Looking at his master's serious eyes, Wang Xiaoer nodded and said, "I'll remember that, Master."
Zhang San rubbed Wang Xiaoer's little head. Fortunately, this disciple who had been with him for more than half a year was really smart and understood things quickly, saving Zhang San a lot of worry.
Wang Xiaoer thought for a moment, then asked, "But Master, what do you think will happen to that chivalrous man in the end?"
Zhang San said, "I'm afraid there won't be any good outcome."
"Why is that, Master? Isn't he an Earth rank expert?"
Zhang San said plainly, "Although I'm not certain, that catcher was probably killed by him, plus the hoodlums and rich playboy today. The government, the rich, and the underground societies - provoking the three most untouchable forces in this world all within a few days."
Zhang San looked down at Wang Xiaoer and said, "If you want to die, do you really have to go to such lengths to find death? No matter how small this county town is, given the way he acts, do you think there could be any good outcome? Just wait and see."
If acting chivalrously wouldn't get one killed in this day and age, then how could the righteous path have declined so badly?
However, Zhang San's words did not seem to make Wang Xiaoer feel too worried. Wang Xiaoer looked even more admiring as he said, "One against all, what a valiant hero..."
Zhang San sighed and then punched Wang Xiaoer again.
...
...
Unable to fall asleep that night tossing and turning on his newly purchased wooden bed, Zhang San slowly got up.
On the old bed next to him, Wang Xiaoer was sleeping soundly. Zhang San carefully opened the door and went out.
Was he still worried after all?
Zhang San asked himself.
That straw knot made Zhang San suspect that perhaps there really were other survivors from his village back then.
But...why did he care about this kind of thing?
With many doubts, Zhang San still changed into night clothes. Displaying Earth rank lightness martial arts, Zhang San instantly disappeared from the small courtyard.
Zhang San's destination tonight was a dilapidated small courtyard in the southern part of the county town, in a relatively remote location. It was the home of the county town's new catcher, 'Wang Hu'.
Unfortunately, catcher Wang Hu had only lived there for a few days before his corpse was discovered early this morning. After the coroner's inspection, it was confirmed that he died around midnight last night. The cause of death was a sword piercing his heart. No other details were circulated.
After observing the surroundings for a while and confirming there was no ambush, Zhang San entered the yard.
There were indeed many signs of fighting inside the yard, and it could be confirmed that the disparity in strength between the two sides was not so great that one side was completely helpless, at least being able to exchange more than ten moves.
As he investigated, Zhang San discovered two stone locks on the ground, one of which had even been cut open. Based on the marks, it was cut by a blade weapon.
These were obviously used by martial artists to train their arm strength. Zhang San casually weighed the other intact stone lock, estimating it to be over two hundred catties.
Such heavy objects would of course not have been brought here by the killer. Zhang San concluded: "It seems this 'catcher' Wang Hu really had the strength of an Earth rank. These two stone locks together add up to over four hundred catties even though one was cut open, the level of an Earth rank martial artist."
Zhang San became even more certain that the killer should be that 'Xiu Wangchou'.
In a small county town like this, Earth rank was an almost invincible existence. In addition, although there were many signs of intense fighting around them, with Zhang San’s discerning eyes, he could tell that the two sides had exchanged only ten to twenty moves before the Earth rank martial artist Wang Hu was killed.
It was rare to find someone capable of such a feat even in big cities, so Zhang San did not think there was suddenly another master swordsman in this small county town other than Xiu Wangchou.
But why?
Zhang San continued searching for clues in the small courtyard.
After discovering a small severed finger in the corner, some blood-stained clothing fragments, and a large pool of not completely dried blood, Zhang San realized his previous inference might be wrong.
Zhang San said, "Why is there so much blood in the corner? It doesn't look like it splashed here during the fight. And this little finger was actually in the weeds, probably overlooked when moving the corpse. These clothing fragments seem to be cut by a sword too, so...was it torture?"
Zhang San closed his eyes, and could vaguely see a sword-wielding man dragging his defeated opponent to this corner, and then...
Zhang San reevaluated.
He believed that Xiu Wangchou had defeated Wang Hu, or at least deprived him of his ability to resist, within twenty moves. Then he dragged Wang Hu to this corner, cut into Wang Hu’s body with his sword blade, and even severed his fingers...
This would explain the bloodied clothing fragments and fingers.
Given that Xiu Wangchou was not a deranged serial killer, such almost perverse behavior made Zhang San feel the phrase "severe interrogation by torture" fit very well.
If it was interrogation, Zhang San guessed that Xiu Wangchou must have obtained what he wanted, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have killed Wang Hu. Although it was also possible that Wang Hu stubbornly refused to speak. In any case, Xiu Wangchou must have stabbed Wang Hu through the heart here.
This would also explain the frightening amount of blood pooled in the corner. After all, severing a few fingers alone wouldn't cause that much bleeding.
Combined with Xiu Wangchou entering the painting and calligraphy store just to observe the government troops, it was evident he had a clear purpose for coming to Xiaoyun County, and it didn't seem to be simply to kill people or Wang Hu specifically.
Xiu Wangchou came to Xiaoyun County, entered the painting and calligraphy store, observed the new county magistrate’s first county patrol, and killed the new catcher Wang Hu of Xiaoyun County a few days later...
But the final question followed.
"What was Xiu Wangchou hoping to find out from Wang Hu?" Zhang San murmured to himself.
Lost in thought, Zhang San's attention turned to the room door.
The door was half-closed, evidently some catchers had been inside to investigate.
With a wave of his palm directing his internal force, Zhang San opened the room door that showed no abnormalities. Then he walked in.
There was nothing particular inside the room - bed, cabinet, chairs...in short all ordinary household items.
Zhang San was too lazy to conduct a thorough search since anything noteworthy had probably been taken away by Xiu Wangchou or the catchers anyway. Although, there was another possibility, that there was a secret compartment in the house.
Zhang San sighed, "This kind of thing is usually either under some floor bricks or in the ceiling."
With that said, Zhang San bent down, placed his left ear flat on the floor, and fiercely slapped down on the floor with his right palm filled with internal energy!
With Zhang San’s cultivation at the upper stage of Earth rank, the slap naturally carried mighty power. Dust billowed the instant his palm made contact with the floor.
The floor brick struck by his palm instantly shattered into pieces and scattered away. But Zhang San had already found what he was looking for.
Zhang San walked over to a floor brick on the left side of the closet, three steps away. He knocked it open with a slap rather than prying it open, immediately revealing two secret compartments.
Zhang San was not the slightest bit excited however, only lamenting how 'ancient' it was for martial artists these days to hide their belongings this way.
If it was a secret chamber from the Zhang family, using Zhang San’s previous method of channeling vigorous internal energy to spread out below, and listening for hollow spaces underneath the floor would absolutely fail to uncover it. After all, Zhang San might be the only Earth rank craftsman able to build brick and tile houses.
Indeed, staying too long in the jianghu really was meaningless.
After feeling some emotions, Zhang San examined the two uncreative secret compartments. One contained two silver notes totaling five hundred taels. The other compartment was empty.
Zhang San ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt tail and bundled up the silver notes without any psychological barrier before putting them away. Then he murmured, "If those catchers had found this place instead, these five hundred taels would surely be gone already. It seems whatever was kept in the other compartment has already been taken by someone else. Could it have been Xiu Wangchou?"