Aftermath

Roars came one after another. The wolf pack and Hu San had both gone mad.

Yet Li Beichen saw that the alpha wolf had remained calm throughout.

"If Hu San kills another two wolves, this alpha might order the pack to retreat."

"I need to add fuel to the fire!"

Li Beichen jumped down from the treetop and crept forward.

Just as Hu San threw a punch to kill another wolf, Li Beichen found his chance.

Forty paces away—Locust Stone, Yang Hand!

With a swoosh, the Locust Stone shot through the dense forest.

Hu San punched again, shattering another wolf's spine. But before he could rejoice, Li Beichen's Locust Stone struck his wrist with pinpoint accuracy.

"It's you!!! Damn you!!!"

Li Beichen immediately saw Hu San recoil in pain, unable to even clench his fist.

Two fists could still hold up the sky, but one palm could hardly make a sound.

The alpha wolf, which had been hesitating over whether to retreat, seized the opportunity and charged in as well.

The scales of victory tipped.

Li Beichen watched coldly as Hu San was swallowed by the wolf pack.

Then he moved another ten paces closer and took out the last specially made Locust Stone.

Locust Stone, Yin Hand!

A black shadow like a locust crossed thirty paces in an instant and struck the eye socket of the alpha wolf, which was tearing at Hu San's body.

Bang! Its eyeball burst, fluid spraying everywhere!

"Awooo!"

The alpha wolf let out an agonized howl.

But what surprised Li Beichen was that the specially made Locust Stone had actually been blocked by the wolf's skull. Though it had gravely wounded the beast, it had not killed it.

Moreover, the alpha wolf's physique was extraordinary. It forcibly shook the Locust Stone from its eye socket, and the bleeding stopped after only a little blood had flowed.

The alpha wolf viciously swept its remaining eye over the surroundings, then let out a long howl.

The other wolves immediately stopped gnawing on Hu San and retreated into the dense forest while shielding the alpha wolf.

Only after the wolf pack had completely vanished from sight did Li Beichen slowly step out.

Hu San still had a faint breath left, but his blood had already soaked the surrounding earth.

His body was covered in bloody holes where the wolves had fed.

"Save... save me..."

"Go back to Thunderbolt Martial Hall... find Master..."

Hu San still wanted to live. Using the last of his strength, he pleaded in a voice as thin as a thread.

"If you live, do I die?"

Li Beichen drew the Refined Iron Dagger and gave him a swift end.

Kill, search the corpse, seize the treasure.

Since fleeing disaster in Bing Province, Li Beichen had seen this sequence countless times.

This was the first time he had done it himself.

Yet Li Beichen felt no unfamiliarity at all. Calmly, he searched out everything of use.

One gold ingot, three pieces of broken silver, and a string of copper coins.

Besides that, there was also a wooden plaque.

As for martial arts manuals, there was not even half a scrap.

One tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver.

"Sure enough, murder and arson make a man rich."

Li Beichen sighed, then took out a tinderbox, gathered firewood, and tossed Hu San's corpse into a nearby cave, reducing it to ashes.

He covered the cave entrance. The firelight was difficult to see from outside, and the smoke drifted out in thin wisps, hard to notice.

There were also four wolf carcasses on the ground. Li Beichen did not waste them, using his dagger to strip off all their pelts.

In this era, fur clothing was worth far more than brocade garments.

With these four wolves, added to the previous two, Li Beichen could have someone make him a wolfskin coat.

It was April in spring, when grasses and trees flourished. Within days, green growth would sprout again over Hu San's ashes.

By then, Hu San would disappear completely into the dense forest.

No one would ever find him.

After finishing everything, Li Beichen returned to the hollow where the doe lay, cut away the remaining fine meat, and headed straight down Small Gravel Mountain.

Over the next few days, Li Beichen kept to his usual routine.

At night, he polished Locust Stones and ground away at his skill progress. During the day, he went into the mountains to hunt.

When he returned to the village, he heard the villagers gossiping.

"Several lords from the city came to the village today."

"Every last one of them wore brocade."

"Their arms were thicker than my thighs."

"I heard they were martial artists, from Thunderbolt Martial Hall in Ram City."

"The village chief entertained them himself."

Li Beichen paused briefly. He knew the people searching for Hu San had arrived.

Those people made a few simple inquiries in Clear Creek Village, found no clues at all, and left directly.

Once they left, Li Beichen knew the matter had completely ceased to concern him.

"Martial arts. Martial artists."

Li Beichen pondered it. Back in Bing Province, he had heard of how formidable martial artists were, and people like that had also come to his village before.

He had learned this Locust Stone technique from one of them.

Thinking back on it now, that man had also been an unranked martial artist.

Later, when he fled to Jiangnan, all he sought was survival. He paid even less attention to such things.

The jianghu and martial artists were as far from people struggling merely to stay alive as heaven was from earth.

Only after encountering Hu San had Li Beichen glimpsed one corner of the Heavenly Palace.

Clear Creek Village. Li Beichen borrowed an ox cart from Wang Er's family and loaded up all the stock he had accumulated over the past few days.

Now that he had money in hand, though, he kept good meat such as venison for himself, smoking it at home for later enjoyment.

Li Beichen led the yellow ox toward Ram City.

When he was halfway there and passing through a secluded stretch of land,

Li Beichen's gaze sharpened.

He heard faint rustling coming from the grass.

"Who's there?!"

Li Beichen took out two stones and held them in his palm.

Soon, three or five disreputable thugs sprang out from the grass, each carrying a club.

Their eyes greedily fixed on Li Beichen's ox cart and the goods atop it.

"It seems I brought too much game this time. Transporting it alone drew covetous eyes."

Sure enough, the lead thug stepped forward and pointed his club at Li Beichen.

"Leave the goods. You can get lost."

Whoosh—crack—

"Aah!!! It's broken! It hurts like hell..."

The Locust Stone struck the thug's wrist directly, shattering the bones there. The thug immediately lost his grip on the club and clutched his wrist, screaming.

The other thugs hurried forward and helped their leader up.

"Get him! Beat him to death!"

Bang!!

The other Locust Stone struck the wrist bone of the thug's other hand.

"Aah!!"

The thug's face instantly turned deathly pale. He was almost in too much pain to bear it.

Li Beichen took out another two stones, poised to strike.

"Get lost already!"

At his sharp shout, the thugs hurriedly dragged their leader away, not daring to look back.

After dealing with them, Li Beichen led the ox cart onward.

Before long, he saw the Free Trade Market, bustling with people.

Free Trade Market, game stall.

After Shopkeeper Zhang settled the account, Li Beichen accepted the silver and took the chance to ask,

"Shopkeeper Zhang, do you know what avenues there are for learning martial arts?"

"Yes. The city's four most famous martial halls—Thunderbolt, Elephant-Like, Cloud Crane, and the Wang Clan—all recruit disciples."

Shopkeeper Zhang glanced at Li Beichen. After some thought, he still offered a word of warning.

"Young Brother Li, learning martial arts depends on aptitude. If you're generally too old, no one will accept you."

"And martial arts are for the rich, while scholarship is for the poor. Learning martial arts burns through money. It wasn't easy for you to hunt in the mountains—if you pour your savings into martial arts, you may not hear even a splash!"

"Wouldn't it be better to find yourself a wife, buy two mu of fertile land, and live a peaceful life?"