Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 121 Golden Knife Martial Arts School, Ghost Market

A moment later, Qi Lianyong and the others sat down in the living room.

The two unpleasant guests were brought to the area in front of the door and left there, where fine snowflakes drifted down, covering their hair.

The two of them were dressed quite warmly, so they wouldn't get cold anytime soon.

Chu Tianshu put the cat on the table, washed his hands, found a paper cup, put in some tea leaves, and went to the hot water dispenser to make tea for everyone.

Qi Lianyong brought several people, two men and three women, the oldest appearing to be in their thirties and the youngest only in their early twenties.

Each of them exuded a sharp and capable aura, not only appearing to be quite skilled, but also likely possessing considerable experience and having blood on their hands.

However, when they looked at the cat, their expressions softened considerably.

The short-haired girl in her early twenties even took out a bag of cookies to feed the cat.

"Teacher Xiaobai, I always tell you not to run around outside of school, but this time you were dragged all the way here. Are you scared now?"

Chu Tianshu handed over the tea, and the short-haired girl took it and quickly said, "Thank you."

"So, you are the ones who lost this cat."

Chu Tianshu looked at Qi Lianyong and said, "Master Qi, this cat can actually box!"

Qi Lianyong laughed and said, "Yes, otherwise why would we call him Teacher Xiaobai?"

"I heard that this cat was left behind by a former headmaster of our Golden Knife Martial Arts School."

"That head of the teaching department had no children, so he named the cat White Eyebrow. In 1996, he cooperated with the crackdown on organized crime and sacrificed his life, leaving behind only this cat."

"The school has been keeping this cat. After 2000, everyone discovered that the cat became more and more human-like. It even understood the head of the teaching department's most proud skill of shrinking bones and splitting tendons. It could change its body shape and could also fight. It fought very skillfully."

Qi Lianyong blew on the tea leaves to open them and took a sip.

"The students who just entered the school all loved to watch him practice boxing. It was a fun way to teach, and many students called him 'teacher'."

Golden Sword Martial Arts School?

Chu Tianshu recalled that he had also heard of this martial arts school.

In the last century, the metaphysics associations of the Jianghuai region had three organizations that were most prominent and influential.

Golden Knife Martial Arts School is one of them.

They have branch schools in many places, similar to vocational schools. After selecting promising talents, they teach them more advanced martial arts skills, and they can obtain a diploma similar to a junior college diploma.

After graduation, jobs were basically assigned, so it was a semi-official organization.

Chu Tianshu asked, "Master Qi, didn't you run your own boxing gym? When did you join a martial arts school?"

"Opening my own boxing gym is certainly a good idea, but joining a martial arts school would open up a whole new world for me."

Qi Lianyong lamented, "Although my boxing gym is not worried about making a living, it can only take in so many disciples. I can't find a single one who can surpass me."

"At least, within the same timeframe, the progress should not be inferior to when I was young, but unfortunately it is not."

“At that time, the martial arts school approached me and talked to me several times. I thought that firstly, the treatment and status were good, and secondly, when I went there to teach students, it would be easier to find good apprentices.”

"I've been working there for several years now."

Chu Tianshu's heart stirred slightly: "Golden Saber Martial Arts School, there must be many experts there?"

"How do you define an expert?"

Qi Lianyong laughed, “Among ordinary people, those who have ‘seen the light’ are all experts. There are plenty of such people at the main campus, but I can still be considered an expert among them. This is all based on comparison, just for my own amusement.”

"However, our principal is a nationally recognized expert."

"He is not only skilled in martial arts, but also in perfumery, medicine preparation, tailoring, garden design, and musical instrument making. Sometimes, he can even substitute for math and physics teachers."

Qi Lianyong took a small box out of his pocket, pressed the button next to it with his thumb, and the lid of the small box opened.

There was a blue worm inside.

Chu Tianshu couldn't recall its name, but it resembled a praying mantis, though it lacked those two famous forelegs.

"These are smoke bugs, which love to smell fragrant smoke and usually stay on the openwork incense burner."

Qi Lianyong explained, "Teacher Xiaobai always likes to wander around the principal's office and get some of the spices the principal makes. Only then can he use this insect's extraordinary sense of smell to track his whereabouts."

"Otherwise, this group of thieves seems to have just happened to be passing by and committed a heist on the spur of the moment. They are all unfamiliar faces, and we might not be able to find any clues."

Chu Tianshu looked at the insect and saw that it did not possess any magical aura.

It seems to be a gifted animal, which, combined with the breeder's advanced pharmacological knowledge, allowed it to be domesticated.

This is not surprising. With the advancement of medicine today, some research labs are capable of editing biological genes.

That wasn't magic, but to those unaware of the details, its effects were no different from magic.

"These two thieves are ruthless. One looks like he practices martial arts, and the other knows magic. They are not weak."

Chu Tianshu said, "I originally planned to cripple them, interrogate them, and hand them over to the police station."

"Since you're here, I might as well hand it over to you. I've heard that all the teachers at Golden Knife Martial Arts School are certified, and they can connect with the provincial department when necessary. It's safer to leave it to you."

Qi Lianyong nodded.

At that moment, the short-haired girl turned around.

"Teacher Xiaobai said that he escaped from a large truck on the highway. There were four people on the truck: two drivers and two guards. The two guards were the ones who were watching over the goods."

Chu Tianshu looked at the white-browed cat.

The cat didn't even meow, it just made some gestures, nodding and shaking its head. How can you understand that?

The white-browed cat noticed his gaze, meowed, and let out a long, drawn-out meow.

