Setting Off II

"Brother Sheng had secretly practiced martial arts on his own since childhood. He was fairly sturdy, so Master needn't worry."

Uncle Zhao smiled.

"I hadn't expected Brother Sheng to be so formidable. Those two villains were masters I had pursued over a decade ago. Who would have thought that, after all these years, they would return only to fall at Brother Sheng's hands?"

He had examined their wounds. Both had died from the force of the Heart Piercing Palm.

He simply did not know when Brother Sheng had mastered the Heart Piercing Palm, nor how deep his palm force truly ran.

After all, the depths of this martial art could not be judged from its outward appearance alone.

"That's for the best." Lu Quan'an nodded. "It's nothing. Keep things as they were. Once he has rested up, let him continue to Yan Mountain City to study martial arts."

"With Little Sheng's skill, there was no way he could have trained so quickly and so well unless he loved martial arts to the point of obsession. That is good too. I imagine Little Sheng will be quite willing when he hears it."

Second Mother said softly.

"Alright, alright. This was a false alarm. Everyone, disperse. Xiao Qing, go back and reflect on yourself properly. Don't go wandering around outside for a while. Stay at home!" Lu Quan'an placed her under house arrest.

"Oh." Lu Qingqing had been thoroughly frightened as well. If her eldest brother had come even a step later, she truly would have been finished.

She needed time to settle herself, too.

What happened to Lu Qingqing quickly spread throughout the Lu Estate, even reaching the other households of Nine Links City.

Lu Sheng's reputation for being obsessed with martial arts spread as well.

These days, few people knew of the Ghost Head Saber Brothers, but everyone knew that Lu Sheng had acted alongside his younger sister to capture several formidable wanted criminals. Rumor had it that he had even killed several people.

Once that reputation spread, Lu Sheng became famous overnight.

The way people in the estate looked at him was no longer the same as before.

This was a man who had killed formidable wanted criminals! Whenever they saw Lu Sheng, everyone felt a measure of awe.

After all, anyone who could be wanted yet remain uncaught had to have a few tricks up their sleeve.

"That's perfectly normal." Lu Qingqing sat in Lu Sheng's room, swinging her legs as she slowly nibbled on an apple.

After nearly losing her chastity before, she no longer ran outside all day.

Instead, she often came to Lu Sheng's room, trying to persuade him to investigate the Xu Family tragedy with her.

"Among the people in the Lu Estate, aside from you, Eldest Brother, Uncle Zhao, and the few martial arts instructors, I'm afraid the remaining guards have scarcely even seen blood.

That was how these servants used to look at me."

She seemed accustomed to it.

"Come to think of it, if Master and my senior brothers learned that I had such an incredible eldest brother, I wonder what their expressions would be. Just thinking about it is amusing!"

Lu Qingqing laughed.

Lu Sheng held a brush and slowly practiced calligraphy.

"Brother Xu's case must be investigated. But not now."

He spoke in a deep voice.

"Brother Xu died so horribly!" At the thought of it, Lu Qingqing's eyes reddened.

"Don't worry. Sooner or later, I'll get to the bottom of this." Lu Sheng set down his brush and looked at the large character for endurance on the paper.

This clash with two Power Through Realm masters had shown him exactly where his limits lay.

Every expert at the Power Through level was a formidable figure with their own unique art, far stronger than ordinary martial artists.

Though he had used the Modifier to raise both the Black Tiger Saber Technique and the Heart Piercing Palm to their utmost state of mastery, facing two enemies alone was not a matter of simple addition.

When two Power Through masters besieged someone together, the result was that one plus one was greater than two. The mental effort required to deal with them was twice that needed for a single opponent.

If there had been one more Power Through master who coordinated well with them, even he would have suffered defeat this time.

Lu Sheng pondered inwardly.

He had won this time, but it had been a narrow victory. In the end, even his saber had been broken, and he had suffered injuries in many places.

