The Missing Day

Standing at the entrance to the alley, Han Zheng frowned deeply.

That man knew him, and he had been surprised that Han Zheng was still alive.

In that man's understanding, Han Zheng should have been dead.

Judging by his attitude, even if Han Zheng was supposed to be "dead," it definitely had not been an accident. Otherwise, why had he run?

Thinking of the missing day in his memories before transmigrating, his abrupt appearance outside the county town, the ten taels of silver on him, and that man's attitude—

The day of memories he had lost before transmigrating was definitely far from simple.

Han Zheng rubbed his head. He suddenly recalled that he seemed to know the man.

Not recently, but from a long time ago. It seemed that man had studied martial arts alongside him at the Zhenwei Martial Arts School.

But Han Zheng could no longer remember the man's name or identity.

After thinking long and hard without recalling anything, Han Zheng could only head home first.

But he had to get to the bottom of this matter.

He was supposed to have died, yet he was alive now.

Heaven knew what he had gotten caught up in that night.

Now that the man knew he was alive, would someone come to harm him? That was all unknown.

Early the next morning, Han Zheng arrived at the martial arts school bright and early.

After waiting at the entrance for a while, he saw Li Sancheng arrive and promptly dragged him to the latrine in the back courtyard.

"Why did you drag me here in such a hurry? Do you get lonely taking a dump by yourself and need someone to keep you company?"

Li Sancheng looked utterly baffled.

"I want to ask you about someone."

Han Zheng had previously been quiet and withdrawn. After entering the martial arts school, all he did was bury his head in training.

Other than his friend Li Sancheng, he had not spoken more than three sentences to anyone else in the martial arts school.

Li Sancheng, meanwhile, had a lively and active nature, and was on familiar terms with practically everyone.

"Who?"

Han Zheng carefully recalled the man's appearance. "He trained with us at the martial arts school before, but he was older than us, a little over thirty.

Tall and skinny, with a pig-kidney face, a wretched-looking mug covered in pockmarks."

"Isn't that grandson Ma Gui you're talking about?"

Li Sancheng slapped his thigh. "Why are you asking about him?"

"Never mind that for now. Do you know anything about him?"

Li Sancheng's face was full of disdain. "Others might not know, but I know that grandson very well.

His father used to be a jailer at the County Yamen too, but he was too greedy and drove a prisoner to death in jail.

But that prisoner's family had already pulled strings, and he was supposed to be released in a few days. Instead, when they came to collect him from prison, they received a corpse.

After the matter blew up, his father was thrown into jail. The other family bribed several thugs to enter the prison and finish him off.

That grandson Ma Gui was cut from the same cloth as his father. Since childhood, he had stolen chickens and dogs, bullied the weak, and feared the strong, spending many years as a street thug.

His mother scraped together silver from east and west to send him here to learn martial arts, but before even a month had passed, the school master kicked him out for stealing money. It directly angered his mother to death.

But recently, I heard that grandson has become prosperous again. He latched onto Wang Xiong, a Three Harmonies Gang leader. That fellow is the confidant of the Three Harmonies Gang's Second Gang Leader, Gao Kaiyuan, and he can be considered somebody in Black Stone County."

Han Zheng frowned slightly. Ma Gui's background was rather complicated.

The people truly calling the shots in Black Stone County were not the County Magistrate, but the two families and three gangs—the five martial forces within the county town.

The two families were the East City Song Family and the West City Shen Family.

The Song Family had deep foundations. They were a collateral branch of the great Shannan Dao clan, the "Heavenly Blade" Song Family.

The West City Shen Family had risen only a little over a decade ago. Though its foundations were not deep, the Shen Family's eldest young master was a direct disciple of the great Shannan Dao sect, the Tiangang Sect, and had brought the Shen Family quite a few Tiangang Sect outer-sect cultivation techniques.

The three gangs were the Black Tiger Gang, the Sky Eagle Gang, and the Three Harmonies Gang, three rough-and-ready grassroots gangs.

Among these five forces, every one had at least one expert of the Late Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm holding the fort.

Of the three gangs, the Three Harmonies Gang was the strongest, because it had three gang leaders, all Xiantian experts.

The Three Harmonies Gang's three leaders had been sworn brothers in their youth.

