We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Chapter 176 Craving Your Body, Young Master Takes Medicine

"how much is it?"

The calm voice that came from Su Chen's mouth caused a stir among the crowd.

Chu Hong didn't react for a moment, but a flash of anger crossed her face, and she said sharply, "This young lady doesn't need your little bit of money."

Suddenly, she changed the subject: "If you win, you can take the person with you, but if you lose, you only need to take off your shirt, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, Su Chen frowned slightly. He really couldn't understand what this rich young lady was thinking.

"No, don't agree..."

At this moment, Hong Chen, who had been unconscious for a long time, seemed to have heard Chu Hong's words and regained some consciousness. He whispered.

"What?" Qiu Sihai didn't hear clearly and asked subconsciously.

Hong Chen slowly raised his head, a complex look flashing in his eyes, and with all his might, he uttered a few words: "She, she lusts after your body..."

"You bastard, who told you to speak? Slap him!" Before he could finish speaking, Chu Hong shouted.

Immediately, a beautiful young figure appeared and appeared in front of Hong Chen in the blink of an eye. She raised her palm and brought it down with a whoosh.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Sihai's pupils narrowed slightly, and he wanted to make a move, but it was too late.

Snapped!
A crisp slap suddenly rang out.

Then everyone saw a figure fly backward like a sandbag and land in the garden not far away.

Upon seeing this scene, Chu Hong's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and the covetousness deep in her eyes was almost tangible.

"How dare you lay a hand on my people! You have no choice but to participate in this duel today."

"enough!"

A clear, cold voice echoed out, suppressing Chu Hong's anger.

Not far away, a woman in a yellow dress walked gracefully towards them, her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her face indifferent.

"Sister Yun'er." Chu Hong, who had just been arrogant and domineering, became as obedient as a little girl when she saw the person who came.

Chu Yun'er glared at Chu Hong, walked towards Su Chen, and bowed, saying, "This matter was Chu Hong's fault. Please forgive her, Chief Qiu and Deputy Chief Su."

"Hehe, Miss Yun'er, you're too kind." Qiu Sihai chuckled when he saw that Su Chen didn't speak.

"Uncle Shou, please see them off," Chu Yun'er nodded and said to Chu Shou.

Chu Shou nodded, looking slightly helpless.

It's estimated that only Chu Yun'er in the entire Chu family can keep Chu Hong in check; the others simply can't handle the willful Chu Hong.

"Sister Yun'er, you ruined my plans."

After Su Chen and the other two left, Chu Hong pouted, stomped her foot, and said somewhat angrily.

Chu Yun'er was speechless upon hearing this. The so-called good thing Chu Hong mentioned was nothing more than taking a fancy to Su Chen and wanting to recruit him as a male concubine.

"This person is the leader of the Four Seas Gang, how can you arrest him as you please?" Chu Yun'er rebuked.

Chu Hong didn't care at all and said with a smile, "That's why I made him compete with Uncle Chu Qing. If he loses, I'll secretly arrest him."

"What if we win?"

"That would be even better."

Chu Yun'er: "..."

……

According to Hong Chen, one of Chu Yun'er's fetishes was watching people shirtless.

Hong Chen's clothes were torn open when he was accidentally beaten up, which was discovered by Chu Yun'er, and that's why she took him away.

Unexpectedly, she has now set her sights on Su Chen.

Fortunately, Su Chen didn't compete with her, otherwise, who knows what surprising things Chu Hong might have done.

Su Chen didn't care. He didn't pay any attention to anyone around Chu Hong. The only thing that surprised him was Chu Hong's quirk.

But then I thought about it again, and realized that the hobbies of the rich people in my past life were even more extreme, so I felt relieved.

Because Hong Chen was injured, the three of them traveled slowly, and it took them nearly two hours to return to Fengbei City.

After entering the city, Qiu Sihai bid farewell to the two men.

Su Chen took Hong Chen directly to Hong Ming's residence.

"Chen'er, Chen'er, are you alright...?"

Upon seeing Hong Chen, Qin Xue rushed over, tears streaming down her face. A smile appeared on Hong Chen's pale face: "Mother, I'm alright."

"Thank you, Su Chen, thank you so much this time." Qin Xue nodded happily and then thanked Su Chen repeatedly.

Su Chen waved his hand repeatedly, and only after much persuasion did he manage to stop the mother and son from kowtowing and expressing their gratitude.

"Master, I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. I'll leave Aunt Xue and the others in your care."

