Lying Low III

Lying Low III

"However, I should remind you, Young Master: these three internal arts are all Life Nurturing Techniques focused solely on preserving health. Once mastered, they hold little power in a fight. They are suited for family inheritance and self-cultivation, not for combat. Even at their peak, they only have two levels."

Duanmu Wan reminded him.

"Life Nurturing Techniques, and only two levels? Are there no true martial world internal arts?"

Lu Sheng frowned slightly.

"There are, but such internal arts usually belong to sects and schools. Even if I gave one to you, Young Master, would you dare cultivate it?"

Duanmu Wan raised her lovely brows, looking at Lu Sheng with the faintest hint of a smile.

Lu Sheng fell silent for a moment, then smiled as well.

"Indeed. I would not dare cultivate such internal arts. Once a sect's internal art leaks out, it becomes a feud that ends only in death."

"It is good that you understand. Of course, there are also some low-grade internal art manuals. But compared to these three, those manuals take an extremely long time to cultivate and their power is unremarkable. They are not as worthwhile as these."

Duanmu Wan thought more highly of Lu Sheng for immediately admitting defeat. Before a beauty like her, nearly every man would unconsciously develop a competitive spirit and the urge to prove himself, wanting to display his strongest and most heroic side no matter what.

Yet Lu Sheng could say the words "I don't dare" without changing expression. That was not something an ordinary person could manage.

"These three internal arts do not quite meet my requirements."

Lu Sheng said in a deep voice.

"Young Master Lu, do not be so quick to refuse. Internal art manuals are not cabbages—you cannot have them whenever you want."

Duanmu Wan smiled sweetly.

"I happen to have a few books here now, purely by chance. After some time passes, I may not have any left."

Lu Sheng did not understand what she meant.

"Can't manuals simply be copied several times and sold repeatedly?"

"That is true in theory, but what I sell are all lone copies—the originals." Duanmu Wan spoke confidently.

"Is that true?" Lu Sheng's heart stirred.

"Of course. As for that Black Fiend Skill, Young Master Lu would be better off not cultivating it. Not only is the technique incomplete, it is a damaged copy passed down from over a hundred years ago. Finding the rest of it is virtually impossible."

Duanmu Wan advised him.

Lu Sheng pondered for a moment.

"I wonder if Miss Wan has any other manuals? I do not need the originals. Copies will do. How about one hundred taels per volume?"

Duanmu Wan's expression remained unchanged, her faint smile still in place.

"Young Master Lu is this obsessed with martial arts?"

"Yes. I am, in fact, a martial arts fanatic," Lu Sheng answered earnestly.

Duanmu Wan looked at him with interest. The two met each other's gaze for a moment before she suddenly burst out laughing.

"In that case, payment and goods exchanged together."

"Payment and goods exchanged together. I'll take the Jade Crane Skill."

Lu Sheng casually picked one. He took out the banknotes from his robes. This was the last of his savings; once he spent it, he would have nothing left.

Without even looking at the banknotes, Duanmu Wan tucked them into her sleeve and set down the Jade Crane Skill.

"Then I wish you great success in martial arts soon, Young Master."

"Thank you for your auspicious words."

Lu Sheng rose to see her out.

After escorting Duanmu Wan to the main gate and watching her board her carriage and slowly depart, Lu Sheng finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

For some reason, every time he faced Duanmu Wan, he felt a faint sense of caution.

She was clearly only a frail woman and did not seem to know any martial arts, yet something about her simply felt wrong.

He watched the carriage slowly travel on until it vanished at the end of the street.

Only then did Lu Sheng turn back.

Holding the Jade Crane Skill in his hand, Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment before deciding to examine this internal art first.

...Nine Links City Prefectural Office.

Within the square-like yamen compound, the courtyard faced the court hall. The ground was paved with slabs of white stone, and sunlight shone upon them, reflecting a faintly dazzling glare.

Inside the courtyard, more than ten vermilion pillars supported the red roof of the court hall.

Two rows of red-lacquered punishment staves stood on either side of the hall.

Prefect Song Duanchi sat atop the court hall, brows tightly furrowed. Behind him hung a massive image of blue skies and white sun, with an immortal crane spreading its wings in flight.

Two men stood on each side below, four in total.

They were the heads of the Zhao, Li, Lu, and Zheng Families.

These four families represented the forces behind more than half of every trade and industry in Nine Links City.

Lu Quan'an was one of them.

He wore a gold coin-patterned jacket embroidered with yuanbao ingots and a red jade wealthy-man's cap. His hand continuously stroked the beautiful beard beneath his chin, his gaze fixed tightly upon the Prefect seated above.

Including the Prefect, none of the five spoke.

Zhao Shide, head of the Zhao Family, was a bald old man with a brawny build. His Zhao Family controlled all the restaurants, brothels, entertainment houses, and gambling dens throughout Nine Links City. Of the four, his was the strongest force.

Seeing that no one was willing to speak, his face twitched as he spoke first.

"Lord Song, you asked us to find people and things, and we sent people to search. We originally thought it was only a minor matter.

"But now more than a dozen of our people have vanished one after another. This is a matter of life and death.

"If you still refuse to tell us the truth under such circumstances, then do not blame us for refusing to keep you company."

Lu Quan'an had already made up his mind to remain silent.

The other two appeared to have the same intention.

