A Moonless, Windy Night—Just the Time for Murder

Lu Hao looked up at the sky. The sun had not yet fully set, and a faint orange-yellow glow still lingered on the horizon.

It was still too early to head to Spring Breeze Pavilion, so he practiced another round of the Black Tiger Stance Art.

Tiger-Subduing Form, Crouching Tiger Stance, Upright Tiger Stance, Tiger Pouncing Stance—the four forms flowed together in one breath.

Just as he finished the final move of the Tiger Pouncing Stance, a knock sounded at the door.

"Brother Hao!" Shi Kang's voice came from outside.

Lu Hao withdrew his stance, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and called toward the door, "Kangzi, push the door open and come in. It isn't locked."

With a creak, Shi Kang pushed the door open from outside.

Shi Kang stepped over the threshold and looked up, meeting Lu Hao's gaze head-on.

The instant their eyes met, Shi Kang felt every hair on his body stand on end, as though a ferocious beast lurking in the darkness had fixed its eyes on him.

An invisible pressure bore down on him, stiffening his limbs and sending goosebumps crawling across his body.

He instinctively took a step back, but his heel struck the threshold. He lost his balance and fell flat onto the ground.

"Brother... Brother Hao!" Shi Kang's voice trembled.

Only then did Lu Hao completely emerge from the state of practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art. He withdrew his gaze and relaxed his entire body, and that invisible pressure instantly vanished.

Lu Hao quickly stepped forward and pulled Shi Kang to his feet.

"Kangzi, what happened? Are you all right?"

Still shaken, Shi Kang got up and dusted off his backside, feeling that his body remained somewhat stiff.

He stared at Lu Hao, sizing him up several times.

"Brother Hao, that pressure coming from you just now..." He paused. "When I saw the two deputy hall masters in the gang practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art, they had that same kind of presence. But the deputy hall masters are at the Second Gate-Knocking Stage. Brother Hao, you couldn't possibly..."

Before he could finish, Shi Kang looked at Lu Hao again. Lu Hao's expression was calm, and not the slightest trace of pressure remained around him.

Shi Kang scratched the back of his head and hurriedly waved his hands.

"Heh, what am I even thinking? Brother Hao, you're like me—we're both people who haven't awakened Qi-Blood. How could you possibly reach the Second Gate-Knocking Stage after only a few days?"

Lu Hao merely smiled at Shi Kang's words and said nothing.

Lu Hao had indeed taken only a few days to go from having no awakened Qi-Blood to possessing three strands of Qi-Blood in his body, becoming a genuine Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm Martial Apprentice. If word of this got out, it would be truly shocking.

Besides, Lu Hao had no intention of revealing that he possessed the All Things Can Be Equipped System. If others learned of the system, he would only be asking for trouble.

Over the past few days, Shi Kang had made time to visit Lu Hao every day. After chatting for a few moments, he turned and left.

After seeing Shi Kang off, Lu Hao went to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of cool water, and gulped it down. Then he raised his hand and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Lu Hao used the system again to absorb the Qi-Blood within the chicken meat. Once his Qi-Blood was full again, he practiced the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique for another two hours.

[Skill: Black Tiger Stance Art (Minor Accomplishment)]

[Progress: 7/1000]

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Minor Accomplishment)]

[Progress: 6/1000]

At that moment, the night watchman's clapper sounded outside. The watchman shouted at the top of his lungs, "First watch of the Xu hour! The air is dry, beware of fire!"

Hearing the watchman's call, Lu Hao knew that the first watch of the Xu hour meant it was seven at night.

Thinking that he still had to seek out Lin Qiniang at the third watch to demand the silver she had cheated away from him, he decided to rest early so he would have enough energy.

Thus, Lu Hao silently recited in his heart, System, absorb the Qi-Blood in the chicken meat!

After the time it took to drink two cups of tea—roughly twenty minutes—the dark blue panel displayed:

[Qi-Blood in body: 20/20]

After finishing this, Lu Hao estimated the length of an incense stick that would burn until the third watch, then used the incense stick and a copper coin to make an alarm.

Once everything was arranged, he lay down and went to sleep.

At the third watch, the copper coin dropped into the bowl with a crisp clang, waking the sleeping Lu Hao.

Lu Hao rolled out of bed and washed his face with cold water.

After clearing his head, he changed into a neat set of short clothes.

Lu Hao found an old garment and tore off a strip of cloth four fingers wide. He then pulled a cloth scarf from the rack and tucked both the strip and scarf into his chest.