After chatting with the group for a while, Su Chen got up to say goodbye and turned to Qin Xue, saying, "Aunt Xue, if you need anything, you can come to the Qiao residence to find me. I should be here these next few days."

"Okay." Qin Xue nodded.

Looking at Su Chen's winking and making faces, Hong Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

After Su Chen left, he looked at Qin Xue and Hong Chen and said, "Xue'er, Xiao Chen, why don't you stay here with me for the next few days to avoid being targeted by others."

Qin Xue glanced at Hong Chen hesitantly, and seeing that he didn't speak, she nodded and said, "Okay, thank you, Brother Ming."

……

Two days flew by.

After learning from Qiao Qiliang that Qin Xue and her son were temporarily staying at Hong Ming's residence, Su Chen began to focus on his own affairs.

yard.

Su Chen stood with his body bent forward, his hands slightly raised, and golden light appeared near his arms.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that ten golden needles were floating near his arms.

To this day, Su Chen has condensed ten golden needles, and his control over his internal energy has also improved significantly.

Now, when he mobilizes all his strength, he can unleash seven-tenths of it, making it even more powerful than before.

buzzing.

The golden needle vibrated, producing a booming sound.

The ten golden needles occupy different positions, seemingly implying some specific pattern.

With a soft shout from Su Chen, the ten silver needles trembled violently and shot out suddenly, like ten points of light converging into a curved ray of light.

If a martial artist at the Bone Forging Realm were to stand in front of these ten golden needles, they would surely feel as if they had nowhere to escape.

This is a technique Su Chen just learned from a manual on acupuncture needles, which allows him to anticipate three steps ahead and block the enemy's retreat.

Although it's not yet perfected, it's already taking shape.

With diligent practice, even when facing opponents of equal strength, one can easily launch a surprise attack and deliver a devastating blow.

After walking about ten meters away, Su Chen promptly withdrew the ten golden needles. He didn't want to blow up the entire wall like last time and become a wall-demolishing expert.

After practicing repeatedly more than ten times, Su Chen gained initial control over the ten golden needles, and then he began to prepare the Soul-Guiding Incense and the Bewitching Powder.

I haven't made much progress in refining Qi and Blood Pills lately, but I've gained some insights into improving Soul-Guiding Incense and Bewitching Powder.

After dinner in the evening, Su Chen originally planned to enter the secret room to refine Qi and Blood Pills, but unexpectedly learned that Qiao Qiliang had suddenly fallen seriously ill and was bedridden at home.

Su Chen was puzzled. Given Qiao Qiliang's constitution, a simple cold shouldn't be this serious.

"Uncle, how is Qiliang?"

Qiao Renzhou was also in the room, his tired face showing worry.

Upon hearing Su Chen's words, Qiao Renzhou replied, "The doctor still says it's a cold and prescribed some medicine for him."

Su Chen nodded without saying anything more. After the doctor left, he went to the bedside and looked at the unconscious Qiao Qiliang with a solemn expression.

After thinking for a moment, he grabbed Qiao Qiliang's wrist and channeled the energy within his body into Qiao Qiliang's body.

"Ok?"

As soon as he entered, Su Chen sensed something was wrong. How could the body of a Bone Forging Martial Artist have become so bad, even worse than Hong Chen's?

He immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, held his breath, and continued to exert all his strength to find the cause.

As the Vajra Force circulated through Qiao Qiliang's internal organs, Su Chen's brows furrowed even more.

A hidden force appeared in Qiao Qiliang's body, flowing through his limbs and bones along with the other forces.

But this force was not tempering, but erosion, silently eroding Qiao Qiliang's internal organs.

With each flow, it erodes a little, like grinding an iron pestle into a needle, making it difficult to detect.

If Su Chen hadn't checked it several times, he might not have been able to discover this hidden force.

"It seems that the real cause of Qiao Qiliang's illness is this force!"

With a thought, Su Chen mobilized the Vajra Force within his body and rapidly channeled it into Qiao Qiliang's body, intending to force out this force first.

This force seemed to sense the power of the Vajra Force and dared not confront it directly. Instead, it frantically fled, trying to hide within Qiao Qiliang's force and confuse the situation.

However, it clearly underestimated the power of Su Chen's Vajra Force.

Before it could escape, the overwhelming force of the Vajra energy, like a surging river, swept over it like a tidal wave, instantly annihilating the force.

Just then, Qiao Qiliang, who had been unconscious, coughed violently and vomited a mouthful of black blood.

