Two taels?
Chu Ming's mouth twitched. Wu Chun looked like a big, dumb lunk, and he really was one, but he also had a bit of a scheming streak.
"Dad," Wu Chun stumbled over to Hou Ping and lowered his voice. "I want to buy a technique."
"A technique?" Hou Ping's expression changed. "The Tiger Python Force I taught you is the best Body Forging Technique."
"No, Dad. That technique is even more powerful than the Tiger Python Force." Wu Chun was so anxious that sweat was nearly breaking out on his forehead.
"Heh. Since when can you tell whether a technique is powerful or not? Hou Wuchun, your mother was right. You really should read more. Who knows what's going through your head all day?"
"Dad, it really is better than the Tiger Python Force..."
"Bring it here. Let me see."
"Will you buy it after you've seen it?"
"Let me see first."
"All right."
Wu Chun panted as he ran back inside. "Brother Chu, can I take it out to show my dad... Wait, no, Brother Chu, don't actually tear it!"
Rrrip—
The sheet of paper tore in half. Wu Chun felt as if his own body had been ripped in two.
"Take it." Chu Ming crumpled the paper into two balls and tossed one of them out.
Wu Chun jolted and lunged forward, catching the paper ball as if it were made of porcelain and couldn't bear to be dropped.
Then he clutched it and hurried out of the room.
"Dad, look." Wu Chun held the paper ball out in both hands.
"You little brat, are you messing with your father?"
When Hou Ping saw Wu Chun come out holding a ball of paper, his anger flared. He raised his hand as if he were about to slap his own son into the air.
"Dad..." With nimble reflexes, Hou Wuchun rolled across the ground and stopped beside Fang Xiao. His big, clumsy hands unfolded the paper ball and spread it out on the stone table.
"You little brat, you bring me a crumpled ball of paper, and it's torn, too... Hm?"
Hou Ping's raised hand suddenly froze in midair. His eyes fixed on the creased, battered sheet.
Fang Xiao glanced over almost absentmindedly, then found himself drawn to the movements on the page.
"Dad, how is it? I wasn't lying, was I?" Hou Wuchun lifted his chin, pride flickering across his face.
"These movements... They're the Tiger Python Force... No, the Tiger Python Force is more complicated than this." Hou Ping studied the page. "But these movements give me the feeling..."
The morning breeze swept past, lifting the paper.
Whoosh—
Fang Xiao reached out and caught it, then carefully spread it back out on the stone table.
"It's not that the movements are simpler. They're smoother and more connected. They look simple, but they're actually more advanced," Fang Xiao exclaimed.
The half-sheet showed only a dozen or so movements, but the shadows of the first five forms of the Tiger Python Force were visible...
"Brat, where did you get this?" Hou Ping grabbed Hou Wuchun.
"Brother Chu! It's Brother Chu's!" Hou Wuchun winced. "Dad, ease up!"
Only then did Hou Ping realize that, in his excitement, he had used his Qi and Blood Power to clamp down on Hou Wuchun's wrist.
The young master?!
Fang Xiao's gaze sharpened. The astonishing image of Chu Ming spontaneously comprehending a palm technique flashed through his mind.
Could the young master have used the Tiger Python Force to comprehend a more advanced Body Forging Technique?!
The instant the thought occurred to him, he was startled by it himself.
The young master of Brother Fang's family?!
Hou Ping raised his brows and looked at Fang Xiao inquiringly. "Brother Fang..."
Fang Xiao came back to himself. He looked at the half-sheet pressed against his palm, then slowly lifted his head. "Brother Hou, I can't make that decision."
"This was originally one whole sheet of paper. Brother Chu treated it like trash and was about to throw it away. Hurry up and give me the silver, or it'll really be gone!"
"What?!" Hou Ping slapped the stone table and leapt to his feet. "Wait here. I'll get the money from your mother!"
He hurried toward the kitchen.
Then came a furious shout that everyone could hear: "Three taels?! Hou Ping, you only just took five taels, and now you want another three? How are we supposed to get by?"
