The sickly girl is killing her way through the weird world

The moment they saw it, the two of them wanted to turn their backs and run away.

The crying started again, and the two of them stopped in their tracks at the same time.

That face appeared silently behind them.

Clinging to their backs, I watched them with a smile.

The crying turned into laughter.

Then the limbs peeled off.

----

"This hammering technique called 'Drumming' is roughly like this. Actually, it's mainly a method for tempering the body, with not much of a technical aspect. However, the method for tempering the body isn't very sophisticated; it's a bit too fierce and might not be good for the body," Bai Yao concluded, closing the book in her hand.

"Your health is already poor, this thing is too harmful to your body, and you may get a lot of illnesses if you practice it for a long time."

It was naturally far inferior to the martial arts of the Bai family, but Bai Yao couldn't teach Bai Qian either, since she herself was only a half-baked practitioner and hadn't learned much. Moreover, the martial arts of the Bai family all required the family's visualization method, and one couldn't enter the door without seeing the visualization method.

“Once we get to the county town, I’ll find someone to teach you better. You should learn some basic martial arts principles first, then learning these martial arts techniques should be easier.” She thought about it carefully, recalling the words of her elders.

"Life and nature need to be cultivated together. When cultivating life, you also need to cultivate nature. It's not enough to just practice techniques; you also need to cultivate the fundamental method. When we get to the county town, I will find someone to teach you."

Bai Qian, who was carefully gnawing on a rib with her tiny teeth, nodded. She didn't know what life or fundamental law meant, but what she did know was...

[Currently available martial art to be upgraded: [Drumming] (E)]

It was after Bai Yao finished reading that book that Bai Qian learned it. Perhaps it was because it was very simple, with only two moves, and more of it was a method for exercising the body.

However, if you cultivate your body, what kind of body can you cultivate? An ancient holy body?

It also requires the use of some special herbs, but I don't know if I need to use them.

Bai Qian suddenly looked up. Bai Yao, who was flipping through a book, blinked, somewhat puzzled, before seeing Bai Qian pick up the empty bowl.

Having understood Bai Qian's meaning, Bai Yao took the bowl and served Bai Qian another bowl of ribs.

This girl's appetite has increased a lot recently. Is it because of martial arts training? But she's only been training for one day, so her appetite shouldn't be this much.

"I've taught you the remaining two moves of the Snow Willow Sword. If you can, you should practice these. This hammer technique is too taxing on the body and requires some medicinal herbs, which we don't have here," Bai Yao instructed.

"Mmm." Bai Qian nodded, picked up a piece of pork rib with her chopsticks, took a bite, and paused slightly.

In your first year, you tried learning [drumming]. This hammering technique wasn't difficult for you. With a quick and easy approach, you mastered it in a very short time. The only difficult part for you was the method of preparing the medicinal ingredients.

In the fourth year, unable to find the herbs needed to cultivate [Drumming], you could only rely on your daily diet to make up for the deficiency. This caused your appetite to increase rapidly, but precisely because of this, you also made rapid progress in your [Drumming] herbal cultivation.

[In the tenth year, even without medicinal herbs for alchemy, you still compensated for this through your daily diet. Your [Drumming] has reached its peak, your physique has increased exponentially, and lifting a heavy hammer weighing tens of kilograms is like playing a toy for you.]

[In the twenty-first year, after more than a decade of consistent cultivation, although progress has been slow, relying on the accumulation of time and your own talent, your [Drumming] has reached its pinnacle. Your Qi is like mercury, and your meridians are like a river. You have returned from the acquired to the innate, which can also be called acquired divine power.]

Volume 1: 22. The Great Liang Sword Saint?

[In the twenty-ninth year, your [Drumming] (E) technique has reached a point where [Drumming] (D) can no longer be advanced. This does not belong to the category of technique and cannot be solved by mere contemplation. You have encountered a bottleneck that you are unaware of. This cannot be achieved through closed-door practice. Cultivation requires a combination of internal and external methods. Externally, you cannot find medicinal herbs to assist your cultivation, nor can you find a way to improve your medicinal practice.]

