Chapter 77: The Unfathomable Skills of the Ancient Martial Arts Master

Miao Ruolan was suddenly startled. Although she could easily crush such red bricks, the problem was that she hadn’t used much strength at all.

Why were the bricks so brittle?

“These are bricks from the load-bearing pillars,” Lin Xiaosu said.

“Load-bearing? Such shoddy materials can bear loads?” Miao Ruolan’s eyes widened.

Beside her, Zhou Xi was equally shocked. “You mean the building materials in my house are faulty?”

“No, it’s not what you think,” Lin Xiaosu replied. “The materials themselves are fine, otherwise the house wouldn’t have stood for so many years. The real issue is that a master of ancient martial arts once struck the load-bearing pillar.”

Zhou Xi’s face went pale.

Miao Ruolan’s heart raced. “A single strike could shatter the bricks inside a load-bearing pillar—what level of mastery has he reached?”

Ancient martial arts had many branches.

The Miaos’ rejuvenation technique was rooted in healing, not attack. At least, she herself could never shatter a pillar with one palm; even her father was far from that realm, unless he specifically opened a dedicated channel for rejuvenation energy in his hand.

Lin Xiaosu lifted his gaze, his eyes passing over Miao Ruolan’s shoulder to look behind her.

Miao Ruolan turned and saw five young men.

Three had yellow hair, one green, and the one in the middle seemed the most normal, with short black hair. He was clearly the leader.

“Liu Liang! That’s Liu Liang!” Zhou Xi whispered to Lin Xiaosu.

Lin Xiaosu leaned in close to Miao Ruolan’s ear and murmured something.

Liu Liang, a cigarette dangling from his lips, hands in his pockets, sauntered over. As he stepped forward, a brick nearly grazed Lin Xiaosu’s head, flying by.

The move was casual, yet breathtaking.

Zhou Xi’s expression changed.

Lin Xiaosu, however, didn’t even blink, simply watching him quietly.

“Who are you? What are you doing at the mine?” Liu Liang spoke without removing the cigarette, standing atop a pile of bricks, exuding a sense of dominance.

His four underlings formed a semicircle behind him.

“I am Lin Xiaosu, detective from Fengcheng Detective Agency,” Lin Xiaosu said. “I’m here to investigate the truth behind the death of the Zhou family elders seven days ago.”

“Oh? Detective, investigating a case?” Liu Liang laughed loudly. “I thought you were shooting a movie...”

His underlings laughed along.

Liu Liang waved his hand, finally removing the cigarette from his mouth. With a flick, the butt flew ten meters away, landing in a crack.

Objectively speaking, it was a pretty cool gesture.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiaosu seemed not to notice at all.

Liu Liang asked, “Have you found anything?”

“I have,” Lin Xiaosu replied. “The house collapsed because an internal martial arts expert shattered the load-bearing pillars.”

Everyone was stunned.

Even Zhou Xi was shocked. She had studied law in university, read countless case files, and understood the importance of evidence. Evidence discovered through meticulous investigation must never be revealed to suspects, or they would take precautions, creating unpredictable complications for further investigation.

Yet Lin Xiaosu, like a reckless investigator, had laid his cards on the table.

Liu Liang’s casual smile vanished, replaced by a sinister glare. “Do you have proof?”

His words were chilling.

---

Lin Xiaosu gently tapped the cloth bag hanging from his shoulder. “I’ve already collected it.”

“Let me see it.”

As the first word left his mouth, Liu Liang was three meters away. By the last word, he moved, crossing the distance in an instant, his eagle-like right hand grabbing the strap of Lin Xiaosu’s bag.

But he couldn’t continue.

A hand appeared on his shoulder—Miao Ruolan’s.

Her hand pressed down, locking his shoulder, and Liu Liang’s expression instantly changed.

Boom!

Miao Ruolan’s hand shook, and Liu Liang was thrown back three meters.

He landed on a brick, which shattered beneath him, finally stopping his momentum. But this also allowed him to see Miao Ruolan clearly.

Ancient martial arts!

“A member of the Miao family?”

“Yes,” Miao Ruolan replied. “Just a reminder: speak your mind, don’t use your hands.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll dislocate your joints.”

“What nerve! How dare you speak to my boss like that—I’ll beat you!” Two yellow-haired underlings rushed at her, each wielding a brick.

Before they could get close, Miao Ruolan lifted her left foot.

Her legs kicked out in midair like phantoms, sending both red-haired attackers over the brick pile, landing five meters away.

The other two were about to act, but Liu Liang stretched out his hand to stop them.

He knew well that the Miao family woman before him had superior strength; if his underlings got themselves beaten, and he, their leader, got humiliated, it would be a loss.

“We’ve finished our business for the morning,” Lin Xiaosu said. “Let’s go over there for lunch.”

