The Douqiong Martial Arts Hall looks like it has been around for many years.
The brick walls in the courtyard have turned gray, and the marble paving on the ground has mottled cracks. Upon closer inspection, faint traces of footprints can still be seen.
It seems that soone once pressed them down, only for later passersby to crack them further.
The courtyard is relatively spacious, with an old tree planted there. It’s hard to tell how old the tree is. Its branches are gnarled and withered, looking like it’s near its end.
The old tree is enclosed by a fence, with a hemp rope hanging on the fence, from which a few air-dried short coats are draped.
Beyond the courtyard gate is the martial arts hall. Evidently remodeled, the walls are freshly painted, the tatami on the ground is also new, and inside there are various strange electrical devices and equipnt.
The courtyard and the dojo within seem like two unrelated worlds forcibly pieced together.
One side looks ancient and weathered, while the other is brimming with a cold technological feel, making the whole picture seem both fragnted and contradictory.
Inside the dojo, a girl dozing at the service desk suddenly awoke from her dream. Her dazed eyes first glanced at Feng Mu standing in the courtyard, then swept past him to the outside.
In the next mont, a sharp wailing that seed to lift the roof resounded throughout the martial arts hall.
"Master, Senior Brother, the signboard has been smashed, soone is here to challenge the school—"
Feng Mu looked at the petite figure who instantaneously transitioned from sitting to standing, leaping onto the platform, and couldn’t imagine that such a terrifying volu erupted from her.
Feng Mu’s face slightly changed, and he quietly withdrew his retreating steps. At this point, moving backward would make him seem guilty.
Whizz—
The wind cut across Feng Mu’s temples, tugging painfully at the hair around his ears and giving him the urge to spring into [Mask] defense mode.
"So fast, even the passing wind was like a knife."
Feng Mu was shocked, his pupils shrinking to needle points. Half a second later, a dull sonic boom reached his ears.
He stiffly turned his body, looking toward the fallen signboard behind him, where a skinny, short, elder with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks was crouching. His hands caressed the cracked signboard as if touching a lover, and his triangular, narrow eyes glared at Feng Mu as if ready to devour him.
"The Douqiong Martial Arts Hall’s signboard, which has been here for decades, was smashed by you. Heh, young man, you are quite bold."
Li Bashan looked down from his towering two-ter height, his massive figure like a mountain blocking the light, casting Feng Mu wholly into shadow.
Feng Mu’s heart tightened imdiately, akin to being locked onto by a giant beast, with his blood roaring through his veins in threat.
"Very strong, exceptionally strong, the oppressive feeling is dozens of tis stronger than that Black Face. I feel as if a careless move could have torn to shreds by this giant, leaving not a single bone intact."
But Feng Mu remained unafraid; he had the trump card of [Marriage Death Twins]. He didn’t fear death.
Yet the problem was, he hadn’t done anything. Was this a pot falling from the sky to crush him? Did the heavens finally decide it couldn’t bear him and wanted him collected through the hands of others?
One after another, several intimidating figures of varying heights erged, each not masking their killing intent on Feng Mu.
Feng Mu had killed before, so he could sense the bloodthirsty aura within these killing intents. They weren’t bluffing; each of these people had blood on their hands, more so than himself.
Wasn’t this just a martial arts hall? Did he mistakenly enter a den of murderers?
Feng Mu’s eye twitched. He saw the petite woman who had initially shrieked, bouncing around to shuttle apprentices back to their training while closing curtains and sliding doors.
Locking doors, killing, and burying the bodies... This process was sothing he was familiar with.
Feng Mu glanced sidelong at the old tree. He had even thought about where he’d end up buried later.
Feng Mu’s heart seethed with murder intent as well, secretly morizing each face in his heart, while maintaining an ever-stoic expression with a tinge of nervousness, saying, "Don’t wrongly accuse , I didn’t even touch the signboard, it fell on its own, don’t try to scam money out of ."
Li Bashan responded gruffly, "The Douqiong Martial Arts Hall’s signboard has been hanging there perfectly for decades. Now it fell when you arrived. Are you trying to trick a fool?"
As he spoke, he raised his hand, his large palm like a fan, overshadowing everything around it.
"Bashan, he’s not lying." The elder with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks suddenly spoke from behind. He sighed, "The signboard fell on its own. It’s divine will, divine will."
In the crowd, the outlines of several figures who heard their master’s words exchanged glances and were montarily stunned, as if connecting to sothing, their faces turning grim, with one person’s eyes flickering slightly.
The petite woman let out an "Ah" and hurriedly tugged at Li Bashan, carefully examining Feng Mu, and suddenly blushed. "I rember now. You’re the new student who ca to make a mbership card a while back, but it seems you haven’t been here since, have you?"
With the life-threatening crisis alleviated, Feng Mu smirked inwardly, yet outwardly still seed a bit confused, as if completely unaware he’d just escaped death’s grasp.
He pulled out the mbership card from his pocket and asked with indifference, "Hmm, I was a bit busy the past two weeks. Can I go in now?"
The petite woman was montarily dumbfounded, not expecting that even after all this, the new student would still want to enter the martial arts hall.
The nearby disciples closing doors all traded puzzled looks, seemingly questioning if the new student was a fool.
Only Li Bashan saw no issue, and he was the first to sidestep his massive fra, apologizing in his muffled voice, "You didn’t deceive . It was my mistake to wrongly accuse you."
"No bla on you, senior brother. It’s my own recklessness," the petite woman murmured softly.
As she led Feng Mu toward the martial arts hall, their master’s voice interrupted them: "The signboard may not have been broken by him, but it happened to fall when he arrived. This is a bad on; it shows the founders do not welco him, Hong Ya, refund his money and send him away."
Hong Ya let out a small "Oh" and quickly went to the counter to retrieve a wad of cash. After considering a bit, she grabbed a few extra bills before hastily returning to hand them to Feng Mu.
Feng Mu frowned, seemingly finally understanding that this martial arts hall didn’t welco him. With a cold face, he took the money and turned to leave.
Once he had left, the elder with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks walked into the courtyard with his hands behind his back. All the closed-door disciples hurriedly dispersed with bows, while Li Bashan silently grabbed the signboard and followed his master into the inner courtyard.
Once inside, they placed the signboard flat on the table.
Li Bashan, rubbing his palms, brushed off so wood chips. His natural strength made it hard for him to control, and inadvertently, he further opened the cracks in the signboard.
Since it was already cracked, another fracture wouldn’t matter. They’d have to find soone to fix it regardless.
The elder with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks was Li Guishen, the hall master of Douqiong Martial Arts Hall. Li Bashan was his closed-door senior disciple, also an abandoned infant he had found and raised.
He took a glance at the wood chips in Li Bashan’s hands, his eye twitching. He was about to harshly reprimand him when he caught a glimpse of sothing poking out of the signboard’s cracks with his peripheral vision.
"Hmm?"
Li Guishen pushed aside his senior disciple, whose massive body stumbled, leaving two deep footprints as he stumbled backward.
"Master, why did you shove ?" Li Bashan’s voice, deep and gravelly, expressed confusion on his fierce, square face.
Li Guishen’s attention was riveted on the signboard. His fingertips followed the crack, pulling out a piece of paper with yellowed, darkened corners.
Was there a book hidden in the signboard?
A manual?!!
Li Guishen’s eyes flashed with a verdant, cold light. He exerted strength with his fingers, tearing off the face of the signboard, revealing a manual inside. On the cover, the words were elegantly written like floating clouds and wild dancing dragons—[Deceitful Demon Skill]!
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