After founding the Three Harmonies Gang, they had not established the usual positions of gang leader and deputy gang leader. Instead, they ranked themselves First Gang Leader, Second Gang Leader, and Third Gang Leader according to the order of their brotherhood.

The Second Gang Leader, Gao Kaiyuan, was nicknamed the "Shattered Jade Hand," and was famed throughout Black Stone County for his grappling techniques.

After asking where Ma Gui lived, Han Zheng pulled Li Sancheng back to the front courtyard for class.

Li Sancheng did not continue asking why Han Zheng wanted information about Ma Gui.

Though he appeared to spend all day grinning foolishly without a proper bone in his body, he knew the proper limits in handling matters, and knew when to advance and when to retreat.

After the major examination, only half the disciples remained, and what Li Jingzhong taught had changed as well.

It was no longer simply internal force cultivation, but combat methods.

"What is the true meaning of cultivating martial arts?"

Li Jingzhong looked at the disciples present and said in a deep voice, "Some say it is to strengthen the body. Some say it is to uphold justice, slay demons, and eliminate devils.

But in my eyes, that is all bullshit!

Upholding justice, slaying demons, and eliminating devils are not the meaning of cultivating martial arts. They are the meaning of being human.

Martial arts have only two cores: cultivation and slaughter!

Returning from the Acquired Realm to the Xiantian Realm, surpassing the limits of the human body, and ascending to the pinnacle of martial arts—that is cultivation.

Fighting and killing, carving out a path to survival in this chaotic age—that is the meaning of martial arts!

Previously, the Iron Elephant Skill I taught you was the foundation of martial cultivation.

But the Vajra Fist you are learning now is the beginning of martial slaughter.

Actual combat and punching forms are two different things. Your opponents are not wooden dummies that will stand there and let you hit them.

Therefore, truly integrating martial arts into combat and slaughter will be your course from now on.

In martial combat, it is better to press forward in a single thought than pause in a single thought.

Once you strike, do not hesitate. Everything must be aimed at killing your opponent completely."

Li Jingzhong tore open his collar, revealing a hideous scar above his chest, as though he had once been stabbed clean through by a sharp weapon.

"When I first entered the martial world, I escorted goods for others. One night, I caught a petty thief trying to steal something.

I could have killed him, but I had never killed anyone then. That one trace of hesitation nearly got my heart pierced by his dagger.

In martial combat, either you die or I perish.

Stopping at the point is something grandmasters play with. What you need to learn is a fight to the death!"

The more Han Zheng listened, the more sense it made.

Li Jingzhong might not have been some peak expert.

But having served as a martial arts school master for more than a decade, teaching disciples was what he did best.

Especially for disciples just setting foot on the path of martial arts, the things Li Jingzhong taught were experiences bought with blood.

For the entire morning, Li Jingzhong taught them the points requiring attention in actual combat, the vital organs throughout the human body, and the shifts between offensive and defensive stances, among other things.

After class, Han Zheng went home first to change clothes.

He found his father's scholar's robe and put it on. He also wrapped a headscarf around his head, took an old folding fan, and dressed himself up like a destitute scholar.

Black Stone County had four districts. The east and west districts were the most prosperous, while the north and south districts were comparatively rundown.

Han Zheng lived in North City, while Ma Gui's home was in South City.

Black Stone County was not small. It could be considered a major county town with a name in Shannan Dao because of its advantageous geographical location.

Shannan Dao was called Shannan Dao because it lay south of the Tiancang Mountain Range, backed by mountains on two sides and facing water on the third.

Its only land route passed through Jingzhou Prefecture, and Black Stone County was the first major county at Jingzhou Prefecture's border.

Thus, to take Shannan Dao, one must first take Jingzhou Prefecture.

And to take Jingzhou Prefecture, one must first take Black Stone County.

Black Stone County had an excellent location and served as a transportation hub. Many merchant caravans passed through it, and the county town itself was enormous, with a permanent population exceeding two hundred thousand.

South City and North City were both old districts, densely populated and filled with a maze of tightly packed alleys.

Han Zheng searched for nearly two hours before finally locating Ma Gui's home.

But he did not approach. He merely wandered around nearby and kept watch.

Yet even as the sky began to darken, Han Zheng saw no sign of Ma Gui.

"Could he not be home?"

Han Zheng frowned slightly.

