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

The headquarters of the Wild Wolf Gang in the northern district of Xikou County.

The gang leader, Wang Yue, sat in a grand chair, with a row of photos on the mahogany table in front of him.

The black-and-white photo wasn't very clear, but you could still see the horrific state of the three corpses.

His chest was sunken, and almost all of his ribs were broken.

Judging from the size of the wounds and the way the force was applied, it is clear that these people were all killed by the same person.

Seeing these wounds, he thought of his younger brother.

That's how they died.

Could the killer be the same person?

"What are you trying to say?"

Wang Yue was in his early forties, with a burly build and a square face bearing a scar that ran diagonally from his eyebrow to his jaw, a mark left from a territorial dispute in his younger days.

At that moment, he was just a hair's breadth away from losing one of his eyes.

Wang Yue pushed the photo onto the table and coldly looked at Ding Hongzhi standing opposite him.

"You're Commissioner Ding, right? You came all this way just to show me this?"

Ding Hongzhi smiled, took out a brown paper envelope from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Wang Yue.

He scoffed inwardly.

If he didn't still need this person, he would have already had the police shut down this Wild Wolf Gang based on their attitude alone.

"Chief Wang, our investigation team has found some clues about the death of your younger brother, Wang Hu."

Wang Yue's eye twitched.

really!

The main event is about to begin.

Wang Hu was his younger brother, a top-ranking member of the Wild Wolf Gang, and a master of the "three-crack bone" technique.

The person and their goods disappeared more than ten days ago, and even the bodies have not been found.

He sent people to investigate for half a month, but all they knew was that his brother was last seen in an abandoned river bend downstream of the Qingshui River; there were no other clues.

Now the investigation team has come knocking, saying they've found a lead?

"What clue?"

Ding Hongzhi did not answer directly, but instead took a piece of paper from the envelope, unfolded it, and placed it on the table.

Only one name was written on it.

Fang Shuwen.

"Chief Wang probably doesn't know this person."

Ding Hongzhi tapped the three characters "Fang Shuwen" with his finger.

If we want to investigate the cause of your brother's death, he might know some clues, who knows?

Wang Yue withdrew his gaze and looked at Ding Hongzhi with disdain.

"A student? My brother's bones cracked three times, could he really kill him?"

"Of course we can't kill just an ordinary student."

Ding Hongzhi withdrew his hand, leaned back in his chair, and spoke in a calm and unhurried tone.

"But what if he has someone backing him?"

........

Seven or eight days passed in the blink of an eye.

A new month has arrived.

When the school bell rang, Fang Shuwen stuffed his textbooks into his schoolbag, got up, and walked out.

"Fang Shuwen, why are you walking so fast today?"

Zheng Shulan called out from behind.

He didn't turn around, just waved his hand and said, "I have to go now."

Today is the day the magical jade from the National Martial Arts Hall arrives.

When he went there last month, the old man at the counter told him to come back at the beginning of next month, which is today.

Fang Shuwen left the school gate, quickened his pace, and turned into East Street.

The East Street was even more bustling in the evening than during the day, with food stalls lined up one after another, the smell of cooking oil mixed with the shouts of vendors filling the street.

He made his way through the crowd and soon arrived at the martial arts hall.

Push open the heavy copper-framed glass door of the martial arts hall.

The lobby was much busier than the last time I came, with queues at several windows.

He walked straight to the window for exchanging supplies, and before he even got there, he saw more than a dozen people lined up in front of the counter.

By the time it was Fang Shuwen's turn, it was almost dark.

"Sir, I came here last month, and you said you would have stock at the beginning of this month."

Fang Shuwen knocked on the counter.

The old man raised his eyelids and glanced at him, took off his reading glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and said slowly:

"It's you. I remember you. Your name is on the register."

"Yes, my surname is Fang."

The old man turned around, took a wooden box from the cabinet behind him, placed it on the counter, and opened it.

Inside the box lay more than a dozen strange jade pieces, varying in color and size.

The top piece had a faint bluish-green hue, which was not very clear under the oil lamp.

"A batch just arrived today, ordinary rare jade, forty yuan each, limited to two per person."

"Purchase restrictions?"

Fang Shuwen frowned: "There were no purchase restrictions last month."

"Last month was last month." The old man pushed the wooden box towards him.

"That's the rule for this month, buy it or don't."

Fang Shuwen glanced at the old man but said nothing more.

Two pieces are fine, it's better than nothing.

He picked out these two pieces and pushed them in front of the old man.

"Just these two pieces."

The old man glanced at it, said nothing, closed the wooden box, and put it away.

Fang Shuwen took out his money pouch from his pocket, counted out eighty silver dollars, and placed them on the counter.

Fang Shuwen took the cloth bag, but instead of leaving immediately, he put it in his pocket and asked another question:

"Old man, is this all the strange jade you get each month? What can two pieces do with that?"

The old man was keeping his head down when he heard this, so he raised his eyelids and glanced at him.

"You think it's not enough? Go hunt monsters then."

Fang Shuwen was taken aback: "Hunting demons?"

"It's posted on the National Martial Arts Academy's bounty board: kill evil spirits and bring back their corpses to exchange for Ghost Jade. The more you kill, the more you can exchange; there's no limit."

The old man put down his pen, took off his reading glasses, and wiped them.

"Since you also possess the strength of the Ming Jin realm, if you want more Guiyu (mysterious jade), go hunt demons."

Fang Shuwen looked in the direction the old man was pointing.

Several notices were indeed posted on the wanted poster board in the corner of the hall, in red paper with black lettering.

The top one reads, "An unidentified body was found downstream of the Qingshui River."

There are a few more below, but the text is small and not very clear.

He walked over and stood in front of the bulletin board to look at it carefully.

On the far left was a yellowed notice, the edges of which were curled up. It read:

"Reward: A demon resembling a giant dog has been appearing in the Qinglang Mountain area, thirty li south of the city, and attacks people at night. Anyone who can kill it will be rewarded with one hundred silver dollars. Those who accept the reward must register at the National Martial Arts Academy and must be at least at the Ming Jin level."

There are several other pictures next to it, some for finding people, some for finding items, but only this one is for hunting demons.

Fang Shuwen read through the notice from beginning to end, and began to make plans in his mind.

Three pieces of mysterious jade, plus one hundred silver dollars.

Fang Shuwen stood in front of the bulletin board and read the yellowed notice over and over again.

"Shaped like a giant dog, it attacks people in the middle of the night..."

He muttered to himself, his mind starting to make plans.

One hundred silver dollars sounds like a lot, but what really moved him wasn't the money, but what the old man said.

Bringing back the corpses of demons and monsters can be exchanged for Ghost Jade, and there's no limit to the number you can buy.

The National Martial Arts Academy now limits purchases to ordinary people, but it provides unlimited supplies to martial artists who can kill evil spirits.

So, should he go hunt demons now?

At that moment, a thought flashed through Fang Shuwen's mind.

Can you also gain skill points by defeating strange and evil creatures?

If it is possible, then it means...

Can he make money from both sides?

Fang Shuwen memorized every word on the notice, then turned and returned to the counter.

I've made up my mind to give it a try.