How to Save Yourself Twenty Years of Struggle

One man stood in the empty courtyard.

Unlike when he was at the county offices, he was not wearing the official uniform that marked his status. Instead, he had changed into a close-fitting outfit and even donned a bamboo hat with a veil over his face.

"Constable Wang Ping..."

Xu Bingzheng calmly swept his gaze across the courtyard. The spot between his brows throbbed faintly; not the slightest irregularity in the courtyard could escape his discerning eyes.

The walls, the tables and chairs, the ground.

He walked through every corner of the courtyard, even visiting the stable, where he found only a docile, well-behaved Curly-Mane Horse huddled against the wall.

Nothing. It wasn't on him, and it isn't where he lives. He couldn't possibly hide something so precious outside. In that case, it probably wasn't him... True enough. His martial prowess is too weak. Even with three supernatural abilities and a sneak attack, he couldn't have killed the gravely wounded Chen Haoyan.

Xu Bingzheng withdrew his gaze.

The next second, his figure vanished. At the same time, a light breeze swept through, brushing away his footprints and every other trace he had left in the courtyard.

Creak—

Almost simultaneously, Wang Ping pushed open the door and strode inside. Seemingly noticing nothing amiss, he simply began practicing his saber techniques in the courtyard.

From morning until evening.

The sun rose, the sun set, and the moon hung above the branches.

After finishing his practice, he sat in meditation to rest, then went to bed—he neither slipped away nor did anything suspicious. Everything appeared perfectly normal.

Only then did Xu Bingzheng leave.

And only once he had left did Wang Ping, lying in bed and "fast asleep," finally relax his Spirit Sense. The first drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down his back.

It chilled him to the heart.

Motherfucker, he was watching me!

It was an extraordinarily strange method. He could not feel Xu Bingzheng's gaze at all; only when he used his Spirit Sense could he detect that something was wrong.

Is this what a Titled Martial Master can do? According to Liu Ye, at this level, the Martial Dao has completely transcended mere fists and feet, instead tending toward the mind and consciousness. Supposedly, those Martial Grandmasters have even reached the realm of [Seeing God], where they can kill with a thought...

It was much like Spirit Sense, yet not quite the same.

Still, Spirit Sense should be a little more advanced. At least I can detect him spying on me, while he has no way of noticing my covert scrutiny.

Besides, if Xu Bingzheng truly had a means of detection comparable to Spirit Sense, he would probably have discovered the pills hidden in the horse's belly long ago.

Fortunately, that was where it ended.

The following day, Xu Bingzheng did not return. Even so, Wang Ping did not relax in the slightest. Instead, his sense of urgency only grew.

I can't stay here long.

His current residence was too close to the county offices. To guard against Xu Bingzheng, he dared not make any moves at all and could only waste his time like this.

Besides, the spying was only a temporary measure.

Given time, if Xu Bingzheng kept failing to find any leads, he would eventually take bolder action. What would Wang Ping do if that fell on him?

Why do they always have to force my hand...

Wang Ping silently gritted his teeth, his resolve firm. He had to find a suitable excuse to move somewhere Xu Bingzheng could not casually spy on him.

A Titled Martial Master's [spirit] falls far short of my Spirit Sense. As long as I move farther from the county offices, I can secure enough time and space. Not like now, where I'm so close that if Xu Bingzheng suddenly comes over, I won't even have time to hide anything...

Wang Ping pondered the matter for a long while.

He needed a suitable reason for a lowly constable like himself, with neither money nor influence and even a house provided by the county offices, to move elsewhere.

Actually, there might be one...

Early morning on the third day.

As usual, Wang Ping rose early and went to the training grounds to practice archery. Before long, Liu Ye entered with his smoking pipe in hand, a somewhat melancholy expression on his face.

"Brother Liu, how did it go?"

Wang Ping spoke first.

"Not too well." Liu Ye shook his head and sighed. "You know how it is. Many martial arts have a price but no sellers. Money alone won't buy them."

"Especially in my case. I've practiced martial arts for half my life, and all I need to reach External Arts Perfection is one Marrow-Tempering Martial Art. Yet I've searched for seven or eight years without finding anything. The county offices have one, but I'd have to take on some dangerous bounties. I really don't want to risk it anymore."

Wang Ping could see the helplessness in Liu Ye's heart.

