Chapter 74: Slaying The Body Thief!
Returning to Wuqing County, the sky was already dark.
After Chen Shun’an returned the dark red horse, he dashed to Chaodou Hutong.
Chen Shun’an didn’t delay on horseback either; he closed eyes and nourished spirit, forgetting the void, even occasionally falling into the divine palace, sitting upon the throne, letting chaotic thoughts withdraw, gradually entering a certain profound meditative state.
Chen Shun’an’s originally exhausted intent gradually smoothed out its wrinkles.
He vaguely grasped a certain opportunity.
The Six Sceneries rotated in his mind.
His whole body’s qi and blood cheered and jumped for joy, strength permeating the marrow, spirit and desire harmonized, and in his limbs and bones, a brand new power seemed to be gestating.
“Hm? Why have the martial world folks on the street increased so much?”
He withdrew his thoughts, dismounted, and walked.
Chen Shun’an’s gaze inadvertently swept over those figures on the street corners and alley entrances, wearing short shirts and headscarves, pretending to be ordinary people; his pupils contracted slightly.
With Chen Shun’an’s eyesight, how could these people’s disguises fool him?
Most had considerable strength, with long-enduring qi and blood, and no lack of second-rate experts.
And on some wide main streets, flower lanterns and immortal palanquins were already set up, stretching like dragon boats.
Government offices sent people to string up ropes along the way to block people, set up tea sheds for the surrounding villagers, lishi, and palanquin bearers to rest their legs and drink water.
It was a lively scene celebrating Spirit Official Wang’s birthday.
“These martial world people are here for the Spirit Official birthday?”
Chen Shun’an frowned and immediately thought of the fake hero and Guo Lu badge holder he had encountered the previous two days.
He vaguely sensed an off atmosphere.
On the day of Spirit Official Wang’s birthday, something seemed about to happen?!
A sense of urgent desire for strength welled up in Chen Shun’an’s heart.
His steps unchanged, he quickly returned to Chaodou Hutong.
He saw the courtyard gate slightly ajar; San Dezi and Scarred Liu were sitting in the courtyard, while Wan Niang occasionally brought them tea and water, chatting amiably.
The two hadn’t entered the house.
After all, with Chen Shun’an not home, to avoid suspicion, they should only stay in the courtyard with the door open.
“Why are you two here?”
Chen Shun’an entered the courtyard and calmly put the package and woven fish basket bottle into the bedroom.
“Tsk, Master Chen, where did you go today? Your brothers have been waiting for you for quite a while!”
San Dezi stood up immediately upon seeing Chen Shun’an.
Scarred Liu silently went to close the courtyard gate, bolt it, and bar it, to prevent anyone from suddenly opening it.
“Something came up… What’s going on with this setup?”
Chen Shun’an frowned.
He noticed under the eaves and in the kitchen corner, quite a lot of polished rice piled up in sacks.
Estimated to be over six shi.
And looking at the sacks…
Why did they seem like the batch from that night when they robbed Wanlong Pounding House’s rice barn?
Wan Niang bustled into the kitchen; after a burst of stove fire and smoke, she came over carrying a wooden tray.
On the tray was a small pot of clear wine, a dish of fennel beans, and several plates of wine dishes.
After setting down the wine and dishes, Wan Niang tactfully returned to the kitchen and busied herself again.
The three sat in the courtyard, eating and talking.
San Dezi said, “The landlord came to the well today and announced a few things.
Sickly Big Bug Yang Lu died long ago, killed at Yanziwu… Heh, Wanlong Pounding House still wanted to cover it up, but there’s no such thing as a wall that doesn’t leak! Instructor Lin and the others guess he was killed by that mysterious expert who appeared that night.”
Scarred Liu picked up a fennel bean, put it in his mouth and chewed slowly; the flavor burst out, and his originally wrinkled face immediately relaxed.
Scarred Liu said enviously,
“Sickly Big Bug was a first-rate expert, yet he retreated unscathed under the siege of Instructor Lin and several other second-rate experts… That mysterious man is truly an expert. When will I be able to be like him.”
Chen Shun’an’s drinking motion paused slightly, and he was stunned for a moment.
No, that night besides me, there was another expert?
Could it be a real Guo Lu Society hero?
Chen Shun’an’s heart stirred slightly.
Afterward, San Dezi explained how Landlord Zhao and Landlord Liu, along with Wanlong Pounding House, were using Spirit Official Wang’s birthday to set up the Lingguan Intercepting Meeting and stage fights;
Landlord Zhao advancing three months’ stipend; bringing out massive rewards as incentives for the fights…
These matters were recounted in detail.
Though the information was plentiful, Chen Shun’an was after all an old veteran of the martial world, and quickly digested it.
Then, he silently exclaimed in admiration.
Zhao Guangxi had such great boldness!
Not afraid of losing even his underpants!
It had to be said that even Chen Shun’an was extremely envious of the rewards Landlord Zhao brought out.
After all, he had first sought martial arts at Li Mansion, then bought python fang boots, plus daily cultivation needs.
