I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 37 Raising troops to investigate crimes
It was late at night, around midnight.

After seeing Gu Junrong and the other two off, Chen Ming went to his room to read. A pot of yellow wine was warming on the red clay stove next to him, and the room was filled with the aroma of wine.

As a modern man, he valued his privacy and didn't need anyone to serve him at night. His two maids, Chunxiang and Xiaxiang, had separate residences, so he was all alone in this courtyard.

Suddenly, the window was pushed open from the outside, and a woman's voice came in, "At least we won't have to fight outside the alley anymore."

A dark figure flipped in; it was Zhong Shuyu, dressed in night clothes.

Chen Ming seemed to have anticipated her arrival, having prepared two wine glasses, and said, "You can come in through the main door."

Zhong Shuyu argued vehemently, "How could we use the main gate when we're having a secret rendezvous at night?"

She sat down casually on the stool opposite him, staring intently at the pot of rice wine, and swallowed hard. "Where did you buy this wine?"

"Homemade."

Chen Ming picked up the wine pot and poured her a glass.

Zhong Shuyu took a sip, her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "Good wine!"

"Aren't you afraid I'll poison your drink?"

"Why poison me?" Zhong Shuyu chuckled. "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so long ago. If you want my body, you can give me some aphrodisiacs to enhance the pleasure of our bedroom."

She had just drunk some wine, and her eyes held a hint of allure as she looked around.

Chen Ming had long known that she wasn't a proper young lady from a respectable family, but her outrageous words still took him a hit.

Over the past ten months, Zhong Shuyu would come to him every few days to spar. Over time, he figured out the rules: he would come on the 1st, 4th, and 7th of each month, like he was strolling through a market.

Having faced off nearly a hundred times, the two were quite familiar with each other, even though they rarely chatted.

This is the first time we've sat down and chatted like this.

He said, "The girl has a low alcohol tolerance; she's already talking nonsense after just one drink."

Zhong Shuyu said disappointedly, "I thought you were different from other men, but I didn't expect you to be so boring." With that, she picked up the wine pot, tilted her head back, and drank.

Chen Ming felt that she was acting a little strange today, but tacitly refrained from asking.

During those ten months, he never asked her anything.

She never asked about his affairs, maintaining a simple relationship as a training partner.

The reason why the relationship between the two has lasted for so long is precisely because of this tacit understanding.

Zhong Shuyu downed a whole pot of yellow wine in one gulp, then wiped her lips, stood up, drew her sword, and said, "Come on, I will definitely defeat you today."

Chen Ming picked up the long knife that was placed aside and followed her out of the courtyard.

"Take this!"

The two began to fight in the courtyard.

……

After more than thirty moves, Zhong Shuyu suddenly said angrily, "I'm not fighting anymore."

Chen Ming stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Zhong Shuyu glared at him angrily, "You always give in to me, don't you get annoyed?"

She sought out two of her senior brothers to spar, and at first, they were quite patient. But after a few times, they started making excuses to avoid it. Even her own senior brothers were like this.

But this man, who would spar with her every few days, never showed the slightest impatience. He always remained calm and patient, fighting her for over fifty moves before finally winning by a single, albeit narrow, move.

It happens every time.

He was clearly far stronger than her; he could defeat her in less than ten moves.

At first, Zhong Shuyu was driven by a wicked sense of humor, wanting to see how long he could endure it. A month passed, three months passed, half a year passed…

He remains the same.

Without realizing it, she began to like this feeling. Chen Ming's encouraging gaze, his kindness, his tolerance, guided and inspired her...

It was something she had never experienced from anyone else.

"Why are you so good to me?" Zhong Shuyu asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

A big question mark popped into Chen Ming's mind: We're just training partners, what kind of nonsense are you making up?

Since Zhong Shuyu had already said all that, she decided to go all out, "I'm leaving, going to a very far place. I don't know when I'll be able to come back, or even if I'll ever be able to..."

Chen Ming thought for a moment and said, "Then I wish you a safe journey, young lady."

Seeing that he was still as dense as a blockhead, Zhong Shuyu was so angry that her face turned red. Biting her lip, she finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Do you...do you want me to go?"

No, are you serious?

Chen Ming felt a chill run down his spine and could only say, "Whether to go or not should be decided by the young lady herself."

A gust of wind blew, wiping away the tears that clung to the corners of the girl's eyes.

There was a bang.

The longsword fell to the ground, and the girl turned and covered her face as she left.

Chen Ming watched her figure disappear into the night and sighed.

This is the second sword she's left here. She's really rich.

Then he thought about how he had fallen out with the only rank-1 martial artist who was willing to spar with him, and felt a little regretful.

……

The next morning, Chen Ming sat down to have breakfast with his older brother and sister-in-law, as well as his nephews and nieces.

My niece, Chen Lirong, is almost two years old and is still being cared for by her wet nurse, who feeds her meat porridge.

Chen Lide, Chen Ming's nephew, had grown a year older and was now sitting up straight, able to remain calm in the face of the delicious food on the table. However, Chen Ming still noticed his furtive swallowing.

This guy is clearly a born foodie.

After Chen Ming sat down, everyone started eating.

After finishing their meal, the two brothers went to the study.

Chen Rui said with some concern, "Second Brother, I heard that Inspector Sun sent people over yesterday. Did things not go well between you two?"

"Ah."

"Is it because of the martial arts guild?"

Chen Ming felt a sense of relief, which proved that his elder brother was no longer as naive as he had been a year ago, and at least knew the current crisis facing the family.

"Brother, you already know. No need to worry, I have my own way of handling it."

Seeing that he understood, Chen Rui didn't bring it up again. "That's good."

He believed that Erlang could handle it.

Just then, someone rushed in from outside, shouting, "It's terrible! A group of people claiming to be from a martial arts guild have barged in, saying they want to confront the Second Young Master!"

It came so quickly.

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised and said to his elder brother Chen Rui, "I'll handle it. You go and keep your sister-in-law and nephew and niece company."

Chen Rui nodded. He knew very well that he couldn't help with matters concerning martial arts. He then returned to the backyard to comfort his wife.

"Go, lead the way."

Chen Ming walked towards the door, a surge of heroic spirit rising in his heart.

Over the past ten months, Chen Ming's main source of experience points has been the group of students he recruited, which now numbers twenty-eight. He also sparred with Zhong Shuyu every few days. In total, he has gained 18,000 experience points in three hundred days.

Of those, 8,000 points were added to the "Three Yang Body Forging Technique," and his cultivation level broke through to the eighth rank.

Seven thousand points were added to the "Swallow Returns Sword Technique". More than three thousand points remain to be used.

He had been in seclusion for nearly a year, quietly developing his skills. Now, he could finally openly challenge martial artists from other schools.

(End of this chapter)