From a tuberculosis patient to a martial arts master

Zhu Hong dragged his legs, which felt like they were made of lead, to Huo Qianshan's corpse, squatted down, and placed his hand on the body.

The moment my palm touched it, that familiar warm current rushed in as if a floodgate had been opened.

"Um?"

Zhu Hong raised an eyebrow; something was wrong this time.

If the blood and qi I absorbed before were like a small river flowing in, this time it's like the Yellow River bursting its banks, pouring in with a "boom".

[Photography: Huo Qianshan (Martial Arts Apprentice, Novice)]

[Award: A pool of Qi and Blood]

"A pool?"

Zhu Hong was stunned for a moment. In the past, it was always "a few Gu", but this time it was "a whole pool"?

It seems that the acquisition of each major realm will be different.

The thought hadn't even finished forming in his head.

He was so happy he felt like he was floating.

The newly generated blood and energy surged through the body like a wild horse, instantly swelling and filling the muscles that had been exhausted. The tendons and bones that had been sore, numb, and weak felt as if they had been reconnected, making a cracking sound.

"hiss--"

Zhu Hong gasped, his teeth clenching so hard they cracked.

The force was so strong that it caused his muscles to bulge out, like inflating a balloon. He could clearly feel every muscle being filled and solidified.

After a while, things gradually calmed down.

Zhu Hong opened his eyes, clenched his fist and tested it, and it truly lived up to expectations.

It's just different!

He quickly assessed the situation and realized that his strength had increased by about fifty jin. In terms of sheer power, he had now completely caught up with that old bastard Huo Qianshan. If they were to fight again now, he could go toe-to-toe with him even without using the "Tiger's Might" move.

They fought to the death.

"Oh."

Zhu Hong glanced down at Huo Qianshan's unseeing eyes, curled his lip, and scoffed softly, "Thanks, you bastard." With that, he didn't bother to look at Huo Qianshan's ugly state any longer, straightened up, and patted the bloodstains off his clothes.

"The miscellaneous items in the pleasure boat"

That's it for today.

He glanced at the carnage scattered throughout the cabin, then grinned coldly: "From now on, there will be no more charitable halls on the land of Jinyang."

Right now, the only obstacle is the Jiang family hiding behind the scenes.

but……

Zhu Hong frowned slightly: "We can't rush things. We need to consider the Jiang family carefully." He thought to himself, "How things will turn out ultimately depends on the attitude of the government."

He's not a stupid idiot.

How could you recklessly plunge into a situation you're not confident about?

This time, he stormed the pleasure boat for two reasons. First, he was venting his pent-up anger and wanted to take this opportunity to vent his personal grudges. Second, he wanted to use this fierce fight to demonstrate his abilities so that he could secure a chance to speak with the authorities.

……

At this moment, the lanterns on the painted boat were still swaying.

It swayed back and forth, shaking its head like a drunkard. The river slowly washed away the blood on the bank, but what it couldn't wash away seeped into the cracks in the wooden planks. When the sun shone on it the next day, it would smell of perfume again.

"That's about it."

Zhu Hong withdrew his gaze and stepped off the pleasure boat.

It was not yet fully light.

Figures were already moving about on the bustling street, as breakfast vendors came out carrying their loads. As he walked past, the aroma wafted into his nose, and he realized he had been eating all night and his stomach was empty.

Zhu Hong took out the loose silver coins he had swindled from Ma Sanjiang and bought two sesame seed cakes.

"I wonder if Gu Shu has returned the token to Hui'er."

He chewed on a sesame seed cake as he walked towards the government office, his mind racing with what he was about to say: "How can I secure the best possible outcome later?"

……

After turning two more streets and passing through a small alley, the government office was right in front of us.

He stood at the entrance of the government office and looked up.

The door was ajar, and it was quiet inside; at this hour, most people were still asleep.

