Chapter 95: The Person in the Moon

The night was deep, with twilight casting a shroud over the earth. Dark undercurrents surged, as if one were trapped within the vortex of a black sea.

Kou Li gazed toward the Wolf-Head Hollow not far ahead, his eyes narrowing. Along the path he had traveled, he had come across a succession of corpses—government soldiers, martial artists he did not recognize, and members of his own martial arts school. The further he ventured, the more numerous the dead became, and the more fierce the signs of battle grew.

*So, I was not the only target. These people have indeed been intercepted by the government troops or freelance assassins lured by the bounty.*

Kou Li’s heart sank. He quickened his pace; he had to reunite with the group from the martial arts school as soon as possible and escape the area. Otherwise, as the numbers of their pursuers swelled, the chances of breaking through the encirclement would dwindle.

Suddenly, Kou Li halted. His gaze flickered, and with a flash of steel, he twisted his body and thrust his blade into a large tree nearby. From the tip of his blade, blood began to drip steadily.

"You don't even know how to regulate your breathing; how do you expect to be an assassin?"

He withdrew his blade, and a dark shadow behind the tree slumped limply to the ground. This was the fifth assassin he had killed on this path. Some were not true assassins, merely ordinary pugilists, but having witnessed the eerie techniques of the Jia Ninja Clan, such crude concealment could not escape his notice.

Soft footsteps sounded from nearby. Kou Li frowned. The newcomer was a skilled practitioner; he heard the leaves being crushed, but no sound of heavy footfalls landing. Either the person was a master of agility and footwork, or they possessed significant internal strength.

Kou Li was just about to test the stranger when a familiar voice called out from the darkness, "Old Eight?"

A figure approached, revealing a face as honest and simple as a weathered farmer’s, with a hint of joy breaking through his wooden expression.

"Fourth Senior Brother," Kou Li said, sounding hesitant.

"Thank goodness, come with me," Luo Dunzi signaled, reaching for Kou Li’s arm.

Kou Li stepped back unobtrusively and asked, "Senior Brother, why are you here? How did you find me?"

Luo Dunzi scratched his head, explaining, "I had gone to... to settle accounts for some timber. When I returned, I found the school surrounded by government troops. I knew something must have happened to you all, so I... I followed the troops as they departed, tracking them all the way..."

Only then did Kou Li understand. Luo Dunzi was usually reticent, and it turned out he had a slight stammer. When he began to list the names and the number of survivors from the school, Kou Li’s expression finally softened. The count matched the corpses he had seen along the way; someone who hadn't actually reunited with Zheng Bao'er and the others could not have been so precise.

"…That’s how it is. So I came out to scout the situation, to see if the soldiers' guard had slacked, and that’s when I ran into you, Junior Brother."

"I see. Then you lead the way, Senior Brother. I, too, wish to reunite with Bao'er and the others as soon as possible."

Luo Dunzi, suspecting nothing, took the lead.

Watching his Senior Brother’s back, his guard completely lowered, Kou Li’s eyes flickered. He loosened his grip on his sword hilt slightly and trailed slowly behind.

Young Master Huang had warned him: do not trust the government troops, do not trust the Yue Guild, and—do not trust those from the martial arts school.

It was as she had predicted. Zhai Guan had betrayed Master Lin, but there was likely more to it, as Zhai Guan had intentionally severed ties with the school from the start. Therefore, the person Young Master Huang had cautioned him about must be someone else.

There was definitely a mole among them. The most likely candidates were Luo Dunzi, the honest and simple Fourth Senior Brother, or Jiang Yazi, the mischievous and troublesome Eighth Senior Brother. Which of these two was the person Young Master Huang had warned him not to trust?

Wolf-Head Hollow was not small, and they found the ten survivors hiding behind a stone depression.

"Senior Brother Kou!"
"Eighth Senior Brother!"
"Senior Brother, you’ve come!"

Kou Li nodded to each of them. His gaze swept over the group; they were exhausted and covered in wounds. Jiang Yazi’s ten fingers were stained with blood, and his elbow appeared bruised and swollen, as if struck by some heavy object.

He didn't seem to care, however, tucking his arm into his sleeve and wandering about like a one-armed man, laughing, "Guess who I am? I'm Yang Guo, and I have a giant eagle!"

Before Kou Li had left the school, he had just been recounting a portion of *The Return of the Condor Heroes*.

For some reason, under the moonlight, Jiang Yazi’s complexion took on an uncanny, bewitching quality—it felt as if he were looking at the thousand-faced python he had once seen on a desolate island.

