Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 167 - 163: What do you mean by beating someone? This is helping you cultivate!

Chapter 167: Chapter 163: What do you mean by beating someone? This is helping you cultivate!

"But Military Chief Sun, rest assured, I certainly won’t blab about this matter to anyone," Zhang San said with a frank face, grinning at the flushed and murderous-looking Military Chief Sun.

"After all, if this matter accidentally gets leaked, I know you only killed six martial artists you thought deserved to die but weren’t supposed to be killed according to the Town Martial Office’s mission requirements. But..."

"With Chuan-Yu Road being so chaotic lately, so many people dying every day, if others were to misunderstand, that would be bad, right?"

Military Chief Sun was impetuous, but she was not stupid.

She was very aware of Zhang San’s overt threat.

Originally, those she killed were indeed people she felt were heinous and deserved death.

But even as a martial artist of the Town Martial Office, she couldn’t just kill anyone she deemed deserving.

If she did, not to mention the whole Great Sui, even the other martial artists from Chuan-Yu Road alone would not agree.

More importantly, from then on, if anyone died under mysterious circumstances, or if the killer was not found, she was very likely to be blamed for the crime.

It was only at this moment that Military Chief Sun finally understood why Ouyang Zhen, whose temper was as explosive as hers, could be so calm this time when he visited Xiongfeng Manor.

"So you... um... what do you think I should do?" she asked.

Military Chief Sun had no choice but to bow her head.

Zhang San smiled, glancing in the direction of Third Miss Gan’s room.

"Everyone hasn’t had a good meal this morning, and I hear that Military Chief Sun is skilled in cooking. I wonder..."

Military Chief Sun first frowned but then helplessly nodded her head.

She knew that this wasn’t about cooking at all; it was purely about making her bow her head.

But... bowing her head was better than being chopped to death by someone else.

Watching Military Chief Sun march toward the cafeteria with a crestfallen face, the other Military Chiefs sitting in the cool corridor at the edge of the courtyard had already sensed the tense atmosphere and the ominous turn of events.

On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than simple questioning by Zhang San to everyone.

But in reality, many of the Military Chiefs knew that this was a confrontation between Zhang San, as Third Miss Gan’s confidant, and them.

If Zhang San won, it meant Third Miss Gan won, and these Military Chiefs would naturally be humble and cautious in front of Third Miss Gan from then on.

Conversely, if Zhang San couldn’t hold them down, it meant that Third Miss Gan couldn’t hold them down either. These Military Chiefs would enjoy greater freedom and authority in future missions, and it wasn’t impossible that they could even oust Third Miss Gan one day.

Military Chief Hua was forgotten, after all, he had three broken ribs, so it was normal for him to bow his head.

Pitiful Military Chief Sun even bowed her head, this was...

As the other Military Chiefs looked on in confusion, Ouyang Zhen was called over by Zhang San.

"Speak, what do you want?" he asked.

Ouyang Zhen realized he couldn’t fight this Zhang San.

So, it was better to just cooperate a bit.

He had already figured out the situation with Bai Yucheng, so his heart was free of obstruction.

Zhang San chuckled and whispered, "Military Chief Ouyang, you’re too polite. We’ve met for the second time; we’re old acquaintances now."

As he spoke, Zhang San took out some woodworking tools from his Gluttonous Bag and some wood he had collected.

Ouyang Zhen hadn’t expected that not only was Zhang San proficient in forging, but he was also skilled in woodcraft.

In all of Chuan-Yu Road’s Town Martial Office martial artists, there was not a single one skilled in woodcraft making, yet Zhang San turned out to be one.

This raised Ouyang Zhen’s opinion of Zhang San and also made him realize something.

This guy couldn’t know that Red Dragon Mountain just received a batch of high-quality wood, could he?

"Ah! This wood is too poor. Look, I just carved it and it broke straight away, ah—"

Once Zhang San had said this, how could Ouyang Zhen not understand?

"Zhang San, I personally have some fine wood materials. If you don’t consider me an outsider, I’ll immediately have someone from Red Dragon Mountain send some over to you," he said.

Zhang San smiled innocently, saying, "How could I impose? Cough cough... just make sure it’s sent quickly, huh..."

Ouyang Zhen:...

"By the way, I’ve always been curious, what weapon does Third Miss Gan use? I’ve never seen her use a weapon, yet she’s so strong."

After pondering for a moment, Ouyang Zhen spoke in a deep voice, "Those with great strength usually favor maces, but maces are not very flexible. Compared to that, staffs, maces, steel whips and the like are..."

