Enter Again

The Fish Market existed to make buying and selling easier for fishermen, so it was naturally not far from the Lakeside Dock. Ignoring the drain on his Inner Force, Xu Yang unleashed the Battle Scroll's lightness technique. With the effect of Swift as Flying, he reached the Lakeside Dock in just a few breaths.

Then, without bothering to look for the Black-awning Boat he had moored before, he sprang into the air and plunged into the water.

"Gulu Gulu!"

The moment Xu Yang entered the water, he felt a strange force surge from every limb and bone. Even the currents around him flowed in harmony with his body's movements, granting him astonishing strength out of thin air. With the slightest motion, he shot several zhang away.

Swimming: Muddy Dragon!

Xu Yang had developed this trait through arduous training in the East Sea during his time in Great Zhou. Its effect resembled Like a Fish in Water, except the "fish" had become a "dragon," allowing him to possess the strength of a flood dragon in the water.

Though this flood dragon was only the same size as him, not some true dragon or giant python capable of overturning rivers and seas or reaching the heavens and earth, it was more than powerful enough. Xu Yang had tested it before: relying solely on this flood dragon's strength, without using any martial arts, he could battle several True Gang grandmasters in the water and still emerge victorious.

Thus, the instant he entered the water, Xu Yang could basically be certain of his safety.

Yet he still had no desire to linger. His body swayed like a dragon, and he burst forth at astonishing speed, heading straight into Dongting Lake.

His Camouflage just now might not have been flawless, but it had contained no visible weakness. Young Master Tie had not noticed anything suspicious. The reason he had attacked was purely a Sudden Inspiration—he had thought Xu Yang was merely a fisherman, as lowly as grass beneath his feet. Even if he killed him on the spot, it would be of no consequence.

That was the sorrow of the common folk at the bottom of this world. Their lives were as cheap as weeds, to be trampled at will. Even if they were wrongly accused and wrongly killed, it amounted to nothing.

Xu Yang understood this well and did not dwell on it. He only considered why they had come.

Why?

Zhang Cheng!

Could there be some problem with the wealth Zhang Cheng and his son had possessed, some fortuitous encounter or opportunity connected to it, that had made the Golden Carp Gang and Iron Lion Gang go to such lengths in searching?

That was probably the reason.

Then...

It had nothing to do with him.

He had no interest in any fortuitous encounter or opportunity, because he already possessed the greatest opportunity in this world.

Zhuang Zhou's Dream Butterfly. Across the myriad heavens and worlds, as long as he kept accumulating, he would eventually reach the Absolute Peak.

Therefore, no matter what secrets or opportunities lay within the wealth he had taken from Zhang Cheng's family, Xu Yang did not care, nor did he intend to make use of them.

In truth, he had buried that wealth long ago and had never intended to use it.

Now that such a complication had arisen, he had even less reason to dig it up and invite trouble.

Xu Yang swam directly back to his hideout, gathered the belongings he had long prepared for just such a day, along with Cormorant Old Six, who had been guarding the home all along, and began to relocate.

Dongting was vast, stretching eight hundred li across and through, with countless tributaries connecting to major waters and even the boundless ocean. Let alone one Golden Carp Gang—even a hundred Golden Carp Gangs would be searching for a needle in the sea if they wanted to find someone within it.

Even so, Xu Yang was unwilling to take risks. With his prepared emergency belongings and Old Six, loyal to the core and of great use, he moved toward his farthest hideout, away from the area covered by the Golden Carp Gang's influence.

Meanwhile, at the Lakeside Dock.

Two middle-aged men, each leading a group of subordinates, stood on the shore and watched as their men forcibly dismantled a dilapidated Black-awning Boat. Both wore livid expressions, killing intent surging around them.

A moment later, one man returned and presented a gleaming long saber. "Gang Leader, we have searched the cabin inside and out. This was the only thing we found."

"Search again!"

"Yes!"

One middle-aged man barked the order. The gang member did not dare say another word and turned to continue his futile search.

This man was none other than Li Hengtong, the Golden Carp Gang Leader, who had lost his beloved daughter!

