Chapter 1 The Whispering Wind

Hoo~

In the caress of the night breeze, An Qisheng drifted down into the courtyard.

His body rose and fell, darting between the artificial hills.

Over the past few months, with the aid of herbs and pills, he had made considerable progress in both his physical body and inner force. With each rise and fall, ordinary people couldn't even catch a glimpse of his shadow.

With a few leaps and shifts, he gradually approached the backyard.

But here, An Qisheng stopped.

Because outside this courtyard, there were unexpectedly many guards and servants.

"Just a local tyrant in a small county town, yet he employs so many guards and servants? And they all seem to know martial arts..."

An Qisheng frowned, realizing things weren't so simple.

Nanliang County was just one of the ninety-seven counties under Ronghua Prefecture, and although the Zhao family was called gentry, they were just local tyrants.

It would be normal to employ some servants and guards, but at a glance, An Qisheng noticed that dozens of these guards and servants possessed inner force!

This was no simple matter.

Although the Jiu Floating World was extremely martial, not everyone practiced martial arts. In fact, it was good if one out of twenty or thirty people practiced martial arts. For ordinary families, just eating was a problem, where would they get extra money to support a martial artist?

Moreover, the Jiu Floating World had extremely strict views on lineage. Internal martial arts were always passed down to men, not women. Disciples of other surnames often had to work like horses for a lifetime before learning inner force with a trick or two held back.

But that was only for easier exploitation, not for inheritance.

Dozens of servants with inner force required no small amount of meat every day, plus medicine and other miscellaneous expenses. How could a mere local tyrant afford it?

Not to mention, he also had a son sent to a major sect to learn martial arts.

Sects were not charities, they wouldn't just let you learn martial arts for nothing. The Twelve Linked Fortresses were known for their ferocity, and it would take a lot of money to get in touch with them.

"This is interesting..."

An Qisheng's eyes flashed.

The patrolling servants and guards were very vigilant. If An Qisheng didn't want to force his way in, he couldn't easily sneak in.

But the night was long, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Sitting in the shadow of the artificial hill, he multitasked, looking for opportunities while simultaneously running the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound method, beginning to cleanse his bone marrow and internal organs.

The more he practiced, the more An Qisheng realized that inner force and internal martial arts were a perfect match.

Methods like the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound, when combined with inner force, had a much stronger effect on cleansing the body than either did alone.

In just two months, he had almost cultivated his inner force into his bone marrow.

This was something that Old Daoist Wang Quan hadn't achieved in seventy years of hard work!

This only goes to show that direction is greater than choice. Counting on your fingers for a lifetime can't compare to a day of using an abacus, or a second of artificial intelligence.

Hoo hoo~

As the night wind howled, time passed, and soon it was past midnight.

The red moon still hung high, but dark clouds obscured part of its light.

Large patches of shadow fell, shrouding the entire Zhao family in darkness.

"Who's there?"

The patrol team passed by. The guard at the end suddenly felt alert, but when he turned his head, he found nothing.

"What's wrong?"

Someone asked.

"No, nothing. The wind is a bit strong, I thought someone had come in."

The guard shook his head.

"Don't be paranoid. Today, the young master was killed, and the madam is in a bad mood, so don't shout."

The guard in front warned him and turned back.

"Maybe I'm just thinking too much..."

The guard turned his head.

None of the guards noticed that behind him, a person was hidden in the shadows, almost touching him.

At this time, An Qisheng's heartbeat, blood, breathing, pulse, skin temperature, and even all his physiological characteristics had almost disappeared.

To stick so close to someone without being discovered, how dangerous was that?

But An Qisheng did it, and he succeeded.

Hoo~

As he turned away, An Qisheng moved, rising and falling, darting out several yards, and stepping into the inner courtyard in the shadows.

"Woof~"

As he darted into the inner courtyard, a low whimper seemed about to sound.

Without looking, An Qisheng stepped forward lightly, opening and closing his five fingers, grabbing the wolfhound's mouth and nose, and releasing his inner force, knocking it unconscious. He carefully placed it in the flower bushes.

He glanced around.

The inner courtyard was small and exquisite, with various elegant decorations. The only flaw was that white lanterns were hung in the courtyard.

Faintly, there were also sounds of uncontrollable weeping.

In the night wind, it was somewhat desolate.

Hoo~

An Qisheng was like a night-walking cat, making no sound with his feet. Even when stepping on fragile fallen leaves, he wouldn't make a sound.

In a few breaths, he had passed through the inner courtyard and arrived outside the room from which the crying sounds were coming.

Following the crack in the window, he concentrated and looked in.

Inside the room was a mourning hall.

White paper decorations, dim candlelight, an old woman was crying in front of the mourning hall.

In front of her, an old man in a black silk robe was kneeling on the ground, trembling.

"Old steward, you've been with my Zhao family for more than thirty years, haven't you?"

The old woman said, wiping away her tears.

"Replying to Madam, thirty-seven years and six months."

The old steward's voice trembled.

"For more than thirty years, don't you know Du'er's temper..."

