Chapter 044 – Why is it Spearmanship?

“Wen Xiaoqiao...disappeared?” The news made Li Yuan’s scalp prickle. “How did she go missing?” he asked.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“She was on night watch. Everything was normal. Just yesterday, people saw her wandering around the central market as usual. But by evening, she was suddenly gone. The menial workers searched everywhere, but she’d vanished.”

Disbelief still lingered on Cai Ze’s face; by now, it was clear that something truly strange was afoot.

Li Yuan pressed on. “What about Senior Li?”

“Senior Li is fine... But he hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, either,” Cai Ze replied. He looked at Li Yuan oddly and lowered his voice. “Did you sense something off? Is that why you pretended to be sick and stayed home?”

Li Yuan let out a bitter laugh. “How could I? If Senior Li couldn’t find anything, what hope do I have? My injury is real. You can ask around Little Ink Village or talk to the doctor at Spring Clinic. Plenty of people can vouch for me.”

Cai Ze paused for a moment and then said, “So what do you think is going on?”

After a beat, Li Yuan spoke. “Yesterday, you floated the idea that those missing associates might’ve been quietly done away with. If that’s the case...where are the bodies? Where would someone hide them?”

Cai Ze froze. He’d only made that remark in passing, but hearing Li Yuan’s question, it started to feel all too plausible. He hadn’t suspected outright murder because, first, there were no signs of a struggle; second, in Silver Creek, the Blood Blade Sect was practically the local overlord, and nobody had dared challenge them in ages.

Eyes darting, Cai Ze thrust a basket of apples into Li Yuan’s hands. “Take care of yourself. I need to go.”

Li Yuan accepted the basket and walked him out. “At least come in for some tea—”

“Next time.”

“All right... Take care.”

Dusk hung like blood over the cramped alleys by the shanties, the crimson glow almost sticky in the dying light.

Only after Cai Ze disappeared from sight did Li Yuan shut the door. His hand shook around the basket.

He realized Cai Ze hadn’t come purely out of concern—someone must have sent him to sound Li Yuan out.

Yet Wen Xiaoqiao’s disappearance was almost certainly real. Losing a few rank-and-file menial workers might be shrugged off, but Wen Xiaoqiao vanishing was another matter entirely.

The Blood Blade Sect wouldn’t ignore such a serious threat under its nose.

Li Yuan could only hope it was just murder—a territorial dispute, perhaps—and not...something else.

Closing his eyes, he once again saw that eerie mountain estate, cold, rotting, filled with the stench of decay. A shiver ran through him at the memory.

“Husband, are you all right?” a gentle voice rang out. Soft arms slipped around his waist.

Yan Yu’s warmth eased the tension in his chest.

Gripping her hands, Li Yuan let out a slow breath and said, “Let’s eat. After dinner, I’ll go back to practicing my blade.”

Before he’d transmigrated, he’d spent years refining his butcher’s knife skills. Over the past few days of nonstop practice, he’d gradually found the knack for applying force, especially that quick stab. Mastery, after all, lay in using one’s strength to the fullest.

He had archery for long-distance fights; for close combat, he needed something just as reliable to truly feel secure.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Night fell. The moon glimmered like frost.

In the backyard, beneath that moonlit sky, Li Yuan gripped his blade, practicing thrusts and slashes. The warm current surging through his muscles flowed more freely with each move.

Suddenly, as though something clicked, his eyes snapped open, shining like lightning.

Thrust-thrust-thrust!

He stabbed three times in quick succession. Each one sliced through the air with a sharp whistle—a sound he’d never produced before.

At the same time, a peculiar sensation washed over him. He could feel that hot current coursing inside, still a bit raw, but enough to let him draw out more power than a typical strike.

Li Yuan paused, eyes closed for a moment, then exhaled slowly. Turning to check the information before him, he noticed a few changes.

“Spearmanship?” Li Yuan blinked, bewildered. He’d been drilling with a blade, so how had he unlocked a spear skill?

Glancing at his blade, his combat power at 12~13 remained unchanged.

“Let’s try adding points,” he muttered, tapping the

+

symbol next to

Basic Spearmanship

ten times in quick succession.

A rush of new memories flooded his mind, the sensation of training day after day for dozens of days, dripping with sweat. As those memories settled, subtle changes rippled through his muscles, thickening his arms just a little. The difference wasn’t huge, but certain muscle groups now felt more attuned to spear-thrusting mechanics.

