Martial Arts Showdown: My Wife Asked Me to Be the Champion

Chapter 28 Xu Qingya: Letting you live until tomorrow is my sin

The anticipated major battle did not occur.

The Wan residence was quiet at night, with only occasional sour, painful groans coming from the woodshed.

Lu Kun and Zhou Qi first offended Murong Jingyue and were poisoned, suffering from both pain and itching. Then, Wan Zhenshan discovered that they had neglected Zhui Ming and gave them a beating.

Fifty vine whips, each one drawing blood.

After enduring fifty lashes, Lu Kun and Zhou Qi were barely alive. Moreover, being in the punishment phase, they could only sleep in the woodshed, surrounded by ants and bedbugs.

The sight of blood mixed with dirt, ants, and cockroaches sticking to your body is chilling, even just hearing about it makes you feel cold all over, let alone experiencing it firsthand.

What made the two even more desperate was that even if they survived by chance, they would lose their master's trust—if they couldn't even do a good job of greeting guests, what else could they accomplish?

In less than half a day, the two went from being the eldest and second eldest brothers of the Wan family, who were second only to the two of them and above a hundred others, to being worthless discarded pawns, lying in the woodshed wailing.

Even if they return to their families, how could they possibly be given important positions given their disgraceful performance today?

A martial arts force that can be called a "family" cannot have only one child. As the saying goes, the struggle for the heir is always like this. You might as well die!

Although things are tough now, they'll get tougher in the future; the worst is yet to come!

Sorrow and fear at their extremes turn into anger.

Lu Kun roared, "Wan Zhenshan, I've served you hand and foot for so many years, done so many despicable things for you, and this is how you treat me!"

Zhou Qi smiled wryly: "Senior Brother, you should be glad that Wan Zhenshan never expected you to have served him all these years, otherwise, we would both be dying of illness tomorrow morning."

In fact, Wan Zhenshan hadn't forgotten the value of Lu Kun and Zhou Qi; it's just that too many things had happened recently, and they were too intense for him to think about.

Furthermore, the Liancheng treasure incident filled Wan Zhenshan with resentment, and Lu Kun and Zhou Qi just happened to be caught in the crossfire, becoming targets for his anger.

If Wan Zhenshan is given time to react, at most by tomorrow morning, the two will inevitably be silenced.

Lu Kun cursed viciously, "Wan Zhenshan, don't let me catch you off guard. I'll make sure your wife and children are torn apart, your entire family is executed, and I'll drag you down to hell even in death."

Before the words were finished, a sound came from outside the woodshed.

"Is that really what you think?"

"Who...who are you...please save my life, senior! I am willing to serve you faithfully and tell you everything I know!"

Whether you stick your neck out or not, you'll still get stabbed.

If the speaker is one of Wan Zhenshan's confidants, he will surely die; he might as well curse him to his heart's content. If the speaker is one of Wan Zhenshan's enemies, he can simply betray Wan Zhenshan.

As Wan Zhenshan's eldest disciple and a local strongman in Jiangling for seven or eight years, Lu Kun knew about 60-70% of how Wan Zhenshan rose to power and the despicable things he had done.

You've been cruel to me, so let's die together!

Betraying one's master is a tradition in our sect!

Xu Qingya rubbed his throat, vibrating his vocal cords to make his voice sound old, deep, and cold: "Demonstrate the sword technique Wan Zhenshan taught you with your fingers!"

Xu Qingya tossed over a bottle of wound medicine.

Upon seeing the wound medicine, Lu Kun's eyes lit up. His survival instincts unleashed his physical potential, and his adrenaline surged. He struggled to crawl over and grabbed the medicine bottle.

Lu Kun asked Zhou Qi to apply medicine to him, while he himself formed a sword with his fingers and demonstrated the "Liancheng Sword Technique".

The Liancheng Sword Technique has thirty-one moves, corresponding to thirty-one ancient poems. The sword technique passed down by Mei Niansheng has the correct order of moves, but some crooked or incorrect moves have been added.

Wan Zhenshan's swordsmanship, when taught to his disciples, completely disrupted the order of the moves, resulting in disjointed transitions between them.

With his exceptional insight, Xu Qingya adjusted the order of the moves based on the swordplay demonstrated by Lu Kun, and deduced the original sword manual from the perspective of the continuity of the moves.

