Chapter 9 - 8: Kaiyuan Tower
Xu Qing was still a bit shaken. Staring at the Corpse Ghost’s body on the ground, he shook the blood from his hands. After a moment of silence, he swiftly slipped out the back door and left the premises.
Xu Qing wasn’t actually sure just how serious this incident was—a Corpse Ghost appearing so suddenly and attacking residents within the town.
But Xu Qing didn’t want to expose himself.
Just as he’d thought before.
Xu Qing was just a beggar with an unknown background. Less than six days after entering the city, he had somehow managed to beat a Corpse Ghost to death with his bare fists.
It was easy to imagine.
If others found out, they would inevitably assume Xu Qing possessed some kind of Treasure. They would covet it and might even try to kill him for it.
’I’ll just leave the Corpse Ghost’s body in the house for now. Even if the constables from the Government Office are incompetent, they should still be able to track the smell here. I’d better come back later.’
Xu Qing mused, ’I don’t have any good way to destroy the body, either. Even if I tried to burn it, setting a fire this late at night would cause too much of a commotion.’
In truth, Xu Qing knew one thing very well.
If the constables from the Government Office truly decided to investigate, he probably wouldn’t be able to hide the truth for long. But he would hide it for as long as he could. The longer he could keep it a secret, the stronger he could become.
By then, as long as Xu Qing became strong enough, he would have nothing to fear.
’Where should I go?’
Xu Qing pondered this. After walking briskly for a while, he spotted Chunfeng Tower in the distance. It was filled with the flirtatious chatter of women, like a paradise on earth.
A brothel in the Outer City.
’This’ll do,’ Xu Qing decided.
"This way, sir. Please, come in."
At the entrance, as soon as Xu Qing arrived, a woman reeking of cheap perfume walked over with a broad smile. She grabbed his arm and began pulling him into Chunfeng Tower.
After all, in his past life, Xu Qing had been a well-known, wealthy figure in the city. He had seen his fair share of women, so the cheap powder and paint of Chunfeng Tower’s courtesans did little to arouse his interest.
However, Xu Qing wasn’t here for pleasure anyway.
If he had to name someone, in the three-plus months he’d been in Qingbei Town, the only woman who had even slightly caught his eye was the Jiang Family’s young lady, Jiang Feiying. She possessed the true grace of a well-bred woman, which he found somewhat appealing.
Meanwhile, about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, two sword-wielding constables arrived at Xu Qing’s residence. They pushed open the door and saw the headless Corpse Ghost on the ground. Its head had been completely blown apart, splattering red and white matter all over the floor.
"This..."
One of the constables looked astonished. "Who did this? To be able to blow a Corpse Ghost’s head apart... they must be a master at the level of Great Success in Ming Jin, at least."
"I have no idea!"
The other constable shook his head. "And where’s the owner of this house? He’s not here. Could he be the one who did it?"
"Forget it, let’s not worry about that for now. The fact that this Corpse Ghost was taken care of is a good thing for us. We can take this headless body and report back."
"Right, right."
The two constables nodded.
Without hesitation, they took out a Corpse Bag, stuffed the headless Corpse Ghost’s body inside, gathered up some of the scattered flesh, and left Xu Qing’s residence.
「Two hours later.」
Xu Qing crept back to his residence. He looked from a distance and saw that there was indeed no one around the house, and the headless body of the Corpse Ghost was also gone.
"Phew..."
Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, after returning to his residence, Xu Qing quickly fried and ate the Tai Sui Spirit Meat he had been carrying. A warm current surged through him, and all his energy and stamina returned.
However, it was already late and he needed to rest soon, so he had no time to continue practicing his fist techniques.
’I’ve already learned the Upper Chapter of Cyan Eagle Force and the Eagle Claw Technique from the Cangying Martial Arts Hall. There’s not much point in going back.’ Xu Qing thought to himself, ’Besides, if I go to the Cangying Martial Arts Hall, I can’t practice Baji Fist without restraint. So, starting tomorrow, I won’t go to the Martial Arts Hall anymore. I’ll just stay here and practice Baji Fist.’
The night passed without incident.
「The next day.」
「In the morning.」
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Open up!"
Xu Qing had just woken up when he heard a loud knocking at his door. A deep voice shouted, its tone gruff.
"Who is it?"
Xu Qing got up, walked out of his bedroom, and pushed open the door. His pupils constricted slightly. Standing at the entrance were three sword-wielding constables from the Government Office.
Among them, the middle-aged man who had been knocking was one of the three Chief Constables of the Government Office. Behind him stood the two constables who had collected the body last night.
"This... this..."
Xu Qing put on a humble expression. "It’s the honorable constables! What an honor! Please, come in, come in..."
"No need."
Chief Constable Xu Weiran shook his head. He sized Xu Qing up and questioned him in a low, stern voice, "I ask you, where were you last night?"
"Well..."
Xu Qing acted fidgety.
"Speak up!"
Xu Weiran snapped. "If you don’t talk, I’ll have to take you back to the Government Office for questioning."