The short-haired girl looked at Chu Tianshu in surprise: "Teacher Xiaobai is very close to Mr. Chu."

Chu Tianshu chuckled.

After the bone-shrinking variant, the name clearly had a touch of strength, but now it's just pretending to be young.

"Guarding goods?" Qi Lianyong stood up and asked, "What kind of goods? Living things, dead things, objects?"

The white-browed cat shook its head twice, then nodded.

"Are they artifacts, magical implements? A lot of them?"

Qi Lianyong's expression turned serious. "Could it be a gang that supplies goods to the ghost market for cultivators?"

Chu Tianshu's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

There's a saying in every industry about a "ghost market," or black market, which refers to a place where goods of dubious origin are traded secretly.

The ghost market for cultivators belongs to the most bloody and cruel category.

My grandfather told me that there were many evil magical artifacts in the ghost market in the last century.

Those who obtained their wealth through tomb raiding, extortion, theft, and robbery have all become relatively restrained.

The blood-red items were the newly crafted evil magical artifacts.

Human trafficking using animal-creating sorcery, organ trading through manipulation and bewitching...

The end point for many things lies in the ghost market of spiritual practitioners.

In the last two or three decades of the last century, many campaigns, which could be described as battles, were launched to crack down on the ghost market.

Chu Tianshu's grandfather's spirit was dampened not only because of his advancing age, but also because he had witnessed the battles in the Ghost Market several times.

The old man deeply abhorred those evil and heretical practices.

However, as someone who studied medicine, he could only do logistics work at most at that time.

The few combat techniques derived from medical skills, along with the miscellaneous moves he had learned in his life, were simply not enough to qualify him for such a thrilling battle.

Everyone knew that he would be more valuable if he stayed in logistics, so he stopped there out of reluctance.

That became a glorious memory he could never forget, and it also prevented him from ever trying to move forward again in his later years.

"Even if there is still a ghost market in the cultivation circle now, its scale should be far smaller than before."

Chu Tianshu's eyes showed a look of reminiscence. After a moment, he came back to his senses and looked at the two people.

Qi Lianyong strode over, flipped the burly man with the scar on his nose over, and turned him face down onto the snow.

The strong man's arms were both grabbed by Qi Lianyong and pulled behind his back like an eagle spreading its wings.

The next moment, the burly man suddenly opened his eyes, which were bloodshot, and a "clucking" sound like a falcon pecking at rocks came from his throat.

Veins quickly bulged from his neck to his face, his head was held high, and his face was flushed red, clearly indicating that he was in extreme pain.

Chu Tianshu could see that Qi Lianyong's hands were actually trembling and twisting slightly.

The force spread throughout the strong man's body, causing many of his muscles to twitch and twist.

"I only learned this set of tendon-dislocating and bone-breaking techniques from the Eagle Claw Flipping School a few years ago. Although I've only mastered it to about 40%, it's enough to make you experience all the flavors of life, from sweet and sour to bitter, spicy and salty, and to make pain, itching, numbness, and explosion all at once."

Qi Lianyong said, "Even the toughest men who can endure the most pain can't resist this kind of kung fu."

The burly man's face no longer held the ruthless look that had appeared when he attacked Chu Tianshu, the look that had been so fierce as to unleash three streaks of emerald fire.

Large tears welled up in his eyes, snot and saliva streamed down his face, and he trembled, unable to speak.

Qi Lianyong waited another three seconds before releasing his right hand.

The burly man immediately began to gasp for breath.

Before he could catch his breath, Qi Lianyong grabbed his right hand again.

"Tell me, where are you going to take our stolen cat? Why did you attack the homeowner so violently? How many accomplices do you have?"

"Tell me the truth, and I'll stop; otherwise..."

The burly man weakly cried out, "No, no, I'll tell you everything."

This person can easily use vicious weapons on others, but cannot withstand such force himself.

He poured out the story like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

It turned out that they had indeed amassed a whole truckload of goods, mostly loot from tomb raiding inland, which they intended to transport to the coast and smuggle out to supply the ghost market.

They go there once a year, and this year, on the way, they accidentally discovered a white-browed cat that was extremely intelligent. They knew that such a cat could fetch a high price if it were kept alive and sold at the ghost market.

So they secretly attacked the cat, did it, and left.

Originally, these people had a very good plan: the truck would go directly onto the highway and head straight to the coast to wait for the illegal immigrants to cross the border.

Who knew that due to the cold weather, they had been stuck in traffic on the highway multiple times in the past two days.

This time, we've been stuck in traffic for most of the day, unable to move forward or backward.

That section of the highway was two or three meters higher than the ground on both sides, and the guardrails were sturdy.

Even if you wanted to find a way to leave the highway, it wouldn't work.

The two guards on duty in the carriages felt so stuffy that they came down to get some fresh air.

The white-browed cat seized the opportunity and escaped from its cage.

They knew the cat was intelligent and perceptive; it wasn't a big deal if the cat escaped, but if it leaked information about what happened in the carriage, it would cause serious trouble.

Therefore, as soon as Chu Tianshu said that the cat belonged to a relative, the burly man couldn't wait to kill him.

As for their gang, there are five core members, four of whom are responsible for escorting the goods.

The leader maintains a mysterious style, never joining them in anything except tomb raiding, yet he knows everything about how much they sell and how much they earn each time.

"A major case!"

Qi Lianyong chuckled, "Grave robbing and smuggling, selling treasures overseas, and you're even facing murder charges, right?"

"Great! With you all taken down, I can already see another batch of banners and bonuses beckoning!"

(End of this chapter)