Chapter 2 Origins of Xi Gong

  The bloody scene was unbearable for Tie Jian, who was very grateful for Lei Dong's care. Although he was a novice catcher, he also knew what Lei Dong meant. This case exceeded the capabilities of these county catchers, and it was almost impossible to crack the case. The victim was one of the richest men in the county, and his influence was significant in the county town. It would be impossible to gloss over the matter, so after returning, they would definitely be supervised by County Master. These small catchers in the county knew that even if they couldn't crack the case, they had to put on a diligent appearance to avoid being scolded by County Master. Therefore, they would have to run around for the next few days. That's why Lei Dong let them go back and rest well, waiting for County Master to ask about the case and get angry, then everyone would be in trouble.

  Tie Jun grew up in a group of catchers and had heard many such stories, so he knew the details. After leaving Lu's mansion, he went straight home.

  Tie's family had a three-room courtyard in the residential area east of the county town. Tie Dan had been the captain of the East Hill for over a decade, and he was considered to have a certain status. Although he wasn't very good at socializing, after more than a decade, he had also accumulated quite a bit of wealth. In Dongling, his family was considered to be upper-middle-class, and they even had a few maidservants.

  Tie Juan returned home, passing through two gates, and saw his father practicing with a sword, drenched in sweat. A 17 or 18-year-old servant girl stood by, holding a water basin to attend to him. Seeing Tie Juan arrive, Tie Dan was somewhat surprised, and quickly got up from his seat, putting down the sword he held, asking, "Why did you return from the yamen so early today? Is everything all right at the yamen?"

  "Something big has happened, Brother Lei told me to come back and rest for a while, recharge my energy before talking!"

  "Ah!" Iron Gallbladder's brow furrowed as soon as he heard the words, and as a seasoned old catcher, Iron Cauldron's words gave him an ominous premonition. He immediately asked, "What's going on? Has someone been killed?"

  "It's even worse than that!" Tie Juan sighed, and since he didn't have anything good to hide from Tie Dan, he told him everything that had happened at the Lu manor.

  The more he listened, the uglier his face became. By the end, he actually stood up and paced back and forth in the courtyard, "Did you see that dead woman clearly? Were any of her internal organs missing?"

  "Ah!!" Upon hearing this, a cold and eerie image of the deceased woman flashed through Tie Jian's mind. Subconsciously, he wanted to think about whether there was anything missing from her abdomen. The bloody scene once again stimulated him, causing him to bend over and dry retch in the courtyard.

  "Useless thing!" Tie Dan was somewhat disappointed with Tie Juan's performance, but he also knew that this couldn't be blamed on Tie Juan. After all, he was just a sixteen-year-old kid who had grown up in the yamen, and although he had been exposed to some rough stuff, he had never seen a dead body before. Suddenly encountering such a bloody scene, it was impossible for him to adapt so quickly.

  "Go on vomiting, you'll get used to it if you vomit more!" He shook his head and said, "After you've finished vomiting, go rest. I'll call for you again in three hours!"

  ※※※

  As expected, after hearing about the Lu family's blood case, County Magistrate Yao Jin of Dongling was indeed furious and ordered Captain Lei Dong to solve the case within three days.

  This is obviously a bit far-fetched, in three days, Lei Dong led a group of catchers to rush around, almost turning the entire Dongling upside down, but there was no clue. The most deadly thing was that on the third day, another similar murder case occurred in the county seat of Dongling, and Fan Lao Wu's wife, who sold tofu on West Street, also died in her own bed. Just like the dead concubine of the Lu family, the murderer took out the unborn baby from the woman's abdomen and left.

  Things have gotten out of hand, two similar cases in three days are enough to shock the prefecture and the province. What's more, if things continue like this, there will be a third and fourth case, how can Yao Jia still stay in his position? If another case happens, he won't be able to remain as county magistrate.

  So, after the three-day deadline, he severely beat Lei Dong twenty times and ordered him to speed up the investigation. At the same time, one urgent document after another was sent to the prefecture and the county of Dongling also became jittery because of this matter, even during the daytime, there were fewer pedestrians on the streets, which was also something that Tie Jian did not understand.

  The two victims both died in their own homes, what does it have to do with whether they went out or not?

  Soon, a rumor spread in Dongling that the two murders were committed by an evil sect expert who wanted to cultivate evil martial arts and needed 81 unborn babies to succeed, so they hunted down pregnant women everywhere and cut open their bellies to take out the fetuses.

  For a time, the whole of Dongling County was shrouded in an atmosphere of panic.

  ※※※

  Into the night, Iron House

  "Dad, you said this rumor was spread by you?"

  After a day of running around, the exhausted Tie Juan returned home and told Tie Dan about the rumors in the county and the magistrate's fury. Unexpectedly, Tie Dan's first words were "I was the one who spread the rumor", which gave him quite a shock.

  "Junzi, you're still young and don't understand many things!" Tiedan took a sip of the old wine, tapped the rim of the bowl with his chopsticks, and the warm wine vapor burst out. "In this world, no one will do such things without reason. Either the person who takes action is a madman, or he has a relationship with the evil sect, and it's very likely that he's an evil cultivator!"

  "Evil cultivation?" Tie Jun's face changed color, and a mysterious light flashed in his eyes. "Father, are there really cultivators in this world?"

  "Yes, of course, a master. What is a master? A master is someone who cultivates themselves. You are also a master, I am also a master, everyone is a master, it's just that our abilities differ in size!" Tie Dan shook his head and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.

