In the empty courtyard, a person stood alone.
Unlike his time at the county yamen, he was not wearing his official uniform that symbolized his status. Instead, he had changed into a tight-fitting martial outfit, even wearing a bamboo hat with a veil to conceal his face.
“Constable Wang Ping…”
Xu Bingzheng calmly swept his gaze across the entire courtyard, his brow twitching slightly. Not the slightest irregularity in the yard could escape his discerning eyes.
The walls, the tables and chairs, the ground.
He walked through every corner of the courtyard in this manner, even checking the stable. However, he only saw a well-behaved, curly-maned horse huddled in the corner.
“Nothing. It isn’t on him, nor is it in his living quarters. He couldn’t possibly hide something so precious outside. In that case, it shouldn’t be him… That makes sense. His cultivation is too weak. Even if he possesses three physical anomalies and launched a sneak attack, he couldn’t have killed a heavily injured Chen Haoyan.”
Xu Bingzheng withdrew his gaze.
The next second, his figure vanished from the spot. Simultaneously, a light breeze blew past, brushing away his footprints and all traces he had left in the courtyard.
Creak—
Almost at the same time, Wang Ping pushed the door open and strode in. Seemingly noticing nothing unusual, he simply began wielding his saber and practicing his martial arts in the courtyard.
From morning until night.
The sun rose, the sun set, and the moon hung upon the branches.
After finishing his practice, he meditated to rest, then went to sleep—he neither snuck away nor exhibited any suspicious behavior. Everything appeared perfectly normal.
Only then did Xu Bingzheng leave.
At the exact moment of his departure, Wang Ping, who was “fast asleep” in bed, finally withdrew his spiritual sense. The first drop of cold sweat slowly rolled down his back.
A chill pierced straight to his heart.
Fuck, he was spying on me!
This was a highly peculiar method. He couldn’t feel Xu Bingzheng’s gaze at all; he only noticed something amiss when he mobilized his spiritual sense.
Is this the method of a Titled Martial Master? I heard Liu Ye say that martial arts at this level completely break away from simple fists and kicks, shifting instead toward the spirit and consciousness. It’s said those Martial Grandmasters even reach the realm of 【Perceiving Spirit】, capable of killing a person with a mere thought…
It was very similar to spiritual sense, yet somewhat different.
But my spiritual sense should still be a grade higher. At least I can detect his snooping, while he has no way of discovering my secret scrutiny.
Moreover, if Xu Bingzheng truly possessed an investigative method comparable to spiritual sense, the elixirs hidden in the horse’s stomach would have been discovered long ago.
Fortunately, it ended here.
When the next day arrived, Xu Bingzheng did not return. Yet even so, Wang Ping’s mood did not relax in the slightest; instead, the sense of urgency intensified.
I can’t stay here much longer.
His current residence was too close to the county yamen. To guard against Xu Bingzheng, he didn’t dare make any moves, forced to simply waste away his time like this.
Besides, the spying was only temporary.
Given time, if Xu Bingzheng continued to find no clues, he would sooner or later take bolder actions. What would he do if that fell upon him?
Why is everyone always forcing my hand…
Wang Ping secretly gritted his teeth, his resolve already firm. He had to find a suitable excuse to move out—to move somewhere Xu Bingzheng couldn’t spy on so easily.
A Titled Martial Master’s 【Spirit】 is far inferior to my spiritual sense. As long as I can move a bit further away from the county yamen, I can buy myself enough time and space. Unlike now, where the distance is so close that if Xu Bingzheng suddenly came rushing over, I wouldn’t even have time to hide things…
Wang Ping pondered like this for a long time.
He needed a reasonable excuse that would allow a lowly constable like him—penniless, powerless, and living in housing specially provided by the county yamen—to relocate somewhere else.
I think there really is one…
The third day, early morning.
Wang Ping woke up early as usual and headed to the drill ground to practice archery. Not long after, Liu Ye walked in carrying his tobacco pipe, a somewhat melancholy expression on his face.
“Brother Liu, how is the situation?” Wang Ping initiated the conversation.
“Not ideal.” Liu Ye shook his head and sighed. “You know how it is. Many martial arts are priceless but unobtainable; money alone can’t buy them.”
“Especially for your older brother here. I’ve practiced martial arts for half my life, and I’m only one marrow-training technique away from reaching external perfection. Yet, I’ve searched for this technique for seven or eight years and still come up empty-handed. The county yamen has them, but it requires taking on some dangerous bounties. I really don’t want to take that risk.”
Wang Ping could see the helplessness in Liu Ye’s heart.