Still too weak. In the Xu Family tragedy alone, there were four Power Through masters among the courtyard guards! Add to that all those servants and retainers—slaughtering every last person in a single night without a sound... just imagining such skill sends chills down one's spine.

Whenever Lu Sheng thought of this, he felt that his preparations were nowhere near enough.

He needed greater strength, more powerful martial arts!

"Eldest Brother, what are you thinking about? Do you want to go shopping with me?"

Lu Qingqing waved a hand in front of Lu Sheng, a trace of anticipation in her eyes.

Ever since he had saved her last time, she had seemed like a different person around Lu Sheng. Her temper had improved greatly, and she had become much more delicate, more like a proper young lady.

"Qingqing, do you know about internal arts?"

Rather than answer her, Lu Sheng asked a question.

"Internal arts? I've heard Master mention them." Lu Qingqing nodded. "Internal arts masters are different from those of us who train external arts. They take a very long time and progress very slowly. Without three to five years of foundation, they're no different from ordinary people in actual use.

Why are you asking about this, Eldest Brother?"

"Does your master know any masters of internal arts?" Unable to find Duanmu Wan, Lu Sheng intended to seek a breakthrough through Lu Qingqing.

"She does know some. Master has two friends, both Daoists who practice health-preserving qigong." Lu Qingqing replied.

"Health-preserving qigong... Does she know any proper internal arts masters, the kind used in combat?"

"That... I haven't heard of any."

Lu Qingqing's answer disappointed Lu Sheng.

But it was within his expectations.

Even the mysterious Duanmu Wan had only produced a few health-preserving qigong manuals. Lu Qingqing's master was merely a somewhat famous external arts expert, so the chances of her knowing an internal arts master were slim.

"What? Eldest Brother wants to practice internal arts? I heard that stuff is terribly mystical, takes ages, and its training process is complicated and dangerous. Its power isn't even that great. How can it compare to external arts, which show results quickly and are stronger in real combat? What would be the point of practicing it?" Lu Qingqing did not understand.

"I have my own plans."

Lu Sheng began calculating inwardly.

He did indeed intend to go to Yan Mountain City, but now that this incident had occurred, it was not easy for him to leave Nine Links City.

His family in this life treated him very well. His father, Second Mother, Uncle Zhao, and everyone else were all good to him.

He did not want something to happen to the family the moment he left.

Besides, in times like these, if something truly happened, where could he hide alone?

Lu Sheng had also sensed that his father, Lu Quan'an, wanted to send him far away to Yan Mountain City as though he were avoiding something.

The wind and rain are about to come. He let out a long sigh. Looking at his second sister Lu Qingqing, who knew nothing, his heart suddenly grew heavy.

If I truly leave, I might evade it for a time. But I can't possibly keep running every time. Sooner or later, I'll have to face it.

While the family is still well-off and money is no concern, I need to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Only having the strength to protect myself is the right path.

Yan Mountain City was simply too far away. Lu Sheng already had other plans.

Cultivating both internal and external arts, merging the inner and outer into one—this was the most powerful path he could think of. He suddenly remembered the manual he had spent a great sum at auction to acquire: the incomplete copy of the Black Fiend Skill.

Though it's incomplete, this is the only martial arts manual I have right now. Never mind.

As Lu Qingqing chattered at his side about amusing incidents from when she had studied under a master, Lu Sheng silently began recalling the qi-circulation route of the Black Fiend Skill.

He had practiced the Black Fiend Skill for quite some time before, so he still remembered the entry-level mental method of its first layer.

Seeing that Lu Sheng was somewhat distracted, Lu Qingqing talked for a while longer before leaving in disappointment.

Xiao Qiao came in afterward, bringing Lu Sheng a basin of water to wash his face, then serving him medicinal soup.

Throughout it all, Lu Sheng did not speak. Even as he went about these tasks, all his attention was focused on the mental route for circulating the Black Fiend Skill.

