Who Beat You Up?! (Seeking Follow-ups, Seeking Monthly Votes)

On the street.

Chu Ming, holding books that towered over his head, his slender frame seemed about to buckle under the weight, drawing many glances. Yet, no one stepped forward to help.

Of course, Chu Ming didn't need help. This body might look thin, but it possessed great strength, evident from his steady footsteps.

He walked briskly, passing Bone-Burial Alley, where a pungent smell of blood wafted out.

The surrounding pedestrians looked terrified and quickly hurried away from the alley entrance.

Chu Ming's steps didn't falter. He paid no mind and continued towards the end of West Street.

Before long, he finally returned home.

"Young Master is back," Xiao Shan immediately brought water, looking at the thick books with surprise. "Young Master, why are these books so thick?"

Chu Ming gulped down several mouthfuls of water. Smelling the aroma of rice wafting from the kitchen, his mouth began to water uncontrollably.

"Xiao Shan, quickly serve me a bowl of rice."

He had indeed been hungry all day, and the biscuits he'd eaten for sustenance had long since been digested.

"Ah... the dishes aren't ready yet."

"Plain rice is fine. Never mind, I'll go myself."

Chu Ming darted into the kitchen in a few steps, lifted the lid of the steamer, scooped a spoonful of rice, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Young Master, it's hot..." Xiao Shan tried to stop him, but Chu Ming acted as if he couldn't feel it, stuffing several mouthfuls before stopping.

"Much better."

Chu Ming took another gulp of water, then walked out of the kitchen comfortably, carrying the Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy into his small room.

"Call me for dinner later."

With those words, Xiao Shan watched the young master's door close.

Inside.

Chu Ming's eyes flickered. First, he took out the two taels of silver from his embrace and placed them on the table.

Two taels of silver wasn't a lot, enough for about a month's worth of food, the kind where one could eat fish and meat.

But now that he was cultivating the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique, not to mention the medicinal soups, his appetite had increased severalfold. This amount of silver would definitely not be enough.

"Currently, the only income is the monthly allowance from the Chu Family, which is not a long-term solution..."

Thinking this, his gaze shifted to the Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy. He picked up two books, each only as thick as his palm.

Two travelogues, he couldn't recall who had placed them there.

Chu Ming glanced at them. He had read them before. After flipping through a few pages, the content was the same, so he casually tossed the two books aside.

"Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy..."

He took a shallow breath, his eyes burning as he looked at the extremely thick stack of blue books.

Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy was not a single book but many volumes bound together.

He picked up the topmost volume. Its cover was dark blue, with large black characters written in regular script: General Theory of the Book of Songs, Volume One.

Opening it, the content was identical to the General Theory of the Book of Songs he had already finished reading.

Following that, he took out the second book, titled General Theory of the Book of Songs, Volume Two. The poems and songs within were ones he hadn't seen before.

He read ten lines at a glance, his memory perfect.

Since he hadn't seen them before, he would dedicate himself to them.

Although his [Reading] skill had reached perfection and showed no further progress, with the assistance of the two special effects, Comprehension and Analogy, he could deduce and optimize the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique while reading.

He even had an intuition that the equally perfected martial skill, [Wind-Slapping Palm], could also accumulate insights through reading, leading to the deduction of higher-level martial skills.

Alternatively, he might awaken special abilities like [Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense].

Willow Town, Catching Yamen.

Fang Xiao and Chief Constable Hou sat solemnly in the hall, the tea on the table having long gone cold.

"This is the sixth one," Chief Constable Hou murmured. "Brother Fang, this matter has even alarmed the Criminal Defense Inspectorate of Baiyuan County. If the culprit isn't caught, I fear we will be held accountable."

Fang Xiao looked at the low-ranking constable below and said in a deep voice, "All six murders occurred in Wheat Valley Alley. The chest cavity was torn open, and the internal organs were removed... Is there anything special about that place?"

"Anything special?" The constable shook his head and reported, "Your Excellency, few people enter Wheat Valley Alley. Several beggars die there every year. Other than that, there's nothing special..."

Fang Xiao fell silent upon hearing this.

He had known about Wheat Valley Alley's name since the first murder occurred, but he couldn't connect it to six murders with almost identical methods happening in less than a month.

"I should go there again," Fang Xiao said, standing up to leave.

Chief Constable Hou hesitated for a moment before reluctantly following.

For the first five murders, they had investigated each time: the deep, cold alley, the brutally murdered corpses, the chest cavity torn open by claws, the missing internal organs...

It was the same every time; he had no desire to look again, but the thought of being unable to report back to the Criminal Defense Inspectorate forced him to follow Fang Xiao.

Sure enough, when the two arrived at Wheat Valley Alley, the scene before them remained exactly the same.

Fang Xiao examined the area for a moment, his brows knitting even tighter.

"How is it?" Chief Constable Hou wiped the filth from his hands, his own face equally clouded with worry.

Fang Xiao shook his head.

"Sigh..."

The two continued to search the riverside alley for traces.

A long while passed.

"Sir, it's almost dark," a bailiff reminded the two.

"Brother Fang, let's head back."

"Mn."

The two left Wheat Valley Alley and returned to the Catching Yamen.

Just then, a sneaky head poked out from the doorway, immediately spotted by Chief Constable Hou, who was already in a foul mood.

"You brat, get over here!"

With a low growl, a figure emerged from the doorway, "Dad..."

"You rascal, weren't you supposed to be taking the Academy Exam? Why are you at the Catching Yamen?"

"I..."

The person who approached was none other than Wu Chun, the tall youth from the private school earlier that day.

"Wait, what happened to your face? Who beat you up?"

Chief Constable Hou had been about to scold him, but stopped when he saw the swelling on Wu Chun's forehead, the injury on his chin, and what appeared to be a missing front tooth.

At the mention of it, Wu Chun's eyes turned red, though no tears were visible.

At the same time, Chief Constable Hou sensed a surge of hostility flooding in from the doorway.

"Hou Wu Chun! I told you to come report a crime, not to come looking for your father!"

The voice was so loud that even Fang Xiao couldn't help but frown.

Following the roar, a woman stormed in, fuming with rage.

The woman grabbed Hou Wu Chun with one hand and pointed at Chief Constable Hou with the other: "Look at your son, he's been beaten until his teeth fell out! All you know is investigating cases, investigating cases—you don't even care about your own son, what kind of cases are you even investigating?!"

Chief Constable Hou's expression turned awkward; he looked at the woman, then quickly averted his gaze to lock onto Hou Wu Chun, "Brat, don't tell me the Academy Exam requires a martial arts duel?"

"Martial arts? What martial arts? Hou Ping, your son was just beaten up! Are you going to handle this, or should I?!" The woman let go of Hou Wu Chun and stood with her hands on her hips, looking quite overbearing.

Seeing this, several young bailiffs at the Catching Yamen shrank their necks and slipped away quietly and cautiously.

Chief Constable Hou cast an apologetic look at Fang Xiao, stood up, walked over to the woman, and lowered his voice: "My dear, Brother Fang is here, give me some face."

The woman glanced at Fang Xiao, then kept her hands on her hips and raised her voice again: "What face? You must get to the bottom of who beat up Hou Wu Chun today, or don't even think about investigating any more cases!"

Watching Chief Constable Hou's troubled expression, Fang Xiao was just about to stand up and leave when he saw the Chief Constable grab Hou Wu Chun by the collar: "Speak clearly, who beat you up!"

It seemed he was about to handle this case with thunderous methods.

"Chu Ming, it was a guy named Chu Ming!" Wu Chun gritted his teeth and said.

Who?!