CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: THE CAPTURE (PART 1)

Spear Technique?

First to be ruled out. There’s no way he could carry a gun with him, as that would be too conspicuous.

When escaping, anything can happen, and you must be prepared to lose your weapon.

So, it’s only boxing.

Lou Yi consumed three points of energy to upgrade the Basic Boxing Technique.

A brand new memory appeared in his mind, connecting to the previous segment.

At the end of the Yun Dynasty, enemy invasions had shattered the confidence of the people with guns and cannons.

In Macheng, at the Hongyang Martial Arts Hall.

Lou Yi was still learning boxing from the Silver-haired Martial Artist.

"Your boxing has reached the entry-level. Next, it’s time for grinding practice, integrating each move into a fluid, natural flow."

"There’s no shortcut to achieve this. You can only practice, putting in five to ten times the effort of ordinary people!"

"Yes!"

Hearing the other person’s words, Lou Yi made up his mind.

He would get up before dawn to practice his stance and boxing, continuing until midnight.

Apart from eating, sleeping, and attending to nature’s calls, he spent almost all his time practicing boxing.

Whether his companions called him out to go on a trip, or his family arranged for him to meet a girl, he refused all.

Besides boxing, it was only boxing. All social interactions were cut off from him.

Lou Yi even earned a nickname: Punch Fanatic.

Two years later, one night on the street.

"Robbery! Catch him quickly!"

Upon hearing the sharp shouts from behind, Lou Yi, who was about to head to the park to practice martial arts, suddenly turned around.

He happened to see a masked man with a knife, grabbing a bag and running in his direction, much faster than the average person.

Without saying a word, Lou Yi stepped forward, intending to stop him.

"Get lost!" the tall man roared angrily.

The bright knife in his hand mercilessly stabbed towards Lou Yi.

No matter how good your skills are, you still fear the kitchen knife.

Since ancient times, countless martial arts masters have fallen under the weapons of ordinary people.

But at this moment, Lou Yi’s heart was calm as a still lake. Turning his punch into a hand chop, he fiercely slashed at the assailant!

"Looking for death!"

A flash of ferocity appeared in the assailant’s eyes. His two-foot-long knife was about to slice Lou Yi’s hand.

Unexpectedly, Lou Yi stabilized his left foot, twisted his right foot outward, and slightly shifted his body.

The hand chop, originally from above, instantly transformed into a horizontal punch from left to right, directly hitting the assailant’s arm!

"Ah!"

The assailant screamed in pain, and the knife flew from his hand.

Lou Yi then transitioned his fist into a claw and forcefully grabbed forward.

He caught hold of the opponent’s collar, twisted his waist and hips fiercely, and swiftly slammed him to the ground!

’Smack!’

The assailant’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted right away.

"Impressive!" People from behind rushed over after several moments.

Seeing Lou Yi quickly take down the assailant, they couldn’t help but praise, "He’s a well-known thief in the underworld, called Fire Blade, trained in martial arts, yet you took him down in a few moves!"

With three moves—chop, horizontal punch, grab—Lou Yi easily subdued an assailant with a knife.

His boxing was now executed freely, no longer rigid with set forms.

At this moment, he understood that his boxing had ascended to a new realm.

Bang!

When Lou Yi in reality came to his senses, he had already absorbed all the knowledge from his dream realm.

Meanwhile, a flow of heat began reinforcing Lou Yi’s body.

However, his physique was already far beyond that of ordinary people, only feeling a slight warmth that dissipated quickly.

’It’s impossible to maintain a large-scale breakthrough continuously.’

’But as long as I keep breaking through, a qualitative change will inevitably occur one day.’

Lou Yi’s heart settled slightly.

With his boxing now at a proficient level, he could best preserve himself if he ever lost his weapon.

For now, his priority should be to leave Tai City, the place of trouble, early.

If his guess was correct, Tai City would soon issue a warrant for his arrest.

Never entertain the thought of fighting against the great power of the court.

He could only flee to other big cities for refuge.

After all, he wasn’t a notorious villain and wouldn’t be pursued across cities.

If he took the land route, it would require traveling hundreds of miles, without using official roads, unable to stay at inns, living in the wilderness like a primitive man.

’Not feasible.’ Lou Yi shook his head.

What about eating, drinking, and making a fire? What about encountering harsh weather like rain or hail? What if he encountered various wild beasts and toxic creatures?

Not to mention those, without a complete map, he would likely run into bizarre dangers.

Like the rumored spirits, anomalies, fogs of deception, like this time’s Sheep Ghost Slope.

Traveling alone in the wild for an extended period was nearly suicidal.

He could only take the water route, finding a chance to board a ship to escape, a risk he had to take.

Lou Yi, relying on the map given by Cui Yuan, took detours meticulously.

Even riding a horse, it took him a day to reach Longkou Town.

Releasing the horse, he donned a conical hat and went to the dock. Through others’ chats, he learned a large ship would set sail for Jiang City in three days.

’I need to find a way to sneak onto that ship.’

Lou Yi knew he had to be cautious at every step. Once he escaped Tai City, the world would be his oyster!

...

Xinxiang, Inspection Office.

"Where are Qi Hu, Fang Yuan, and Xiao Yan? Why haven’t they reported for duty yet?"

Inside the Inspection Office, Inspector Cao, dressed in a green official robe, with a square face and stern majesty, looked with displeasure at the trembling group of archers before him.

"Sir, they seemed to have gone to cause trouble at Jia Family Manor."

One archer couldn’t withstand the pressure and knelt directly.

"Why didn’t you inform me earlier?" Inspector Cao’s face darkened suddenly, "Do you still regard me as your Inspector?"

’Thunk!’

Upon hearing this, the others fell to their knees immediately.

"Forgive us, Sir. It was Qi Hu who forbade us from telling!"

"Report!"

Suddenly, a hurried voice came from outside, and then someone dashed in frantic.

"Sir, bad news! A hunter from Hu Family Village seeks an audience and brings news about Qi Hu, Young Hero Qin of the main city, and their group, saying, saying..."

"Say what?"

"Saying they were all killed by someone named Lou Yi!"

’Swish!’

Upon hearing this, Inspector Cao fumed, drawing the treasured sword from his waist and slashing it to the side!

A flash of cold light, and a corner of the high-grade nanmu table completely slid off.

"Summon Ning Xiong and Shen Fang to see me at once!"

A moment later.

In the Inspector’s study, an oppressive atmosphere akin to the calm before a storm lingered. Almost all the officers dared not speak, keeping their heads down.

Among them, only two seemed not to be affected at all.

One was robust, wearing a leather vest on top, exposing thick muscles and dense hair. A Wolf Fang Club as tall as a person was strapped to his back, clearly an invincible warrior of the era.

He was the rumored sole Martial Artist in Xinxiang, Man Slaughter Ning Xiong.

The other was slim, with half an Iron Mask on his face, the empty right forearm embedded with a silver hook glinting coldly.

He even seemed more dangerous than Ning Xiong, being Iron-handed Shen Fang, famous alongside Ning Xiong.

"Tiger is dead, Fang Yuan is dead, Xiao Yan is dead, tell me, what do you think we should do?" Inspector Cao’s eyes were bloodshot, looking as if he were about to devour someone.

...