Chu Ming, inside the room, froze. Like father, like son, huh?
Fang Xiao in the courtyard also felt that something wasn't quite right.
A little later, Hou Ping emerged with a strange smile on his face.
Hou Wuchun recognized that expression at once: it was the look of someone whose scheme had succeeded!
"Dad... Dad..." He rubbed his hands together and edged up to Hou Ping.
Hou Ping picked a tael of silver from his palm, shot Hou Wuchun a glare, then tiptoed to tuck it into his clothes. "I'll go myself!"
"Huh?" Hou Wuchun immediately panicked. "Dad, let me. I'll do it."
But Hou Ping had already reached Chu Ming's door in a few quick strides. In a low voice, he said, "Young Master Chu..."
"Come in."
Before he could finish, a voice came from inside. Hou Ping gently pushed open the door and saw a frail young man sitting calmly at his desk.
"Young Master Chu, here's the silver." He set two taels on the table, his eyes fixed on the crumpled paper ball lying casually beside its corner as if it were worthless.
Hou Wuchun stood in the doorway, looking troubled, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as he fretted anxiously.
Chu Ming picked up the paper ball and walked over to Hou Ping. "Uncle Hou, there's no need for such courtesy. One tael is enough."
"One tael? Wasn't it two?" Hou Ping asked.
This was bad!
Behind him, Hou Wuchun frantically gestured and pulled faces, trying to signal Chu Ming not to give the game away.
Chu Ming found it amusing but kept a straight face. "Since you came in person, Uncle Hou, one tael will do."
"Whew..." Hou Wuchun let out a long sigh of relief.
Hou Ping looked at the young man in front of him and heard the relieved sigh behind him. He could more or less guess what was going on.
"Thank you, Young Master Chu."
He took the paper ball and turned to leave the room on his own. But his fierce glare made Hou Wuchun's teeth chatter.
The courtyard.
Hou Wuchun carefully fitted the two torn halves together. Thirty movements appeared before their eyes.
"Brother Fang, forgive the trouble."
Hou Ping had Hou Wuchun hold the paper upright, then followed the movements and began practicing in the courtyard.
As he performed more and more of them, astonishment deepened in Hou Ping's eyes.
Fang Xiao watched from the side, growing just as astonished. Though he hadn't practiced the movements himself, simply watching was enough to tell him that this technique was definitely more advanced than the original Tiger Python Force.
After Hou Ping completed the movements on the paper, the Qi and Blood Power in his bloodline was stirred.
He was a mid-stage martial artist in the Blood Activation Realm, and the Tiger Python Force could no longer affect his own Qi and Blood Power.
His breathing slightly quickened as he turned to Fang Xiao. "Brother Fang, this technique seems to be an improved version of the Tiger Python Force. It has fewer movements, and they're more fluid and easier to perform, yet it's several times more effective."
"Dad, how is it? I didn't misjudge it, did I?"
"For once, you've shown some sense."
"Then the silver you embezzled from Mom..."
"Say that again!"
"All right, I'll say it." Hou Wuchun turned toward the kitchen, about to shout.
Smack—
The next instant, a bright silver ingot smacked him in the face, silencing him.
"Thanks, Dad!"
At noon, Hou Ping's wife and Xiao Shan prepared a table laden with sumptuous dishes: fish, meat, and every kind of delicacy. Chu Ming could smell it from inside his room.
The food really was delicious, even better than what Xiao Shan usually cooked. It thoroughly satisfied his appetite.
After lunch, Hou Ping and Fang Xiao discussed the case for a while, then the family of three prepared to leave.
But just as they stepped out of the courtyard, they saw a finely decorated carriage slowly approaching.
Hou Ping and Fang Xiao stopped and looked over. The carriage curtain was lifted, and an old man and a young man stepped out.
"Chief Constable Hou?!"
"Chi Jin?!"
"Wu Chun!"
"Chi Lin!"
The four of them looked at one another, each seeming to see something in the others' eyes.
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