He’s the one who destroyed the bandit stronghold!
Li Yan’s mind imdiately harbored a guess.
The massacre at Ancient Water Village had now taken a definite shape.
Landlord Lu’s family had fled from the Capital, and his background was definitely not simple. More crucially, he carried a treasure painting with him.
This item was certainly extraordinary, so soone in the Capital had ordered the powerful figures of the green forest both in Guanzhong and Qi Lu to co and rob him, creating the facade of a massacre for concealnt.
Moreover, those who plotted for this item were not limited to just one party.
Landlord Lu’s concubine was a demon from Yan n, colluding from within and without, yet she took advantage of the chaos to steal the treasure painting, and this old man followed closely behind, driving demon snakes to slaughter the bandit camp.
Had it not been for a fortuitous clue, he really couldn’t fathom it.
So many lives for that painting indicated a major secret!
Of course, these were all unimportant to Li Yan.
The key was that middle-aged man—he was definitely a master of the Mystical Sect!
If he released the cockcomb snake, no one at the scene could escape.
Thinking of this, Li Yan inched closer to Sha Lifei without betraying a hint of his intention, at the sa ti pinching the Yang Jue, trying to discern if the other party had any other arrangents.
Suddenly, as if sensing sothing, the middle-aged man looked over.
This guy could sense divine skills?!
Li Yan was shocked, daring not to make any reckless moves.
He could now confirm that this was the most formidable magician he had encountered so far, even Luo Mingzi might not be his match.
At the other end, the young man with the scar also made his move.
The governnt officials, threatening with crossbows, seed to have thoroughly enraged him; he roared lowly and charged with the Bone Flower in hand.
"Fire!"
Guan Wanche gave the order without hesitation.
He had confird that the origins of these two n were definitely unsound!
And the other party had admitted to skinning several people and annihilating households, which were acts grave enough to be brought to the Ministry of Justice.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three crossbow bolts whistled out.
Crossbows had their advantages and disadvantages compared to bows.
A skilled Divine Archer was naturally stronger, a treasure in any force and governnt office, but innate talent and years of training were indispensable; whereas a crossbow required less skill, and had a higher hit rate and more lethal power.
For handling common figures in the pugilistic world, crossbows were better suited, thus becoming the standard equipnt for constables in the Great Xuan Dynasty.
At such a close range, it was usually unavoidable for most people.
However, the young man with the scar was not the least bit afraid; he raised the Bone Flower in his right hand, parrying left and right, with two bangs, he directly swept aside two arrows.
Such eyesight and reaction were not ordinary for a martial artist.
Even more incredible, his left hand was not idle; with a reverse grip, similar to the Coiling Silk capture technique, he directly caught the last bolt, leapt into the air in the montum, flipped, swung his arm, and the arrow in his hand whistled out, aiming at Zhou Pan.
A series of movents flowed as seamlessly as streaming water, clean and efficient.
Snap!
Who was Zhou Pan? He simply raised his hand to catch the bolt aiming for his brow, squeezed it tightly, and with a crack, snapped it and threw it aside, his eyes also flashing with ferocity.
Then, propelling with his legs, he burst out of the hall.
Employing the sa Ape Jump technique, Zhou Pan’s was far more extraordinary.
In dense forests and high mountain cliffs, it was common to see monkeys playing and jumping, a saying went, "A thousand monkeys leap on osmanthus trees, peering through a slender sky," indicating their exceptional agility.
With Zhou Pan’s jump, his legs released Hidden Energy vigorously, the powerful force allowing him to rocket straight out of the hall.
Monkeys jump to climb branches, usually tilting forward with arms reaching out.
Zhou Pan did just the sa, almost instantaneously clearing the steps, encountering the young man with the scar, his right claw scratching towards his face.
His timing in this strike was impeccable.
Although the opponent wielded a weapon, it was useless against him.
If his reaction was slow, he would directly scratch out his eyes or smash his skull with one palm.
