The scene fell silent for roughly two breaths.
None of the bandits could believe that this ordinary-looking constable had actually twisted the bone-chopping saber apart?!
Was he even human?!
The bandits were aghast. One of them stepped forward and asked Chen Xia respectfully.
"May I ask which hero of the martial world you are? We brothers were ignorant and apologize for offending you. Please spare our lives. We will certainly offer compensation afterward!"
Chen Xia bent a finger and flicked the bone-chopping saber suspended before him. The blade shuddered violently, a tiny fracture appearing in its center before spreading rapidly like a spiderweb until it covered the entire blade.
Clatter.
The bone-chopping saber shattered like glass, its fragments falling to the ground.
The burly man froze. He had never seen such brutal martial prowess and stood dumbstruck, unable to speak.
It went without saying that they had kicked an iron plate.
The bandit who had spoken hurriedly said again, "Great hero, we brothers were originally soldiers at the border. We fled here because we were badly wounded on the battlefield and didn't want to be sent to our deaths."
"Now that we've finally recovered, we only wanted to get some money to return to our hometowns. We meant no harm. Please spare us, great hero. We have plenty of money up in the mountains. If you spare us, we'll take you to collect it right away."
Chen Xia tilted his head and studied the man.
His clothes had a somewhat scholarly air, and he was thin and frail. He was probably the bandits' strategist or someone of that sort.
People like him were the most hateful, because they were often the best at coming up with wicked schemes.
The burly leader spoke up as well. "Let's talk this out. I have an older brother in the martial world, too. He's just ten li away. His name is Yang Gang, the Flower-Touching Hand. I'm sure you've heard of him."
Chen Xia frowned and, cautious by nature, asked a question.
"Is he that badass?"
The burly man nodded and hurriedly said, "He can shatter stone barehanded, punch through solid walls, and sever flowing water with his hand!"
Chen Xia blinked twice and asked, "That's it?"
He had been able to do all of that easily when he had raised his strength to 2.
Seeing no surprise on Chen Xia's face, the burly man immediately sensed something was wrong and was about to speak again.
Chen Xia suddenly thrust his hand forward like the fiercest venomous snake striking, so fast that it left not even a blur.
But his hand did not pierce the burly man's skull. It stopped beside his ear instead.
The burly man's heart clenched before he relaxed, inwardly thinking that his older brother's name still carried weight.
But the next instant, a tremendous blast of fierce wind erupted beside his ear, bursting his eardrum before rushing into his skull!
In fewer than three breaths.
Blood streamed from the burly man's seven orifices. He collapsed to the ground, his life gradually fading.
Silence filled the scene. The bandits' eyes widened, filled with horror and disbelief.
Only then did Chen Xia turn to face them. He straightened his clothes, which the night breeze had ruffled, and flashed a grin as he spoke.
"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Chen Xia, and I've been named Weixi Town's outstanding constable four times running. You can call me Lord Constable. Of course, it's fine if you can't remember. You'll forget after you reincarnate anyway."
What he meant was that not a single bandit present would survive.
"Spare us! Great hero, spare us!" The strategist-looking bandit had already dropped to his knees before Chen Xia and begged for mercy.
Chen Xia flicked his toe upward. A small pebble whistled through the air and shot out in an instant, piercing the man's skull and ending his life.
"Forget begging. You can try fighting back or running away."
Chen Xia spoke indifferently as he walked toward the bandits.
"Charge, brothers! Let's fight this son of a bitch to the death!"
One bandit steeled himself and hacked his saber straight at Chen Xia.
Chen Xia sheared through the blade with a sideways chop of his palm, caught the falling piece, and casually flung it out, piercing the man's skull.
Killing a bandit took no more than two breaths.
And Chen Xia killed as he walked, truly taking a life every ten steps with the utmost casual ease.
"Run! He's a monster! We can't beat him! Run!"
Some bandits broke down, unable to bear it any longer, and scrambled over the courtyard wall without the slightest regard for the spikes on top.
They did not get far, though. Chen Xia simply kicked a pebble at each and killed them.
In fewer than ten minutes, Chen Xia killed all twenty-odd bandits, including the blacksmith.
Not a drop of blood stained him. Even his hands were clean.
Xu Zhen watched from behind the window in a daze. She had never imagined that Brother Chen, who had always taken care of her, was so powerful.
"Little Xu?" Chen Xia called into the house.
Xu Zhen hurriedly opened the window and waved. "Brother Chen!"
Seeing that Xu Zhen was unharmed, Chen Xia felt reassured. He stayed in the courtyard, waiting for the mayor to come in the morning and decide how to handle things.
Xu Zhen sat on the railing with Chen Xia. Although there were more than twenty corpses right before her, she was not afraid at all and even chatted and laughed with him.
