There Is No Need for Me to Know Either

"Tiger in a Cage?"

Jiang Tian raised an eyebrow, savoring the meaning of those three words.

He could clearly feel that something different had been added to his Five Animals Creation Play, an indescribable nuance that felt like sharpening a dull blade or finding a source for a stagnant pool of water.

With a thought, he snapped his five fingers together, twisted his waist, and unleashed a punch into the air.

The force gathered in his arm, flowing from his waist and hips to his shoulder, from his shoulder to his elbow, and from his elbow to his wrist, finally converging at his knuckles. It moved in layers, connected at every joint, like a spring compressed to its limit and suddenly released.

"Roar--!"

A tiger's roar erupted, not from his throat, but as a natural boom created by his fist tearing through the air.

The air above his fist seemed to be squeezed by an invisible giant hand, producing a series of crackling pops like firecrackers set off during the New Year.

Jiang Tian retracted his fist and looked at his slightly reddened knuckles, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Is this Momentum?"

He had seen disciples at the Martial Arts Hall at the Hidden Energy realm strike before, but they possessed nothing like this power. Their punches were certainly fierce, but they were merely brute force, lacking this "living" quality.

It was like a tiger locked in a cage; all its ferocity, malice, and killing intent were suppressed to the extreme, waiting for the moment the cage door opened to unleash a world-shaking strike.

However, the only flaw was that breaking through to Hidden Energy had not increased his lifespan.

It was still seventeen years.

Jiang Tian shook his head, pushing down that trace of disappointment.

There was still nearly a year left; no need to rush.

The next day, Jiang Tian repeated the same routine he had followed for the past few days.

After breaking through to Hidden Energy, he had extracted a large amount of entry points from the heads of the other disciples at the Martial Arts Hall. However, he was still far from upgrading his two purple entries to red; the threshold of five thousand points could not be satisfied by just a few "meals."

Every time he trained for a while, the blood vitality in his body would be depleted.

At such times, he had to consume a few Blood Vitality Pills to replenish what he had burned. Li Batian sent him three pills every day, and with the one from Yuan Long, he had four. A few days ago, that would have been plenty, but now it seemed a bit insufficient.

At noon, after Jiang Tian finished the three Blood Vitality Pills sent by that "great philanthropist" Li Batian, he went to find Yuan Long to collect his daily pill during his afternoon training.

To his surprise, Yuan Long was not there.

Just then, Yuan Manzhi walked toward him holding a Blood Vitality Pill.

"Your Blood Vitality Pill."

Yuan Manzhi parted her red lips and spoke the three words. But the next moment, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes froze, her pupils constricting slightly.

"You broke through to Hidden Energy?"

Jiang Tian nodded slightly.

Upon receiving a positive reply, Yuan Manzhi's expression became incredibly complex.

In those shimmering eyes, surprise, bewilderment, hesitation... all sorts of emotions were intertwined.

A moment later, she took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision.

"Wait here for a moment."

With that, she turned and left.

Not long after, Yuan Manzhi returned, holding a small white jade bottle in her hand.

It was a full bottle of Blood Vitality Pills.

"This..." Jiang Tian was dumbfounded, his Adam's apple bobbing as he said slowly, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

He knew the value of Blood Vitality Pills. One pill cost thirty taels of silver; this bottle held ten, making it worth three hundred taels.

Yuan Long giving him one a day was already an immense favor; ordinary disciples might not even receive one in a month.

"Train hard. Great chaos is coming."

Yuan Manzhi didn't say more, leaving only those four simple words before thrusting the jade bottle into Jiang Tian's hand and turning away.

Her sleeves fluttered and her footsteps were hurried, as if she were afraid she might change her mind.

Jiang Tian gripped the warm jade bottle in his hand, his brows furrowing slightly as he pondered what Yuan Manzhi had just said.

Great chaos is coming?

The number of refugees had indeed been increasing lately, huddled in groups of three or five in every corner of the city, gaunt and sallow.

But they hadn't formed any real power; they couldn't stir up any trouble.

Could it be... the Poison Wolf Gang between the two counties?

His elder brother was still outside the city suppressing bandits.

A faint sense of unease stirred in Jiang Tian's heart, though he couldn't put his finger on why.

He shook his head, suppressing his stray thoughts, tucked the jade bottle into his robe, and reset his stance.

Time to train.

[Ding! You possess Innate Martial Bone and Superb Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

[Beep! You have Innate Martial Bone and superb comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

[Beep! You have Innate Martial Bone and superb comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9!]

Night fell.

The Zhang Family estate was brightly lit.

Zhang Qingfeng lay on a soft couch covered in silk, enjoying the service of his personal maid.

A moment later, he let out a long breath, a fleeting sense of satisfaction appearing on his face.

"Refreshing—"

However, this satisfaction lasted only a few seconds. The worry between his brows quickly crept back.

A few days ago, he had spent a large sum of money to hire Xiao Shan to deal with Jiang Tian.

But after several days, there had been no movement at all. Jiang Tian was living perfectly well, while Xiao Shan, on the other hand, had vanished as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth, leaving no trace.

He even wondered, surely Xiao Shan hadn't taken his deposit and run off, right?

But when he went to the Kaishan Martial Hall to inquire, he learned that Xiao Shan hadn't been to the hall for days. Even the people at the martial hall were looking for him.