Five hundred taels of silver had already been spent mostly.
Time to worry about how to make money again.
After the last night raid and barn burning, not to mention Wuqing County, all the pounding houses in the entire capital region absolutely wouldn’t keep money in the rice barns anymore.
Rice barns only held rice.
Whoever wanted to rob could rob; there was no money anyway!
This cut off some of Chen Shun’an’s dark thoughts.
And besides that,
There was Five Wheels Eight Treasures Water!
Cultivation at the first-rate realm lay in the two paths of ‘nourishing spirit’ and ‘disrupting spirit’.
The Six Thieves hid, hibernating in acupoints, concealing the conscious spirit.
Finding and slaying them was extremely difficult.
At this time, ‘disrupting spirit’ great medicine was needed to stir up the originally calm acupoint conscious spirits into turmoil, and amid countless chaotic impure thoughts, find the corresponding Six Thieves!
While ‘nourishing spirit’ great medicine, as the name implied, was used to recover spiritual sense after disrupting spirit and slaying thieves.
After all, the so-called Six Thieves manifested within the spirit; slaying them would also affect the spirit’s own strength.
If relying solely on one’s own circulating qi and blood to recover spiritual sense, it depended too much on innate root bone.
Humans were the chief of a hundred spirits, excelling at borrowing external things, knowing to reduce excess and supplement deficiencies.
And five-wheel water was one of the spirit nurturing great medicines.
Eight Treasures Mercury was one of the spirit disrupting great medicines.
Even on the black market, these great medicines and secret manuals related to first-rate realm cultivation were extremely scarce.
Basically all controlled by prominent forces.
So, for this Spirit Official intercepting fight, Landlord Zhao had gone all out!
Successfully piquing the interest of this deep-water big catfish, Chen Shun’an.
After speaking, San Dezi carefully took out a stone bottle from his bosom and handed it to Chen Shun’an, saying,
“This seems to be called five-wheel water; Shopkeeper Li was extremely cautious in asking me to pass it to you… The well shed is on holiday today; everyone rests up to welcome the Lingguan Intercepting Meeting the day after tomorrow.”
Chen Shun’an took it, opened it for a look, and said in surprise,
“How is there so much?”
Even with the advance of three months’ benefits and monthly salary, the five-wheel water Chen Shun’an should receive was just three drops.
But now, in this stone bottle, it sloshed nearly a small half!
“The landlord praised you to the skies in front of us, directly waving his hand to double all your various benefits… Don’t say anything; let me take a moment.”
San Dezi said through gritted teeth.
Chen Shun’an immediately understood.
He had been bought with a thousand gold to motivate others.
Look at Old Chen, nearly fifty, still diligent and daring to fight; you young ones must strive twice as hard?!
If it were before, Chen Shun’an being held up so high might have made him uneasy.
But now, he felt it perfectly normal.
This was the confidence brought by increased strength.
“So, you two are going to compete?”
Chen Shun’an put away the stone bottle and picked up the wine pot to pour for the two.
Scarred Liu stared straight at Chen Shun’an and finally couldn’t hold back from asking,
“Master Chen…”
“Call me Old Chen, or I’ll kick you out!”
“Fine! Old Chen, you’ve also taken turtle and deer two immortals paste; how come you’re still vigorous and spirited?! That night at the flower boat, the sounds weren’t small; I even listened for a bit…”
Chen Shun’an’s mouth twitched.
How did this oaf Scarred Liu have the habit of eavesdropping?
Chen Shun’an set down the wine pot, thought for a moment, and said,
“To be honest, I also suffered greatly from the turtle and deer two immortals paste… But after breaking through to second-rate cultivation, with qi and blood overflowing and body root restored, it’s no longer an issue.”
“So that’s how it is!”
Hearing this, Scarred Liu showed sudden realization and drained the wine in his cup in one gulp.
He said resolutely: “Compete! Why not compete! If I don’t, my wife will run off with someone!”
Chen Shun’an looked toward San Dezi again.
San Dezi chuckled and said,
“I’m not the material for that…”
Chen Shun’an nodded, not pressing further.
People have their own aspirations.
“What about you, Old Chen? Compete or not? This matter is high risk, high reward.”
San Dezi asked curiously.
The sky grew darker; Wan Niang lit lanterns in the courtyard.
The three men’s shadows stretched long on the ground, pointing in different directions, with varied shapes.
Chen Shun’an took a sip of wine and said unhurriedly,
“Depends on the situation. Haste makes waste; when quick, be quick; when hidden, be hidden—after all, life is paramount.”
The two nodded and said no more.
Moments later, the two stood up unsteadily.
Chen Shun’an stood and walked with them to the alley entrance, called a donkey cart, and watched them leave.
The stone slab road under moonlight gleamed faintly; lanterns intertwined, carriages and horses flowed like water.
Wuqing County’s night scenes these past few days were quite splendid.
Chen Shun’an took a deep breath and, instead of going home, strode to Landlord Zhao’s mansion.