"Chunfeng Tower."
Xu Qing said, "I was at Chunfeng Tower last night."
*Pfft...*
The other two constables snickered.
"Hmph!"
Xu Weiran snorted. "Are you aware that something major happened in your house last night? Didn’t you notice anything unusual when you came back?"
"I did! Sir!"
Xu Qing said immediately, "When I got back, a lot of things in the house were in disarray, and I saw some bloodstains on the floor."
"I’m just an ordinary person, I don’t know anything! At first, I thought I’d been robbed. Sir, you must get to the bottom of this."
"Alright, I understand."
Xu Weiran waved his hand dismissively and added a word of caution, "From now on, try not to go out at night if you don’t have to."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Xu Qing nodded rapidly.
Then, Xu Weiran and his men left.
"Take care, sirs."
Xu Qing bowed his head.
Once he saw Xu Weiran and the others were a good distance away, Xu Qing closed the door, returned to his room, and thought for a moment. ’Looks like I’m in the clear for now.’
"Chief Constable, sir, do you think he’s the one who killed the Corpse Ghost?" one of the constables asked.
"I’m not sure."
Xu Weiran shook his head. "With a Power Realm Martial Artist, you can never know their true strength without a real fight. And even if you do fight, if they deliberately hide their power, you still can’t be certain."
"However..." Xu Weiran pondered for a moment. "Still, we should look into this person’s background."
"Also..." Xu Weiran continued, "For a Corpse Ghost to appear so brazenly in the Outer City... If it hadn’t been accidentally dealt with by a master with Great Success in Ming Jin last night, there probably would have been a murder today."
"Have men strengthen the patrols at night."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
The other two constables nodded quickly.
「The scene changes.」
A tavern in the Outer City.
This tavern was named Kaiyuan Tower.
The top floor of Kaiyuan Tower.
Inside one of the luxurious private rooms.
In the room, a young man stood perfectly still and respectful. Before him was a large bed, hidden by a bed curtain.
At that moment, the occupants of the bed were in the throes of passion.
"Ahhh!!!"
Suddenly, with a climactic cry that rose and then fell, the bed curtain was pushed aside by a hand as fair as jade, with slender fingers belonging to a jade-like beauty.
Upon closer inspection, through the gap in the parted curtains, one could see a desiccated corpse lying on the bed.
"My lady."
The young man lowered his head, not daring to look up. "A Corpse Ghost died last night. We still don’t know who did it."
"Hee hee..."
A light giggle rang out. The sound was as pleasant as a lark’s song, yet it held a bewitching charm that could make one lose themselves.
"It’s just one Corpse Ghost. If it’s dead, it’s dead," said the woman, her face still hidden. "But what about you? Don’t you want to experience worldly ecstasy with me? I promise you’ll fall in love with the feeling."
"How could I dare offend you, my lady?"
Cold sweat beaded on the young man’s forehead.
"Let the people from the Government Office investigate. They’re more professional when it comes to this sort of thing. Once they find out who it was, refine that busybody into a Corpse Ghost," said the woman whose face was still hidden.
"As you command."
The young man nodded and quickly left the room.
’Soon.’
BUZZ! BUZZ!
The next moment, wisps of pink mist began to spread. ’It’s almost Refined.’
「At Xu Qing’s residence.」
"Baji Fist!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Xu Qing was completely immersed in the Cultivation of his Baji Fist. Because he had eaten a catty of Tai Sui Spirit Meat the night before and gotten a good night’s rest, his stamina and energy were now extremely abundant.
Within an hour, Xu Qing could practice Baji Fist five times.
...
[Experience +1]
...
[Experience +1]
...
「Meanwhile.」
「At the Cangying Martial Arts Hall.」
"Huh?"
Zhang He looked stunned. He glanced at the entrance several times but saw no sign of Xu Qing. "Why didn’t Xu Qing come today?"
After all, after the last few days, Zhang He had come to see that Xu Qing’s Talent for martial arts was quite good. On top of that, he was willing to spend money, so there was a high probability he would become an Official Disciple of the Cangying Martial Arts Hall.
But, Zhang He hadn’t expected Xu Qing to stop showing up on just the fourth day.
"Even if you have Talent and are willing to spend money, if you don’t work hard, you’ll never achieve anything!"
Zhang He sighed.
Clearly, Zhang He was disappointed in Xu Qing.
In fact, quite a few other Outer Courtyard Students had also been paying attention to Xu Qing these past few days. Because Instructor Zhang He had been so dedicated in his instruction of Xu Qing for the last three days, many of the students had grown jealous.
When they didn’t see Xu Qing come to the Cangying Martial Arts Hall to practice on the fourth day, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.
"And here I thought he was so special, getting to practice martial arts directly without conditioning his body. Turns out he’s nothing much. He couldn’t even last four days."
"Isn’t that the truth."
"So he’s just another piece of trash."
"Looks like all of Instructor Zhang He’s efforts these past few days were wasted."
...
The students muttered among themselves.