Upon seeing this, Qiao Renzhou was immediately startled, and his expression turned serious.

A moment later, Su Chen opened his eyes, stood up and said to Qiao Renzhou, "Uncle Qiao, seal off the room. Don't let anyone in or out except for you and me."

Qiao Renzhou complied.

The doors and windows were closed, leaving only three people inside.

"Xiao Chen, what exactly happened to Qi Liang?" Qiao Renzhou had a vague suspicion, but still asked. Su Chen replied, "He's been given a slow-acting poison."

That force was actually a kind of toxin, which was very concealed and could attach itself to the force, gradually eroding the martial artist's physical functions like water dripping on stone.

Over time, the martial artist himself might not even know how he died.

"Do you know what kind of poison it is?" Qiao Renzhou asked with a grim expression.

Su Chen shook his head: "I've never seen this kind of toxin before either."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Renzhou's expression turned solemn. If the type of poison was unknown, it would be difficult to find out who had poisoned him.

After all, Qiao Qiliang was not like Su Chen, who stayed in the courtyard to cultivate every day.

Besides being the son of the city lord, he was also the de facto leader of the Four Seas Gang, and he had to socialize frequently, going to many places every day.

If we really investigate, he could have been poisoned anywhere he went, and anyone he met could be the murderer.

Finding the murderer is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Neither of them spoke, waiting for Qiao Qiliang to wake up, as they could only find clues from him now.

After a short while, Qiao Qiliang groggily woke up, feeling better than ever before.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Qiao Renzhou and Su Chen staring straight at him, which puzzled him: "What's wrong?"

Seeing this, Qiao Renzhou gave a wry smile and told him the whole story.

"I've been poisoned?"

Qiao Qiliang was taken aback upon hearing this, and slowly sat up. "No wonder I always feel that my health is deteriorating day by day. At first, I thought it was because I was overworking."

"Think about when this situation started?" Su Chen asked.

"It was about two weeks ago, I think. I started coughing a bit then," Qiao Qiliang recalled.

Do you remember any strange people you met or any strange things you ate back then?

"It's been a while, I don't remember." Qiao Qiliang shook his head.

Seeing that Su Chen did not speak, the father and son exchanged a glance.

Qiao Renzhou said, "Xiao Chen, feel free to speak your mind. Qi Liang and I will fully cooperate with you."

"That's right, how dare they poison me! I can't let this person off so easily!" Qiao Qiliang snorted coldly.

Upon hearing this, Su Chen expressed his thoughts: "The toxins in your body accumulate over time, so I suspect that someone close to you poisoned you."

"The people around me?"

"Ah."

Chronic toxicity often requires continuous use, otherwise the toxicity will decrease.

Moreover, Qiao Qiliang is a martial artist who has reached the peak of Bone Forging. No matter how strong the poison is, if it cannot kill in one blow, it will run out of strength and be destroyed and annihilated by the internal energy of his body, and heal automatically.

Furthermore, the fact that the murderer used this poison clearly indicates that he wanted Qiao Qiliang to die mysteriously, thus avoiding trouble for himself.

This gives Su Chen even more reason to speculate that the person who poisoned him must be someone close to Qiao Qiliang, and someone he trusts deeply.

Otherwise, how could Qiao Qiliang have been unknowingly taking poison every day?

After listening to Su Chen's story, Qiao Qiliang fell into deep thought.

Having just recovered from a serious illness, his mind was somewhat muddled, and the first people he thought of were Qiao Renzhou and Su Chen.

Su Chen didn't know what he was thinking. Seeing his tense expression, he said, "Don't rush. Rest for the night and think about it slowly."

"it is good!"

The next morning.

Before Su Chen could even go to find Qiao Qiliang, Qiao Qiliang, despite being 'seriously ill,' found him.

"What's wrong with you?" Su Chen asked curiously, looking at Qiao Qiliang who was coughing like he was about to die.

"I was faking it." Qiao Qiliang looked around and, seeing that there were no maids or servants nearby, laughed. "I thought about it all night and came up with three suspicious people."

"Which three?"

"One is Qiao Zhi, the gang's deputy, and the other two are his personal maids, Chunhua and Qiuyue."

"Tell me more about it."

"Qiao Zhi is like my bodyguard. I usually take him with me when I go out. Qiao Zhi's ancestors have been loyal to our Qiao family for generations. The whole family works for my father and me. Their loyalty is evident."

