White Chrysanthemum committed another two crimes in succession, leaving Li Qingge utterly unable to close the case. Even the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance, which had largely dispersed, came hurrying back, and little Pengshan County grew lively again.
Wang Chong had spent these days hiding at Su Luoyan's place, practicing swordsmanship with Sun Mingke. Every time they sparred, he could feel a clear improvement in this Little Brother Sun's martial arts. Each improvement was tiny, but that was frightening enough.
Sun Mingke felt much the same. He found that Wang Chong would often make no progress for days, only to break through his barriers in a single breath. In particular, the world-renowned Candle-Bearing Sword Technique, one of the Seven Routes Divine Sword passed down directly on Wudang Mountain, was clearly superior to his own Shenshang Sword Technique. He had to rely heavily on the wondrous internal arts of the Nine Profound True Scripture just to scrape out a draw.
Wang Chong wiped away his sweat and said to Sun Mingke, "Let's rest a while, then compare our unarmed skills."
Such an excellent sparring partner was hard to come by, and Wang Chong wished he could practice every hour of every day. His martial arts had come with his transmigration. Much of the time, he knew how things worked without knowing why, and in combat he relied mostly on instinct, often feeling as though he were treading on thin ice.
With Sun Mingke to spar with, he felt keenly that, quite apart from any improvement in his martial arts, his methods of fighting opponents had improved considerably.
Wang Chong sat cross-legged and meditated to refine his Qi for a while. Yuzao hurried over with a damp cloth dipped in water to wipe her young master's face, head, and neck. Sun Mingke watched with boundless envy, thinking, Too bad my family isn't well-off and I can't afford a maid. Otherwise, I'd get one as thoughtful as Sister Yuzao.
After meditating for a good while, Wang Chong recovered all his internal power. He drew in a deep breath of True Qi and thought, My original self must have received the finest instruction and undergone the harshest training to have mastered the Pure Yang Formula and been able to fight an expert like Qian Luoyi on instinct alone. But he must also have had ordinary aptitude, or not worked hard enough. He was clearly older than Little Brother Sun and must have practiced martial arts longer, yet his foundation wasn't any deeper.
I managed to match Qian Luoyi twice. The first time, his internal power had been depleted by prolonged fighting, and I had made a breakthrough beforehand. The second time, I broke through again and switched to the Candle-Bearing Sword Technique. Without those two breakthroughs, I would certainly have been no match for Qian Luoyi, and only a little stronger than the likes of Qin Han.
Wang Chong now understood this world's martial rankings. Sun Mingke, Qian Luoyi, Monk Xuangang, Su Luoyan, Lu Moniang, Li Qingge, and the others were all at the first stage of the Innate Realm. Anyone who could break through to the Innate Realm before thirty was a figure whose equal was rarely seen, with limitless prospects ahead. To have already broken into the Innate Realm at Sun Mingke's age made him a genius among geniuses.
Others, such as Chu Qiuzi, Qin Han, Fang Jingru, and even Sun Yanqi, were all ranked martial artists, ranging from the second or third rank to the fourth or fifth. They, too, were experts with considerable ability.
When he transmigrated here, he had probably been at the first rank, but at some unknown point he had broken through to the Innate Realm. He was now also at its first stage.
Sun Mingke had recovered his internal power by then as well and called eagerly, "Brother Wang Chong, are you ready yet? Let's spar bare-handed!"
Wang Chong sprang to his feet, unleashed Wind and Cloud, a Hundred Changes, and joined battle with Sun Mingke.
The two exchanged five or six hundred moves in a tumbling flurry before Wang Chong spread his palms and said, "Let's call this one a draw. We'll have another match next time."
Sun Mingke's internal power was almost exhausted; another dozen moves or so and he would have been unable to hold out. He exhaled and said, "I always feel like you're going easy on me, Brother Wang Chong."
Wang Chong chuckled. "Want to make a wager where I can't go easy on you?"
Sun Mingke cried, "On what?"
Wang Chong said, "Our brothers in the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance have located one White Chrysanthemum. Sure enough, he's skilled in the palm force of the Vajra Prajna Palm. But unlike what Constable Li and I suspected, he isn't proficient in the Fire-Burning Eyebrows sword technique or the Ice Soul Finger. Let's see which of us can kill him."
