I'll write a manual called the Sunflower Manual, and the entire martial arts world will turn in

Wang Wu was among the people who had been crying earlier.

At this moment, Wang Wu slumped on the ground, trembling, his face pale, as if he had experienced something extremely terrifying.

Faced with Zhou Fu's questioning, Wang Wu took several deep breaths to catch his breath before recounting the events of exterminating the water monster:

"I followed the two righteous men to the inner cave, where only two or three households remained. The two righteous men inquired about the situation and then searched along the river for traces of the water monster. At first, they searched all morning without finding the monster. Later, the two righteous men saw something like a treasure fish on the surface of the river..."

"Then the two heroes jumped into the water to catch the treasure fish... I don't know what happened, but suddenly I heard a loud noise in the water. And then... I saw the bodies of the two heroes float to the surface, and that's what they look like now."

Zhou Fu frowned deeply: "Did you see that water monster?"

Wang Wu shook his head repeatedly.

"Take Wang Wu down to rest. It's already dark, everyone should disperse." Zhou Fu dismissed the crowd, then knelt down in front of the two corpses to examine them closely. He was horrified to discover that Lei Ming and Liu Ji's brains, hearts, lungs... had all been eaten.

Only an empty shell remains.

"This water monster certainly knows how to pick its targets..."

Zhou Fu rubbed his forehead and frowned.

He thought that having found experts at the Blood Reaching Realm and the Five Organs Realm, he would surely be able to defeat the water monster. In that case, he would consider it a meritorious deed, and he would be able to give an account to the higher authorities. He might even receive a reward.

Now look what's happened, two more righteous men have died.

Once word gets out, he, as the inspector of the river and lake administration, will be in the eye of the storm. If he can't quickly eliminate the monster, and is attacked by those with ulterior motives in the government, it will be a question whether he can keep his official position.

The man who wrote the sword, Liu Ji, is dead, but Lei Ming is the son of Lei Peng, the master of the Lei Family Martial Arts School, and he died in the river... How to explain this to Master Lei Peng is also a problem.

Thinking of this, Zhou Fu's face was full of worry.

Fang looked up and saw Li Shengnan, Xie An, and Liu Wei still watching from the side.

Zhou Fu asked, "Shengnan, how did your patrol of Yingyuan Village go today?"

Li Shengnan said, "Everything went smoothly."

"That's good." Zhou Fu offered a few words of comfort, then changed the subject, "Now that this has happened at the River and Lake Management Office, could you please ask Director Chen to take a look?"

Li Shengnan looked troubled. "The sect leader is currently in seclusion at Shougong Hall and is probably not free. However, Senior Brother Wei Xiang is available. If the Inspector needs anything, I can go back and inform Senior Brother Wei Xiang to see if he can come and visit."

Zhou Fulian repeatedly said yes.

After Li Shengnan and her companions left, Zhou Fu called Zhou Wu over, "Xiao Wu, that young man next to Li Shengnan looks unfamiliar. Who is he?"

Zhou Wu, not understanding his father's meaning, replied respectfully, "That's Xie An, Li Shengnan's junior brother. She introduced him to our River and Lake Management Office today. What's up?"

Zhou Fu stroked his beard. "Li Shengnan has always been unconventional and has never introduced anyone to the river management office. This time, her actions suggest she has a close relationship with Xie An. Although I am an official appointed by the imperial court, I only managed to get a position by spending money to bribe the Baiyun County magistrate, who then allowed my Zhou family to oversee the town's river management office. Our Zhou family has benefited greatly from this position, so we must not allow anything to go wrong at this juncture. Otherwise, if our family business is damaged, how can I face our ancestors?"

Zhou Wu realized something, "Please tell me, Father."

Zhou Fu said, "If Lei Ming dies here, I'm afraid his father, Lei Peng, will have a falling out with me. Our Zhou family needs to choose a strong ally. Yong Sheng Martial Arts School would be a good choice. However, Li Shengnan is straightforward and fierce, and never takes advantage of others. If she can get Wei Xiang to help her this time, my pressure will be much less. Since Li Shengnan doesn't want any benefits, then let's give the benefits to her junior brother."

Zhou Wu suddenly realized, "Father's consideration is indeed thorough. Leave this matter to me. When Xie An comes here tomorrow, I will definitely express my gratitude properly."

……

After leaving the riverbank, Xie An was in low spirits.

The deaths of the two righteous men cast a shadow over Xie An's heart.

He recalled the manner of their deaths in his mind.

Based on the symptoms, it's easy to deduce that the two were completely defenseless against the monster and were dried out and killed. They were even eaten of their hearts and brains—it's truly terrifying.

Even experts at the Blood Refining Realm struggle to survive in this world. How much less so for a newbie like myself who has just begun practicing Skin Refining?

