After the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn.
"Leader, I've brought the people. We're just waiting for information from Wang Jiu's side..."
Sun Kaixuan led several people into the courtyard, speaking continuously, but the room door in the courtyard was tightly shut, with no sound coming out.
"Leader..."
Sun Kaixuan stepped forward with some doubt, suddenly smelling a faint scent of blood.
Immediately, his expression changed, and he pushed the door open. But when he saw the situation in the room, he froze in place as if struck by lightning.
...
Leaving aside the situation in Yangping Town, the perpetrator on the other side had already run out of the town, his agile figure rushing back to the carriage.
He then picked up Wang Jiu's body from the carriage, found an uninhabited wilderness to discard it, and only then returned to the carriage to continue his journey.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Lin Sheng lay back on the carriage, breathing heavily, his clothes, which had been soaked with sweat, had already been changed back.
"This trip was smoother than I expected..."
After dealing with Wang Jiu, he immediately turned back with all his might, caught up with the trusted subordinate Ma Long who had gone back to report, and dealt with him as well. For the sake of caution, he even specifically changed into the other person's clothes.
Then, using the enhancement effect of his high perception, he returned to Yangping Town and quietly lurked outside Ma Long's residence.
With the agility speed bonus from White Ape Leg Technique, plus his high perception, he clearly heard the conversation between the two.
Originally, he wanted to eliminate Sun Kaixuan as well, but considering the risk of exposure and making Ma Long wary, it would not be worth the loss. Therefore, he allowed Sun Kaixuan to leave and only acted after he had gone.
He succeeded with a surprise attack, and a series of combination punches quickly left Ma Long unable to resist, eventually dying by his hand.
Although the two seemed to exchange many moves, the actual time was only a few breaths.
"Lime, poison, darts... As expected, victory or defeat does not solely depend on martial arts Realm. When these unconventional methods are used properly, they can often achieve unexpected results."
Lin Sheng muttered to himself. That he could achieve this was thanks to Liu Jie, who made him realize that killing requires using any means necessary.
Now that this potential threat was completely resolved, he felt much more relaxed.
"It's a pity I didn't find the cultivation method for Eagle Claw Thousand Jin Force on Ma Long. Even a damaged copy would be fine to cultivate first, especially since my physical body is suitable for cultivating Horned Owl."
He secretly sighed in his heart. After dealing with Ma Long, he had searched his body but found nothing of value. Unfortunately, time was short and he didn't have time to search carefully, otherwise, even without a cultivation manual, he could have found some money.
Soon, he shook his head slightly and smiled wryly.
"One shouldn't be too greedy. Now that the threat in Hunting Beast Hall has been completely resolved, it's time to find ways to search for other martial arts."
With that thought, he raised the whip and struck the horse's back. The carriage, which had been moving slowly, immediately sped up significantly, and before long, it disappeared into the night.
*
*
Lin'an County.
Inner City.
Sun Mansion.
The cold moon in the sky cast a clear light, reflecting off the glazed tiles of the mansion, scattering specks of emerald light.
In the woodshed in the backyard of the mansion.
Although it was already nighttime, there was still a figure in the woodshed stacking the chopped firewood.
This was a lean man, in his early twenties, with a bronze complexion. Although his body was thin, he gave off an indescribable sense of strength and shrewdness.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew from outside, causing the branches and leaves of the apricot tree in the courtyard to sway and shake non-stop.
The man seemed to sense something and stopped his actions.
He put down the dry firewood in his hand, wiped his hands with the rag hanging around his neck, and walked out of the room.
He glanced around, and the next moment his figure disappeared from the courtyard.
Outside the mansion, on top of the tall pavilion building, a black-robed figure stood still in the dim moonlight, like a statue.
"What's wrong?"
A gentle breeze swept past, and another figure appeared on top of the building, which was precisely the lean handyman from the Sun Mansion.
"There's news from the guild. Your spot has been confirmed, so it's time to go."
The black-robed figure spoke slowly, their voice pleasant, and it turned out to be a woman.
"Understood..."
"Do you want to take your family with you?!"
The black-robed woman asked.
The lean man was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
"No need. Getting involved with you might not be a good thing."
"Oh!? Are you just going to watch your family remain so impoverished?"
The black-robed woman seemed a little surprised by the lean man's words.
"You're talking too much. I will set off the day after tomorrow morning."
The lean man said no more, and as his voice trailed off, his figure had already disappeared from the spot.
