Li Zhenshan's Strength

The old shopkeeper was as silent as a cicada in winter, not daring to say another word.

"It was nothing more than practice making perfect. It can't compare to Your Excellency's peerless saber art, which decides life and death with a single stroke!" Chu Feng hurriedly bowed, his face full of fear as he spoke.

"Haha, you certainly know how to talk..."

Gao Han sized up Chu Feng and suddenly laughed. He also slid the inch-drawn Straight Saber back into its sheath.

His skin was no different from an ordinary person's, and his body was even thinner than the old shopkeeper's. His eyes darted about, and his vital spirit was timid and weak. How could someone like this be the Fierce God who had killed six or seven members of the Fang family?

According to Captain Xu and the townspeople, that man had been burly, with muscles as strong as a beast's. Let alone comparing the Chu Liu Xiang before him to the Fierce God, even compared with that rebel slave, he fell far short.

He had come here today only because he knew there were refugees from Qingyan City staying here. On a whim, he had come to ask a few questions.

"All right, don't be nervous. I'm only conducting a routine inspection."

Gao Han had already determined that the young man before him posed no threat.

He turned to the old shopkeeper and asked, "Aside from him, your hotel has another outsider. Call him out too."

This time, the old shopkeeper did not dare say another word. He could only lower his voice and instruct Chu Feng, "Little Chu, go call Master Li."

Chu Feng acknowledged the order and returned to the kitchen to summon Li Zhenshan.

"He means trouble. Don't get yourself caught," Chu Feng kindly warned him on the way.

After chatting all night, he felt that he and the old man had rather compatible temperaments. He did not want anything to happen to him.

"Anyone who can make me stumble hasn't been born in Yong'an City yet..."

Li Zhenshan smiled faintly, his pace neither hurried nor slow.

The two arrived in the main hall, where Gao Han looked Li Zhenshan up and down before speaking.

"Li Zhenshan, a native of Qingyan City. A year ago, you suddenly appeared in this city, then entered Hongyun Restaurant and became a chef."

"Master Li, just answer honestly. His Excellency certainly won't wrong an innocent man..." the old shopkeeper said shakily before Li Zhenshan could speak.

Li Zhenshan was the golden signboard of Hongyun Restaurant, countless times more important than Chu Feng. Nothing could happen to him.

"Shut up! I wasn't asking you..."

Gao Han's face was ashen with rage. This witless old fellow kept interrupting the rhythm of his interrogation.

He had never been good-tempered to begin with. How could he continue tolerating this long-winded, withered old man?

"Clang!"

The Straight Saber leaped from its sheath, its blade-light spilling forth like quicksilver, shooting straight toward the old shopkeeper's neck!

Chu Feng's expression shifted slightly, and he was just about to save the old shopkeeper.

But in the next moment, Li Zhenshan's formerly calm eyes suddenly turned razor-sharp. His bones cracked loudly, his blood and qi surged like a rainbow, and a mighty aura exploded from him.

His robes moved without wind, flapping loudly. His mutilated five fingers turned dark green-black as he reached for the razor-sharp Straight Saber.

"He's actually catching that incomparably sharp iron weapon with his bare hand?"

Chu Feng was shocked. He had never expected the old man to be so fierce.

Wasn't he afraid of having his hand sliced off?

Chu Feng could not help maliciously guessing: Could the pads of the old man's fingers have been lost just like this?

"Clang!"

Yet what Chu Feng never expected was that when the bare palm collided with the blade, the Straight Saber, gleaming with cold light, shattered into countless fragments.

Li Zhenshan swept out his hand, and the sharp fragments immediately shot toward Gao Han.

Gao Han's expression changed drastically. He clearly had not expected this. He rolled and dodged, but still could not avoid every fragment.

One fragment grazed his cheek, carving a deep scratch into it.

Blood flowed down his cheek into his mouth. It was intensely fishy, with a trace of bitterness!

