Something Happened

Snow fell over the night.

Yet the room was warm.

The young man spread his stance, lowering into a horse stance. After holding it for half an incense stick, he rose and rested briefly.

After two rounds, his body grew weary, and his mind... suddenly filled with a jumble of distracting thoughts.

Over the past few days, he had gradually come to understand: games were games, and reality was reality. If reality were made into a game, then... countless details within it could never be handled completely. There would even be massive cuts to the content.

Even if this place was the [Abandoned World] before the first-generation version, he remembered only scattered bits of information. What he remembered most was the exhilaration of slaughtering everything in his path back then.

He had only remembered the thrill.

Who would bother with the plot and worldbuilding...

What he remembered most was the "Mega KILL, Super KILL, Most KILL, Godlike, awesome, keep going" from the blood fights...

But only after truly arriving in a world like this did he feel his heartbeat quicken, did he feel that enormous shadow closing in from every direction, that throbbing sensation—as if he were standing atop a rocky sphere in the starry sky, while outside the sphere... enormous faces blotted out the heavens and the earth as they crowded close to observe.

Those were the faces of gods.

In the game, he had acted without restraint.

Because in the game, he could revive infinitely.

But now, he had only one life.

Just then, he suddenly sensed something from the corner of his eye. He instinctively turned his head, his pupils contracting sharply, only to see a terrifying giant shadow crouched outside the window, bent at the waist and hunched over, two blood-red pupils staring at him eerily.

Qi Yu's breath stopped, and rows of goosebumps rose across his skin.

He stayed perfectly still, his body as if frozen solid.

Only after a long while... did he realize that it was merely a three-story tower belonging to the Qi Family, visible through the window from the practice room.

Dark-red lanterns hung from the tower's eaves. Its outline was traced by the wind and snow, making it resemble a giant.

My heart is a blazing furnace...

Qi Yu silently repeated it in his mind, imagining himself as a furnace. Any distracting thought that appeared now would be incinerated by raging flames the moment it touched him. Even giants and gods were no exception.

He held the Spirit Serpent Posture for another half an incense stick.

His whole body ached and throbbed, but compared to when he had first risen that morning, he felt much looser.

Smack~

He fell onto his back, sinking deeply into the soft wool carpet embroidered with gold and silver thread.

Outside the folding screen, A Bi had been standing guard the entire time. At the sound, she immediately rose, uncovered the medicine pot, scooped out the medicine pouch, and carefully applied a hot compress to him.

During the hot compress, their skin inevitably came into contact. Yet today, A Bi seemed unusually sensitive. Whenever her fingertips accidentally brushed lightly against his body, she snatched them back as if shocked by electricity.

"What, is my body hot to the touch?" Qi Yu asked casually, teasing her.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words left his mouth, A Bi sprang up and then dropped to her knees, shrinking into a trembling ball as she repeatedly said, "This servant... is clumsy with her hands and feet. This servant made Young Master unhappy... This servant deserves to die... This servant deserves to die..."

Qi Yu was stunned.

A Bi had grown up alongside him, and they had always been close. Yesterday, everything had still been fine.

"This servant is clumsy with her hands and feet, Young Master... Young Master..."

As A Bi spoke, her voice seemed to catch in her throat.

Qi Yu turned his head and studied her. Seeing her trembling body in the darkness, he thought for a moment and did not ask further. Instead, he said, "I'm not unhappy. Don't overthink it. Continue."

As he spoke, he lay back down.

A Bi knelt closer and remained as careful as ever, her movements so cautious they were almost awkward.

After the hot compress was finished, A Bi served him through his bath and change of clothes. But she was no longer as clingy as usual. Instead, she silently withdrew and walked into the wind and snow.

By the time the charcoal brazier in the small side room was lit, the wind and snow had already swept past the eaves.

The next day, Qi Yu took a carriage to the Spirit Serpent Martial Hall as usual. He brought two portions of fine tea, which Song Qinghong accepted.

Then the master of the Spirit Serpent Martial Hall watched him practice his stance, occasionally reaching out to correct his posture. Whenever Qi Yu's strength gave out, he immediately called a halt and then praised him with a beaming smile. "Not bad."

"Uncle Song, how far do I have to practice the Spirit Serpent Posture before it counts as mastery?" Qi Yu asked as he wiped away his sweat.

