Green Ghost

"Senior Brother Meng has gone mad?!" The other disciples were all stunned, never expecting that Meng Qi would dare to challenge Tie Niu's authority the moment he became a martial artist.

Over this past month, Tie Niu had not slacked off, having advanced to the second stage of Blood Condensation. His strength had grown increasingly formidable, even allowing him to defeat a senior brother at the third stage of Blood Condensation, firmly securing his position as the head disciple of the martial hall.

Su Yuan benefited from this connection; despite his low strength, everyone still respectfully addressed him as Senior Brother to his face.

A burly figure stepped out from behind Su Yuan.

"Oh my, Senior Brother, don't misunderstand! I meant that becoming a martial artist today is a joyous occasion! Everyone should go out for a drink, my treat!" Meng Qi quickly changed his tune, rubbing his nose with a sheepish grin.

Su Yuan shook his head: "I do not care for alcohol, so I shall not go. Tie Niu, you go in my stead."

He took out two taels of silver and handed them over: "Congratulations, Senior Brother Meng."

Having said that, he stepped straight out of the martial hall.

Tie Niu also politely declined the invitation, stating that he still needed to continue his martial training.

After this commotion, the number of people coming forward to congratulate Meng Qi dwindled significantly, and in the end, only a handful of people followed him out.

"Senior Brother Meng, that Su Yuan is so full of himself! If not for Senior Brother Tie Niu, what would he even be?" someone flattered him on the way.

"Shut up! Why would I care about such things?" Meng Qi scolded him, though he felt truly stifled inside.

Su Yuan held no prejudice against Meng Qi; the man could be considered a model of perseverance.

Moreover, with this precedent, he could eventually find an opportunity to reveal his identity as a Blood Condensation martial artist in a legitimate manner.

As for exactly when, that still required deliberation.

Su Yuan returned home, finding the neighborhood much quieter lately.

Occasionally, passersby would catch a glimpse of him and scurry away as if avoiding a venomous snake or scorpion, shrinking behind their doors.

In this long street, many people had already been dragged away by the Liang People.

Nowadays, the Liang People would rather arrest the wrong person than let a single one slip through the net; one could not even mention the name Cloud-Striding Martial Hall outside, for as soon as it was reported, people were taken immediately.

The informants were also rewarded.

Most of those arrested had been taken because they had spoken too loudly about Su Yuan previously, leading the Liang People to notice something suspicious.

But in the eyes of the neighbors, this was clearly Su Yuan working in the shadows, using the hands of the Liang People to take revenge on those who had insulted him.

Now, no one dared to provoke this "loyal dog" of the Liang People.

Su Yuan picked up the mask on the table.

The mask was a greenish-black color, with an angry expression, three wide-open eyes, a ferocious appearance, horns on its forehead, and fangs protruding from its mouth, as if a demon from the underworld had descended into the world.

This was something he had carved himself, referencing certain divine and demonic images from his past life.

He pressed the mask to his face and looked into the mirror.

The figure in the bronze mirror was a far cry from who he had been two months ago.

His body was lean and sturdy, his height had shot up to one meter eighty, and his shoulders were broad and back wide.

"Since Qingqing gave it to me, let's call it Green Ghost."

Old Liu had estimated the value of the materials for this mask at fifty taels.

Su Yuan had already told the children that if they were ever short on silver in the future, they could come to him at any time to draw from this fifty-tael limit.

It was not that he was stingy, but rather that none of the children had reliable elders in their homes who could safeguard such wealth.

"It is just that today, at this hour, they have yet to come and play." Su Yuan pushed the door open to look out.

At the corner of Fengxing Street, Shen Qingqing was squatting on the ground, sliding a delicate four-wheeled wooden cart.

The other three children each had one as well, laughing and playing.

"Let's see who can slide to Big Brother's house first!" Shen Qingqing said in a crisp voice, lowering her head as she dashed forward.

"Okay!"

She was so focused on the ground that she did not notice a figure suddenly appearing in front of her.

"Ouch!" She collided with him and fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry! Lord Liang!" Shen Qingqing looked up to see an armored Liang soldier and apologized in a panic.

Sui Ge picked up the small cart from the ground and weighed it: "Where did you get these building blocks? Don't you know these are things only the upper class are fit to play with?"

Lu Chen hurriedly pulled Shen Qingqing away: "Lord Liang, these were a gift from someone."

"A gift? These are the latest styles. Who is so extravagant to give this to you low-class gray-folk? Could it be stolen?" Sui Ge confiscated the rest of the small carts.

"We didn't steal them!"

"Then tell me, who gave them to you?" Sui Ge sneered. Seeing the dust on Shen Qingqing's face, he grabbed her and wiped the mud from her cheek, revealing the fair and delicate features beneath.

"Yo, you're quite a looker." Sui Ge pinched her chin, his eyes filled with playful interest.

Shen Qingqing held back her tears, but she did not answer.

"Let her go!" Lu Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he lunged forward, only for Sui Ge to kick him in the stomach, sending him curling to the ground with a muffled groan.

"You lowly cur, you dare lay a hand on me?" Sui Ge sneered.

A palm suddenly clamped onto his shoulder, five fingers like iron pincers, making his shoulder bone creak.