Though Black Stone County had no curfew, the times were bad, and once night fell, there were scarcely any people on the streets.

If Han Zheng continued wandering the streets, he would become rather conspicuous.

As it happened, he was getting hungry, so Han Zheng found a stall selling tofu pudding and flatbread and sat down.

"Boss, is your tofu pudding sweet or savory?"

"Spicy."

Han Zheng fell silent. The sweet faction and savory faction both fell silent.

"Fine. Give me a bowl of tofu pudding and three flatbreads."

The snow-white tofu pudding was topped with gravy and chili oil. Its flavor was actually quite good.

Han Zheng wolfed down the tofu pudding and flatbreads, only to discover that the owner had no intention of closing his stall.

With both hands tucked into his sleeves, he squatted in front of the stall and stared blankly at the deserted street.

"Boss, it's already dark. You're still not closing up?"

The owner forced out a smile. "Two years ago, my eldest son joined a merchant caravan. He ran into bandits on the road and had his head chopped off.

The year before last, my wife took our younger son back to her parents' home, but demons ate them on the road.

The house is too empty. Looking at it makes my heart feel clogged. I'm more comfortable staying outside.

Customer, take your time eating. There's no rush."

Han Zheng fell silent for a moment, then took out several dozen copper coins and placed them on the table before turning away.

Before this, Han Zheng had never had a particularly direct impression of the state of the world.

He knew it was a chaotic age, but he had never seen with his own eyes just how chaotic it was.

Now, he more or less understood.

Never knowing whether one would survive until morning, with human lives as cheap as grass.

Unable to wait for Ma Gui, Han Zheng went to find Ma Gui himself.

It was already dark outside. The alleys were empty, and few homes even had lamps lit.

Prices were soaring now. Even the common people in a poor district like South City could not bear to light oil lamps.

Han Zheng walked softly through the alley, silently scaling a wall. On the other side was Ma Gui's home.

Other households could not bear to light their lamps, but Ma Gui's room was brightly illuminated.

Through the gap in the window, Han Zheng could even see him happily drinking wine with a small dish of fennel beans and a plate of roast chicken.

After confirming there was no one else inside, Han Zheng pried off a small shard of roof tile and flicked it against the door.

"Which motherfucker is throwing things around in the middle of the night?"

Ma Gui put on his shoes and came out, cursing as he opened the door.

At that very instant, Han Zheng leaped down from above, pouncing on Ma Gui like a great bird and knocking him to the ground. He then drove a vicious punch into Ma Gui's stomach.

How much strength came from sixty Acupoints and opening the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian?

With all his strength behind a punch, Han Zheng could even shatter a tree stump as thick as a thigh.

He had held back, otherwise he feared he would kill the other man with one punch.

Even so, Ma Gui instantly doubled over, nearly vomiting blood.

Just as he tried to scream, Han Zheng clamped a hand tightly over his mouth.

"Talk! Why were you surprised that I was still alive?"

Han Zheng's arm locked tightly around Ma Gui's neck, a cold gleam in his eyes.

"If you dare make a sound, I'll kill you right now!"

Ma Gui's eyes were filled with terror.

How had Han Zheng become like a different person in just a few days?

He had actually dared to come straight to Ma Gui's home to kill him!

"Han Zheng! Do you know who you've provoked? You're courting death!"

Ma Gui put on a fierce front while trembling inside.

"Whether I'm courting death can be discussed later. But if you still refuse to talk, then you'll truly be courting death."

As Han Zheng's arm tightened, Ma Gui's face instantly turned red. He pleaded in a low voice, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Just as Ma Gui let out a breath of relief and was about to speak, the courtyard gate suddenly opened.

A brawny, vicious-looking man in his thirties, dressed in a black short martial outfit, strode in.

"Brother Xiong, save me!"

Ma Gui suddenly shouted.

The next moment, Han Zheng savagely kicked Ma Gui's knee. With a crack, Ma Gui's leg was snapped by the blow.

"You've got some nerve! You really didn't die!?"

Brother Xiong froze for a moment, then rushed toward Han Zheng in a single stride, raising his palm like a blade and smashing it down toward Han Zheng's head!

Thanks to readers Buguangu Bulibu, Xiaoxiang Feiyu, and Mr. Yao for the 10,000 Qidian coin tips (^ω^)