The next morning.
Farmers who rose early discovered the bandits' hoofprints and, frightened, immediately alerted the entire town.
The residents grew vigilant and searched with kitchen knives and rakes. Before long, they found the gate to Xu Zhen's house, which the bandits had kicked open. There was blood inside as well.
Their hearts jolted. Thinking something terrible had happened, they hurried inside to check.
But the scene was even more shocking than they had imagined.
More than twenty bandit corpses lay scattered about. They had all died in much the same way, with their skulls pierced through.
Xu Zhen was asleep against the gatehouse, a constable's coat draped over her.
Chen Xia was holding a notebook and recording the number and details of the bandits. Sensing people approaching, he looked up, saw the crowd holding farming tools, and waved.
"Everything's fine. Go fetch the mayor."
Shocked, the residents hurried to summon the mayor.
After arriving, the mayor took out a roll of wanted notices and examined them carefully before saying with certainty, "That's right. These are the bandits from outside town. They match the wanted notices from the city authorities exactly."
The residents were alarmed. These bandits really had entered the town during the night.
But what surprised them even more was that all the bandits had died after entering town, and Chen Xia was the only person present.
Could Chen Xia have done it?
As though he had seen their confusion, Chen Xia smiled. "I've practiced martial arts since childhood, and I even received a great martial hero's inheritance when I was young. Killing a few bandits is nothing."
Put more simply, that could be translated as:
I've been badass since I was a kid. Killing a few bandits is like slaughtering chickens.
At any rate, that was how the residents understood it. For a moment, their gazes were filled with amazement as they looked at Chen Xia.
"Oh, right. The blacksmith was colluding with the bandits, so I killed him too."
The residents nodded. The blacksmith had always liked committing petty thefts and other misdeeds, and he had no family at home. It was hardly surprising that he had colluded with bandits.
Some had even suspected before that the blacksmith was the bandits' spy in town, but they had lacked evidence.
The mayor carefully examined the bandits' corpses. When he saw the burly leader, he suddenly froze, but said nothing. Only after everyone else had left did he call Chen Xia over and speak worriedly.
"Little Xia, that burly leader among the bandits you killed should be called Yang Li. He has an older brother named Yang Gang. Did you know that?"
Chen Xia thought for a moment and nodded. "I think he mentioned it. What about him?"
The mayor shook his head. "You don't understand. His older brother is a notorious bully for dozens of li around. Relying on his martial training, he tyrannizes men and women alike. I've heard that in the past two years, he's even forged ties with an immortal sect!"
"An immortal sect?" Chen Xia asked in confusion. The terrifying sight of an immortal destroying a city with one hand on his first day here resurfaced in his mind.
If it really was that sort of immortal, there would be no point fighting. They might as well discuss having the whole town flee.
The mayor explained, "This immortal sect is a hundred li away. It rose within the past two hundred years. Its founder was a disciple of an immortal sect from beyond this region. They say he possesses terrifying Divine Abilities that let him sever rivers with one hand, breathe fire, and manipulate water."
So he was only a disciple of an immortal sect. From what the mayor said, he did not sound that powerful, at least nowhere near the immortal who could destroy a city with one hand.
The mayor continued, "Yang Gang had some aptitude and was taken into the immortal sect as a disciple. He only left two years ago. Who knows when he'll return? It could be ten years or twenty."
"It's hard to say how long cultivation in the mountains will take, but once he returns, he'll definitely come to avenge Yang Li!"
Hearing this, Chen Xia actually felt a little reassured. So it would take decades. What did he have to fear, then? He could just keep adding points at his leisure.
When Yang Gang returned, who knew which of them would be beating the other?
The mayor sighed and shook his head. Looking at Chen Xia, he advised, "Little Xia, why don't you collect the bounty for the bandits and hurry off somewhere else? Live out your life in peace."
"No need." Chen Xia shook his head and gave a reason the mayor could not refute.
"I'm badass!"
After dealing with the bandits, Chen Xia received credit and was successfully promoted, becoming captain of a constabulary with only one constable.
Once the mayor retired, the position of mayor would probably be his too.
Xu Zhen grew older as well, but she had no interest in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting favored by women. She liked martial arts.
Perhaps it was because she had seen Chen Xia kill the bandits that day. Now, Xu Zhen wanted to practice martial arts and become a great hero like him. She even wheedled and begged him to teach her.
"Brother Xia, please teach me. I want some skills to defend myself, too. You won't necessarily always be by my side."
It was hard to imagine the usually shy Xu Zhen saying such things. Perhaps spending so much time with Chen Xia had made her more familiar with him.
