Get Down on Your Knees for Me

Xie An had long suspected Zhou Yun's wife, but he had no solid proof.

It was Elder Sister who had just whispered the reason into Xie An's ear.

Elder Sister's hearing was extraordinary. She had overheard Zhou Yun and his wife speaking in the bedroom: the wife had urged Zhou Yun to place the Yin Cloth Doll. Now that the secret had been exposed, she had told Zhou Yun to flee at once, while she herself would pretend ignorance and try to muddle through.

Xie An had been greatly shocked at the time.

But on second thought, it all seemed perfectly reasonable.

Qiu Lan had said before: Zhou Yun's first wife had died a month ago, and he had remarried the chief clerk's adopted daughter. She had an exceptionally pleasant operatic voice, yet Shopkeeper Zhou seemed rather unhappy about it.

Zhou Yun was merely the shopkeeper of a branch under the Xie Residence, a greasy middle-aged man whose former wife had only just died. How could he possibly climb high enough to marry the chief clerk's adopted daughter?

And since he had married the chief clerk's adopted daughter, why was Zhou Yun still unhappy?

Now, everything was clear...

That chief clerk's adopted daughter had married Zhou Yun because she was after him, the legitimate eldest son of the Xie Residence. That was why she had been willing to lower herself.

And Zhou Yun had been coerced, which was why he was none too pleased.

Everything made sense.

Xie An suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart and stared fixedly at the bedroom door.

The door was slightly ajar. The light inside was dim, and a faint scent of face powder drifted out.

Alarm bells rang in Xie An's mind. He turned his head and gave Xie Yu a look, then angrily jerked his chin toward the door.

The implication was clear: he wanted Daoist Master Yusu to make a move.

Unexpectedly, Daoist Master Yusu gave Xie An the exact same expression.

Her meaning could not have been clearer.

"Fine! I'll do it, then." Unable to order this lofty expert around, Xie An could only do it himself.

Since Zhou Yun's wife was the chief clerk's adopted daughter, she should be a living person.

And if she was a person, she could not be that frightening.

He would throw a couple of punches first. If he could not win, he would retreat. The Daoist Master was there to cover him anyway.

Besides, hadn't Xie An worked himself to the bone for a month precisely so that one day, he could make a move?

Crack.

Xie An slowly stepped forward. All four hundred and eighty-five major sinews throughout his body let out a humming snap, terrifying force surging through them joint by joint before gathering in his fists.

At the same time, he formed the hand seals for the Taishan Fist and the Five Animal True Form Diagram, ready to strike at any moment.

To guard against the unexpected, he also activated his Qi-Gazing talent and readied Withered Abyss.

After all, this was Xie An's first direct confrontation since transmigrating. He had no choice but to approach it with twelve parts caution.

When he reached the door, the room inside was silent. Only the "sizzle" of wind making the candle flame sway could be heard.

Because the door was only half-open, Xie An's view was limited.

Within the area he could see, there was no one.

Xie An raised his right hand and slowly pushed the door open.

Creak.

The door was pushed fully open.

Xie An's gaze was immediately drawn to the seated figure before the dressing table.

The figure had its back to Xie An and wore a black hood that completely concealed its head.

"Madam, you are certainly in a leisurely mood. You still have time to put on makeup."

Xie An called out as he stepped over the threshold with his left foot.

At that instant, Xie An suddenly felt an incomparably intense danger rapidly closing in.

Without the slightest hesitation, the fifth form of the Five True Forms erupted instinctively.

Mystic Crane Shadow-Scour!

His toes tapped the ground, and he darted half a foot to the side.

Before Xie An could react, a gleaming soft sword abruptly stabbed down from overhead, striking precisely where he had just stood. The soft sword missed, its blade bending against the ground with a "ding." A gray-clad beauty used the recoil to spring two zhang away. She touched the wall with a single step, then swept her sword horizontally at Xie An's face once more.

Fast—too fast!

Even through the air, Xie An could feel the sword edge's icy chill.

