Murder

Since this was practice, Old Gu had a sense of proportion.

As for the wagered fight, he also understood the complicated feelings in Madam's heart:

She hoped the young master would succeed, yet also hoped he would not.

The former was every parent's wish for their child to rise above the ordinary, hoping the young master would make something of himself;

The latter... was a loving mother's concern, fearing that something might happen to the young master while he was out.

Therefore, if this was a wagered fight, he absolutely could not hold back. Even if he had to beat the young master until he cried out in pain and admitted defeat, he could not let the young master muddle through it, only to suffer a devastating loss outside in the future.

"Your Spirit Serpent Fist—I have seen it before, but you have never seen your old servant's techniques. The jianghu is treacherous. Before a fight, who can know their opponent inside and out? So, young master, you must first test me..."

Old Gu bent slightly and rubbed his pair of black leather boots against the ground, scraping off the filth mixed with horse dung, weeds, and mud from their soles.

Then he walked to an open patch of ground.

Qi Yu walked to face him and settled into a fighting stance.

Old Gu spread his hands slightly, his gaze sharp. Then he shouted, "Young master, be careful!"

Before his voice had even faded, he lunged forward.

His steps were light. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance, sending a fierce straight punch wrapped in a gust of wind crashing toward Qi Yu's face.

Qi Yu had never experienced combat, but he had already fused the essence of the Spirit Serpent Fist into his body. Sensing danger, he instinctively shifted his footing. His body contracted abruptly like a spirit serpent, and at the same time... he raised his arm to block.

Bang!

He firmly caught the punch, his expression steady and his breathing undisturbed.

Old Gu sent another straight punch straight at his face.

Qi Yu lowered his shoulder, twisted his waist, and dropped his center of gravity sharply. As he turned his head, the punch's wind scraped his face, yet the fist itself missed.

But Old Gu's attacks were incredibly fast. The instant his straight punch dispersed, it transformed into a sharp claw that locked onto Qi Yu's throat.

Bang!

Qi Yu blocked it again.

Old Gu's attacks came in a chain. As soon as the claw withdrew, his hand clenched in one smooth motion, and he unleashed a barrage of close-range punches. Both hands struck in succession, his feet constantly advancing in coordination, like a fierce, combative rooster pecking away without pause.

Qi Yu blocked left and parried right with both fists. His shoulders and arms soon tingled faintly from the impact of their strength, but he kept his vital areas well protected while calmly observing Old Gu's techniques.

The two went back and forth, exchanging several rapid rounds in an extremely short span of time.

Suddenly, one of Old Gu's punches reached the end of its momentum. His old strength was spent, while his new strength had yet to arise. Qi Yu seized that fleeting opening, his fist shooting forward and darting toward Old Gu's face.

Old Gu's body moved violently. With a swaying step, he tried to dodge.

However, Qi Yu's punch connected too swiftly. Old Gu had no time to evade. Seeing the shadow of the fist already rushing into his face, he knew he could not dodge it. Years of jianghu experience made him instinctively curl together only his thumb and forefinger.

As the two fingers joined, a fierce force suddenly rose.

That hand was like a razor-sharp chicken claw, stabbing toward the side of Qi Yu's arm.

If it landed, Qi Yu's arm would likely be crippled for the time being.

But halfway through the motion, he released it.

He remembered that this was only practice with the young master.

And this move now had already gone far beyond the scope of martial practice. It belonged to the sort of battle technique he used when fighting to the death.

Smack.

Qi Yu's fist lightly tapped Old Gu's throat, then withdrew. With a smile, he said, "Old Gu, were you holding back for me?"

Old Gu stood rooted to the spot. It took him a long while to recover. Then he raised his hands in a fist-and-palm salute, his expression respectful yet filled with astonishment. "This old servant truly never imagined that the young master would possess such extraordinary talent.

"This method is easy to learn at the entry level, but difficult to master.

"Hall Master Song's fifteen days referred only to the young master bringing the Spirit Serpent Fist to the entry level, then using medicine to strengthen his qi and blood.

"But the young master has already brought these two forms to the point of perfect mastery..."

He thought back for a moment, then sighed again. "Truly perfect mastery. This... this is genuinely rare."

Then he continued, "Without using battle techniques, this old servant would not be the young master's match. But if I used them, young master... you might be injured."

Qi Yu said, "Then let me see what battle techniques are."

