Red and blue lights flashed in time with the sirens filling the air.
Lin Xiaowei, whose black suit made him look more like an office worker than an officer from the Major Crimes Unit, arrived in the alley with his partner, Zhang Qing.
"Inspector Lin, welcome."
Outside the yellow police tape, a man wearing an inspector's badge stepped forward. He was the officer in charge of the scene, Inspector Huang Bing. "Here's the victim's information. Xia Li, general manager of Longquan Real Estate Development, male, fifty-four years old this year..."
"Have you checked the surveillance footage?"
"We've recovered some of it, but... it looks like the perpetrator has extremely strong counter-surveillance skills. Whenever he moved, he was either in a camera's blind spot or covering his face. Not a single camera captured his full appearance. I suspect this was a planned murder."
He paused briefly. "The manner of death is nearly identical to that of the victims from sixteen days ago, forty-four days ago, and seventy-nine days ago—in other words, the three murders classified as the 3.11 serial murder case. All of them died from blunt-force trauma. Basically, they were beaten to death. I have good reason to believe the perpetrator is the same person."
"I'll take a look at the victim."
Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing put on their specialist badges and entered the sealed crime scene.
The important items at the scene had already been marked.
The first thing he noticed was a utility pole bent into a V shape and nearly broken in half, its reinforced-concrete frame exposed.
Next, his gaze fell on the stone pavement, which appeared to have cracked beneath someone's footfall.
Then...
His gaze shifted to the wall of a small building beside the alley. It looked as though it had just been struck by a sledgehammer.
Spiderweb-shaped cracks spread across more than two meters of wall.
It was difficult to imagine what kind of force could damage a solid concrete wall so severely.
Tap, tap.
Zhang Qing knocked on the wall, producing a dull impact.
"It's extremely solid. None of the material was cut down at all," he said.
Lin Xiaowei did not answer. After observing for a moment, he walked over to the victim's corpse.
The scene had already been partially cleaned up.
Even so, the sight of the Longquan Real Estate general manager with his breastbone caved in, both arms shattered, and his skull pierced made Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing equally uncomfortable.
"That's brutal," Zhang Qing said.
"Inspector Huang, are there any witnesses?" Lin Xiaowei shifted his gaze.
"Yes. The victim's assistant and secretary, Fang Qing, female, twenty-six years old..."
As he gave his report, Inspector Huang pointed toward a woman sitting in a state of severe shock, her forehead covered in blood.
Zhang Qing went to examine her.
A short while later, he returned to Lin Xiaowei's side.
"She took a hard blow to the head. She's rambling a little, and her speech is unclear too. Looks like we'll need a psychologist to get any useful clues," Zhang Qing said.
"Anything she can provide may not be useful anyway. The perpetrator is highly professional," Lin Xiaowei said. He reached out again and felt the broken utility pole, which remained standing only because of its steel frame.
"Tell me, is it really possible for a human body to produce this much destructive power?"
A body made of flesh and blood could destroy steel and concrete? How was that possible?
"Of course it is."
A man in his thirties and a woman about the same age as Lin Xiaowei stepped over the police line and entered the crime scene.
Lin Xiaowei stared at them in surprise. "Who are you?"
Inspector Huang smiled as he introduced them. "Inspector Lin, this man is Xia Wuyuan, a specialist in this field and the acknowledged number one in the martial arts world of Yunmeng City—even in all of Tiannan Province. He was invited by his superiors as a special martial arts consultant to help solve the 3.11 serial murder case."
The man named Xia Wuyuan crouched beside Xia Li's corpse and began examining the victim's wounds with his hands.
"Hey, don't touch the body like that," Zhang Qing reprimanded him instinctively.
Xia Wuyuan seemed not to hear him. He did not merely examine the corpse; he also patted and pressed several parts of its body.
"I told you not to mess with it. You could damage the traces left on the victim..." Zhang Qing stepped forward.
"Don't worry. Leave it to my senior fellow disciple.[1]"
The young woman who had come with Xia Wuyuan blocked his path. "If my senior fellow disciple can't solve this case, then in Yunmeng City—no, throughout all of Tiannan Province—not a single person will be able to solve it."
"You..." Zhang Qing frowned. Wasn't she being a little too arrogant?
Then Inspector Lin Xiaowei seemed to remember something. "Wait a second... Xia Wuyuan? The champion of the Fourteenth National Martial Arts Tournament and the tenth-generation heir to Zhenwu Fist?"
"You must be the grandson of Grandmaster Lin from the Five Elements Fist school, right? It's a shame your father didn't pass the Five Elements Fist on to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked that question."
Xia Wuyuan pulled his hand away from Xia Li's right arm, right where the humerus had been completely shattered, then stood up. "First, you train the skin, then the flesh, then the tendons and bones. Next, you use breathing techniques to strengthen your internal organs. Finally, your blood is renewed and your bone marrow is cleansed, and you become a peak-level expert. After that, even immortals, buddhas, gods, and demons will bow before you."
"I've heard that before..."
Lin Xiaowei thought for a moment. "That's the Four Martial Arts Training Method."
