Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 67: Chapter 65: Legacy Benefits, Tiger Cannon Fist

Zhou Xianchuan came looking for Wan Ze right after finishing his training. He arrived in the rain, and as he entered the small courtyard, he saw a man and a woman ”all over each other.”

Getting closer, he saw that the man in this ”shameless couple” was his bro?!!!

’The old tree is finally blooming?’

He was about to turn and run, afraid to disturb the two lovebirds, but the ever-oblivious Wan Ze shouted after him, ”Fatty, where are you going!”

”What fatty? You’ve got the wrong person!”

”...”

Sun Fan, realizing her actions had been a bit inappropriate, felt her ears flush red. She turned and snapped, ”Zhou Xianchuan, just you try running again!”

In the next moment, Zhou Xianchuan was hauled back, looking sheepish. His gaze toward Wan Ze was tinged with reproach.

’Bro, I wasn’t trying to interrupt you! I was already trying to run, wasn’t I? You blockhead, you just had to make me come back!’

Wan Ze couldn’t be bothered with such convoluted thoughts. ”Cut the crap. Clothes off.”

”Huh?”

”We’re sparring!”

”Oh, right. I thought you wanted to...”

”...”

In the end, Zhou Xianchuan was still too embarrassed to strip down in front of Sun Fan. What he really didn’t expect was that after he finished sparring with Wan Ze, Sun Fan would take the initiative to challenge him to a fight.

’A mixed-gender beatdown?’

’If you’d told me I was just a part of your little game, what the hell would I have come here for!’

”Sis-in-law, I was wrong!”

Sun Fan’s ears flushed red.

Wan Ze: ”...”

He glanced over at her. ”Did you not eat today?”

Sun Fan huffed.

Zhou Xianchuan immediately let out a pained shriek, and the entire backyard erupted into chaos.

...

They sparred and horsed around for over an hour.

As night fell, the rain began to pour.

Fortunately, Sun Fan had a car, saving Wan Ze from getting soaked to the bone.

After arriving home, he tossed the briefcase onto the table. Once he’d washed up, he casually opened it. Inside, six gold bars were arranged neatly beside several stacks of cash.

’Looks like Boss Tie has really struck it rich lately.’

Giving him and Lei Ming 200,000 had clearly stung a bit, yet in this short time, the ”finder’s fees” for Wan Ze alone had already totaled nearly 100,000.

Then again, if he weren’t making a huge profit, he wouldn’t have attracted the covetous attention of someone like Sun Shengji.

’The Martial Dao really can change your fate!’

He casually zipped the briefcase shut and stuffed it under his bed.

Just then, his communicator vibrated.

Wan Ze picked it up while drying his hair with a towel.

Seeing it was Tie Qingyang, he guessed the reason for the call and answered with a relaxed chuckle, ”It’s me. Sounds like Boss Tie has good news.”

”Haha, I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you, Mr. Wan. My men have picked Xiao Qing’s place clean. As you requested, we found a rather high-grade Fist Technique, as well as two unused portions of Blood Tempering Secret Medicine... Would you like them tonight, Mr. Wan, or should we wait until morning? I’m available anytime.”

”In that case, I’ll trouble you to bring it over now, Boss Tie. I’ll be at... waiting for you.”

Wan Ze hung up, grabbed a black umbrella from beside the shoe cabinet, and was about to head out when his sister, Xiaoyu, stumbled out of her room in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. ”Bro, you’re back?” she mumbled groggily.

”I’m not your brother. You’re sleepwalking. Go back to bed.”

”Oh.”

Wan Xiaoyu yawned and headed back to her room. But then she suddenly remembered she’d gotten up to use the bathroom. Jolting fully awake, she hurried back out, but there was no sign of Wan Ze at the front door.

”Oh my god, I just saw a ghost in the middle of the night!!!!”

”Mom? Mom? MOM! A monster took my brother!!!”

...

The rain was torrential.

Inside the complex, aside from the faint glow of the streetlights, nearly every home was dark. Not a soul was in sight.

Wan Ze walked alone along a tree-lined path within the complex, the roar of the downpour filling his ears. The paths in the old neighborhood were riddled with cracks, and now, filled with puddles, they were even more difficult to navigate.

