A Storm in the City (Seeking Daily Reads)

"Did the County Magistrate really die?" Zhao Chunzi popped a golden, crispy fried meatball into his mouth, savoring it with pleasure as he spoke with a hint of regret.

"To be honest, I've lived in this city my whole life and never even seen the County Magistrate's face. I wonder what he looked like."

For lowly city folk like him, the County Magistrate's sudden death didn't really feel real.

After all, the Magistrate sat high above, dwelling deep in the inner city. They mostly knew his name but not his face. Hearing the news was startling, but it didn't feel like the sky was falling.

Li Gou'er felt the same. His eyes darted as he said, "Brother Zhao, this is good news for you. With this, the authorities probably won't have time to bother you about last night's events."

"Mm..." Zhao An's gaze fell on the several large blades before him.

These blades were all spoils he'd taken from the Tiger Head Gang's headquarters.

The Big Ring Blade he'd used before was chipped and cracked, beyond repair, so he had to pick a new weapon from the loot.

In the end, he chose a blade resembling a Wild Goose Blade in shape. Its quality was average, nothing special, but it was heavier and thicker, making chops more forceful. It felt comfortable in Zhao An's grip—nothing more.

As for Zhou Hu's Great Gold Blade and Chen Song's Official Blade, both were too conspicuous. He had no plans to use them.

"The Magistrate's death will stir up a storm. If he was truly assassinated, there'll be a citywide manhunt. Hide anything valuable in the house so those soldiers don't find an excuse to swipe it." Zhao An instructed.

"Brother Zhao's right, Chunzi and I will get on it!" Li Gou'er slapped his forehead in agreement, then grabbed Zhao Chunzi, who was still eating, to start moving things.

They weren't dirt poor like before anymore.

There was plenty of stuff in the house. Not counting silver, they'd hauled all sorts of goods from the Python Gang and Tiger Head Gang headquarters. Some they'd keep, some they'd sell off once the heat died down.

These were their belongings now—they couldn't let searching soldiers find them.

And just as Zhao An had predicted, the city gates were sealed. That day, soldiers, clerks, and constables swarmed out, scouring the city for the assassin's trail, throwing everyone into panic.

Even the upcoming County Examination had to be postponed due to the Magistrate's death.

In the Soul Pool, another red Karma Fruit floated into view. Zhao An picked it up and absorbed it, and another three years' worth of hard study filled his mind.

He had Zhao Chunzi fetch paper and grind ink. Zhao An took up the brush and quickly wrote out a military treatise in flowing script.

The handwriting was neat, the content nearly flawless. He was satisfied.

"Brother Zhao, you've become a real scholar! These characters are beautiful!" Zhao Chunzi marveled from the side.

He couldn't read the content, but he knew that Zhao An writing so many characters from memory was no small feat.

"So reading can teach you to write essays this fast..." Zhao Chunzi muttered.

"That's because our Brother Zhao is talented. Look at those bookworms—they need ten years of hard study to write an essay." Li Gou'er clicked his tongue.

In his eyes, their big brother was a genius.

He just hadn't learned before. If he set his mind to it, he picked it up instantly.

Earlier, when Zhao An said he wanted to take the Martial Examination, Li Gou'er thought it was a pipe dream. Now he realized their big brother might actually become a famous general one day, remembered for ages!

"Open up! Open up!"

Suddenly, rough banging came from outside the door.

Li Gou'er hurried to open it.

Sure enough, it was the searching soldiers.

"Officer, what's the matter?" Li Gou'er said with a fawning smile.

"Have you seen any suspicious people today?" one soldier asked, while the others barged straight into the rooms.

"No, no. We've kept the doors shut all day, haven't seen anyone." Li Gou'er said, signaling Zhao Chunzi to brew some tea as an offering.

"Tough work, officers. What happened?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't."

"Got it."

The soldiers searched the place, found no culprit, and couldn't even find anything valuable—not even a steamed bun. They left with dark faces.

But just as these soldiers stepped onto the street, several rough men vaulted over rooftops, charging in with blades and axes.

"The culprit! The culprit's here!" One soldier barely got the words out before an arrow flew in and nailed him in the head, killing him instantly.

The once-bustling market street erupted into chaos. The culprits swept through, and half the soldiers fell in moments.

"How dare you, scoundrels!" Several mounted martial artists chased after them from behind. The two sides clashed like a gust of wind, fighting their way out of sight, leaving only a mess on the street.

"Whoa, that's terrifying..." Li Gou'er peeked half his head out from beside the door, still shaken.

The way those fierce fighters brawled was brutal.

The officer who'd been talking to him moments ago was now a cold corpse lying on the street not far away.

Zhao An's expression turned serious too.

From that brief skirmish, both sides were martial artists, and extremely powerful at that!

It made sense. Anyone strong enough to break into the Magistrate's residence and kill him couldn't be weak.

After all, the Magistrate's mansion would have been heavily guarded, with many guest Martial Masters.

"It seems the one who killed the County Magistrate wasn't a single person, but a group." Zhao An shook his head and had Li Gou'er close the door. He had no intention of getting involved.

How far this storm would develop remained unclear for now. For the moment, he preferred to focus on improving his own strength and wait to see how things played out.

[Soul Slave Chen Xu, five-year servitude period ended. Extract Karma Fruit?]

[Soul Slave Sun Yuan, five-year servitude period ended. Extract Karma Fruit?]

He took two more Soul Slave Karma Fruits. These two soul slaves had the same task—dedicated to training the Silver Snake Hand—and had started at the same time.

Five days, ten years of bitter cultivation!

The two sets of results merged. Even if there were overlapping insights, there were also complementary and intersecting parts.

As he wished, his Silver Snake Hand had reached the second realm!

The Silver Snake Hand only had three layers of realms. This second realm was also the height that Xu Donglai, the former Python Gang leader, had achieved.

After devouring a large plate of meat and drinking over ten catties of soup brewed from Red Blood Root, Zhao An began practicing his palm techniques.

His palms turned softly, like a silver snake coiling, striking out swift as lightning. In the blink of an eye, he could deliver several slaps.

Suddenly, Zhao An's form shifted. The path of his palms changed again—linked grabs and holds, more cunning and slippery than before. Every strike carried palm intent.

A probing claw shot out. Smack!

Internal Breath surged within his body, bursting through his palms. The palm force let out a muffled crack in the air, like a firecracker.

If this palm landed solidly, even the toughest body wouldn't be able to withstand it!

Zhao An withdrew his palms and nodded with satisfaction.

Although the Silver Snake Hand only had three realms, the mysteries one could comprehend at each level were considerable.

At this second realm, his mastery of this martial art was already quite impressive. He could basically display the proper power this palm technique should have.

In actual combat, combining blade and palm could even produce unexpected effects.

At the same time, his Internal Breath had advanced again, now reaching a full two hundred strands!