章 17: Chapter 16 Hongyu
This wasn't over yet.
Following that handful of white ash, a blade of light swung from the darkness. Just as the dark clouds dispersed a bit, revealing a crescent moon, the moonlight illuminated the blade of light as if it were a demon's sharp claw.
Tang Quan couldn't open his eyes, but he could hear the piercing sound of the air being cut, instantly realizing that the attacker was certainly not an ordinary troublemaker, but a genuine practitioner of martial arts. He hurriedly swung his blade forward to block.
Clang, clang, bang, bang!!
Within just a brief moment, the two blades collided more than a dozen times.
The dozens of collisions made Tang Quan's heart grow colder; although he felt that the opponent's blade did not possess much strength, as if they had never practiced the body refining techniques, the moves were exceptionally exquisite. There was even a lingering momentum that wrapped around his blade, making it difficult for him to break free. This was undoubtedly the perfection of blade technique, skills only attainable through cultivating blade momentum!
Not many could cultivate their skills to the level of 'momentum'. In fact, many who reached the 'body refinement' realm through body tempering methods hadn't advanced their skills to the stage of 'momentum'. After all, body tempering can be forcibly enhanced through various supplements and medicinal powders, a process that takes time and is unrelated to wisdom, whereas skill cultivation requires insight.
A person who had achieved 'momentum' in 'body refinement' was capable of rivalling ten others at the same level, a gap as vast as that between heaven and earth.
His own blade momentum had been realized only after surviving death countless times.
How had this person in front of him managed to achieve this?
Moreover, what was strangest was that this person had mastered the blade momentum but seemed not to have practiced body refining techniques, which was bizarre. For someone who could cultivate blade momentum, advancing to the second step of body refining should be absolutely effortless.
After only a short bout of about a dozen exchanges, Tang Quan inwardly lamented his situation.
If this were a normal time, he would not fear facing ten opponents skilled in perfected techniques and cultivated momentum, even if they hadn't practiced internal cultivation techniques. But now, he was gravely injured and didn't dare to exert force. Seventy percent of his strength was already gone. Moreover, it was like adding insult to injury, compounded by the opponent's sneak attack and his eyes being painfully swollen shut, rendering him completely blind, putting him at an even greater disadvantage.
All he had wanted was a place to hide and heal his wounds, yet he had unexpectedly bumped into such a formidable person.
"Brother, cease your attack,"
Tang Quan parried a few more strikes with difficulty, his voice hoarse as he called out.
"What do you want?"
Chen Mu's blade slightly slowed down.
Tang Quan sensed Chen Mu's attacks slow and heard his response, his heart slightly eased, knowing it wasn't his enemy pursuing him. Annoyed at his bad luck, he still pleaded, "I am injured and only want to find a place to heal. There is no grudge between you and me, why not stop here?"
As these words fell.
Tang Quan could feel the techniques from the other side slow down a bit more, apparently pondering something.
About a few breaths later, a voice came from the other side.
"Alright."
Tang Quan's heart relaxed slightly.
But, in the next moment, the initially slowing blade momentum from the opposite side suddenly burst out more ferociously than before!
"You!"
Tang Quan, caught off guard, barely managed to block a strike with his blade, then immediately felt a sting in his left shoulder.
Chen Mu's eyes were cold, his blade momentum fierce as he took the Raging Wind Blade Technique to its limits, slashing several more times.
With his left shoulder injured, Tang Quan, who was already down to using only his left hand to hold the blade, felt his strength weaken further. He could no longer withstand Chen Mu's standard-duty saber. After a few strikes, his blade was completely knocked away, followed immediately by a sharp pain at his neck.
...
Tang Quan staggered back several steps, clutching at his neck, struggling to force open his burning, painful eyes, wanting to see who was in front of him. But he only managed to make out a blurry figure even in his forced attempt to open his eyes.
Ultimately, he displayed a look of unwillingness, fell backward into a pool of blood, twitched a few times, and then lay still.
"Phew..."
Chen Mu breathed lightly.
Familiarity grew with the second killing; now, his heart didn't hesitate at all. All those niceties about 'no grudges' were, of course, just pleasantries. Previously, there were no grudges, but attempting to break into his house and being blindsided by his handful of quicklime and his consecutive pressuring left no room for the discourse of grievances.
Besides, his adversary was ferociously formidable; it was a rarity in his life. Clearly, the opponent was riddled with scars, appeared to have a horrifying through-and-through wound on his torso, and he had blinded his eyes. Under these conditions, he had still managed to forcefully withstand dozens of his strikes.
A dim moonlight broke through the dark mist.
Focusing on Tang Quan's body, Chen Mu could barely discern his features, but the distinctive black mark on the right cheek immediately reminded him of the arrest warrant he had seen during the day.
