Chen Jianghe planted a foot on a stone and sprang up, flipping through the air over the black-clad man's head as his left hand flicked out the last of the Bone-Corroding Powder.
The black-clad man shut his eyes and dodged, his blade slowing for a moment.
Chen Jianghe seized the chance to land and roll aside. His Butchery Blade chopped through an old vine beside him—and the instant it snapped, a vine snare hidden beneath the fallen leaves looped around the black-clad man's ankle. The stone suspended from its other end came crashing down!
The black-clad man roared and hacked the rock to pieces, but the shock sent him staggering. The vine snare caught his foot, throwing him off balance.
Chen Jianghe skimmed low across the ground. His left fist, charged with Cannon force, knocked the blade off course, and blood sprayed from his shoulder. His right-hand blade was already stabbing toward the man's lower abdomen.
The black-clad man swung his blade back to block. Chen Jianghe drove in with his left fist again, Dark Strength striking straight beneath the ribs!
"Crack."
Amid the sound of breaking bones, the black-clad man spat blood and reached out to grab him. But Chen Jianghe had already retreated, his blade flashing past the man's neck.
This was no place to linger.
The fight had made quite a racket. If it drew other Green Dragon Guards, he'd be a dead man.
He hurried over to the two bodies and crouched to search them.
Liu Qi had only a little over ten taels of broken silver, a bottle of Golden Sore Medicine, and a Green Dragon Guard waist token.
The black-clad man, however, had a far richer haul: fifty taels of silver, a banknote worth a hundred taels of gold, and a thin booklet carefully wrapped in oilpaper.
Three words were written on the cover: Phantom Shadow Steps.
It was a secret manual for footwork!
He had no time to examine it closely, so he quickly stowed the booklet and the other items.
He didn't dawdle. He left at once.
Yilin County.
When Chen Jianghe pushed open the wooden gate to his small courtyard, dawn was almost breaking. He shut the gate behind him, leaned against it, and slowly let out a breath.
Chen Jianghe walked over to the stone table in the courtyard and set down his pack. Then he took out the thin booklet, carefully wrapped in oilpaper, from his robe.
Phantom Shadow Steps.
Chen Jianghe opened to the first page.
There was no lengthy explanation of the art's principles. It went straight to diagrams of the footwork and the formulae.
He read each word silently, his mind gradually sinking into the text.
These "Phantom Shadow Steps" weren't simply about moving fast. Their essence lay in "feints and shifting forms" and "drawing on the flow of one's energy."
The footwork had three levels: the entry level, "Shadow Treading"; the minor achievement level, "Light Splitting"; and the great achievement level, "Traceless."
At "Shadow Treading," the feet moved with the body, following it like a shadow, allowing one to weave and dodge within a few feet of space.
At "Light Splitting," the footwork reached the utmost speed, splitting into several afterimages in an instant to confuse an enemy's eyes.
At the "great achievement" level, the footwork blended with one's breathing. Walking, sitting, or lying down, every movement held the intent of the steps. There was no need to deliberately perform them; when danger came, the body sensed it on its own and dodged as naturally as breathing.
"If I can master Phantom Shadow Steps to the minor achievement level and combine it with tricks like lime powder and Bone-Corroding Powder..." A glint flashed in Chen Jianghe's eyes.
He thought back to the life-or-death battle on Black Wind Ridge.
If he'd known Phantom Shadow Steps then, even at the entry level, the fight might have gone very differently.
He continued reading. The second half of the booklet recorded the footwork formulae in detail, the routes for circulating blood and qi, and dozens of combinations of steps.
A moment later, he stood and slowly raised his right foot, taking his first step.
The movement was slow, even a little stiff.
He carefully felt the contact between the sole of his foot and the ground, how his center of gravity shifted, how his waist and hips twisted, how his shoulders and back worked in tandem...
He stepped forward, his body turning slightly as his center of gravity quietly shifted to his left foot.
Chen Jianghe stopped and frowned in thought.
His center of gravity had shifted correctly, but he hadn't twisted his waist and hips enough. That left his body somewhat stiff, and he hadn't fully achieved the subtle effect of "seeming to move straight ahead while actually shifting to the side."
He returned to his starting position and tried again.