"Looks like I'm still too weak. I need to continue developing discreetly."

The joy that was supposed to come from breaking through the skin-training stage has now vanished.

"Junior brother, we've arrived at the martial arts school. I'll go and inform Senior Brother Wei Xiang first. You should take your younger sister and head back early. I've noticed things aren't going well in town lately, so don't go out at night," Li Shengnan instructed before striding into the martial arts school gate.

After saying goodbye to Li Shengnan, Xie An went to the backyard to fetch Xie Yu and take her home.

When I walked into the red-light district, it was already dark.

With his extraordinary senses, Xie An suddenly realized that someone was following him.

Ok?

Xie An pretended not to know, but out of the corner of his eye he saw that the person following him was a thin man.

He remembered the skinny man who had followed Tongshan around and knocked on the door before.

really……

Tongshan began to doubt himself.

The numerous crises put Xie An under considerable pressure.

"My skin-strengthening stage is still too weak. I need to master the second form of Bajiquan, Subduing Dragon, as soon as possible to prepare for the tendon-strengthening stage. Only then will I have a better chance of self-defense. But right now, I'm heavily in debt, and breaking through to the tendon-strengthening stage requires money to buy medicine and tonics, which are astronomical sums."

Even with a cheat code, it's not always smooth sailing to make a living and rise above others in this world.

Xie Yu noticed Xie An's low spirits: "Brother, what's wrong with you today?"

"Two experts died in the river, one at the Five Viscera Realm and the other at the Blood Rush Realm. Judging from the bodies, they were probably devoured by a water monster. Their brains and hearts are gone." Xie An didn't hide anything.

My youngest sister is not a child anymore, and she is very sensible. She should be made aware of the dangers of this world.

Xie Yu shrank back, stopped asking questions, and walked forward arm in arm with Xie An.

……

The next day.

Xie An got up very early, and after sending Xie Yu to the martial arts school, he hurriedly followed Li Shengnan to the riverbank.

Because of what happened yesterday, the atmosphere at the river and lake management office was very tense.

The sounds of commotion could still be faintly heard coming from the front hall.

Only after asking did they learn that Lei Peng, the owner of Lei's Martial Arts School, had come to Zhou Fu's door demanding an explanation, and the two had gotten into a heated argument.

With nothing else to do, Xie An followed Li Shengnan to practice with Tang swords in the backyard.

Although Li Shengnan's weapon was an axe, she also had some knowledge of swordsmanship, so she taught Xie An a few moves. Li Shengnan originally only intended for Xie An to use it for self-defense, but Xie An picked it up very quickly.

Li Shengnan was genuinely surprised. "Junior brother has a good foundation, so you learn everything quickly. Swordsmanship suits you. Once you break through your tendon-strengthening barrier, I'll introduce you to the best swordsman in the martial arts school so he can personally teach you."

Xie An was taken aback: "The best swordsman? Who is it?"

Li Shengnan said, "Naturally, it's Senior Brother Wei Xiang. His Heavy Mountain Saber is incredibly powerful, and he once slaughtered hundreds of bandits who ran for their lives. Don't let his low-key demeanor fool you; he's already a Ming Jin martial artist."

Ming Jin Wu Fu!

Xie An's heart skipped a beat.

This Yong Sheng Martial Arts School is truly a place where hidden talents abound.

"By the way, Senior Sister, has Senior Brother agreed to come to the River and Lake Bureau to check on the deaths of Lei Ming and Liu Ji?"

"I agreed," Li Shengnan said. "I went to the front hall of the River and Lake Management Office early this morning. Otherwise, Lei Ming and Inspector Zhou's argument would have gone far beyond just a quarrel."

Before long, Zhou Wu rushed over, greeted Li Shengnan, and then called Xie An to his residence.

Xie An followed Zhou Wu to a secluded courtyard.

Upon entering the main room, Zhou Wu took out a small silver ingot of five taels and a Qi and Blood Powder, and gave them to Xie An.

Xie An was taken aback: "Boss, what is this...?"

Zhou Wu smiled and said, "I heard from Sheng Nan that your performance during yesterday's inspection was excellent. It was a meritorious service, so this is an extra reward for you."

Xie An was completely stunned.

What?

I didn't do anything yesterday, I just ran errands for a bit.

Is this what you call meritorious service?

Five taels of silver, one dose of Qi and Blood Powder, a total of seven taels of silver!

This was no small sum for Xie An.

This all happened so strangely...

Before Xie An could figure out what was going on, Zhou Wu took out another book and handed it to him, saying, "I saw you were quite good at wielding your Tang sword just now. I'll give you this sword technique as well; it's the signature sword technique of my Zhou family, the Crimson Sun Sword Technique."

Xie An: ?