Bang! Bang! Bang!
On the red soil, Liu Linshan crawled pathetically on the ground, his large fists pounding the earth, making the yellow soil resound dully as dust rose in all directions.
This was how he vented the unwillingness in his heart.
"Beasts! Beasts! Ungrateful beasts who betray their master!"
"Worse than pigs and dogs!"
He looked at the two silhouettes dragging away his daughter with boundless fury, his eyes blazing with rage like something tangible, yet he was helpless.
Liu Linshan never imagined that after traveling so far with his family, repeatedly risking his life to protect his two disciples, they would unhesitatingly choose to betray him after he was severely injured.
Not only did they steal his food and medicine, but they also abducted his daughter, completely disregarding their former master-disciple relationship, leaving him alone in this desolate place to die.
Watching his daughter's figure grow more distant, her cries for help increasingly faint, the unwillingness in Liu Linshan's eyes gradually gave way to despair.
"Huff! Huff!"
Unwilling to give up, he breathed heavily, struggling with all his might to rise, determined to use the saber in his hand to rescue his daughter.
Unfortunately for the severely injured man, this was futile.
Despite mustering all his strength, he not only failed to stand but also tore open his abdominal wound. The crude cloth bandage immediately seeped with bright red blood.
Droplets of blood dripped along the rough cloth, staining the ground red.
His hands could no longer support his body, and he collapsed feebly in the pool of blood, looking utterly miserable, like a corpse.
Fortunately, the refugees ahead were still relatively well-off, having prepared enough dried food before fleeing, and had not lost their humanity.
Otherwise, with the smell of blood emanating from Liu Linshan's body, he would inevitably have been eaten.
Knowing his days were numbered and unable to save his daughter, Liu Linshan could only stare blankly at his daughter's disappearing figure in the distance.
Due to excessive blood loss, his vision began to white out in waves, and his strength was being drained bit by bit.
Liu Linshan's head gradually drooped powerlessly, his eyelids closing.
But at that moment,
Whoosh—
Liu Linshan heard a gust of wind, and in his daze, something stopped in front of him.
He looked up in confusion and saw a dark shadow looming over him.
This shadow blocked the heat from the setting sun, bringing a slight coolness.
This helped Liu Linshan regain a bit of spirit.
But before he could figure out what was happening, he heard a hoarse voice from the shadow:
"Old master, do you have any martial arts manuals on you?"
"If you do, you might as well give it to me, and in exchange..."
"Hmph!"
Before the newcomer could finish, the dying Liu Linshan let out a contemptuous sneer.
From these simple words, he knew the person was just a petty thief trying to take advantage of his misfortune to steal martial arts techniques.
Perhaps the person wanted to leave him some dignity, which is why they didn't immediately use force to take it, but instead asked for it.
He looked up to examine the newcomer and saw a thin figure with a sallow face and sunken eye sockets, appearing to be about sixteen or seventeen years old.
However, his eyes were particularly spirited, yet he didn't look like a bad person.
'Heh, even I misjudged the disciples I raised for many years, and now I think this martial arts-stealing kid isn't a villain?'
Liu Linshan laughed self-mockingly to himself, said nothing more, and quietly took out a tattered gray booklet from his chest pocket with difficulty, tossing it over.
This was the most useless thing on the refugee journey—it couldn't be eaten or drunk.
No one would practice martial arts in these times when preserving strength for escape was most needed.
Only he, out of nostalgia for the martial arts he had practiced half his life, would keep it on him.
"Take it, take it."
Then he impatiently waved his hand, gesturing for the young man to move aside.
Now that his daughter was about to be violated and would inevitably die, and he was severely injured and powerless to rescue her, he only wished for death.
Staring blankly in the direction where his daughter had disappeared, Liu Linshan, who had regained a bit of spirit, began to grow vacant again.
But soon, his clouded eyes showed ripples of emotion.
His face even displayed an expression of disbelief.
He saw the young man who had just asked him for the martial arts manual bend down to pick up the steel saber that had fallen to the ground, and walk toward the distance.
And this direction was not toward the southern refugee route. It was precisely the direction where his daughter had been taken!
"He's going to save Weier!"
Looking at the thin figure walking away, Liu Linshan's heart stirred, and a glimmer of light flashed in his lifeless eyes.
But in an instant, the light in his eyes dimmed again.
"But... can he save her?"
Liu Linshan pondered.
From their brief eye contact earlier, he knew the young man was also a martial artist.
But judging by the gleam in his eyes, he had likely just entered the martial path recently, at most being a practitioner at the Body Tempering Realm Second or Third Layer, which was far from impressive.
