After a brief period of self-reflection, Su Chen gathered his thoughts and walked into Liu Tong’s room.
After rummaging through the cabinets and chests for a while, he finally found what Liu Tong had hidden on a ceiling beam. It was a bundle.
Opening it, he found two secret manuals, several letters, some medicinal herbs, and seventy taels of silver.
The two secret manuals were the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique and the Ape Arm Skill.
Su Chen took a glance and put them back. Just like Liu Heishui’s ledger, these two manuals also contained hidden codes. Since he probably couldn’t decipher their mysteries in a short time, it would be better to put them away and study them after returning home.
Immediately after, Su Chen turned his attention to the other items.
The medicinal herbs were nothing special. They were just a few thin roots, resembling those of ginseng, though their exact age was unknown.
Tucking the ginseng roots between the pages of the manuals, Su Chen picked up the letters and began to read.
The more he read, the uglier his expression became.
These letters were all records of correspondence between Liu Tong and Old Lin of the Lin Family Castle. However, they were basically all from Old Lin contacting Liu Tong, generally serving to inform him in advance about anyone who had taken on the mission to assassinate him.
After reading all the letters, Su Chen finally understood. No wonder he had felt something was amiss earlier. Even though he had been extremely careful, Liu Tong had still discovered him. The man had even made preparations in advance, taking an antidote to avoid being knocked out by the Sleeping Powder. It seemed Liu Tong might have experienced such situations several times before.
Unfortunately for Liu Tong, he ran into Su Chen this time, who had laced the Sleeping Powder with Soft Bone Powder. Naturally, the result was Liu Tong shooting himself in the foot and perishing at Su Chen’s hands. Of course, he deserved his death.
Judging from these envelopes, Old Lin had collaborated with Liu Tong more than once. He used the convenience of his position to let Liu Tong kill the unlucky fools who accepted the assassination missions. After extracting information from these victims, Old Lin would use the Mist Rain Tower to secretly investigate their backgrounds. If they had no significant backing, Liu Tong would eliminate them to pull up the problem by the roots, and the two would split the spoils fifty-fifty afterward. Then, Liu Tong would move to a new location and repeat the cycle. This was exactly how Old Lin knew his current address.
He thought, "I originally planned to adopt a new alias to take on missions at the Lin Family Castle, but now it seems unnecessary. I might as well deliver Liu Tong’s head directly to the Government Office to claim the bounty!"
Su Chen shook his head slightly, abandoning the idea of continuing to trade at the Lin Family Castle. He also dropped the plan of delivering Liu Tong’s head there.
He pondered, "Seventy taels of silver, plus the fifty-odd silver taels at home, is enough to upgrade the Iron Wire Fist. Furthermore, there are the fifty taels from the Government Office, but..."
Su Chen’s gaze fell upon the two secret manuals.
If he hadn’t found this saber technique manual, Su Chen definitely would have chosen to Krypton Gold the Iron Wire Fist without any hesitation.
But after the battle just now, Su Chen was more inclined to Krypton Gold the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique.
After all, at his current level, the utility of a weapon was still significant.
"Forget it. I’ll collect the money first and make a decision when I get back!" he thought.
After packing everything up, Su Chen got up, left the room, and went to the courtyard. He processed Liu Tong’s head briefly before taking his leave.
By the time he returned to White Stone City, the horizon was turning pale white, and a ray of sunlight was slowly rising from the east.
The pale golden light fell upon Su Chen, dispelling the exhaustion and fatigue from his journey.
"The city entrance fee has gone up by another copper coin!"
After learning the new rate from the guards, Su Chen paid the entrance fee, entered the city, and headed straight home.
He washed up, ate a meal, and changed his clothes before walking toward the Government Office.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
A Governmental Constable guarding the entrance spotted Su Chen wearing a bamboo hat, stopped him, and interrogated him.
Su Chen did not speak. He simply raised the wanted poster and the bundle in his hands. Upon seeing this, the Governmental Constable’s pupils violently contracted.
His attitude immediately took a sharp turn, and he said respectfully, "Please allow me to report this."
