A lone figure stood in the empty courtyard.
Unlike at the County Yamen, he was not wearing the official uniform that symbolized his status. Instead, he had changed into martial attire and even wore a veiled bamboo hat.
"Constable Wang Ping..."
Xu Bingzheng calmly swept his gaze across the entire yard, his brow twitching slightly. The slightest irregularity in this courtyard would not escape his discerning eyes.
The walls, the tables and chairs, the ground.
He walked through every corner of the yard, even checking the stables, only to find a docile Curly-Maned Horse huddled in a corner.
"Nothing. Nothing on him, and nothing where he lives. It's impossible for him to hide something so precious outside, which means it probably wasn't him... That makes sense. His cultivation is too weak. Even if he possesses three divine anomalies and launched a sneak attack, he could not possibly have killed a heavily injured Chen Haoyan."
Xu Bingzheng withdrew his gaze.
An instant later, he vanished from the spot. Simultaneously, a breeze swept past, wiping away his footprints and every trace he had left in the courtyard.
Creak—Almost simultaneously, Wang Ping pushed open the door and strode in. Seeming to notice nothing unusual, he simply began wielding his saber and practicing his martial arts in the courtyard.
From morning until night.
The sun rose, the sun set, and the moon hung upon the branches.
After finishing his practice, he meditated, and then went to sleep—he neither sneaked away nor exhibited any suspicious behavior. Everything appeared perfectly normal.
Only then did Xu Bingzheng truly leave.
And at the exact moment he left, Wang Ping, who was 'fast asleep' in bed, finally withdrew his spiritual sense. The first drop of cold sweat slowly rolled down his back.
A bone-deep chill gripped his heart.
'Motherfucker, he was watching me!'
This was an incredibly bizarre method. He couldn't feel Xu Bingzheng's gaze at all; he only realized something was wrong when he deployed his spiritual sense.
'Is this the means of a Titled Martial Master? I heard Liu Ye say that at this level, the martial path has completely broken away from mere fists and feet, moving instead toward spirit and consciousness. They say those at the Martial Dao Grandmaster Rank have even reached the realm of Seeing Divinity, able to kill a man with a mere thought...'
It was very similar to spiritual sense, yet distinctly different.
'Still, my spiritual sense should be of a higher tier. At the very least, I could detect his prying, while he had no way of noticing my covert scrutiny.'
Besides, if Xu Bingzheng truly possessed an investigative method comparable to spiritual sense, he would have discovered the pills hidden in the horse's stomach long ago.
Fortunately, it ended here.
By the next day, Xu Bingzheng did not return. Even so, Wang Ping didn't relax in the slightest; instead, he felt an even greater sense of urgency.
'I can't stay here for long.'
His current residence was far too close to the County Yamen. Constantly on guard against Xu Bingzheng, he didn't dare make a single move; he could only idle his time away.
Furthermore, the surveillance was only temporary.
Given enough time, if Xu Bingzheng kept failing to find any clues, he would sooner or later take bolder action. What would Wang Ping do when that fell on him?
'Why must they always push me...'
Wang Ping gritted his teeth, his resolve hardening. He had to find a suitable excuse to move out, to relocate somewhere Xu Bingzheng couldn't casually spy on him.
'A Titled Martial Master's spirit is far inferior to my spiritual sense. As long as I can move somewhere farther from the County Yamen, I can buy myself enough time and space. Unlike now, when the distance is so short that if Xu Bingzheng suddenly rushed over, I wouldn't even have time to hide my things...'
Wang Ping pondered like this for a long time.
He needed a valid reason that would allow a penniless, powerless minor constable—whose house was specially provided by the County Yamen—to move elsewhere.
'I think there actually is one...'
...
On the morning of the third day.
Wang Ping woke early as usual and arrived at the Drill Ground to practice archery. Not long after, Liu Ye walked in carrying his smoking pipe, a somewhat melancholy expression on his face.
"Brother Liu, how is the situation?"
Wang Ping spoke up first.
"Not very ideal." Liu Ye shook his head and sighed. "You know how it is. Many martial arts are priceless but completely unavailable on the market. You can't just buy them with money."
"Especially for your older brother here. I've practiced martial arts for half my life, and I'm just one marrow-training technique away from reaching External Arts Perfection. Yet I've searched for seven or eight years and still come up empty. Although the County Yamen has some, I'd have to take on dangerous bounties to get them, and I really don't want to take that risk anymore."
Wang Ping could see the helplessness in Liu Ye's heart.
"So, Brother Liu, you don't plan to fight for it anymore?"
