Chapter 2: Number One
Red and blue lights flashed as the sound of sirens filled the air.
Lin Xiaowei, whose black suit made her look more like an office worker than a major-cris officer, arrived at the alley with her partner, Zhang Qing.
"Inspector Lin, welco."
Outside the yellow police tape, a man with an inspector's badge stepped forward. He was the officer in charge, Inspector Huang Bing. "Here is the decedent's information. General manager of Longquan Real Estate Developnt, Xia Li, male, fifty-four this year..."
"Did you pull the surveillance footage?"
"We pulled part of it, but... it seems that the perpetrator has very strong counter-surveillance skills. While moving, he either stayed in cara blind spots or concealed his facial features. Not a single cara captured a complete image of him. I suspect this was a preditated murder."
He paused. "The manner of death is almost identical to the victims from sixteen days ago, forty-four days ago, and seventy-nine days ago, the three homicides classified under the 3.11 serial murder case. All died of blunt-force trauma. Basically, they were bludgeoned to death. I have good reason to believe the killer is the sa person."
"I will take a look at the victim."
Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing clipped on their specialist badges and entered the sealed cri scene.
Key items at the scene had already been tagged.
The first thing she noticed was the utility pole, bent into a V-shape and nearly snapped, with its internal rebar laid bare.
Next, her gaze fell to flagstones on the ground that seed to have been cracked underfoot.
Then...
Her eyes lifted to the wall of a small building beside the alley, which looked as if it had taken a direct hit from a demolition hamr.
A web of fractures spread more than two ters across.
It was hard to imagine what kind of force could have damaged a solid concrete wall to that extent.
Thud, thud.
Zhang Qing knocked on the wall, producing a dull sound.
"Very solid. No corner-cutting," he said.
Lin Xiaowei did not answer. After observing for a mont, she walked to the corpse.
The scene had been partially cleaned.
Even so, looking at the general manager of Longquan Real Estate with a sunken sternum, shattered arms, and a pierced skull, Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing both felt a wave of unease.
"Too savage," Zhang Qing said.
"Inspector Huang, any witnesses?" Lin Xiaowei turned her eyes.
"Yes. The decedent's assistant and secretary, Fang Qing, female, twenty-six..."
As Inspector Huang reported, he pointed at a woman sitting down in severe shock, her forehead matted with blood.
Zhang Qing went to check on her.
Before long, he returned to Lin Xiaowei.
"She took a heavy blow to the head. She is a bit delirious, and her speech is incoherent. I am afraid we need a psychologist to get any useful leads," Zhang Qing said.
"Even what she leaves us may not be useful. The other party is very professional," Lin Xiaowei said. She reached out again and ran her hand over the already-snapped utility pole that remained standing only because of its rebar fra.
"You tell , could a human body really produce this level of destructive force?"
A body made of flesh and blood shattering steel and concrete? How is that possible?
"Of course it can."
A man in his thirties and a woman about Lin Xiaowei's age stepped over the warning line and entered the scene.
Lin Xiaowei looked at them in surprise. "Who are you?"
Inspector Huang smiled as he made the introductions. "Inspector Lin, this gentleman is Xia Wuyuan, a specialist in this field and the acknowledged number one in the martial world of Yunng City, even of Tiannan Province. He has been invited by the higher-ups as a martial advisor specifically to help crack the 3.11 serial murder case."
The man called Xia Wuyuan crouched beside Xia Li and began examining his injuries with his hands.
"Hey, don't touch the body like that," Zhang Qing could not help but say.
Xia Wuyuan did not seem to hear. He not only checked the body, he even patted and pressed in several places.
"I told you not to ss with it. You could easily destroy any remaining traces on the victim..." Zhang Qing stepped forward.
"Don't worry. Leave it to my senior brother[1]."
The young woman who had co with Xia Wuyuan blocked his way. "If my senior brother cannot solve this case, then in Yunng City—no, in all Tiannan Province, no one will."
"You..." Zhang Qing frowned. Aren't you a bit arrogant?
Then, Inspector Lin Xiaowei seed to recall sothing. "Hold on a mont... Xia Wuyuan? The Champion of the Fourteenth National Martial Dao[2] Tournant and the tenth-generation heir to the Zhenwu Fist?"
"You must be the granddaughter of Old Master Lin of the Five-Elent Fist, right? A pity your father did not pass the Five-Elent Fist down. Otherwise, you would not be asking that question."
Xia Wuyuan withdrew his hand from Xia Li's right arm, where the hurus had shattered completely, and stood. "You start with the skin first, then flesh, then tendons and bone. Next, you use breathing techniques to fortify the internal organs. Lastly, your blood is renewed and your marrow cleansed, and you beco a paragon. Then even immortals, buddhas, gods, and fiends will bow in front of you."
"I have heard that line..."
