Becoming a Martial Saint starts with Jian Ti Quan (a type of Chinese martial art).

Chen Zhong stood in front of the wooden dummy, his aged hands tracing the deep and shallow fist marks.

Such marks can be left on hard ironwood stakes.

Two cracking sounds were heard.

It can't be wrong.

He had been the steward of the Zhao family for thirty years. He had seen the eldest young master practice boxing, the eldest young lady practice boxing, and the master practice boxing when he was young.

Not to mention the ever-changing stream of martial arts guards.

Among them are many true martial artists who possess both visible and hidden strength.

A martial artist who makes two cracking sounds knows exactly what a wooden dummy should look like after a punch.

After the family moved to Shenghai.

In this old house in Xikou, apart from Old Xu, a Ming Jin martial artist, there are no other martial artists left to guard it.

Therefore,

Among the servants in the manor, who else possesses such martial prowess?

The thought crossed my mind.

Chen Zhong suddenly remembered that he had heard noises in the courtyard yesterday.

When he arrived, he only saw that the wooden dummy's base had been moved and there were several fresh scratches on the ground.

I thought it was just one cracking sound, but today the other party cracked it twice.

One crack of bone is enough to give you a slight chance, but two cracks would be enough to take ten or twenty ordinary men by surprise.

Such a person, if placed in the past during the Great Yin Dynasty...

Two cracks in the bones and you're good enough to be a squad leader of a ten-man squad in the army.

Even now, with firearms and cannons rampant, the status of martial artists has declined.

However, even if the bones crack twice, one can still enter the relevant department and receive a share of public grain.

Therefore, it can be said that plans can't keep up with changes.

We must find this person as soon as possible.

Not to mention, it's not even clear whether the other party is actually from the manor.

Does it indicate hostility towards the Zhao family?

Thinking of this, Chen Zhong could no longer stay still and quickly gave instructions to the servant behind him.

"Go and call Old Sun, who's in charge of sweeping the backyard, over here."

The servant responded and ran off, returning shortly with a sweeping servant trotting over.

"Butler Chen, you wanted to see me?" Old Sun asked, his voice trembling as he bent over.

The master family has settled in Shenghai, and the current head of the old house in Xikou is Steward Chen.

Butler Chen is usually kind to people, but he is very strict and ruthless when it comes to anyone who breaks the rules.

"Do you know who has entered this courtyard in the last two days and used these stone locks and wooden dummy stakes?"

Chen Zhong pointed to the stone lock and wooden dummy on the ground and asked.

Upon hearing this, Old Sun's heart skipped a beat.

Is Steward Chen here to interrogate me today?

Judging from this, if we were to expose Xiao Fang...

Butler Chen wouldn't kick the Fang father and son out, would he?

They've known each other for years, so Old Sun hesitated for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and asked:

"Butler Chen, these items are damaged. Do you want to pursue this matter?"

The training ground in the backyard was built by the young lady herself before she went to Shenghai to study.

He once said that if it was empty, the servants in the mansion could also use it.

I'm not talking about mastering martial arts; I'm just treating it as physical training.

At the time, the master did not object.

"Um?"

Chen Zhong frowned.

He had been the steward of the Zhao family for thirty years, and he could read the minds of his subordinates with his eyes closed.

Old Sun's words, ostensibly asking whether the damaged items should be investigated, were actually an attempt to exonerate someone.

The young lady had established a rule that allowed the servants in the manor to use the items, and even if the items were to break, the person who used them could not be entirely blamed.

"This wooden dummy is meant to be used for training; if it gets damaged, just replace it with a new one."

Chen Zhong waved his hand, ignoring Old Sun's little scheme.

"I'm not trying to find out who broke the things. Just tell me who came here in the last two days."

Old Sun breathed a sigh of relief, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out as he carefully said:

"Steward, the only person who has come to this courtyard these past two days is Old Fang's son, Xiao Fang. He came very early this morning and just left not long ago."

"Fang Shuwen?"

Chen Zhong blurted it out, then paused to his own surprise.

He had just mentally reviewed the names of all the young men in the manor, including even the menial servants.

The only thing I didn't think about was Lao Fang's son.