"It's not exactly that."
Liu Ye shook his head. "I'm considering whether I should mortgage the Red Phoenix Tower to get my hands on some high-powered hidden weapons... The results might be even better."
At this point, Liu Ye suddenly chuckled.
"Of course, there is another path, and an even better one at that. Unfortunately, I'm too old and not handsome enough, so I don't stand a chance... but you could give it a try, kid."
"This..."
Wang Ping's expression stiffened slightly.
He knew what Liu Ye was talking about. Coincidentally, this was the exact same idea he'd come up with last night—a perfectly reasonable excuse to move out and get far away from the County Yamen.
"Lord Chen may be dead, but the estate he left behind is quite substantial. Take Madam Su in the city, for example. The rice shops, butcher shops, and blacksmiths in town are almost all her businesses. If Lord Chen hadn't been shielding her, do you think a woman who doesn't even know martial arts could have achieved all this?"
"Now Lord Chen is dead."
"With her backer gone, Madam Su has been endlessly harassed lately. Every prominent, wealthy family in the city is eyeing her with greed, wanting to join forces and swallow her businesses whole."
After saying this, Liu Ye shook his head and sighed.
"If you ask me, Madam Su has had a bitter life. They say she used to be a noble lady from the Capital, but she committed some offense and ended up drifting down to our parts."
"She finally managed to build up a bit of an estate, only to catch Lord Chen's eye... He said he was acting as her backer, but didn't he just want her money and her body in the end?"
Here, a trace of disdain seemed to color Liu Ye's tone.
"Now that Lord Chen is dead—with his parents long gone, no children to his name, and no one to even bury his corpse—it was Madam Su who paid to arrange the funeral."
"Of course, Madam Su's move killed two birds with one stone. It was actually quite clever."
"If you ask me, throwing a funeral for Lord Chen was secondary. Her real goal was to use the opportunity to find a new backer so she can protect the businesses in her hands."
Hearing this, Wang Ping instantly understood. "She needs to borrow a tiger's might."
"Exactly, and that right there is your future!"
Liu Ye clapped his hands. "A few of the burly, fierce guys from the yamen have already gone over. With businesses that large, how can we let them fall into the hands of those unruly mobs in the city?"
"That is the County Yamen's money!"
Liu Ye spoke with absolute righteous conviction, then looked at Wang Ping with a sly chuckle.
"But in my opinion, all those guys who went over can't compare to you, Little Wang."
"After all, you are the renowned Great Dragon Spear of this county. And Madam Su has been lonely in that empty house for a long time. It'd be like dry tinder and raging fire! If you're lucky, you could skip at least sixty years of hard struggle..."
"Say no more!"
Wang Ping waved his hand, his tone resolute. "Brother, you misunderstand me. I am not a man who lusts after women, nor would I ever sell my body for profit!"
...
The Su Family Estate.
"I was the junior Lord Chen valued most during his life. I have come specifically to attend His Lordship's funeral."
Only after handing over his visiting card was Wang Ping led by a servant into this sprawling estate covering dozens of mu. He could not help but marvel inwardly.
'Rumor has it that when Madam Su first came to the county, all she had was a bundle of clothes and a few taels of loose silver. Her very first business was selling clothes in the Outer Market. How many years has it been? To think she amassed such a massive fortune. Sure enough, to do business, you have to play the game of official-merchant collusion. How else could one grow so big and powerful?'
Wang Ping had made careful inquiries before coming here.
Chen Haoyan had neither a residence nor any properties in the city. He appeared to be an honest official with empty sleeves; his daily meals and lodging were taken either at the County Yamen or here at the Su Family Estate.
Madam Su was the boss in name only.
In reality, she was nothing more than Chen Haoyan's front in the county. Not only was almost all the money she earned spent by Chen Haoyan, but even she herself was probably...
At this thought, Wang Ping immediately cursed in his heart: 'Beast!'
Of course, he had absolutely no interest in money or women.
What interested him was that, given Chen Haoyan's wealth and status, he had definitely collected quite a few martial arts manuals. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to reach External Arts Perfection back then.
'In fact... it's not just martial arts manuals.'
Chen Haoyan was an Internal Force Martial Master. Thinking bigger, his home might even hide the secret to condensing Internal Force. That was what Wang Ping truly valued.
'An Internal Force Physique Diagram!'
'Anyone who condenses Internal Force must first forge a martial physique, which involves the circulation and layout of qi and blood through the twelve standard meridians, the eight extraordinary meridians, and even the five viscera and six bowels.'
