Heart and Lungs? Tea Money! (Seeking Follows, Seeking Votes!)

"Instructor Lin." Deputy Captain Tan Hong hurriedly saluted.

Hou Ping was a beat slow, but he followed suit and offered a salute as well.

Lin Zhenwu gave a slight nod, then turned his gaze toward Fang Xiao: "Old Fang, how many years has it been?"

"Over ten, I suppose."

"Has it been that long?" Lin Zhenwu gripped his long spear and drove it into the ground with a forceful thud, where it stood perfectly steady.

Hou Ping stared at the yamen floor, his heart aching in secret.

Can't you just lean it against the wall? Do you have to show off like that? It's not like you're the one who has to lay the floor tiles, right?

After a pause, Lin Zhenwu shifted his gaze, sat down casually, and added: "You... have aged a lot."

Fang Xiao acted as if he hadn't heard, his voice deep and steady: "Never mind whether I've aged or not. If you hadn't arrived, the targets would have already escaped."

"A few rats practicing heterodox arts—where could they possibly run?" Lin Zhenwu swept his gaze around the yamen hall and sighed, "The conditions here are poor enough that there isn't even a cup of tea."

"..." Hearing this, Hou Ping signaled to the bailiff outside.

"Old Lin, are you coming or not? If you aren't, I'm going alone!" Fang Xiao's expression darkened.

"It's bad, they've escaped!"

At that very moment, Zhang Yi came rushing in from outside.

"Zhang Yi, speak clearly, what happened? Weren't you told to follow them in secret?"

"Master Shao, I... I lost them!" Zhang Yi panted heavily.

"Which way did they run?" Lin Zhenwu shed his casual demeanor, pulled his spear from the floor, and demanded sharply.

"South, they ran toward the south!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Lin Zhenwu, Fang Xiao, and Shao Pengshu instantly bolted out, with Tan Hong following close behind.

Hou Ping was a beat slow; by the time he reacted, only Zhang Yi remained, gasping for air with thick beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, along with a bailiff standing there holding a pot of hot tea, looking lost.

"Chief Constable Hou, you needn't go." Zhang Yi grabbed the teapot and took several large gulps, "Captain Shao wants you and me to wait at Wheat Valley Alley."

Wheat Valley Alley?

Hou Ping hesitated for a moment.

However, he thought better of it; with his level of strength, he likely wouldn't be able to catch up anyway.

"Very well, Captain Zhang, would you like some more cold tea?"

"Yes, I'm parched."

As Zhang Yi watched Hou Ping turn and walk away, a flash of murderous intent flickered deep within his eyes.

Willow Town, at the end of West Street.

Chu Ming had spent some time reading Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy outside, but after being interrupted by Qin Gui, he returned to his room to study the blood-refining manual, Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique.

"The content is too sparse. According to the methods within, one can condense at most five strands of so-called Blood Fiend Qi..."

"Blood Fiend Qi... Power of Blood and Qi..."

In his mind, the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique was a vast lake, while beside it sat the small puddle formed by the Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique.

The cultivation method of this technique was too barbaric for his liking, so he had only read the contents without practicing it.

However, he did not simply discard the manual; instead, he prepared to use the [Reading] ability's capacity for "mastery through synthesis" and "drawing inferences" to deduce and optimize a new technique.

"The Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique emphasizes a balance between offense and defense, while the Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique is fierce and bloodthirsty..."

"Bloodthirst is undesirable, but the fierce offense can be retained."

He attempted to channel the water from the lake of the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique into the small puddle of the blood-refining technique.

"No, that way, the blood-refining technique just becomes the same as the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique..."

He had succeeded, yet failed; the deduced technique did not yield the effect he desired.

"If I could obtain the complete blood-refining manual, I should be able to deduce a formidable technique."

Chu Ming shook his head and looked out the window.

The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the courtyard as Xiao Shan swept up fallen leaves with a broom.

A full day had passed; had Steward Fang still not finished his task?

He rose slowly and walked out of the room.

"Is Young Master hungry?" Xiao Shan set down the broom, her sweat beads sparkling like crystal under the setting sun.

"I am."

