A Fist Cleaving Blood and Flesh

Spring rain was as precious as oil:

Under the farmers' eager hopes, heavy rain arrived deep in the night.

With coarse cloth covering his face, bare feet stepped across the blue stone road.

Like an oversized mantis, Chu Qing leaped and darted through the night, silently arriving at Liu Jun's home.

Liu Jun had money and a courtyard.

Using the sound of wind and rain as cover, Chu Qing slipped into the yard, shut the main gate, and slid home the wooden bolt.

The main hall was brightly lit, and the rough voices of men could vaguely be heard.

Chu Qing leaped and turned, silently landing atop the roof.

Carefully, he lifted a roof tile. The voices below immediately became clear:

"That damned Seventh Young Master of the He Family actually extorted three thousand silver from Big Brother."

"Is there no law left?"

"Big Brother, you've trained more than ten Iron Sinews. You're strong, and your fists and kicks are formidable. Why not kill that Seventh Young Master?"

Liu Jun growled:

"That Seventh Young Master has trained at least a hundred Iron Sinews and knows five or six martial arts."

"He's even stronger than the Deputy Hall Master."

"You want to kill him? One finger from him could crush us to death."

Everyone fell silent.

Liu Jun sighed. "Silver isn't a problem. I've settled it all."

"Now, I have a task for you."

"Big Brother, say the word."

Liu Jun took a savage gulp of wine and said viciously, "Take turns watching Chu Qing."

The younger brothers seemed to understand.

Over the past few days, while Liu Jun had sent them to investigate He Xiaogou's death, they learned that He Xiaogou had begun fleeing in panic outside Chu Qing's home, only to die miserably in a remote alleyway.

They suspected that Liu Xiaogou had discovered some secret of Chu Qing's and had ultimately been killed for it.

"Big Brother, don't worry. We'll keep a close eye on him and dig out his secrets."

Liu Jun said with satisfaction, "Chu Qing has secrets. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hunted He Xiaogou down."

"Besides, I suspect Liu Hai was killed by him too."

The younger brothers said angrily, "Big Brother, suspicion is enough. Let's just kill him."

Liu Jun threw back his head with a long sigh. "It won't be easy. He's now working for Madam Jin..."

Eh? Why was there an eye on the roof?

Where was my roof tile? That was premium blue tile—very expensive.

Drip.

Rainwater fell, landing right in the wine cup.

Liu Jun looked at the rippling wine, then raised his head toward the roof.

The eyeball was gone. The roof tile was gone too.

Rainwater dripped.

The younger brothers also looked up. "Big Brother, the roof is leaking."

Liu Jun's expression changed drastically. He growled, "Careful. There's an enemy."

The door exploded apart. Wind and rain swept in, and the candle flame flickered.

A figure like an oversized mantis charged in, weaving and shifting.

Crack!

Crack!

Five fingers came together like a blade, chopping at two younger brothers.

In an instant, blood and flesh splattered, facial bones split, and brain matter spilled out.

You killed an enemy.

You killed an enemy.

Liu Jun's scalp crawled. With a growl, he snatched up a chair and smashed it forward.

Crack!

The hand blade became a fist and blasted the chair apart. Amid flying wood splinters, the figure rushed before Liu Jun.

The figure raised both hands and crossed them overhead like two long blades, chopping down with savage force.

Broad and burly Liu Jun felt, in a daze, as if he were facing a gigantic mantis.

"Perfected Mantis Fist... Who wants to kill me?"

"I don't want to die."

"Kill!"

Liu Jun roared. One leg rose through the air like a great serpent, lashing toward the figure.

Crack!

The hand blades crossed. Flesh tore open on his thigh, the major tendon snapped taut and broke, and white bone shattered.

Liu Jun screamed and collapsed limply to the ground.

The next second, a fist fell, striking squarely between his brows.

The fist force was like a blade, splitting open his forehead and blasting apart his brain.

Liu Jun... died.

The remaining younger brothers howled like ghosts and wolves. Some crumpled to the floor, while others fled in panic.

The figure rushed out and slaughtered the fleeing men.

One...

Three...

The last man, weeping, yanked free the wooden bolt and opened the gate.

He smiled.

He had escaped.

But the next second, a fist descended from the sky.

Crack!

The top of his skull split open, and his brain matter shattered.

Thud!

The corpse hit the ground.

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The figure dragged the corpse back inside, shut the gate, and slid home the wooden bolt.

Then he returned to the main hall and slaughtered again.