Chen Xia spread his hands helplessly. He could hardly add points to Xu Zhen, could he? He had no way to do that.
With no other choice, Chen Xia taught Xu Zhen a set of Military Boxing exercises and told her to practice them whenever she had time to build her foundation. It would be good for her health.
The girl actually believed him. Every morning, Xu Zhen got up to perform a set. Afterward, she even pressed both hands downward and sank her Qi into her Dantian, looking quite the part.
Time passed leisurely like that.
Chen Xia always put his points into strength, until his strength reached 10.
In the eleventh year.
Chen Xia made an uncharacteristic decision.
He stopped adding points to strength.
Instead, he put them into luck.
As everyone knew, strength and Law Power could both be obtained through cultivation. Though it was not exactly easy, the conditions for obtaining them were straightforward.
Luck, however, was the most elusive of elusive things. Throughout history, those blessed with great luck could be counted on one's fingers, which showed just how rare it was.
Chen Xia had added points to strength before because he urgently needed it. Now, however, the need was less pressing. He could take his time.
Then, without question, he naturally had to put his points into luck.
[Point added successfully. Luck: 1]
The notification sounded, indicating that the point had been added.
No strange reaction occurred. Everything remained as before, without the slightest change.
Chen Xia raised his arms and found that there really was no change. Shaking his head, he felt that luck was not something that would produce tangible changes in the first place. He would see how things went.
From that day onward, Chen Xia frequently found money. Even a casual stroll would net him a few pieces of silver. In a week, the money he picked up added up to more than his monthly salary.
Most importantly, no one claimed any of it.
And it was not just finding money. Whenever Chen Xia went fishing, the fish would eagerly bite the moment he cast his hook into the water, before the float had even risen to the surface.
In fewer than ten minutes, the wooden tub he had brought for the fish was full, leaving the old man fishing beside him dumbfounded.
Most absurdly, Chen Xia later stopped putting bait on his hook altogether, yet fish still bit whenever he cast it.
The old men fishing were all baffled. Could Chen Xia be the Dragon King reincarnated? How was he so badass?!
Besides fishing, there was hunting. Whenever Chen Xia drew his bow, rabbits, elk, foxes, and other animals in the woods eagerly ran out to meet his arrows.
Chen Xia even shot two birds with one arrow. In less than half an hour, he brought down as much game as other hunters caught in a year, only stopping when he grew bored.
The other hunters watched with cold sweat streaming down them.
He had very nearly hunted all that game to extinction.
Chen Xia's luck had already reached the point where it affected nature.
His strength was even more brutal now. With its points raised to 10, he could easily shatter a boulder with a single punch, and a flick of his finger could tear through the air and create a pocket of vacuum.
Xu Zhen had turned twenty-three and was a grown woman now, long past the age to discuss marriage, yet she had never married.
The town's matchmakers had visited several times, but Xu Zhen had never agreed. Nor did she say what sort of man she liked, only that the time had not come and there was no hurry.
Chen Xia stayed out of it and let Xu Zhen do as she pleased.
But as she grew older, Xu Zhen liked clinging to Chen Xia even more. She often accompanied him on patrol and frequently visited his house to see him.
Chen Xia was in his thirties now, too, but he showed no signs of aging and still looked just as he had at the beginning.
"Brother Xia, I made this steamed fish. Try it and see if it tastes good."
"Brother Xia, let's go fishing together. Last time, you caught all the fish by yourself, and I didn't catch a single one."
"Brother Xia, how are you still so young? This won't do. What if I'm already old one day and you're still this young? No, no, absolutely not!"
Time passed amid Xu Zhen's repeated calls of "Brother Xia."
It was around the thirteenth year.
Only then did news of Xu Zhen's father's death reach Weixi Town. He had died several years earlier on the battlefield, with not even his bones remaining.
Xu Zhen cried her eyes red that night and sobbed for a long time.
Chen Xia simply stood beside her, keeping her silent company.
"Brother Xia, do you think there's still anyone in this world who truly cares about me?" Xu Zhen stopped sobbing and asked Chen Xia sorrowfully, her eyes red.
"Mm." Chen Xia nodded. "There is."
"Who?" Xu Zhen asked, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.
"Me," Chen Xia answered calmly.
Xu Zhen lowered her head slightly, twisting her hands together. The answer did not surprise her, yet she still felt somewhat overwhelmed by his affection. After gathering herself for a moment, she abruptly raised her head, placed a hand before her chest, and spoke boldly.
"Brother Xia, actually... actually... I..."
A radiant light suddenly rose in town, dazzlingly bright.
Xu Zhen was forced to swallow the words "like you" and walked toward the light with Chen Xia.
Before the two could get close, they heard a resounding cry...
"An immortal master is accepting disciples!"