If he resisted, then Zhou Pan could seize the opportunity to grab his arm or weapon, employing the Bone Separation and Muscle Strangulation technique to capture him.
Zhou Pan favored the second option.
Not for any other reason, but because of the traveling doctor standing opposite.
Though he had no Divine Skills, his martial artist’s Spiritual Sense was extraordinary; he could also sense the middle-aged man’s threat and planned to seize the young man as a hostage.
Both parties moved as fast as lightning, all in a single breath.
The people in the hall had also noticed that this young man was highly skilled, his Hidden Energy operating smoothly, almost at the peak of Hidden Energy mastery.
But against Zhou Pan, he was less impressive.
This old monkey was a master of Force Transformation, rging power and spirit as one; his clashes seed effortless but contained profound tactics, like water that rounds upon eting a circle and squares upon eting an angle, the key lay in the concept of "transformation."
Even the most powerful strikes of a Hidden Energy master could be easily neutralized.
However, faced with Zhou Pan’s claw, the young man showed no fear, instead crouching down, bowing his head and chest, exposing his back to Zhou Pan.
What bizarre tactic was this?
The back was also vital; Zhou Pan could smash the spinal dragon with one palm.
This wasn’t how martial arts were employed—was this not simply seeking death?
The people in the hall were astonished, but Zhou Pan’s face drastically changed.
He was closer and saw more clearly—the young man’s back was bulging, seeming hunchbacked, yet squarely shaped, clearly concealing so chanism.
A sense of crisis surged in his heart, but regrettably, Zhou Pan was still in mid-air, unable to change direction, only able to cross his arms to protect his vitals.
But everything was too late.
The young man had secretly hooked a sleeve ring with his left hand, pulling it forcefully.
Boom!
A loud explosion followed by billowing smoke as needles flew out chaotically.
Indeed, the young man had hidden a chanism behind him, in which an iron plate was embedded at the bottom, with both springs shooting needles and a touch of gunpowder at the top, bursting out a thick cloud of smoke.
"Poisonous, fall back!"
Li Yan, sensing sothing was amiss, swiftly warned everyone to retreat.
Those in the hall had never seen such a ruthless approach before; their faces changed color abruptly as they all backed away. However, the nearest constables reacted too slowly, inhaling the poisonous smoke, their faces turning crimson as they clutched their throats, coughing desperately with blood flowing from their noses.
Undoubtedly, Zhou Pan was the most unfortunate.
Originating from a martial arts school, although he had road the pugilistic world, he had acted according to the rules of the older generation. After becoming the head of the Divine Fist Association, he lived in luxury and rarely fought anyone.
This was his first encounter with the thods of a desperate criminal.
Even a master of Force Transformation was still flesh and blood.
At such close range, most of the flying needles penetrated his body.
Moreover, these poisoned needles, sared with so unknown poison, were not fatal but caused nerve-wracking pain like thousands of red-hot spikes thrusting into his body.
"Ah—!"
Even Zhou Pan couldn’t help but let out a miserable scream.
This scream weakened his strength further, and he inhaled a substantial amount of poisonous smoke.
anwhile, the young man, although his mouth was bleeding from the shock, had a fiercer look in his eyes. His legs charged forward with hidden energy, and he lunged out while his right hand, holding a Bone Flower, used the Chasing Stars and Moon Style from swordsmanship.
Unnoticed by anyone, he pressed a chanism on the Bone Flower staff.
Bang!
This strike hit right on Zhou Pan’s chest.
Zhou Pan had already weakened from the poison, and with the young man’s strike carrying hidden energy, a sound of cracking bones was heard; Zhou Pan’s chest bone had been shattered.
However, that was not the end.
From the Bone Flower staff wielded by the young man, upon impact, a dark hole appeared as it collapsed under the applied force, followed by a loud bang and lingering smoke.