By the way, delete those crooked and wrong tricks.

This is not difficult.

Mei Niansheng's added tricks were mostly flashy and dazzling feints. For example, he would simply thrust his sword forward, but first he would perform seven sword circles.

When exchanging blows with fellow disciples, one should not directly block. Instead, one should first perform horizontal and vertical slashes to dismantle the seven sword circles before attempting to block. This technique may seem ingenious, but it is actually harmful and only hastens one's own death.

In the original storyline, even Di Yun could see that these moves were nonsense. With Xu Qingya's keen eye, he deleted these crooked moves as soon as he saw them.

Xu Qingya practices with a knife, not a sword, but he had previously promised Qin Nanqin that he would teach her a set of martial arts techniques. The Liancheng sword technique is elegant and graceful, and its sword intent is quite suitable for Qin Nanqin.

After Lu Kun finished demonstrating his swordsmanship, Xu Qingya asked in a sinister tone, "You just said that you knew about the despicable things Wan Zhenshan had done and were willing to risk your life to drag Wan Zhenshan down to hell. Now you can confess!"

Lu Kun pleaded, "Senior! I don't beg you to spare me, I just want to live!"

Xu Qingya sneered: "Hmph! You fool, don't you know that a great disaster is imminent? The Liancheng treasure has been presented to the court by Ding Dian. From now on, anyone who wants to seize the treasure is a traitor who rebels!"

If Wan Zhenshan doesn't take action, fine; but if he does, it's a crime punishable by the execution of his entire family.

You, the founding disciple, happen to be within the entire sect's reach. Do you want to die alongside Wan Zhenshan?

Confess now, and I'll do you a favor: exile three thousand miles away, never to return to the Central Plains, but at least I'll keep your life. If you remain obstinate...

Lu Kun, if you don't want to confess, this young hero Zhou Qi beside you is probably eager to confess!

I don't have much time left!

Tell me everything you know!

Upon hearing this, Lu Kun dared not haggle and confessed honestly, recounting all the despicable things Wan Zhenshan had done over the years. Although Lu Kun was rough in appearance, he was quite meticulous in his work and had secretly kept an account book.

This ledger is Wan Zhenshan's "black ledger," not only recording every single item but also leaving behind evidence such as witnesses and physical evidence. If Wan Zhenshan were to discard his usefulness after using it, Lu Kun would use this ledger to confront Wan Zhenshan.

The account book was hidden by Lu Kun's bedside.

The physical evidence was hidden in a secondhand clothing shop in the west of the city. The proprietress was a widow and Lu Kun's lover. Lu Kun had learned some bricklaying skills and used them to embed the evidence in the wall's crevices.

The witnesses, whose names are the only evidence, are mostly people who have a grudge against Wan Zhenshan and would definitely be willing to kick him when he's down.

Zhou Qi then confessed that he had been serving his second uncle, Yan Daping, for the past two days and had been keeping an eye on him. He discovered that Yan Daping was secretly communicating with several snake-charming beggars.

Zhou Qi noted down the beggars' physical appearance, found some local thugs to follow them, and found their addresses. There were mainly two beggars, one ugly and the other with fair skin and a Cantonese accent.

Lu Kun pleaded, "Senior, could you please put us in jail? We are witnesses! If you leave us here, I'm afraid Wan Zhenshan will silence us!"

Xu Qingya said, "Remember, you were not imprisoned. You resented Wan Zhenshan's ruthlessness, stole a bag of gold and silver, and fled the Wan residence overnight."

"Thank you for your guidance, senior!"

After bandaging their wounds, Lu Kun and Zhou Qi ate the food, Qi-restoring powder, and ginseng pills that Xu Qingya had brought them. After regaining some strength, they roared and charged out of the Wan residence.

Wan Zhenshan was busy discussing the Liancheng Treasure with Yan Daping and Murong Jingyue, so he had no time to pay attention to Lu Kun and Zhou Qi. By the time he realized what was happening, the two traitors who knew countless secrets had already fled.

Zhuiming waited outside the Wan residence for a long time, then carried the two men to the military camp outside the city and handed them over to Mr. Zhuge.

Upon meeting Mr. Zhuge, the two were completely relieved.

