Martial King's Retired Life

“Uncle Huang said, ‘Unlikely… He acts alone; he doesn’t give the impression of someone willing to serve another,’” I said whilst bending over as if I was an old man.

Long Cheng slowly turned his head away to pretend he was looking up at the roof.

Hey, you’re making me look stupid!

The masked killer didn’t jump down to fight me, probably because it was unwise to attempt an assassination when I had to many strong fighters around me. That being said, I was curious why he showed himself under these circumstances.

The masked killer acknowledged me with his head, took a small step backwards and then went the other way, only to stop right after. Long Cheng flashed up behind him and uttered, “You’re not leaving,” before drawing his weapon.

Aside from me, nobody else could see anything but silver speckles and hear the sound of metal friction. One of the Dark Wind Hall guys gulped and asked me, “My Lord, Great Guardian Long and the masked weirdo are…”

I nodded. “Very advanced bladework.”

A sentence from me was worth more than ten years of training, so the others copied me, watching the rooftop to try and glean something. They were bound to be disappointed, though, as not even I could see their blade movements. All I saw was tiny silver lines here and tiny silver dots there against the black canvas… It had to be their moving blades… right?

One silver stroke emitted blue flames, which I logically theorised was the product of them utilising true qi. The constant and prolonged clangs proved that the masked killer was able to hold his own weight against Long Cheng.

The moment the blue flames clashed, the two dark silhouettes split off in opposite directions. The masked killer rebounded off the ground to retreat again upon landing on the roof, while Long Cheng chased after him, and the two of them vanished once they jumped down.

“My Lord… Guardian Long won, right?”

“We’ll find out soon.”

We didn’t have to wait around for long before Long Cheng came back empty handed. He knew what we were waiting for as soon as he saw our faces. He reached into his sleeve and presented a blade that had been snapped.

“Boss, it does not count as a loss since your weapon is inferior.”

Long Cheng shook his head. “His blade wasn’t made from any special iron, but its thin and light design isn’t ideal for hard clashes. I forced him into blocking, but he was able to spot the weak spot in my weapon. I lost in the contest of perception.”

They were upset to hear their leader admit defeat, but they didn’t debate it since they knew that was just how he was. I heard the break when it happened, but I wasn’t sure who broke whose blade.

“Can’t catch him with your qinggong?” I questioned.

“I am inferior,” haplessly replied Long Cheng.

I didn’t expect that answer. Long Cheng’s “Wind of Death” was one of the few qinggongs that accelerated movement speed drastically, so it shouldn’t have been easy to escape him even if one’s qinggong was superior to is, which in and of itself was a daunting demand. In other words, the masked killer’s qinggong was superior to Long Cheng’s even when he was enhanced. That being the case, he probably rivalled my third brother in the qinggong department. I started to understand how he managed to evade capture all this time in the capital.

“His qinggong is incredible. I was unable to capture him even at my best effort. Additionally… His qinggong is really strange. He was able to surpass my Wind of Death when he used it to flee.”

There you had it. There was a reason the masked killer could uses assassinations as his autographs.

I nodded. “Are you able to identify his discipline with your vast network?”

Long Cheng had a moment to think prior to answering, “It does not belong to any clan in the martial world.”

“But it’s not Fiends’ Genesis, either, correct?”

“That is absolutely correct. Fiends’ Genesis either use disciplines from established schools in the north or west, or they use disciplines from groups in the mountains. While their skills are a mixture of disciplines, there are traces you can identify them from, and you will find that they derive from the Central Plain. Therefore, his teacher is either someone possessing immense knowledge or someone who has combined disciplines from the north and south.”

“Or he might have both.”

“That would make him one of the most erudite people alive.”

Long Cheng was born in the Western Regions, but he resided in the Central Plain for ages in order to fulfil the mission Ximen entrusted to him. During his stay, Long Cheng never stopped educating himself on the Central Plain’s martial arts.

“His qinggong is unique in that it comes from a single discipline unlike the popular disciplines of the martial world at present. I am unable to identify what school he trained under.”

“I, on the other hand, reckon it’s quite familiar…” I muttered with my arms folded.

“?”

I wagged my hand. “This job can be considered done. I had your team enter the capital as a safety measure. I’d have let you guys go earlier if the Qilin Guards weren’t being so tough with security.”

Nobody could save Dark Wind Hall if they were discovered to be in the capital. The only reasons I managed to get them out last time were because none of The Ultimate Three were present, and Kong Duan took all the blame. If they were arrested now, I had no means of protecting them, not to mention the Qilin Guards were a new version of themselves now.

“Our anger cannot be quelled even if we killed all of them for having the audacity to kidnap you here. You need not worry about us, My Lord. Assassination was our profession. You need only select a day, and we shall ensure the insolent cretins are dead.”

The man had no idea he was in danger.

“You’ve killed enough. Have all those days working in the field not dampened your bloodlust? How are the crops coming along?”

“Spring ploughing ended long ago. The summer crops are doing fine. We asked the neighbouring village to help us keep an eye on the crops, so it should be fine even if we do not tend to them immediately… With that said, Qu the Third is not an honest man. We cannot guarantee he did not steal the golden egg during our absence.”

“Golden egg?”

“The hen commander.”

Allow me to provide a disclaimer: Dark Wind Halls’ method of raising poultry was different to the norm. They ranked hens based on their reproductive potential. The hen commander was the top hen. Beneath it would be the hen guardian, hen branch leader, hen branch vice-leader… They even respected the hens enough to occasionally bring them inside for drinks with the group. Don’t ask me to explain what the cow general and puppy red were. Just being reminded of them gave me a headache.

“Qu the Third will definitely steal the eggs. I saw Huang Honggun drag him out last time.”

Huang Honggun was probably a yellowish dog.

“If he was a virtuous man, why would he steal the trousers of the wife of the pork butcher on the east side of the village?”

“If he even steals trousers, why would he leave eggs alone?”

Thus, they started discussing how to safeguard their home.

Hey, I’m still here. Should I have stopped them changing too much?

I rubbed my head, showed Long Cheng a place and then passed him a sheet of paper. “It’s unsafe for our members to be seen in the capital. Head to this place. There will be people to assist. I’ve written instructors for you inside.”

“But if we are not accompanying you…”

“I got it. The majority of the dangerous ones are gone. I can handle the rest. I’ll call for you when I need you. Your current life wasn’t easily earnt, so cherish it.”

Touched, Long Cheng grabbed hold of my hand. “My Lord, your graciousness, by the way, we are still raising the five pigs you ordered. I do not think we would be able to bring them into the capital at pre-”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s leave that for another time. Get going.”

If I didn’t stop him, I’d probably have had to stand on the street all night listening to him talk about farming. Thankfully, I was able to disperse them before the patrols arrived. What were they going to say when the guards saw them and a bunch of headless corpses? I had to claim I was responsible; you could say it was a deterrence.

When a group carrying torches turned the corner, I emotionlessly voiced, “Who else has a death wish?”

I didn’t see the patrols I expected to see. Instead, I saw Long Zaitian and Lan Jiqiong leading a group of guards from Daren Academy. They looked at the strewn bodies and heads with wide eyes, then used the same eyes to look up at me.

Lan Jiqiong flapped his eyelids. “You…”

Before Lan Jiqiong could finish, Long Zaitian shouted, “Ming Feizhen, are you still going to claim you can’t fight?!”