He pointed to a small farmhouse at the foot of the mountain.

“Let’s go!” Miao Ruolan took Zhou Xi’s hand and followed Lin Xiaosu down the slope.

They walked a fair distance before the three red-haired and one green-haired underlings gathered around Liu Liang. “Boss, are we just letting them go?”

“They’re not planning to leave yet. They probably want to ask around some more,” Liu Liang smiled sinisterly. “No need to rush...”

The farmhouse below was exceedingly simple.

There wasn’t even a sign—just the word “Meals” written in white lime on the wall.

That was all.

Why? There wasn’t much business here to begin with. Besides drivers hauling stone from the mines, locals wouldn’t eat here.

Those who knew, knew; those who didn’t, weren’t expected to—so what was the point of advertising?

When Lin Xiaosu and his group entered, there were no other guests. A farm wife was washing vegetables in a large basin. Upon hearing their purpose, she smiled, wiped her hands on her apron, poured them tea, and said, “You must be city folks—come sit in this room.”

The room could be considered a private dining area.

The tea was new this year, handmade, its appearance unremarkable, but the taste was quite good.

Zhou Xi cradled her cup, distracted, wanting to speak several times but hesitating.

---

Lin Xiaosu glanced at her several times before finally asking, “What do you want to say?”

Zhou Xi set down her cup. “Detective Lin, I have no authority to comment on investigations, but if I’m wrong, don’t hold it against me. I still think... you may have made a mistake.”

“Go on.”

Zhou Xi said, “You went to great lengths to find this crucial lead, but then told Liu Liang, giving them a chance to destroy the evidence. If they use a bulldozer to level the house and crush the bricks, doesn’t that break the chain of evidence?”

The teacup in Miao Ruolan’s hand paused in its rotation; she looked up.

She was different from Zhou Xi.

Zhou Xi didn’t know his extraordinary abilities.

She did.

But even knowing his past wonders and having full confidence in him, Miao Ruolan couldn’t understand Lin Xiaosu’s actions today.

As Zhou Xi said, such a critical chain of evidence must not be destroyed. The proper approach was to call the police first, have them seal off the site, gather more evidence from the ruins, and slowly form a complete chain—only then would there be a chance to convict Liu Yuanchang.

But revealing the evidence to Liu Liang immediately meant he knew about the loophole and would destroy it in advance. With a bulldozer, the bricks would be crushed—who could then prove they had been shattered by the internal force of an ancient martial arts master?

Wouldn’t the hard-won evidence be lost just like that?

Lin Xiaosu looked up, fixing his gaze on Miao Ruolan. “Ruolan, do you think so too?”

Ruolan hesitated, then nodded lightly. “I think Zhou Xi makes sense.”

Lin Xiaosu said, “You accept that an ancient martial arts master can destroy load-bearing pillars with internal force, because you practice ancient martial arts yourself. Someone else might not. This evidence alone wouldn’t be persuasive in court.”

“So the evidence itself isn’t important?” Miao Ruolan asked.

“The evidence is important, but it can’t stand alone—it needs corroboration.”

“Corroboration?” Miao Ruolan frowned. “What kind?”

“For example, a video recording of Liu Yuanchang punching the wall.”

Zhou Xi’s heart pounded.

As he said, simply presenting a few bricks with destroyed internal structure, proving the house was collapsed by a practitioner of ancient martial arts, was absurd—no court would accept it.

But if a video showed Liu Yuanchang striking a wall, and the internal structure visibly changed, then a complete chain of evidence would be formed.

“But—but...” Zhou Xi stammered, “Once Liu Liang knows, he’ll contact his father immediately. Liu Yuanchang isn’t foolish—how could he demonstrate it for us, let alone let us record it?”

No need to discuss Liu Yuanchang’s intelligence.

The point was, he had committed countless misdeeds and remained free—such a person’s character could be doubted, but never his awareness of counter-investigation.

Once an ancient martial arts practitioner learned his methods had been linked to a murder case, would he really perform them for the investigators to reinforce their impression?

Most likely, he’d deliberately hide his extraordinary abilities.

Trying to record a video of him punching a wall was not just difficult—it was pure fantasy.

Lin Xiaosu smiled. “They say a leopard cannot change its spots. While not absolutely true, it holds in most cases. So, I set a bait tailored to the Liu family’s nature.”

“Bait?” both women exclaimed.

“The Liu family, in front of husbands and children, in neighboring households, dared to insult their wives. Their arrogance is boundless. Do you think such people would let us leave Baiyangchong with so-called ironclad evidence? After all, they can’t be sure how much we know.”

Zhou Xi’s nose was beaded with sweat. Her gaze drifted to the road outside, as if sensing something odd about the passing vehicles.