Xu Qi An stood up at the observation deck, leaning on the railing and squinting as he scrutinized the man on the stage.
He was certain that he didn’t know this boisterous fellow, nor did he recall having any enemies at the Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm.
Enemies don’t appear without reason, I just can’t remember… Xu Qi An rubbed his chin, pondering potential adversaries.
In terms of personal conduct, he had always adhered to the principle of being kind to others and winning them over with virtue.
As an official, he upheld the creed of being upright and incorruptible, serving the country and the people.
Such a good person shouldn’t have enemies.
Noble Consort Chen is a cunning woman. If she wanted revenge on me, she’d choose assassination, not cause such a commotion… As for the court officials, although many factions would love to see me dead, this situation doesn’t fit the style of scholars…
“He’s scared.”
“Of course, that’s a master of the Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm. With his small frame, one punch would finish him.”
“This is why these privileged brats who rely on their ancestors’ glory might strut around the capital, but when they face a real expert, they’re nothing.”
Xu Qi An’s “hesitation” was seen as cowardice and timidity in the eyes of the young martial artists at the nearby table.
The young martial artists were suddenly elated. Their psychology at this moment was like taking a 90-point beauty to a nightclub, only for a rich young master to show up midway and shout: “Tonight’s bill is on me!”
The 90-point beauty, impressed by the young master’s extravagance, turns to him instead… But just then, a thunderous sound comes from the sky, and the real big shot descends, slapping the young master and saying:
“You’re not worthy!”
Although it wasn’t the young martial artists doing the slapping, it was still satisfying to see a pampered official’s son being humiliated and losing face, hitting their sweet spot.
Thinking of this, they all turned to look at Miss Rong Rong, hoping to see disappointment in her eyes, to see the image of a privileged son losing his moment of glory.
Then they would remember that they were the ones with potential, and she would turn to them instead.
Miss Rong Rong’s level was not as shallow as the young martial artists thought. She showed a caring look, even though that handsome but otherwise useless Silver Gong had his back to her.
At this moment, Xu Qi An turned around, one hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, and said, “This official will go and meet him.”
“Ah!”
Miss Rong Rong suddenly moved closer, tugging at Xu Qi An’s arm. Before he could frown, she let go, smiling apologetically, “Why bother with a mere martial arts ruffian?”
Xu Qi An ignored her, shaking his head as he went downstairs.
“Even if your background is impressive, you should at least find some backup. Going up like this, aren’t you just asking to be beaten?” Miss Rong Rong muttered.
Leaving the tavern, Xu Qi An walked towards the stage, his thumb lightly flicking out a thread of energy.
The Bronze Skin Iron Bones man, as well as the martial artists in the crowd, immediately sensed it and turned to look. Upon seeing Xu Qi An’s Silver Gong uniform, they understood.
The main character had arrived.
They consciously stepped aside.
The spectating commoners didn’t have such awareness and still crowded around.
“Get out of the way!”
Xu Qi An grabbed a man in cloth clothes and kicked him hard, sending him scrambling away. Only then did the commoners retreat warily, making way.
“Scram, all of you!”
Xu Qi An took off his scabbard and started hitting anyone in his path, regardless of age or gender.
“Everyone back off ten zhang, don’t come close… Hey, old man, don’t try to use your age as an excuse. Want to taste the slap of the younger generation?
“Whose kid is this? If no one takes you away, I’ll sell you off… What are you crying for? Are you forcing me to kick you?… Auntie, have you made lunch? Washed the dishes? Why are you here watching the commotion?… What’s wrong with hitting you? If you were twenty years younger, I’d sell you to a brothel.”
At the tavern’s observation deck.
The young martial artists leaned on the railing, watching Xu Qi An bully the commoners, filled with righteous indignation.
“This dog, he’s taking out his anger on the innocent people around.”
“If you’ve got the guts, go up on stage and fight! Only bullying commoners, what kind of Night Watchman is that?”
“Just an empty suit.”
With Xu Qi An gone, they could openly curse him.