"Xiao Shan will go prepare something right away." As if she had received some grand reward, she ran happily toward the kitchen.

She washed the rice and vegetables, and white steam began to rise.

Chu Ming wondered, if he were just an ordinary person, perhaps living out his life like this wouldn't be so bad.

But he was not.

And he could no longer be!

Although his own strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, he could only say he was barely able to protect himself.

The Chu Family had been able to establish such a massive enterprise in Baiyuan County; they were definitely not easy to deal with.

For over twenty days, Xiao Shan's care for him could be described as meticulous, the kind that asked for nothing in return; he knew it all in his heart.

Yet, precisely because of this, he could not take Xiao Shan with him.

Because danger could arrive at any moment.

Chu Ming's gaze sharpened as he looked across the street outside the courtyard.

There, he sensed killing intent.

Glancing at Xiao Shan, he walked out of the courtyard and strolled slowly along the street.

At the same time, he activated his Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense, pushing his perception to the limit.

"The scent of blood mixed with rot, and also... the smell of tea."

It was exactly the same faint scent that had been on Huang Lu and Qin Gui during the day.

Had they been to the same place? Met the same person? Or perhaps done the same kind of thing?

He could not see the face of the person hiding in the shadows, but he had already guessed who it was.

Chu Ming walked steadily along the street, and before long, he arrived near Wheat Valley Alley.

This location was exactly where the tea stall had been yesterday.

He paused for only a moment before stepping into Wheat Valley Alley.

In the shadows.

The tea stall owner, who had been following him the whole way, hesitated for a moment before following him inside.

The alley was deep and dim, the stench of rot heavy. The tea stall owner hadn't walked far before he saw a figure.

"Oh, it's the little young master." He feigned a greeting, "You shouldn't be here, sigh. There have been murders happening here these past few days."

That face was wrinkled with a smile, yet sinister.

"I wonder if the little young master brought tea money today." He shifted his feet, moving closer, the fierce glint in his eyes becoming increasingly obvious.

"Since the little young master didn't pay for the tea yesterday, how about today... you leave your heart and liver behind as payment?"

At a distance of half a meter, he suddenly erupted. Something bulged violently from his shoulders, and his withered, firewood-like hands turned into bone claws, viciously swiping at Chu Ming.

Screech—

Chu Ming tilted his body slightly, easily dodging the attack, leaving claw marks on the wall where he had just been standing.

Under the powerful perception of the Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense, the tea stall owner's movements were far too slow.

"How did you find me? Qin Gui?" His voice was cold as he raised his right hand.

The tea stall owner did not answer at all; after the first claw, he unleashed an even more ferocious second one.

Chu Ming frowned, and his Wind-Slapping Palm struck out in an instant.

Puff—

With a muffled groan, the tea stall owner couldn't react in time, and his withered, old-tree-branch-like body flew out like a broken sack.

So weak?

Chu Ming was stunned for a moment.

He had assumed that this tea stall owner, who followed that young mistress, was an expert. Given the opponent's confidence in coming to his door, he had mobilized all the blood-qi energy in his body just to be safe.

He just hadn't expected... that this expert wouldn't be able to withstand a single palm strike fueled by six strands of blood-qi energy.

He walked over to the tea stall owner and leaned down to check; the man had already stopped breathing.

He hadn't failed to block it; he had just died outright...

He uncovered the tea stall owner's shoulders, and the bulging spots were actually two protruding bones. Only then did Chu Ming realize what had been off about the tea stall owner yesterday.

"Those two strips of white cloth weren't for wiping sweat; they were to hide the protruding bones."

Chu Ming gave an awkward smile, wondering if he had been too cautious. He hadn't even asked if the man had been sent by Qin Gui before striking him dead with one palm...

"Forget it. I'm heading to Baiyuan County soon anyway; I'll settle the account with the Chu Family then."

He rummaged through the tea stall owner's belongings for a while, finding a few pieces of silver and two books wrapped in grey cloth.

"Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique, Blood Claw Hand."

Flipping through them, a smile appeared on Chu Ming's face.

"A complete Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique, a martial skill, and five taels of silver. Not a bad harvest."

But this corpse...

"Captain Zhang, there's no need for us to go in. It's quite smelly inside."