The God of War Who Protects the Nation: Starting with Saving a Mother and Daughter in Distress

Qin An's premonition was correct; his peaceful days after returning to the capital did not last long.

In just half a month, the matter of the tour changed from an undercurrent in the court to an official decree.

Emperor Yang Ming announced that he would travel south along the Grand Canal to inspect Jiangcheng, saying, "Where the Emperor's might reaches, the villains will be subdued."

The entire court of civil and military officials shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

Qin An stood among the martial arts practitioners, bowing down with the others, but his heart was ice-cold, and only one thought remained in his mind: "The heavens are about to change!"

After the court session ended, he did not return to his residence. He stood outside the palace gate for a moment, then mounted his horse and headed west of the city.

It's been half a month, and there's still no news about Li Zhaoning and her brother.

This is illogical.

Given Li Xuanfu's temperament, he would have rushed over long ago knowing that his master had returned.

For the past two weeks, the Qin family's doorstep has been worn down by guests from all sides, but no one from the Li family has come.

"Are you trying to avoid suspicion?"

Qin An had some suspicions about this, and he could understand it.

Therefore, he refrained from going to see Li Zhaoning and her brother.

But now that the emperor's tour has been confirmed, there are some things he has to ask about personally.

Li Zhaoning owns a three-courtyard house at the foot of the western city wall of the capital. The facade is not large, but the interior is surprisingly spacious and secluded.

When Qin An arrived, the gatekeeper, seeing it was him, didn't even bother to announce his arrival and hurriedly ushered him inside.

Just as they rounded the screen wall, a figure much taller than before rushed out.

"Master!"

Li Xuanfu charged at Qin An like a young calf. If Qin An hadn't had a stable stance, he would have been knocked back.

He looked down and saw that the boy in front of him was already chest-high.

Although his eyebrows and eyes still had a touch of childishness, his body had fully matured, with broad shoulders and a thick back, standing there like a small wall that could breathe.

"You've grown so much." Qin An raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, feeling a solid vibration in his palm. "Much stronger now."

Li Xuanfu chuckled and grabbed Qin An's sleeve, pulling him inside.

"Master, you've come at the perfect time! I've learned so much this past year, will you spar with me?"

Qin An was pulled inside by him, and his gaze swept across the courtyard, where he saw Li Zhaoning coming out of the main hall.

She was dressed simply today, wearing a moon-white dress with a silver-gray vest over it, and her hair was simply tied up in a loose bun with a plain silver hairpin inserted at an angle.

Seeing Qin An being pulled by her younger brother, she was taken aback at first, then smiled and said, "You've come."

Qin An nodded to her: "I've come to see you all."

Li Zhaoning didn't ask him why he had come so suddenly, but simply stepped aside and said, "Come in and have a cup of tea."

"Sister, let Master practice martial arts with me first!" Li Xuanfu eagerly said, "I'll show him a move!"

Li Zhaoning glanced helplessly at her younger brother, then looked at Qin An.

"If you have time, go and see how much he has improved this year. He thinks about you every day and says he'll give his master a big surprise when he comes back."

Qin An laughed: "Alright, let's see if he can scare me."

A small training ground was set up on the west side of the house, paved with blue bricks, with wooden stakes at the four corners, and the weapons rack was fully equipped with knives, spears, swords, and halberds.

Qin An walked to the weapon rack, casually picked up a white waxwood iron spear, and weighed it in his hand.

Turning around, Li Xuanfu walked to the innermost side and dragged out two hammers.

The hammerhead was about the size of a pumpkin, dark and heavy, and I don't know what kind of iron it was made of.

Just looking at those handles, even an ordinary soldier would have trouble lifting them with both hands, but Li Xuanfu carried one in each hand and easily carried them to the field, even casually swinging them half a circle to his side.

Qin An's eyelids twitched.

Li Zhaoning walked to the sidelines and said softly, "His strength has grown too fast. He finds swords, spears, and lances too light. Later, someone made these hammers for him, and they are still a bit heavy to use now. If he grows stronger for another year or two, he will probably have to replace them again."

She paused for a moment, then couldn't help but remind him, "You need to be careful and not be careless. In the past year, Xuanfu has become much stronger after formally practicing martial arts. I feel that he is really quite powerful now."

Qin An nodded, without asking any further questions, and twirled the iron spear in his hand, holding it horizontally in front of him: "Come on."

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanfu instantly lost all traces of his foolishness, clapping his two hammers together in front of his chest with a loud thud, and strode towards Qin An.

He wasn't walking fast, but every step he took made the blue bricks feel heavy.

Upon getting close, he swept the hammer horizontally and then gathered momentum for another strike. With a whoosh, the wind pressure even blew up the stray hairs at Qin An's temples.

Knowing that Li Xuanfu had terrifying talent, Qin An did not take it lightly and dealt with it seriously. He took a step to the side and lowered his waist, then raised his iron spear diagonally, the shaft of which "clanged" against the hammer handle.

Sparks flew, and he felt a numbness in his hand, causing him to slide half a step backward.

Although he was mentally prepared, he realized that he had underestimated Li Xuanfu a little.

"This strength has not only increased a lot, it has increased exponentially! Just considering the explosive power of this first strike, it is already more powerful than many strong men who fight to the death on the battlefield." Qin An was secretly shocked.

Li Xuanfu didn't care what Qin An was thinking.

After making his move, he pressed his advantage relentlessly, and his left hammer followed up with a smash.

Fortunately, although Qin An was surprised by Li Xuanfu's terrifying growth rate, he did not feel too much pressure.

