What am I hearing, a fight between adepts? It sounds intense. There are one, two… All three of them are formidable. One of them is overwhelmingly strong. What is that technique? Sword qi? Who can use destructive sword qi?
Similarly to before, Shen Yiren could hear the clash in Luo Clan’s estate from her bed and make inferences based on what she could pick up. Even though Shen Yiren learnt to expand her earshot range to five hundred square metres around over time ever since regaining her conscious, the sound wasn’t crisp. As Zha Pi pointed out, her room was far off from the main hall, so it further deteriorated the quality of the sounds. Luckily, her vast experience and analytical abilities were adequate for her to form a general image of what she was listening in to. Speaking of her enhanced hearing exclusive to those unfortunate enough to not have eyesight, it was thanks to her heightened hearing that she was one of the first people to detect the smithing department’s infiltration.
Huzhou inexorably has a tumultuous period coming as a result of Luo Yan and Luo Siming’s clash unless they can resolve somehow it. Why has Luo Yan suddenly turned, though, when he has been running the Sun Character smithing department from the shadows voluntarily for all these years? While Luo Siming is honest, he isn’t a dullard. He’s never suspected Luo Yan despite the fact that he’s been dealing with pressure all these years… What exactly was the trigger?
The arrival of Bodhi, Yu Feiyuan and Reverend Zha derailed Shen Yiren’s train of thought onto an irreversible course.
Shen Yiren could tell that Bodhi’s external style emphasised big movements, while he was able to control his output freely, which bore a striking resemblance to Evil Eminence Scripture. Yu Feiyuan’s style was direct, a common trait of orthodox styles, in this case, Emei. Reverend Zha’s lack of technique but strength was so destructive that Shen Yiren felt as though she was under its pressure in person; it was comparable to a natural disaster.
None of the three should have any membership with Luo Sword Manor. If they’re hired help, why are they in the same place at the same time? Hang on, the sword qi user’s internal style seems… to be familiar to the one that’s imposed itself on my body. Perhaps they can explain why I learnt the internal style in my dreams.
Anxiety struck Shen Yiren when the fighting ceased and two left. Nevertheless, the anxiety over the situation was soon replaced with anxiety over the brisk steps approaching her room.
It’s not Luo Siming, Miss Ao Xue or anyone else who’s visited. Based on their internal style, they can’t be someone with Luo Sword Manor. What are they doing here? They can’t be here by coincidence if I consider the fact that it’s dangerous to even be on the grounds of this place at the moment.
Shen Yiren honed in on the person approaching, studying every piece of information she could to identify him.
***
“Boss!” Ming Feizhen shoved the doors open and got worked up for the bed Shen Yiren was supposed to be on was empty. “Where is she? I was sure I could hear a woman breathing from outside…”
The bed is as tidy as if someone cleaned up just now. I would be under the assumption that this room is just an empty room if there wasn’t an unconscious maid on the ground, so it should be Boss’ room that Zha Pi told me about, but… The bed is too neat to not be suspicious.
Ming Feizhen pulled off the blanket, giving him the feeling of seeing shattered porcelain. He touched the bed, noting, “It’s warm as I thought… Blast it.”
Of course, the kidnapper couldn’t be faulted as they probably didn’t think someone would arrive so soon.
Given the bed is still warm, they couldn’t have left long ago. Still, I’m impressed they didn’t leave any traces. I can’t find them even though I’ve widened my listening radius. How am I going to identify one specific person’s breathing amongst so many people in Canhu Town? Damn it! Lost trace again!
“Boss…” Ming Feizhen ran his hand along the mattress, imagining all the angst Shen Yiren went through recently.
It must’ve been painful to be a vegetable in bed for the last half a month when you’re usually energetic, enthusiastic, violent and always first to run to a crime scene. Why was I late when I had finally found you? I could’ve broken off from the escort and soloed my way into Huzhou to set up everything and got to you sooner.
The prerequisite for Ming Feizhen to have actually reached Shen Yiren earlier, however, was that he would be willing to expose his true identity.
I don’t even know who kidnapped her or what they’re going to do this time!
“Don’t do that… You were scary… Promise me not to kill again… okay?”
“You can’t save anyone, be it Ximen or that wench.”
“Ming Feizhen, for as long as you are Ming Feizhen, you will never see me again.”
Has anything changed since? I forsook power, status, fame, money, my arms, armour, my sense of self-righteousness, left the girl I love, got rid of the resentment clinging to me and chose to retire to the life of a recluse, yet I’ve failed to protect someone I care about again. I failed to protect Xue, Ximen, the kid and now Boss. Why am I always one step late?
The fighting outside gradually reached the small room, with roughly twenty men from the swordplay department and roughly twenty men from the smithing apartment. Someone from the smithing department peered inside and shouted, “There’s someone here! Who are you, scum from the swordplay department?”
“The man is kookoo, staring at a bed. Wait, isn’t this a girl’s room?”
“Smithing department traitors, lay down your weapons.”
“Oi, you inside, come out now!”
“W-wait, h-his eyes are red?”
Ming Feizhen slowly looked over and lifted up a corner of his lips: “Having fun…?”
Ming Feizhen spent no time burying them in the hole in the courtyard. He then pulled off his mask as though it changed the way oxygen would influence his mood. He laid his head onto the bed while sitting beside it, red eyes on full display. Those who knew him well enough would be appeasing him with every trick in the book already because those eyes and that demeanour spelt trouble.
Why did I decide to retire to the life of a recluse? To become this useless version of me who can’t even save a girl?
In spite of having met a decent number of people ever since “restarting”, the one person who came to mind in Ming Feizhen’s enraged state was Su Xiao.
“Big Brother Ming, didn’t you teach me not to be stiff like a mountain and to, instead, adapt like water? You said that, if people don’t use their brain, they’re easy to be killed, didn’t you?”
… Pretty sure that’s just being shameless.
Su Xiao brightly responded, “You are certified shameless! Are you going to quit just like that?”
Are you going to quit just like that?
Ming Feizhen sat up, the red in his eyes receding as silver beads emerged on his forehead: “Why am I giving up? As long as I can still search, there’s still hope. It’s just a town. Besides, I’ve already done two laps of it, so why can’t I do a third?”
Ming Feizhen stood up and inhaled to regather himself: “Hmm? This smell…”
Ming Feizhen’s fixation on Shen Yiren being kidnapped drew his focus onto the conjecture that she had been kidnapped. As a result, he missed out on the clue lingering in the very air he was breathing. Even though someone used their internal strength and another supplementary method, they couldn’t get rid of the scent. It might’ve been enough to escape the nose of others but not Ming Feizhen when he had boosted his senses’ sensitivity levels.
This is the scent of a special flower fragrance combining a rose with herbs, which is commonly used to bathe in for health purposes. Whoever kidnapped Boss reduced its scent and then hit the air to disperse it.
Ming Feizhen left the room and chased after the scent. Since it had travelled quite far away, he accelerated himself faster than the human eye could ever keep up with. Head lowered, he muttered, “Look if you want. Search if you want. Let’s see who can see who I am.”
Nobody in town could see or even detect someone speeding around them.
Speaking from behind his teeth, Ming Feizhen fumed, “Wait for me, Boss… I’ll smash their brains out the other side for you!”
Glossary
Big swing styles – The first example that comes to mind when it comes to contemporary combat that you would most likely know is Fedor Emelianenko. He throws his sweeping hooks on that awkward angle that catches many opponents. That’s essentially what it means when it’s a big swing style. In terms of kicks, visualise wide swinging kicks as opposed to more linear ones and using chambers. Let me know if you reckon I should make a video to explain and demonstrate in more depth.