Moreover, given the special circumstances now, having traveled hundreds of miles as refugees, even an iron man would be worn down.
Let alone a practitioner at the Body Tempering Realm Third Layer, who was far from being an iron man.
Liu Linshan thought of his two disciples, who had spent seven or eight years training at actual posts, practicing boxing and running up mountains, reaching the Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer.
Although they hadn't eaten their fill during the refugee journey, they certainly hadn't starved.
Even if he hadn't been injured, with his strength at the Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer, dealing with these two disciples would take considerable effort, let alone this young man at the Body Tempering Realm Second or Third Layer.
This journey likely had no return! A fool's errand risking his life!
Watching the young man walk away, Liu Linshan endured the excruciating pain from his reopened wound and urgently called out:
"Lad, come back, don't act rashly, those two beasts are practitioners of the Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer, you're no match for them!"
He wanted to stop the young man from seeking his own death and didn't want to involve a good person because of himself.
But despite his desperate call, the figure ahead seemed not to hear at all and just continued walking forward.
He muttered:
"Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer, is that so impressive?"
The young man who had asked for the martial arts manual was, of course, Wu Chen who had witnessed everything earlier.
Just as he had thought, Liu Linshan indeed had a martial arts manual on him, allowing him to successfully acquire one.
Hearing Liu Linshan's trembling voice behind him, Wu Chen nonchalantly muttered and then smiled, saying:
"Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer is quite impressive."
"But no matter how impressive, can it be more impressive than my cheat power?"
He paid no further attention and continued to focus on the thin martial arts manual in his hand.
After flipping through a few pages, Wu Chen had a preliminary understanding of the current martial art in his hand:
"Spirit Snake Steps, a leg technique, classified as a footwork martial art."
He quickly scanned through the contents, and before long, this thin booklet had been completely read.
As he had predicted, the panel, which had been silent for several days, began to show familiar numbers again:
[Spirit Snake Steps Entry Level Proficiency +1]
[Spirit Snake Steps Entry Level Proficiency +1]
[...]
[Spirit Snake Steps Entry Level (50/50)]→[Spirit Snake Steps Minor Success (0/100)]
[Body Tempering Realm Third Layer→Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer]
In just a few dozen breaths, the Spirit Snake Steps, which would take others standing at posts, running up mountains, experiencing countless hardships, and half a year to enter the entry level.
For Wu Chen, it was already racing straight toward the minor success stage.
With Spirit Snake Steps at entry level, Wu Chen's realm increased as well.
A warm current flowed through Wu Chen's body, nourishing his exhausted body from traveling day and night, and in no time, his strength had recovered about seventy to eighty percent.
As his strength reached its peak, Wu Chen felt his footsteps become light and nimble. His toes lightly touched the ground, and with the wind whistling past his ears, just two or three steps covered a distance of about three meters.
After a few more breaths of stepping and leaping, the two figures dragging the girl appeared before his eyes, along with the girl's pleading voice:
"Senior Brother Zhang, please be merciful, let me go..."
"My father is severely injured now, he will die without my care..."
"..."
Her desperate pleas had no effect.
The young man she called Senior Brother Zhang turned his head with a vicious smile and said:
"Don't worry about that old bag of bones. From now on, just take good care of my brother and me. Once we get out of this wretched place, I promise you'll live a life of luxury!"
The girl had no choice but to look at the other person and continue pleading: "Senior Brother Zhao, for old times' sake..."
"Hmph! Old times! You have the nerve to mention old times!"
Facing the girl's words, Zhao Shi snorted coldly, his eyes filled with mockery:
"Learning a few inferior moves from your father, then working us like horses all these years, ending up like this today—it's what he deserves!"
"As the daughter of that old man, it's only right that you pleasure us brothers!"
What followed were countless vulgar and obscene insults directed at the girl.
These words, every single one, fell into the ears of Wu Chen, who was following not far behind, allowing him to understand the general situation.
These two villains had clearly mistaken the suffering their master had put them through to temper their bodies as abuse.
Wu Chen shook his head but didn't rush to intervene.
He was waiting for the panel to finish adding points.
In just a moment, the Spirit Snake Steps which had reached minor success would achieve great success, and he would possess the strength of Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer, giving him a definite advantage over the two.
Then he could rescue the girl with greater certainty.
Fortunately, the two ahead perhaps knew some shame, understanding that such acts should be done away from others, and continued walking toward a thicket of weeds a hundred paces away.
This actually gave Wu Chen ample time.