He checked the status window again.

Basic Spearmanship (1/10) ➔ NEW! Intermediate Spearmanship (1/20)

After a moment’s thought, Li Yuan grabbed an arrow and a sturdy wooden pole—the kind used for drying laundry—and bound them firmly together, forming a crude spear.

Testing its weight, he glanced again at his combat power indicator—14~15.

A makeshift bamboo pole with an arrowhead outperformed his refined steel blade in raw numbers. It was almost hard to believe.

“Husband, it’s getting late,” Yan Yu’s gentle voice came from behind the oil-paper window, her face briefly illuminated by lamplight.

“I’ll keep practicing a bit...blade, or maybe spear...” Li Yuan replied.

This world was too dangerous to relax. He’d relied heavily on his system before, but from now on, if he had the time, he’d cultivate on his own to save whatever stat points he could. Every bit counted.

Seizing his spear, he began stabbing forward in firm, powerful motions. Each thrust felt smoother, more natural.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Two days later, early in the morning.

Despite the chill on the island in the middle of the lake, the black market bustled on as usual. At several points around the shore, the Blood Blade Sect boats had docked.

On the decks stood figures dressed in tight-fitting leather, rope cinched at their waists, tin breathing tubes fitted around their noses.

Plop! Plop! Plop!

They dove into the water one after another, barely drawing notice in the market’s clamor. Before long, one of the ropes gave a sudden jerk. The people on deck immediately rushed to haul the diver back up.

They were professional divers, pearl-hunters, one might say.

After each dive, the pearl-diver surfaced, shaking his head. The crew on deck hurried to pass him a wool blanket and hot water so he wouldn’t catch cold, then moved the boat on to another spot.

Once there, the diver shed the blanket and plunged back in. The water rippled for a moment before settling back to stillness. Eventually, the rope jerked, and the diver was hauled back aboard.

“Anything?” someone on deck would ask each time.

The diver always shook his head.

And so it continued, over and over. Using the island at the lake’s center as their anchor, these divers and their boats patiently searched the surrounding waters.

By dusk, as darkness fell, they packed up for the day. They were looking for bodies.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

That night, Cai Ze, dressed in plain clothes, came to a lavish building with elegant pavilions.

Strings of bead curtains hung at the entrance, and one could vaguely make out the silhouettes of women inside. Laughter and teasing voices drifted out from time to time.

Cai Ze didn’t dare go in. He simply stood on the stone steps. Eventually, a tipsy male voice came from inside, “Come on in.”

Only then did Cai Ze enter. The warmth of an under-floor heating system hit him immediately, shutting out the winter chill.

In this chaotic era, where even in the county people starved on the streets, such luxury was astonishing.

All around the spacious wooden hall, beautiful women lounged in blankets, each exuding her own allure.

Cai Ze swallowed hard and walked to the very back. In a shadowed corner, a man was enjoying the attentions of two lovely attendants.

“Dark Visage Elder,” Cai Ze said, “today’s search turned up nothing.”

The elder nodded. “Keep looking. If those three associates didn’t just vanish but were actually killed, then whoever disposed of their bodies probably threw them in the nearby lake. Finding them should be straightforward enough.”

Cai Ze bowed respectfully. “Yes, sir,” he said, and turned to leave.

The Dark Visage Elder called after him, “That young fellow who reached the ninth rank, is he still recuperating?”

“Yes,” Cai Ze replied.

“He’s interesting...and quite fortunate. Tell him when you get the chance that he could’ve become an outer disciple directly, but our deputy sect master didn’t think much of him.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You may go.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next day, the pearl-divers continued their search—nothing turned up.

On the third day, strong winds kicked up, so they paused the search.

On the fourth day, the gales persisted; the search remained on hold.

On the fifth day, they resumed—still nothing.Doctor

On the sixth day, they kept at it—again, no results.

On the seventh day, a pearl-diver returned to the waters around a new area of the lake. He followed the usual routine—descend, search, and resurface. But this time, partway through his dive, his body went rigid.

In the dark depths, far from the sun’s reach, he glimpsed several faces, pale and bloated. Their features were warped in terror, twisted and hideous, as though frozen in final horror.

The diver’s whole body trembled, his skin crawling. He tugged frantically on the rope, desperate to flee. By the time the crew pulled him on board, he was gasping for breath.

“I...I found them...” he finally managed to stammer.