52. Our Deacon is Extraordinary (Major Chapter)

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Zhang Lin’s previously gloomy expression brightened considerably. “Please, elder brother, speak plainly.”

Xie An shared his analysis: “The stall owners who died yesterday and today were all mobile vendors whose businesses have recently been booming. They were somewhat leading the trends in our black market trade, yet they were consecutively murdered…”

A spark flashed through Zhang Lin’s mind, and he immediately picked up the thread: “The Plum Blossom Bandit can’t stand to see our black market prospering. He wants to suppress our growth, maybe even destroy us!”

Smack!

Zhang Lin slammed the table in anger and stood up. “That villain is truly vicious. Such a despicable person just can’t bear to see us succeed. Now that we understand the Plum Blossom Bandit’s intentions, I will report to the Chief right away.”

Xie An wanted to stop Zhang Lin.

After all, reporting such a significant matter to Chief Wei at the guild hall was a prime opportunity to make a good impression, something Xie An, as the “top hand,” should undertake.

Yet Zhang Lin had beaten him to it.

Though Zhang Lin left with an expression of uncontrollable rage and impulsiveness, Xie An knew him well enough to realize this was deliberate.

Clearly, Zhang Lin wanted to seize this chance to shine.

Xie An was not surprised; he had sensed from their past interactions that Zhang Lin was generally trustworthy but harbored some ambitions.

The martial underworld is treacherous; vying for credit is common—even among brothers, let alone others.

Recalling that Zhang Lin had once been his guide, Xie An decided to return the favor by letting him have this opportunity.

From now on, they would remain mere acquaintances; a deeper friendship was not worth it.

Besides, it was only a report—no great harm would come of it.

The key was how Zhang Lin would present the information.

If Zhang Lin intentionally obscured facts or disparaged Xie An to elevate himself, that would be going too far.

If that happened, Xie An would consider him no longer a friend.

Allowing Zhang Lin to report was also a way to test him.

Sigh.

Xie An sighed softly: In the Tiger and Wolf Sect, everyone wants to seize any chance to stand out.

“Zhang Lin, you’re a bit too eager. I haven’t even finished speaking…”

Although Zhang Lin jumped ahead, Xie An kept a fallback plan:

His conclusions about the Plum Blossom Bandit’s motives were preliminary; further verification and investigation were needed. There might be deeper layers to uncover.

His duty was to continue digging thoroughly, not rush to perform.

When Chief Wei arrived at the black market, he would see who was truly working. Even if Zhang Lin tried to undermine him in his report, it would be useless and only backfire.

True credit cannot be stolen.

He hoped Zhang Lin only had minor ambitions and wouldn’t betray him.

Having considered all this, Xie An felt he had missed nothing and proceeded with his plan.

He called over Liang Zhi and carefully inquired about the recent business activities of mobile vendors.

In the end, Xie An noted two rather peculiar vendors: a plump man selling medicinal herbs and a bearded hunter selling fierce beast innards and sinews. Both had suddenly appeared in the black market recently, doing quite well in business, but their dealings were mysterious. Whenever Liang Zhi tried to approach them for alliance, they evaded and resisted strongly.

Because both always covered their faces, Liang Zhi couldn’t identify them but could recognize them by appearance.

Xie An instructed Liang Zhi to pay special attention to these two and report immediately if they appeared at the black market.

After dismissing Liang Zhi, Xie An returned to his room in the backyard, boiled water, filled the bathing tub, added tiger’s pelts herbal soup, and began his medicinal bath again.

The Blood Ridge black market branch disciples all kept reversed schedules, working at night and resting by day. But Xie An, cultivating the Fetal Breath Technique, could relax and rest while training, thus avoiding the “time-wasting” process of sleep.

Whoosh, whoosh.

When the herbs had fully dissolved, emitting a strong medicinal aroma, Xie An stripped off his clothes and settled into the bath, beginning to absorb the herbal energy to temper his skin.

Time flew, and a day passed quickly.

As dusk approached, Xie An ended his daily medicinal bath.

He opened his cultivation panel:

[Current Longevity Level: Stage One!]