He had no time to wipe it away and said in shock, "A Bone Forging Realm expert?"

"This old man is living out his twilight years here and has no desire to meddle in worldly affairs. But don't assume I'm some rotten old man anyone can bully."

"So Master Li is actually a Bone Forging Realm expert. Then you certainly aren't the culprit who killed the Fang family's people. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

Gao Han withdrew the Straight Saber, now reduced to a hilt, clasped his fists, and vanished from the restaurant's main hall.

After watching Gao Han disappear, Chu Feng finally let out a sigh of relief.

If he had exposed his identity just now and fought Gao Han head-on, he would surely have survived by the skin of his teeth, if at all!

The old shopkeeper's face was deathly pale as he stammered his thanks to Li Zhenshan. "Master... Master Li, thank you for saving my life."

Only now did he discover that the chef he had hired back then was actually a martial artist.

"You're too polite, Shopkeeper. I'm nothing more than a chef who likes cooking nowadays."

Li Zhenshan waved his hand casually and turned to leave.

Chu Feng followed behind him and asked, "Old man, that move of yours just now was amazing! Can you teach it to me?"

"Neither kin nor relation. Why should I teach you?"

"Looking at you, you're an old man without family. I'll support you in your old age and see you through to the end. In exchange, how about you teach me martial arts?" Chu Feng said with a cheeky grin.

A fool was one who failed to take advantage of an opportunity. If the old man agreed, he would have a free bodyguard and teacher. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Dream on! I made an agreement with Fang Hanshan that I wouldn't have any conflict with the Fang family. That man suspected you just now, so you'd better fend for yourself."

"Just don't die. I've buried plenty of people, and I don't want to dig another grave for you." Li Zhenshan sneered.

"Pah, pah! What an ill omen. I'm someone who intends to pursue the peak of martial arts. How could I die at the hands of some insignificant extra?"

Chu Feng spat to ward off bad luck.

Li Zhenshan did not understand what "extra" meant, but he could roughly grasp the meaning.

"Keep a low profile these days. A dead genius isn't called a genius!"

With that, he left with his hands clasped behind his back.

After Li Zhenshan left, Chu Feng hurried out to buy medicine from the pharmacy.

Relying on others was inferior to relying on himself. His current situation was dangerous, so recovering his body and improving his strength as quickly as possible was the proper path.

To prevent the Fang family from tracking him down, Chu Feng cautiously changed identities several times and bought the medicinal ingredients in batches from different pharmacies. That way, no one could determine the prescription, and he would be harder to track.

Jimintang Pharmacy...

This was Chu Feng's final stop. It was the largest pharmacy in Yong'an City, and also an industry of the Fang family.

Chu Feng had no particular aversion to using his enemies' resources. In his view, nourishing himself with an enemy's wealth instead brought an even greater sense of accomplishment.

He spent five taels of silver to buy the final ingredient in the prescription from this shop: a Ten-Year Polygonatum.

It was somewhat expensive, but fortunately, Chu Feng had searched plenty of corpses in recent days and could afford it.

He could not help sighing inwardly. "The poor study letters, while the rich practice martial arts. The ancients truly did not deceive me!"

If not for the saying that killing and arson brought a golden belt, his meager monthly salary alone would not even have been enough to practice martial arts.

At that moment, a tall figure entered the clinic. He was covered in slabs of flesh, and in an ancient society where people were generally slender, he stood out especially conspicuously.

"Shopkeeper, quickly, see whether my hand can still wield a saber!" The burly man anxiously asked the moment he entered the clinic.

The seated physician grasped the man's blood-soaked hand and examined it carefully before speaking.

"The tendons and flesh in your palm are injured. I'm afraid you'll need to recuperate for some time."

Upon hearing this, the burly man dropped heavily onto the floor.

"In three days, it'll be the Ghost Festival. Every household will be offering sacrifices to their ancestors, and there'll be a great need for meat offerings. What am I supposed to do if I can't wield a saber?"