Bronze Sparrow Bow, Yuwen Family

This is a small courtyard, about twenty paces square.

A bluestone path runs through the courtyard, with vegetables planted on both sides.

There is a large house on each of the east, west, and north sides.

The large house to the north was brightly lit by candlelight, casting several dark shadows on the windows.

The Blind Cheng silently peeked out from outside the south wall, gripping the hilt of a knife, his white eyes scanning the courtyard before slowly retreating back inside.

Soon, his figure appeared on the roof of the uninhabited east-facing house.

With footsteps lighter than a cat, it flipped over the roof ridge, then with a light leap, rolled across the ground without making a sound.

He carried a knife on his left side, and even as he rolled, he tilted to the right, tumbling out to dissipate the force, and ended up crouching right under the window of the large house to the north.

"... Wen Family Restaurant is quite popular, not only with busy customers during the day, but also with many guests staying at night."

"With just the three of us, successfully killing the target won't be an easy task."

"This person must go out at some point, right? Let's observe him a bit more and make our move when he's alone."

"Hey! If you ask me, there's no need to be so careful. We can take advantage of the unexpected, even in the middle of the city, and make our move."

Do you remember that time we killed a county magistrate in Chuanshu? During the Lantern Festival, we passed by him, just brushed past him, and he was dead. By the time his wife, children, and entourage realized something was wrong, we had already disappeared into the crowd.

Haha, the sound of that little girl crying, that feeling of being the only ones out of the bustling city—that made me feel more comfortable than the reward my family gave me later.

"You'd better tone it down. Last time it was just the three of us. I heard there are quite a few people coming this time. If they find out you have any weaknesses when we meet up later, the punishment from above won't be lenient."

The Blind Cheng's damaged eyeballs do not move normally.

Hearing these words today, his eyelids were half open, and his eyeballs darted around.

A murderous glint was concealed in his shifting eyes, remaining hidden.

He picked up a small Shitou from the base of the wall and tossed it up into the air.

The small Shitou landed on the top of the north-facing roof and collided with the tiles.

"Who?!"

The three men in the room were all robust young men, dressed in coarse cloth clothes. The full complexion on the backs of their hands and faces showed that they were in good physical condition.

The sound from the roof made them move instantly.

One person blew out the lamp.

One person was already airborne, his left arm wrapped around a roof beam, his right hand holding a short gun, thrusting straight at the source of the sound.

Another person suddenly burst through the door, wanting to observe the situation outside from the courtyard's perspective.

Just as he broke down the door, the Blind Cheng broke in through the window.

The person who blew out the lamp only felt a blur before their eyes.

There was another person across the table, and his hand was being held by that person.

Click!!

Blind Cheng a flick of his wrist, the blind man dislocated the lamp-blower's wrist, and his entire arm was pulled violently, causing his elbow and shoulder to dislocate as well.

But before he could even scream,

The Blind Cheng pushed his hand forward again.

This twist and push caused the dislocated joints to collide again, but it was a completely misaligned collision.

The instantaneous, excruciating pain is several times greater than that of a simple dislocation.

The man who blew out the lamp rolled his eyes back, and before he could even scream, he had already fainted from the pain.

The person who had been airborne realized something was wrong. He changed his grip on the roof beam with his left hand, instead of holding onto it, he started pushing against it, and his body accelerated downwards.

BOOM!!!

The falling object, gun and all, shattered the table and broke the oil lamp.

The spearhead failed to hit the target.

The Blind Cheng's figure suddenly shrank and disappeared from his sight.

If there were any onlookers, they would have seen that Blind Cheng's movements at that moment resembled a python suddenly whipping its tail.

He ducked, turning almost halfway around, and was now beside the gunman, the end of the scabbard poking right into the gunman's neck.

The gunman's neck snapped to the side, his body slammed to the ground, and he fell silent.

The person outside the door noticed something was wrong and turned to go inside.

