Murder and Loot?

The next morning.

The atmosphere in the cafeteria of Miscellaneous Room Courtyard was rather oppressive.

"Did you hear? Wang Tiedan is dead."

"Dead? But yesterday he was still... Hadn't he only broken a few bones?"

"Hey, on his way home last night, someone threw a sack over his head and smashed his skull to pieces. What a tragedy... I heard his wife went mad on the spot. She was running around the streets in the middle of the night. Who knows where she went."

Everyone lowered their voices as they talked, occasionally sneaking frightened glances toward the corner.

There, Huang Dazui sat with one leg crossed over the other, grinning from ear to ear.

He reached over and took a steamed corn bun from Xu Dadao's bowl. As he munched, he mumbled, "Hey, Xu Dadao, this bun's too hard. I'll help you try it. Look at your face—didn't sleep well, did you? Haha!"

Xu Dadao clenched his fists, his face flushed red, but in the end he didn't dare say a word. He simply lowered his head in silence.

Lin Guanhuo sat not far away, calmly drinking his thin porridge.

Wang Tiedan was dead.

There was no need to guess who had done it.

Lin Guanhuo felt little stir in his heart. He couldn't even say he felt sympathy.

Yesterday, he'd already made himself perfectly clear, kindly advising Wang Tiedan to lie low for a while. But the man insisted on prattling about justice and righteousness, charging headlong into his own grave. He'd even suspected Lin Guanhuo of being in league with Huang Dazui.

You couldn't talk a dead man out of dying.

A few days later, at noon.

Having finished his work at the county office early, Lin Guanhuo carried the copy of Precept Breaking Saber Art against his chest.

He wandered around Blackwater City for quite a while.

First, he passed several major martial arts schools. Their entrances teemed with people, and the disciples coming and going were all dressed in fine silks. Lin Guanhuo paused for a moment, shook his head, and turned away.

The larger the force, the more eyes and ears it had. For a nobody like him, a White Servant with no backing, trying to sell a superior martial art would be like a child carrying gold through a busy market. He'd be far too likely to draw unwanted attention.

In the end, he stopped outside Mad Saber Martial Arts School.

That's right—the school Huang Bao, the man who'd beaten him, belonged to.

It was a mid-sized martial arts school in Blackwater City, not as famous as major schools like Luohe Martial Arts School.

But its strength lay in its focus on saber techniques. His Precept Breaking Saber Art ought to fetch a good price here, and the place was smaller and quieter, less likely to cause a stir.

"Young man, looking to learn martial arts?"

As soon as Lin Guanhuo entered, a burly middle-aged man with a vicious saber scar across his face came to greet him.

This was the head of Mad Saber Martial Arts School, known as Scarred Madman.

Seeing Lin Guanhuo's straight, sturdy frame, he assumed the young man had come to apprentice and showed him a warm, welcoming smile.

"Our Mad Saber Martial Arts School is one of Blackwater City's time-honored establishments. For just ten taels of silver, we guarantee you'll learn everything we teach..."

"I'm not here to apprentice," Lin Guanhuo said, shaking his head and cutting him off.

The smile on Scarred Madman's face froze, then visibly crumpled. He waved impatiently. "If you're not here to apprentice, what are you doing here? Causing trouble? Shoo, shoo! Don't get in the way of our business!"

At that moment, Huang Bao, who had been coaching students through their punches at one corner of the Martial Arts Arena, looked over as well.

"I'm here to sell something."

Lin Guanhuo ignored Scarred Madman's nasty attitude and spoke evenly.

"Sell something?" Scarred Madman looked him up and down. "You? What could you possibly have worth anything?"

Lin Guanhuo didn't waste words. He pulled the blue, thread-bound book from his coat and waved it in front of Scarred Madman.

"A martial arts manual. Interested?"

Scarred Madman had been looking at him with indifference, but the moment he saw the four characters "Precept Breaking Saber Art" on the cover, his eyes snapped into focus.

He snatched the book and flipped through a few pages.

The more he read, the tighter his brows drew. Yet the shock and greed deep in his eyes were impossible to hide.

Holy shit, this was the real thing!

He knew a little about this Precept Breaking Saber Art.

It was a Buddhist saber art, ranked First Rank.