Lin Xiaowei thought for a mont. "It is the Fourfold Training thod of the Martial Dao."
"Correct. The four phases are strengthening the skin and muscles, stretching tendons and reinforcing bones, strengthening the internal organs, and finally renewing blood and cleansing bone marrow. Supplent that with thods using the flow of jin, and you have the four major realms: martial artist, martial master, grandmaster, and martial paragon."
Xia Wuyuan was obviously extrely knowledgeable when it ca to martial arts.
"Isn't martial arts skill graded from level one to level ten in the Central Continent?" Zhang Qing could not help but ask.
Xia Wuyuan nodded. "The world is progressing, and skill divisions keep getting refined. But if you look closely, levels one to three, four to six, and seven to nine correspond to martial artists, martial masters, and grandmasters.
Back then, Old Master Lin was a renowned martial master of Tiannan Province. He was only one step away from strengthening his internal organs to the absolute human limit. Though he did not beco a grandmaster, his flow of jin had reached the highest level. Twenty years ago, he strode across Tiannan with few rivals."
After speaking, he looked at the two-ter-wide fracture on the wall.
"A grandmaster doesn't rely master the flow of jin. Their physique reaches the limits of the human body. When their jin bursts forth, they can split stone and crack walls. Being capable of sothing like this is only natural."
At those words, Zhang Qing, Lin Xiaowei, and Huang Bing all gasped sharply.
Split stone and crack walls!?
If that kind of jin struck a person, how could anyone survive?
"A grandmaster can face a hundred people barehanded. In ancient tis, a grandmaster wearing iron armor, riding a warhorse, and fully ard could tear through an army of a thousand, and even stand as an opponent of ten thousand."
Xia Wuyuan looked down at the corpse beside him. "On the surface, Xia Li was the general manager of Longquan Real Estate, a real estate magnate with net worth in the billions. But in the martial world, he had another status: the ninth-generation heir of Dragon Form Fist. He was also the most outstanding successor of that art in recent years. He was no weaker than Old Master Lin's in his pri."
"Huh?" Zhang Qing seed to recall sothing. "Now that you ntion it, Inspector Huang questioned the surviving witness, Fang Qing. According to her, after the killer struck, he said that the ninth-generation heir of Dragon Form Fist is nothing special."
Xia Wuyuan drew a long breath. "It's not just the ninth-generation heir of Dragon Form Fist. He has also killed the heir of the Army-Breaking Fist, the heir of the Zhao Family Fist, and the master of the Luohe Sect. All of those renowned martial masters fell at his hands."
His expression grew grave as he continued saying, "This man hasn't just committed the so-called 3.11 serial murders. The Prosecutor's Office has rged several similar cases. The killer's thods are identical. In other words, he has slain no fewer than ten well-known martial masters in recent years."
That revelation made Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing's scalps prickle.
No fewer than ten famous martial masters!?
So many!?
Is this man insane!?
"W-What is he trying to do!?" Zhang Qing blurted out.
"Without exception, all who died by his hand were among the strongest martial masters of this generation. If my guess is correct..." Xia Wuyuan said heavily, "He wants to beco the number one in Tiannan!"
"Number one in Tiannan?" Zhang Qing tilted his head in confusion.
Does he think we're in the good old feudal days and he can just run around dueling people to be number one?
Sure, holding that title can earn him tens of millions per match, but... you don't get there by killing people! Even if you're the strongest, so what?
Can you withstand bullets? Block artillery shells?
Risking capture by the police to kill people...
For what?
"Number one in Tiannan?"
The woman beside Xia Wuyuan spoke calmly. "If he wants to claim that title, he'll have to see whether my senior brother agrees."
Xia Wuyuan waved a hand.
Judging from the damage left by the battle, Xia Li's strength had been even greater than rumors claid. He had definitely reached the grandmaster realm of internal cultivation, tempering his viscera.
If evaluated by the martial-ranking system, Xia Li would have qualified for level seven, and with connections, even level eight was within reach. Yet, even with that kind of power, he had still been killed by that murderer. Therefore, even as the national Martial Dao champion, Xia Wuyuan could not guarantee that he would win.
However, for a martial artist, a person's level was not the only asure of strength.
Mastery of jin, physical condition, and ntal strength were all indispensable.
The only way to know for sure was to fight.
Thus, he would not put himself down just because soone's level was higher.
Xia Wuyuan said firmly, "The authorities have classified this operation as a 'devil extermination' mission and given the murderer the codena Shadow Devil, signifying that he moves unseen. But... I will capture him."
His tone was solemn and resolute. "Not for any other reason but to uphold the rule of law and give justice to those who died."
1. This is a form of address towards a senior male in martial arts. ??
2. Dao is the source and fundantal principle of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religions. The concept is represented by the Chinese character 道, which has anings including "way
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