Bamboo Swordsman

"So, it is agreed."

Evening, at the tavern.

Bandit Brother nodded and looked at the waiter reporting to him.

"Make another trip and tell my Brother Zhu that I invite him to drink with me in five days."

Bandit Brother and Bamboo Swordsman were on very good terms.

This time, yet another unfamiliar Houtian Great Completion expert had arrived.

Therefore, Bandit Brother wanted to find an acquaintance to come and hold down the fort.

However, after the waiter left the tavern and searched the north side of town, he could not find a trace of Bamboo Swordsman.

Evening.

Liu Residence.

Inside a small pavilion in the backyard.

At this moment, a tall, upright old man with graying hair was sitting there.

He carried a scabbard made of bamboo on his back, his temperament cold yet possessing an awe-inspiring sense of sharpness.

Even as he sat in the pavilion conversing with Patriarch Liu, he still exuded a strong sense of oppression.

This person was none other than the third-ranked Bamboo Swordsman in town.

"Senior Zhu, please!"

Facing this expert, Patriarch Liu stood up in a fawning manner to offer tea.

"Mm." Bamboo Swordsman merely lifted his eyelids slightly and sipped the tea to himself. "Shopkeeper Liu, I have already heard about this matter from Ruyi Star, and I am also aware of the affair regarding Chen Guan."

As he spoke, the expression on his face turned to disdain, mixed with thinly veiled jealousy.

"For the past two days, the whole town has been talking about him.

A seventeen-year-old heroic talent?

Hmph!

A mere wet-behind-the-ears brat, relying on a bit of martial strength, actually thinks no one can do anything to him?

I would like to see exactly what kind of ability he has!"

"Indeed!" Patriarch Liu added fuel to the fire. "Isn't it just killing a few bandits who knew some fisticuffs? And he's called a martial arts expert?

When it comes down to it, isn't he just a half-grown child!"

As Patriarch Liu spoke, he bowed and scraped to Bamboo Swordsman again.

"How could he compare to the long-renowned Senior Zhu?

In my eyes, he is just a man with a hollow reputation!

I fear that even ten Chen Guans added together couldn't withstand a single finger of yours, Senior!"

"Mm..." Hearing these flattering words, Bamboo Swordsman was in a great mood.

However, to avoid appearing too arrogant, he quickly composed himself and said earnestly:

"Shopkeeper Liu, you exaggerate.

That brat is able to be talked about by the people in town, so he must have some skill.

If I want to deal with him, I will have to use at least one-tenth of my true ability."

"Many thanks, Senior!" Hearing the subtext in Bamboo Swordsman's words and knowing that he intended to deal with Chen Guan, Patriarch Liu was overjoyed. "Senior, I will have someone prepare some tea right away to toast to your victory!"

As Patriarch Liu spoke, he clapped his hands lightly, and the accountant waiting outside the pavilion entered carrying a tray covered with a red cloth.

"Please, Senior, have some tea." Patriarch Liu gestured for Bamboo Swordsman to lift the cover.

Bamboo Swordsman raised an eyebrow, curious, and lifted the red cloth.

The next second, a high-quality emerald jade pendant came into view.

Patriarch Liu knew his preferences, aware that Bamboo Swordsman liked precious jade.

"This tea..."

When Bamboo Swordsman saw the jade pendant, worth over three hundred taels, he picked it up with both hands and held it up to the setting sun to examine it for a few moments.

A short while later.

Bamboo Swordsman no longer looked cold; instead, he nodded with a smile on his face.

"This tea is excellent; the fragrance is verdant, and it leaves a lingering taste on the palate."

It is not hard to see that Patriarch Liu is also a man who loves tea!

"I am glad you like this tea, Senior!" Seeing Bamboo Swordsman unable to put the tea down, Patriarch Liu pointed toward the outskirts of the town, "There is one more bowl of victory tea waiting at the third pavilion outside West Town.

I shall have someone go there to warm the tea for you now.

