"Brother Zhu, I was wondering, have you broken through the First Acupoint?" Song Mirror asked Zhu Rui, a smile on his face.

"Not yet!" Zhu Rui replied, a hint of arrogance on his face. "But I’m only one acupoint short!"

"Amazing! Truly amazing! For Brother Zhu to be on the verge of breaking through the First Acupoint at such a young age—you’re a true prodigy!" Song Mirror’s stream of flattery instantly made Zhu Rui puff up with even more pride.

"With your strength and background, Brother Zhu, you’ll probably be leading your own team once you break through. Just don’t forget about us when that happens." Saying this, Song Mirror stepped forward and draped an arm over Zhu Rui’s shoulder, looking utterly obsequious.

A flicker of awkwardness crossed Zhu Rui’s eyes—becoming a captain in the Law Enforcement Team wasn’t so simple. Still, he maintained an expression that suggested it was only natural.

"Brother Zhu, with you on night watch, if one of those anomalies dares to show up, I’m sure you’ll deal with it in a flash!"

’Anomalies?’

Zhu Rui was actually a little scared of those things, but after all that boasting, he couldn’t afford to lose face.

"Of course! If some measly anomaly dares to rear its head, I’ll make sure it’s a one-way trip!"

"Incredible, Brother Zhu! Now that you’ve said that, I can finally rest easy!"

That night, Song Mirror arranged the watch schedule. He and Zhao Tie would take the first half of the night, having duped Zhu Rui into taking the second half by himself.

The village also had its own designated Night Watchmen who made patrols. If they spotted anything, they would sound a gong, allowing everyone to rush to the scene at a moment’s notice.

...

「The next morning.」

"Lord Su, the night was perfectly quiet. Nothing happened," Song Mirror reported.

Su Yu’s expression was calm and unchanged. "Have you sent men to check on the other villages?"

"Village Chief Wang sent some villagers, but they haven’t come back yet."

Just as they were speaking, the village chief rushed across the threshold. "Lord Su, there’s been trouble in Wang Family Village!"

Song Mirror’s expression darkened. "What is it?" he asked hurriedly.

"Two families met with disaster in the middle of the night. They were attacked by an anomaly."

"Let’s go and see."

Su Yu gave the order at once. The group went out to the courtyard, swung themselves onto their Black-scaled Horses, and galloped toward Wang Family Village.

In less than an hour, Su Yu and his men arrived at Wang Family Village.

A glance revealed Wang Family Village in a state of gray decay. The village paths were covered in withered leaves and mud.

A few skeletal villagers squatted on the dirt paths between fields, their eyes as numb and lifeless as cold ash. When they saw the officials arrive, a flicker of light appeared in their eyes, only to be extinguished just as quickly.

"Lord Su, it looks like Wang Family Village has been hit hard. The situation seems much more severe than in Qingxi Village."

Su Yu nodded. He was only now beginning to understand that the situation outside the city walls was far worse than he had imagined.

Qingxi Village was fortunate to have a village chief like Wang Yuechi; his presence had clearly made a huge difference.

"Go find out if there’s a village chief or a clan elder in charge."

Upon receiving Su Yu’s order, Song Mirror immediately went ahead into the village.

A short while later, he returned with a skinny, gray-haired old man in tow. "This old one is Wang Youquan, serving as the clan elder for this village. I greet you, my lords."

"Royal Elder, we’re from the city’s Law Enforcement Team. Tell us the details about last night’s anomaly."

Wang Youquan said in a trembling voice, "My lord, two households in Wang Family Village suffered last night. They were only discovered this morning. One was an old woman who lived alone. She lost her son when she was young and her husband in middle age."

"The other was a family of three. All that was left at the scene was an arm and the mangled corpse of a man."

"Lead the way," Su Yu said, wasting no words.

The first crime scene was a solitary thatched hut.

Pushing open the decaying wooden door, a musty odor mixed with the stench of blood assaulted their senses. A pool of long-dried, blackened blood stained the floor, a drag mark leading from it to the corner. Other than that, the hut was empty.

"The deceased was a lonely, widowed old woman," the clan elder sighed.

The scene inside was plain to see. Su Yu took one look and said, "Song Mirror, bring the people from the nearest house here. Ask them if they heard anything."

"Yes, sir!"

A moment later, Song Mirror returned, leading a man with a mouthful of yellow teeth.

The man seemed cold, bundled up in a tattered cotton-padded jacket with a ragged cloak worn over it, concealing his entire body.

Upon seeing them, he immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed. "My lords, this humble one was at home last night, and I vaguely heard that old hag yelling."

"What was she yelling?"

The yellow-toothed man swallowed hard and mimicked her tone, his voice turning shrill and mournful. "My son... My son has returned... Oh, my son, why don’t you have a face...?"

