with it. He hid his tracks along the way and arrived at the inn quietly.
Now that Qin Bo had been killed, keeping this girl, Fei Yao, would be a nuisance.
If he didn't deal with it soon, once she spread the word and Jingtao Sect sent someone over, he'd probably have to find another place and change his name, which would be too much trouble.
Beiye City is located on the border, and many centralized dynastic systems are difficult to implement here. This is why household registration transactions can be openly carried out in the brokerage industry.
In other places, if you want to use money to pave the way, you'd have to have connections in the upper echelons.
...
...
"Brother, why haven't you come back yet?"
Fei Yao, who was sitting at the table, dazed, straightened up and muttered.
Qin Bo said he was going to visit the martial artist who had occupied his ancestral home again and told her not to wander around and wait for him to return, but a whole day had already passed.
She slowly stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open, hoping to see what was happening outside.
Before she could react, a large face suddenly appeared before her, so close, barely three inches away, that Fei Yao could even clearly sense its breath.
She instinctively wanted to scream, but a massive hand swooped down like lightning, firmly covering her mouth.
Then, a heavy, muffled thud echoed from behind her head, followed by a sharp pain. She blacked out, and lost consciousness.
Xu Yunfan glanced at the bloodstains on the hammer, then saw the back of Fei Yao's head had been crushed by the blow, completely silent.
He silently entered the room, surveyed the room, and finally found a martial arts manual from among their belongings.
"Shocking Wave Palm,"
Xu Yunfan observed the three flamboyant characters on the cover, his eyes flashing with surprise. This was his first time using equipment to kill someone, and he didn't hesitate.
He carried the two men's bags in one hand and Fei Yao's body in the other, nimbly climbing out the window once more.
The night was pitch black, and all was silent. His hunting skills allowed him to move silently and swiftly, unhindered, back to Qinghe Courtyard.
Xu Yunfan found nothing of value on Fei Yao, save for a bag of gold leaves from her bag.
With his experience dealing with Qin Bo, he handled Fei Yao's body with deftness. He tied several heavy rocks to her body and lowered it into the Qingshui River, following a pre-dug sewer. The fish and shrimp at the bottom would naturally conceal his tracks. He
then gathered the two men's clothing and burned them.
After completing this, Xu Yunfan straightened himself, clapped his hands, and scooped several buckets of water from a nearby well. He rinsed himself thoroughly before entering the house.
He gently placed the wooden sculpture of the Bodhisattva of Power, wrapped in coarse cloth, on the table.
As for the Shocking Wave Palm, he glanced briefly over it, discovering it was a technique for strengthening the tendons. He then put it aside for now, intending to study it in depth once he had mastered the Flying Leg technique.
In the flickering candlelight, the shadow of the wooden sculpture cast on the wall seemed magnified dozens of times, nearly enveloping half the room.
As the candlelight flickered, the shadow of the Bodhisattva of Power seemed to animate, distorting and shifting in a terrifying way.
Xu Yunfan's expression remained calm, without a trace of fear.
He slowly formed the Lin character mudra with his hands before his chest, silently chanting the Shangshan Ruoshui mantra.
Gradually, as time passed, his mind was drawn by the lingering text, entering a strange state of emptiness.
Deep in his mind, the figure he had painstakingly crafted was now clearer than ever.
While the facial features remained blurry, the figure and the edges of his clothing gradually took shape.
As Xu Yunfan closed his eyes and chanted, the three faces of the wooden statue of the Bodhisattva before him, illuminated by the dim candlelight, became increasingly eerie and sinister.
In the shadows, imperceptible to the naked eye, Xu Yunfan faintly heard roars. The sound was vast and majestic, like rolling thunder, shaking his spiritual world.
However, the statue conjured by the Lin character spell remained like a stabilizing force within his sea of consciousness, firmly anchored within it.
No matter how many external shocks and impacts there were, they were like a gentle breeze across a lake, unable to stir a single ripple.
"You've been entangled by an ominous aura."
"You were practicing the Lin character spell and unexpectedly discovered that it could absorb ominous auras. You felt your spirit become stronger, and your proficiency in the Lin character spell improved."
"You chanted the Supreme Goodness Like Water mantra, cleansing the ominous aura lingering around you. It consumed a great deal of energy, but in return, you felt your spirit visibly become more resilient, and your proficiency in the Lin character spell improved."
"..."
Half an hour later, Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were filled with fatigue, but deep within them, an irrepressible excitement shone.
This was the first time since he began practicing the Lin character spell that he had surpassed the one-hour mark.
He cast his gaze upon the statue of the Bodhisattva of Power Awakening on his desk, realizing that it was this wooden sculpture that had nearly doubled his practice time.
Normally, practicing for around half an hour would have left him mentally exhausted, but today, he had forged ahead to the one-hour mark.
"Hmm?"
Xu Yunfan suddenly noticed a fine crack on the wooden sculpture on the table.
"Is it caused by my own practice of the Lin character formula?"
Xu Yunfan pondered inwardly, vaguely understanding the reason.
This wooden statue of the Bodhisattva of Power and Awakening clearly not only lingered with an ominous aura, but also possessed a mystical quality he could not detect. He even speculated that the sculpture might be inhabited by a spirit.
"Jiyun Mountain, Thousand Buddha Temple, I must visit if I get a chance. I might find something unexpected."
With this thought in mind, Xu Yunfan could no longer hold on. He walked straight to the bed, rolled over in it, and fell into a deep sleep.
On the table opposite the bed, the statue of the Bodhisattva of Power and Awakening sat quietly in the center.
Illuminated by the candlelight, the shadows that had originally occupied half the room had now visibly receded. Even the sinister and eerie aura on the three-headed face had dissipated slightly.
The next morning, sunlight filtered through the window, spilling onto Qinghe Courtyard.
Xu Yunfan had already eaten several large bowls of noodles at the morning market. Now he stood in the courtyard, wearing only a pair of shorts, revealing an extremely muscular body, with muscles bulging like mountains and clearly defined.
His Speedy Legs still had thirty more points of proficiency to reach mastery, and today was the perfect time for that to happen.
He took a deep breath and tensed all his muscles.
From the outside, one could see that the muscles all over Xu Yunfan's body were like surging waves, constantly rising and falling, full of power.
Immediately, he bent over slightly, lowered his body slightly, and slowly gathered strength in his legs.
At this time, one could clearly see that the muscles in his legs were like taut steel cables, each one distinct and stretched straight, and each muscle was accumulating amazing power.
"Buzz!"
The big tendons bounced, making a loud noise, as if a thunderbolt string suddenly exploded in the yard, and then, the humming sound of breaking wind was even more resounding.
As a light-body kung fu, Scud does not have any offensive moves. After practicing it, it is best at long-distance attacks and long endurance.
(end of this chapter)