"So you aren't planning to take your chances, Brother Liu?"

"Not quite."

Liu Ye shook his head. "I'm considering whether to mortgage the Vermilion Phoenix Tower and get some powerful concealed weapons... They might work even better."

At this point, Liu Ye suddenly smiled.

"Of course, there's another path, an even better one. Unfortunately, I'm old and not handsome enough, so I don't have a chance... But you could give it a try."

"Well..."

Wang Ping's expression stiffened slightly.

He knew what Liu Ye meant. It was also what he had thought of the previous night: a perfectly reasonable excuse to move away from the county offices.

"Although Lord Chen died, he left behind considerable holdings. Take that Madam Su in town. The rice shops, butcher shops, and smithies in the county town—she has a hand in almost all of them. Without Lord Chen shielding her, do you think a woman who doesn't even know martial arts could have accomplished that?"

"Now Lord Chen is dead."

"With her patron gone, Madam Su has been beset by endless trouble lately. Which respectable, wealthy household in town isn't eyeing her businesses greedily, wanting to join forces and swallow them whole?"

Liu Ye shook his head again and sighed.

"If you ask me, Madam Su has had a bitter life. They say she used to be a noble young lady in the capital, but she got into trouble and ended up stranded here."

"Later, she finally managed to build up a little property, only to catch Lord Chen's eye... He claimed to be her protector, but wasn't he really after both her money and her body?"

At this point, Liu Ye even seemed somewhat contemptuous.

"Now Lord Chen is dead. His parents died long ago, and he had no children. There wasn't even anyone to bury his body. Madam Su paid for the funeral herself."

"Of course, Madam Su is killing two birds with one stone. It's actually a clever move."

"If you ask me, holding Lord Chen's funeral is secondary. Her real purpose is to use the opportunity to find another patron and preserve her businesses."

Wang Ping immediately understood. "She needs to borrow a tiger's might, like the fox."

"Exactly! And that's your future right there!"

Liu Ye clapped his hands. "Several of the brave, brawny fellows from the offices have already gone over. With businesses that big, how could we let them fall into the hands of those unruly townsfolk?"

"That's our county offices' money!"

Liu Ye spoke with righteous conviction, then looked at Wang Ping again and chuckled.

"But if you ask me, none of the men who went can compare to you, young Wang."

"After all, you're the [Great Dragon Spear], famous throughout the county town. And Madam Su has gone without a man for so long. Dry tinder meets raging fire—with a little luck, you could spare yourself at least sixty years of detours..."

"Say no more!"

Wang Ping waved his hand, his tone firm. "You've misunderstood me, brother. I'm not a man who lusts after women, much less one who'd sell his looks for personal gain!"

The Su Family Estate.

"I was the junior Lord Chen valued most during his lifetime. I have come to attend his funeral."

After handing over his visiting card, Wang Ping followed a servant into the enormous estate, which covered dozens of mu. He could not help marveling inwardly.

They say that when Madam Su first came to the county town, she had nothing but a bundle of dresses and a few taels of loose silver. Her first business was selling clothes at the Grass Market. How many years has it been? And she's already amassed an estate this large. Sure enough, business takes collusion between merchants and officials. How else can you grow big and strong?

Before coming, Wang Ping had made careful inquiries.

Chen Haoyan had owned neither a residence nor any businesses in town, appearing to have clean sleeves and empty pockets. In his daily life, he ate and stayed either at the county offices or at the Su Family Estate.

Madam Su was the proprietor in name only.

In reality, she was merely Chen Haoyan's front in the county town. Not only had he used virtually all the money she earned, but even she herself had probably...

At that thought, Wang Ping cursed inwardly. Beast!

Of course, he had no interest whatsoever in money or women.

What interested him was that, given Chen Haoyan's wealth and standing, he must have collected quite a few martial arts manuals. Otherwise, he could never have reached External Arts Perfection back then.

Perhaps... not just martial arts manuals.

Chen Haoyan had been an Inner Force Martial Master. Thinking bigger, his home might even hold the secret to condensing inner force. That was what Wang Ping truly valued.

An Inner-Force Cultivation-Body Diagram!

To condense inner force, one must first cultivate a cultivation body. This involves the circulation and arrangement of qi and blood within the Twelve Principal Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and even the five solid and six hollow organs.