"Correct. The four phases are strengthening the skin and muscles, stretching the tendons and strengthening the bones, strengthening the internal organs, and finally renewing the blood and cleansing the bone marrow. Combined with the method of mastering Jin flow, they form the four major levels: Martial Artist, Martial Arts Master, Grandmaster, and Martial Arts Paragon."
Xia Wuyuan clearly possessed an astonishingly extensive knowledge of martial arts.
"Aren't martial arts skills ranked from level one to level ten in the Central Continent?" Zhang Qing asked instinctively.
Xia Wuyuan nodded. "The world keeps advancing, and the classification system for skill levels has become more refined. However, on closer examination, levels one through three, four through six, and seven through nine are actually equivalent to Martial Artist, Martial Arts Master, and Grandmaster.
In the past, Grandmaster Lin was a highly renowned Martial Arts Master in Tiannan Province. He was only one step away from strengthening his internal organs to the absolute limit of the human body. Although he failed to become a Grandmaster, his mastery of Jin flow had already reached its peak. Twenty years ago, he roamed Tiannan with few equals."
After explaining, he looked at the two-meter-wide cracks in the wall.
"A Grandmaster doesn't merely master Jin flow. Their physique has also reached the absolute limit of the human body. When their Jin erupts, they can split rocks and crack walls. Doing something like this is perfectly normal."
At those words, Zhang Qing, Lin Xiaowei, and Huang Bing all drew sharp breaths.
Split rocks and crack walls!?
If that kind of Jin struck a human body, how could anyone possibly survive?
"A Grandmaster can face a hundred people barehanded. In ancient times, a Grandmaster wearing iron armor, riding a warhorse, and carrying a full set of weapons could tear through an army of a thousand soldiers, and even fight ten thousand enemies at once."
Xia Wuyuan looked at the corpse beside him. "On the surface, Xia Li was the general manager of Longquan Real Estate, a property tycoon with a net worth in the billions. But in the martial arts world, he had another identity: the ninth-generation heir to Dragon Form Fist. He was also the most exceptional successor of that martial art in recent years. He was in no way weaker than Grandmaster Lin in his prime."
"Huh?" Zhang Qing suddenly remembered something. "Since you brought that up, Inspector Huang questioned the surviving witness, Fang Qing. According to her statement, after killing the victim, the perpetrator said that the ninth-generation heir to Dragon Form Fist was nothing special after all."
Xia Wuyuan drew a long breath. "It wasn't just the ninth-generation heir to Dragon Form Fist. That perpetrator also killed the heir to Army-Breaking Fist, the heir to Zhao Family Fist, and the leader of Luohe Sect. All those renowned Martial Arts Masters died at his hands."
His expression turned serious as he continued, "This person isn't merely responsible for what has been called the 3.11 serial murder case. The Prosecutor's Office has consolidated several similar cases. The perpetrator used identical methods. In other words, over the past few years, he has slaughtered no fewer than ten renowned Martial Arts Masters."
The fact made the hair on the backs of Lin Xiaowei's and Zhang Qing's necks stand on end.
No fewer than ten renowned Martial Arts Masters!?
That many!?
Had this person gone insane!?
"W-what exactly is he trying to do!?" Zhang Qing blurted out in shock.
"Without exception, every person who died at his hands was one of the strongest Martial Arts Masters of this generation. If my guess is right..." Xia Wuyuan said heavily, "he wants to become number one in Tiannan!"
"Number one in Tiannan?" Zhang Qing tilted his head in confusion.
Did he think this was still the ancient feudal era, when he could travel around challenging people to duels just to become number one?
Sure, holding that title could earn him tens of millions per match, but... killing people wasn't the way to do it! Even if he became the strongest, so what?
Could he become immune to bullets? Could he deflect cannon shells?
Risking arrest by the police just to kill people...
What for?
"Number one in Tiannan?"
The woman beside Xia Wuyuan spoke calmly. "If he wants to take that title, he'll first have to see whether my senior fellow disciple agrees."
Xia Wuyuan waved his hand.
Judging from the extent of the damage left behind by the battle, Xia Li's strength must have been far greater than the rumors claimed. He had clearly reached the Grandmaster level in internal cultivation and had successfully trained his internal organs.
Under the martial arts ranking system, Xia Li would certainly have qualified for level seven. With the connections he possessed, he should even have been able to reach level eight. Yet with such strength, he had still been killed by the perpetrator. For that reason, even though Xia Wuyuan was a national-level martial arts champion, he could not guarantee that he would definitely win.
However, for a martial artist, rank was not the only measure of strength.
Mastery of Jin flow, physical condition, and mental strength were all indispensable.
The only way to know for certain was to fight directly.
Therefore, he would not feel inferior simply because his opponent's level might be higher.
Xia Wuyuan said firmly, "The authorities have classified this operation as a 'demon extermination' mission and given the perpetrator the codename Shadow Demon, signifying that he moves without a trace. However... I will capture him."
His voice was serious and full of resolve. "For no other reason than to uphold the law and deliver justice to those who have died."