“So, Brother Liu, you don’t plan on fighting for it anymore?”
“Not exactly.”
Liu Ye shook his head. “I’m considering whether I should mortgage the Danfeng Brothel to get some powerful hidden weapons… the effect might even be better.”
Speaking up to this point, Liu Ye suddenly chuckled:
“Of course, there is another path, an even better one. Unfortunately, I’m old and not handsome enough, so I don’t have the chance… but you, kid, could give it a try.”
“This…”
Wang Ping’s expression stiffened slightly.
He knew what Liu Ye was referring to. At the same time, this was exactly the perfectly logical excuse he had thought of last night to move out and distance himself from the county yamen.
“Although Lord Chen died, the businesses he left behind are not small. Take Madam Su in the county town, for example. The rice shops, butcher shops, and blacksmiths in the city—she almost has a hand in all of them. If Lord Chen hadn’t been protecting her, do you think a woman who doesn’t even know martial arts could achieve all this?”
“Now Lord Chen is dead.”
“With her backer gone, that Madam Su has been harassed incessantly lately. Which of the respectable, prominent households in the city aren’t coveting her wealth, wanting to join forces and swallow her businesses whole?”
Having said that, Liu Ye shook his head and let out a sigh:
“If you ask me, this Madam Su is also a tragic figure. Rumor has it she used to be a noble lady in the capital, but she committed an offense and ended up wandering all the way here.”
“Later, she finally managed to build up some wealth, only to be targeted by Lord Chen… Claiming to act as her backer, in reality, didn’t he still demand both her money and her body.”
At this point, Liu Ye even looked a bit contemptuous:
“Now Lord Chen is dead. His parents died early, he has no children, and not a single soul came forward to bury his corpse. It was Madam Su who paid to arrange his funeral.”
“Of course, Madam Su killed two birds with one stone with this move. She’s actually very smart.”
“If you ask me, holding a funeral for Lord Chen was secondary. Her true purpose was to use the opportunity to find another backer, so she could protect the businesses in her hands.”
Hearing this, Wang Ping instantly understood: “She needs to borrow authority to awe others.”
“Exactly, and this is your future!”
Liu Ye clapped his hands. “A few of the brave and burly guys from the yamen have already headed over there. Such a massive business—how can we let it fall into the hands of those unruly peasants in the city?”
“That’s our county yamen’s money!”
Liu Ye argued righteously. Then, he looked at Wang Ping and chuckled mischievously:
“But if you ask me, none of those who went can compare to you, Little Wang.”
“After all, you are the famous 【Great Dragon Spear】 of the county town. And Madam Su has been lonely at home for a long time. Dry wood meets a blazing fire—if you’re lucky, you could save yourself at least sixty years of detours…”
“Say no more!”
Wang Ping waved his hand, his tone resolute: “Brother, you misunderstand me. I am not a man prone to lust, and I certainly cannot sell my body for profit!”
…
The Su Family Mansion.
“I was Lord Chen’s most highly regarded junior during his lifetime. I came specifically to attend his funeral.”
Only after handing over his calling card was Wang Ping led by a servant into this massive mansion spanning dozens of acres. He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly:
Word has it that when Madam Su came to the county town back then, she only had a bundle of clothes and a few taels of broken silver. Her first business was selling clothes in the grass market.
How many years has it been? To actually amass such an immense fortune… Indeed, doing business requires collusion between officials and merchants; otherwise, how can one grow big and strong?
Before coming, Wang Ping had made careful inquiries.
Chen Haoyan owned no residence and had no properties in the city. He looked completely uncorrupted. Ordinarily, aside from the county yamen, his food and lodging were entirely within this Su Family Mansion.
Madam Su was merely the boss in name.
In reality, she was nothing more than Chen Haoyan’s white glove in the county town. Not only was the money she earned basically spent by Chen Haoyan, but even she herself was probably…
Thinking of this, Wang Ping cursed inwardly: Bastard!
Of course, he had no interest in money or woman.
What he was interested in was that given Chen Haoyan’s status and wealth, he had definitely collected quite a few martial arts manuals; otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have reached external martial arts perfection back in the day.
Furthermore… it might not just be martial arts manuals.
Chen Haoyan was an Internal Force Master. Thinking on a larger scale, his home might also hide the secrets to condensing internal force—this was what Wang Ping truly valued.
The Internal Force Cultivation Diagram!
To condense internal force, one must first forge a cultivation body. This involves the Twelve Principal Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and even the circulation and arrangement of qi and blood in the internal organs.