As for Chunhua and Qiuyue, all my food, clothing, housing, and transportation within the mansion were arranged by the two of them.

Chunhua grew up with me, while Qiuyue was a pet I bought by chance a few years ago. I saw how beautiful she was, and so...

However, over the years, she has been diligent, conscientious, and dutiful.

As Qiao Qiliang spoke, he pondered the matter and eventually realized that the three men were suspects.

"so……"

……

The night was cool and still, and the weather had not yet fully warmed up.

Inside the study, Qiao Qiliang diligently handled the affairs of the Sihai Gang.

Squeak.

The door opened, a cold draft rushed into the room, and then quickly dissipated, as a beautiful figure walked in.

"Young master, would you like some ginger soup?" Qiu Yue gracefully approached, carrying a steaming bowl of ginger soup.

"it is good!"

Qiao Qiliang took the bowl and spoon and took a small sip.

He looked at Qiuyue and said expressionlessly, "Qiuyue, I have always treated you well, why did you poison me?"

"Young master, what did you say?" Qiu Yue was stunned when she heard this and asked blankly.

"Hmph!" Qiao Qiliang snorted coldly, glaring at Qiu Yue. "Still pretending? Do you really think I can't see through your tricks?"

With that, he slammed the bowl down hard, and with a bang, the bowl and spoon shattered, and soup spilled all over the floor.

puff.

Under the autumn moon, her face paled, and she knelt down, begging for mercy, "Young master, this servant truly doesn't know what you're saying..."

"Still trying to argue? This ginger soup is poisoned!" Qiao Qiliang shouted angrily.

Upon hearing this, Qiuyue exclaimed, "Poisoned! No, that's impossible! I absolutely did not harm you, young master! It was Sister Chunhua who made this ginger soup. Young master, I'm innocent!"

"Chunhua?" Qiao Qiliang was taken aback.

After a while, Chunhua was called over. When she saw Qiao Qiliang, she bowed and greeted him.

"Chunhua, did you brew this bowl of herbal soup?" Qiao Qiliang asked bluntly.

Chunhua nodded: "Replying to young master, it was this servant who brewed it."

These words made Qiao Qiliang's face darken: "Arrest her."

As soon as she finished speaking, two guards seized Chunhua. Upon seeing this, Chunhua's face changed drastically: "Young Master, you..."

Qiao Qiliang waved his hand, and the guards immediately took Chunhua away.

"Qiuyue, the young master has misunderstood you."

Once Qiuyue was alone in the room, Qiao Qiliang rubbed his temples and said softly.

"Young master, please don't say that. I'm happy that I can catch the murderer even if I suffer a little grievance," Qiuyue said, tears streaming down her face.

Qiao Qiliang smiled and told Qiuyue to go back and rest early.

"Then this servant will take her leave."

Qiuyue lowered her head, left the study, quietly closed the door, and then walked away.

"call!"

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Qiuyue's tense body relaxed slightly, and a look of relief appeared on her face.

Although she didn't know how her secret had been exposed, she didn't have time to think about it at the moment.

We must take advantage of the fact that Qiao Qiliang has not yet found out the truth, eliminate the evidence as soon as possible, and pin the crime on Chunhua so that we can get away with it.

Thinking of this, she quickened her pace and returned to her room.

Because she was Qiao Qiliang's personal maid, she and Chunhua each lived in a separate room.

After returning to the room, Qiuyue took out a packet of medicine powder from the crack in the bed and hid it.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, and a ruthless glint flashed across her face.

Afterwards, Qiuyue deliberately went into Chunhua's room after the guards finished searching it, but did not stay long.

"Young master, Qiuyue has something important to report."

Outside the study, Qiuyue's voice rang out, and she quickly responded, "Come in."

Upon entering the study again, Qiuyue found that there was another person there. Su Chen was sitting to the side, holding a medical book and reading it with great interest.

She recognized Su Chen but didn't pay him any mind. Instead, she bowed and said, "Young master, I just went to Chunhua's room and found a packet of medicine there."

As she spoke, Qiuyue handed over the medicine powder with both hands.

"Oh? Is that so? Let me see it." Qiao Qiliang's voice was somewhat cold.

Qiu Yue stood up, lowered her head, and handed the medicine to Qiao Qiliang.

Qiao Qiliang took the medicine, glanced at Su Chen, and Su Chen put down his book and said something that chilled Qiu Yue to the bone:

"Are you sure this packet of medicine is Chunhua's, and not yours?"

(End of this chapter)