Chaos begins when one joins a martial arts school

Chapter 92 It’s all mine!

Once he was sure no one was paying attention, Yang Jing moved swiftly, drifting like a wisp of smoke to the foot of the courtyard wall.

He bent his knees to gather strength, then released a burst of internal energy from his feet, and his body leaped up lightly, silently vaulting over the nearly ten-foot-high courtyard wall, landing steadily inside the courtyard.

Shen Lie's courtyard was larger than he had imagined. The courtyard, paved with bluestone slabs, was spacious and clean, with several neatly trimmed pomegranate trees planted on both sides. The main house and the side rooms together had seven or eight rooms, which was equivalent to two of his own courtyards.

Yang Jing glanced at the furnishings in the courtyard and thought to himself, "This Shen Lie looks rough, but he's not exactly poor. He must have a lot of good stuff hidden away."

Once the important business is settled, I might as well take advantage of the situation and collect some interest.

He concealed his breathing, pressed himself against the wall, and slowly explored various parts of the courtyard.

He had done his research carefully and found that Shen Lie was still single and unmarried.

On weekdays, he either stays at the Poshan Martial Arts School or returns to the courtyard in Anxingfang.

The family only hired an old woman to do chores. That old woman lived in Pingyifang next door. She would come over during the day to sweep and cook, and lock the door and go home when it got dark. At night, there should only be Shen Lie in this courtyard.

However, Yang Jing was always cautious and did not act rashly.

He stayed close to the wall, his steps as light as a falling leaf, and first walked around a few side rooms.

At each window, I would listen intently for a moment, observing the sounds inside.

The rooms were all empty; not a sound of breathing or heartbeat could be heard. There was no one there.

After confirming that no one was in the side room, he slowly moved to the window of the main house.

This main room was Shen Lie's bedroom, but the candles had been extinguished, leaving only the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window.

Yang Jing held his breath, gently pressed his ear against the window frame, and listened intently.

A moment later, he frowned slightly.

The room was eerily quiet; not only could one not hear Shen Lie's heavy breathing, but even the slightest movement of breath could not be heard.

Logically speaking, even if Shen Lie is strong and can control his breathing, there should still be some subtle movement, and it is impossible for it to be so dead silent.

There are only two possibilities in this situation: either Shen Lie has noticed the intruder and is holding his breath waiting for him to appear, or Shen Lie is not in the room at all.

After a moment's thought, Yang Jing felt that the second possibility was more likely.

Just thinking about the first possibility, a picture flashed through Yang Jing's mind: Shen Lie was currently inside the room, separated from him only by a thin sheet of paper through a window.
Yang Jing felt a chill run down his spine and quickly shook his head. This was impossible.

When he sneaked into the courtyard, he deliberately pushed his Swift Wave Kick technique to its limit, so that his footsteps landed without making a sound. With the night wind also masking his presence, how could Shen Lie, with his limited skills, possibly detect his presence?

"not at home?"

To confirm, he extended his right index finger, moistened it with his saliva, and gently touched the very edge of the window paper.

The window paper wasn't very thick, and after being soaked with saliva, a small hole immediately appeared.

Yang Jing peered through the hole into the room.

A scarlet eyeball was peering out through the hole, but the scene Yang Jing had imagined—meeting his own eyes—did not materialize.

By the faint moonlight filtering through the crack in the door, one could see what was happening inside the room.

A large bed stood against the wall, its bedding neatly folded, clearly unused.

The chairs at the table were empty, and there was a teapot on the table with a dish of peanuts next to it. There was nothing else there.

The entire room was empty; there was no sign of Shen Lie.
Yang Jing frowned even more, wondering to himself, "Could it be that Shen Lie didn't go home tonight and stayed at the Poshan Martial Arts School?"
The moment this thought crossed his mind, a sense of frustration welled up inside him.

I thought I could resolve this hidden danger tonight, but I ended up empty-handed.

Judging from the situation inside, it's already this late, so Shen Lie probably won't be coming back tonight.

It's so late and there's still no sign of him; he's probably resting at the martial arts gym.

"Hmph, this kid's lucky."

Yang Jing cursed under his breath, feeling somewhat resentful.

Shen Lie rarely spends the night at Poshan Martial Arts School, but he's not home tonight, as if he's somehow escaped a calamity.

Since the person is no longer here, there's no point in keeping them.

Yang Jing suppressed his agitation and decided to retreat first.

He moved with utmost care, like a cat, huddling along the wall as he retreated towards the courtyard. Every few steps, he would stop and listen intently to make sure there were no unusual sounds around him before continuing.