Upon hearing this, Old Gu straightened and said, "What this old servant practices is the Rooster Fist. As for the battle technique, it is the Chicken Claw Skill..."

As he spoke, he approached a stone not far away and slowly raised both hands, pressing his thumbs and forefingers tightly together.

Qi Yu saw the ridges of his hand bones jutting out, his skin dense and taut, his claws resembling iron pincers.

Suddenly, Old Gu opened his eyes wide and violently twisted his body. He let out a strange cry, like a fierce rooster, and his claws pecked fiercely. Air whistled through the rapidly moving gaps between his fingers, producing a sharp, "Whoosh, whoosh" sound.

Smack!

A crisp crack rang out.

Cracks spread across the rock.

Then it shattered with a booming crash.

Old Gu slowly raised his hand and gently opened his fingers. Between them, a small piece of stone that he had somehow caught was firmly clamped.

Qi Yu's pupils contracted slightly. He suddenly said, "Go to the Spirit Serpent Martial Hall."

He had to learn battle techniques.

The carriage left the Qi residence.

As it left the inner city, fog descended.

The fog quickly thickened. The sun, which had already leaped halfway into the sky, instantly blurred, like a giant face pressed against the heavens, clinging to it with all its might.

Old Gu slowed the carriage.

Qi Yu lifted the curtain slightly, only to see vague outlines on both sides of the street. Everyone's faces had vanished, leaving only a buzzing clamor woven into one indistinct mass.

In the haze, the carriage passed another place filled with an especially tumultuous din: people's panicked shouts and constables' stern reprimands...

Qi Yu remembered that this was a reed marsh.

What had happened today?

"Old Gu, see what's going on."

The carriage slowly stopped. Old Gu did not get down, merely looking toward someone nearby and calling out, "Brother, what happened here?"

The person he called to had not yet answered when someone already came over from not far away.

From a distance, Qi Yu saw that the person's data read "28~43." That should count as an Eighth Rank martial artist.

The newcomer was a tall, thin middle-aged man. He wore soft armor underneath and a blue-green robe over it, with a saber hanging from his waist.

Only after coming closer did he see the style of the carriage. He straightened his clothes, stepped forward, and saluted. "Patrol Captain Zhao Qingyi. May I ask which honored member of the Qi Family is inside?"

Old Gu had sharp eyes and recognized him at once. He turned back and said quietly, "Young master, he is our Qi Family's Patrol Captain."

As a family that controlled the Eastern Commandant among the Five Commandants, the Qi Family had naturally extended its reach into patrols, public order, and other such places. This Patrol Captain Zhao Qingyi was one of the Qi Family's people.

This place lay at the boundary between the eastern section of the inner city and the eastern section of the outer city. It was hardly strange to encounter someone from their own faction here.

"It's the Third Young Master."

Old Gu added another sentence.

Zhao Qingyi frowned and said, "Regardless of what the Third Young Master intends to do today, please make certain to return to the inner city before nightfall."

Old Gu's heart stirred. He asked, "Captain Zhao, what happened?"

Zhao Qingyi said, "If you aren't afraid of being frightened, come take a look."

Hearing this, Qi Yu immediately got down from the carriage and followed Zhao Qingyi.

The crowd parted.

As they drew closer.

He looked.

It was a human head!

The head had been placed in front of the reed marsh. Its face had swollen and rotted from being soaked, displaying a horrifying bloated visage. Several plump worms crawled slowly across its pallid skin, making one's stomach churn.

Beneath the head stood a sculpture piled from mud and stones. It was lifelike, almost like a real person. Looking closely, one could even vaguely make out the texture of its clothing and the style of its buttons.

At this moment, it was just as it had been before.

Qi Yu instantly thought of the snowman from earlier.

However, this time, the snowman and this were different.

This person appeared to have been killed first, then dumped in the reed marsh. For some unknown reason, the body had later been fished out, the head cut off, and then carefully fashioned into this earthen-and-stone figure.

What was the meaning of it?

What was the motive?

An indescribable, bone-chilling dread suddenly surged through him.

Captain Zhao said, "He belonged to a small gang in the outer city, something called Wolf Bro. Normally, gang vendettas ending in death are nothing unusual. It's just that, somehow, this became so bizarre. Something is amiss. Third Young Master, don't remain in the outer city for long. Once this matter is settled, hurry back."