A moment later, a man walked toward him. He was of medium build and looked slightly plump.
"May I ask, Warrior, did you capture and kill Liu Tong?" the man asked.
Su Chen nodded. Seeing this, the man quickly invited, "Please come with me, Warrior. The County Magistrate wishes to see you."
Following the man, the two walked all the way to the main hall, where the County Magistrate, Tao Wenxuan, had been waiting for quite some time.
Upon seeing Su Chen, Tao Wenxuan’s gaze immediately fell upon his hands. More accurately, it fell upon the bundle.
Su Chen did not waste time with pleasantries. He threw the bundle directly forward. A Governmental Constable immediately opened it, revealing Liu Tong’s head.
"My lord, it is the severed head of Liu Tong." After verifying it, the Governmental Constable cupped his hands and reported.
Hearing these words, the County Magistrate’s gaze toward Su Chen involuntarily shifted a little.
"Haha, you are truly formidable, Warrior. This Liu Tong has been on the wanted list for a long time, yet there was never any news of him. To think he would be slain by you. May I ask your name, Warrior?"
"Yang Guo!" Su Chen replied calmly.
"So it is Yang the Warrior. Here are fifty taels of silver. Please accept it, Warrior."
After some flattery, the County Magistrate clapped his hands, and someone immediately brought out the bounty.
Su Chen took a glance, nodded, and collected the silver taels. Under the watchful eyes of the County Magistrate and the others, he flicked his sleeves and left.
After Su Chen had gone, the County Magistrate ordered someone to put away Liu Tong’s head. He then looked at his advisor and asked, "Has such a figure recently appeared within White Stone City?"
The advisor shook his head. "I have not heard of him, my lord. Do you need me to investigate?"
"There is no need. This man killed Liu Tong single-handedly. He is by no means an ordinary person. With the current situation being so tense, it is best not to provoke him." The County Magistrate shook his head, stopping the advisor’s course of action.
Pausing for a moment, he added, "However, if there is an opportunity, we could perhaps bring him into the Imperial Court’s service."
"Understood!"
Finding a secluded spot, Su Chen removed his disguise and changed his clothes.
Upon returning home, Su Chen spent some time organizing the secret manuals.
Liu Tong’s method of encrypting the manuals was not as meticulous as Liu Heishui’s, so it was easily deciphered. However, after Su Chen practiced them once, he didn’t see any sign of new martial arts appearing on his status panel.
Thus, he flipped through the manuals again, reading them from beginning to end five times before finally noticing two places where Liu Tong had reversed the order.
After rearranging the moves correctly, Su Chen practiced them again. Immediately, two new martial arts appeared on his panel:
[Martial Arts: Iron Wire Fist (Perfection 2%), Iron Sand Palm (Perfection 2%), Ape Arm Skill (Initiation 1%), Frenzy Wave Saber Technique (Initiation 1%)]
[Easy Mode: Iron Wire Fist 0 times (10 taels of Gold/time), Iron Sand Palm 0 times (10 taels of Gold/time), Ape Arm Skill 0 times (1 tael of silver/time), Frenzy Wave Saber Technique 0 times (1 tael of silver/time)]
He calculated his acquired wealth, which amounted to a total of around one hundred and seventy taels. Then, he fell into deep thought.
"These silver taels, if used on the Iron Wire Fist or the Iron Sand Palm, are only enough to activate the Easy Mode once.
"The initiation costs for the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique and the Ape Arm Skill haven’t changed, but I just don’t know if the amount will fluctuate later on.
"If they don’t change, then choosing to upgrade the saber technique would be a good option.
"Although Liu Tong’s manual stated that the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique has strong explosive power and requires the Ape Arm Skill for support—otherwise, repeated use would cripple the arms, while simultaneously needing medicinal herbs for post-practice treatment.
"But since I have the status panel, I believe there shouldn’t be such drawbacks.
"Well, even if there are, I can just spend a dozen or so taels of silver to Krypton Gold the Ape Arm Skill.
"In that case, I will upgrade the Frenzy Wave Saber Technique first."