Soaring Cloud Skill

In the north of Shuofeng City, there was an ordinary small courtyard.

At dusk that day, a slightly plump man with a sinister appearance led a middle-aged man in his forties through the gate.

"Steward Wang, this is where I live."

The slightly plump man led the middle-aged man into the courtyard.

Walking into the courtyard, the middle-aged man glanced around and commented, "Not bad. I never thought you, Fatty Zhou, would be living in a walled courtyard." His tone seemed to imply something.

Fatty Zhou, the slightly plump man, hurriedly explained upon hearing this:

"Steward Wang, please be discerning. I bought this with the sect's rewards and the contributions from below. I would never dare to commit embezzlement."

"I don't think you would dare."

Steward Wang snorted coldly.

Seeing this, Fatty Zhou relaxed and quickly said respectfully, "Steward Wang, please come inside."

"No need."

Steward Wang put his hands behind his back and turned to face him. "I have something for you to do today."

"Whatever you command." Fatty Zhou quickly bowed, assuming an attentive posture.

"Mm."

Steward Wang nodded with satisfaction and reached into his robes. "Here is a hundred taels in silver notes. Take this and go to Jade Wind Hall tomorrow. Say it's for the medicinal fees for the Beggars' Sect disciples injured the day before yesterday."

"Ah?"

Hearing this task, Fatty Zhou's eyes widened in shock.

Recently, the Beggars' Sect and Jade Wind Hall had a lot of friction over the control of a restaurant. If it weren't for the City Lord's Mansion and other forces, they would have already engaged in a full-blown fight.

It could be said that the two sides were at daggers drawn.

Just the day before yesterday, disciples from both sects met on the street, and naturally, a fight broke out.

Because the Beggars' Sect Leader's son was present, they achieved a great victory, while the Jade Wind Hall disciples suffered heavy losses. He heard that some were seriously injured and beyond saving.

Therefore, him going there with a mere hundred taels to pay for medicinal fees was simply a humiliation.

Furthermore, humiliating someone in their own territory, it was questionable whether he could even walk out in one piece.

It could be said that this was sending him to his death.

"Damn it, I've never offended anyone in the sect, so why would they give this task to me?"

As his thoughts raced, he quickly thought of a possibility: the Sect Leader needed an excuse to start a war.

Although there were many forces of all kinds in Shuofeng City, under the pressure of the City Lord's Mansion, a relative stability was maintained.

Large-scale conflicts rarely occurred.

Sending him to deliver a hundred taels for medicinal fees was clearly using his death as an excuse.

One could imagine that when other forces came to question them, the Beggars' Sect could say: Look, we specifically sent someone to apologize and try to ease the relationship.

But the other party was too arrogant, not only refused our good intentions but also killed the person we sent.

We must fight.

"What, you're unwilling?"

Seeing Fatty Zhou's long silence, Steward Wang narrowed his eyes, exuding a soul-stirring aura.

It seemed as if he would die immediately if he uttered a single word of refusal.

Fatty Zhou's heart tightened, and he could only steel himself and say, "Steward Wang, you jest. Of course, I am willing."

As he spoke, his hands trembled as he took the silver notes.

"Don't worry, this is a task personally assigned by the Sect Leader. If you handle it well, you will naturally be rewarded. For example, you will be taught the complete Grass-Parting Staff Technique."

Seeing that he accepted the task, Steward Wang's expression improved considerably. He finally left with these words and turned to leave.

After seeing him off, Fatty Zhou seemed to have his strength drained, collapsing onto the ground. Then, his eyes darted around, and he stood up excitedly.

"That's right, I can get someone else to do it."

Only after thinking of a solution did he breathe a sigh of relief. Just then, a knock sounded at the door again.

Fatty Zhou glanced at the sky and knew who was outside. Coincidentally, he also needed to find someone, so he went to open the door.

A thin beggar stood at the door.

"Greetings, Leader. I've come to deliver today's contributions."

Fatty Zhou looked at the beggar's dirty palm, where a dozen copper coins lay alone. He withdrew his gaze and frowned, "Why are you alone today? Where's Li San?"

A flicker of strangeness crossed the beggar's face. He quickly replied, "Replying to the Leader, Li San, he... Li San froze to death on the street last night. His body was taken by the City Lord's Mansion guards to the mass grave outside the city this morning."

"Is that so?"

Fatty Zhou took the copper coins from the beggar and examined them one by one, his tone somewhat cold, clearly not believing him.

"This junior wouldn't dare lie."

The beggar said nervously.

