Liu Laizi's small courtyard was considered high-end even in Tongzi Ward.
The surrounding neighbors had long been unable to bear the disturbance and had been forced to move away. Now, after being torn down by those hooligans, it had become a garbage dump.
A moonless night, with a biting wind.
Su Xinghe carried a two-foot-long chisel tucked inside his clothes.
Knowing the route like the back of his hand, he climbed over a wall from a small alley and entered a courtyard.
He had secretly visited this courtyard several times already and had roughly figured out the daily routines of Liu Laizi's gang.
So, after confirming the route past Laiyun Archway, he had come over without worry to make his arrangements.
Liu Laizi was not a martial artist, nor had he practiced any real martial arts. He was an ordinary man through and through.
But such hooligans were not to be underestimated. In a real fight, ordinary people were simply no match for them. Even if they committed crimes, they knew plenty of familiar faces at the Public Security Office.
The reason Su Xinghe had not acted until now was, first, that there had been no need. After all, the Great Zhou Dynasty was currently at the height of its power. Local government offices not only had martial artists, but Public Security Offices equipped with firearms as well.
Second, he had been waiting until he broke through to Inner Tempering—ideally, until he became a martial artist.
Then he would not need to lift a finger. His title alone would be enough to frighten those petty thugs.
But recently, his frequent purchases of meat to supplement his training had drawn the gang's attention.
There was no helping it. He could only give them a little "gift" first.
He could not use the outer courtyard gate. If there were any marks on it, they might cause his plan to fail.
He climbed over a wall on one side of the courtyard. Inside, everything was pitch-black.
After holding his breath and listening for a while, he darted to the back door. Taking out the chisel, he removed the entire wooden door in a few quick motions.
Once inside the kitchen, Su Xinghe spread out two cloth bundles on the ground. He took out the three ingredients inside and packed half of them separately into bamboo tubes.
For the other half, he threw off the proportions. Using materials at hand, he found a clay jar and placed it beneath the firewood pile.
Next came setting up the detonator.
He tied the drug-filled bamboo tubes together one by one, then packed and connected them tightly with cotton thread soaked in lamp oil. He found a leftover half-burned candle in the house and arranged everything behind the front door.
All it needed was for someone outside to push open the door. The candle flame would topple over and set it off.
Judging that the time was about right, he lit the candle, used a stool to block the light, and quickly returned to the kitchen.
Soon, he put the back door back in place.
He shut the door, climbed out over the courtyard wall, then sprinted toward Central River.
About two minutes later,
Just as Su Xinghe had jumped into the river, a tremendous bang came from Tongzi Ward.
"Boom~"
The enormous explosion instantly rang across the entire west side of the city. The constables from the Public Security Office patrolling the streets blew their bamboo whistles as they rushed over.
The first constable to arrive at the scene took one look and knew something had gone terribly wrong.
The pungent smell of gunpowder smoke in the air, the blast crater formed by the flying debris—this was gunpowder, an absolute forbidden item in the Great Zhou Dynasty, permitted only for storage and use by county offices and the military.
With a dark expression, he walked over to the several people who had been blasted into a daze.
"Liu Laizi!"
"You're dead!"
Turning around, he shouted at the yamen runners under him:
"Seal off the scene! Before the Inspection Bureau officials arrive, not even a fly is allowed to get out!"
The Martial Dao Bureau of Lin County had three subordinate offices. The official in charge of the Inspection Bureau was a Seventh Rank director of the Martial Dao Bureau. The Bandit Suppression Bureau and Public Security Office, meanwhile, were headed by only Eighth Rank officials.
Eight-Zhang Street, south of the city.
A muffled boom sounded in the distance, while the bamboo whistles of the Public Security Office drew nearer and nearer.
Near Veteran's Trade House, inside a small courtyard.
"Red Sister, there are people from the Public Security Office!"
"It's fine, as long as they aren't from the Bandit Suppression Bureau."
"Madam, a carriage from the Inspection Bureau has appeared too!"
"What bad luck!"
"Could it be that those Head-Chopping Bandits caught wind of something?"
"Cancel the operation. Send someone to see where the trouble came from!"
Very soon.
More than twenty burly men in black escorted a figure in red and a figure in white as they withdrew from the courtyard, knowing the way like old hands.
Dawn was just beginning to break, at a breakfast stall.
Little Beggar, dark circles under his eyes, took two listless bites of his noodles.
"Boss, it looks like Liu Laizi and his gang got arrested."
"Mm."
Su Xinghe was eating noodles too, without looking up.
There was no need to ask around deliberately. The diners nearby were already discussing the explosion.
Little Beggar tilted his head close to Su Xinghe's ear, looking mysterious.
"Old Granny Huang from the main hall next to where I live said last night that those bad guys offended the Holy Mother. The Holy Mother sent down Red Lotus Fury and blew up their home."
"From now on, we should set up a tablet for the Holy Mother in the temple and worship her every day."
The moment he heard that name, Su Xinghe's heart sank.
When had this Peaceful Heaven Sect spread into the city?
He put down his chopsticks and looked sternly at the boy across from him.
"Don't you go touching that stuff. If the Public Security Office takes you away, I won't come bail you out!"
Little Beggar did not seem frightened at all. He tilted his head, studying the expression on his boss's face with a probing look.
Only after several breaths did he give a sullen snort.
"I wouldn't!"