And the Cultivation Diagram is the record that details this arrangement. Only by circulating qi and blood according to the diagram’s records can one integrate all the body’s strength into one, thereby giving birth to internal force…
Thus, the vast majority of Cultivation Diagrams are closely guarded secrets passed down only to disciples. Even with immense wealth, one couldn’t buy a single fragment.
However, the Su Family Mansion might have one.
Because Chen Haoyan himself was an Internal Force Master. He must have seen at least one Cultivation Diagram in the past, so he might have had a copied version in his hands.
Although it was just a guess. But even a slight possibility was enough to drive someone mad.
If it weren’t for this, Liu Ye wouldn’t have called it “another path,” and the Su family wouldn’t possibly be viewed as a coveted prize by the city’s wealthy households and various factions.
This is a monopoly on knowledge.
Just from the scarcity of Cultivation Diagrams, Wang Ping could see exactly how much the upper-tier martial artists of this godforsaken place guarded against the plebeians below.
No wonder the world had maintained “peace” until now.
Soon, Wang Ping arrived at the main hall where the coffin was placed.
There, Wang Ping saw many people. Every one of them was a familiar face, hailing from the city’s wealthy gentry and prominent families, circling around a single person like a pack of hyenas.
It was a woman dressed in a white skirt with a gentle, yet cold temperament. Tear stains still lingered on her pretty face, and her beautiful eyes were red, as if she had just finished crying.
And facing the hyenas circling her, thirsting for the Su family’s properties and even herself, this Madam Su appeared unusually calm, even somewhat indifferent. She looked completely dead inside, as if no matter what happened next, she wouldn’t be moved.
The next second, she spoke.
Her voice was desolately cold, carrying a touch of self-pity: “The Lord passed away suddenly. To those of you who came to see him off today, I thank you on his behalf.”
“Not at all, not at all, Madam Su is too polite.”
“I wonder if Madam tonight…”
Madam Su clearly intended to shift the topic to the funeral itself. Yet, the crowd merely humored her with a few casual words before once again discussing the division of her businesses.
These people all hailed from the prominent households in the county town.
And in their mouths, Madam Su’s properties were like a delicious cake—one piece for you, one piece for me. It looked as though it was about to be completely carved up.
Faced with such a predicament, Madam Su initially tried to interject, but no one paid her any mind. On the surface, they were more polite and respectful than the last, but in reality, their methods were ruthless and merciless. It was obvious they intended to devour her properties clean. Thus, by the end, Madam Su stopped speaking altogether.
A light breeze brushed past, stirring the hair at her temples.
Madam Su tucked her hands into her sleeves, tightly gripping a jade hairpin. As if she could see her own future, her already sorrowful and delicate face grew even more tragically beautiful.
Seeing this scene, several constables immediately stepped forward.
“Gentlemen, you’ve gone too far.”
“Rest assured, Madam Su. Your family’s properties are protected by the laws of Great Shun, and the county yamen also holds shares. We will not allow these people to arbitrarily carve up and seize them.”
“Step back!”
They were all shrewd characters. They deliberately sat by and watched earlier, just waiting for this moment to step forward and resolve the crisis—playing the hero saving the beauty in order to leave a deep impression on Madam Su.
Everyone present was fully aware of this.
Madam Su naturally knew it too. She had even intentionally paid to hold Chen Haoyan’s funeral specifically for this moment. She had calculated everything from the start.
Therefore, her gaze didn’t change as she looked at the constables. She even smiled, though the inexplicable sense of brokenness about her only grew heavier.
Witnessing this, Wang Ping knew it was time for him to step forward.
The next second, he walked straight up, cleanly and decisively shoving aside anyone blocking his path. Only then did he stop in front of the indifferent Madam Su.
“Wang Ping, the 【Great Dragon Spear】, greets Madam.”
As soon as he spoke, the expressions of the constables Wang Ping had just shoved aside changed slightly. Inwardly, they were cursing furiously: What do you mean by bringing up that title?
“…Oh?”
At the same time, Madam Su, who had remained perfectly calm until now, finally responded and looked over. Ripples surfaced in her beautiful eyes as she looked at Wang Ping with a hint of surprise.
The renowned 【Great Dragon Spear】 of the county town—to a woman, especially one like her who had been cooped up at home for so long, this title could simply be described as deafeningly famous.
She was, of course, no exception.
However, the surprise in those desolately cold, beautiful eyes quickly settled down. It was replaced by the exact same icy disgust she directed at everyone else.
But Wang Ping didn’t care.
Next, he strode forward in a rather offensive posture, unexpectedly leaning directly into Madam Su’s ear and whispering a few words.
The next second, Madam Su’s expression changed.