When he reached the courtyard wall, he listened intently to the sounds of the streets and alleys outside. He could only hear the wind whistling past, carrying fallen leaves.

Without further hesitation, Yang Jing bent his knees, leaped over the courtyard wall, and landed silently in the alley outside.

But as soon as his feet touched the ground, he changed his mind.

"Since we're all here, wouldn't it be a waste not to wait a bit?"

Yang Jing's mind raced, and he felt somewhat unwilling.

He secretly calculated the time in his mind, "I'll wait an hour. If Shen Lie still hasn't returned, I'll give up completely and look for another opportunity another day."

Having made up his mind, he swayed and flipped back into the courtyard.

……

Meanwhile, in a dark alley in Pingyifang.

The wind whipped up withered yellow leaves, swirling them on the bluestone path and making a howling sound, which made the night seem even deeper.

At the end of the alley, a staggering figure staggered towards them; it was Shen Lie.

He had drunk quite a bit tonight; his face was flushed an unnatural red, and he was muttering incoherently.

Tonight, he invited a few close friends over for drinks. At the table, he voiced his desire to teach Yang Jing a lesson, and proceeded to berate Yang Jing for a long time, saying that he would definitely teach that kid a lesson.

The reactions at the dinner table varied.

Some people advised him that Yang Jing was no ordinary martial artist now. He ranked fourth in the military examination, was highly skilled, and had even obtained an official position. There was no need to fight him to the death; it wasn't worth it.

But most of them still strongly supported him, saying that if he wanted to take action, they should just say the word and the brothers would be there at a moment's notice! He's just a kid who's just started out, how could he possibly cause any trouble?

Shen Lie felt completely comfortable after hearing these words, so he drank even more heavily. Before he knew it, it was late at night, and he walked home somewhat drunk.

He staggered around the alleyway, getting closer and closer to his own yard, still cursing: "Yang Jing... you little bastard... wait till I... I'll break your legs..."

The wind continued to howl, tearing his drunken ramblings to shreds, which then dissipated into the night.

Although Shen Lie had drunk quite a bit, he was still a master of internal energy. When he arrived at Anxingfang, his internal energy slowly circulated within his body, which invisibly neutralized some of the effects of the alcohol, making him feel better than before.

Although his steps were unsteady, his body was still relatively stable, and his mind remained somewhat clear, though he was much slower than usual, and his eyes were somewhat vacant. He wasn't so drunk at the dinner table that evening, but the strong winds along the way caused the alcohol to seep up, his temples to throb, and he felt dizzy as if he were walking on cotton.

However, with the circulation of internal energy, the effects of the alcohol wore off quickly.

Staggering to the gate of his own yard, Shen Lie stopped and shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the dizziness.

He pulled out the key from his waist and inserted it into the lock with trembling fingers.

With a click, the lock was turned, and the courtyard gate was pushed open as I went inside.

The courtyard was quiet, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

He didn't go straight back to the main house, but instead went into the kitchen.

In the evening, I specially asked my mother-in-law to braise a chicken, thinking that I would eat it when I got back at night. Now that I was feeling a bit tipsy, I thought it would be a good snack.

A short while later, Shen Lie came out of the kitchen carrying a shiny roast chicken, humming an off-key tune as he walked unsteadily toward the main room.

"Squeak-"

He pushed open the door to the main room, and a smell of wine and meat wafted in.

Before he could even reach the table and put down the roast chicken, just as he stepped into the house, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from behind him, with the force of breaking the wind, heading straight for the back of his head!

"not good!"

Shen Lie sobered up considerably in an instant, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

Years of martial arts training made him realize the danger, but the attack came too suddenly and was faster than he could have imagined. He didn't have time to turn around and block, and could only subconsciously tilt his head sharply to try to avoid a vital spot.

"Oh!"

With a muffled thud, the fist didn't land on the back of his head, but instead slammed heavily into his back!

In that instant, Shen Lie felt a terrifying force, carrying an incomparably domineering internal energy, crash down on him like a small mountain.

The bones in my back seemed to be groaning, and a heart-wrenching pain shot through me. I flew forward like a kite with a broken string.

"puff--"

A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth and splattered on the ground.

He slammed his fist down on the octagonal table in the room. With a few sharp cracks, the sturdy table shattered into pieces from the impact, sending wood chips and teapot fragments flying all over the floor.

Behind the door, Yang Jing slowly withdrew his fist, his gaze towards Shen Lie filled with surprise and delight.

Unexpectedly, Shen Lie actually came back, saving him the trouble of coming back another time.

