Sudden Incident

After all, he had come straight from the mines. In North Ye City, he had been suspicious of everyone who approached him.

Xu Yunfan's cold expression softened slightly.

He pondered for a moment.

"Do you really want this house?"

Hearing Xu Yunfan relent, Qin Bo hurriedly said, "Yes. This is my family's ancestral home. Yesterday, I was a little too anxious. My junior sister has a fiery temper and only heard half of what I said. When she learned that my house had a new owner, she said she would scare you first, and then we could naturally redeem the house without any trouble."

With a bitter smile, he cupped his hands. "I hope Brother Xu can forgive us. We were indeed in the wrong. Once Fei Shimei's injuries have healed somewhat, I'll bring her over to apologize to you."

Xu Yunfan nodded slightly, then turned and walked inside. "Since this house is your ancestral home, and since you're willing to reason things out, I naturally won't make things difficult for you. Come in and let's talk."

"Thank you."

Qin Bo took a deep breath and slowly followed Xu Yunfan into the house.

The moment he stepped inside, his gaze instinctively flicked toward the corner by the wall.

In an instant, his pupils contracted sharply.

A blue brick beneath the courtyard wall had already been shattered. That was precisely where he had buried something of utmost importance!

In an instant, shock and fury surged through his mind like raging tides, completely drowning it.

Someone had dug it up!

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes rapidly filling with blood as he stared fixedly at Xu Yunfan's back ahead of him.

Xu Yunfan remained utterly unaware and continued, "I only bought this residence from the broker a few days ago. It's only been roughly cleaned, and the furniture has basically been left untouched. I won't make things difficult for you either. The banknotes I got from your junior sister earlier amounted to no more than a thousand taels. Including my—"

Clang!

A crisp sound like copper striking iron abruptly echoed through the previously tranquil little courtyard.

Feeling a faint stab of pain at his waist, Xu Yunfan suddenly turned around and saw Qin Bo holding a dagger, viciously thrusting it toward his kidney.

The dagger broke through his tough, hide-like skin, its tip sinking in half an inch.

Qin Bo was, after all, a martial artist. This strike carried tremendous force and pierced the skin at Xu Yunfan's waist, but the dagger was immediately clamped tight by Xu Yunfan's instinctively contracting muscles, like an iron hoop locking it in place, unable to advance another fraction.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Yunfan lowered his eyes. His voice was low, steady, utterly without fluctuation.

Qin Bo's mouth was bitter, and his eyes were full of disbelief as he muttered, "Physique refinement?!"

He felt as if the sky were falling. The first person he happened to encounter was actually an exceedingly rare Physique Refinement Martial Artist.

The fury in Xu Yunfan's heart now rose swiftly like a lit powder keg.

It was fortunate that he had cultivated the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art. Had it been anyone else, that strike would likely have completely robbed them of their ability to fight and left them in mortal danger.

A punctured kidney, in this ancient age with terrible sanitary conditions, was practically a serious injury. Who knew whether any physician could save him? More likely than not, he would simply have to wait for death.

He was truly both shocked and enraged. The blood and qi within him surged abruptly like thunder exploding from flat ground.

In an instant, his heart rate nearly reached three hundred beats per minute. Vast amounts of blood, accompanied by the hormones rapidly rising throughout his body, rushed swiftly to every part of him.

The muscles across his body instantly tightened and bulged, swelling as though inflated. Veins stood out one after another over his skin, like the tangled roots of ancient trees, looking especially savage beneath the sunlight.

A faint bronze sheen could even be seen over his skin. As he moved, sunlight fell upon his body, and that bronze gleam flickered continuously.

Xu Yunfan shot out a hand like lightning and seized Qin Bo by the shoulder just as he tried to pull away and retreat.

The immense force drove his fingers deeply into the muscles of Qin Bo's shoulder and neck, gripping him firmly and not allowing him to retreat even half a step.

Pain ignited Qin Bo's ferocity completely.

He knew full well that without a weapon of blade rank, ordinary weapons could not harm Xu Yunfan in the slightest. He made his decision at once and released the dagger.

Qin Bo's blood and qi surged, and the muscles in both arms swelled high, as if they were about to burst through his skin.

With his blood and qi brimming, his palms grew a full size larger than normal.

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Bo let out a sharp breath and fiercely slapped toward Xu Yunfan's temple.

The force of his palm howled through the air, fierce and biting, its immense power even producing a mournful whoosh.

Xu Yunfan's expression did not change in the slightest. It was as though he had not seen Qin Bo's attack at all. He simply lowered his head and charged forward, rapidly closing in on Qin Bo.

Thud!

Qin Bo's palm struck Xu Yunfan's head, making it jolt violently. Even his eyeballs could not help but tremble up and down.

He hit him!

Wild delight surged through Qin Bo's heart. He knew that before practitioners of physique refinement reached perfection, all of them had weak points.

The groin, throat, temples—such areas were almost impossible to temper with force and remained as fragile as those of ordinary people.

Before that ecstasy could linger in his heart for even half a second, Qin Bo felt his waist suddenly clamped tight by something like an iron hoop.

The next instant, his entire body was flung into the air, then crashed straight down like a falling meteor.

Bang!

The immense impact nearly shook his internal organs out of place. The blood and qi he had gathered churned uncontrollably, his eyes twitching violently as a mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth.

Seeing Qin Bo still struggling to rise from the ground, Xu Yunfan did not hesitate at all. He bent down and swiftly wrapped both arms around Qin Bo's waist, planting his legs firmly apart as he exerted force through his waist and abdomen with a low grunt.

The muscles in his arms bulged high, thick veins bursting out and emerging across the surface of his skin.

Then, a tremendous force rose from the ground, traveling through layers upon layers of muscle and sinew before erupting abruptly, as though swinging a thousand-pound iron ball.

Xu Yunfan once again hauled Qin Bo into the air, then turned and smashed him heavily into the ground.

Thud!

A dull, massive crash rang out together with the sound of shattering bones. Qin Bo did not even groan before he completely lost consciousness.

Xu Yunfan slowly released him, his expression somewhat blank.

He could not help but wonder why these martial world disciples were all so crazy.

They had barely exchanged a few words before drawing blades and stabbing people in the back.

What the hell?!

Xu Yunfan let out a breath, moving his body as he slowly calmed the surging blood and qi within him.

He rolled up his sleeves, planted his hands on his hips, and shook his somewhat muddled head.

Qin Bo's palm strike earlier had not caused him any real injury, but it had still left his head feeling a little dazed.

In close combat, with his mastery of the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer, he could naturally have dodged with ease.

In one word: hard-headed.

If someone wanted to fight a Physique Refinement Martial Artist at close quarters, then as long as they did not strike a vital point, against opponents of the same realm, without Secret Martial Arts or weapons of blade rank, they could practically walk sideways.

He slowly walked around the courtyard once, finally recalling that when he had turned around, Qin Bo had glanced behind the courtyard wall and immediately become abnormal.

His heart stirred, and he walked toward the courtyard wall.