A low sigh came from behind the mourning hall, and the old steward trembled even more:

"Old, Master, this old servant didn't know, didn't know that the young master would be so impulsive..."

He felt despair and trembled in his heart.

Zhao Qiandu acted so quickly that he didn't even have time to explain before he disappeared. Who would have thought that in less than half an hour, he, with his internal refinement strength, would die in the south of the city.

From behind the shadows of the mourning hall, a stern-faced old man slowly walked out.

"Zhao Hongxuan? He's not dead? How did they fool the Six Doors?"

Outside the window, An Qisheng was surprised.

When he first arrived in Nanliang City, he heard Wang Bai and Wei Yu talking about Zhao Hongxuan's death.

He had wondered why the Zhao family hadn't held a funeral yet, so it turned out he hadn't died either?

What does this old fox want to do?

What conspiracy is he plotting?

An Qisheng pondered in his heart. In the room, Zhao Hongxuan had already arrived in front of the mourning hall.

He stroked the red coffin with one hand, his cold eyes falling on the old steward:

"The young master also needs someone to serve him underground. The maids and servants who have served Du'er since childhood have all gone. You watched the young master grow up since he was little, if you're missing, the young master won't be happy..."

"Old, Master... Take care of yourself!"

The old steward shed tears and trembled uncontrollably. Finally, under the old man's cold gaze, he struck his own forehead with his palm.

Bang~

Blood splattered, his head hitting the ground.

He remained kneeling even in death.

"The pitiful often have hateful aspects."

An Qisheng watched coldly, finally understanding why Zhao Qiandu was so fierce.

With such a father, how could the son learn to be good?

"My son, my son..."

Zhao Hongxuan stroked the coffin, a trace of grief appearing on his face.

Whoosh!

The old woman suddenly stood up, her face pale and her eyes filled with resentment: "Zhao Hongxuan, it's all your idea that killed Du'er!"

"Du'er..."

Zhao Hongxuan sighed softly, his expression extremely sad:

"It's all Dad's fault, it's all Dad's fault..."

He never dreamed that his feigned death to deceive the Six Doors would lead to his son's tragic death in the south of the city.

"Zhao Hongxuan, my son is dead, my son is dead!"

The old woman's voice was cold and her body trembled:

"You have two sons, I only have this one son, I only have this one son!"

Zhao Hongxuan turned around, a murderous aura faintly visible on his face:

"Du'er is also my son, do you think I wanted him to die?!"

"Hahaha! Who knows if you deliberately wanted to kill my son so that the son of that little bitch could inherit the family business!"

The old woman's crying sounded like the screeching of a night hawk:

"The people from the Six Doors said that it was Kong San who killed Du'er, the Kong San you cooperated with!"

"Zhao Hongxuan cooperated with Kong San? I see... Kong San is quick, ruthless, and accurate, leaving no clues behind. So it turns out that someone betrayed information to him..."

An Qisheng's eyes flickered, and he suddenly understood.

The Extreme God Sect was located tens of thousands of miles to the far east. Kong San, who had lived in the Extreme God Sect since he was a child, could not possibly know what experts were near Nanliang County, tens of thousands of miles away.

Even if he wanted to inquire, he would inevitably leave traces.

But the Six Doors had not been able to find Kong San's shadow for months, it turned out that there was an insider providing information.

"Shut up!"

Zhao Hongxuan's expression changed drastically. With a flash, he slapped the old woman to the ground:

"If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will kill you with one palm!"

"Pfft!"

The old woman spat out blood, half of her face swelling up, but her eyes became even more resentful:

"Zhao, you are devoid of conscience, you even kill your own son, you will not die well!"

"Get out! You crazy woman!"

Zhao Hongxuan kicked the old woman to the ground, his face extremely gloomy:

"You think I contacted Kong San to kill my own son? Are you crazy or am I crazy?!"

"Hahaha."

The old woman laughed miserably: "Zhao Hongxuan, you're guilty, you're guilty. If you didn't send Kong San to kill Du'er, in this Nanliang City, including you, who can kill my son?

The people from the Six Doors? Or Wang Quan, that old dying bastard?"

Zhao Hongxuan's face was livid. If it weren't for being in his son's mourning hall, he would have killed this mad woman with one palm.

At the same time, he felt a little panicked in his heart.

He was very clear that no one in Nanliang County, including the other counties, could kill Zhao Qiandu.

But if Kong San did it...

"No! Impossible! It's definitely not Kong San who killed Du'er! Kong San has important things to do now, he can't go out, let alone kill people, let alone come and kill my son!"

Zhao Hongxuan's chest rose and fell, murderous intent erupting on his face:

"That old thing is lying, yes! It must be that old thing Wang Quan who is lying! I will go and capture that old thing and have him buried with my son!"

Bang!

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the night wind poured in, blowing incense ash and paper decorations everywhere.

"Who's there?"

Zhao Hongxuan's expression changed drastically.

"You don't need to go..."

Under the red moonlight, An Qisheng's shadow stretched long:

"I'm here!"