Seen Through

Since entering the inner courtyard, Shen Xiuhan's treatment had been worlds apart from before.

Aside from Mei Shuangfeng personally instructing him in martial arts every few days, and receiving a bowl of Ebony Origin-Replenishing Soup every seven days, even his daily meals had risen with the tide.

At noon, the outer courtyard disciples were, as usual, each given two white-flour steamed buns.

The inner courtyard was an entirely different sight.

Steamed buns were freely available, with no limit.

Before Shen Xiuhan and Xu Chuan sat a large coarse porcelain bowl. Inside, the fish soup was thick and milky white, steam billowing up. A layer of golden oil floated atop the broth, while an entire plump fish lay beneath it.

Longcloud County was crisscrossed by waterways and nestled against the thousand-mile Cloudwater Lake. Since ancient times, it had been a place where people lived off the water.

According to Xu Chuan, the inner courtyard disciples' meals never lacked freshwater delicacies.

The large fish served for lunch today was called yellow pomfret. Its flesh was tender, rich, and delicious.

Sold at the fish stalls in the western market, it would fetch six or seven copper coins per pound.

The fish in this bowl weighed at least two pounds, worth twelve or thirteen coins... enough to buy a pound of pork belly at the butcher's in the eastern market.

The only flaw was that the martial hall's cooks were truly too rough-handed.

A perfectly good fish had been boiled into something bland and tasteless!

After lunch.

As usual, Shen Xiuhan pulled out a meat flatbread and handed it to Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen accepted it and lowered his head to bite into it, his eyes faintly reddening.

The hard training in stance work these past days, coupled with the meat flatbreads Shen Xiuhan occasionally provided, had finally brought some color to Xiao Wen's face. His muscles and bones were growing sturdier by the day as well.

According to Xu Chuan, Xiao Wen's progress in stance work had been unexpectedly swift.

When he had first entered the courtyard, Xu Chuan had examined his bones and judged his natural foundation to be mediocre. At the time, he had thought the boy might not even be able to sense his qi and blood within half a year.

Yet after training these days, his stance work had grown increasingly steady and solid.

His progress had been unexpectedly fast, to the point that he seemed poised to catch up with disciples who had entered the courtyard months earlier.

"Not bad. Steady and sure."

Shen Xiuhan encouraged him, "Strive to break through into Blood Training soon and enter the inner courtyard. Then your eldest brother won't have to labor down in the mines."

"...Y-yes, Senior Brother, I understand!"

Xiao Wen's lips moved hesitantly, his gaze flickering as though he had something difficult to say. But when the words reached his lips, he ultimately said nothing. He lowered his head deeply and cupped his fists.

Shen Xiuhan patted the youth's shoulder, then turned and entered the inner courtyard.

After taking a brief rest to regulate his breathing.

He changed into training clothes and began exchanging moves with Xu Chuan as they practiced the martial art Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force.

Through-the-Back Martial Hall, inner courtyard.

Wisps of green smoke curled from a bronze beast-head incense burner, and the scent of sandalwood permeated the warm chamber.

Ma Xianyang's face was as dark as water. Holding a celadon teacup, he said coldly,

"Yu Zhe really is dead..."

"What about Tian Erhu?"

Across from him, Feng Xiaobao sat with the imposing ease of a great blade and a golden horse. At this, his thick brows lifted.

"I went to Wild Shrine Ward to take a look. The man was nowhere to be found. There were bloodstains in the courtyard, as well as signs of a fight on the ground..."

Ma Xianyang paused, sinister shadows churning in his eyes. "I'm afraid the odds are against him."

Feng Xiaobao's two thick brows twisted into a knot.

"Could it be... just as the rumors say, that those soldier-thugs from the Turbulent Wave Gang did it? They deliberately killed them, tossed the body at the Golden Dragon Gang's headquarters, and used it to provoke Gao Fu into a fight to the death with them?"

"Absolutely impossible."

Ma Xianyang immediately shook his head, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

"If Zheng Dadao was the one who acted, why was there only Yu Zhe's corpse? Why was Tian Erhu neither found alive nor seen dead?"

