The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 57 Heartbeat, Dinner

rustle
With the activation of [Listen], it's like a switch being turned on naturally, and countless sounds come rushing in instantly.

The sounds of wind, playing cards, footsteps, snoring, talking, and pouring water.
Fu Juemin filtered out the superficial and noticeable noises one by one, and his perception gradually settled on the location of the side room where Li Tong was staying.

As his thoughts slowly turned like a knob, and the sound reception became increasingly precise and refined, a blurry scene seemed to unfold in Fu Juemin's mind.

The cracking of wood, the rustling of a centipede crawling through a crack in the wall, the ticking of a pocket watch, the sound of water droplets falling from a towel rack.
Countless subtle sound sources, like streaks of ink that appear and disappear, gradually outline the contours of the entire room.

Fu Juemin listened quietly, and the layout of the entire room became clearer and clearer in his mind.

He could even "see" a hardwood canopy bed on the east side of the room, with a pair of cloth shoes with multi-layered soles beside it, and a black cloth short jacket hanging on a beechwood shelf next to it. A teacup with blue-and-white porcelain base and a silver pocket watch sat on a stool.
He could "see" many things clearly, but he couldn't find Li Tong anywhere.

"Not in the room?"

Just as Fu Juemin was wondering if Li Tong had gotten up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, suddenly—

"Boom-"

A steady, powerful sound, like the beating of a drum, suddenly rang out.

Like a drop of water falling gently onto a calm surface at an incredibly slow speed, splashing up and creating ripples in concentric circles.

Li Tong's figure finally came into Fu Juemin's perception.

He lay on his side on the hardwood bed that Fu Juemin had just examined, his eyes closed, fast asleep.

Fu Juemin then "found" the sound of Li Tong's breathing.

The sound of his breathing was so long and gentle, like a breeze, that it flowed out of his nose and blended naturally into the air flowing in the room. As a result, in Fu Juemin's previous perception, Li Tong on the bed seemed to be completely non-existent.

"Boom-"

Another slow but steady heartbeat.

"wrong!"

Fu Juemin suddenly frowned.

This heartbeat is too slow!
Fu Juemin tried to count silently, and in one minute, Li Tong's heart only beat six times.

The frequency is almost only one-twentieth of that of a normal person!

"Even if a member of a powerful martial family has broken through the blood barrier and their heart and lungs are far stronger than ordinary people, their heart rate will decrease and slow down, but how could their heart rate be as low as six beats per minute?!"

Fu Juemin found it unbelievable.

After practicing blood cultivation, his heart rate also decreased, to about forty to fifty beats per minute when at rest.

Li Tong is much stronger than him, so this number would definitely be lower, but it shouldn't be this low. Is he even human?
Just as Fu Juemin was finding it unbelievable, the unusually slow heartbeat suddenly disappeared.

A strange sense of unease suddenly arose in my heart.

"Shh-"

On the second-floor terrace, Fu Juemin suddenly opened his eyes and subconsciously took a half-step back.

"Wow--"

A pot of orchids on the flower stand next to him was swept by the corner of his clothes and fell to the ground, smashing to pieces.

"Who?!"

A servant's slightly nervous voice came from behind. Fu Juemin waved his hand expressionlessly, and the servant tactfully withdrew quietly.

Fu Juemin looked down, where the area was still shrouded in the deep darkness of night, with the faint sounds of the Fu family's servants and guards making their brief nighttime liveliness emanating from the shadows.

He glanced intently in the direction of Li Tong's room, then turned and disappeared from the terrace.

What he didn't see was that Li Tong was standing in the darkness less than twenty meters away from him, his hands behind his back, looking up at his departing figure with a calm expression, seemingly lost in thought.

Back in the bedroom, the maid had already tidied up and left.

Fu Juemin stood alone in the room, lost in thought for a while, then sat down and began to assume strange postures. His body became as supple as noodles, and his movements constantly shifted within realms beyond ordinary comprehension.

At one point, his body suddenly froze, his muscles and bones taut as iron.

"Kakaka-"

With a series of fine cracking sounds like firecrackers, Fu Juemin let out a long breath and slowly relaxed his stance.

The fifth movement of the "Pharmacist Cleansing Diagram".

Finally, it's done!
The next day, at dusk.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the glass windowpanes, casting dappled light and shadow on the floor of the room.

Fu Juemin, wearing a white cotton apron, leaned back in the armchair with his eyes closed. Behind him, a thin man in his fifties was intently working on his head.

In the quiet room, the only sound was the crisp, clear snip-snip of scissors cutting through hair.

After a while, the scissors were replaced by a razor, which swished across the cheeks with a "shh" sound.
"All right."

Hearing a warm, deep male voice behind him, Fu Juemin opened his eyes. The servant immediately brought over some water and a hot towel that had been prepared beforehand, and carefully wiped the stray hairs off his neck and face.

Looking at himself in the mirror, who appeared noticeably more refreshed and neat, Fu Juemin nodded in satisfaction.

"Next time, please ask Master Song to come again."

"As long as Young Master Fu is satisfied."

The thin man in the gray cloth robe bowed to Fu Juemin, picked up his barber's box, and was led away by a servant to collect his reward.

Fu Juemin glanced at the butler, Uncle Chen, beside him, and suddenly said with a hint of helplessness, "Uncle Chen, do I really have to attend this banquet?"

"Young Master was meritorious in eliminating bandits last time, and it was also Young Master who sent someone to report the trouble on Datong Road a few days ago. County Magistrate Hu will most likely reward you in person at tonight's banquet."

The master said, "You'd better not offend him..."

"Okay, I see."

Fu Juemin waved his hand, signaling Chen Bo to take his men away.

Walking to the window and looking down, I saw my father, Fu Guosheng, getting into a car with my stepmother, Lin Wanrong, and my two younger sisters by the fountain.

Before leaving, he seemed to glance in the direction of his room one last time.

Fu Juemin shook his head, knowing that he couldn't escape this banquet tonight.

He put on his leather shoes, slipped on the vest Fu Guoping had given him, and then picked out a watch from his drawer full of Western watches—one with a face studded with fiery red diamonds—and put it on. Then, carrying his suit jacket, he walked to the mirror and looked at himself, almost unrecognizable compared to a month ago.

When the newly ordered dark blue suit jacket closed at the chest, the broad shoulders and back wrapped under the white poplin shirt, all the outward, powerful muscle lines were immediately restrained and transformed into an introverted and calm demeanor.

This makes him appear even more dashing and noble.

Like a precious ancient sword slowly sheathed in a sharkskin sheath, beneath its ornate appearance lies an unapproachable, cold sharpness.

Fu Juemin came downstairs, where a group of people were already waiting by the car.

Cao Tian and Qian Fei accompanied him. He got into the car, gave a casual greeting, and the car slowly drove out of the manor.

Hu Fulai held his banquet at his own home, which was located opposite the county government office and was also the official residence of the former county magistrate.

When Fu Juemin arrived at the location, night had already fallen.

On the street between the Hu residence and the county government building, carriages and horses rumbled, and two huge gas lamps illuminated the open space in front of the two vermilion gates as bright as day.

A series of rickshaws, horse-drawn carriages, and cars were parked in an orderly fashion on both sides of the open space, guided by the servants and gatekeepers of the Hu family.

When Cao Tian opened the car door for Fu Juemin, Fu Juemin, dressed in a sharp suit, got out of the car, attracting many curious onlookers.

The main point is that even on an occasion like today, only a small number of people can afford to come to the banquet by car; the vast majority of guests travel by horse-drawn carriage.

(End of this chapter)