A young martial artist with decent features turned around, walked to Rong Rong’s side, and said gently, “Miss Rong Rong, let’s go back and drink. I’ll tell you more about my master’s travels in the North and how he defeated the barbarians with his sword.”
“That’s right, what’s the point of drinking with this useless second generation? Look, Miss Rong Rong, he only knows how to bully commoners,” the other young martial artists chimed in.
Miss Rong Rong sat quietly, scanning these young martial artists, and said with a smile, “You think he’s bullying the commoners?”
“Isn’t he?” the young martial artists asked in return.
Miss Rong Rong blinked her eyes and asked curiously, “There’s a saying in the martial world: ‘When experts fight, bystanders should retreat!’ It means that the energy fluctuations of high-level martial artists can easily kill ordinary people. You don’t know this, do you? You can’t be that ignorant, can you?”
… The young martial artists’ faces immediately turned red.
“He could have just explained the situation. It’s clear he wanted to take the opportunity to bully commoners and vent his emotions,” the young martial artist who had invited Rong Rong retorted stubbornly.
Miss Rong Rong lowered her head to drink, using this to hide the disdain in her eyes.
How ignorant are these common folk? Would they listen if you explained the dangers politely? Do they understand what “when experts fight, bystanders retreat” means?
Not only are the common people ignorant, but there are also many ruffians and scoundrels among them. They only fear officials. Dealing with them, a big stick works better than kind words.
These young martial artists from good families or decent schools, who say others are parasites living off their ancestors’ merits, are no better than Silver Gong Xu.
…
After chasing away those ignorant commoners around the stage, Xu Qi An finally leaped onto the platform. Leaning on his sword, he looked down at the man who was a head taller than him and asked:
“Whose man are you?”
“I’m your mother’s man,” the eight-foot-tall man sneered.
Do you dare speak to me so crudely? Fine, save your breath. We’ll teach you manners once you’re in the Night Watchmen’s dungeon. You won’t be able to hold back then… Xu Qi An hung his sword back on his waist, hand on the hilt, and said:
“To deal with a sixth-grade insect like you, this official only needs one strike.”
How arrogant!
The surrounding martial artists were shocked. A sixth-grade martial artist was considered a notable figure in the martial world, and in some counties, they would have the status of a martial arts alliance leader, a local hegemon.
Even though the capital was full of experts and there were rumored first-grade sorcerers, a sixth-grade martial artist was still not someone anyone could easily handle.
“Hahahahaha.”
The eight-foot-tall man with bulging muscles laughed viciously. “I’m not only going to crush your head, but I’ll also cut out your tongue as a snack with my wine.”
At the observation deck, Miss Rong Rong turned back to look at the Bronze Gong who was eating and drinking without a care, and frowned, “Sir, weren’t you supposed to call for help?”
His superior was about to be beaten and injured, yet he was eating so heartily. It was hard to believe he worked in an official’s office, showing no understanding of social graces.
“Hah!”
The Bronze Gong waved his hand dismissively. “It’s just a Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm fighter, what’s the big deal? You have no idea how strong our Master Xu is.”
“Is Master Xu also at the Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm?”
Rong Rong thought for a moment, then dismissed her guess. She had observed Xu Qi An and hadn’t seen the characteristic divine light of the Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm on his body.
The Bronze Gong glanced at the young martial artists and sneered, “Of course, Master Xu isn’t at the Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm. But you know what? He once faced an assassination attempt on the street. The assassins were two Spirit Refinement realm experts and one Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm… Guess what happened?”
Rong Rong shook her head.
Of course, nothing happened in the end, since Xu Qi An was still alive and well. She knew the Bronze Gong wasn’t talking about that.
“One strike!”
The Bronze Gong held up one finger.
“What?”
The alluring Miss Rong Rong didn’t understand.
The Bronze Gong pointed outside and said calmly, “See for yourself.”
Bang!
The sound of the stage surface cracking came. Miss Rong Rong turned abruptly and saw the eight-foot giant crack the marble under his feet, turning into a black blur.
On the other side, Xu Qi An took a bow stance, his thumb lightly flicking.
Clang… The sound of the blade leaving its sheath spread across the venue, clear and resonant.