[Five Animal Frolics: Cultivating Internal Energy (0/100)]

[Fetal Breath Technique: Yin-Yang Integration (48/100)]

[Remaining Years: 33]

“Hm? Internal strengthening of the five viscera… complete! I’ve stepped into the final stage described in the Five Animal Frolics manual… Cultivating Internal Energy?”

“Remaining years increased by three!”

Seeing these changes on the panel, Xie An was overjoyed.

According to the Five Animal Frolics manual, there are five stages: Initial insight, combining movement and stillness, uniting spirit and form, strengthening the five viscera (internal strengthening), and leading energy with intention (cultivating internal energy).

Xie An had been practicing the Five Animal Frolics for over a year and finally filled the internal viscera level, stepping into the final stage.

Diligence pays off.

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“Let me see the current progress of the Five Animal Frolics…”

Xie An left the tub, donned thin clothing, and began practicing the Five Animal Frolics in his room.

Tiger descending the mountain, giant bear shaking the tree, white crane soaring, ape arm climbing rock, fawn wading the stream…

Each move was unleashed by Xie An, causing sharp crackling sounds in the air, and slight tremors in the ground.

“It feels like, if I continue, the Five Animal Frolics might advance into a more combative art?”

For the first time since practicing, Xie An had such an illusion.

In his impression, the Five Animal Frolics had always been a gentle health-preserving technique, akin to Tai Chi—soft and flowing.

Now, entering the stage of cultivating internal energy, it seemed different.

But it was still vague and unconfirmed.

After a moment’s distraction, Xie An dismissed the thought and focused back on his practice.

“Seems… my strength has increased quite a bit!”

After completing a round, Xie An went to the courtyard, found an 800-pound stone lock, and managed to lift it above his head with one arm.

He was stunned.

He clearly remembered that previously lifting 800 pounds was extremely difficult.

Now… it felt easy.

And this was clearly not his limit.

Since there was no stone lock heavier than 800 pounds in the yard, Xie An found a 200-pound one and tied the two together with hemp rope to test his upper limit.

He couldn’t lift them both, but it was close.

“Looks like my one-arm lifting strength is around 900 pounds. That already surpasses the strength of a novice expert at the Flesh and Blood Realm. I’ll go buy a four-stone bow and armor-piercing arrows at the black market. Even the Plum Blossom Bandit won’t stand a chance!”

If it was a three-stone bow, Xie An wasn’t confident he could kill the Plum Blossom Bandit.

But a four-stone bow would definitely suffice.

It’s worth noting that the Daqian Empire’s measurement for heavy bows is much higher than in the ancient previous world. Back then, a one-stone bow had about 100 pounds of draw weight; in the Daqian Empire, it’s 200 pounds.

A four-stone bow, with 800 pounds draw weight, paired with armor-piercing arrows, is terrifyingly powerful! Even an expert just entering the Flesh and Blood Realm would die from a single arrow.

Suppressing his excitement, Xie An began to sense the effects of cultivating internal energy.

The result… was no effect.

Except for sharper senses and clearer perception, there were no other obvious changes.

The “Qi sensation” often mentioned by Tang Qingfeng and Tang Qingyun had not appeared.

This disappointed Xie An greatly.

After some mental adjustment, he attributed this to the low cultivation progress in internal energy; perhaps when progress increased, the Qi sensation would emerge.

Thinking this, he felt much more at ease.

“I’ll go exchange my bow and buy arrows to deal with the Plum Blossom Bandit…”

Xie An put on his uniform, brought along his previous three-stone bow and quiver, and headed to a shop specializing in bows, arrows, and armor.

The shopkeeper, an old fat man, greeted him warmly upon seeing Xie An’s masked face. “Master Steward, what wind blows you here? Come in, have some tea.”

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“No need for tea, Shopkeeper Liu. I want to exchange for a heavier bow,” Xie An said, placing the three-stone bow and quiver on the counter.

Shopkeeper Liu was surprised. “The three-stone bow is already rare. You want to upgrade to a four-stone?”

“Yes.”