Zhou Pan’s body stiffened and he moved no more.
He looked at his chest in disbelief, where a fist-sized bloody hole had suddenly appeared.
"The murderer, the Ghost of Chang’an Fire!"
The young man snorted and turned to leave.
Such brutally fierce thods made everyone in the hall uneasy. Although the poisonous smoke had dissipated, not a single person dared to pursue, watching helplessly as the young man and the traveling doctor walked away.
Thump!
Zhou Pan fell straight down, his face an ashen blue, no longer breathing.
Zhang Shitong watched with his scalp tingling, unable to help but look at Zhang Yuanshang beside him, "Father, have you ever heard of such thods?"
Old Master Zhang’s white eyebrows furrowed tightly, "I have never seen such a thing."
Li Yan, however, had a solemn expression as he picked up a blood-stained iron ball from the ground, his eyelids trembling slightly as he muttered, "Damn, this thing has co out too..."
...
"Boy, you haven’t seen it!"
Sha Lifei spoke animatedly, spitting as he vividly described, "Gunpowder, poison needles, poisonous smoke—all lethal techniques, using these, a martial artist with hidden energy, turned Zhou Monkey into a hornet’s nest..."
"Zhou Monkey had a careful plan, always thinking about bribing various major powers and tricking Brother Yan, but he never thought he would die at the hands of other aggrieved parties."
Wang Daoxuan sat on the kang, although he had woken up, his complexion was still sowhat pale. Shaking his head, he sighed, "The sun and moon shine long by heaven’s favor, and the four seasons change thus achieve longevity; when virtue does not align with position, calamities inevitably occur..."
Sha Lifei disdainfully said, "It’s only a matter of ti with those under his command causing trouble."
While speaking, he turned his head towards one side, "Brother Yan, what are you looking at?"
Li Yan stared at the iron ball in his hands, his expression grave. Shaking his head, he said, "It’s nothing, I still underestimated how dangerous the pugilistic world can be, seems like I need to be more cautious in the future."
Firearms!
He should have thought of it earlier.
Since the court had opened the seas, rchant teams had crisscrossed the oceans frequently using cannons, so the presence of firearms was not unusual.
Of course, firstly, the circulation of gunpowder was forbidden among civilians, and secondly, in this world where martial arts flourished, ordinary firearms were not much different from powerful hidden weapons for a martial artist.
But the situation seed to be changing.
The scar-faced young man had ordinary black gunpowder in the chanism on his back, but the gunpowder used inside the Bone Flower was more powerful and had a distinctive scent.
Combined with weaponry and martial arts, it was unpredictable; even Zhou Pan couldn’t withstand it.
Seeing the expressions of the people present, it was also their first encounter.
This indicated that this new type of gunpowder had recently appeared.
After this incident, the Capital’s Captain Bureau sent a large group of people here, even urgently closing the city gates for a thorough search, and even Qingyangzi from the City God Temple was asked to use spells to search.
Unfortunately, those two people had completely disappeared.
Various signs indicated that the court also knew about this new type of gunpowder, and it was likely leaked from within, hence such vigilance.
If it was as he speculated, the world might change.
Firearms capable of killing a martial artist skilled in Force Transformation could significantly enhance the court’s control over the pugilistic world if mass-equipped by the governnt.
Moreover, nothing remains hidden forever; now that such things had leaked, sooner or later, others would be aware, and many things could change.
To say nothing of his previous rescue operation.
Chen Fagui used an explosive pack and the sophisticated Puppet chanism Technique; if he had this new type of gunpowder, inserting and controlling it inside the puppet, they might have been the ones who ended up dead!
And the true culprit who attacked his father—the Maitreya Sect!
Just thinking about it caused him headaches.
Seeing Li Yan’s furrowed brows, Sha Lifei quickly changed the subject, laughing loudly, "Anyway, Zhou Pan is dead, we can sleep peacefully, let’s head back to Xianyang today!"
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