Steward Wang let out a cold snort, knowing the other party was hiding something from him, and said:

"I have something for you to do, come in first and we'll talk."

The beggar was somewhat flattered. He knew that normally this Fatty Zhou wouldn't even let them step over the threshold, afraid they'd dirty the floor.

Yet today, he was letting him in.

Fortunately, it was something for him to do.

"What are your orders, leader?"

The beggar became even more cautious.

"How dare you!"

After closing the door, Fatty Zhou didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly shouted, startling the beggar into kneeling on the ground.

"Leader, w-what did I dare?"

"Hmph, where is Li San? Is he alive or dead, did he escape or hide? Tell me the truth!"

Fatty Zhou had already picked up a smooth bamboo stick, his eyes cold.

Facing the interrogation, the beggar's body went limp. He never expected the other party wouldn't believe his previous story. Coupled with Fatty Zhou's past authority, his liver and gallbladder were instantly torn apart.

"L-leader, this junior didn't lie."

"Hmph, still playing tough? It seems I need to give you a taste of hardship, lest you forget my methods."

Fatty Zhou approached, holding the bamboo stick.

Upon hearing this, the beggar's mind couldn't help but recall past events. He became even more flustered, thus he no longer dared to hide anything and shouted:

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything! Li San is indeed dead, but he didn't freeze to death; he was killed."

"Oh?"

Fatty Zhou stopped, frowning. "Tell me the specifics."

He guessed in his heart, could it be revenge from Jade Wind Hall? If so, he would have to be careful when going out in the future.

However, to his surprise, Li San's death had nothing to do with Jade Wind Hall.

It turned out that Li San and his companion were staying overnight in a dilapidated temple when they accidentally encountered a heavily injured person. They then harbored malicious intent, but were counterattacked by the injured person in their dying moments, and were killed with a single palm strike.

"He was heavily injured yet could kill someone with a single palm strike. This person must be a martial arts expert."

Fatty Zhou's eyes narrowed slightly. He had originally just wanted to interrogate and control this beggar in front of him, then make him wholeheartedly do his bidding. He didn't expect an unexpected gain.

He then shouted again: "Speak, what did you get from that person? Hand it all over, or else..."

The beggar knew he could no longer hide anything. He gritted his teeth, pulled out a thin booklet from his clothes, and held it above his head, presenting it:

"I dare not deceive you, leader. This is what I got from that person."

"Just this one thing? No money or anything?"

Fatty Zhou took the booklet.

The beggar quickly said: "Replying to the leader, this junior searched his entire body, and this was the only item. I didn't find a single copper coin in terms of wealth."

"I don't think you'd dare deceive me again."

Fatty Zhou didn't have much doubt this time. After all, if the other party had found a large sum of money, they would have disappeared long ago and wouldn't have come back to find him.

Therefore, he didn't ask further. He opened the booklet, and upon seeing the large characters on it, he was instantly overjoyed.

"Soaring Cloud Skill! It really is a martial arts manual, and it's a Lightness Skill at that. Its grade has reached Human-tier Mid-grade!"

He became more and more surprised as he flipped through it.

On the ground, the beggar was also very excited to hear that the booklet he obtained was indeed a martial arts manual. However, he thought that now the manual had been taken, there was no way it would be returned.

He felt a pang of heartache again.

He could only grit his teeth and say: "Congratulations, leader, on obtaining the divine martial arts manual. You will soar to new heights from now on. I only hope the leader can promote me. Even if you keep me by your side as a beast of burden, it would be better than begging for food outside all day."

After speaking, he kowtowed heavily on the ground, then looked at Fatty Zhou with anticipation.

Fatty Zhou remained noncommittal. He slowly closed the booklet in his hand, and only then did he say: "Who else knows about this matter?"

The beggar naturally knew the other party was asking about the manual and who else knew about it. He quickly replied:

"Only this junior knows. I didn't dare to spread the word."

"En."

Fatty Zhou nodded, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp. He raised the bamboo stick in his hand and swiftly pointed it towards the beggar's throat.

Crack!

His throat instantly caved in.

"You, you..."

The beggar's eyes widened, wanting to say something but unable to speak. Soon, he fell to the ground with extreme reluctance.

"Don't blame me either. You can't imagine how precious martial arts manuals are, let alone one of Human-tier Mid-grade. Even the Sect Leader would fight for it."

Fatty Zhou said nonchalantly, killing a person as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

Then, without even looking at the corpse, he walked into the house, intending to hide the manual first.

However, the moment he stepped inside, he felt a sharp gust of wind rush towards him, making his hair stand on end.

"Who!"