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through his right wrist, forcing him to release Shen Qingqing.

"The items were a gift from me; they have nothing to do with the child." Su Yuan caught Shen Qingqing with one arm and pulled her into his embrace, his tone indifferent.

Sui Ge winced in pain, turning his head to curse, "What rank are you, you son of a bitch? You dare lay a hand on a Liang Person? Let go!"

"Third rank."

"So you're just a third-rank slave!" Sui Ge's courage surged as he barked, but when he struggled, he was horrified to find he couldn't break free from that hand.

Su Yuan set Qingqing down and produced a token, flashing it before his eyes.

Chai Family Token.

Sui Ge's arrogance withered instantly, and he forced a smile, "Oh, so you are an official from the Chai family! You should have said so earlier if you had this token; why tease a small fry like me..."

"Get lost." Su Yuan raised his foot and kicked him, sending him stumbling away.

Sui Ge didn't dare let out a peep, scrambling away on all fours.

This Chai Family Token was something Tie Niu had requested for him.

He had said that with it, Su Yuan would face fewer troubles and could focus on his martial arts training with more peace of mind.

Chai Nian had agreed.

Watching the man's pathetic retreating figure, Su Yuan sneered inwardly: In this world, there is no such thing as noble or base bloodlines, only the strong and the weak.

Su Yuan crouched down to wipe the tear stains from Shen Qingqing's face, "Why didn't you say anything just now?"

"I was afraid of causing trouble for Big Brother," Shen Qingqing whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Big Brother is strong now; I'm not afraid of trouble." Su Yuan stood up to check on Lu Chen, who had merely had the wind knocked out of him and was otherwise fine.

Hu San leaned in, his eyes bright, "Brother Yuan, you were so cool just now! You knocked him down in one go—have you become a martial artist?"

"Soon."

Hu Si added, "Brother Yuan, once you become a martial artist, we want to become strong too, so we can protect Qingqing and Brother Lu!"

Lu Chen caught his breath and nodded vigorously.

"That's fine, but you are still young and your bones haven't fully set. I can teach you some basic stances first," Su Yuan replied.

"Great! Thank you, Brother Yuan!"

After Sui Ge fled, the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt; the girl's features seemed somewhat similar to a certain Cloud-Striding martial artist on the wanted posters.

Though he wasn't certain, there was no harm in reporting it.

"Damn it, that animal hits hard!" He rubbed his still-aching stomach and spat.

The affairs of the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall were currently being meddled with by several major families in the city, the Chai family among them.

Even with the Chai Family Token, it wouldn't stop this matter.

"Once I verify it, I'll make you taste the pain of losing your kin!" Sui Ge thought viciously.

However, he had seized several small, exquisite carts; selling them off would net him another profit.

He reached into his robe, then froze, "Where are my carts?"

He looked around anxiously and saw one of the small carts dropped at the mouth of the alley behind him, spinning in circles.

"This little thing knows how to roll," he muttered, walking toward the alley entrance and bending down to pick it up.

A palm suddenly shot out from the darkness, dragging him violently into the alley!

Crack!

With the crisp sound of a snapping neck, Sui Ge's body went limp.

Su Yuan struck the corpse with several more palms. Although Yun Xu had not yet taught him the true essence of the Cloud-Striding Palm, he had acquired some moves from her and could already imitate their form and intent.

After pulverizing the corpse, Su Yuan fished out five or six taels of silver.

Needless to say, this was all blood money squeezed from the local commoners.

He had risked his life to deliver messages for the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall more than once during this period; letting them take the blame for this was nothing.

Having learned his lesson from the Wang Er incident, Su Yuan knew well: if you don't pull out the weeds by the roots, they will grow again with the spring breeze.

After he left, it wasn't until nightfall that the Fengxing Street patrol squad noticed one man missing, eventually finding Sui Ge's corpse in the dark alley.

Sui Mao stared at his younger brother's mangled remains, flames of rage churning in his chest, "Ah Ge! Who did this? Don't let me catch you, or I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

"These injuries look like the Cloud-Striding Palm technique. They've been hiding for a month, but they've finally surfaced. We must report this immediately!" a soldier nearby urged.

Just then, a figure stood silently behind them.

Sui Mao whipped his head around, "Who's there?"

"Ghost." A ghastly mask with a green face, fangs, and horns appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Playing the god of--" Before Sui Mao could finish his sentence, his eyes bulged as a palm struck his chest, causing it to cave in instantly.

How is this possible... I am a martial artist!

I couldn't even take a single move?

"Run! The people from the Cloud-Striding Martial Hall are here to kill us!" The remaining soldiers were scared out of their wits, scattering in a frantic escape.

But how could they possibly escape from the palm of Su Yuan?

In just a few moments, the alleyway was littered with corpses.

Su Yuan quickly looted the bodies, gaining over thirty taels of silver and, more importantly, a manual for the Horse Spear Technique from Sui Mao; it was a bountiful harvest indeed.

"Murder and arson lead to golden belts."

After dealing with Sui Ge, Su Yuan had a change of thought: killing only one person was too conspicuous, as he was the last person the victim had contact with.

He decided it was better to finish off the entire squad.

[Slaughter: 53/100 (Entry Level)]