[You understand none of the twelve regular meridians or the eight extraordinary meridians. As for the words "life" and "existence," you only know that they exist, but you don't understand their true meaning. You are very aware that if you continue like this, even if you cultivate for several more decades, you will at most make your muscles and bones more resilient. You will not find a way to break through this predicament; it will all be in vain.]

[The monster's remaining lifespan is currently 61 years, with an additional 18 years of mysterious lifespan.]

The deduction was over, and Bai Qian could clearly feel the changes within her body.

Huge, huge changes.

If it was just a log in the water before, now it might be a small raft?

She was still holding the bowl in both hands, her slender white fingers gently squeezing it.

The wooden bowl was marked with clearly visible fingerprints.

Acquired divine power?

Bai Qian didn't know what the concept of innate divine power was. She did know what it was, but she had only seen it in books, like Xiang Yu.

Bai Qian had only seen it in books, but to say she had any concrete understanding of it...

Probably not.

You can't expect someone who has never left the ward to have any concept of what it means. Running and exercising are things that Bai Qian considers as one thing.

Things that cannot be done.

There are very few things I can do: sleep, eat, daydream, read, or die.

As for the fact that, according to the description above, if one wants to continue to make progress, one probably needs to learn some theoretical knowledge first, Bai Qian can understand this. Just like building a skyscraper still requires the most basic foundation, it's a very easy thing to understand.

However, Bai Qian wasn't too sure about theoretical things... After all, she hadn't studied for a long time, so perhaps her learning ability was very poor?

"There are still ribs in the pot. If you're hungry, you can heat them up yourself. I also need to go out today to see if there are any merchant caravans in the city. I'll try to leave Baifeng City in the next couple of days," Bai Yao said, oblivious to Bai Qian's dazed expression.

"As for you, you can read books to learn to read, or you can practice your moves, either way is fine."

"Hmm." Bai Qian's reply remained as indifferent as ever.

Bai Yao was used to it. She glanced at Bai Qian and was about to leave when she seemed to remember something and turned back.

He took out a piece of yellow paper from his pocket, on which strange characters were drawn in cinnabar.

"Keep this on your person. If you encounter any danger, just take it out. It should be useful." Bai Yao didn't explain what the talisman was. After giving these instructions, she left directly.

Bai Qian was left standing in the courtyard, lost in thought.

I picked up a rib with my chopsticks and took a small bite.

What should we be doing now?

If you're practicing martial arts, it's not a bad idea to familiarize yourself with the [drumming] technique you just learned, but ultimately there's no reference point.

If we're talking about a point of reference, then it's naturally the demon.

As for people, Bai Qian has never met a decent martial artist so far.

Even those who can fight against demons.

This is perhaps why demons are so rampant.

After carefully finishing the ribs in her bowl, Bai Qian picked up the talisman that Bai Yao had placed on the table and examined it.

can't read.

The translucent yellow paper shone brightly in the sunlight, but Bai Qian didn't recognize what was written on the talisman.

Things like scribbles or scribbles.

After studying it for a while but not figuring it out, he put the talisman away. Since Bai Yao told him to take it with him, he might as well.

What was the next step?

After a moment of blankness, Bai Qian remembered what she should do next.

I promised to go to the Lai family's place yesterday, so let's go check it out now.

Incidentally, although most of the text of [Drumming] tells cultivators how to strengthen their bodies, it also contains methods related to techniques.

It's very rudimentary, not even comparable to the Snow Willow Sword.

Most importantly, the hammer used for [beating the drum] was very short, completely different from the three-meter-long hammer that Bai Qian had imagined.

Bai Qian wanted a three-meter-long hammer simply because that way, she could kill someone without getting blood splattered on her clothes. Blood splattered on clothes is not only dirty, but also very difficult to wash off.

Last night, after I got home, I tried to wash the clothes that were splattered with blood.

It wasn't washed clean.

Although the [drumming] uses a short hammer, Bai Qian thinks that using a long hammer is also possible, but first she has to see if she can find one.

There's no need to bother the carpenter; just go to the Lai family's place.

Bai Qian washed the bowl she had finished eating, picked up the wooden sword she had taken from the carpenter, and walked out of the house.

