Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Bloody Case
In the days after breaking through to Body Tempering Perfection, Han Yuan had, for a rare change, not asked anyone to help temper his physique. The people at the County Yamen found this rather unusual.
The inner courtyard of the County Yamen was now filled with many Wooden Man Dummies.
The dummies seemed scattered about randomly, yet their placement appeared to follow a certain pattern.
After tying iron blocks to his legs and regulating his breath, Han Yuan gathered his qi and blood in his feet. His figure blurred as he executed a mysterious footwork, weaving and dodging between the Wooden Man Dummies.
The Wooden Man Dummies were arranged in an extremely dense formation. With Han Yuan’s weight and explosive power, he could easily knock them over.
Thus, he needed absolute control over his muscles’ explosive power to dodge the posts.
About ten minutes later, Han Yuan finally stopped, his head beaded with sweat.
’I finally managed to do it once.’
Han Yuan muttered to himself and called up the Skill Proficiency Panel.
Host: Han Yuan
Seven Stars Step: Uninitiated (1/100)
Arhat Iron Cloth Shirt: Perfection (Copper Skin and Iron Bones)
Thousand Falcons Blade Technique: Perfection (Breaking the Sky)
Mountain-Breaking Fist: Perfection (Divine Power)
Ever since he had formed the Copper Skin and Iron Bones ability, his physique appeared unchanged, but his weight had skyrocketed due to the increased density of his bones and muscles.
His explosive power, reaction time, and agility had all declined somewhat.
’Since I still have no leads on an Inner Breath Technique,’ Han Yuan mused, ’I should find a Body Technique to cover my weaknesses.’
And so, he paid a visit to the Li Family.
Ever since the He Family was purged and the Hong Family departed in disgrace, the Li Family had become the most powerful clan in Qingshui County.
After all, the only Body Tempering Martial Artist left among the county’s prominent families was the Li Family’s Leg Skill expert.
Han Yuan’s sudden visit that day had truly frightened the Li Family.
In Qingshui County, there was no one who didn’t fear this god of death.
The Li Family’s Body Tempering Martial Artist, in particular, was so scared upon hearing of Han Yuan’s arrival that he didn’t even dare show his face. He contemplated fleeing immediately, terrified that Han Yuan would cut him down.
In the end, only after Han Yuan went to great lengths to prove his visit was not malicious did the Li Family’s Body Tempering expert agree to meet him.
Ultimately, Han Yuan did the rare thing of paying one thousand taels of silver to acquire the Seven Stars Step Secret Manual from the Body Tempering Martial Artist.
The Seven Stars Step was a Second-Class Technique that excelled at evasion in close quarters and also included several leg-based attacks.
On the open market, it would naturally fetch a much higher price.
If it hadn’t been Han Yuan, the Li Family’s Body Tempering expert probably wouldn’t have sold it even for an offer of three thousand taels of silver.
But as things stood in Qingshui County, no one dared to refuse Han Yuan.
For the past few days, Han Yuan had been following the cultivation method for the Seven Stars Step. It took him several days, but he had finally completed it once.
Now, all that was left was to grind.
For the entire next day, Han Yuan practiced the Seven Stars Step diligently in the inner courtyard of the County Yamen, hoping to reach the Entry Stage as soon as possible.
He trained through the night, yet Han Yuan was still full of vigor.
After reaching Body Tempering Perfection, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were so abundant that he was as vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger. Going a few days without rest was no issue.
As the sun rose, Han Yuan suddenly felt his legs grow numb and tingly, as if an electric current were coursing through them. His leg muscles began to twitch.
The twitching stopped after more than ten seconds.
Seven Stars Step: Entry Stage (1/500)
"I finally reached the Entry Stage."
Han Yuan said to himself.
Information on the explosive techniques of the Seven Stars Step flooded his mind, and his control over his leg muscles felt far more refined.
He tried weaving through the Wooden Man Dummies again.
This time, he moved with ease, lacking his previous awkwardness and rigidity. His speed had also noticeably increased.
In less than ten minutes, he completed one round of cultivating the Seven Stars Step.
"The Seven Stars Step truly lives up to its name as a Second-Class Martial Art."