He planned to tell Zhao Guangxi about encountering the fake hero and obtaining the Guo Lu badge holder.
Naturally, he would omit info on the golden scaled perch and Scholar Ma, only picking the key points.
After all, Chen Shun’an and Zhao Guangxi were in the same camp, sharing fortunes.
Chen Shun’an didn’t want his withholding key information to cause Zhao Guangxi to misjudge the situation and fall into passivity.
After all, this wasn’t anything shady.
……
Half a incense stick later.
Chen Shun’an returned to Chaodou Hutong.
His expression was somewhat odd.
Chen Shun’an felt he had somewhat underestimated Zhao Guangxi.
When he told Zhao Guangxi about the Guo Lu heroes entering the capital and gathering for justice at Weng Mountain, the landlord seemed not very surprised.
Instead, he turned around and comforted Chen Shun’an, telling him to work with peace of mind; Zhao Guangxi would handle everything, no need to worry.
Since that was the case… Chen Shun’an felt relieved.
Entering the house.
Wan Niang skillfully helped Chen Shun’an remove his clothes, socks, and wash his feet.
“Ah~~~”
The foot bath temperature was just right; Chen Shun’an rested his head on Wan Niang’s white fleshy thigh, letting her massage his shoulders and neck, humming comfortably.
Not only washing away his body’s fatigue, but even his thoughts became much clearer.
“Brother.”
“Mm.”
“Heard you went to the flower boat.”
“Mm?”
“Heard it was some vixen named Xiao Man.”
“Mm?!”
Wan Niang’s tone had no question, just stating flatly.
Chen Shun’an’s heart lifted slightly.
“Brother, take good care of your body; those outside vixens are just after your silver—eat and play as you like.”
“Mm.” Chen Shun’an relaxed.
Still, the women of our Sacred Dynasty have excellent virtue, knowledgeable and reasonable, with tolerant hearts.
“Brother, I want five taels of silver.”
“Mm.”
Chen Shun’an didn’t ask more; with a grab of his right hand, he took the saddlebag from the cedar clothes rack and tossed it directly to Wan Niang.
The master has money; use it freely!
……
Deep into the night, all was silent.
Chen Shun’an opened his eyes, got up to dress, locked the door and windows, and even used cloth curtains to block the bedroom door and opaque tung oil paper to seal the window cracks.
Striving to turn the bedroom into a crude quiet room.
The saddlebag was missing only five taels of silver and was now hanging on the cedar clothes rack again.
Chen Shun’an ignored it, sat cross-legged on the bed, and visualized the Six Sceneries Rotation True Cultivation Manual.
Immediately, as Chen Shun’an’s intent entered stillness, various illusions came flooding in, as real as reality.
Endless flames blazed around his body.
Sex acupoint golden light pierced dazzlingly.
Dragon’s roar and tiger’s howl echoed in his ears.
Houtian Qi flowed from his nose.
Mouth closed, tongue rolled back, teeth clacked to produce saliva.
Mind monkey and intent horse galloped and trampled!
With the Six Sceneries rotation, his intent, or mental strength, rapidly grew and condensed.
But soon, Chen Shun’an sensed something wrong.
That breakthrough on the verge, with only one layer of window paper left—how, with the intent’s condensation, did the opportunity instead become more blurred and tenuous?
Precisely, as divine intent grew, the Six Thieves could hide even more easily.
To find and extinguish them, one could only observe the Six Sceneries Rotation Diagram, temper divine intent until it reached an inconceivable extreme.
Slay them all at once, extinguishing the Six Thieves together!
Once breaking through, it would be first-rate perfection!
Chen Shun’an suddenly realized.
Observing the Six Sceneries Rotation Diagram to build foundation—was it to forge Chen Shun’an into the strongest second-rate martial artist in history?
But no need for that!
No matter how strong a second-rate martial artist, still just second-rate!
Once a martial artist slays one thief, various profound abilities arise; with weapons and combat experience, even the strongest second-rate must lose!
Better to be the head of chickens than the tail of phoenixes.
Chen Shun’an preferred to crush with realm!
Besides, the martial path wasn’t inconvenient.
Nor did breaking through to first-rate prevent observing the Six Sceneries Rotation True Cultivation Manual again.
First elevate realm, then turn back to observe Six Sceneries, condense divine intent, and sequentially slay the remaining five thieves—that was the best strategy!
So…
“Slay the body thief first!”
With a stir of Chen Shun’an’s intent.
The Six Sceneries Rotation True Cultivation Manual stopped rotating; the other five illusions dispersed, leaving only the Myriad Blazing True Cultivation Manual!
In an instant, flames surged, smoke enveloping his body!
This illusion was so real that Chen Shun’an’s body hair seemed to burn!
And in a daze, Chen Shun’an saw that cyan figure darting in the flames had facial features somewhat like his own, just much leaner and lighter.
At this moment, as Chen Shun’an looked, that figure was like a startled bird, poised to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
This is my body thief!
Chen Shun’an realized in his heart, shouted, and his intent immediately condensed, turning into a heavenly blade, slashing through the air!