"Her son’s been dead for who knows how many years. I just thought she was having one of her fits again, so I didn’t pay it any mind. After that... after that, it went quiet."

Just then, a cold wind gusted through the hut, and everyone present felt a chill run down their spine.

Zhu Rui, especially, covered his nose and mouth in disgust and retreated to the doorway, as if afraid of being tainted by the bad juju in the air.

"Let’s check the other scene."

...

The second scene was even more gruesome.

Of the family of three, all that remained was a mangled, bloody forearm and the half-eaten, incomplete corpse of a man.

Su Yu crouched down, carefully examining the severed arm.

The wound was jagged, as if the limb had been torn from the body by some immense force.

"My lord, our doors and windows were shut tight last night! We didn’t hear a thing!" a neighboring couple knelt on the ground, saying nervously.

’Strange.’

Su Yu’s confusion deepened.

’Why exactly are these anomalies attacking people?’

It had been the same back in Qingxi Village when that anomaly appeared. It seemed to be feeding, yet it would abandon the corpses.

If it were purely for the sake of killing, they still seemed to possess some degree of intelligence.

The questions piled up, but he had no leads.

’The simplest way to solve this would be to kill or capture one of these anomalies!’

’But that’s the problem. These anomalies are clearly intelligent, or have some other method of sensing and avoiding Martial Artists with strong Qi and Blood.’

That’s why the previous Law Enforcement Team had investigated for days and come up with nothing.

"We’re setting up camp in Wang Family Village tonight," Su Yu commanded.

"Yes, my lord!"

Song Mirror and Zhao Tie obeyed without question.

But Zhu Rui blew a gasket. The thought of spending another day in this foul-smelling place outside the city made him sick to his stomach.

"Lord Su, this dump doesn’t even have a decent place to stand, and it stinks to high heaven! Since we’re not finding anything, why don’t we head back to the city and reconsider our strategy..."

"Zhu Rui, no one is going back until we have results," Su Yu said, having no patience for his complaints. The order was final.

Zhu Rui’s face flushed red, leaving him choked and speechless. He looked at Su Yu’s icy gaze and ultimately backed down. Gritting his teeth, he stalked off to the side, not daring to utter another word.

’Fawning dog! Mud-caked peasant!’

’So many people have failed to solve this anomaly business. What makes you think you’re so special?’

Su Yu paid him no mind, instead finding a relatively clean threshing ground in the village.

With the Black Stone Body Forging Skill speeding up his absorption of medicinal energy, and no shortage of pills and other treasures, his martial arts progress was advancing by leaps and bounds each day. He couldn’t afford to slack off. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He pulled a ginseng rootlet from his robes, chewed it, and swallowed. Then he tipped a Black Scale Blood Orifice Pill into his palm and took that as well.

A surge of power erupted within him.

Su Yu immediately settled into a stance.

"Black Prison God-Locking Stake!"

The pores all over his body sealed shut, and his skin instantly took on a dark, greenish-black metallic sheen. His movements were slow, as if he were pushing a mountain range. Inside him, bones cracked and popped as he furiously wrung out every last drop of medicinal power.

[Black Stone Body Forging Skill Skill Level +10]

...

After completing a full set of the Black Stone Body Forging Skill, the feel of his fist suddenly changed.

"White Ape Asks the Way!"

Fueled by the vast reserves of Qi and Blood catalyzed by the Black Stone Skill, his fists became incomparably ferocious. His spine, like a great dragon, seemed to roar like an enraged ape, and every punch he threw whistled through the air.

[White Ape Fist Skill Level +15]

Watching from the side, Song Mirror had a complicated look in his eyes.

There was a time when he, too, had been that diligent. But the wall of talent and the harsh grind of reality had long since forced him to accept the truth: he just didn’t have what it took.

But his ambition to climb higher hadn’t been extinguished. After all, if he couldn’t make it on his own, he could always latch onto someone else’s coattails!

’Lord Su is young and promising. He’s definitely got what it takes!’

Nearby, Zhao Tie also began practicing his own martial arts.

Leaning against a tree, Zhu Rui watched them and couldn’t help but sneer. "Zhao Tie, you simpleton, what’s the point of practicing? You’re just a trash novice Martial Artist. You could train forever and you’d still never break through to the First Acupoint!"

Zhao Tie didn’t stop moving. He didn’t even look up, just kept his head down and continued to throw punches.

Zhu Rui then turned his gaze to Su Yu, intending to mock him as well. But then he remembered Su Yu had placed in the top five of the Martial Examination, had already broken through to the First Acupoint, and was younger than him. The taunts died on his lips, and he swallowed them back down.