The gatekeeper leaned against the door frame, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhu Hong walked past him. The constable woke up, opened his eyes, and was stunned when he saw him. He wanted to greet him, but before he could say anything, he smelled Zhu Hong's scent and saw his blood-stained clothes. The constable's face changed immediately, and he swallowed back the words he usually used to greet him.

"morning."

Zhu Hong nodded slightly to him, then walked straight through the front yard toward Class Two.

He paused at the entrance of the courtyard.

From a distance, the light shining through the windows of Wang Zhenshan's house stood out starkly in the hazy morning light.

"It's still lit up."

Zhu Hong stood there for a while, then raised his hand and knocked on the door, "Knock, knock, knock." There was a moment of silence inside, then Wang Zhenshan's voice came through:

"Who?"

"Boss, it's me."

Inside, all was quiet again.

Then footsteps sounded, and "creak," the door opened.

Wang Zhenshan stood at the door, clutching the case file in his hand. When he saw Zhu Hong, he looked him up and down.

After looking him over, he didn't say anything.

After a long while, he finally looked away from Zhu Hong's blood-stained clothes, then pulled Zhu Hong inside and slammed the door shut.

"Are you alright, kid?"

Seeing that he was unharmed, Wang Zhenshan breathed a sigh of relief. "When Gu Shu returned the token, he told me about you." He stared into Zhu Hong's eyes and said, word by word, "He said you buried those two people and said something about 'what's borrowed will be returned sooner or later'."

He paused, then said in a deep voice:

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Zhu Hong stood there, silent for a moment. He was trying to figure out how to start the conversation, whether to simply say, "Should I scuttle the pleasure boat?"

Whether the boss believes him or not is another matter, but he'll probably be called crazy on the spot.

If we don't say it that way, how else can we say it?

After a moment's hesitation, Zhu Hong looked up at Wang Zhenshan and said, "Boss,"

"I went to the pleasure boat."

Wang Zhenshan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"I originally just wanted to ask the manager of the pleasure boat some questions."

Zhu Hong continued, "As a result, they ran into their leader, Huo Qianshan, and something unavoidable happened."

"Huo Qianshan?"

Wang Zhenshan frowned. "And then?"

Zhu Hong looked at him and said:

"Then they all died."

Wang Zhenshan paused for a moment, staring at Zhu Hong, staring into his eyes, trying to see something in them.

But he didn't see anything.

The boy's eyes were calm, as still as a stagnant pool, as if he were telling the truth.

Wang Zhenshan remained silent for a long while, then frowned and said:

"Are they all dead?"

He leaned against the edge of the table, arms crossed, looking at him with a hint of displeasure in his eyes: "Huo Qianshan is a martial arts apprentice, and you're saying he's dead?" He picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of tea, which had long since gone cold, but he didn't care. He picked it up and took a sip.

"This is not the time for you to joke around."

What exactly did they go about?

Zhu Hong knew that his words and actions were not powerful enough, so he simply walked step by step to the middle of the room, stood there, looked at Wang Zhenshan, and then put his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Wang Zhenshan's hand holding the teacup paused involuntarily.

"What are you trying to do!"

Zhu Hong smiled.

Draw the knife!

"Zheng—"

The black sword was drawn, emitting a clear and melodious dragon's roar.

A flash of light, and the blade traced a cold arc in the dim light, aimed straight for Wang Zhenshan's face.

Wang Zhenshan's pupils suddenly contracted.

In that instant, his body's instincts acted faster than his brain. He leaned back, the teacup slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground with a "crack." At the same time, he slammed his left hand on the table, and the sheathed knife on the table sprang up with a "whoosh," which he caught and held horizontally in front of him.

"clang."

The blade struck the scabbard with a dull thud.

Wang Zhenshan blocked the knife steadily, but the expression on his face froze.

"You, you son of a bitch..."

He slowly stood up, threw the knife on the table, circled Zhu Hong, looked him up and down, his gaze becoming increasingly strange. "What realm have you entered now?" He couldn't believe it and wanted to hear a definite answer from Zhu Hong.

……