Chapter 63

“One has to be cautious walking through the martial world. It’s preferable not to obtain the spirit ginseng rather than put yourself in danger. There are still other people here, let them feel him out first!” The horse-faced man’s assiduous teaching only met with a burst of contempt from the blue-clothed woman.
“The master said you have to listen to me about everything while we’re outside!” The horse-faced man also became angry. Don’t hesitate to go by yourself if you want to throw your life away, but don’t drag this daddy along with you. I’d have washed my hands off you long ago if you weren’t the master’s daughter.
He deeply felt the treacherousness of the martial world. They’d probably attract a fatal disaster even if they managed to snatch the spirit ginseng with a single moment of carelessness. This Li Qingshan should have offered this spirit ginseng out immediately if he were a smart man, otherwise he was dead for certain. No, even if he offered it out respectfully, the one who took it over would still certainly silence him for good to avoid the news leaking out and being chased by everyone.
The horse-faced man watched Li Qingshan among the group of people as if watching a dead man. He drank a mouthful of tea. Even if he couldn’t obtain the spirit ginseng, it would still be a beautiful thing to watch this kind of extremely lucky young heroic genius die inside this ruthless martial world.
Once again upstairs the restaurant where a fierce battle had been waged the previous night, Li Qingshan sat in the seat of honor and received the nobles’ terrified gazes, as well as cup after cup of fine wine. Suddenly, he stopped and watched the rippling liquid inside his cup when he was about to drink the wine.
The restaurant also quieted down following his actions. A nobleman asked cautiously, “Constable Li, is something the matter?”
Li Qingshan faintly said: “This wine is poisoned!” He casually splashed the wine on the floor, and a cloud of white smoke rose immediately. The violence of the poison was obvious to see. Moreover, this poison was colorless and tasteless, and he would have been poisoned already if he hadn’t noticed the oddness of the wine thanks to his cautiousness and his opened spiritual eyes.
That nobleman’s expression became pallid. It was him who’d filled Li Qingshan’s cup of wine just now. He hurriedly waved his hands and said, “It’s not me!”
Li Qingshan quickly stood up. The nobleman was about to yell out loud for someone to save his life when he saw Li Qingshan look at a waiter to the side: “You’re the one who the poison right?” This was almost the sensitive reaction of a bestial intuition facing a murderous hostility.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him before, he’s not a waiter here,” said a nobleman.
The waiter’s facial expression became panicked. He cried injustice in a loud voice, but suddenly saw a fist hit his way. The fist’s wind assaulted his face first before the fist even landed, oppressing him until he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t hide anymore and slipped out a short knife from within his sleeve, ruthlessly stabbing toward Li Qingshan’s underbelly.
A muffled bang echoed, accompanied by the sound of fractured bones. The waiter’s chest caved in as his corpse flew out of the building and landed on the street, his hand still tightly gripping the knife. The knife tip was bent.
Li Qingshan turned around and said as if nothing had happened: “Everyone keep drinking!” as if this couldn’t even count as an aperitif.
But who could still keep drinking!
Li Qingshan said: “Lord Ye, Dragon Gate Sect’s suzerain Yang Anzhi openly assaulted and tried to kill a government representative. Now he’s fled without leaving a trace, should we list him as a criminal and issue a call for his arrest?”
Ye Dachuan said: “Right right right, I’ll certainly mention this matter in the official documents to the lord prefect.”
“We can’t leave a den of brigands like the Dragon Gate Sect alone for long either. In the capacity of a constable, this one is willing to raze the Dragon Gate Sect and seize back Yang Anzhi. What does my lord think?”
The many nobles became terrified. The Dragon Gate Sect was probably going to follow in the Black Wind Camp’s footsteps. It was fortunate they had immediately summoned back their families’ disciples for the most part.
Ye Dachuan looked at the dark sky: “Isn’t it too late?”
Li Qingshan said: “Many thanks for the lord’s solicitude. I’ll go for a bit and come back shortly!” He might as well find something to do since the drinking was ruined. He would certainly not let off the main culprit behind all of this, the Dragon Gate Sect, and give the enemy the opportunity to recover.