He guessed that the reason the Black Fiend Skill was so difficult to master might be that, like the Jade Crane Skill, it required an initial qi-circulation diagram.

The Jade Crane Skill's qi-circulation diagram was an immortal crane spreading its wings to take flight.

The Black Fiend Skill perhaps ought to have such a diagram as well.

But the manual did not contain one.

This diagram is like a master outline. It coordinates and unifies the routes through which internal qi flows throughout the body.

Unfortunately, he had too little material on internal arts to research and explore it systematically.

Thus, he concentrated on practicing the Black Fiend Skill while nursing his injuries.

In the blink of an eye, several more days passed.

Another strange incident occurred in Nine Links City.

Someone found what looked like a child's casual doodles on the outer wall of a residence in the suburbs.

They seemed to have been scrawled haphazardly on the wall with charcoal. Some idle busybodies specifically kept watch, wanting to see whose child was so mischievous.

Yet overnight, more inexplicable doodles appeared on the wall without a sound or trace.

No one had passed by at all.

The massacre of the Xu Family, the well-jumping case at Wang Family Village, the hunters' disappearance case, and now these inexplicable doodles.

This string of incidents left the people of Nine Links City panicked for a time.

Some even claimed they had heard shrill, miserable screams outside the city at night. The bold ones went to investigate and found what seemed to be traces left by savage beasts fighting, along with lingering bloodstains.

Then another order came from the Prefectural Office: the request for assistance in finding people could be withdrawn.

One morning, Lu Quan'an and the heads of the other three families were summoned to the Prefectural Office again.

His expression was terribly unpleasant when he returned.

When Lu Sheng asked him about it, he would not say, only that he had clashed with the prefect and the meeting had ended badly.

Lu Quan'an then summoned Lu Sheng's uncle, Lu Anping, who served as a deputy commander in the garrison army.

The Lu Family had been able to secure its footing over the years not merely because of Lu Quan'an alone. Uncle Lu Anping was another pillar whom he had fostered and supported.

The two remained behind closed doors in the study for a long time before finally opening the door again.

Afterward, someone saw Uncle hurrying away from the Lu Estate.

Lu Sheng rested and recuperated in his room, continuously learning of the estate's affairs from Lu Qingqing and Xiao Qiao. Second Mother, Fifth Mother, Lu Yingying, Uncle Zhao, and the others also came to visit him from time to time.

Nine Links City beyond the Lu Estate increasingly gave Lu Sheng the feeling that danger lurked on every side.

Then Uncle Zhao sent someone over again, saying that they had found traces of Xiao Ba. He was in a house on the street where he had fallen unconscious. By the time he was discovered, he had been starved so thin he was barely recognizable.

"Xiao Ba? Did he say what he encountered? Why was he alone in that house?"

Lu Sheng asked.

The messenger was one of Uncle Zhao's guards. He shook his head.

"He didn't say much. He only kept repeating that he had run there desperately that day. Just after arriving on that street, he entered the house and suddenly collapsed not long afterward. When he woke, he had already seen us."

Lu Sheng frowned.

"Has this been verified?"

"It has. Uncle Zhao checked it from several angles. It does appear to be exactly as Xiao Ba said."

"That is strange..."

Lu Sheng shook his head.

"You may leave first."

"Yes."

The guard quickly departed.

Lu Sheng paced several times through the small courtyard outside his room.

His injuries had long since mostly healed. He had simply been diligently practicing the Black Fiend Skill, waiting for a sensation of qi.

The moment he felt even a thread of qi, he intended to rapidly raise his internal arts, ensuring that the Black Fiend Skill became a true part of his strength.

Just then, Lu Quan'an hurried into the courtyard with two servants.

"Sheng'er, you have recovered more or less. Shall we set out today?"

Lu Quan'an's expression was gentle and calm. He carried a black satin bundle in his hand, clearly travel funds prepared for Lu Sheng.