Old Fang worked as a gatekeeper at the Zhao residence for over a decade. He was an honest and unassuming man who always bowed to everyone he met.

He spent all the money he earned from hard work on his good-for-nothing son.

They spent a huge sum of money to send him to a public high school.

They were hoping that Xiao Fang would study hard, make a name for himself, and become a cadre.

But apart from Lao Fang, everyone knows that Xiao Fang is completely unreliable.

He's all talk and no action; his mind isn't on studying at all.

He failed six out of seven subjects, and only barely passed physical education.

Xiao Fang was even more frail, with narrow shoulders and thin legs; he was clearly not cut out for martial arts.

He's neither good at academics nor martial arts, and he's also lazy and irresponsible, showing no ambition.

If this happened in someone else's home, they would have been beaten countless times by now.

Only Lao Fang would believe that Xiao Fang will definitely amount to something in the future.

So, could the person who made those two cracking sounds be Xiao Fang?

For a moment, Chen Zhong began to have doubts.

It took him a while to come to his senses.

"Old Sun, don't tell anyone about this. Let me know immediately when Xiao Fang comes again."

Old Sun nodded hurriedly in agreement, but his heart was pounding with apprehension.

Butler Chen's attitude was neither like he was going to punish someone nor like he was going to reward someone; rather, it seemed like he was holding back some important matter.

But as a servant who was only responsible for sweeping and cleaning, he dared not ask too many questions about his master's affairs, and bowed as he retreated.

.......

Meanwhile, on the other side...

After having lunch, Fang Shuwen went out.

After passing through the alley outside the back door and turning a corner, we arrived at the front street.

He wasn't in a hurry to set up his chess stall on East Street today.

With the dozen or so silver dollars he had taken from Liu Mang in his pocket, plus the few he had saved up before, he was much better off than before.

But we need this money for the start of the school year, so we can't buy the Mysterious Jade for the time being.

We'll figure out how to make money after things stabilize after the semester starts.

Now, he has one more small matter to attend to.

Fang Shuwen raised his hand and touched his hair.

A few days ago, the original owner was knocked unconscious by a punch at a temple fair, and then spent several days recuperating at home, not having time to take care of himself at all.

His hair was so long it covered his ears, and there was a big, messy clump on the back of his neck. He looked no different from a beggar on the street.

I'm going to school the day after tomorrow, so I need to get myself ready.

There is an old barbershop called Lao Qi on the front street.

The shop owner's surname is Qi, and he is known as Uncle Qi.

The shop has been in this area for over twenty years, with excellent craftsmanship and reasonable prices.

The original owner had been getting her hair cut at Uncle Qi's shop since she was a child.

A short while later, Fang Shuwen arrived at Lao Qi's barbershop.

A mirror, about half a person's height, hangs by the door, its surface polished to a shine.

The door was open, the bamboo curtain was half rolled up, and the sound of scissors snip and a gruff laugh could be heard from inside.

Fang Shuwen lifted the curtain and went inside.

........

the other side,

"Police are conducting an investigation. Everyone, make way! If you don't move aside, you will be arrested as suspects!"

Along the Qingshui River, a dozen or so police officers in black uniforms and carrying batons lined up along the riverbank, pushing the crowd of onlookers back.

Two thick hemp ropes were strung up on the riverbank to demarcate the crime scene.

In the center of the open space.

The two bodies had just been pulled from the river and were laid out on the pebbles on the riverbank.

A tall, thin man with tattoos on his neck, a large section of his chest sunken down, and several broken ribs. Judging from the shape of the wounds, he had been smashed by a fist.

The other body was sturdy, with its neck twisted unnaturally to one side; it had been broken.

Just then, the group hurriedly walked to the blockade line.

The man at the head of the group, a middle-aged man in a black trench coat, showed the police his blue-covered badge.

The latter immediately bowed respectfully and stepped aside to let the person in.

"Is this Liu Mang? Are you sure he was the one who picked up that item in the end?"

Lin Xiu covered his nose with a white handkerchief, frowned as he looked at the two nearly bloated corpses, and asked.

"Three people have been ruled out. Including this person, there are still two people left."

"That scale was either taken by this person or by Zheng Gong's granddaughter."