The light grew a little brighter as he reached the complex gate.

A bedraggled figure was taking shelter from the rain under the security guard’s kiosk, a large guitar case slung over her back. She suddenly waved and shouted, ”Mom, over here!”

The girl shouted, but when she saw it was Wan Ze, she froze. Mortified, her ears flushed bright red and she stammered, ”S-sorry, my bad. I thought you were my mom. H-hi...”

Wan Ze gave a slight nod in acknowledgment and walked out of the complex without a backward glance.

The girl wasn’t the least bit offended. Just this morning, she had heard her mother mention that the Wan Family was looking at houses.

’Are they planning to move?’

’But where would they get the money?’

Her gaze instinctively followed Wan Ze’s departing figure. She couldn’t understand what he was doing out alone so late at night.

She was still lost in thought when a woman walked up under an umbrella and tapped her on the shoulder.

”What are you thinking about? Spacing out like that in the middle of the night,” the woman said irritably. ”Let’s go. It’s pouring, your clothes are almost soaked.”

”N-nothing...” The girl snapped out of it. As she pulled her gaze away, she caught a glimpse of a car approaching in the distance. It slowed to a stop right next to the boy.

’A different car again?’

’Wait, what in the world is his family’s background?!’

’Are they some kind of masters hiding in plain sight?’

’But there’s no need to live so frugally, is there?’

She kicked herself for having been so cold to the brother and sister all this time...

”Mom, what exactly does Uncle Wan across the hall do for a living?”

”He works at the textile factory... I told you that already. From the looks of it, that factory isn’t doing too well. Probably won’t be around much longer.” The woman pursed her lips, her tone slightly disdainful.

The girl, her face a mask of confusion, glanced back toward Wan Ze’s figure and muttered, ”Then why is he always getting picked up and dropped off by cars?”

But the rain was too loud for the woman to hear. She grabbed the girl’s arm, pulled her under the umbrella, and urged, ”What are you still standing there for? Waiting for a special invitation? Let’s go home!”

...

*SNAP!*

Wan Ze closed his umbrella and got into the car.

Tie Qingyang, sitting in the back, opened a briefcase and passed it over with a smile. ”That Xiao Qing is a crafty one. He hid the important stuff inside the ceiling... If Feiyang hadn’t been so sharp, we might never have found these little treasures of his.”

”He is a crafty one,” Wan Ze agreed, looking inside.

The briefcase held Xiao Qing’s entire net worth. Besides ten gold bars, there were several stacks of crisp new banknotes wrapped in rubber bands.

Wan Ze merely glanced at the money before his eyes moved to the far left of the case.

There lay a small, yellowed booklet that showed its age, and next to it were two cloth pouches that gave off a strong, herbal scent.

The booklet’s cover bore three words: Tiger Cannon Fist.

Tie Qingyang explained, ”This is the Cannon Fist that Xiao Qing practiced. It’s the Fist Technique passed down from his master, quite famous in Yuedong Province... I saw how powerful your Fist Technique was this evening; you might want to give this a try. Dragon Eagle’s Iron Mountain Fist is also well-known, but it’s more valued for its versatility and is excellent for building a solid foundation. When it comes to pure killing power, however, the Tiger Cannon Fist is likely superior...

Of course, this Fist Technique has a drawback... it consumes a tremendous amount of vital energy and blood.

When you’re young and your vital energy and blood are abundant, you can recover quickly from using this kind of Martial Skill... But once you’re older, each use depletes you, and it could become life-threatening.

To be frank, that was one of the reasons I chose not to deal with Xiao Qing myself... Age is a great obstacle on the Martial Dao. Once you reach a certain point, you find there are things you simply can no longer do.”

Wan Ze had heard this before.

But he had the Illustrated Guide.

As long as the missions weren’t too absurd, he could complete them. And the Effects of Martial Skills provided the most significant boosts to his personal Attributes.

This meant that even when he reached Tie Qingyang’s age, his vital energy and blood wouldn’t decline so rapidly. His peak would last far longer than anyone else’s.

”Right, what are these pouches for?”