THUD!
Li Hu's body went limp and collapsed to the ground. Xu Yang began to gasp for breath.
He had killed three men in a row, all in less than half a minute. It was his first time killing—and one of them had been a brute like Li Hu. How could he not be tense?
He had been holding his breath the whole time. The moment he exhaled, his limbs went weak. His heart pounded like a war drum—he could even hear the THUMP-THUMP-THUMP as if it were about to burst from his chest.
'This is so gruesome!'
Looking at the ground covered in blood and glistening white brain matter, he couldn't help but feel his stomach churn.
'I hadn't wanted to make such a bloody mess; it would have made it easier to clean up the crime scene and dispose of the bodies. But with all three showing up at once, I couldn't afford to hold back if I wanted to kill them all.'
'Thankfully, it's nighttime, and I'm outside the village. The chances of being seen are almost zero. I can take my time dealing with this.'
He dragged Li Liang and Li Jian to a nearby field ridge to let them bleed out, searching their bodies in the process.
After searching them for a while, Xu Yang found that all three men combined didn't even have two taels of silver. There was only one tael and several dozen copper coins. They were even poorer than he was.
There was also a dagger, but it wasn't worth more than a few coins.
After a little more time passed, he had mostly recovered, and Li Jian and Li Liang had mostly bled out.
He stashed Li Hu's body in the nearby woods, then hoisted the corpses of Li Liang and Li Jian and headed into the mountains.
He hadn't just been lying in ambush here for the past few days; he had also dug a grave in advance.
The two corpses each weighed around 140 pounds and were heavy to carry. It took him about an hour, but he finally buried all three bodies in the mountains, a few kilometers away.
He then returned to the scene, used a tree branch to sweep away the bloodstains, and covered the area with dirt.
He knew the cleanup wasn't perfect, but as long as he concealed enough evidence to prevent anyone from identifying who had died here, it would suffice.
Even if people from Dashu Village passed by tomorrow and realized someone might have been murdered here last night, no one would get involved.
He Shicai had been driven to his death, yet his family never reported it to the authorities. Why would anyone report a crime scene with an unknown victim? Anyone who saw it would only hurry away, afraid of attracting trouble.
Back home, Xu Qing hadn't noticed he'd been out. After washing the blood from his hands, he got into bed and went to sleep.
...
The next day, the first thing Xu Yang did upon opening his eyes was to look at the panel:
[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 43]
'Killing people gives rewards, too?'
For the past while, he hadn't touched his points, aside from adding one to Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist each day.
He was rewarded with ten points when his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist reached the Entry Level. He remembered having thirty-three points yesterday, which meant the panel had awarded him ten points last night.
'Of course. Li Hu and his men wanted me dead, so killing them also contributes to my Martial Arts Longevity.'
Xu Yang quickly understood. He then invested all his points into Root Bone, raising it to "34."
That day, no one realized Li Hu and his two men were dead. Not their families, not the Sanhe Gang.
Everyone assumed they were still in hiding, thinking they were doing a good job of it and were capable of handling the fallout.
That same day, the Outer Courtyard Disciples of Weiyuan Hall noticed that Xu Yang was no longer slacking off and sleeping all the time. He had started training hard again.
The next day, Li Hu and his men still hadn't appeared. Both the Sanhe Gang and their families felt it was time for them to come out of hiding.
After all, five days had passed since the incident with He Shicai, and his family still hadn't gone to the authorities. It was safe to come out.
"When did Li Hu become such a coward? Why isn't he out yet?"
On the sixth day, when Li Hu and his men still hadn't appeared, some in the Sanhe Gang began to jeer.
"I'm afraid something's happened to Li Hu!"
On the seventh day, someone in the Sanhe Gang finally realized that something might have happened to Li Hu and his men. They sent people to search for them, and soon, everyone knew the three had disappeared.
"Good riddance! The heavens have finally claimed those three animals."
He Shicai's family clapped and cheered, and the people of Bai Shi Workshop celebrated inwardly, though they didn't dare show their joy openly.
A few more days passed. Li Hu and his men were still missing, so the Sanhe Gang sent someone new to take over Li Hu's duties. No one cared anymore whether the three were dead or alive.
...
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Xu Yang and the others had joined Weiyuan Hall.
Atop a Meihua Posture, Xu Yang's breathing steadied as he slowly concluded the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture.
[Turtle and Snake Grand Posture - Introduction (30/100)]
[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist - Introduction (61/150)]
Xu Yang let out a long breath. His progress in the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture was now only half that of his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.
With his current progress in the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, he was confident he wasn't behind Lu Ren—he might have even surpassed him.
It had only been half a month since he'd reached the Entry Level of Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Aside from adding one point of progress daily via the panel, the rest was all from his own training. This meant he was improving by an average of three progress points per day on his own.
At this rate, even without using the panel, he could master the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist enough to reach the first threshold of the Martial Dao by next month at the latest.
"Xu Yang, come down and spar a few rounds with me!" Zhang Hong yelled.
By now, everyone in their group had reached the Entry Level of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.
Weiyuan Hall required its disciples to engage in frequent practical sparring to train the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Despite losing every time, Zhang Hong still often trained with Xu Yang.
"Alright!"
Xu Yang leaped down from the Meihua Posture, throwing a punch in mid-air that sent Zhang Hong stumbling backward.
"Your strength is terrifying, man."
Shaking his numb arm, Zhang Hong executed a Bear Pounce and charged forward. The two quickly fell into a close-quarters brawl.
"I'm done, I'm done! I give up."
After twenty exchanges, Zhang Hong cried out in surrender and lay on the ground, panting.
"Haha... Brother Zhang Hong, sparring with Brother Xu Yang again, I see," a voice called out. A teenager in a cyan training uniform approached with a smile.
His name was Qiu Wenjie, and he was a new disciple at Weiyuan Hall.
In just one month, Xu Yang's group had already become senior disciples in the Outer Courtyard.
When Qiu Wenjie first arrived, Xu Yang had been sleeping his days away. Seeing that Xu Yang seemed to have a lot of free time, Qiu Wenjie had asked him for advice on the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture. Through these interactions, he had grown close to both Xu Yang and Zhang Hong.
The three chatted for a while before Zhang Hong got up to practice his boxing. Xu Yang stood up as well, but Qiu Wenjie grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"What is it?" Xu Yang asked, confused.
Qiu Wenjie nodded. "My father heard that you've been looking after me lately, Brother Xu. He wants to host a banquet tonight to thank you. I hope you'll do us the honor."
Xu Yang's brow furrowed. He had given Qiu Wenjie a few pointers, but hardly enough to warrant his father hosting a banquet in thanks.
A banquet like that would cost at least one or two taels of silver. He didn't think the few tips he'd given Qiu Wenjie were worth that much.
'What could I possibly have that they're after?'
The only thing Xu Yang could think of was the Sanhe Gang, considering he had just killed some of their members. But after thinking it over, he recalled that there were no high-ranking members in the Sanhe Gang with the surname Qiu. Besides, if the Sanhe Gang wanted to get to him, they wouldn't need to be so elaborate.
"Spit it out," Xu Yang said directly, unable to figure it out.
Qiu Wenjie answered honestly, "Alright. It's my father. After hearing about you, he has something he wants to discuss. He... probably wants to help you with your martial arts training."
The afternoon arrived quickly. Xu Yang hadn't wanted to waste the opportunity and planned to eat his bowl of meat from the hall before attending the banquet, but Qiu Wenjie insisted his father had already prepared food and wine, and pulled him away.