When you return in triumph, you can savor that cup of red tea at your leisure."

"Good!" Bamboo Swordsman nodded with great satisfaction, not bothering to ask what the final "red tea" might be.

He reckoned that this Patriarch Liu would not dare to try and fool him with some mere red tea water.

It must be a top-grade red agate...

Bamboo Swordsman pondered, looking back at the jade pendant with a calm and composed air, liking it more the longer he stared.

Even without the final red agate, the jade pendant alone made the trip worthwhile.

Because of his own jealousy, he had intended to kill Chen Guan regardless.

Now that there was extra wealth involved, it was already quite good.

Likewise, the gang fighting in the town would surely alert the magistrate's office.

After killing the target, Bamboo Swordsman would naturally have to flee.

Fleeing, of course, required travel expenses.

Patriarch Liu had dealt with martial arts experts before and knew exactly how to make the most appropriate arrangements.

Everyone understood each other without a word; it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Furthermore, Patriarch Liu was a businessman, and during this time, he began to calculate even further ahead.

With this matter regarding Chen Guan, perhaps I can befriend a long-renowned Houtian expert...

And through this expert, get to know the manager of Yanhe Pavilion.

That manager has vast connections and is no ordinary person.

If I can make that connection, no matter how much I spend today, it will all be worth it.

Patriarch Liu calculated, feeling that everything was moving in a favorable direction.

At the same time.

He glanced at Bamboo Swordsman, who was still examining the jade pendant, and bowed deeply with a hidden smile, "Then I shall wish you a triumphant victory right here, Senior!"

"Hahaha!" Bamboo Swordsman laughed, "Today, I will let you witness what it means to have victory within one's grasp!"

Deep in the night.

In the backyard of the Zhao Family.

Chen Guan was sitting in his room, regulating his breathing and absorbing the fire-attribute spiritual energy from the air, continuously expanding his Dantian sea of qi.

Cultivation was just like that—a process of grinding an iron rod down into a needle.

But just then.

Big Ears suddenly twitched, as if he had heard a light footstep on the street thirty meters away.

The person was gradually quickening their pace, continuously approaching his location.

Hearing this sound, Chen Guan rose from his meditation, Although I have not opened the meridians and acupoints of my ears, perhaps due to the "complications" of my bear-like heritage and my entry into cultivation, my hearing is already superior to that of ordinary experts.

If it were any other Houtian Great Perfection expert, they likely wouldn't have heard these light-gong footsteps.

Pondering this, Chen Guan infused his legs with a small amount of spiritual energy and, with even lighter steps, crossed the small room in one or two strides, arriving at the courtyard wall.

At this moment.

Bamboo Swordsman, outside the courtyard, had also reached the wall, separated from Chen Guan by only a single layer of brick.

Yet Bamboo Swordsman was unaware of this, instead secretly recovering his internal energy.

With my martial prowess and the cover of a midnight assassination, no matter how much of a genius he is, he must meet his end here today.

The pugilistic world is inherently treacherous.

Today, your Senior Zhu will teach you a lesson, young man, so you know that the tree that stands above the forest will be broken by the wind.

Bamboo Swordsman was full of confidence, yet he knew that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

Ambushing a genius was a perfectly sound method.

But before he could fully recover his internal energy and reach his peak state.

Crash—

With a thunderous roar.

He saw the wall in front of him suddenly explode. Amidst the flying stones and bricks, a palm the size of a human head lunged toward his skull!

"Bad!"

Bamboo Swordsman failed to dodge in time; the pebble struck his face like a sharp blade, carving out a series of wounds.

Fortunately, his experience in martial arts combat was seasoned. In a hair-raising moment, he scrambled back a few steps and, the instant he evaded Chen Guan's palm, drew the long sword from his back.

Following that, he did not counterattack, but turned and ran!

Based on the sheer force of that strike alone, he knew he was no match for this Little Qilin.

