breaking through on my own. Unfortunately, this world won't allow it.

He sighed inwardly.

Early the next morning.

He rose at dawn and headed for Huishan Fist Academy.

He had no intention of concealing his strength as a trump card. At a time like this, the more he needed to display his potential, the more resources he could obtain.

If he kept hiding his strength, he would instead fail to receive sufficient nourishment to grow stronger.

With a creak, he pushed open the door and entered.

Wei He saw that Li Jue and two other disciples had already arrived early and were moving the training equipment assigned to them.

He went over to lend a hand, then looked around for Cheng Shaojiu and Ouyang Zhuang.

Unfortunately, he had probably come too early.

Cheng Shaojiu had not arrived at all, and Ouyang Zhuang was nowhere to be seen. He had probably taken the day off or gone to work a side job.

Old Zheng had led the group to exchange fists a few days ago. Now, he would probably revert to his usual routine and slowly arrive only when the sun was high in the sky.

Wei He rested for a while. Since no one was around, he did not waste time and immediately began training on his own.

It was not that he wanted to show off his strength. Rather, after breaking through to Stone Hide, the subsequent methods of training, raising qi and blood, and grinding the skin were all different.

He needed to inform Old Zheng before he could receive the methods for the next stage.

Therefore, unless he wanted to stagnate where he stood, he had to tell Old Zheng of his progress.

At this moment, however, Cheng Shaojiu had no time to concern himself with other matters.

Because of affairs at home, he was confronting his uncle.

Cheng Zhengxing was the chief escort of the Yonghe Escort Agency and Cheng Shaojiu's uncle. He had no children of his own and treated Cheng Shaojiu entirely as his own son.

Normally, he did not care what the young master of the escort agency wanted to do, even if he kept a few idle hangers-on.

Business had been good, and there had been plenty of money. Supporting a few idle people was nothing.

But now the escort agency's business was no longer what it had been, yet Cheng Shaojiu kept bringing his fair-weather friends home to feed and support.

Calling it brotherhood was all well and good, but this had gone too far.

Because of this, Cheng Zhengxing had argued with Cheng Shaojiu many times. Yet the boy simply refused to see reason.

Inside the main hall of the Yonghe Escort Agency.

Cheng Zhengxing wanted to look sterner, but facing his only nephew, the anger in his heart simply could not rise.

"Shaojiu, business at the escort agency is poor these days. You should also show some consideration for the family. Those friends you recommended cost the agency no small sum every month just in empty wages," Cheng Zhengxing said earnestly.

"Uncle, didn't I already ask Zhou San and the others to leave? I've already sent away quite a few people. The ones remaining are brothers I truly share loyalty with. If I drive them away at this critical moment, how will they manage outside?" Cheng Shaojiu snapped angrily.

He understood that the family was in financial trouble now, and he had helped explain the cuts to their monthly allowances.

He had also persuaded some of his brothers to leave.

But now they wanted him to dismiss all his brothers and sisters, and during the most critical, difficult period at that. Was that not forcing him into a place of disloyalty and injustice?

"You also understand that something happened at the escort agency. Combined with the changing situation, business has plummeted. If you continue being so willful, the family may truly be unable to hold on any longer," Cheng Zhengxing sighed.

Who could have imagined that the main agency, once thriving with business, would suddenly fall to such a state?

If only Shaojiu had befriended more children of great clans like Jiang Yan. They might be able to help now.

As for all those others of humble origins, what use was there in befriending however many of them? They simply could not help the escort agency overcome its present difficulties.