Ouyang Zhen had analyzed halfway through the Taoist teachings before he finally understood the implication in Zhang San’s words.

"I get it now, thank you, Zhang San."

Zhang San smiled and waved his hand dismissively, saying, "What’s there to get or not get, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. But just by looking at Military Chief Ouyang’s face, one can tell he’s an honest man. How could he possibly collude with the Heavenly Punishment Sect? What happened last night definitely has nothing to do with you."

After seeing Ouyang Zhen off, Zhang San took out another booklet and recorded in it: On such and such year, month, and day, Military Chief Ouyang Zhen of Red Dragon Mountain promised to send me a certain quantity of top-quality timber.

See! Isn’t this evidence of collusion with the Heavenly Punishment Sect?

Afterward, Zhang San summoned a few more Military Chiefs.

Learning from the prior example, all the subsequent Military Chiefs that came to see Zhang San were extremely polite. Their demeanor made even Lu Qingquan green with envy.

And then, one after another, they immediately ran to show their loyalty to Third Miss Gan.

In just one morning, Zhang San had questioned all the Military Chiefs, even calling over Lu Qingquan.

"Officer Lu, I certainly trust you. But after all, you’re the one who bought the wine last night. If someone with an agenda thinks you purposely got everyone drunk, that won’t do."

Lu Qingquan listened with a befuddled look on his face.

"How come I’m the one who bought the wine? Wasn’t it the Wang Family who paid for it?"

Zhang San said approvingly, "Originally, the Wang Family was going to pay, but you insisted that wasn’t acceptable. You were adamant about paying, truly. You even grabbed the bill at the tavern to sign it. We couldn’t stop you at all!"

Although Lu Qingquan couldn’t remember what had happened the previous night, he felt that it was time for him to quit drinking.

After scaring Lu Qingquan and tying him to the tavern’s responsibility, Zhang San went back to report to Third Miss Gan.

But just as he walked through the door, he saw all sorts of odd and various things and quite a few boxes placed on the desk as well as on the carpet next to it in Third Miss Gan’s room.

"These Military Chiefs are too courteous, sending me gifts just upon our second meeting."

Zhang San said with a smile, "Officer, I’ve asked around, and none of them are suspects."

Third Miss Gan glanced at Zhang San and said coldly, "Do you think I’m not aware they’re not suspects? No suspects is good; we investigate slowly. Tell me, what do you want this time?"

Zhang San was taken aback, not expecting there to be a reward.

"Never mind, never mind. Helping Officer with her duties, no reward is needed."

At that moment, Third Miss Gan picked up a steel whip made entirely of black iron spheres strung together from the ground next to her and glanced at Zhang San.

"Did you tell Military Chief Ouyang that I like this sort of thing?"

Zhang San caught sight of the peculiar design of one sphere connected to another on the steel whip and couldn’t help but think of something.

"Um... what I meant might not be what he understood... Actually, I..."

Smack—

In the nearby courtyard, the gathered Military Chiefs tacitly agreed on their submission toward the new Officer, merely exchanging smiles with each other.

But just then, they heard a sound like that of a pig being butchered coming from Third Miss Gan’s room—Zhang San’s voice.

"What is this..."

As everyone looked on curiously, they saw Third Miss Gan chasing Zhang San with the steel whip, passing through the courtyard’s entrance.

"I’m instructing Zhang San in martial training. Gentlemen, carry on..."

With that, Third Miss Gan continued chasing Zhang San and beating him with the steel whip.

When Zhang San finally lay on the ground, completely giving up the struggle after being beaten, Third Miss Gan pulled out a Jade Scroll from her bosom and tossed it to him.

"Inside is a martial secret technique called the Bamboo Breaking and Mending Technique, which can help strengthen your True Core. Quickly practice while the True Core is still shattered; that’s when the technique is most effective."[Note 58]

Zhang San smiled in relief. So it was all to help him with his cultivation!

But in the next moment, Zhang San suddenly realized something.

Wait a second!

Did my True Core just get shattered?

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[Note 58]Reference Explanation

The Bamboo Breaking and Mending comes from Zhang Bo-duan’s "Wu Zhen Pian" during the Song Dynasty, stating: "For a broken bamboo, bamboo should be used to mend; to embrace a chicken, one should use an egg to hatch it." This means that to mend broken bamboo, one must use bamboo, similar to needing an egg to hatch a chicken... cough cough... likewise. However, the original context of ’mending’ was because Taoism believes people deplete themselves through acquired behavior, thus needing replenishment, which slightly deviates from the proactive breaking and mending approach of this book.