This person is the most agile and strong; when he broke down the door, his whole body was enveloped in a layer of air currents.

As soon as he entered the room, the wristband on his right hand gleamed slightly.

The Weapon Soul, Wind Urging!

It can generate a gust of air in the same direction when the main character moves.

When he throws a punch, the wind pressure within three feet can blind the eyes.

Wind is the most common thing in the world and the easiest thing to be affected by invisible forces.

The effects of many Weapon Soul are related to the wind.

The way this person made a punch was also quite strange; the knuckle of his index finger protruded forward, and there were gaps between his fingers.

With each punch, it seemed as if a bird's chirp pierced through the air.

It wasn't the chirping of an ordinary sparrow, but the chirping of a great tit.

It's a little sharp, and very short.

The wind pressure from the chirping of birds arrived almost simultaneously, pressing down on Blind Cheng's head and face.

Finally, the Blind Cheng drew his sword, holding the sheath in his left hand and gripping the hilt in reverse with his right, and pulled it out in an instant.

This movement was incredibly fluid.

The hilt of the knife struck the puncher's wrist guard from below, pushing the arm away.

The blade then cleaved through the wind pressure, leaving a slanted wound on the puncher's chest and abdomen.

Bass!!!

The sound of a knife being drawn reached his ears, and the puncher felt all his strength vanish with a chill in his chest.

Thump!

He felt cold all over, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground, sitting on his heels, looking up in terror.

In addition to bleeding from his chest and abdomen wounds, blood was also seeping from the brace on his right wrist.

The force with which this person struck his wrist guard with the hilt of his knife was so great that it penetrated the guard, broke through the flesh, and fractured the wrist bone.

Just like his wrist guard, which had a weakness he himself was unaware of, and was struck precisely by the hilt of the knife.

The Blind Cheng held the blade to his neck.

"Speak! How much of a bounty did the Yuwen Family offer you that made you chase me all the way to Nanzhao to kill me?"

The Blind Cheng said coldly, "There are more than just the three of you, right? How many people are there in total?"

The puncher didn't know if his internal organs had been injured, but at least his heart and lungs shouldn't have been damaged. A sense of relief crossed his mind, but his fear of death grew even stronger.

"I... I..."

He confessed, "We didn't come to kill you, it's a misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding, we don't know you at all."

Blind Cheng pressed his blade a fraction closer. "Still trying to fool me? You were just talking about the Wen Family Restaurant!"

The person who threw the punch almost burst into tears.

"It really isn't you."

He cried out, "We just want to kill the proprietress of the Wen Family Restaurant!"

The Blind Cheng's eyelids suddenly opened completely, revealing whites of his eyes and black pupils, staring intently at the person.

"Kill her?!"

The Blind Cheng's murderous aura surged, becoming even stronger than before. He almost accidentally severed the man's head.

Why did you kill her?

The person who threw the punch stammered, "Well, I don't know either. That's what the higher-ups said. Maybe it's because she's a celebrity..."

A voice came from outside the door.

"Ugh, that's such a ridiculous excuse."

The Blind Cheng suddenly turned his head, his murderous aura instantly vanishing. He composed himself and asked, "Why are you here?"

Chu Tianshu stepped in.

"You seem uneasy; something's probably going to happen. I came over to check on you."

Chu Tianshu looked around the room and laughed, "Looks like it's not you who's going to get into trouble, it's them."

Blind Cheng frowned. "Haven't you already gotten what you wanted? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Is it possible that someone Dual Cultivation of Life and Nature can't memorize what I'm saying?"

"Ha?!"

Chu Tianshu tilted his head, uttering a puzzled sound, "Brother, I first wanted to make friends with you, and then I was thinking, could I get a secret manual from a friend?"

"This order is very important, don't get it wrong."

The Blind Cheng's lips twitched, but he remained noncommittal, turning his head to continue questioning the man.

Tell me, what's the real reason?

The man simply said, "I really don't know."