Su Xinghe did not indulge him.
"Are you full? If you are, hurry out of the city and help me call someone over!"
In Su Xinghe's plan, he had never intended to blow Liu Laizi's gang to death.
It was not that he did not want to, but that his skills were too lousy.
The homemade crude gunpowder he had mixed himself was less than five jin in total. Rather than an explosion, it had really been more of a deflagration. In his previous life, it would have amounted to nothing more than a small firework.
His main purpose had been to bring in the Public Security Office and get Liu Laizi's gang arrested.
The best outcome would be for them to receive the chopping block.
If they could not be sentenced to death, they could at least be locked up for a while. By then, once he broke through and became a martial artist, none of it would matter.
He tossed down the money for the noodles, rose to his feet, and headed south.
Just after leaving Tongzi Ward, he saw a freshly posted notice at the crossroads.
It listed Liu Shishan, Zhang Niu... twenty-two names in all. Colluding in secret with remnants of the Peaceful Heaven Sect, privately storing gunpowder, plotting wrongdoing...
Su Xinghe did not care where those twenty-two people had come from, or whether they would be beheaded.
He only wanted his family to live well.
For three straight days, the city underwent a massive manhunt.
The Martial Dao Bureau took the lead, with personnel from its three subordinate offices, the City Defense Army, and county yamen runners going house to house to search. Even the Lu Family's old residence had not escaped this sweep.
Su Xinghe returned to Tongzi Ward as usual. From far away, he saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance to his family's alley.
They pointed and whispered, discussing something.
Just as he was about to approach, a thin little figure darted out from the side.
"Boss, your father and younger brother are here."
"But it seems they brought back two friends. I don't know what happened, but they started arguing inside."
Little Beggar stepped closer and whispered into his ear.
"They started arguing..."
Su Xinghe paused. He immediately thought of a possibility. Giving a slight nod, he pushed through the crowd and squeezed inside.
Within the alley, a little head poked out from the second-floor attic.
Her chubby face was full of worry.
"Big Brother Su!"
"It sounds like they're arguing inside. Hurry and go take a look."
"Xiaoya."
Su Xinghe looked up and greeted the girl, then habitually swept his gaze downstairs.
The front gate stood half-open. A familiar female figure leaned against it. Today, she said nothing, her delicate face filled with disdain.
Without wasting any time.
The sound of someone slapping a table came from inside his family's courtyard. Without slowing, he opened the courtyard gate beneath the curious stares of the onlookers.
Perhaps because he had recently learned real martial arts, his hearing had improved considerably. Across the small courtyard, he could clearly hear the conversation inside.
"It's impossible to leave the Brotherhood now!"
"You've attended so many classes these past two months, and Lord Liu has spent a great deal of effort on you as well. Now, either obediently come back with me, or pay one hundred taels of silver as apprenticeship fees."
It was a voice like a broken gong, its tone carrying a lofty threat.
But Su Xinghe's heart jolted violently. He knew the person speaking.
Or rather, the original owner of this body had known him.
Then another familiar voice rang out. It was his father, Su Cheng.
"That's not what you said before. Besides, we haven't learned anything!"
"Bang!"
"Clatter..."
A loud crash sounded, followed by the sharp crack of a teacup hitting the floor.
"The Brotherhood helps one another! If you haven't learned anything, it's because you have no talent for martial arts. Can you blame anyone else for that?"
The broken-gong voice spoke viciously.
A young man's low roar answered him.
"Our family has no money!"
"Then use this courtyard as collateral. We'll talk again when you have silver!"
The person with the broken-gong voice was the leader of a small gang outside the city, but Su Xinghe knew that man secretly worked for the Peaceful Heaven Sect.
The original owner had been lured by him into the Breeding Cave and ultimately died after his Qi-Blood was drained dry.
This time, he did not know whether the man had come for him.
But now that the man had come here, there was no avoiding him.
Outside the door.
Su Xinghe took a deep breath and steadied himself.
"Thump!"
The tightly shut door was shoved open with force.
Everyone in the room immediately turned to look.
"Dad, you're back!"
Ignoring the two "guests," he first greeted the dark-skinned middle-aged man seated at the head of the main room.
This cheap father of his was thinner and more gaunt than in his memories, and the topknot on his head had become sparse and loose.
Then his gaze swept past, pausing for a moment on his younger brother Su Haitao's face before turning toward his mother, who was secretly weeping in the kitchen.
"Brother..."
Su Haitao was twenty this year. His handsome, dark-skinned features resembled Su Xinghe's by seventy or eighty percent. He merely lacked a little maturity and steadiness, carrying more of the cool arrogance unique to young men.
The two had originally been about the same height, but after Su Xinghe learned real martial arts and went through a second growth spurt, he had grown another three cun or so.
Su Cheng's gaze was complicated.
He looked at his eldest son, who had suddenly burst in.
Half a year had passed.
He had grown taller, and his frame had become far more solid and steady. Straight-backed and full of spirit, he truly looked somewhat like a martial artist now.
Though his heart still ached for the silver they had been cheated out of,
At this moment, he quietly felt a little more relieved.
That Ascending Dragon Stance—he and Su Haitao had practiced it too.
It was just that the results were somewhat hard to put into words.
How should he put it...
It really was useful.
But out at the farmstead beyond the city, the father and son had strength with nowhere to use it.
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