A fine rain fell like a curtain.

The stiff corpse lay on the cold ground, its clothes already soaked through by the rain. The Government Office’s Forensic Doctor bustled around the body, while Chief Constable Zhou Ye looked toward a figure in the distance.

Hex Yufu held an umbrella. Zhu Ju stood at the foot of the mountain with his hands behind his back, his clothes swaying gently in the wind. A hint of impatience was on his face.

"Young Master Zhu."

Zhou Ye strode over.

"You’re saying he died from exhaustion while trying to escape?"

"That’s right." Zhu Ju nodded.

"The people at the Forest can testify to that. Patriarch Leng came running over, covered in wounds, and then suddenly collapsed from exhaustion."

"That’s right!" The Forest’s supervisor, Ding Anx, nodded repeatedly.

"I can testify."

"I..." Hex Yufu also timidly raised her hand.

"I saw it too."

"Don’t worry," Zhou Ye said with a smile.

"I have no intention of doubting you, Brother Zhu. I’m just curious who would attack Patriarch Leng. Then again, Patriarch Leng has offended quite a few people over the years. It wouldn’t be surprising for someone to come after him."

"I wouldn’t know about that," Zhu Ju said, shaking his head.

"There was indeed a masked person in black behind him, but they didn’t approach when they saw how many of us there were."

"Chief Zhou." At that moment, the Forensic Doctor looked up and reported,

"Patriarch Leng suffered from five different types of wounds. He was also poisoned. It seems the poison attacked his heart while he was running, leading to his death."

"Besides the poison, the saber wounds are the most severe. The Physical Body of an Inner Qi Expert was torn apart. There must have been another Inner Qi Expert among his attackers."

’An Inner Qi Expert?’

Zhou Ye’s brow furrowed slightly.

He was aware of practically every Inner Qi Expert in Leping County, and none of them held a grudge against Cold Pool and also had the ability to kill him.

’So it was an outsider?’

’As for Zhu Ju...’

’With the Zhu Mansion’s hidden resources, they wouldn’t need to go through so much trouble to kill Cold Pool, let alone expose themselves like this.’

"Brother Zhou."

Zhu Ju spoke up.

"It’s getting late. If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave."

"Take care, Brother Zhu." Zhou Ye snapped back to reality.

"Thank you for informing me. I appreciate your trouble."

...

「Zhu Mansion.」

After watching Zhu Ju return to his room and close the door, Hex Yufu pressed her lips together and walked to the front courtyard, her expression complicated.

The scene of Cold Pool’s death flashed through her mind again and again.

The others had been too far away to see clearly, but she had been right there. In a daze, she thought she had seen Zhu Ju raise his hand.

And then,

Cold Pool had fallen from mid-air.

Ma Xun was still practicing his Martial Arts, his Saber Technique growing more proficient by the day.

"Um..."

After a moment of hesitation, Hex Yufu stopped Ma Xun and asked in a low voice,

"Have you ever seen the Young Master practice Martial Arts?"

"No," Ma Xun replied honestly, shaking his head.

"I’ve never seen him do it, not since I arrived at the mansion."

"Right?" Hex Yufu’s eyes lit up.

"I’ve never seen it either. So, wouldn’t you say the Young Master probably doesn’t know any Martial Arts?"

"Of course he does!" Ma Xun said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The Young Master knows Martial Arts."

"He does?" Hex Yufu’s heart tightened. She began to tremble slightly, as if she had just uncovered a hidden secret.

"The Young Master is cultivating a Hard Skill called Thirteen Body Refinement. It’s a very powerful technique. My master told me so himself," Ma Xun said.

"But the Young Master hasn’t been training it properly, which is why my master told me to cultivate diligently, so I can protect the Young Master in the future."

"Oh..." Hex Yufu’s expression stiffened.

"Alright."

Seeing that she didn’t press the matter, Ma Xun turned back to refining his Saber Technique, a cunning glint in his eyes.

’The Young Master’s true strength is a secret. Of course I can’t tell you.’

「The rear courtyard.」

Zhu Ju rubbed his fingers together, lost in thought.

’Alien Internal Qi!’

Cold Pool’s death was, of course, inextricably linked to him. At that moment, the two had clashed from a distance, their Qi Blood and Inner Qi colliding.

Cold Pool’s Inner Qi had been far beyond his expectations. Although it seemed like it came from an improper cultivation method, a stream of Inner Qi had still eroded his own, following the path of his projected Qi Blood.

If not for the power of the Five Elements Fist Scripture, he might have actually been injured.

’According to Ye Chongshan, this kind of True Qi often leads directly to the Innate Realm. It’s the kind of legacy that only top-tier Sects possess. How could it appear in a small place like Leping County?’

’Rumor has it that Cold Pool had a fortuitous encounter in his youth, which allowed him to skyrocket to prominence in a short time. It seems those rumors might not be false after all.’