A chill ran down Zhang Qingfeng's spine.

Could it be... that Jiang Tian killed Xiao Shan?

That's impossible, right?

How long has Jiang Tian been practicing martial arts? How could he possibly be a match for Xiao Shan, who had been in Body Tempering for so long?

But he didn't dare to think about that "what if"—what if Jiang Tian had already reached Body Tempering? What if Xiao Shan had really fallen?

For the past few days, he hadn't dared to step outside, cowering at home and relying on the Hidden Energy guard supported by his family to bolster his courage.

He even toyed with the idea that if things got desperate, he would go tell his father to have that Hidden Energy guard take action and finish off Jiang Tian directly...

Before this thought could even settle, a loud crash erupted in his ears.

"BOOM—!"

The bedroom door was kicked open, and cold wind mixed with the night air poured in, causing the candlelight to sway violently and casting clawing, dancing shadows on the walls.

"Who goes there?!"

Zhang Qingfeng was shocked to the core, his gaze snapping toward the doorway.

A figure stood prominently in the entrance, the moonlight behind him spreading out into a pale sheet.

That face had been appearing in his mind for the past few days, haunting him like a nightmare he couldn't shake.

Jiang Tian.

A faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth, but those eyes were chillingly cold.

"Brother Qingfeng, it's been a few days... I've missed you dearly."

"Jiang Tian?!"

Every hair on Zhang Qingfeng's body stood on end instantly. His back was soaked in cold sweat, and his heart felt as if it had been grabbed by a hand and pulled up into his throat.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he desperately tried to steady his mind, then he opened his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Someone! There's an assassin! Come to me quickly—"

Once, twice, three times.

The courtyard was deathly silent; there wasn't even an echo.

No one answered him.

There were no footsteps, no shouts, no movement of any kind.

At this moment, Jiang Tian moved.

He lifted his foot and walked toward Zhang Qingfeng. His pace was not fast—one could even say it was very slow. Every step landed on the blue bricks with a dull thud, like a funeral bell tolling against Zhang Qingfeng's heart.

"CRACK—"

Jiang Tian was expressionless, clean, and decisive as he punched, shattering Zhang Qingfeng's limbs.

The sound of bone fracturing was crisp and piercing. Before Zhang Qingfeng could even register the pain, his limbs hung limp and soft, like a puppet with cut strings.

Following that, Jiang Tian casually slapped the head of the trembling maid nearby. The maid didn't even have time to scream before she slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"AH—!!"

Only then did Zhang Qingfeng react, letting out a harrowing, miserable wail. He convulsed in pain, his face smeared with a mixture of cold sweat, snot, and tears.

Before he could recover his senses, Jiang Tian grabbed him by the back of his neck like a chick and strode toward the courtyard.

He went to his parents' room first.

The door was wide open, and the room was in total disarray. Tables and chairs were overturned, porcelain was shattered across the floor, and the air was thick with the pungent scent of blood.

Zhang Qingfeng's father lay on the ground in a spread-eagle position, a fist-sized bloody hole in his chest, the edges as clean as if he had been pierced through by some sharp weapon.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils frozen in a final expression of shock; he had died without ever understanding what had happened.

Mother slumped in the corner, her neck twisted at an impossible angle, her face a bruised purple.

"Jiang Tian--!!"

Blood and tears streamed down Zhang Qingfeng's face, his voice sounding as if it were being squeezed through his teeth—hoarse, broken, and filled with intense hatred.

Jiang Tian did not respond, dragging him along as he continued to walk.

The direction was exactly toward the residence of the Hidden Energy guard.

A glimmer of hope suddenly appeared on Zhang Qingfeng's face.

Perhaps that old thing was just getting on in years and hard of hearing, failing to notice the commotion earlier.

As long as he intervened, Jiang Tian, a martial artist at most in the Body Tempering Realm, couldn't possibly...

However, when they arrived at the front, the light in his eyes was instantly extinguished.

That Hidden Energy guard lay like a pile of mud in a pool of blood, devoid of any signs of life.

His chest was caved in and his limbs were twisted, as if he had been repeatedly trampled by a savage beast.

Zhang Qingfeng felt as if he had been hollowed out; his pupils dilated and his lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.

Jiang Tian let go, tossing him onto the ground like a pile of mud.

"I didn't really provoke you before, did I?"

He crouched down, looking Zhang Qingfeng straight in the eyes, his voice very calm.

"Why did you make me attend that Poetry Gathering? Why did you have that Xiao Shan teach me a lesson?"

"I..."

The intense desire to survive and the bloody scenes from just moments ago violently assaulted Zhang Qingfeng's nerves; his crotch grew warm as he lost control of his bowels, and a foul, pungent stench began to spread.

"I didn't know that Wang Moshan would..." he pleaded, his voice intermittent, tears and blood mixing together to leave mottled streaks across his face.

"I beg you, Jiang Tian, for the sake of our many years of friendship... just let me go! You've already killed my parents, you've already vented your anger..."

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

A dull thud sounded, like a ripe watermelon being smashed against the ground.

Red and white matter splattered everywhere, with a few droplets landing on Jiang Tian's face.

Jiang Tian casually wiped the filth from his face and murmured, "Forget it, there's no need for me to know anyway..."