A Cultivation-Body Diagram records that arrangement. Only by circulating qi and blood according to its instructions can one integrate the strength of the entire body into a single whole and then produce inner force... Thus, the vast majority of Cultivation-Body Diagrams are closely guarded secrets. Even a vast fortune cannot buy the slightest scrap of one.

Yet there might be one in the Su Family Estate.

Since Chen Haoyan himself had been an Inner Force Martial Master, he must have seen at least one Cultivation-Body Diagram in the past. He might therefore have kept a copied version.

It was only speculation. But even the smallest possibility was enough to drive people mad.

Otherwise, Liu Ye would never have called it "another path," nor would the wealthy households and assorted factions in town have regarded the Su Household as such a tempting prize.

So this is a monopoly on knowledge.

From the scarcity of Cultivation-Body Diagrams alone, Wang Ping could see just how fiercely the upper ranks of martial artists in this wretched place guarded against the mud-legged peasants below them.

No wonder the realm had remained "at peace" until now.

Soon, Wang Ping arrived at the hall where the coffin lay.

There, he saw many people, all familiar faces from the town's wealthy gentry, circling one person like hyenas.

She was a cool, aloof woman in a white dress, with a gentle bearing. Tear tracks still lingered on her lovely face, and her beautiful eyes were red, as though she had just finished crying.

Yet faced with the hyenas surrounding her, ravenous for the Su Household's holdings and even for her, Madam Su appeared unusually calm, almost indifferent. She looked as though her heart had long since died, as though nothing that happened could move her anymore.

The next second, she spoke.

Her voice was mournful and cold, tinged with self-pity. "His lordship passed so suddenly. I thank you on his behalf for coming to see him off today."

"Not at all, Madam Su. You're too courteous."

"I wonder whether you're free tonight, madam..."

Madam Su clearly intended to steer the conversation back to the funeral itself. Yet after a few perfunctory replies, they resumed discussing how to divide up her holdings.

These people all came from wealthy households in the county town.

And in their mouths, Madam Su's businesses were like a delicious cake—a piece for you, a piece for me, on the verge of being carved apart entirely.

Faced with this predicament, Madam Su initially tried to interject, but no one paid her any heed. Each was more polite and respectful than the last in speech, yet their methods were vicious and merciless. They plainly intended to devour every last morsel of her property. In the end, Madam Su stopped speaking.

A light breeze stirred the strands of hair at her temples.

Madam Su tucked her hands into her sleeves and tightly gripped a jade hairpin. As though she could already see her future, her sorrowful face grew all the more poignantly beautiful.

At this sight, several constables immediately stepped forward.

"Gentlemen, you've gone too far."

"Rest assured, Madam Su. Your family's holdings are protected by the Great Shun Code, and the county offices also hold a financial stake. We will never permit these people to divide and seize them at will."

"Stand back!"

They were all shrewd men. They had deliberately watched without intervening earlier, waiting for this moment to rescue the beauty from her predicament and leave a deep impression on Madam Su.

Everyone present understood that perfectly well.

Naturally, Madam Su did too. Indeed, she had paid to hold Chen Haoyan's funeral precisely for this moment. Everything had been part of her calculations.

Thus, her gaze did not change at all as she looked at the constables, and she even smiled. Yet the inexplicable air of brokenness about her only deepened.

Seeing this, Wang Ping knew it was time to step forward.

The next second, he walked straight over, briskly pushing aside everyone in his way before coming to a stop in front of the indifferent-eyed Madam Su.

"Wang Ping, the [Great Dragon Spear], pays his respects, madam."

At these words, the expressions of the constables Wang Ping had just shoved aside shifted slightly. Inwardly, they cursed him roundly. What the hell are you implying by bringing up that title?

"...Oh?"

At the same time, Madam Su, who had remained composed until now, finally turned toward his voice. Ripples stirred in her beautiful eyes as she looked at Wang Ping with some surprise.

The [Great Dragon Spear], whose name shook the county town, was practically thunder in the ears of women—especially women like her, who spent so much time at home.

She was certainly no exception.

Very soon, however, the surprise in those mournful, cold eyes subsided, replaced by the same icy disgust she felt toward everyone else.

Wang Ping did not mind.

He then strode forward and, in a rather presumptuous manner, leaned directly toward Madam Su's ear and whispered a few words.

The next second, Madam Su's expression changed.