This was absolutely the strongest opponent Xie An had encountered since he began practicing martial arts!

As he felt the immense danger, blazing battle intent also surged within Xie An.

Using a sword to bully people, huh?

He had no weapon in hand and no time to fetch one elsewhere, so Xie An made use of what was at hand and violently seized the door panel with both hands.

As his major sinews snapped and exerted force, he tore the entire door panel off with a crack and smashed it fiercely toward the gray figure.

Boom!

The thick wooden panel was split in two by the soft sword, slowing the gray-clad woman's assault by half a beat. Just as she was about to adjust her sword technique, she saw Xie An tear off the doorframe itself and sweep it down at her head-on.

When had the woman ever seen someone so violent? Her lovely face instantly lost all color as she raised her sword to block.

Though the soft sword was light, it was incomparably sharp. With one slash, it split the thick doorframe in two.

But...

That man actually lifted the entire wardrobe with one hand and smashed it down at her again.

This...

The woman's expression changed once more. She slashed repeatedly with her soft sword, barely managing to chop the wardrobe into splinters. The moment she looked up, she saw the man hammering the bluestone wall with fist after fist.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His fists were unmatched in their ferocity, heavy and powerful—he was simply a humanoid beast.

At first, the woman did not understand why the man was smashing the wall. Only when the entire room shook did she suddenly realize.

Not good!

The woman cried out and made to break through the window and flee.

But... it was too late.

All she heard was a boom.

The walls collapsed, the wooden beams toppled, and the entire room caved in. The ground shook violently as dust billowed everywhere.

Xie An rushed out of the courtyard. Without even bothering to wipe the dust from his face, he charged into the nearby kitchen, then emerged carrying a butcher's knife.

Crack.

Xie An stood before the ruins, gripping the knife handle tightly with both hands and staring at the wreckage.

He had suffered badly just now because he had lacked a weapon.

Though Xie An had brought both the Taishan Fist and the Five Animal True Form Diagram to Great Perfection, opened four hundred and eighty-five major sinews, and could face an Organ Tempering expert barehanded, he was still far from being invulnerable to blades and spears. If the other side stabbed him twice, he would be finished.

Xie An could only tear down doors and walls to buy time.

Now that he held a foot-and-a-half-long butcher's knife, he finally had the confidence to confront that woman head-on.

Even so, Xie An did not dare approach the ruins rashly.

What if that woman was hiding in some shadowy corner of the rubble, waiting to stab him from the dark? Then it would all be over.

They remained locked in confrontation for a long time, yet there was no movement from the ruins.

Xie An knew this could not continue. He turned to look at the eaves.

Daoist Master Yusu stood there with her hands tucked into her sleeves, calmly watching him. Beside her was the maidservant, curled up in terror.

Seeing that Xiao Yu had nearly stopped crying, Xie An shouted at the maidservant, "Go bring every jug of cooking oil in the house. I'm going to burn this thief alive in the rubble!"

The maidservant covered her mouth and shook her head.

Xie An roared, "If you don't go, I'll beat you to death!"

The maidservant finally became frightened. She ran to the kitchen and brought back a bucket of tea seed oil.

Xie An directly splashed the tea seed oil over the ruins. "Bring a few more buckets."

As he poured out the third bucket of tea seed oil, a gray-clad beauty shot out from the rubble.

Xie An had been waiting for this moment. He locked onto her longsword and brought down the butcher's knife in a savage chop.

Clang!

Blade and sword collided. The butcher's knife was cut in half, but the impact also knocked her soft sword from her hand.

Now!

Barehanded combat was his true domain.

Hum!

The major sinews throughout Xie An's body snapped and recoiled as he swung both fists.

Third form of the Taishan Fist, Five Mountains Collapse!

Mount Dai opened the stance, Sea of Clouds stacked twice, Heavenly Pillar stacked thrice, Yin-Yang stacked four times, and finally Mountain Shatter descended. Five layers of fist force merged as one and crashed toward her chest like Mount Tai pressing down from above!

"Get down on your knees for me!"