Comrade Lei Feng1 once instructed us: treat comrades with the warmth of spring, treat the enemy like the cruel and unfeeling winter.
The Dragon Gate Sect was located on the Dragon Gate mountain ten miles away from the city. Li Qingshan left out of the city gates. He didn’t travel on the main avenues, but identified the Dragon Gate’s position and quickly walked in that direction in a straight line. Two black shadows followed behind as soon as he left the city gates. They weren’t that pair of apprentice brother and sister.
They were martial world people who’d found themselves in Suncheer City’s vicinity by coincidence and had accidentally heard the news about the spirit ginseng. That waiter who’d poured the poison was precisely their companion. They’d stood watch below the restaurant all along, waiting for Li Qingshan to be poisoned to death and seize the spirit ginseng before running immediately far away. If that failed, the three of them would have acted together.
They’d waited until the waiter’s dead body was thrown out, closely followed by Li Qingshan leaping out of the windows as he went straight outside the city. They’d shared a glance. “He wants to escape!” They couldn’t help but follow behind.
The distance was ten miles in a straight line, but he needed to cross over mountain ridges all along the way, so it wasn’t merely ten miles. Li Qingshan traveled in great steps, each step leaving a deep footprint behind. But he still had to slow down or stop a little when he came across gullies and ravines.
It seemed like it wasn’t for no reason that people assessed his figure as heavy and clumsy, because the [Bull Demon Strong Fist] cultivated the body and didn’t cultivate qi, so it had absolutely no ability to lighten the body and carry it with the wind. He was merely circulating his true qi to his feet out of instinct while he sped forward, to increase his speed a little.
But there was something a little special about him at this very moment. His spine twisted strangely and kept adjusting his posture as he ran, as if it was stretching his waist. His neck also twisted and turned without ceasing. He was even gasping for air in big mouthfuls and his heart beat like a drum while white mist rose from his body. It was actually the his sweat’s vapor hanging in the air.
He originally ought to be able to run without the slightest effort, but he unexpectedly seemed to be bearing the greatest of burdens. His steps were increasingly faster however. There was an increasingly lithe feeling with each step that fell down. His body bent forward and his two arms sagged down, looking like a wild humanoid beast as he ran faster and faster through the forest.
The trees neared at flying speed inside the pitch-black forest, and were left behind him just as quickly.
There was suddenly a precipitous mountain slope forty to fifty feet tall in front of him. The him from before would certainly have stopped his steps and thought about how to wind around it, or perhaps climb up.
But at this moment, he not only didn’t stop, he accelerated and charged toward the slope instead. His body lowered as soon as he reached the foot of the mountain slope, then he stamped his feet down and soared upward. His hands stretched out and grabbed two protruding rocks, then he leaped up the slow with another burst of strength.
The entire movement had flowed smoothly in one go, just like a fierce tiger climbing the mountain and crossing ridges. This style was precisely the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist]’s “Tiger Demon Mountain Climb.”
The green bull had already passed the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist] onto Li Qingshan. He had been mulling over the methods and techniques within all during the way back to Suncheer. It was indeed much easier with the accumulation from the [Bull Demon Strong Fist], and he’d quickly grasped the methods within. What he had been using and experimenting with as he ran were the three most basic styles within the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist], “Tiger Demon Spine Shift,” “Tiger Demon Waist Stretch,” and “Tiger Demon Head Bump.” Those were the basis of the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist]’s strength refining and energy flow, and the other techniques all had their foundations within.
He only understood now why the green bull had him train to a strength of one bull before he let him cultivate the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist], because its burden on the body was simply too great. If he’d cultivated the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist] from the start, he’d probably have cultivated his body into collapsing.
1. A famous figure in modern Chinese culture, he’s a communist soldier erected as a role model citizen after his death by a propaganda campaign from the communist party. Said to be unselfish,loyal etc and devoted to Mao and the party.