"This man... is he the villainous thief Tang Quan?"
Chen Mu took a few steps toward the corpse and looked closely, his eyes suddenly revealing a hint of surprise.
He had been practicing his blade techniques until exhaustion and was about to sleep when he heard noises outside. He immediately took out the lime and other items he had prepared long ago to guard against thieves. As the other party opened the door, he ambushed him, initially thinking it was just some petty thief, but during the fight, he realized he was dealing with a dangerous man. Only now did he recognize that this was the villainous thief Tang Quan, who was on the Arrest Warrant!
The intruder clearly hadn't come to steal. Looking at the injuries on his body, it was very likely that he was being pursued by someone and, in his panic, had tried to sneak into Chen Mu's home to hide. Unfortunately, he ran into Chen Mu who had not yet slept from his blade practice and fell victim to his ambush, thus dying unclearly under his blade.
In a flash.
Numerous thoughts crossed Chen Mu's mind.
This villainous thief Tang Quan was not like the last Black Snake Gang leader he could easily take advantage of; this case involving Tang Quan was clearly substantial and not something that could be easily dismissed. There might be a thorough investigation afterwards.
Just as Chen Mu was rapidly considering how to handle the body.
Suddenly.
A somewhat cold voice sounded.
"Which division's head constable are you? I haven't seen you before."
Following the source of the voice, he saw a figure clad in a white flying fish robe appearing under the faint moonlight at the corner of the roof, unnoticed until now.
Because the moonlight was dim and hazy, he couldn't see the person's face clearly, but the white flying fish robe was strikingly conspicuous, which made Chen Mu slightly startled and immediately made him realize the identity of the newcomer, as in the entire South City District, only one person could wear this uniform.
Chief Constable of the City Defense Division in South City District.
Xu Hongyu.
Although Chen Mu was not wearing his uniform at the moment, the saber in his hand was clearly a standard duty saber, making it not surprising that Xu Hongyu recognized him as a member of the City Defense Division.
"Chen Mu, a constable from the Ninth District City Defense Division, greets the Chief Constable."
Chen Mu immediately saluted Xu Hongyu respectfully. His mind swirled with surprise, seemingly realizing that the person who had been pursuing Tang Quan was none other than the Chief Constable herself. He wondered just what trouble Tang Quan had gotten himself into.
Xu Hongyu's figure swayed, and she landed in front of Chen Mu from the corner of the roof, inspecting him with some surprise as she spoke, "A constable from Ninth District? No wonder I haven't seen you. Are you practicing the Xun Wind blade technique?"
With her discerning eye, she would not mistake it; Chen Mu's technique was certainly of the Xun Wind lineage, and he had practiced the Blade Technique to perfection, achieving formidable blade momentum, otherwise he would not have been able to kill Tang Quan, even if Tang Quan had been severely injured.
Upon closer inspection.
She was even more surprised to find that Chen Mu looked quite young, only in his early twenties, not much different in age from her. For someone of his age to have perfected his blade technique and developed such momentum was quite rare.
"Yes, milady, you have a discerning eye,"
Chen Mu cautiously replied.
At this moment, Xu Hongyu stood less than two meters in front of him. By the dim moonlight, he could already make out the features of the renowned beauty of the South City District Chief Constable, who seemed like a Fairy of the Moon Palace, proving that the rumors were not false.
Xu Hongyu looked thoughtfully at Chen Mu and asked, "How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-two."
Chen Mu replied.
Xu Hongyu nodded slightly upon hearing this.
Although she had been practicing the sword since childhood and had mastered sword momentum by the age of twenty, far earlier than Chen Mu, Chen Mu had never practiced the Body Tempering Method and was clearly a low-level constable who had climbed his way up solely through his own talents, reaching this level was truly not easy, and he was indeed a talent.
"Chen Mu..."
Xu Hongyu mused briefly before walking over to Tang Quan's body, lifted it up, and said, "I'll remember the bounty money for Tang Quan's arrest. Come to the Chief Officer tomorrow afternoon."
"Yes."
Chen Mu immediately responded.
He also felt a slight relief in his heart.
The matter with Tang Quan was clearly a major problem, one that currently he was in no position to be involved with. Now that Xu Hongyu, the Chief Constable, had intervened, it was certainly the best outcome for him. Moreover, this incident had brought him prematurely into her sight, which was also beneficial.
After all, if he aspired to become a head constable, he would indeed need the approval of Xu Hongyu, the Chief Constable.
Xu Hongyu, carrying Tang Quan's body, leaped up and disappeared into the night after a few bounds, leaving Chen Mu shaking his head and turning to head back through his home's door.
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