Seeing the seriousness in Xie An’s eyes, Liu didn’t ask further. He picked up the old bow on the counter and examined it. “This bow is quite new. For a four-stone bow, I’ll charge an extra fifteen taels of silver.”

The heavier the bow’s draw weight, the higher the requirements for materials and craftsmanship, causing costs to rise exponentially. Four-stone bows weren’t that rare, but beyond that, ordinary craftsmen couldn’t make them.

Xie An agreed gladly. “Done. Also, I want to buy some armor-piercing arrows. Do you have those?”

Liu smiled. “Armor-piercing arrows are contraband; you can’t buy them outside. But Master Steward, you came to the right person. I’ll get them for you.”

Soon Liu brought out a four-stone heavy bow and a batch of armor-piercing arrows. “Thirty arrows, five taels of silver.”

Xie An inspected each arrow carefully.

Armor-piercing arrows are specially made to penetrate armor, with extremely strong penetration power.

These arrows were longer and more slender than ordinary tapered arrows, with cross-shaped blades, reducing resistance when piercing armor. Paired with a strong heavy bow, they easily break through armor. Against unarmored infantry, a single arrow could pierce through three soldiers, demonstrating immense power!

Xie An drew the heavy bow fully; it felt tremendously powerful. The arrows were slightly heavier but didn’t affect accuracy.

“Perfect. I’ll take this batch. Keep the twenty taels of silver.”

Xie An paid and left with the bow and arrows.

Before long, the black market opened.

Liang Zhi reported that the plump medicine seller and the bearded hunter arrived as expected.

Xie An observed near their stalls; indeed, business was booming, attracting buyers from all directions who even queued up. These two stalls alone outperformed dozens of others.

After watching for over half an hour, Xie An felt nothing special about these two vendors and began to doubt: Would the Plum Blossom Bandit really target them?

Xie An’s knowledge of the Plum Blossom Bandit was limited: He knew only that the bandit was a mountain outlaw from Great Yin Mountain who injured Wei Dian during the last raid on the Chen estate, thus becoming enemies.

So it made sense that the bandit would seize the chance to suppress Wei Dian’s control over the Blood Ridge black market.

Yet, Xie An still sensed something was off.

Soon, as the two vendors’ goods dwindled, sharp-eyed Xie An noticed some antiques under their stalls.

Their quality and origin matched those of the night-pot youth, likely from the same batch.

Were they also selling antiques here?

This wasn’t unusual in the black market, so Xie An was only mildly curious and didn’t think much of it.

Just then, Wang Xiang hurried over and respectfully said to Xie An, “Master Steward, Grand Steward Lin Yun has arrived. He’s waiting at the annex and calls for you to discuss matters.”

Xie An was unsurprised.

Zhang Lin had gone to the guild hall early to report; this was a serious matter, so Wei Dian’s side would surely take action.

But Xie An had no intention of going. Instead, he told Liang Zhi, “Tell the Grand Steward truthfully that I’m tailing the Plum Blossom Bandit’s next potential target and can’t be spared right now.”

Wang Xiang gawked in disbelief.

The Grand Steward summoned him, and he refused to go?

Liang Zhi, however, understood and bowed slightly, pulling Wang Xiang away.

Once distant, Wang Xiang asked puzzled, “Brother Liang, isn’t the Master Steward afraid of offending the Grand Steward by doing this?”

“Fool!” Liang Zhi snapped. “The Plum Blossom Bandit’s string of murders has everyone on edge. This matter should have been reported by the Master Steward at the guild hall. But Zhang Lin beat him to it this morning. The Master Steward has to turn the tables somehow, right?”

Wang Xiang scratched his head. “But I don’t see how he’s turned the tables…”

Liang Zhi patiently explained, “Zhang Lin stole the chance for our Master Steward to shine before Chief Wei. But the Master Steward knows that actions speak louder than words, so he’s tailing the merchants who might be the Plum Blossom Bandit’s next victims. He can’t leave. You tell me, how will the Grand Steward see this?”

Wang Xiang finally understood. “One is anxious to impress superiors; the other quietly does useful work… Hah. Our Master Steward is truly remarkable.”