Wanted Criminal

"This station reports: Luo Jianren, a Fifth-grade Martial Artist fugitive, has appeared in Jiangbei City's eastern district. He has already killed one Third-grade Martial Artist and five ordinary people. The Martial Artist Guild and the Jiangbei City Enforcement Bureau have issued a bounty: anyone providing valid clues about fugitive Luo Jianren will be rewarded ten thousand yuan. Anyone who captures or kills Luo Jianren will be rewarded one hundred thousand yuan."

"Next, we will release a photo of fugitive Luo Jianren, along with his basic information: Luo Jianren, male, thirty-seven years old, a Fifth-grade Martial Artist. He excels in movement techniques and is highly proficient with the blade."

"This station reminds the public: if ordinary people encounter Luo Jianren, they must not panic or become agitated. A Martial Artist's five senses are extremely sharp; once you behave abnormally, he will notice you. Therefore, if ordinary people encounter Luo Jianren, avoid him if possible."

"Martial Artists must also act within their means. Only those with comparable strength should engage him in battle. If your strength is insufficient, notify the Martial Artist Guild or the Enforcement Bureau."

"Next, we continue with the following news..."

In the hospital room, Chen Mo and his father watched the news on television.

When they saw the report, both father and son frowned. If they encountered a Fifth-grade Martial Artist fugitive, there would be only one road for them—death.

A sense of danger lingered in his heart, and Chen Mo had no mind to keep watching the news that followed.

"Dad, turn off the TV!"

"Mm! All right! Let's not watch anymore!"

Chen Mingyuan casually switched off the television. He too had a bad feeling, and his heart felt heavy.

"Dad, our home is in the eastern district. You and Mom need to be careful whenever you travel back and forth from the hospital. If you run into Luo Jianren, you and Mom should both pretend you didn't see him. We're ordinary people. If he sets his sights on us, there's only one road—death."

Thinking of how his father's work often took him outside, Chen Mo was deeply worried.

Especially these past few days, when his father had to come to the hospital to look after him.

"Little Mo, Dad understands. I'll be careful. You don't need to worry too much either. That fugitive is a target of universal condemnation now; he can't possibly kill people in broad daylight."

"Your mother and I travel to and from the hospital during the day, and we take the bus. There are lots of people watching. Nothing dangerous will happen."

Chen Mingyuan walked over and patted his son on the shoulder. Hearing his son's concerned words, the unease in his heart gradually eased.

Chen Mo also let out a breath of relief.

His father was right. Luo Jianren would have to be insane to kill people during the day.

But there was no guarantee he would not come out at night. If he broke into their home to murder them, they would not even be able to hide.

Although Chen Mo's family lived in a residential complex with security guards at the entrance, none of them were Martial Artists. For a Fifth-grade Martial Artist like Luo Jianren, entering the complex would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Chen Mo looked at Chen Mingyuan and seriously reminded him:

"He may not come out during the day, but you still have to be careful at night."

"Mm, I know. Your dad is already forty, after all. I've met more people and have more life experience than you. Nothing will go wrong."

"If..."

He had almost said, If your Dantian hadn't been crippled, I'd still tell you not to act recklessly. Even if you encountered Luo Jianren, you'd have to be cautious.

But when he thought of his son's current condition, he swallowed the words back down.

Not wanting his son to see through his thoughts, Chen Mingyuan immediately changed the subject.

"Little Mo, do you know who exactly harmed you? Could it have been that fugitive?"

The moment he asked, Chen Mingyuan regretted it. Hadn't he just steered the topic back to the Dantian again?

So he hurriedly explained, "Little Mo, I'm only worried about you. I just want to get to the bottom of what happened. I don't mean anything else."

Seeing his father's somewhat flustered appearance, Chen Mo felt a sour ache in his heart, and an inexplicable emotion surged within him.

"Dad, I know. I didn't know what happened either. After school, I was heading home as usual. When I passed that stretch of road, everything suddenly went black before my eyes. When I woke up, I found myself here."

"Whether at school or outside, I've never offended anyone."

"As for whether it was that fugitive, I'm not sure either. He's a murderer. He shouldn't have left me alive."

"Mm, Dad thinks so too. If you had run into a murderer, you definitely wouldn't have been so lucky. But why would someone cripple your Dantian for no reason? Think carefully—did anything unusual happen to you recently?"

Since the subject had already been laid bare, and his son was willing to talk to him about it, Chen Mingyuan simply pressed for every last detail.

Chen Mo thought back carefully and found nothing out of the ordinary, so he shook his head.

"There really was nothing unusual. It was just the same route between home and school, day after day. I didn't even speak to any strangers. Much less offend a Martial Artist."

"Sigh, forget it. If you can't remember, don't force yourself to. Let the Enforcement Bureau investigate it. Get some proper rest."

Chen Mingyuan could only resign himself to it.

At forty years old, he had long since passed the age of innocence.

He knew the Enforcement Bureau's investigation would not produce any results either.

There was no surveillance footage, and the victim had not seen the perpetrator, leaving them unable to provide any evidence. It was basically impossible to find the culprit.

What was more, they were a family of ordinary people. How could they possibly hire a Martial Artist to help investigate?

If a Martial Artist investigated, they could generally determine what cultivation method had been used from the aura lingering around the wound, estimate the culprit's approximate strength, and narrow the range down considerably.

But they still would not be able to quickly find the culprit. It would consume a Martial Artist's energy and require a great deal of money as well.

No Martial Artist would do something so thankless and exhausting.

Chen Mo understood the situation clearly as well. That was simply how things stood now.

A Martial Artist only had to leave the city once and kill a few Fierce Beasts to earn tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. Who would be willing to spend the effort helping you investigate a murderer?

And Chen Mo's family was not well-off. They could not afford to hire a Martial Artist.

What was more, your Dantian had been destroyed. Your path of martial arts was cut off; you could never become a Martial Artist. You had no value whatsoever.

If you were a genius, they might still do you a favor and lend a hand.

But you weren't.

In the end, you could only rely on yourself.

Chen Mo gave a quiet hum, then closed his eyes and said no more.

Next, he released his perception and continued training his Spiritual Power.

Viewing the world from a third-person perspective always felt novel to Chen Mo. From this angle, not only could he see more clearly and in finer detail, but he could also perceive the true nature of certain things.

Suddenly, Chen Mo thought: since he could perceive things outside himself, could he look inward as well?

No sooner thought than done. Chen Mo immediately withdrew his perception and turned it inward.

The next second.

His muscles, internal organs, bones, and major blood vessels appeared before his eyes, like the anatomical diagrams he had seen in his previous life.

His heart thumped steadily, pumping blood from its chambers, the blood flowing through his vessels.

Chen Mo was somewhat disappointed. He had thought he would be able to see the meridians within his body, but instead he could only see the things shown in anatomical diagrams. The extremely tiny blood vessels and nerves remained invisible.

His attention shifted to the back of his neck, where he saw several tiny blood vessels had ruptured and bruised blood had pooled. Some areas had already healed.

This was where the murderer had knocked him unconscious.

Then his attention moved to the Dantian in his lower abdomen. A thumb-sized wound extended inward from the outside into his abdominal cavity. The outer muscles had been stitched up, but bruised blood still remained pooled there.