In the side room, a woman peered through the crack in the door. She saw the candlelight in the main hall sway and a mantis-like shadow dart and twist.

Miserable screams rang out one after another, only to swiftly fall silent.

The woman covered her mouth, trembling all over.

She did not dare leave her room until dawn.

Three thousand taels of silver.

A copy of the Red Snake Leg Technique.

A portion of Red Snake Secret Medicine.

Several bits of broken silver and copper coins.

After killing, one had to loot the corpse.

These were Chu Qing's gains from killing enemies.

After taking out Liu Jun, Chu Qing felt refreshed and clear-headed.

"However... Liu Jun is the nephew of Hall Master Liu from Head-Slicing Hall."

"Hall Master Liu will investigate sooner or later."

"This Hall Master Liu... is also trouble."

"I just don't know how many Iron Sinews he has trained, or what methods he possesses."

After pondering for a while, Chu Qing hid away the silver, then looked through the manual.

One minute later:

Martial Art: Red Snake Leg — Uninitiated. Practice ten times daily; Initiated in ten days.

Promotion Condition — 1: Left and right leg stretches, one hundred times.

The condition was simple. Chu Qing immediately began.

Each of his legs had trained nine Iron Sinews. With this leg technique, he would gain another means of attack. He had to learn it.

One time...

Ten times...

One hundred times...

He switched legs and continued.

A few minutes later:

Martial Art: Red Snake Leg — Initiated. Practice fifty times daily; Proficient in one hundred days.

Promotion Condition — 1: Left and right leg stretches, one thousand times.

Simple. Continue.

Morning:

Liu Jun's neighbors loathed him for being a gang member, so they directly reported it to the authorities.

The authorities arrived, and their expressions shifted slightly at the sight of corpses covering the ground.

They dragged the woman out from the side room. She wailed, "I won't report this to the authorities. I'll handle it myself."

Slap! Slap! Slap!

A bailiff slapped her back and forth several times, knocking out even her back molars.

"So many people died. How are you going to handle it?"

"Men, move everything to the yamen as evidence."

The bailiffs swarmed forward like locusts, carrying away tables and shouldering sacks of rice and flour. They even stripped the woman of her silken clothes and tore away her gold and silver ornaments.

The woman sobbed torrentially. She was also put in a cangue and made to kneel to one side.

After a long while, a constable named Xu Zuo arrived.

The coroner examined the corpses while the constable shouted at the woman, "Confess honestly. Why did you kill so many people?"

The woman said in terror:

"I didn't kill them."

"A Masked Man in coarse clothes killed them."

In a muddled, disjointed fashion, she described everything she had seen.

The constables sneered and still imprisoned her as the murderer.

Before long, the constables went with Xu Zuo to see the Chief Constable.

The Chief Constable's surname was Shi. Chief Constable Shi came from a prominent family in Stone Rock County and had graduated from the Martial Academy. It was said that he had become an Outer Disciple of the greatest sect within a thousand li—the Armored Soldier Sect—and possessed formidable strength.

By a stroke of fortune, he had also married a woman from the family of a major figure among the Armored Soldier Sect's inner disciples.

His backing was exceedingly powerful.

"My lord, the murderer first went onto the roof to eavesdrop, then charged in through the front gate and began killing."

"The deceased, Liu Jun, cultivated the Red Snake Leg and had trained over ten Iron Sinews."

"But with only one move, one of his legs was split open, and then his forehead was cleaved apart."

The constable completely reconstructed Chu Qing's process of killing the enemies.

At last, he cupped his fist and fell silent.

The Chief Constable looked toward Xu Zuo.

Xu Zuo cupped his fist. "My lord, all the wounds were caused by fists and hand blades."

The constable beside him was stunned.

He had examined the wounds. They had clearly been made by long blades chopping through them.

How could human fists and hand blades cleave through flesh and bone?

Chief Constable Shi frowned.

"In Stone Rock County, there are three martial arts capable of leaving blade-like wounds with fists and hand blades: Mantis Fist, Iron Hand, and Iron Thread Fist."

"And they must at least be cultivated to the Great Accomplishment Level."

"Investigate those who practice these three martial arts."

The constable cupped his fist and accepted the order.

Chief Constable Shi added, "Liu Jun... seemed to be from the Blood River Gang?"

"My lord is wise!"

"Have the Blood River Gang send one hundred taels of silver for the brothers' investigation expenses."

"Many thanks, my lord."

"Mm... Tell them that if they want to find the real murderer, it will take at least one thousand taels."

"As you command!"