On the other side stood a formidable middle-aged man, his beard and hair bristling with rage—the Iron Lion King, leader of the city's other major gang.

At this moment, his fury and grief were no less than Li Hengtong's, who had lost his daughter, because he too had lost a son.

He had seven sons. Together with himself, they were known throughout the city as Eight Lions Roaring, their prestige boundless. Yet today, one lion had died—the third son he valued most, the one who had been about to marry into the Golden Carp Gang.

How could his heart not ache?

"Find him! Find him for me! Even if you have to turn Dongting Lake upside down, find the man who killed my son! Hack him into a thousand pieces and grind his bones to ash!"

"Yes!"

As he roared his command, the people behind him answered in deep voices, though inwardly they were grumbling without end.

Turn it upside down? What kind of joke was that? Who did he think he was, the Heavenly King himself?

Dongting Lake stretched eight hundred li in every direction, shrouded in mist and clouds, its terrain strange and treacherous. Let alone a tiny Iron Lion Gang like theirs—even if every gang and martial expert in the Prefectural City were mobilized, they still might not be able to search all of Dongting Lake.

The old man had lost his son and gone mad. They would just search halfheartedly and placate him.

Everyone secretly grumbled in their hearts, with no intention of putting in real effort.

Three days later, beside an uninhabited island in Dongting Lake, another Black-awning Boat sent curls of smoke rising into the air.

Xu Yang sat at the bow, cooking a pot brimming with meat. At his feet sat a jar of fine Nu Er Hong.

Wine, meat, and a boat—where had they come from?

Naturally, he had bought them.

Three days earlier, Xu Yang had taken his belongings and Cormorant Old Six, racing hundreds of li in a single day to another region of Dongting Lake. There, he had revealed his true appearance and displayed his martial strength. As a wandering martial hero, using the money he had secretly accumulated over the decades, he purchased a great deal of daily necessities and a Big Black Canopy Boat, then came to settle on this secluded, uninhabited island.

Though he knew the Golden Carp Gang had almost no chance of finding him, this turn of events had still stirred a pressing sense of urgency and danger within him.

My strength is too weak. My heart cannot rest easy.

He had to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

How?

Naturally, by advancing on two fronts.

As the Ancestor of Martial Scriptures, aided by numerous traits, cultivating the Great Zhou Martial Scripture was as simple for Xu Yang as eating, drinking, breathing, or sleeping.

Moreover, the Great Zhou Martial Scripture had fused the traits of techniques such as Nine Yin Nine Yang, Tai Chi Wuji, and Primordial Qi. It could circulate on its own and steadily grow stronger. Even if he did not actively cultivate, his power would gradually increase.

Thus, Xu Yang could enter Zhuang Zhou's Dream Butterfly while cultivating martial arts. To him, sleeping was like circulating his cultivation or meditating—it could increase his power and advance his cultivation, neither hindering the Dream Butterfly nor delaying his training.

With both paths advancing together, his strength would surely soar.

Then what was he waiting for?

He swept clean the meat in the pot and drained the fine wine in one gulp. Full and satisfied, Xu Yang returned to the much roomier cabin. He had Cormorant Old Six stand guard outside while he himself happily lay down on the small bed, pulled up the little blanket, and entered the land of dreams.

Zhuang Zhou dreamed of a butterfly; the butterfly dreamed of Zhuang Zhou.

Time and space shifted. His spirit wandered the great void. After a dizzying whirl of heaven and earth... Xu Yang woke up!

He woke from the cold!

Raising his head and looking around, he saw frost and snow filling the sky, falling in flurries. Everything was draped in silver, revealing the killing chill of deep winter.

Xu Yang sat up and found himself clad in rags, thin as a stick, curled into the corner of a small alley. The wind and snow that filled the sky were gradually burying him. He was a Little Beggar who was about to freeze to death—no, one who had already frozen to death once.

During the new book period, updates can only be like this, otherwise it will affect the recommendation schedule and make it harder to get listed. So please bear with it. Once the recommendations are finished and the book is listed, there will definitely be more updates. I hope everyone will support it; the numbers are not looking too good at the moment.