Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 205: Chapter 157: Attribute Breakthrough! Hawkish Wan Ze

Over the next two or three days, Wan Ze successfully raised the other three Low Level Martial Skills he’d gotten from the Golden Gate Sect to the Special Level.

His All Attributes increased by a total of 0.09.

Thanks to the boost from their Special Level Effects, his Physical Strength, Agility, Endurance, Power, and Coordination each received an additional bonus ranging from 0.02 to 0.05.

The string of numbers on his status panel was visibly climbing.

...

[Physical Strength: 2.51]

[Intelligence: 2.21]

[Agility: 2.41]

[Endurance: 2.41]

[Power: 2.56]

[Coordination: 2.39]

...

His Power took the lead, being the first to break the 2.5 mark. This brought him one step closer to the Beginner Level of the *Soldier Immortal Technique* and finally gave Wan Ze a glimmer of hope.

He hadn’t been idle during this time, either.

Every afternoon, he would head to Lingyun Manor, rain or shine.

While Sun Beixi helped Professor Song decipher the Ancient Volume, Wan Ze would practice his forms in a nearby room.

Miss Ling had already given him the key to the manor. She was now also a student at the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall, training diligently every day. Whenever she saw him, she would call him "Brother Wan," and it seemed to come quite naturally to her.

...

The sky cleared up that afternoon.

The snow had started melting the previous afternoon, and by today, the ground was dry, save for a few damp patches in the shaded corners by the walls.

Sun Beixi walked beside him, chattering enthusiastically about something.

Wan Ze suddenly raised an eyebrow.

In his peripheral vision, he saw a man in a gray hoodie standing at the entrance of a small eatery across the street, looking down at a communicator.

But every few seconds, the man’s gaze would drift in their direction.

...

’Not a coincidence.’

Wan Ze didn’t look back; he just kept walking.

’His mind raced, reviewing his movements over the past few days... Lingyun Manor, the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall, and the guest house. A simple triangle. He hadn’t gone anywhere else.’

’Could it be... about the ancient script?!’

Sun Beixi noticed something was off. Without breaking stride or changing his expression, he lowered his voice. "What is it?"

"Don’t look back," Wan Ze said, staring straight ahead. "We’re being followed."

The color drained from Sun Beixi’s face for a moment, but he quickly composed himself. Taking a deep breath, he kept his pace steady, only edging a little closer to Wan Ze. "Are they after me?"

"Not necessarily."

Wan Ze glanced at the shops lining the street. There was a bookstore up ahead. He nonchalantly changed direction. "Into the bookstore."

The two of them entered the bookstore, one after the other.

A wind chime on the door tinkled. The proprietress behind the counter glanced up for a moment before returning to the novel in her hands.

The bookstore wasn’t large, with five or six bookshelves packed tightly together.

Wan Ze led Sun Beixi to the back row, stopping in a corner against the wall.

From this angle, through a gap in the bookshelves, he could see the mirror by the entrance... which perfectly reflected the scene across the street.

The man in the gray hoodie was standing on the curb, holding up his communicator and talking into it.

Wan Ze looked away from the reflection and glanced at Sun Beixi.

Sun Beixi’s face was tense, his lips pressed into a thin line. His fists were clenched, as if he were ready to fight at any moment.

"Act natural. Find a book to read. I’ll come find you in a bit," Wan Ze whispered.

Sun Beixi froze for a second before he understood. He casually pulled a book from the shelf and opened it. When he looked up again, Wan Ze was gone.

...

Across the street, the man in the gray hoodie held his communicator, his eyes fixed on the bookstore entrance. He spoke into it, a note of exasperation in his voice.

"...Two grown men browsing a bookstore? This Wan Ze kid is really something else."

A laugh came from the other end of the communicator. "What’s wrong with browsing a bookstore? Can’t he enjoy studying?"

"Study my ass." The man in the hoodie sneered. "I did some digging. The kid goes to Saint City Noble Academy, and he’s only a goddamn freshman!"

The person on the other end was stunned for a moment. "A freshman? Holy shit, for real?"

"Yeah, a freshman!" The man in the hoodie was practically steaming. "I thought he was some kid who’d been held back, but I checked—he’s a bona fide freshman. Can you believe it?"

The person on the other end was silent for two seconds, then burst out laughing. "So you’re telling me this kid is going to high school while also running with gangsters?"

"Exactly!"

"Holy shit, what a character." The guy on the other end couldn’t stop laughing. "But what’s he gonna do? Act as muscle for Tie Shizhe’s shakedowns?"

"Like hell," the man in the hoodie said irritably. "I was staking him out at his school, waited all morning, but he never showed up. I asked around and found out the kid often skips. Today, he spent almost the entire day holed up at Dragon Eagle... But that’s their territory, so I didn’t dare get too close. I had to wait until after three to see him come out with his friend."

"Okay, okay, you’ve worked hard," the voice on the other end said consolingly. "But if you ask me, even if he is close with Tie Shizhe, he probably has nothing to do with Brother Sun’s death. A veteran like Brother Sun? Taking this kid down would’ve been child’s play for him."

"Who knows." The man in the hoodie sighed. "How are things on your end? Anything unusual with the Tie Family?"

"Nothing so far." The voice on the other end paused before continuing, "Tie Qingyang went to the hospital for a follow-up today. Brother Tian is looking into that guy surnamed Qin... That old bastard has ties to the South Asian Casino. It’s possible he was the one who set up Brother Sun."

"Huh?" The man in the hoodie was taken aback. "But isn’t he dead, too?"

"That’s the strange part," the voice on the other end said, his tone turning speculative. "Maybe the South Asia people killed him to tie up loose ends, afraid that we’d start looking into them..."

Just as he was speaking, the voice suddenly cut off.

The person on the other end of the communicator waited a few seconds, but there was no response.

"Hello? Hey! Xiao Yunkai? Are you goddamn gawking at some pretty girl again? Stop drooling!"

...

The man in the hoodie’s hand, still holding the communicator, froze in mid-air.

He hadn’t even noticed when a figure had materialized out of thin air right in front of him.

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