With Rong Rong’s eyesight, she only saw a dark golden line flash by, followed by the explosion of sword qi, like invisible steel needles shooting in all directions.
They pierced shallow holes in the ground and on the stage surface.
If Xu Qi An hadn’t driven away the commoners earlier, at least a bunch of them would be dead now.
In the eyes of the spectating commoners and most martial artists, they only saw Xu Qi An seem to draw his sword, but upon closer look, the sword was still firmly in its sheath.
However, the previously fierce giant had stopped. He stood a zhang away from Xu Qi An, head lowered, looking at his chest in disbelief.
The next moment, a thin, long sword wound opened on his chest, blood gushing out.
The giant slowly fell to his knees, his face gradually turning pale.
Xu Qi An said coldly, “I said one strike, and it was one strike.”
“Wow!”
The eruption of noise from the crowd, at first glance, was just such a “wow” sound.
Cheers followed, with the spectating commoners loudly applauding, the sound like a boiling cauldron. A small portion shouted to quickly fetch a doctor from the medical hall.
The martial artists with cultivation, seeing the technique, were collectively silenced after the initial exclamation.
One strike!
One strike to break through the body of a Bronze Skin Iron Bones realm expert. This Silver Gong’s cultivation level must be at the fifth grade, or even the fourth grade.
“Night Watchman Silver Gong Xu Qi An…”
They silently noted down this name.
“See? I didn’t lie,” the Bronze Gong stood up smiling, glancing at Miss Rong Rong’s stunned face and said:
“This is the genius promoted by our Duke Wei. What’s a mere sixth-grade martial artist to him? Even the court officials have to be polite when they see our Master Xu.”
After saying this, he gave a cold smile as he swept his gaze over the dumbfounded young martial artists, then grabbed his sword and went downstairs.
…
After Xu Qi An had finished his strike, two Bronze Gongs immediately came up to the stage and asked for instructions: “How should we deal with this man?”
“Take him to a doctor to treat his wound, then bring him back to the Night Watchmen’s office. Remember to seal his acupoints with ox hair needles. Even a lean camel is bigger than a horse,” Xu Qi An instructed.
He looked towards the tavern and found that Miss Rong Rong was gone.
“Where’s Miss Rong Rong?”
“She was just here,” the Bronze Gong who had come downstairs looked back and indeed, she was gone.
This doesn’t make sense. I’ve just shown off so impressively, shouldn’t she be throwing herself at me and giving me flirtatious looks?… Xu Qi An thought disappointedly.
Never mind, it’s not like I was planning for anything to happen anyway.
Xu Qi An took the severely injured man to a nearby medical hall, had the doctor bandage his wounds, and then brought the unconscious man back to the Night Watchmen’s office.
Halfway there, he suddenly sensed something was amiss. He carefully checked himself – his waist token, sword, and pouch… were all still there.
He felt inside his robe and finally realized what was wrong.
The Book of Earth fragment was gone.
“Sir, what are you looking for?” asked the Bronze Gong who was carrying the unconscious man on horseback, pulling on the reins.
“Be quiet!”
Xu Qi An closed his eyes, reviewing his recent experiences.
His clothes weren’t torn, ruling out the possibility of losing the Book of Earth fragment while walking. Besides, with his keen hearing, he would have noticed immediately if it had fallen.
During the fight, he had only made one strike, without any intense combat, so that was ruled out!
That left only one possibility – it had been stolen.
“That foolish auntie doesn’t have such skills… The only one who touched me was Miss Rong Rong. She grabbed me before I went downstairs…”
Xu Qi An let out a “huh,” “No wonder she left so uncharacteristically. So she’s a little thief. ‘Enchanting Hands’, is that what it means?”
From leaving the Heroic Platform until now, half an hour had passed. She should have fled far away by now. The capital was so large, the hope of recovering the lost item was slim.
“Of all things to steal, why the Book of Earth fragment? This thing has GPS positioning,” Xu Qi An instructed:
“You take him back first. I have something else to do.”
He wanted to return to the scene and take a look, then go find Daoist Jin Lian.