Things Had Changed, and Nothing Was the Same!

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!"

Zhou Chen set down the book on concealed weapons, feeling that he had learned quite a few new things.

The next day, while on duty, he had a servant buy the materials and made "Heaven and Earth Within the Sleeves"—a thin hidden layer tucked inside both sleeves. When exchanging fists with someone, all he needed to do was tug a thread along with the momentum of his punch, and powder would silently spray from his cuff, rushing straight at the opponent's face.

The hidden layer was designed with remarkable ingenuity. Guided by the methods of exerting force recorded in the booklet, not a speck of powder would fall on himself. It was truly sinister and vicious!

The book also described potent drugs capable of poisoning even a Second-Rank Martial Artist unconscious, but they were prohibitively expensive and exceptionally troublesome to make. Zhou Chen felt that pufferfish was sufficient for now.

Still, he made more than a dozen of the book's coin darts, spending several taels of silver and leaving him rather pained.

Over the following days, aside from returning at noon each day for a bowl of Qi-Blood Soup, Zhou Chen spent all his remaining time practicing martial arts, never slacking for even a day.

The new City Lord's inauguration banquet was held as scheduled.

That evening, fireworks filled the Outer City for a full half hour. Blossoms of fire and silver flowers illuminated half the night sky, while crowds in the streets and alleys looked up at the bursting clusters of light and discussed them animatedly.

Zhou Chen listened from nearby for a while and learned that, before taking office, this new City Lord had already ordered people to build up his reputation in advance, promoting an imposing image of himself as upright and incorruptible, someone who hated evil as if it were an enemy.

Notices had also been posted throughout the streets and alleys, listing numerous new policies: reducing harsh taxes and levies, dispatching more Night Patrol Bureau Martial Warriors to patrol, clearing out invading Mist Monsters, and so on.

For a time, many people at the bottom of society held this new City Lord in rather high regard.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that those were merely methods to win over hearts.

When a new official took office, he always had to hand out a few sweets first. Only after sitting firmly in his chair could he draw his blade.

They all came from Inner City aristocratic families. In their imagination, the hardest and most miserable days a person could live through were no more than "not having meat at every meal." How could they truly sympathize with whether common folk lived or died?

And with the new City Lord taking office, Azure City's remaining forces followed the current and settled into territories across several nearby districts. Upon inquiry, there were two major aristocratic families and two major martial arts halls among the newcomers, all guarded by Third-Rank Martial Artists. They were this new City Lord's teeth and claws, not to be underestimated.

The Outer City's original aristocratic families and martial arts halls all sat as though on beds of needles. No one knew how much of their existing interests these newcomers would divide away, under the new City Lord's instructions, once they had gained a firm foothold.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, the Four-Family Alliance displayed no reaction at all and remained silent as ever.

Another two days passed. Only today did the Ma Family finally confirm that Ma Pengcheng had not gone chasing flowers and seeking willows—he had truly vanished.

At the same time, Ma Pengcheng's corpse was found. Master Zheng took one look at the scene and reached a conclusion: Ma Pengcheng had been beaten to death by a Martial Warrior at First Grade Perfection! The culprit had even been close to becoming a Second-Rank Martial Artist!

With a single sentence, Zhou Chen was cleared completely.

Though Ma Pengcheng was from a collateral branch of the Ma Family, his birth parents came to make trouble time and again. Master Zheng went through the motions and questioned everyone who had held a grudge against Ma Pengcheng one by one.

Yet this questioning truly gave him pause.

Ma Pengcheng had quite a lot of enemies in ordinary times...

But most of them were unranked Registered Disciples. After all, Ma Pengcheng usually did nothing but bully the weak. He would not be foolish enough to provoke Martial Warriors of profound strength.

When those disciples learned of Ma Pengcheng's sudden death, every one of them had satisfaction in their eyes!

"Most likely, someone couldn't stand the way he acted and slapped him to death. Or perhaps he offended one of the newcomers from Azure City without knowing better. The Outer City is such a mess these days—trouble and deaths happen every other day. My condolences."

Old Zheng clearly did not wish to waste more time on a disciple of such poor character. The Outer City now had the air of mountains before the rain, wind filling the tower; where would he find the leisure to investigate such a matter? With just a few words, he dismissed Ma Pengcheng's birth parents.

The two opened their mouths at this, their faces filled with grief and indignation, yet they could not utter a single word.

Old Zheng would not handle it, and they could hardly expect help from the main family. They were collateral kin beyond the fifth degree to begin with. They could only swallow this loss with broken teeth and blood.