Song Qinghong sized him up and said, "What you're practicing now is merely the nurturing method: gathering qi and blood, reining in the spirit.

"But the nurturing method isn't the training method, and the training method isn't the combat method. The combat method, in turn, isn't the killing method.

"Fists disperse, while stances gather... The deficiencies in your body must first be replenished. Your qi and blood must first be nourished. Only then can you train."

Song Qinghong studied the young man and saw at a glance the emptiness within his body.

Still, turning back from the brink was a good thing.

After mulling it over, he said, "If you truly want to practice martial arts, I'll write you a prescription. Have your family prepare it. For the next few days, you don't need to make a special trip here from the inner city.

"Seven days from now, if you no longer feel tired while holding the stance, but instead feel as though you're lying on a warm couch, then the nurturing method will be complete. If not, continue until it is. Then come back here, and I'll teach you the training method."

"Uncle Song, I'm eighteen already. Is it too late to practice martial arts?"

Qi Yu asked again.

Song Qinghong patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him. "Strengthening the body—how can there be such a thing as too early or too late? If you persist as your elder uncle did, you can also enter the Eighth Rank Bloodburst Realm."

As he spoke, he glanced at Qi Yu's slender, fair fingers and said, "The jianghu is a dangerous road, and a gentleman cherishes his life. Matters of the jianghu belong to people of the jianghu. Young Master Qi, you are not a man of the jianghu, so don't enter it."

Qi Yu understood the deeper meaning behind his words.

Uncle Song was telling him, in the most tactful way possible, that he was not cut out for it.

Even if he practiced martial arts, the Eighth Rank of body cultivation, like his elder uncle's, would be the limit of his life.

He was also advising Qi Yu to stop at body cultivation and not dream of martial combat.

However, he had a panel, and this place was very likely the Abandoned World. There was no way he could refrain from becoming stronger.

At noon, Song Qinghong kept Qi Yu for a simple meal. He picked up his brush, wrote out the prescription for "Essence Replenishing Soup," handed it to him, and personally escorted him outside.

The snow had cleared, and the sky had just begun to brighten. The wind and snow of the previous two days had finally stopped.

More and more pedestrians filled the streets, while vendors' cries rose and fell one after another. If one ignored the dilapidated shacks of the slums deep within the alleys, it truly looked like a scene of peace and tranquility.

Old Gu had been dozing on the driver's seat. Hearing footsteps, he hurriedly jumped down, brushed away the remaining snow before the seat, took out a scarlet cloak, and rushed over to drape it over Qi Yu.

Qi Yu put on the cloak and cupped his fists toward Song Qinghong. "Uncle Song, I'm leaving."

Song Qinghong smiled. "Take care."

The moment his voice fell, the commotion in the distance suddenly grew louder, then erupted within an instant!

First came several screams. Then, like boiling water poured onto oil, cries and wails exploded all at once.

Qi Yu stopped the foot he had been about to place on the carriage step and turned to look at Song Qinghong.

"I'll go take a look."

Song Qinghong frowned toward the source of the noise. "If it's nothing serious, Young Master Qi, you should return to the inner city first."

"I'll go with you, Uncle Song."

Song Qinghong hesitated briefly before finally nodding.

He had put down roots in the outer city many years ago and was confident he could protect the young man.

The two hurried toward the disturbance. Old Gu and several martial hall disciples followed close behind.

The incident had taken place at the Black Tiger Gang's compound.

Outside the compound, frightened commoners crowded around.

Inside, a human head had been placed neatly atop a snowman's neck.

The head's eyes bulged out, its features twisted as if it had witnessed something unimaginably terrifying before death.

The snowman had been built with painstaking detail. It even had clothes carved onto it, with every fold and button rendered clearly. It was as though the killer had found murdering someone insufficient and had leisurely sculpted a headless snowman, then arranged the severed head into this horrifying tableau.

Someone in the crowd shouted shakily, "It's the Black Tiger Gang's leader... It's the leader!"

Song Qinghong narrowed his eyes and took a look, then swept his gaze around the area before letting it fall on the scarlet cloak draped over Qi Yu. After a moment of thought, he said, "Young Master Qi, return to the inner city. You... will be fine."