That was because its cultivation difficulty was downright perverse. Ordinary Martial Artists couldn't bring out its power even if they trained in it; in fact, they'd be better off with some unranked martial arts.

Even some who had reached the great realms of the Martial Dao might not be able to grasp its advanced stages.

But even so, it was still a fine saber art.

If you're enjoying this book and don't want to lose track of it, remember to add it to your bookshelf.

Given the unique nature of Buddhist martial arts, its price was still higher than that of an ordinary First Rank martial art.

"What do you think?" Lin Guanhuo asked.

Scarred Madman shut the book and forced down his excitement, putting on a look of disdain. "Tsk, tsk. I thought it was some kind of treasure. This book's a fake! The moves are all over the place, the preface doesn't match the rest, and practicing it could send you into a qi deviation!"

"Young man, I'm afraid someone's swindled you."

Lin Guanhuo gave a cold laugh.

We're both old foxes here. Who are you trying to fool?

His opinion of Scarred Madman plummeted.

To think that a dignified martial arts school master could be so sanctimonious and greedy.

Ah, the human heart!

"If it's fake, then give it back."

As he spoke, Lin Guanhuo reached for the book. "I'll try somewhere else."

"Hey, hey, don't rush!"

Scarred Madman pressed a hand down on Lin Guanhuo's and said with a false smile, "The book may have a few problems, but I have a hobby of collecting martial arts manuals. How about this? You've come all this way, so I'll offer you fifty taels of silver and take it off your hands as a collector's item."

Fifty taels?

To an ordinary person, that was an enormous sum.

But Lin Guanhuo knew exactly what his Precept Breaking Saber Art was worth.

"Seventy taels." Lin Guanhuo held up two fingers, his tone firm. "I won't sell it for a single coin less."

"Seventy taels?! Why don't you just rob me!" Scarred Madman's eyes widened. "How could this lousy book be worth that much?"

"Then there's nothing to discuss." Lin Guanhuo turned as if to leave. He'd tried this trick countless times in his previous life, and it had never failed.

Sure enough, Lin Guanhuo had barely taken a few steps when—

"Fine, fine! Seventy taels it is!"

Scarred Madman stopped him through gritted teeth, his face pained as though someone had carved a chunk of flesh from him.

His martial arts school looked prosperous, but after expenses and greasing the officials' palms, he saved only a hundred or so taels of silver all year.

This one purchase had cost him more than half a year's income!

A moment later.

With seventy taels' worth of banknotes and broken silver weighing heavily against him, Lin Guanhuo walked out of Mad Saber Martial Arts School, satisfied.

With this money, he could buy enough meat and medicinal herbs.

Breaking through to become a Formal martial artist within a month was all but certain!

Inside the martial arts school.

Scarred Madman held the copy of Precept Breaking Saber Art in his hands. Though he regretted the money, the more he looked at the book, the happier he became.

Still, seventy taels really was a steep price to pay.

"Damn it, my heart's aching!" Scarred Madman sat in a chair, took a sip of tea, and grumbled curses.

But before long, the look Scarred Madman gave Lin Guanhuo's retreating figure changed.

The pain on his face gradually turned into a sinister expression.

That guy's dressed like a pauper. At a glance, he's just a White Servant who's given up on life. Who knows how he got lucky enough to come by a treasure like this? Scarred Madman thought.

Why not...

After mulling it over for a moment, Scarred Madman seemed to make up his mind.

He waved Huang Bao over, then said, "We paid him seventy taels. At this rate, our school won't have a good year!"

"That money's useless in his hands. In ours, it could help train a batch of Martial Artists and keep the peace in this Chaotic World..."

Scarred Madman spoke with self-righteous conviction.

In reality, this sort of man was especially good at carousing and crawling into women's beds.

Huang Bao, who had been summoned to his side, asked, "Master... What do you mean?"

Scarred Madman gestured toward the direction Lin Guanhuo had gone, then made a throat-slitting motion with his hand.

He added, "Make sure you do it cleanly. When it's done, I'll give you ten taels of silver as a reward."

Then Scarred Madman changed his tone. "But if you dare run..."

He didn't finish, but Huang Bao knew his master's character all too well. He hurriedly bent at the waist in fright. "You can rest assured, Master!"