Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 5 Subduing the Dragon
Lutoutun.

This is a village quite close to Shengjing.

The village is the outer residence of high-ranking officials and nobles, and is used as a resting place for them to hunt and play.

It is lively during the day, but very deserted at night. Apart from the guards staying at home, there are basically no lights on.

The outer house of the Bao Mansion is located in the east of the village, facing a small hillside. After dark, two lanterns are hung at the door of the house with the word "Bao" written on them, making them easy to recognize.

Huang Sixi did not rush in rashly.

He lurked on the hillside for several days and secretly observed the situation inside the house.

The result surprised him a little.

There were only two people living in such a huge house. One was an old man who was a gatekeeper. He was in his sixties or seventies with a completely white hair and beard, but he was still able to support himself and make a fire and cook on time every day.

Maybe because he felt lonely, the old security guard kept a kitten.

The other one was a middle-aged man, short and skinny like a monkey. He seemed to be sick. He usually stayed in the room to rest and only went out at mealtime.

Although the old gatekeeper and the short and thin man lived in the same house, their relationship was quite bad and they would always quarrel whenever they met.

The old gatekeeper disliked the short and thin man because he was lazy and only knew how to beg for food every day.

The short and thin man hated the nagging old gatekeeper who kept nagging all day long.

Sometimes when the quarrel got too intense, the short and thin man would resort to violence, using his long and sharp nails to scratch the face of the old gatekeeper, just like a fight between shrews, which gave Huang Sixi the illusion of a woman.

The old gatekeeper was old and frail, and was always beaten up by the short and thin man.

But the old man who guards the gate is not forgiving. He often says, "Just wait, you southern barbarian. Sooner or later, I will ask you to get out. This is not the Ming Dynasty. This is not a place for you southern barbarians to be so arrogant!"

After observation, Huang Sixi concluded that these were two losers.

If the old traitor Bao Chengxian entrusted the treasure hidden in the outer house to these two people for safekeeping, even if the treasure was not emptied by thieves, the two of them would steal it themselves.

Huang Sixi believed that as an important official of the Qing Dynasty, Bao Chengxian could not have made such an inappropriate arrangement.

He became increasingly aware that there was no treasure hidden in the house.

The information about the treasure revealed by Bao Zhong was probably a lie he made up when he was desperate before his death.

But since Huang Sixi has already come here and has worked hard to hide for so many days, he does not intend to return empty-handed.

It was nightfall that day.

The old gatekeeper came to the door as usual and hung the lantern up.

Huang Sixi suddenly appeared behind the old gatekeeper, thrust out a green bamboo stick, and pressed it on the Zhiyang point on the old gatekeeper's back.

The old gatekeeper froze instantly and collapsed backwards.

Huang Sixi took a step forward, grabbed the gatekeeper's body with one hand, and pressed the mute point on the outside of his neck with the other hand.

The kitten at the gatekeeper's feet was very alert. It looked up and saw its owner being attacked. It opened its mouth to scream, but Huang Sixi hit it with a stick and knocked it to the ground.

Huang Sixi then grabbed the old gatekeeper and entered the yard, picked up the cat's body, and then gently closed the gate.

Huang Sixi left the old gatekeeper at the door, but did not continue walking into the yard.

He looked forward and found that the entire yard was about several dozen feet in radius, and there was only one bedroom in front with candles on.

In this bedroom, the figure of a short and thin man was silhouetted by candlelight and clearly visible on the paper window.

When Huang Sixi attacked the old gatekeeper just now, his movements were extremely light and his hands were fast, so there was no noise and the short and thin man didn't notice anything at all.

Huang Sixi stood where he was and took off the ox horn bow from his back.

At a distance of only a few feet, he could extinguish a candle with one arrow, let alone kill a short and thin man.

There was a whistling sound of an arrow, and the feather arrow passed through the paper window and hit the figure's head. The short and thin man collapsed and died instantly.

Huang Sixi then went into the bedroom to check and confirmed that the body was dead. He then turned back and took the old gatekeeper into the bedroom to interrogate him. When he saw the short and thin man's death, the old gatekeeper was so scared that he broke out in a sweat.