  The iron wok was filled up again for him, "Dad, you tell me about the monk's affairs."

  "You little scamp, haven't you been listening to too many fantastical stories in the tea house and now think you can fly through the skies and escape through the earth?"

  "Isn't this interesting!" Tie Jianxian said with a grin, "Dad, tell us about it!"

  "Rubbish, I don't know anything, what can I say? I only know that there are indeed some people in this world who can fly and escape, but these are not something we can come into contact with. In my lifetime, I've only seen it once, however. But I do know that when those heretic cultivators cultivate their evil arts, the Purple River Chariot is a must-have item. It's just that those heretics disappeared hundreds of years ago, so how could they appear in Dongling County?

  Saying this, he let out a soft sigh and revealed a hint of sadness, "With something like this happening, it can only be said that our Dongling County is unlucky. This is no longer something that our Dongling County can handle, which is why I spread the word!"

  "Are you helping Lei Zhenyu shirk his responsibility?"

  "At least alleviate some responsibility, this has exceeded his capacity, even if the case can't be cracked, there's still an explanation!"

  "You're indeed an old hand at being a captain, you've got a clear view of things!"

  "Stop flattering me!" Tieda seemed to have thought of something, his expression turned serious. "Junzi, you must be careful with this case, don't be too impulsive. Even if you get a lead on the killer, you must be cautious. Leidong is young and sometimes acts impulsively. If you really find something, follow Qin Haiming, this guy is slick and knows what's important!"

  "I understand, Father!" Tiejun nodded and said, knowing in his heart that this was to let him take advantage of the situation and not be too desperate, and if he encountered danger, it would be best to hide.

  After dinner, Tie Jun helped the slightly drunk Tie Dan onto bed, settled him in and then went back to his own room to sleep.

  But he couldn't sleep, thinking about his conversation with Tie Dan today.

  Qigong, martial arts, cultivation, flying and escaping.

  These words have been lingering in his mind and cannot be shaken off.

  Half a year ago, he was still an ignorant and reckless young man who didn't understand anything and ran around wildly, but now he has completely changed from what he was half a year ago.

  Half a year ago, he had a big dream and was dizzy for a month.

  Only he himself knew that this month was not spent in a daze, but rather in digesting the memories of this body.

  The real Tie Jun had long since died, or rather his last bit of soul had already disappeared, leaving behind only fragmented memories. In this past month, a soul from another world had occupied this body, an engineer named Chen Hai.

  Chen Hai is not a person of this world, but a figure from a technological world called Earth.

  On Earth, Chen Hai died unexpectedly, but when he thought his life was over, he suddenly woke up. After waking up from the dream, he couldn't tell whether he was Tie Jian or Chen Hai anymore, so his personality changed greatly and he was confused for a month before clearing everything up. Because his soul was no longer Tie Jian's but Chen Hai's, his habits also changed. Tie Dan was very happy about his son's change and didn't suspect anything, thinking that his son had become more filial after he got seriously injured and suddenly became smarter, which made him feel relieved.

  Chen Hai is an otaku, and his biggest dream in life is to be able to fly through the sky and escape from the earth like the immortals he sees online. At least, he wants to be able to cultivate internal energy like the martial artists do. This is also why he was so excited after getting the feeling of qi.

  Ideas kept popping up in his mind one after another, and finally, he couldn't lie still anymore. He got out of bed, walked to the window, pushed it open, and suddenly, the cool air outside blew in, clearing his mind.

  "At least the air in this world is still fresh!"

  In this world similar to ancient China, Chen Hai's first move was to pretend to be stupid and hide his abilities. Then, he slowly got familiar with the surroundings. Sometimes, he also hated the previous owner of this body, who had spent over a decade in a daze, only knowing how to argue with his father when he was bored, and learning a few characters under his father's iron-fisted coercion. Apart from that, he was clueless about everything else, and could only wait until now to slowly understand things. Even when he finally grasped the concept of "qi", he was amazed for half a day, as if in a dream.

  Outside the window, the moonlight was like water, pouring into the room. A cold gust of wind blew in, and he couldn't help but shiver.

  He took a deep breath and felt a thread of warm air rising from his lower abdomen, circulating through his limbs and driving away the cold air all over his body.

  "This inner energy is indeed wonderful, although I've only just started to feel it, I can already drive out the cold air. It seems that those who have cultivated for decades really can achieve immunity to heat and cold, and flying through the sky and escaping into the earth isn't a myth after all. The only thing I don't know is whether I'll have the chance to become like them!"

  His mind was preoccupied with the thought of cultivating, and before he knew it, he began to recite the internal skill's mantra and started mobilizing his inner breath. Unfortunately, after only a few breaths, he opened his eyes, and a hint of helplessness flashed across the corners of his eyes.

  What he practiced was the family's traditional kung fu, Shaoyang Qigong, which cultivates the inner energy of Shaoyang. This Shaoyang Qigong requires absorbing the yang energy at noon every day. Now it is midnight, and there is no yang energy, but rather a lot of yin energy, how can he cultivate it?

  "Shaoyang Qigong, haha, in martial arts novels, it's a classic secret technique!"

  Leaning against the headboard, he thought of the world in his past life. He felt a little melancholy at times, and sometimes he still thought this world was better. His thoughts were fleeting and uncertain, and before he knew it, he had leaned against the bed and gradually fallen asleep.