He had been hiding behind the door, intending to punch Shen Lie in the head the moment he pushed the door open, thus eliminating this potential threat.

Unexpectedly, Shen Lie reacted so quickly, instinctively avoiding vital points.

At the critical moment, Yang Jing changed his move, switching his punch from aiming for the head to striking the back.

Because of this last-minute change of tactics, the power of the Mountain-Crushing Fist was slightly reduced.

Otherwise, with his current strength, which combines two internal energy techniques, this sudden punch would have been enough to kill the unsuspecting Shen Lie on the spot.

Yang Jing looked at Shen Lie, who was lying on the ground struggling to lift his head, his eyes as cold as frost.

You choose not to take the path to heaven, but insist on barging into the gates of hell.

Since you're back tonight, I'll send you on your way tonight!

Yang Jing's eyes remained expressionless as he looked at Shen Lie, who was lying on the ground unable to get up, and walked over with steady steps.

Each step on the wood chips produced a slight crunching sound, but in the quiet night, it struck Shen Lie's heart like a heavy hammer.

Yang Jing clenched his right fist slightly, his inner strength quietly gathering, ready to step forward and deliver a finishing punch to completely eliminate this hidden danger.

Shen Lie lay amidst the mess, feeling as if all the bones in his body had been broken, especially his back chest, where he was struck and felt a piercing pain, as if countless steel needles were stabbing him at the same time, making even breathing a tearing pain.

He suspected that his spine had been cracked by that punch, and the slightest movement caused him to groan in pain.

But as the steady footsteps drew closer, and a chilling killing intent enveloped him like a shadow, Shen Lie felt every hair on his body stand on end, and even the excruciating pain seemed to be suppressed somewhat.

He struggled to turn his neck and lift his head with all his might. In his blurry vision, he could only see a figure dressed in black and wearing a mask. Only those eyes shone brightly in the dim light, revealing undisguised murderous intent.

"Who...who are you?" Shen Lie's voice was hoarse and broken, trembling uncontrollably. "When...when did I offend you? You want to kill me?"

At this moment, his heart was filled with terror, a fear that stemmed from his very survival instinct.

The other party was ruthless, severely injuring him with a single punch. Clearly, they were not there for money, but with the intention of killing him.

But after much thought, he realized that although he had some grudges with people in the martial arts world, he had never made such an irreconcilable enemy. Who was this person? And why did they want to kill him?
The footsteps stopped in front of him, and the dark figure looked down at him silently. Only the coldness in the figure's eyes made Shen Lie feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Yang Jing remained silent, his mask covering most of his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.

Even knowing that Shen Lie might not be able to recognize his voice and that the other was about to die, he still refused to say anything more.

Caution is ingrained in their very being; they must completely eliminate any possibility of revealing their identity.

He slowly raised his right fist, the hidden power of the Mountain-Crushing Fist condensing at the tip of his fist. The air seemed to tremble slightly from the pressure of this force, and the shadow of death had completely enveloped Shen Lie.

"Spare your life! Spare your life!"

Shen Lie felt the approaching killing intent. The excruciating pain was suppressed by his instinct for survival. He pleaded in a hoarse voice, his body trembling violently with fear, "I have no grudge against you, why do you want to take my life? Please have mercy and spare my life. I will repay you handsomely!"

He really doesn't want to die.

Just fifteen minutes ago, he was at the dinner table, gesturing wildly about how to teach Yang Jing a lesson. Little did he know that in the blink of an eye, he would become a lamb to the slaughter, his life hanging in the balance.

The despair of falling from the clouds to the abyss almost tore his reason apart.

He felt a sense of familiarity with the internal force of that punch, as if he had encountered it before. However, the intense pain and fear disrupted his thoughts, and no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't grasp that fleeting idea.

He only knew that the other party's internal strength was much more powerful and domineering than his own peak internal strength. Such strength was already top-notch in Yuhe County. When had he ever offended such a person?

Could it be an assassin hired by some enemy?
The thought flashed through Shen Lie's mind. His survival instinct made him immediately grasp at this lifeline, and he hurriedly shouted, "I have money! I have a lot of money! And treasures! As long as you let me go, all my possessions are yours. I can even write an IOU and offer you three or five times the amount in the future! I just beg you to spare my life!"

Yang Jing looked at his tearful and pathetic state and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Foolish thing.

Even if I beat you to death, all this money and treasure will naturally be mine.

His fist did not pause for a moment, still carrying overwhelming force, and fell towards Shen Lie's head.

(End of this chapter)