This made Zhou Chen, who had been sparring with Ye Lingtian nearby, quietly let out a breath of relief.

If the Ma Family truly continued to pester him without end, then he could not be blamed for breaking through to the Second-Rank Martial Artist realm and using the Ma Family as his blade's first target.

After Ma Pengcheng's birth parents were sent away, many wealthy merchants and prominent households came to the martial arts hall over the next few days, bearing gifts to see Shen Ao and Zhang Shaojiu, their words brimming with enthusiasm.

Seeing that Zhou Chen did not quite understand, Ye Lingtian explained in a low voice, "Junior Brother, you may not know this. At the inauguration banquet a few days ago, the Shen Clan and Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall openly stated their willingness to serve this new City Lord like dogs and horses! Junior Brother Zhang is quite talented, and it is said that he received a word of praise from the new City Lord. These wealthy merchants and great households wish to attach themselves to him but have no chance to sit at the table, so they are trying to curry favor by a roundabout route, passing messages through the Shen Clan and Junior Brother Zhang."

"So that was it."

Zhou Chen's thoughts stirred, and he then asked, "Have any other aristocratic families chosen a side?"

"Yes, though not too many." Ye Lingtian lowered his voice. "This new City Lord has an enormous appetite. Fisheries, medicinal herbs, carriage and horse transport—every trade in the Outer City that can be squeezed for oil is said to have to give up half its profits. He has also demanded that the newly arrived martial arts halls participate in the next Flesh-Cutting Tournament. The interests being ceded are simply too great. Just watch—the Four-Family Alliance will never obediently spit out the meat already in its mouth. Still, we should keep our hands out of this and preserve ourselves wisely."

After hearing this, Zhou Chen nodded in deep agreement.

His strength was still meager. He should avoid getting caught in the whirlpool of conflict between these powers, lest he be shoved out as cannon fodder and not even know how he died.

No wonder Master Zheng had not looked well today. Old Zheng regarded the Flesh-Cutting Tournament as extremely important. Now that Azure City was sticking a foot into it as well, competition in the tournament would certainly surpass that of previous years.

That afternoon, a woman suddenly arrived outside the courtyard.

She wore a goose-yellow ruqun, its fabric somewhat faded from washing but scrubbed spotlessly clean. Her hair was neatly arranged, and she clutched a small cloth bundle in her hand. Standing outside the threshold, she seemed to have gathered tremendous courage before asking Ma Ge to announce her, saying that she wished to see Zhang Shaojiu.

Many disciples saw the woman and began guessing why she had come.

Before long, Zhang Shaojiu approached with a dark expression.

When the woman saw him emerge, a smile tinged with timidity and anticipation surfaced on her face. She was just about to say something.

Slap.

The sharp sound was crisp and decisive.

Everyone was stunned.

The woman staggered sideways from the slap and fell half-kneeling to the ground. Half her cheek visibly reddened, and the imprint of five fingers stood out clearly.

Zhang Shaojiu looked down at her from above and shouted angrily, "How many times have I told you not to bother me? I have now broken through and become a Martial Warrior. In the future, reaching the Second-Rank Martial Artist realm is as certain as a nail driven into a board. Our statuses are different. Why have you come looking for me again?"

The woman in goose yellow covered her swollen red face, tears filling her eyes as she sobbed, "B-but... that wasn't what you said before... that wasn't what you said... You said that once you had gained a foothold at the martial arts hall... you would come back for me..."

"The past was the past. Childish words—how could you take them seriously? Do not come again. Miss Song has invited me for tea later. If she sees you and misunderstands something, can you bear the consequences?!"

Zhang Shaojiu's expression was cold. Now that he had gained favor before the new City Lord, so many women were scrambling to climb into his bed. How could he spare another thought for such an ordinary, mediocre woman?

The woman in goose yellow opened her mouth, yet she could not say a single word.

She did not know how much courage she had gathered today to walk in under the pointing fingers and gossiping stares of others. Who could have expected that this would be the outcome awaiting her?

In the end, she struggled to her feet. The skin on her knees had been scraped raw, and she limped toward the exit. After taking several steps, she paused for an instant, as though wanting to turn back for one last look. But in the end, she did not. She merely lowered her head, bit her lip, and quickened her pace out of that long alley.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Several disciples inside exchanged glances. Someone clicked his tongue softly and shrugged, while others shook their heads, but none dared say anything.

Zhou Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Lingtian.

Ye Lingtian was looking at him as well. Their eyes met. Neither spoke, but each saw a trace of unsurprised understanding in the other's eyes. With Zhang Shaojiu's personality, he truly was capable of doing such a thing.