This time, he deliberately increased the twist of his waist and hips while relaxing his shoulders and back. Like an old ape stretching its arms, the movement naturally drew his body sideways.
It was indeed much smoother.
Chen Jianghe didn't rush. He repeated that first step over and over.
Ten times, twenty times, fifty times...
Only when the movements had become smooth and natural, like flowing clouds and running water, did he stop.
The Phantom Shadow Steps seemed nimble, but in truth they demanded exceptional control over one's blood and qi, as well as precise coordination of the muscles and bones.
Every step required the muscles and sinews throughout his body to work in concert with his breathing and strength, so that he could "shift between the real and the illusory, leaving his movements impossible to trace."
[Current skill: Three-Body Stance (Great Achievement)] [Progress: 95%] [Current skill: Five Elements Fist (Great Achievement)] [Progress: 62%] [Current skill: Phantom Shadow Steps (Entry Level)] [Progress: 1%] [Effect: Strength held within, able to pierce the body and shatter the meridians]
He went back inside, splashed cold water on his face, and changed into clean clothes.
Sitting back down at the table, he looked at the packets of lime powder in the corner, lost in thought.
"The stronger someone is, the more alert they are and the faster they react... Lime powder is just an external aid. It might work against Bright Strength or ordinary practitioners of Dark Strength, but against an old hand in Dark Strength or someone at the Transformation Strength stage, its effect would be greatly diminished."
He needed methods that were more concealed, faster, and harder to guard against.
Su Family Escort Agency.
The morning light had just reached the pair of stone lions in front of the escort agency when three escort carts lurched into the courtyard.
Mud caked their wheels, and bloodstains marked their shafts.
Zhou Yong jumped down from the first cart. The cloth hastily wrapped around his left arm was soaked through with blood. His face was deathly pale, his lips cracked, and his legs nearly gave way beneath him.
Wang Gui hurried over from behind and caught him. "Hang on!"
"I'm not dead yet..." Zhou Yong tugged at the corner of his mouth, managing a bleak smile.
The early-rising porters gathered around. At the sight of the scene, every one of them went pale.
Twelve people had set out with the three escort carts. Now only five had returned, and every one of them was injured.
The cargo was piled haphazardly on the carts, and several of the crates had been split open.
"Escort Guard Zhou! What... what happened?" an old porter asked in a trembling voice.
Zhou Yong waved him off and gasped, "First... get the wounded inside... Call a doctor... quickly!"
Su Jingming had already received the news and hurried to the main hall.
"What happened?" Su Jingming's voice was low, carrying a restrained fury.
Supported by Wang Gui, Zhou Yong entered the main hall and dropped to his knees with a thud. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Second Master... I've failed you... The escort... was robbed!"
Su Jingming's pupils contracted. "Explain."
Zhou Yong gritted his teeth. "We were taking the northern route, delivering a shipment to Yongchuan County. Yesterday, when we passed through Sky-Split Gorge, they had more than twenty men lying in ambush there. They attacked without a word!"
He caught his breath, then continued, "They outnumbered us, and they were all skilled fighters. They had three Escort Guards at the Dark Strength level and four at the Bright Strength level. We fought with everything we had, but we lost five brothers..."
Su Jingming closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were icy cold. "Good. Very good."
"Bang!"
The rosewood tabletop shattered beneath his palm.
Su Jingming's chest heaved. After a long moment, he finally said, "See that the wounded receive proper treatment. As for the brothers who died... give their families generous compensation."
"Yes," Zhou Yong said quietly.
"You three go and tend to your wounds first." Su Jingming waved a hand. "I'll see to this matter myself."
The three bowed and withdrew.
The main hall fell silent, leaving Su Jingming alone.
He walked slowly to the window and looked out at the Indigo Escort Flag in the courtyard, drooping limply in the morning breeze.
Had the Su Family Escort Agency really come to this?
The enterprise his father had built was now facing the rise of the Green Dragon Gang, which had monopolized Black Wind Ridge; its old partnerships were growing colder; and now even the routes for escorting goods...
Su Jingming felt a sudden tightness in his chest. His vision went black.
He reached for the window frame to steady himself, but the world began to spin.
"Second Master?!"
A servant cried out beyond the door.
"Quick! Call a doctor!"
"Second Master has fainted—!"
The courtyard erupted into chaos.