Chapter 42: Clean and Efficient

“That kid is being targeted?”

“It’s that guy in the bamboo hat! That kid is doomed!”

“Martial Arts Entry stage, first level of Qi and Blood. The kid’s build isn't thick at all. Being targeted by the bamboo hat guy, he’s probably finished.”

“Too young, not enough experience. The kid thought that by wearing a mask, others wouldn't recognize his identity. But he never considered that his thin frame makes him look like nothing more than an easy lamb to the slaughter. He didn't even think to use scraps of cotton cloth to bulk up his physique while traveling. He deserves his bad luck!”

“Yeah, when you're out and about, you have to be careful with everything. You can only blame the kid for having no strength while flaunting his wealth.”

“...”

“He’s catching up!”

After several turns, Chen Pingan felt the person behind him accelerating.

This area was still quite secluded. Clearly, the opponent intended to ambush him here.

As for whether he would be killed or spared, that would depend entirely on the other party's mood.

“Come on then.”

A cold glint flashed through Chen Pingan's eyes. Pretending to realize he was being followed, he hurriedly quickened his pace in a panic.

“Trying to run? You think you can run!?” The man in the bamboo hat behind Chen Pingan also began to speed up. He stopped pretending and showed his hand directly.

His Qi and Blood were abundant, and his speed was extremely fast. Within a few breaths, he caught up to Chen Pingan. Seeing the frantic, disheveled figure fleeing before him, he reached out a hand, intending to seize and completely control the boy.

At the Martial Arts Entry stage, first level of Qi and Blood, his physical strength was comparable to that of a grown man, let alone this boy in front of him.

Just as the man in the bamboo hat placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, intending to exert force to restrain him—

However...

The boy's body was not affected by him in the slightest.

What was going on?

Confusion flashed across the man's face, accompanied by a surge of alarm.

He saw the boy's other hand rise rapidly, pressing directly onto the back of his hand. A massive surge of power erupted; the boy's waist bent, and the man in the bamboo hat was sent flying into the air, slammed violently into the ground.

“Damn! I misjudged him!”

If this were an ordinary person, such a fall would likely have left them seeing stars, unable to get up for a while.

But the man in the bamboo hat was at the Martial Arts Entry stage; his skin was tough and his Qi and Blood were abundant, making him no ordinary person. This fall only left him feeling a bit sore.

At that moment, he realized he had run into a hard nut to crack.

However, his reaction was incredibly swift. Using the strength in his waist, he attempted to spring up in a bridge stance.

This kid was playing the pig to eat the tiger!

Judging by that massive force just now, there was a high probability this kid had already stepped into the second level of Qi and Blood, or perhaps even the peak of the second level.

He couldn't fight him head-on!

Run!

But before the man in the bamboo hat could fully stand up, a foot came crashing down toward his head.

“Damn it!”

The man was terrified.

At the critical moment, he jerked his head to the side.

*Thud!*

A foot crushed his bamboo hat and slammed into the ground right by his ear, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It was hard to imagine the destructive power that foot would have had if it had landed squarely.

Just as the man thought he had escaped disaster, the foot that had missed him swung back toward his forehead with unimaginable speed.

“Not good!” The man cried out in alarm, his hands reacting instinctively to protect his head.

But...

A sharp pain exploded in his head, and then he lost consciousness entirely.

Having succeeded with one strike, Chen Pingan did not relax. He delivered several more kicks to the man's weak points until he was completely unconscious. Only then did he step forward to loot the body.

The bamboo hat the man wore was now shattered, revealing the bloodstained face of an ordinary middle-aged man. His head had been deformed and twisted by the successive brutal kicks.

Looking at the bloody, mangled state of the man's head, Chen Pingan finally felt a wave of nausea, his stomach churning.

This was no place to linger!

Reason told Chen Pingan he needed to clean up the mess and leave as quickly as possible.

Enduring his discomfort, he searched the man and retrieved a black cloth bag and a dagger. The previous fight had ended too quickly for him to have taken the dagger out earlier.

After checking everything and confirming there were no other gains, Chen Pingan hesitated for a moment before picking up a stone from nearby and smashing it hard against the man's head.

While fights were common in the Nanquan Alley, actual killings were rare. Although the head injury might not expose much, Chen Pingan decided to cover his tracks just to be safe.

Fortunately, as long as one didn't kill a prominent figure or cause a major massacre, a homicide occurring near the black market would likely go uninvestigated by the Nanquan Alley Constabulary unless someone reported it. Even if reported, it would mostly be closed as a routine case.

The current era was far from peaceful.

The Great Qian Dynasty had stood for eight thousand years and was long past its prime. Martial transgressions were a common sight. It was only because they were within a prefectural city that the sensation wasn't so obvious.

Using the man's clothing to wipe the blood off his feet, Chen Pingan quickly departed the area.

He wiped the blood clean out of fear of leaving any traces.

“I'll burn these shoes as soon as I get back!”

“If I had practiced any leg techniques, that kick might have exploded his head. Unfortunately, relying solely on raw strength, this is the limit! The Iron Cloth technique provides plenty of defense, but its lethality is lacking. Against an equally matched foe, it would just be a brutal, bone-crunching brawl.

Fortunately, this man's martial cultivation was inferior to mine. My sudden burst caught him off guard, allowing me to finish him. While it looked like I crushed him, in reality, if he had been prepared and armed with a sharp weapon, even with my advantage in martial realm, killing him wouldn't have been so easy!”

Chen Pingan was very aware of his current shortcomings. Having only practiced the Iron Cloth technique, his lethality was far from sufficient. If a real fight broke out, he would be fighting like a brute, relying on thick skin and tough flesh.

If the opponent were more agile, even with a lower martial realm, they could stall him for a long time.

“At least I traded for the Flying Locust Projectile Method! It might slightly compensate for my weakness.”

The Flying Locust Projectile Method, also known as Flying Locust Stones, sounded quite grand.

In reality, it was just an ordinary low-tier technique belonging to the category of concealed weapon methods.

Calling it a "concealed weapon method" was actually a bit of an exaggeration.

Flying Locust Stones! Flying Locust Stones! In plain language, it meant stones. The Flying Locust Projectile Method was simply a technique on how to hit people with stones.

Being short on funds, he could only find a hand-copied version of such a technique. After all, even a hand-copied version of the Iron Cloth technique could sell for six taels of silver.

Having this technique was better than nothing; he couldn't let his martial cultivation come to a standstill.

Traveling cautiously, Chen Pingan arrived back at his small courtyard smoothly.