"As expected, still so cold."
The black-robed woman muttered to herself and shook her head slightly. In the blink of an eye, her figure also disappeared.
The sky gradually brightened, with a hint of fish-belly white appearing on the horizon.
A carriage had already approached the city gate.
On the carriage was a young man with a yellow cloth wrapped around his head and wearing tight clothing. Who else could it be but Lin Sheng?
"This trip took me most of the night."
Lin Sheng sat on the carriage, looking at the city gate in front of him, a smile appearing on his face.
Traveling at night was different from during the day, so his speed was not fast, which is why he was delayed until now.
Thinking about seeing his parents soon, he felt quite happy.
Although he had only transmigrated and occupied this body for a few months, the emotions the elderly couple showed towards him were genuine.
It made him feel the long-lost warmth of family affection.
He had already considered them his own family in his heart.
At the city gate were two guards. Seeing the carriage approach, they were about to scold, as it was still early and there was some time before the city gate opened.
However, after seeing Lin Sheng's attire and the mark on the carriage, they stopped the scolding words that were about to come out, instead making way and opening the city gate. Lin Sheng also timely took out the Zhenshan Tower token from his Pregnant. The two guards took it and examined it carefully before returning it, nodding to Lin Sheng and waving him through.
Lin Sheng also nodded in response. He noticed that besides the two guards outside the city gate, there were also seven or eight guards on the city wall holding long spears, including a city gate official wearing light armor, who was broad-shouldered and strong, clearly a martial arts practitioner at a glance.
"What's happening in the city?"
Looking at the setup at the city gate, Lin Sheng felt puzzled.
One should know that the city gate was not equipped like this in the past. Now it was clearly much stricter, not to mention the crossbowmen stationed in the city wall sentry posts.
Although he was puzzled, he did not intend to investigate further and drove the carriage towards Waguan Street.
He hadn't gone far when he saw a group of people dressed in white mourning clothes walking towards them.
Lin Sheng made way and watched the group pass. There were dozens of people in this group. Most of the men were strong, and the women were mostly fair-skinned. Leading them was a strong man in his early twenties, who looked sorrowful at the moment, but still exuded an imposing aura.
"Which prominent family in the city is this funeral for? The strength of the man leading them is definitely above Body Tempering, most likely at the Forging Tendons Realm."
Lin Sheng thought to himself. Anyone with such a display of grandeur must be from the inner city's noble class. He just didn't know which family it was, as he didn't know much about the situation in the inner city.
Many street vendors who were out for the early market were hiding on the sides of the street, muttering softly as they watched these white-clothed people.
Their voices were low, as if they had some reservations, but with Lin Sheng's hearing, he naturally heard everything clearly.
"I didn't expect the old master of White Elephant Martial Hall to die like this. It's truly fate playing tricks."
"Isn't that right? I heard that the young master of White Elephant Martial Hall had only been married for two months. It's truly pitiful to encounter such a thing."
"Alas, the White Elephant Martial Hall owes its current status largely to the old master's presence. Now that the old master is dead, the days of the White Elephant Martial Hall will likely be difficult."
"Why worry about these things? Their difficult days are still much, much better than ours, ordinary people. Instead of thinking about this, it's better to think about how to sell more goods and earn more money..."
The vendors talked in low voices among themselves. These vendors and peddlers who roamed the streets, although they didn't have many other skills, were very clear about all sorts of news and rumors in Lin'an County.
Lin Sheng listened for a while and roughly understood what was going on.
He glanced at the white-clothed people and noticed that the coffin they were carrying was carved with a large elephant symbol.
"White Elephant Martial Hall."
Lin Sheng chewed on the name. Although he didn't know much about the forces in the inner city, he did know a little about White Elephant Martial Hall.
It was considered one of the larger martial halls in Lin'an County, with nearly a hundred disciples. The White Elephant Fist Technique taught in the martial hall was said to be quite powerful, and the strongest old master was a Forging Tendons Late Stage Martial Artist.
Therefore, although the overall strength of White Elephant Martial Hall was far inferior to major forces like Zhenshan Tower, it could definitely be considered a middle-tier force in the County Town.
The reason he knew more about this martial hall was that after he transmigrated, he had originally planned to save enough money to go to a martial hall to learn martial arts.
White Elephant Martial Hall was one of the martial halls he had targeted at the time.
He didn't expect to hear about White Elephant Martial Hall again under such circumstances.
"But where did these Black Wind Bandits come from?"