"Then what do you mean..."

"Just yesterday, I sent those two to Little Path Bay to put pressure on that mud-legged Shen brat. That very night, both of them lost their lives... How could there be such a coincidence under heaven?!"

Ma Xianyang ground his teeth, every word icy cold.

Feng Xiaobao's tiger eyes flew wide as he abruptly straightened. "You mean... that mud-legged Shen brat did it?"

"No, that's impossible!"

"He had only entered Mei Martial Hall a few days ago! To quietly dispose of Yu Zhe and Tian Erhu without anyone noticing, he would have to be a martial artist who had broken through the Blood Gate!"

"Of course it wasn't that brat!"

Ma Xianyang's gaze darkened as he lowered his voice.

"In my view... either that bitch Jiang Qinghong did it, or that shrew Mei Shuangfeng personally stepped in!"

"As for the reason..."

Ma Xianyang gave a cold laugh.

"Most likely, that brat couldn't endure our pressure and offered up the secret formula for luring treasure fish as a bargaining chip."

"The Mei family received an enormous benefit, so naturally they would stand up for him and conveniently deal with the Golden Dragon Gang, that future threat, while they were at it."

Feng Xiaobao stroked the stubble on his chin and pondered for a long while before slowly nodding.

"If that's the case, then it truly makes sense..."

Just as the two were speculating, hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

"Senior Brother!"

The voice of a steward disciple sounded outside, carrying a hint of caution.

"In a few days, it will be the regular day when several great merchant associations and prominent families recruit guest retainers and guards. Just now, the stewards from each household sent servants bearing calling cards, saying they would also come to our martial hall to assess the outer courtyard senior brothers..."

"They're coming to our martial hall?"

Ma Xianyang looked puzzled at this.

"These past two months, our Through-the-Back Martial Hall hasn't produced a single disciple who has broken through Blood Training. Why would they make this trip?"

"Uh... this disciple asked one extra question just now."

The steward disciple outside swallowed, his voice becoming even more hesitant.

"The servant delivering the message said that the stewards of each household were coming to the eastern part of the city anyway, so they would stop by every martial hall along the way... They also said that if they overlooked another genius, they would not be able to answer for it when they returned to their estates..."

"What does that mean? Nothing but cryptic riddles!"

Feng Xiaobao had a fiery temper. He immediately barked impatiently,

"Which martial hall's genius did they overlook? Explain yourself clearly!"

"It... it was Mei Martial Hall..."

The steward disciple shrank his neck in fright. His voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet every word carried clearly into the room.

"They said Mei Martial Hall had an outer courtyard disciple surnamed Shen who broke through the threshold of Bright Force barely more than ten days after entering the hall, and Hall Master Mei immediately accepted him into the inner courtyard..."

"Surnamed Shen?!"

Those words were no different from thunder exploding on level ground!

Ma Xianyang and Feng Xiaobao's expressions changed drastically. They suddenly looked at each other, each seeing the surging horror in the other's eyes!

"Go investigate immediately!"

Ma Xianyang sprang to his feet, his voice changing pitch. "I want his detailed information!"

"Yes!"

The steward disciple accepted the order and ran off in a flash.

The warm chamber sank into deathly silence.

Ma Xianyang stood there blankly, muttering in disbelief,

"Surnamed Shen... entered the hall barely more than ten days ago... and joined Mei Martial Hall..."

A tremendous crash!

Feng Xiaobao's qi and blood erupted around him as he slammed his palm onto the rosewood table!

The solid tabletop burst apart with a boom, wood chips flying everywhere as it collapsed into a mess across the floor.

Like a vicious bear in a towering rage, he surged to his feet, his eyes wide open.

"There's no need to think any further!"

"Who else could it be but that little bastard?!"

"Yu Zhe and Tian Erhu must have died at his hands too!"

"Senior Brother! Watch your words!"

Ma Xianyang's expression changed sharply, and he hurriedly grabbed Feng Xiaobao's sleeve.

Feng Xiaobao stiffened all over, as though remembering something. He immediately flashed over to the door, held his breath, and carefully listened.