The More Skills, the Better

Crimson-Piercing Art, an exceedingly obscure martial technique.

Strictly speaking, it could scarcely even be called a martial art. After all, it neither emphasized tempering the muscles and bones nor had any set forms or routines. From its very inception, it had been created specifically for women of relatively lesser strength to practice.

But that did not mean it was truly as harmless as needlework and embroidery.

In truth, it was an exceptionally dangerous technique.

Crimson-Piercing—crimson meant blood. The art of Crimson-Piercing meant drawing blood with every blade. If one did not strike, so be it; but once one struck, one had to carry the intent to put the enemy to death. One slash had to land, followed by unceasing slashes. Every cut had to target vital points all over the enemy's body, seeking only to quickly maim or even kill the foe, thereby ensuring one's own absolute safety.

And precisely because of this, what Crimson-Piercing Art truly required training was not the tempering of muscles and bones, nor set forms and routines.

It was memorizing every major vital point of the human body by rote.

Where to cut to bleed someone out, where to slice to sever tendons, where to stab to grievously wound internal organs, where to pierce to take a life—these were the core essentials of Crimson-Piercing Art. Of course, more important still was that if a strike missed, one had to remember to withdraw and retreat far away. Only by opening the distance could one wait for another opportunity and prepare the next attack.

When Crimson-Piercing Art was practiced to its utmost, even casually plucking out a hairpin could turn it into a weapon for self-defense, drawing blood and killing. Even accomplished martial experts, if caught unprepared, could be stabbed by a string of close-range strikes until their flesh was a bloody mess and they no longer resembled anything human.

Just as the saying went: an inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more perilous.

Perhaps this had been what the woman in that memory had relied on when she chose to wait a while longer.

"Ah..."

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng could not help letting out a long sigh.

No wonder that woman running the breakfast stall had been so confident. With such a dangerous technique in her hands, one that could kill and take lives at any moment, anyone would have felt victory was theirs for the taking, their courage brimming over—but it was precisely that excessive confidence that had brought such disaster upon her.

Her wrist had been caught, making the most important part of Crimson-Piercing Art—opening the distance—impossible. Empty-handed, she did not even have the sharp blade the art required. Most crucially, until her husband had been cleaved down by Ximen Yuan's single stroke, everyone had still believed the matter could be resolved by reporting it to the authorities.

In that brief moment of hesitation, the woman running the breakfast stall had already lost her home and family.

"Truly..."

Du Chengfeng lowered his head and glanced at the kitchen knife in his hand.

Perhaps some trace of that memory still lingered within him. Even now, he could vaguely sense the heavy regret left behind on the blade.

They had clearly possessed martial skill, yet never even had the chance to show it. Through nothing more than a single mistaken thought, the beautiful life of husband and wife had dissolved into a bubble.

All that remained was a searing red.

"So be it."

Shaking his head, Du Chengfeng slid the sharpened kitchen knife back into the inner pocket of his long robe.

No matter what, that matter had already passed. Looking at this sort of thing late at night was no good for maintaining a healthy state of mind—though it was at this very moment that Du Chengfeng realized another important point: some vicious blades would not necessarily guide a person down the path of a battle-crazed killing maniac. Like this newly sharpened kitchen knife—after learning of that memory, all he felt was a little depressed.

If he was depressed, then naturally he had to think of something good and cheer himself up. At the very least, sharpening this knife had given him his first thing that could truly be called a martial art.

Though it was a martial art practiced by women, and lacked the miraculous inner force he wanted that could do anything, it was still a systematic martial art in the end.

"So this martial art must be very useful to me... right?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Du Chengfeng saw the heavy greatsaber resting at hand.

A round moon hung high in the sky, stars blanketing the heavens.

One man and one blade faced each other in silence.

Only then did Du Chengfeng realize that while Crimson-Piercing Art was incomparably dangerous, that was because it was specifically a short-blade technique—yet the strongest weapon he currently possessed, and the one he handled most smoothly, was a two-handed greatsaber.

With such a heavy weapon, one chop meant death or crippling injury. Where was there any need to pay special attention to vital points?

"Hiss..."

Things were starting to get awkward.

After thinking it over, Du Chengfeng simply pushed open the door and left the small courtyard. When he looked around, he indeed found the Unlucky Curved Blade by the base of the wall.

This time, taking advantage of the night, Du Chengfeng carried the curved blade out and found the old crooked-necked tree where Carpenter Li had buried the kitchen knife before. He dug a large pit in the ground and buried the blade within it.

Even after doing all that, Du Chengfeng still did not feel at ease when he returned to the courtyard. He simply lit a brazier at the entrance and stepped over it, then washed his face and changed into a clean set of clothes. Only then did his thoughts settle and his whole body feel light.

It could not be said to have been completely useless. At least, aside from Butcher's Pig Dissection's single mighty, heavy strike, he now truly had another martial art that he could bring out. Though this set of techniques did not quite fit with his current overall fighting style, it at least meant he could charge into the inner circle and fight at close quarters.

Start with the greatsaber when exchanging blows, then use close-range short-blade strikes to draw blood. Once he got in tight, use Bökh Wrestling to control the opponent, while also opening distance and waiting for a chance to launch the next round... Thinking about it that way, his current setup was actually fairly good, wasn't it?

"But it's still not enough."

With that thought, Du Chengfeng opened his outer robe again and took out the other knives inside.

Including the kitchen knife from earlier, there were seventeen blades hanging inside this robe. If he carefully sharpened them, perhaps he would gain something extra.

After a night had passed, Du Chengfeng's gains were indeed considerable.

Three Huaiyang dishes and two imperial-court dishes, all signature masterpieces from great chefs—things that could have served as a restaurant's pride and joy. A method for identifying wild beast tracks, and a technique for concealing one's presence to avoid being noticed by beasts—each was the unique specialty of one of two hunters. The bluffing and extortion patter left behind by two Jizhou street ruffians, which one could use to collect protection money for a living after learning. Three daggers from bandits, which taught him which checkpoints and major roads near Ji Town were suited for robbery. Two short knives from two merchants, which further made him understand the simplest principle of commercial warfare: stab the competition to death.

And the final melon-cutting knife reminded him that selling melons too expensively could get one stabbed to death.

"...Let's just call it learning a little about Jizhou's local customs."

Watching the sky gradually brighten, Du Chengfeng sighed and tucked all the knives back into his clothes.

It made sense. These blades were all everyday tools carried by common folk. It was already good enough if they came with some special skill. If he truly wanted to increase his combat strength, he still had to polish specialized weapons.

"Time to sleep."

Having stayed awake all night, Du Chengfeng was finally feeling somewhat weary.

But just as he finished putting everything away and prepared to return to the bedroom to try out the new bedding, someone knocked on the gate of the small courtyard.

"Who is it?"

Du Chengfeng could not help feeling puzzled. Normally, almost no one ever knocked at his courtyard gate. Whether it was Carpenter Li, Yang Xuan, or even Yang Sanlang coming to steal things, they all simply pushed the door open and came in, making themselves thoroughly at home.

And now, there was actually a knock at the door.

Then it had to be a stranger.

"Did they knock on the wrong door?"

Thinking this, Du Chengfeng opened the gate and stepped outside.

He did not recognize the person standing before it.

But the sword hanging at the other man's waist immediately drew his attention.

Because the Sha Qi of weapons upon that sword was so dense that it was practically overflowing.

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