"With this, my problems with explosive power and agility are more or less solved."
Just as Han Yuan was about to continue cultivating...
"Chief Constable Han!"
"There’s been another incident!"
Yang Sen rushed in, his face a mask of panic.
"What is it now?"
Han Yuan frowned.
"Over twenty people are dead at the Golden Martial Arts Hall."
Yang Sen exclaimed.
"Golden Martial Arts Hall?"
Han Yuan had a vague memory of the place, and it quickly came back to him.
It was a small martial arts hall in Qingshui County. The owner, Hall Master Zhou Yang, was a Veteran Boxer who had reached Gathering Power Great Success. The hall had been open for over twenty years and was reasonably well-known locally.
"Yes... and the state of the bodies is bizarre."
Yang Sen’s voice trembled.
"Are those ghostly things making trouble again?"
Han Yuan frowned.
But he hadn’t been to the crime scene, so he couldn’t be certain.
He immediately put on his Chief Constable uniform and headed toward the Golden Martial Arts Hall.
As he was walking down the street, Han Yuan suddenly stopped and looked toward a nearby alley.
But the alley was completely empty.
He frowned, but remembering he had business to attend to, he continued toward the Golden Martial Arts Hall.
By this point, the Golden Martial Arts Hall was, as expected, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
"I heard even Hall Master Zhou is dead..."
"It hasn’t been that long since the Bloody Butcher case, and now this..."
"This is terrible. I’m going home to burn some incense and pray."
"What’s the use of burning incense and praying? You might as well hang up a portrait of Chief Constable Han."
"Makes sense!"
Hearing this chatter, Han Yuan pushed through the crowd with a strange expression on his face and entered the Golden Martial Arts Hall.
Just inside the hall was a spacious courtyard filled with things like stone locks and stone lifting-balls.
Rows of corpses were laid out neatly on the ground.
The corpses’ faces were pale, their flesh shriveled as if nothing but skin was left.
Han Yuan was startled when he saw the bodies and knelt to examine them.
The corpse he was examining had an elderly face and thick calluses on its hands. It had to be Hall Master Zhou.
Han Yuan soon discovered that the left side of Hall Master Zhou’s neck was covered in tiny, bloody puncture wounds.
Judging by their size and shape, it looked as if he had been pierced by sharp fangs.
But no normal person had fangs like that.
Han Yuan was quickly reminded of a bizarre creature from his past life.
A vampiric zombie.
"Zombies are showing up now, too?"
Han Yuan muttered to himself.
Based on the evidence, it really looked like a zombie was responsible.
He examined the other bodies and found the cause of death was identical for all of them: the blood vessels in their necks had been severed by a bite, and all their Essence Blood had been drained.
For a moment, even Han Yuan felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Killing all these people would be easy.
He could do it without breaking a sweat.
But to kill so many people this silently... that was deeply unsettling.
"Who discovered the bodies?"
Han Yuan asked in a low voice.
"It was an old man in charge of cleaning the Golden Martial Arts Hall."
"He comes to the hall early every morning to clean."
Yang Sen replied swiftly.
"Not a single survivor?"
Han Yuan’s brow furrowed.
"None... The old man has already identified them."
"Including the Hall Master, a total of twenty-six people... they’re all here."
Yang Sen sighed.
"Twenty-six people in one night... Just how savage is this creature?"
Even Han Yuan felt his heart grow heavy.
He searched the martial arts hall and the living quarters in the back again. Finding no further clues, he ordered his men to transport the bodies back to the County Yamen.
As he was leaving the Golden Martial Arts Hall, he suddenly sensed something and whipped his head around to look at a corner to his right.
The corner was empty.
"Chief Constable Han, what’s wrong?"
Yang Sen asked in confusion when he saw Han Yuan suddenly stop.
"It’s nothing..."
Han Yuan shook his head and led his men away.
A moment ago, he could have sworn a malicious gaze had landed on him.
He’d had a similar feeling on the street earlier as well.
What Han Yuan didn’t know was that after he left, a decaying figure truly did appear in that very corner.
"Such astonishing blood qi..."
"His flesh... must be so delicious..."
The decaying figure watched as Han Yuan disappeared down the street, drool dripping from its mouth.