From the vendors, he learned that the old master of White Elephant Martial Hall was attacked by Black Wind Bandits while traveling outside the city. All dozen or so people in his group were killed, and their heads were even cut off and sent back to the city.
Such ruthless methods were definitely not the work of good people.
Especially since the old master, who had been in Forging Tendons Late Stage for many years, didn't even have a chance to escape, the strength of the Black Wind Bandits was definitely not ordinary, but he had never heard of them.
"The situation in Lin'an County is becoming increasingly chaotic."
For some reason, this thought arose in Lin Sheng's mind.
Soon, he shook his head again, no longer thinking about these things, and headed towards home.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Waguan Street.
Ya Gang headquarters.
"What's the progress? Where is the murderer you mentioned?"
Liu Yuanshan, shirtless, looked at Xie Chunniang, who was kneeling on the ground, with cold eyes and asked coldly.
"After several days of searching by this concubine, the person who did it should have stayed in the city for a period of time."
Feeling the fierceness in Liu Yuanshan's gaze, Xie Chunniang trembled and quickly said.
"Although I haven't found the murderer yet, this concubine already has a general direction."
"Oh?" Liu Yuanshan narrowed his eyes. "Speak."
"According to the search by this concubine's strange beast, the person who did it is very likely in Waguan Street, and even within the sphere of influence of our Ya Gang."
Hearing this, Liu Yuanshan frowned.
"Then what? Waguan Street has tens of thousands of people. Are you saying the murderer is in here or not? If you've wasted so many days and only found this much, then you can go die."
In fact, from Xie Chunniang's reaction, he was already seventy to eighty percent convinced that his brother was not killed by the two of them, but by someone else.
As for who would have done it, besides Fist Gang, the most likely people were naturally those in Waguan Street. After all, based on his understanding of his brother's temperament, there were probably quite a few people in Waguan Street who hated him to the bone.
The person who could kill Liu Ergou should have strength around Body Tempering, but Waguan Street has a large population. Although most are poor families, it's not impossible for someone to have good luck and step into Body Tempering.
After all, many people in Waguan Street make a living under some forces in the city, and there are naturally many who get lucky and obtain cultivation methods.
He couldn't possibly kill all these people one by one, although he had indeed already killed a few Body Tempering Martial Artists who had recently clashed with his brother.
"And... and... I've narrowed down the scope. It's basically in those few streets on the west side of Waguan Street. Give me a little more time, and I will definitely find the murderer!!"
Feeling the coldness in Liu Yuanshan's words, Xie Chunniang said in a hurry.
Liu Yuanshan tapped the table beside him rhythmically with his fingers. After a while, he finally gave her another chance.
"If you still haven't found him next time, you can go accompany my brother."
"Yes, yes, thank you, Gang Leader Liu."
Hearing this, Xie Chunniang retreated quickly as if granted a great pardon.
After she left, Liu Yuanshan got up and sat cross-legged on the ground. He began to adjust his breathing rhythmically and started cultivating.
However, after the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, Liu Yuanshan's face quickly became flushed and swollen, and crackling sounds kept coming from his body, as if his bones were constantly shifting.
His face also twisted continuously, clearly enduring immense pain, but he still gritted his teeth and continued to cultivate with his eyes closed.
However, in just a few breaths, he instantly opened his eyes wide, unable to bear it any longer, and relaxed his aura. He forcefully exhaled, and a trickle of fresh blood flowed from his lips.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face became ferocious.
"It's still not working. It seems it's true. This Ape Embryo Skill is extremely difficult to cultivate. To cultivate it, one must have special secret medicine, otherwise, it's difficult to get started. Even if one can get started, the progress is quite slow."
Liu Yuanshan's face showed unwillingness.
Originally, he thought that with his talent and the foundation of White Ape Leg Technique, he should be able to barely cultivate this martial art. Now it seemed he had thought too simply.
Without the aid of secret medicine, not to mention getting started, cultivating it might even damage his vital energy if he wasn't careful.
"It's a pity that Meng Hongsheng directly killed old man Tian Song. Otherwise, if he had left him alive, I could have found a way to get the secret medicine formula from him."
"Can I only place my hope on Meng Hongsheng?"
"No, I will never give up so easily. I must successfully cultivate this Ape Embryo Skill..."
Liu Yuanshan had already made up his mind. Tomorrow, he would go to ask the city's pharmacist to concoct the secret medicine. Even if he had to experiment, he would try to find this secret medicine.