Sun Mingke cried, "It'll definitely be me! I nearly killed him last time. Now that my martial arts have improved so much, he'll have trouble lasting ten moves against me."
While the two had secluded themselves to practice martial arts, the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance and Li Qingge had not been idle. Only by mobilizing the martial community and the authorities of several nearby provinces had they managed to locate this man. Now the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance had turned out in force, and everyone wanted to compete for the credit. Wang Chong naturally had no intention of snatching it, but if Sun Mingke wanted to claim the kill, he would not stop him. He would simply treat it as humoring a child.
Sun Mingke enthusiastically fetched two horses and went out with Wang Chong. With his young follower in tow, Wang Chong first went to visit Qin Han.
Over the past few days, Qin Han had tumbled from the peak of delight to halfway down the mountain of dejection. He was drowning his sorrows in wine when an inn attendant suddenly hurried over and said, "Young Master Wang Chong is here to visit." He hastily brought a few close brothers out to welcome him. As soon as Wang Chong saw Qin Han, he smiled and said, "Brother Qin, why haven't you gone to capture White Chrysanthemum?"
A young gentleman from Chang'an standing nearby said, "Constable Li says White Chrysanthemum may not be just one person. Sun Yanqi was White Chrysanthemum, but there are other lechers too. Our Brother Qin Han already killed Sun Yanqi, so Zhou Yuchen, the Kongtong Sect's senior disciple, made snide remarks and pressured us with his words to keep us from competing for the credit."
After all, someone had "identified" the Sun Yanqi whom Qin Han had killed as the lecher White Chrysanthemum himself, so his achievement could not be erased. It was merely that a small part of his renown was gone, not all of it, and his credit had diminished considerably.
Wang Chong smiled. "Brother Qin Han values his bonds with his brothers and doesn't want to compete for credit, but I haven't earned any. Brother Qin, you can show Little Brother Sun and me the way without hurting the brotherhood within the alliance."
Thinking of Qin Han's two thousand strings of cash and the house in Chang'an, Wang Chong waggled his eyebrows at him. Understanding dawned on Qin Han, and he cried, "Exactly! I won't compete with my brothers in the alliance for credit, but why shouldn't I put myself out a little to show the way?"
The whole group grew excited and rose in a rush, calling out, "Brother Qin is right!"
"Why can't we help our brothers in the alliance catch a lecher?"
Sun Mingke watched with a secret chuckle, thinking, Brother Wang Chong really is smooth on all eight sides, finding an opening everywhere.
Once everyone had set out, Wang Chong and Qin Han spent a long time whispering and discussing matters along the way. When he returned to Sun Mingke, Sun Mingke asked, "Brother, how many strings of cash did you sell this White Chrysanthemum for?" Though Su Luoyan did not covet fame, Sun Yanqi had, after all, been killed by "her," so Wang Chong certainly owed her an account. Su Luoyan had told her close friend Lu Moniang about it, and as Lu Moniang's junior fellow disciple, Sun Mingke naturally learned that he had sold Sun Yanqi for a good price. Hence his question.
Some secrets were only ever kept from outsiders!
Wang Chong smiled. "Five thousand strings of cash, and a small house in Chang'an. You'll have somewhere to stay when you return to Chang'an, brother. Don't stand on ceremony with me."
Sun Mingke smiled. "That's a bit more than the last one sold for!"
Wang Chong pursed his lips, signaling for Sun Mingke to look at a young man in plain robes.
Through Wang Chong's introductions, Sun Mingke already knew most of the Chrysanthemum-Slaying Alliance's members. He knew this man's surname was Lu and his given name Zongfeng, that he came from the Lus of Fanyang, and that he was his senior sister's older brother-not her own brother, of course, but her paternal cousin. Understanding dawned on him at once, and he thought, My senior sister's standing played a part here too.
...Wang Chong: Lu Zongfeng is starting to look a bit like an older brother-in-law now...
...Lu Zongfeng: Wang Chong, you lecher! How dare you set your sights on my sister...
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