Chapter 35: The Nancheng Homicide (Please follow, bookmark, and vote for monthly tickets)

Chapter 35: The South City Homicide (Please follow, collect, and vote with monthly tickets and recommendation votes)

After an unknown amount of time, Su Mu woke from his coma.

Every inch of his skin sent forth a piercing, needle-like pain. Even a slight movement caused him to grimace in agony, making him dare not move again.

Although his entire body ached, Su Mu could clearly feel the changes within his physique.

A warm current seemed to be surging continuously beneath his skin; he could even distinctly feel his physical strength increasing.

The intense pain was merely caused by the excessive number of skin transformations occurring within such a short period.

As time passed, the sensation of pain gradually receded, and Su Mu finally sat up.

He lightly touched his skin with his finger, clearly sensing that its toughness had improved significantly compared to before.

After a moment of contemplation, Su Mu drew his knife and lightly grazed the blade across his skin.

It felt as if he were cutting through thick cowhide, a distinct resistance traveling up his hand.

The skin where the blade passed left only a white mark, without a single drop of blood.

A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Su Mu's face. Although he hadn't used force, it was a blade, after all.

In the past, it would have certainly drawn blood.

"To achieve such an effect with only minor success in Skin Tempering... if I reach perfection, ordinary people wielding common weapons will likely find it difficult to even pierce my skin."

Su Mu was extremely satisfied with the effects of the Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method.

He stood up and casually performed a few knife flourishes.

"The strength increase isn't massive, but my stamina has improved considerably. Previously, performing the Wave-Subduing Saber Style at full strength would have exhausted me; now, I should be able to perform it twice."

Su Mu assessed his changes.

It might seem like just one extra use of the Wave-Subduing Saber Style, but in critical moments, it could be the difference between life and death.

Stepping into the first realm of Body Tempering already created a gap between him and an ordinary adult male. While this gap might not be large now, it would grow wider as his strength increased.

If he reached perfection in Skin Tempering, he could fight off three to five grown men with his bare hands.

【Name: Su Mu】 【Identity: Constable (Clerk)】 【Points: 10】 【Cultivation Method: Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method (Minor Success)】 【Martial Arts: Wave-Subduing Saber Technique (Perfection), Archery (Beginner)】

After familiarizing himself with his new strength, Su Mu summoned the system panel.

He focused his attention on the Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method.

"To go from Minor Success to Great Success in the Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method requires 300 points."

Seeing the prompt on the panel, Su Mu muttered to himself.

"At an average of 15 points earned per day, 300 points will take 20 days."

Minor success in five days, Great Success in twenty days—this rate of progress was unimaginable to ordinary people.

Even the scions of great families, who did not lack spiritual liquids for cultivation, were limited by how much medicinal power their bodies could withstand daily. Achieving Great Success in Skin Tempering would take them at least one or two years of hard work.

But with the help of the panel, Su Mu's efficiency in skin tempering had been pushed to the extreme. Although the process was painful, the results were highly satisfying.

If one's starting point is inferior, how can one catch up to the accumulation of others' generations without enduring hardship?

"With the Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method, I only need to lie low and wait. In a year or so at most, I can reach perfection in Skin Tempering. By then, combined with my Wave-Subduing Saber Style, there will likely be few people in the Outer City who can threaten my life," Su Mu thought to himself.

With perfected Skin Tempering and the Wave-Subduing Saber Style, even an ordinary practitioner of the second realm of Body Tempering might not be his match.

In the Outer City, those in the third realm of Body Tempering were few and far between; even those in the second realm were considered extremely rare experts.

As he thought, Su Mu felt a sense of fatigue. After tidying up slightly, he went to bed.

***

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Su Mu had already arrived at the South City Precinct.

Lately, he had been the most dutiful constable in the South City Precinct—arriving earliest, leaving latest, outworking his peers to the point of exhaustion.

Usually, the precinct would be nearly empty at this hour.

However, today, when Su Mu arrived at the barracks, seven or eight constables were already gathered, whispering amongst themselves.

Curious, Su Mu walked over.

"Twenty-one people. Twenty-one people from top to bottom, not a single survivor left. The way they died was absolutely gruesome."

The speaker was an old constable named Zhang San.

"There isn't even a complete corpse left. Even the coroner vomited several times before he could piece the bodies back together."

Zhang San spoke with animated gestures. "It's only because I've seen a lot. If any of you had been there, you probably would have vomited even harder than the coroner."

Su Mu stood outside the crowd and listened for a while, finally understanding what was happening.

A homicide had occurred in South City last night.

The Outer City was always chaotic, especially at night, with various gangs fighting constantly; deaths were not uncommon.

But this case was special. Not only were there many victims, but the deceased was a wealthy resident of South City who had kinship ties to a certain big figure in the Inner City.

"In my opinion, the perpetrator is most likely one of the criminals on the Wanted List," Zhang San concluded.

"Everyone should be careful while patrolling the streets these next few days. Don't run into this killer. If you do, just run if you can," another old constable advised.

"Heh heh," Zhang San chuckled. "If you actually run into them, that's just good luck. The Magistrate said that whoever catches the killer will be immediately promoted to Squad Leader."

"You'd need to stay alive to do that," the constables replied soberly.

A criminal on the Wanted List was at least a powerhouse of the first realm of Body Tempering. If they had that kind of ability, wouldn't they have become Squad Leaders long ago?

After discussing for a while, the sky had brightened, and they dispersed with yawns.

"Hey, I don't know what kind of bad luck the Zhao family had. Not long ago, Master Zhao was murdered, and now his entire clan has been wiped out. What a pity, all that vast wealth, now with no master to claim it," Zhang San said in a drawn-out, theatrical tone as they dispersed.

Su Mu's footsteps faltered slightly. Master Zhao? That sounded somewhat familiar.

Right, back then, Zhang Chong of the Chai Gang had even suspected him of being the killer of Master Zhao.

Su Mu shook his head. What did it have to do with him?

His current priority was to lie low, accumulate strength in secret, and avoid unnecessary trouble.

***

Over the next few days, Su Mu continued to perform his duties diligently, without a moment's slackness.

He had originally thought the Zhao family massacre would settle down quickly like previous cases in South City, becoming an unsolved mystery.

But this time, things did not settle; instead, they escalated.

After the Zhao family massacre, two more tragedies occurred in South City one after another.

Like the Zhao family, these were also massacres, and the victims were all wealthy residents of South City.

Su Mu even personally experienced one of the crime scenes. The courtyard was filled with severed limbs; even days later, the metallic scent of blood seemed to linger in his nostrils.

Magistrate He Yuxing and Acting Head Constable Zhao Ji were also growing anxious. They ordered the constables to increase patrol intensity and posted notices to appease the public, vowing that the killer would be brought to justice.

"I heard our Magistrate was originally aiming for a promotion. Now that these massacres are happening one after another, it will most likely affect his evaluation. No wonder he's so anxious. Anyone who catches the killer gets a reward of three hundred taels of silver and a promotion to Squad Leader. Tsk, tsk," one of the constables said as they strolled leisurely down the street.

"If I had three hundred taels of silver, I'd definitely go to the Emerald Red Pavilion and call for two girls—no, three! I'd play all night!" another constable said.

"Look at your lack of ambition. If you're going, you should go to the Music Bureau. Only low-class people go to the Emerald Red Pavilion. Don't even dare to dream big; you're destined to be a lowly constable for life," a third constable sneered. "If it were me, I'd definitely sleep with the top courtesan!"

***

(End of Chapter)