When Huang Sixi pressed his mute point, his teeth chattered and he couldn't even speak clearly.

After waiting for a while, Huang Sixi asked, "What is this place?"

"My dear sir, this is the outer residence of Master Bao Chengxian in Shengjing!"

The old man added: "If you can spare my life, I will give you all the wealth I have accumulated throughout my life."

Huang Sixi said softly, "Don't worry, I usually don't kill old people. You just need to answer a few questions and we can live in peace, okay?"

"Okay, okay! Please ask, sir!"

"What is this house used for?"

"Specially used to house the desperate criminals from here!"

"Desperado? Although I don't kill old people, I will make an exception for those who fooled me!"

"I'm definitely not kidding you, you're a real hero! The Central Plains has been in turmoil these years, and every year there are desperate people seeking refuge in Liaodong. These people know that Master Bao is a Han official and has power, so they come to seek refuge. Master Bao can't accommodate them for the time being, and he's afraid that they will cause trouble in Shengjing, so he sends them all to stay temporarily in this house. Normally, more than a dozen people can live here."

"Why are there only two of you now?"

"At the beginning of spring, His Majesty selected the generals. I don't know where to send the troops, but he was recruiting soldiers and horses. Last month, Master Bao arranged all the dozen people in this house to join the Han army camp and let them fight and serve."

The old man said this.

Huang Sixi already understood the purpose of Bao Zhong's lie. This traitor must have wanted to lure Huang Sixi into the house, let the desperate criminals besiege Huang Sixi, and then wait for an opportunity to escape.

But last month this traitor was still on duty in the Central Plains and was not aware of the Tartar emperor's conscription. Even if he really brought Huang Sixi here, it would not have any effect.

Huang Sixi asked again: "Among these desperate criminals, is there a bearded man named Lin who used to be in the Central Plains Beggars' Sect?"

The old man hurriedly said, "My dear, are you asking about Lin Fengxiong? He fled from the Central Plains a few years ago and has lived here with me for a long time. Not long ago, he accompanied my son to the Central Plains and has not returned yet."

"Your son?"

"Yes, it's the dog!"

The old man revealed the truth in a hurry and regretted it right after he said it. He thought that this hero asked Lin Da Huzi most likely to seek revenge, but Zhong'er must not be implicated.

Huang Sixi smiled slightly and continued to interrogate: "This big bearded Lin stole a golden bowl from the Beggars' Sect when he was in the Central Plains. Have you ever heard of him?"

The old man was a little confused at first. He thought for a while before he said, "You are asking about the old bowl with dragon pattern on it? It is made of copper, not gold!"

Huang Sixi's eyes lit up: "Do you know where he is?"

The old man looked outside the door and said, "In the past, whenever those desperate criminals came here, they would take out their most expensive things as a gift. Big Beard Lin took out a copper bowl, but he said it was a golden bowl passed down from the Beggars' Sect. I hated his deception, so I gave the copper bowl to Mao'er as a meal."

"You are such a genius old man! Where is the cat bowl?"

"It's right under the eaves next to the door!"

Huang Sixi raised his hand and pressed the old man's mute point, then went out with a candle to look for him, and soon found a black broken bowl.

He took it in his hand and examined it in the candlelight, and indeed found that there were dragon patterns inside and outside the bowl, and there was also a seal on the bottom of the bowl.

He recited casually: "Long Huo Shi... Oh, no, it's Shi Huo Long!"

Just as he identified the seal, flashing words suddenly appeared on the surface of the bowl.

He was immediately excited. In the past, he could only stimulate the secret of martial arts when he stabbed a warrior to death and obtained the warrior's relics.

This golden bowl was an ownerless object, yet it could display words automatically.

The text read: "Legacy of a Famous Master: Contains the secret formula and mental method of the Twelve Dragon Subduing Palms of Shi Huolong, the leader of the Beggars' Sect. When the master of the Bao Mansion dies, he can read and inherit it."

(End of this chapter)