’The power ceiling in the Main World is too high; there are bound to be hidden masters everywhere. It seems I must remain cautious even in a small county, or I’ll easily run into someone tough to handle.’

’Fortunately...’

Zhu Ju silently felt the change in the Qi within his body, and a smile appeared on his face.

’I can already faintly sense the Opening Essence Realm.’

With a flip of his hand,

a lotus-shaped Jade Pendant appeared in his palm.

This item also came from Cold Pool.

...

「Leng Mansion.」

*HSSS...*

In the pitch-black secret chamber, a flint ignited with a faint glow.

Leng Xing lit a candle, took a tattered book from a drawer, and slowly opened it on the desk.

’The Flower Appreciation Treasure Record!’

’The Joyful Immortal Sect...’

As the contents of the book entered his sight, Leng Xing’s expression grew more and more agitated. The veins on his neck bulged, and his eyes turned red.

’No wonder he was able to cultivate Inner Qi so quickly! No wonder that bastard was so lustful! So this is how... he could actually use the natural Yin Qi in a woman’s body for his Cultivation.’

’Unfortunately...’

’The Secret Manual is incomplete!’

*

*

*

「Yue City.」

Zhu Ju sat straight-backed on a large, tiger-skin-draped chair, listening with narrowed eyes to the monthly business report from the Wancai Cloth Shop. His expression didn’t change much, but the atmosphere in the room was extremely tense.

"So..." Once the report was finished, he finally spoke slowly,

"Without my consent, you took out fifty thousand taels of silver and handed it over to the New Prefecture?"

"Association Leader."

Yann Jingfu’s face was pale as he said,

"A great drought in the middle of the year, no snow at the end of the year—this has been the situation for three years straight. Disaster victims everywhere have become a source of turmoil. On top of that, some people are fanning the flames. Aside from a few states near the Capital City, the other regions have all descended into chaos."

"The Court ordered the association to contribute fifty thousand taels of silver. Part of it is for providing congee and grain relief, and the other part is for suppressing rebellions."

"Hah..." Zhu Ju let out a soft chuckle.

"You believe whatever anyone tells you?"

"Association Leader, we had no choice." Since the threat of the Giant Whale Gang had been resolved, Xiang Zhongyuan of the Caoo Gang had rejoined the association. He now spoke with a bitter expression,

"It’s not just the association. The Caoo Gang also has to contribute twenty thousand taels of silver. However, we can use work as a substitute for relief, like helping to transport goods or paying with our fish catches."

"It’s the same for us," Patriarch Zhao sighed.

"All the major families in the city have to make a ’charitable donation’—thousands of taels for the larger ones, hundreds of taels for the smaller ones."

"This new Prefecture is treating us like fat sheep to be slaughtered!"

"That’s right." Shenn Hu’s face was grim.

"If only Lord Fang were still here. Even if the Court really needed money, he wouldn’t have squeezed us so hard."

"A pity he was promoted to the State Mansion..."

"Association Leader," Yann Jingfu said with a dry laugh.

"The truth is, the New Prefecture was pressing us hard, and since you still hadn’t returned, we had no choice but to hand over the silver first."

"..." Zhu Ju stroked his chin.

"So, none of you ever thought about not paying?"

’Not paying?’

The faces of the men changed slightly.

Yann Jingfu was especially anxious.

"Association Leader, if we don’t pay, I’m afraid we’ll offend the Court. If they brand us as colluding with bandits and plotting rebellion..."

"Fifty thousand taels of silver is a lot, but we can offset it with dyed cloth. We don’t have to pay that much in actual cash."

The others nodded in agreement.

Unlike other places, Yue City had been doing relatively well in recent years. Things weren’t bad enough to warrant a rebellion.

"Don’t be afraid, I was just saying." Seeing Yann Jingfu’s nervous expression, Zhu Ju smiled and waved his hand dismissively.

"I only own a little over twenty percent of the association. Even if I alone said not to pay, it wouldn’t change anything."

"Let’s just drop this matter!"

"On another note," he said, sitting up straight.

"I heard that Ye Liuyun of the Ye Family is going to challenge the Red Blood Sect Leader, Dugu Wuwang, to fight for the title of Number One Expert in the World?"

"Yes." Yann Xiuxin nodded and relayed the information she had gathered.

"On the second day of the fourth month, the Red Blood Sect stormed Ba Dao Manor in Tai Nan—a clan as famous as the Ye Family—and massacred all one hundred and twenty-seven of its members.

On the seventeenth of the fifth month,

the Ye Family’s old ancestor challenged the Red Blood Sect Leader, Dugu Wuwang, to a battle on Ping Mountain. He was killed at the summit after a hundred moves.

In the sixth month,

Female Knight Fu, Fu Huanlian, led a group of Martial World heroes to storm the Flame Hall, one of the eight great halls of the Red Blood Sect. They captured the Flame Hall’s Hall Master alive.

...

On the ninth day of the tenth month, Ye Liuyun will challenge Dugu Wuwang. The location is also Ping Mountain."