Prefect Song Duanchi's brows drew together as he let out a long sigh.

"The object and the person were instructions handed down from above. There is nothing I can do.

"Moreover, strange incidents have appeared one after another these past days, both within and outside the city. I invited the abbot of Red Lotus Temple to conduct rites, but to no avail.

"The wandering martial artists I hired also never returned. I do not know whether they fled or not. And the Wang Family Village case outside the city has yet to be resolved.

"I summoned the four of you today to see whether you have any good ideas. Nine Links City is, in the end, all of our Nine Links City."

Lu Quan'an and the other two still said nothing.

Zhao Shide merely gave a cold laugh.

"Let us put aside the search for people for now. We can stop that first.

"As for the other matter, since Your Lordship has no solution, I have invited a highly skilled expert to investigate it. But it would not be right for my family alone to pay the reward, would it?"

"Since he is an expert, if he can truly solve the case, this official will give him the entire bounty." The Prefect was the first to confirm it.

"My family will contribute one thousand taels."

"The same for mine."

Lu Quan'an hurriedly spoke up.

"The same for me." The last family head followed the crowd and offered one thousand taels.

"Very well. Someone has taken on the Xu Family case for now. But as for the Wang Family Village case..." The Prefect began to worry again.

"Is Wang Family Village not the case of the concubine throwing herself into a well? Why not simply close it according to the Great Song Law?"

The head of the Li Family said blandly.

"If only it were that simple. The problem is that even the concubine's corpse cannot be found now, and there is not even a trace of blood at the bottom of the well.

"Yet many people in the village swore they saw the concubine throw herself into the well with their own eyes. We also did indeed find footprints by the well."

The Prefect shook his head.

"Troubles come one after another in these unsettled times..." Watching this scene, Lu Quan'an sighed inwardly.

The moment he recalled the terrified expression on his old Xu Family friend's face before his death, his heart suddenly clenched.

...Lu Estate.

Inside the bedroom.

Lu Sheng sat cross-legged on the bed, his mind focused. Following the method of the Jade Crane Skill, he began imagining an immortal crane in his chest, wings spread as though ready to fly. It continuously beat its wings, gathering strength without ever taking flight.

After circulating his breath with closed eyes for a while, Lu Sheng slowly opened them and took the Jade Crane Skill manual from his robes, flipping it open to take a look.

On the first opened page was a clear hand-drawn image of an immortal crane spreading its wings as if about to soar. Its posture of striving skyward gave off a faintly oppressive feeling.

Lu Sheng stared at the image for a moment, then immediately closed his eyes again and continued imagining the crane in his chest.

He repeated this three times.

The light outside the window gradually dimmed.

Xiao Qiao came to call him to eat several times. Lu Sheng refused each time, keeping his door tightly shut as he continued sitting on the bed.

The pine crane he imagined grew increasingly lifelike, increasingly real.

Just as darkness fell in the evening, Lu Sheng abruptly opened his eyes from where he sat on the bed.

Huff. He fiercely expelled a mouthful of turbid air.

He took a deep breath and clearly sensed an ant-thin thread within his chest, slowly rotating through his torso to form a simple oval.

The oval rotated clockwise, slowly and gently. Without close attention, it was impossible to distinguish.

Lu Sheng relaxed in exhaustion and hurriedly recited inwardly.

"Deep Blue."

At once, the Modifier interface appeared before his eyes.

Within the deep-blue Modifier box, a small line of text had appeared beneath the Black Tiger Saber Technique.

'Jade Crane Skill: Not Initiated.'

"Hurry."

Lu Sheng quickly focused his mind and pressed the modify button, afraid that this faint sensation of qi would vanish.

As the button was pressed, the entire Deep Blue Modifier flashed once.

Lu Sheng quickly focused his attention on the Jade Crane Skill.

"Raise it one level!" he recited inwardly.

The Jade Crane Skill's status suddenly jumped.

From Not Initiated, it instantly became Initiated.

Lu Sheng paused and felt a faint thread-like stream appear within his body, slowly flowing down from his chest toward his lower abdomen.

An oval ring formed between his chest and lower abdomen. Those threads of cool qi constantly flowed between the two.

"It's initiated... It seems the burden on my body is not too heavy."

After considering it, Lu Sheng focused his attention again, imagining the Jade Crane Skill's realm rising another level.

Cough, cough!! Suddenly, his throat turned dry and itchy, and he began coughing loudly.

A stifling heat rose from his lower abdomen and surged into his heart, leaving Lu Sheng thirsty and parched.

"No, my body's yin is deficient! Raising the Jade Crane Skill too quickly also damages the body. It just isn't as overbearing as the Black Tiger Saber Technique."

Lu Sheng released his focus and allowed the Modifier to slowly fade away.

"So this is internal force?"

He stretched out his legs and slowly climbed down from the bed.

Carefully sensing the Jade Crane Skill's internal qi continuously circulating between his chest and abdomen, he found it endlessly novel.

"It feels as though there is an extra thread inside my body."

Lu Sheng tried to control the thread, only to discover that it seemingly could not dart elsewhere. It could only circle between his chest and abdomen.

As that thread of internal qi circled, he could distinctly feel his breathing become much easier and his spirit grow more vigorous.

"Now that the internal art is initiated, let me see." Lu Sheng took out the manual and examined the records written within.