He... he is definitely at the Great Completion stage!

Furthermore, his physique is extraordinary; ordinary martial artists cannot go head-to-head with him...

Bamboo Swordsman was panicking now, feeling as though he had provoked a young hero of the pugilistic world who was not to be trifled with.

Rumble~

At this moment, seeing that his first strike had failed to capture the man, Chen Guan squeezed through the massive hole in the wall, bringing down the already crumbling structure.

The commotion caused the few pedestrians on the street to turn their gazes toward the scene.

At that very moment.

Once Chen Guan emerged, he gave chase, having no intention of letting the man go.

Bamboo Swordsman, meanwhile, continued to run without looking back.

Both were veterans of the martial world; they knew that in a situation so clearly defined as "an ambush met with a counterattack," no amount of explanation would be of any use.

"Is... is that... Bamboo Swordsman?"

"The other person... Little Qilin Chen Guan?"

"It looks like they've started fighting..."

Passersby on the street saw the pursuit and noticed the blood-streaked, panicked appearance of Bamboo Swordsman, realizing only that the two had come to blows.

As it stood, it appeared that the veteran expert Senior Zhu had been severely wounded.

Covered in blood, he gave the impression that he was nearing his end.

"Young Hero Chen is this formidable? To be able to force Senior Zhu into such a wretched state..."

There were a few young heroes on the street with a keen eye who, upon seeing Chen Guan chasing down an old senior, revealed expressions of astonishment.

"Bamboo Swordsman?"

Hearing the exclamations from the nearby streets, Chen Guan realized who this person, who had been sneaking around to ambush him, actually was.

He was a veteran expert of the Post-natal Great Completion stage.

But knowing was one thing.

Chen Guan did not stop his pace, and with even greater speed, he covered another hundred meters, finally closing in on Bamboo Swordsman's back.

In the next second.

Feeling the gust of wind from behind, Bamboo Swordsman used his final ounce of strength, exploding his internal energy into his legs to leap five zhang to the left.

By now, his strength was exhausted, and his new energy had yet to form.

However, he had opened up enough distance to buy time to beg for mercy: "Young Hero, spare my life! Spare me! This matter was due to this old man's foolishness; I was being used by others!

In my heart, I have always held you in high regard, Young Hero!"

Seeing that he could not escape.

Bamboo Swordsman decided to use his silver tongue.

Yet, he dared not claim he had come for a friendly visit, nor did he dare lie too much, choosing instead to speak half-truths.

Because, judging by the decisiveness of Chen Guan's strikes.

He knew that Chen Guan was definitely a veteran of the martial world and not easily deceived.

"Used?"

Chen Guan closed the distance rapidly and stood before him. His imposing physique caused Bamboo Swordsman to involuntarily take another half-step back.

The others on the street, seeing that there was a grudge involved, dared not speak loudly, only retreating quietly while listening in.

"Someone else gave the orders?" Chen Guan ignored the onlookers and asked briefly, "Who?"

"Shopkeeper Liu of the Liu Family Rice Shop!"

To save his life, Bamboo Swordsman blurted out, "And Ruyi Star!

Furthermore, the incident with the bandits at your family's home was also their doing..."

"What? The Liu family is colluding with bandits?" The surrounding crowd frowned, shocked that the Liu family would have ties to such criminals.

"The Liu family, Ruyi Star?" Chen Guan pondered for a few breaths before asking Bamboo Swordsman again: "Where are those two?"

"I don't know about Ruyi Star," Bamboo Swordsman replied in a panic. "Patriarch Liu is at his estate."

"Hmm."

Chen Guan nodded. In the next second, he snatched the long sword from the man's hand. The blade's light, cast against the lanterns on either side, formed a cold, clear crescent moon as he backhanded the blade to sever his head.

Thud—

His body and head hit the ground, and the emerald jade pendant at his waist shattered into pieces.

"Many thanks, Senior. This junior understands; I shall send them to follow you now."