Chu Tianshu stepped forward and inserted a needle directly into the top of his head.

During acupuncture, needles are inserted into the top of the head, and the fine needles move along the skin and flesh.

Even a long needle wouldn't pierce the skull.

Chu Tianshu only unleashes his full power to shoot straight through bones when he intends to kill.

However, this injection he's using now is different.

It wasn't intended to kill, but the needle still slightly touched the skull.

Chu Tianshu released the silver needles, made a hand gesture, and recited a mantra.

"Approaching!"

The silver needle seemed to be affected by his voice, and it began to vibrate on its own, making a soft buzzing sound.

The person who threw the punch felt his head go numb, his vision blurred, his mouth was open and he didn't know how to close it, and a little saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth.

What was the real reason for killing the proprietress of the Wen Family Restaurant?

Chu Tianshu asked again.

The person who threw the punch answered simply this time, "I don't know, maybe because she's famous."

Chu Tianshu looked suspicious. "Who sent you? Are you an assassin organization? You must have an employer, right?"

The man who threw the punch said, "We are from the Yuwen Family, and we don't know anything else."

"It seems he truly didn't know."

The Blind Cheng slit his throat with a knife, then turned to finish off the other two men.

Chu Tianshu pondered from the side, "You were originally planning to leave the restaurant, weren't you? Did you mistakenly think the trouble was coming for you?"

"I have some old grudges with the Yuwen Family. Back then, I couldn't stand by and watch, so I killed one of their beasts who treated human life like dirt and raped a woman."

Upon Blind Cheng, the blind man was stunned for a long time before speaking. The moonlight shone through the doors and windows, illuminating his lonely figure. "But because of my impulsive act, my beloved... Qinniang, was also killed by the Yuwen Family Yuwen Family's arrows when I arranged for her to leave first."

"I'm blind, but my Wind-Listening has become sharper; I can hear the workings of force."

"Throughout my life, I will never forget the Yuwen Family's ' Bronze Sparrow Bow ' Strength-Tempering Method."

The Yuwen Family had an ancestor named Yuwen Tai, who was the de facto ruler of the Western Wei and the founder of the Northern Zhou.

Once, during a battle with the Eastern Wei, amidst the chaos of war, he drew his bow and shot an arrow that felled the bronze sparrow on the Eastern Wei commander's banner.

The morale of Yuwen's troops soared, and they were saved from a desperate situation.

To commemorate this event, later generations carved the bronze sparrow pattern onto the precious bow and even compiled various methods for cultivating strength, using archery and horsemanship to train strength, which was called the "Bronze Sparrow Bow".

That person just now, seemingly throwing a punch, was actually using archery techniques.

During the day Blind Cheng Man noticed the characteristics of the three of them practicing the "Bronze Sparrow Bow" while he was outside. He assumed they were there to seek revenge on him for the sake of that young master Yuwen from back then.

"I see."

Chu Tianshu said, "But since they're here for Lady Wenjing, do you really think you can leave?"

The Blind Cheng flicked the blood off his knife; where his strength passed, not a drop of blood remained on the blade.

"Wen Jing's family has been in Nanzhao for two or three generations. Although the Yuwen Family is powerful and has many members, they are still within the territory of the Great Tang. How could they have any enmity?"

The Blind Cheng uttered his doubts, sheathed his sword, and remained silent for a while.

"Physician Chu, you're better at talking, could you ask her for me?"

Chu Tianshu's eyes widened, and he pointed to himself.

"Me? Dude, are you serious?"

The Blind Cheng said, "Could you ask for me if the debt I owed can be waived?"

Chu Tianshu found it utterly unbelievable.

"You're such a grown man, just standing here, you two are in love, and then..."

You want me to go and ask?"

He suddenly began to doubt the judgment of that Qinniang and the Lady Wenjing.

Do these two have a fetish, particularly fond of stubborn, wooden things?

(End of this chapter)