But the sensation was fleeting, as if it were merely a hallucination.

Kou Li had intended to flee under the cover of night, but seeing the drained energy of these people, he hesitated. "Rest here for the night. We depart tomorrow."

His keen hearing detected no dense footsteps within a ten-mile radius, only the occasional sound passing by. After he had detonated the three cannons, the soldiers seemed to be retreating, as they were now effectively leaderless.

"Senior Brother Luo, you are almost always at the school. Did the three senior brothers truly never return?"

Luo Dunzi hesitated, scratching his head. "One night, I was late with a delivery and didn't return until around midnight. I thought I saw Senior Brother Yue at the gate."

"Is that so?" Kou Li frowned, then changed the subject. "Senior Brother, our martial arts skills are the strongest, and our senses are the sharpest. Let us take turns standing watch tonight."

"Very well."

...

After achieving mastery in internal martial arts, one’s physical condition is enhanced to an incredible degree, and one’s sensory perception is vastly heightened. It is as if one can feel every muscle, every bone, and every meridian. These individual components combine to form a whole, and through the power of this whole, one can influence the functioning of the individual parts.

In martial arts, this state is called "entering stillness." This stillness is not quietude, but rather finding stillness within motion—like flowing water that follows every change, sinking into it, nameless and formless, yet capable of being guided. There is a saying for this: "ears hearing in all six directions, eyes observing in all eight." This hearing and observing are not outward, but inward.

In this state, Kou Li could regulate his blood flow and the essence of his body, flushing out the hidden injuries and wounds sustained in life-and-death combat. These hidden injuries are invisible to the naked eye; only through the ability of the wordless scroll could he observe the tiny, jagged fissures along the walls of his "streams." Though inconspicuous, if they accumulated, the entire wall could burst.

This is why internal martial arts are far superior to other styles for nourishing the body; they can mend these physical defects and injuries, delaying the aging process.

Indeed, in the places where he had been struck by the explosive force of the gunpowder during his fight with the sinister official, there were thin layers of stagnant blood, even despite the internal technique he had used to dissipate the impact.

Kou Li continuously refined his blood and *qi* in these areas, washing them repeatedly. Gradually, the stagnant residue scattered. In this process, the internal martial arts’ physical sensitivity and the unique touch of the wordless scroll began to merge. After one final sweep of his blood, several glittering specks were suddenly flushed out.

Kou Li was stunned. Before he could react, the specks vanished.

*What was that?*

When he circulated his blood again, the fluid felt like beads of blood rolling through his veins, and sure enough, that glittering sensation reappeared. It was exactly as he thought.

Kou Li opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath, which carried the faint scent of blood—the residue of the stagnant blood he had purged. He flipped his hand; the base of his palm felt strangely refreshed.

That was where he had sustained hidden injuries after his palm had collided with the explosive gunpowder force. Kou Li rubbed the area slowly. It felt as warm as jade, with no signs of injury remaining. But those glittering specks...

A thought struck Kou Li. The human skin scroll that recorded the "Three Soul Palms" displayed seven hundred and twenty acupuncture points. While the focus was on the one hundred and eight major points, he vaguely remembered that there were three ordinary points along the base of the palm.

*Could it be that the glittering specks I felt are the acupuncture points, and that by merging my internal mastery with the power of the wordless scroll, I can specifically perceive the acupuncture points throughout my body?*

Since the "Three Soul Palms" could cause injury or death by striking these points, what would happen if he stimulated them from within?

However, this was not the time for experiments. Kou Li would not use his own body as a test subject without certainty. Seeing the moon hanging over the treetops, he knew it was late. He ended his state of "entering stillness" and recalled the moment the sinister official had unleashed the explosive force during the day. He began to imitate that feeling of violent, explosive power.

Before he knew it, it was time to change watches.

"Old Eight, it’s my turn," Luo Dunzi said, emerging from the darkness.

"Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother."

Kou Li withdrew his stance and walked toward the back, his face expressionless. In fact, after achieving mastery in internal martial arts, his "entering stillness" was equivalent to a deep sleep; he did not need to rest for the remainder of the night. He simply wanted to see how the others would behave when they thought no one was watching.

As he reached the back of the stone hollow, a figure suddenly jumped down from a rock. The figure’s movements were agile. It glanced at Kou Li with eyes that were cold, unfamiliar, and filled with a faint trace of murderous intent. It scrambled into a crevice like a monkey, curled up, and slowly closed its eyes.

In the moonlight, the face of that person was revealed—it was Jiang Yazi.