----

"What happened last night?" Lai Yu sat on the sandalwood chair in the lobby, listening to the thugs' report, and couldn't help but rub his temples.

A man and a woman were serving him.

"Old man, do you think this is true?" The man didn't quite believe what the thug was saying.

Everyone thought it was outrageous that the rat demons of Pengzhai in the south of the city were all killed by a young girl with yellow hair, and she was even holding a wooden stick.

Where did this girl come from, the Great Liang Sword Saint?

“I’m telling you, Xiao Shui, whether this matter is true or false, just treat it as true. When you take over the family later, you have to maintain this attitude.” Lai Yu stroked his graying beard and said.

"Yes, you're right," Lai Shui replied, nodding with a frown.

"So, next we need to prepare an apology respectfully, and when this gentleman comes to our door, we'll kneel down and kowtow to him to admit our mistake?"

"If she really has that ability, it's okay for us to admit our mistake."

Lai Shui knew his old man had something to say. Kneel down and admit his mistake? That would be a huge loss of face. Apologizing was fine, but this man's tone was too arrogant.

After thinking about the family situation, I immediately understood what the old man was thinking.

"The fox demon that came to our house yesterday..." Lai Shui didn't need to say anything; the woman next to Lai Yu spoke up on her own initiative.

"Yes, the demons from the mountains outside the city came here to find out why Zhang Wu and the others suddenly died the day before yesterday. Our family often has contact with these demons and makes offerings to them, so they came here on the way."

"Tell me, why are we contacting them? It's for protection. But Lai Xian, who contacted them before, is dead. Was he killed by that girl?" Lai Yu's words were loaded with meaning.

"They are quite satisfied with Lai Xian."

Lai Shui immediately understood what his father meant.

“I’ll go find it right now and tell it about this.”

"Go ahead, but remember to watch your words. They're not stupid... Find two strong men to deliver it. This guy really likes it."

"Yes."

Volume 1: Chapter 23, Smash it to pieces

Lai Shui waited at the door of the room, listening to the woman's joyful voice coming from inside from time to time. He didn't feel very good; in fact, beads of sweat kept dripping from his forehead.

That's for sure, since the person in the room right now isn't a woman.

After waiting for a while, the woman's joyful voice stopped, and Lai Shui did not rush in.

Because what followed was the sound of something being gnawed on, whether it was bone or flesh.

That's a sound that would send chills down anyone's spine.

No one can remain calm upon hearing the sound of their own kind being devoured.

Lai Shui had served several demons before and was somewhat prepared, so even now, he didn't have a mental breakdown, but was just a little scared.

That's how the Lai family lived. In such a chaotic world, if you want to survive, you either have to be powerful yourself or find a powerful backer.

But how can people be so powerful? Even the most powerful dynasties were like that.

Anyway, as far as Lai Shui knew, the officials had all sided with the demons, and who knew how many of the prisoners in the jail had ended up inside the demons' bellies.

The Lai family was just a bit more obvious; after all, if their attitude wasn't good, the demons wouldn't accept it.

The younger sister of the third wife still refuses to accept these things, saying that it is shameful to associate with demons.

You have to tell yourself, you'll get used to it.

"Come in." Lai Shui had been waiting at the door for a long time when he heard a woman's languid voice coming from inside the room.

He carefully pushed open the door, and what came into view was a bloody scene filling the room.

The two men's corpses lay side by side on the bed, their bodies shriveled, half of their bodies covered in bite marks, with wounds of torn flesh visible everywhere, and half of their flesh gnawed away, exposing bloodstained bones.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, gently stroking the faces of the two men, was a naked woman. She could be called a woman, but her entire body was covered in gray-brown hair, as were the hairs on the sides of her narrow, pointed face. Blood droplets dripped from the hairs, and her fox-like snout was also stained with blood.

If it were to appear on the street, it would inevitably cause panic.

Lai Shui glanced at him once and then lowered his head.

"Is Master Hu satisfied?"

"Speak, is there something you want me to do? Why are you being so helpful for no reason?" The fox demon touched the withered faces of the two corpses beside her with her fingers.

"You are incredibly insightful." Lai Shui didn't rush to reveal the truth, but instead offered a compliment.