Gou Zai Wu Dao Chao Shi Xing Nian Da Gong

At the side gate, the coachman, Lao Jiu, had just parked the carriage and was about to remove the saddle when he saw a figure rush out from nowhere and instantly kill Li Xin and his two servants.

Before he could react, the person was already in front of him.

"Tell me, where does Li Xin keep all his money?"

Zhou Fugan asked in a low voice.

Only then did Lao Jiu see clearly that the person's face was covered, revealing only a pair of cold eyes, like an emotionless killer.

He swallowed hard in fear and answered tremblingly, "I...I don't know. But I do know that Manager Li values ​​his bedroom and study the most, and strictly forbids servants like us from going near them. Once, a servant mistakenly entered the study and was beaten to death by him."

"Take me there, and I'll spare your life."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing my life!"

Lao Jiu then led Zhou Fugan to the backyard and pointed to two rooms, "That's the bedroom, and that's the study."

Click~~

With a flick of Zhou Fugan's wrist, Lao Jiu's neck snapped.

Before he arrived, he had already investigated Li Xin's family situation. Li Xin had homosexual tendencies, no wife or family, and usually had affairs with his servants. This Lao Jiu was Li Xin's confidant. He seemed honest and simple, but in reality, he had done many bad things and deserved to die.

...

Zhou Fugan picked up a lantern and went to the bedroom. After searching, he found only a dozen or so taels of loose silver.

He looked around, thought for a moment, and then used his Mountain-Stomping Leg to kick and smash all the beds and cabinets in the room.

"There really was a hidden compartment!"

A hidden compartment was clearly visible on the wall behind a cabinet.

Zhou Fugan held up a lamp to investigate and saw a square black wooden box, about a foot in size, inside the dark room. He reached out and slapped it, and the box cracked open, revealing a sliver of silver luster.

Reaching out, he pried open the wooden box, revealing half a box of gleaming silver, which at a rough glance amounted to more than a thousand taels.

Above the silver were some gold and silver jewelry and other valuable items.

Zhou Fugan took out a cloth bag and poured all the treasures into it.

He then went to the study and destroyed it again using the same method, but this time he couldn't find the hidden compartment.

Zhou Fugan frowned, sensing something was amiss. Since Li Xin wouldn't let anyone into the study, there must be a secret there.

"What exactly is it?"

His gaze swept across the room, and suddenly he saw the shattered bookshelf and books scattered all over the floor. A thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly bent down to carefully examine the books.

Soon, he found two books that were unusual.

One of the books had "Qingshan County Annals" on the cover, but there was a hidden secret inside.

At a glance, Zhou Fugan saw some martial arts moves by small figures wielding knives, which looked like a martial arts manual. The other book was an account book with various accounts written on it, which he couldn't understand for the time being.

He didn't look closely, quickly checked the other books and found nothing wrong, then left the place.

...

One thousand three hundred and sixty taels of silver!

There was also a small pile of jewelry and precious stones nearby, worth a considerable amount of silver. The total amount exceeded two thousand taels.

Zhou Fugan stood in front of his bed, looking at his harvest, and rubbed his hands together excitedly.

He had never fought such a rich war before!

Originally, after breaking through the bone and tendon barrier, his cultivation slowed down again, and the previous Fiery Pills had become much less effective. He needed better tonics.

However, better tonics were expensive and not commonly available in pharmacies. He went to great lengths to find a tonic specifically for those with strong bones and muscles at Xinghutang in the west of the city.

This medicine is called Xuanjia Peitu Wan (玄甲培土丸), which uses a precious herb called Xuanjia (玄甲), which is particularly effective in nourishing the spleen and stomach. Then, based on the principle of mutual generation of the five elements, it nourishes the other internal organs one by one, thereby achieving the effect of nourishing the five internal organs. Since the spleen and stomach belong to the earth element in the five elements, it is named Peitu (培土).

This medicine is expensive, costing ten taels of silver per pill. While a martial artist typically needs to take one pill every five days, he needs to take one pill every day, which would cost him three hundred taels of silver a month – a huge expense.

Now, with this money, he can eat for several months straight.

...

After taking inventory of the gold and silver jewelry, Zhou Fugan separated the silver from the jewelry and hid it on the roof beam.

Then, he picked up the two books and looked at them carefully.

He first looked at the ledger, and after a long time, he finally discovered that it recorded all sorts of illicit income from the Black Snake Gang's Poison Fang Hall over the years. In addition to the normal turnover of the gambling den, there were also incomes from setting up schemes to fleece victims, as well as income from trafficking innocent women, and so on.

After reading it, Zhou Fugan's mind was in turmoil.

Logically speaking, handing over this ledger to the government would be enough to put the Black Snake Gang to death under the law. However, he knew that there must be powerful figures in the inner city behind the Black Snake Gang. If he really handed over this ledger, it would not only fail to do anything to the Black Snake Gang, but would also cause him a lot of trouble.

"The ledger is useless to me, but it's very useful to some people."

Zhou Fugan quickly came up with an idea. He carefully put the account book away.

He then picked up the county gazetteer that recorded martial arts techniques and eagerly began to read it. Soon, he discovered the secret within the book.

Part of the book contains county chronicles, interspersed with pages on martial arts techniques.

Zhou Fugan went through all the pages and was surprised to find that it contained a sword technique.

This sword technique is called the Hu Family Sword Technique. Judging from the name, he knew it was related to the Hu family mansion next door.

The Hu family was renowned for its swordsmanship; their blades flashed like lightning, and before the enemy could even blink, their head was on the ground. The patriarch, Hu Dahai, was especially famous, earning the nickname "Hu the One-Cut," a reputation for killing without needing a second strike.

Zhou Fugan was overjoyed. He needed just such a sword technique.

So he quickly began to examine it carefully.

The Hu family's sword technique is indeed extraordinary; it is not merely a set of sword moves, but rather includes a complete set of techniques, including stance training.

It mentions that practicing swordsmanship begins with stance training. The Hu family's stance training can be cultivated all the way to the peak of the internal organs, which is the foundation for practicing swordsmanship. The stance methods, footwork, and routines included are all closely related to swordsmanship.

In addition to stance training and swordsmanship, it even includes a series of corresponding tonic recipes and refining methods. You only need to buy the medicinal materials according to the recipes to make the corresponding tonics for each stage.

The tonics include the Skin-Treating Soup for beginners to train their skin membranes, the Tendon-Treating Powder for warriors to hone their tendons and bones, the Five Organs Pill for strong warriors to strengthen their internal organs, the Bone-Treating and Marrow-Strengthening Pill for strong warriors to strengthen their bone marrow, and even the Five Spirits Blood-Transforming Pill needed by peak warriors to condense their qi and blood power.

Zhou Fugan was overjoyed after reading it.

"The Hu Family Knife Technique has everything from the techniques to the tonics, making it a perfect family heirloom. The Hu Family Knife Technique is no less powerful than the Hammer Cloud Fist, so Zhou He doesn't need to go to the martial arts school anymore; he can practice the Hu Family Knife Technique at home."

However, Zhou Fugan also had some concerns.

This sword technique was discovered by Li Xin, who obviously tricked him into revealing it to Hu Yong. It's unclear whether he reported it to the Black Snake Gang. If they were to practice this technique, they couldn't let outsiders discover it, otherwise, it would arouse suspicion within the Black Snake Gang.

Zhou Fugan quickly made a decision, "Hmm, let's see if He'er has any talent in swordsmanship. If she does, we'll start by teaching her stance training and basic swordsmanship to build her foundation gradually."