The Smiling, Proud Wanderer: From the Moment He Picked Up Qu Feiyan

While on the mountain, he didn't feel anything, but as soon as he came down the mountain, the sun outside hit him and he felt the warmth. Suddenly, an itchy sensation rushed up from Shen An's nasal cavity.

"Achoo!"

He sneezed hard, and only then did he feel the cold.

Sigh, it seems that just practicing swordsmanship is not enough. I need to find a way to improve my internal strength, at least to become immune to heat and cold.

But as for the Songshan Heart Sutra... well, let's just leave it at that.

When we get back, we'll test if there's any bonus when practicing internal energy in the Ice Heart state.

Shen An straightened his clothes and walked back to the city along the road he had come from. At this moment, a gust of wind swept in from the direction of the sparse villages by the roadside, but instead of the aroma of cooking smoke, it brought a heavy, pungent, and metallic smell.

The smell of blood.

Shen An paused, his brows furrowing instantly, his gaze fixed on the half-closed courtyard gate in the distance.

Alarmed, he moved swiftly and silently to the courtyard wall. After listening for a moment to make sure there were no other living creatures making noise inside, he gently pushed open the half-closed wooden door.

The scene inside the courtyard made Shen An's breath catch in his throat.

An old man lay beside a woodpile, his white hair disheveled, a huge bloody hole in his chest, the dark red blood beneath him already half-congealed, soaking the yellow earth. His eyes were wide open, and he still clutched a short axe used for chopping wood in his hand.

A few steps away, an old woman lay sprawled beside a stone mill. Her clothes were torn on her back, and a deep, bone-revealing knife wound slashed diagonally from her shoulder blade to her waist, almost cutting her in two. One of her hands was outstretched, her fingertips digging deeply into the mud, as if she were trying to crawl towards the main room.

This real, recent scene of life being cruelly taken away is almost identical to those documentaries I've seen in my past life.

Shen An stood there, a chill creeping down his spine, but a fire burning in his chest.

Just then, a tearing sound came from the inner room, followed by a woman's piercing scream, a scream that finally broke down after being suppressed to the extreme: "Beasts! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

There are still survivors! The perpetrators are still alive!

A cold glint flashed in Shen An's eyes as his gaze swept quickly across the yard, landing on a flat-headed iron shovel commonly used by farmers in the corner. The wooden handle was thick and long, the shovel head heavy and substantial, though not sharp. Without hesitation, he picked up the shovel; it felt heavy in his hand, even heavier than his iron sword.

He carried a shovel and stepped over the corpses in the main room in a few steps, arriving at the door of the inner room.

Through the cracks in the dilapidated door, one could see that the room was in a mess, and a disheveled girl with messy clothes and disheveled hair was huddled against the wall, holding a wooden stick in her hand, waving it frantically and crying out.

Three men stood inside. Two men dressed in short-sleeved shirts were grinning as they approached her from the left and right. The third man, with his back to the door, dressed in a silk outfit, was loosening his belt and cursing, "Damn it, you won't listen to reason! Your father owes me money, so it's only right that I use you to pay off the debt! If he dares to lay a hand on you, he deserves to die! If you cause any more trouble, I'll sell you to a brothel after I'm done with you!"

Without further hesitation, Shen An kicked open the already somewhat loose door!

"Bang!"

The loud noise startled the people inside. The two men surrounding the girl were startled and instinctively turned around. The man in the silk shirt also turned around abruptly, his belt only half untied, his face still bearing the lingering lewdness and annoyance of being disturbed.

When his gaze met Shen An's icy stare, his expression froze instantly, then turned to astonishment and panic, finally managing to force a very forced, fawning smile.

"Senior Brother Shen... what... what are you doing here?"

Shen An recognized the man; his name was Zhao Da Kui, in his forties. He used to be a notorious bandit on the Xiang River. After Songshan settled in Huguang, he was recruited into the government and is now in charge of running a casino and some loan sharking businesses in Hengyang City.

In the area south of Dongting Lake, besides the two inner disciples Shen An and Feng Changrong, and Li Qingde who came from Songshan to run Bailianfang, there were only a few outer disciples recruited locally and in charge of the gray industry. They were considered the middle-level backbone of Songshan in this area.

Shen An's gaze swept over the terrified, desperate, and trembling young girl, past her somewhat disheveled clothes, and finally settled on Zhao Da Kui's face, which was filled with panic and ingratiation.

"Zhao Da Kui," Shen An's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, "what are you doing here?"

Zhao Da Kui's eyes darted around rapidly. He quickly fastened his belt, pointed at the girl on the kang (heated brick bed), then pointed towards the outer room, and said urgently, "Brother Shen, please understand! This family, the man of this house, is called Wang Yougen. He owes us ten taels of silver in usager loans, and with the interest compounding, it's already thirty taels! When the deadline arrived and he couldn't pay, the brothers came to collect the debt, and he dared to attack us with an axe! I had no choice but to... I had to act in self-defense. According to our rules, if a debt is not repaid, it is settled with a person. This woman... I was just following the rules, taking her back to settle the debt..."

He spoke quickly and urgently, as if he were speaking with righteous indignation, but he dared not meet Shen An's gaze, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Shen An sneered inwardly. Why would Zhao Da Kui, the head of the illicit businesses in Hengyang, personally lead his men to this remote village for a debt of a mere thirty taels of silver?

There is only one explanation: Zhao Da Kui saw the appearance of the Wang family's daughter somewhere, harbored evil intentions, deliberately set a trap to lure Wang Yougen into a huge debt, and then personally led people to his door to commit the beastly act of murdering and stealing the daughter.

What a fine example of "following the rules"!

At that moment, he understood completely. This wasn't some kind of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the martial arts world) feud, nor was it an accident. This was the malignant tumor under his control wreaking havoc, the "rules" he had tacitly approved devouring people.

Shen An wished he could just kill him, but this man's martial arts skills were not low, otherwise Songshan would not have valued him and taken him in.

If he still had his original strength, he would be almost certain to win a sword duel with him, but if he were to fight to the death with this vicious thug who came out of the waves, he would probably die ten times over.

Shen An gripped the shovel handle tightly, the rough wooden handle rubbing against his palm.

Unconsciously, the internal energy within his body began to circulate.

Seeing Shen An remain silent, Zhao Da Kui assumed he believed his explanation, or that he was concerned about their shared sect affiliation and the profits from their business. Reassured, he put on a smile again: "Senior Brother Shen, this is such a small matter, why trouble yourself with it? Look, I'll take this woman back, and the money will be paid off. Once the accounts are balanced, the sect's share of the allowance, plus your tribute, will not be shortchanged."

Shen An shook his head and said calmly, "I originally planned to wait until I had truly established myself before making my move against you. Now it seems I overestimated myself and you as well."

Zhao Da Kui's smile froze instantly. He understood the meaning behind Shen An's words. The ingratiating smile on his face slowly disappeared, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, which was then replaced by a deeper sinister and fierce light.

He sized up Shen An. He didn't think his martial arts were inferior to this young upstart's, but when he noticed that Shen An was carrying an iron shovel, he was even more dismissive of him. Although he didn't know why the Five Mountains disciples, who were always accompanied by swords, were unusually without one, he knew that these people's skills were almost entirely based on their swordsmanship.

"Hey Shen, I respect you as my senior brother because of your status as an inner disciple. Don't think you're something special. When I was roaming the lands of Hubei and Hunan, you were probably nowhere to be found! If you fancy this woman, take her away. I'll naturally offer you a gift afterwards. I advise you not to refuse a toast..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Because Shen An moved.