'The Physique Diagram is a record of this exact layout. Only by circulating qi and blood according to its records can one unify the strength of their entire body and subsequently birth Internal Force... Therefore, the vast majority of Physique Diagrams are closely guarded secrets. Even with boundless wealth, you couldn't buy a single piece of one.'
However, there might be one inside the Su Family Estate.
Because Chen Haoyan was an Internal Force Martial Master himself, he must have seen at least one Physique Diagram back in the day, meaning he might have a copied version in his hands.
Although this was merely a guess, even the slightest possibility was enough to drive people mad.
If that weren't the case, Liu Ye wouldn't have called it 'another path,' and the Su Family couldn't possibly be viewed as a sweet pastry by the wealthy households and various factions in the city.
'This is a monopoly on knowledge.'
From the scarcity of Physique Diagrams alone, Wang Ping could see just how deeply the upper-tier martial artists of this wretched place guarded against the mud-legged commoners below them.
No wonder the world had maintained its 'peace' until now.
Soon, Wang Ping arrived at the main hall where the coffin rested.
There, Wang Ping saw many people, all of them familiar faces. They were wealthy gentry from the city, circling a single person like a pack of hyenas.
She was a woman of gentle, aloof bearing, dressed in a white gown. Tear stains still lingered on her pretty face, and her beautiful eyes were red, as if she had just finished crying.
Faced with the hyenas surrounding her—men who were drooling over the Su Family businesses, and even over her—this Madam Su appeared exceptionally calm, even a bit indifferent. She looked exactly like someone whose heart was already dead, as though nothing that happened could ever move her again.
A second later, she spoke.
Her voice was mournful and cold, carrying a touch of self-pity. "The Lord departed suddenly. That you could all come to send him off today... this humble woman thanks you on the Lord's behalf."
"Not at all, Madam Su is too polite."
"I wonder if Madam tonight..."
Madam Su clearly intended to shift the conversation to the funeral itself, but the crowd merely brushed her off with a few casual words before returning to the topic of dividing the estate.
These men all hailed from the wealthy households of the county.
And from the way they spoke, the businesses under Madam Su's name were like a delicious cake—a piece for you, a piece for me—that was visibly on the verge of being completely dismembered.
Faced with such a predicament, Madam Su initially tried to say a few words, but she was completely ignored. Their words were polite and respectful, yet their actions were ruthless and merciless. It was obvious they intended to devour her businesses cleanly. So, in the end, Madam Su stopped speaking.
A gentle breeze brushed past, stirring the hair at her temples.
Madam Su drew her hands into her sleeves, tightly gripping a Jade Hairpin. As if she could already see her future, her inherently sorrowful, delicate face turned increasingly tragic and beautiful.
Seeing this scene, several constables immediately stepped forward.
"Everyone, this is too much."
"Rest assured, Madam Su, your properties are protected by the Great Shun Legal Code, and the County Yamen has silver shares in them. We absolutely will not allow these people to carve them up and seize them without permission."
"Step back!"
They were all shrewd foxes. They had deliberately stood by earlier, waiting for this exact moment to step in and resolve the crisis. By playing the hero saving the beauty, they hoped to leave a deep impression on Madam Su.
Everyone present knew this full well.
Naturally, Madam Su knew it too. In fact, she had specifically paid to host Chen Haoyan's funeral just for this very moment. She had calculated everything from the start.
Therefore, her gaze didn't change at all as she looked at the constables. She even smiled, but the inexplicable sense of brokenness radiating from her only grew heavier.
Seeing this, Wang Ping knew it was time for him to step forward.
The next second, he walked right up, cleanly shoving aside everyone blocking his path, before coming to a stop in front of the indifferent-eyed Madam Su.
"The Great Dragon Spear, Wang Ping, greets Madam."
The moment these words left his mouth, the constables Wang Ping had just shoved aside underwent a slight change in expression, cursing viciously in their hearts. 'What the hell do you mean by bringing up that title?'
"...Oh?"
At the same time, Madam Su, who had maintained her calm all this while, finally looked over at the sound of his voice. Ripples stirred in her beautiful eyes as she looked at Wang Ping in surprise.
The Great Dragon Spear that shook the county—to a woman, especially a homebound woman like her, the title was practically thunderous to the ears.
Naturally, she was no exception.
However, the look of surprise in those mournful, beautiful eyes soon settled down, replaced by the exact same icy disgust she held for all the others.
But Wang Ping didn't care.
Immediately after, he took a large stride forward in a rather offensive posture. Leaning directly by Madam Su's ear, he whispered a few words.
The next second, Madam Su's expression changed.