He wasn't in a hurry to attack; he just kept feeding Li Xuanfu tips and tricks.

Under Qin An's deliberate guidance, Li Xuanfu became more and more excited as he fought, wielding his double hammers with great force.

Qin An, however, became increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed.

He discovered that the kid seemed to have no sense of fatigue whatsoever.

After forty or fifty rounds, Li Xuanfu was slightly sweating, but his expression remained unchanged, his breathing only became a little heavier, and the force of his hammer blows did not decrease at all.

"This physique and endurance aren't something you can train for; he's a natural-born fighter! Heaven has been far too kind to this kid."

Qin An felt a little jealous, feeling that sometimes heaven was really so unfair, making the gap between people so huge.

But the thought that the other party was now his disciple made him feel a little better.

After a few more moves, seeing that Li Xuanfu had used all his moves, he began to take things seriously.

"Watch out, I'm about to attack!" Qin An warned, flicking his wrist as the tip of his spear shot out like a serpent, striking the end of the hammer handle in Li Xuanfu's left hand.

Li Xuanfu exclaimed "Eh!" His left-hand hammer slipped half an inch, but he didn't panic. He pushed off with his right foot, spun half a circle, and swung his right-hand hammer backhand horizontally.

Qin An raised his spear and pressed down, the shaft pressing against the hammer handle, and the two wrestled.

Li Xuanfu's arm muscles were taut like iron bars, and blue veins ran down his forearms to the back of his hands.

They actually managed to push the gun barrel that Qin An had pressed down up another three inches.

"Good!" Qin An shouted in a low voice, withdrew his gun and stepped back, his eyes showing genuine surprise.

Li Zhaoning stood on the sidelines, watching intently, her fingers unconsciously twisting her handkerchief.

Seeing Qin An forced to back down, she suddenly spoke up: "Don't keep giving in to him. He's feeling smug right now. Be careful you don't suffer the consequences."

Before he finished speaking, Li Xuanfu had already charged forward again, wielding his double hammers. The hammers whistled as he struck one after another, so densely that there was almost no gap between them.

Qin An parried and struck with his spear, seemingly on the defensive, but in reality, each strike landed precisely at the last moment before Li Xuanfu's fierce attack ended, completely neutralizing Li Xuanfu's storm-like offensive.

After exchanging blows for dozens more times, Qin An had a complete understanding of the situation.

Li Xuanfu's hammer technique was wide and sweeping, with many flaws between each move.

But his brute strength completely made up for his rough technique.

Moreover, this kid has amazing combat intuition.

On several occasions, he deliberately created an opening to lure him into making a rash move.

Li Xuanfu seemed to instinctively stop his momentum, and even preemptively blocked his own counterattack route.

This kind of intuition is more valuable than any technique.

Knowing the situation clearly, Qin An stopped wasting time.

"Alright." He suddenly let out a long laugh, and the stance of his gun changed abruptly.

The dense, rain-like spear shadows suddenly receded, transforming into a straight black line that pierced directly into Li Xuanfu's chest and abdomen.

He used seven-tenths of his strength in that shot.

Li Xuanfu instinctively brought his two hammers together, trying to clamp the spear shaft.

But Qin An's gun reacted faster than he could. The tip of the gun grazed the hammer, sending sparks flying, and then he flicked his wrist.

The spear struck horizontally, hitting the handle of Li Xuanfu's right-hand hammer.

"when!"

The hammer flew out of his hand and smashed into the corner of the training ground, shattering half of the wooden stake into pieces.

Li Xuanfu was stunned. The remaining hammer was still raised in mid-air, and he seemed to be frozen in place.

After a couple of breaths, his shoulders slumped, his lips trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes: "I lost!"

Qin An put away his gun, walked over, picked up the hammer from the ground, and handed it back to him: "You lost, so be it. Don't look so long."

"Master, you didn't use your full strength just now," Li Xuanfu muttered as he took the hammer.

"If I go all out, you'll lose your arm," Qin An said. "You've already done a good job for forcing me to fight to this point. If I give you another two years, I might not be able to keep you under control."

Li Xuanfu suddenly looked up: "Really?"

"Really." Qin An patted his head. "Your strength is already comparable to that of an average warrior. What you lack is experience and skill, which can only be honed through time and real combat."

"From now on, go through today's lesson in your mind three times each day, and then come find me."

When Li Xuanfu heard that he could fight again, his eyes lit up.

He excitedly dragged the hammer to the corner, muttering to himself, sometimes demonstrating the moves he had just made, sometimes tilting his head and staring blankly, clearly already pondering on his own.

This kid is only ten years old.

If a few more years pass, I'm afraid I'll be able to go and have a go at Yuwen Rong.

Just as Qin An was feeling sentimental, Li Zhaoning walked over from the sidelines and handed him a glass of warm water: "Have some water! Take a break."

Qin An took the drink, drank a couple of sips, and walked side by side with Li Zhaoning into the courtyard.

Neither of them spoke first, and they slowly walked forward along the covered walkway.

Two locust trees in the corner of the courtyard rustled in the wind, and a few early yellow leaves swirled down.

The silence lasted for a long time.

Qin An had a lot to say, but when it came to speaking, he felt that none of them were quite right.

Between him and the woman before him, there was always the Li family, the Yuwen family, and that subtle affection that neither of them was willing to acknowledge first.

Li Zhaoning also remained silent.

It was unclear what was on her mind, but she kept her eyes down and walked with heavy steps.