At least... they wouldn't be killed to silence them... As long as they could save their lives, whether they were exiled to Lingnan or to the northern polar regions, they would be happy to accept it.

Xu Qingya did not rush to organize the sword manual. Instead, based on the information given by Zhou Qi, he invited Qin Nanqin and Yin Susu to stroll through the night market and look for the two beggars.

The ugly beggar was unknown to Xu Qingya.

If Xu Qingya were to allow the beggar, whose skin was as white as jade, to live until tomorrow morning, it would be a sin for him.

Jingzhou is a treasure land connecting nine provinces. There are no large martial arts sects or strong suppression from the imperial court. There are only a few hundred small businesses, each with its own unique trade, making the night market in Jiangling City even more lively than that in the capital.

Snacks, acrobatics, crosstalk, storytelling, singing, cosmetics, jewelry... all sorts of things dazzled Xu Qingya and his companions. Xu Qingya regretted that if he had known the night market was so lively, he should have brought Lao Jiu with him.

Yin Susu, this super-rich woman, never treats money like money. She buys whatever she likes immediately. After browsing for a short while, she bought thirty or forty packages.

Xu Qingya carried half of it.

Doubao carries the other half on its back.

Unbeknownst to them, the three of them arrived at the Ghost Market in Jiangling.

The Ghost Market is a mixed bag, and you need to know the secret codes. Those who don't know the rules will be collectively rejected by the Ghost Market. Xu Qingya knows the bandit code, Yin Susu knows the pirate code, and if we're talking about the black market code, then Qin Nanqin obviously needs to step in.

Why not bring Liu Qingci along?

If Liu Dinghuan finds out that Xu Qingya brought Liu Qingci to a place like this, he will probably have no choice but to go to Lingnan to keep Lu Kun and Zhou Qi company, or he might have to flee halfway and run all the way to Dali to see if there are any martial arts legends there!

As Yang Yan's personal assistant, Qin Nanqin was familiar with all aspects of the ghost market and black market, and was adept at exchanging secrets with all sorts of demons and monsters. She pointed to Tang Dun'er and indicated that Little Red Bird was hungry and wanted to buy a few poisonous snakes.

After exchanging notes, the "ghost market guide" collected a fee for directions and led the three to a corner of the ghost market.

There, a group of beggars were performing a snake trick.

The leader was a beggar in his forties with fair skin like jade. Poisonous snakes crawled all around him, and a steel mace more than ten feet long was placed beside him.

Upon seeing the three, the beggar's eyes lit up. He looked Yin Susu and Qin Nanqin up and down: "Not bad! Not bad! Grandpa Bai is lucky! Heaven has been kind to me!"

Upon hearing this, Yin Susu's eyes turned cold and sharp. Without uttering a single word, she fiercely unleashed her Eagle Claw Grappling Hand. Qin Nanqin gave a whistle, and Tang Dun'er soared into the air.

This middle-aged beggar was none other than the notorious flower thief "White Jade Demon," even more infamous than Tian Boguang. Originally a member of the Beggars' Clan, he was executed by the former leader, Ren Ci, for committing too many evil deeds. White Jade Demon fled in panic, all the way to Lingnan, where he raised poisonous snakes.

After cultivating hundreds of venomous snakes, Bai Yumo intended to make a comeback, but unexpectedly, upon returning to the Central Plains, he received an invitation from Yan Daping, who offered him 10,000 taels of silver to help him kill a few people.

Bai Yumo readily agreed.

Unexpectedly, before he could even make a move, his target had already come knocking on his door. Among all those who practiced Eagle Claw, Yin Susu's father, "White-browed Eagle King" Yin Tianzheng, was the leader. Yin Susu had been practicing martial arts diligently since childhood, and although she couldn't say that her Eagle Claw technique could rival her father's, she was still about 70-80% proficient.

The eagle catching snakes is its forte.

On the other side, Tangdun'er saw the poisonous snake and screamed excitedly. She rushed towards the fire, her feathers covered in flames, visibly shining, and emanating a mist that could stun the poisonous snake.

In the original storyline, Ouyang Feng, the "Western Poison," had painstakingly trained his venomous snake formation, but it was defeated by Tang Dun'er. Bai Yumo's venomous snakes were nothing more than appetizers!