He walked into the courtyard. The night was deep, and dark clouds covered the moon.

Lu Hao gently pulled open the courtyard gate. The entire alley was pitch-black, without a single glimmer of light.

He silently remarked, On a moonless, windy night, it is just the time for murder. Then he stepped out of the courtyard and gently closed the gate behind him.

The Great Jin Dynasty had long since rotted to the core. Although the government offices of the court were all in place, and the county yamen had constables and constable chiefs, they took the court's salaries while excelling at oppressing the common people. As for patrolling the streets at night or protecting the land and its people, one absolutely could not count on them.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, Lu Hao arrived at Blue-Robed Lane.

The front entrance of Spring Breeze Pavilion was the same as when he had scouted the place several days ago. Two large red lanterns hung before the building, swaying gently in the night wind.

The two guards at the entrance were as listless as ever. One leaned against a pillar with his eyes closed, dozing off. The other rested against the pillar as well, his head drooping every now and then.

At the entrance to the alley, Lu Hao took out the cloth strip from his chest and covered his face with it. Then he took out the cloth scarf and wrapped it around his head.

Keeping close to the wall, he quietly made his way to a corner of Spring Breeze Pavilion's front courtyard and picked up a small stone.

He looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he gently tossed the small stone onto the ground ahead of him.

The sound of the stone hitting the ground jolted the two courtyard guards awake. They blinked their eyes.

One of the guards signaled to his companion with his eyes, then crept toward where Lu Hao was hiding.

At that moment, Lu Hao was concealed in the narrow alley beside Spring Breeze Pavilion.

The guard had just reached the corner when Lu Hao yanked him against the wall.

Immediately afterward, Lu Hao struck him twice in the chest with left and right Black Tiger Plucks the Heart. The guard let out a muffled groan, his back against the wall as his body slowly slid downward.

Just as the guard opened his mouth to shout, Lu Hao unleashed Black Tiger Descends the Mountain, smashing both fists down onto the guard's crown.

Then Lu Hao stepped forward with his left leg, bent his right knee, and used Black Tiger Plucks the Heart with his right hand, striking straight for the guard's throat.

His fist crashed into the guard's throat. With a crisp crack, the guard's Adam's apple shattered.

The guard's mouth opened and closed as harsh, hoarse wheezes came from his throat. A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his lips, his eyes bulged wide, and his body tilted to one side. His upper body slowly slid down the courtyard wall before collapsing onto the ground.

Hearing the commotion, the other guard called into the narrow alley, "Monkey?"

"Monkey?"

When the remaining guard received no response, he looked back toward the entrance, then glanced toward the narrow alley at the side of Spring Breeze Pavilion. He cautiously walked over.

Before the guard reached the corner, Lu Hao suddenly kicked off with both feet and unleashed Black Tiger Pounces on Prey.

Lu Hao lunged at him like a ferocious tiger.

His hands clamped tightly around the guard's neck.

The guard was only a First Gate-Breaking Realm Martial Apprentice, while Lu Hao was already in the Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm. The power of Lu Hao's Qi-Blood far surpassed that of this guard.

Moreover, Lu Hao had planned this while the guard was completely unprepared. In an instant, Lu Hao pinned him firmly to the ground.

The guard kicked wildly and flailed his hands. After struggling for about half the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, he went still.

Only then did Lu Hao notice the dead guard's twisted expression and wide-open eyes.

A violent urge to vomit surged up from his stomach.

Fortunately, Lu Hao replenished his Qi-Blood by absorbing it through the system, so there was no food in his stomach to throw up.

Even so, Lu Hao bent over and dry-heaved uncontrollably.

Hunched over with his hands on his knees, he gasped heavily for air. It took a long while before he forcibly suppressed the urge to vomit.

After resting for a moment, Lu Hao looked around and saw that there was no one around Spring Breeze Pavilion, nor was there any movement inside the courtyard.

He gritted his teeth, endured the nauseating sensation of dry-heaving, and dragged the guard's corpse into the narrow alley beside Spring Breeze Pavilion.

He then followed the wall around to the rear courtyard of Spring Breeze Pavilion and used the same method to cleanly kill the two guards there as well.

However, when killing the last guard, Lu Hao struck the guard's abdomen with Black Tiger Plucks the Heart.

The guard's entire body slammed directly into the courtyard wall, knocking several bricks loose.

A moment later, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded from within Spring Breeze Pavilion's courtyard.

Dou Biao, the captain of Spring Breeze Pavilion's courtyard guards and a Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm Martial Apprentice, had been alerted.