Martial arts manual?
So, this brat really doesn't know martial arts.
No wonder his moves earlier were nothing more than street brawling techniques.
Then how did that blade end up on top of my head?
Jiang Bihe's thoughts whirled frantically. But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he could never have guessed that someone could shoot a hidden weapon straight from their brow.
But now was no time for Li Chaofeng to explain. Jiang Bihe could only force a strained smile and said:
"Well... My martial arts may be family-taught, but if it's caught Brother Li's attention, that is my great honor indeed. I will surely teach you all I know. However, the passing down of martial arts is not something that can be done in a single day, you see…"
Hearing Jiang Bihe's words, Li Chaofeng furrowed his brow. But he simply reminded him:
"I'm not asking you to become my master. All I want is the manual. Don't overthink it."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bihe's smile deepened. He quickly waved his hands in denial.
"I wouldn't dare harbor such ambitions. It's just that the techniques I've learned have some intricacies that can only be grasped through personal instruction. Even if I were to write them down now, I fear they might not meet Brother Li's expectations."
"Stop."
Hearing that Jiang Bihe was still trying to bargain, Li Chaofeng let out a long sigh and finally gave up trying to reason.
"What a pain."
His expression suddenly turned cold. Looking directly at Jiang Bihe's smiling face, he spoke slowly and clearly:
"The manual I want… is one that can turn a servant boy into a martial arts master in a few short years."
"I've always been curious… what kind of manual could it be? The legendary Wedding Dress Divine Art of Yan Nantian? Or perhaps the Divine Sword Manual?"
"Or maybe… before Yulang Jiang Feng died, there were other manuals he left behind—and you secretly took them?"
The moment Jiang Bihe heard the names Yan Nantian and Jiang Feng, his entire body froze.
Then came Li Chaofeng's voice, now colder than ever.
"Now… do you finally understand what you're supposed to write?"
"The servant boy of Yulang Jiang Feng… the traitor Jiang Qin!!!"
The moment that name was spoken, even Jiang Bihe—the man himself—was utterly stricken with fear.
And at the mouth of the cave, where Hu Tiehua had been eavesdropping, he stumbled and stepped on a dry branch, letting out a sharp crack that echoed through the night.
Yet upon hearing the sound, Li Chaofeng didn't even flinch. He merely placed a hand over his forehead in exasperation, then called out toward the cave entrance:
"A beggar like you can't even eavesdrop properly. No wonder you crash other people's banquets for food. It's your destiny to stay broke!"
"Hahahaha!"
Hu Tiehua, exposed, showed no shame whatsoever. Laughing loudly, he strolled into the cave.
As he stepped inside, he saw Jiang Bihe with his back to him, slumped against the tiger's corpse, one hand covering his head—yet behind that head, a blue-black blade tip was sticking out.
The sight of the blade made Hu Tiehua's thoughts echo Jiang Bihe's own:
What a fast blade.
And then came another thought:
This guy is done for.
But this time, it had been Jiang Bihe who tried to sneak an attack, and Li Chaofeng had simply struck back.
No matter how much Hu Tiehua loved meddling in others' business, he wasn't about to interfere in a clear case of self-defense. Once he understood what had happened inside the cave, his face turned curious.
"I'm not curious how you knew I was outside the cave," Hu Tiehua said. "But I am curious—how did you know the person outside was me?"
Li Chaofeng didn't like the smell of this rough man, but since the man had helped him when Jiang Bihe gave chase, he wasn't altogether unpleasant. So he replied with a riddle:
"You guess. Guess right, and all the silver on this Jiang 'hero' will be yours. No more crashing banquets for food."
"Seriously?"
Hu Tiehua's eyes lit up. He rubbed his nose and began thinking hard.
But no matter how much he mulled it over, he couldn't figure it out.
It made sense that he'd been noticed—after all, he'd stepped on a branch. And earlier, he had rushed to catch up, worried that Li Chaofeng might be ambushed in his sleep.
If Jiang Bihe hadn't been so focused on Li Chaofeng, he probably would have sensed someone sneaking up behind him.
Judging from how Li Chaofeng had countered Jiang Bihe's sneak attack even while asleep, his senses must be extremely sharp. So it was entirely possible that he had sensed someone following him from the very start, but chose not to expose it.
"I've got it!" Hu Tiehua suddenly exclaimed. "You saw me at the city gates and knew I followed you!"
But before Li Chaofeng could say anything, Hu Tiehua shook his head and denied it himself.
"No, that's not it. I only started tailing you after you'd run quite a distance. Even if your ears are sharp enough to catch the sound of my light steps, there's no way you could've known it was me."
"Unless… you already knew me from before—but you were playing dumb and pretending not to recognize me! That's it, isn't it?!"
Thinking he'd uncovered the truth, Hu Tiehua turned to look at Li Chaofeng, trying to recall where he might have seen this young man before.
After all, Li Chaofeng was still young—if they had met years ago, it was quite possible Hu Tiehua wouldn't recognize him now.
Li Chaofeng rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Wrong again... Forget it. Looks like you're not going to guess it."
Then he pointed at Jiang Bihe on the ground and gave a final hint:
"Here's a clue: I knew you were following me… just like I knew he was following me. And I also knew—he entered the cave before you did."
Hearing this, Hu Tiehua folded his arms and fell into deep thought.
Differences in movement techniques did exist. In the martial world, there were few whose lightness skill surpassed his. The Little Chef might have seen him at the city gates and recognized his footwork.
Given all these factors, if the Little Chef had recognized him based on his unique movement style, it would've been reasonable.
But Jiang Bihe's lightness skill? At best, it was average. Among first-class experts, it lacked any distinct traits whatsoever.
Lord Jin had just hosted a birthday banquet for his grandmother, and right now, there were plenty of top-tier martial artists gathered in Yanzhou City. There was no way the Little Chef could have identified who was behind him just by the sound of movement alone.
All that might still be explainable—Hu Tiehua could at least guess there was some deep-seated grudge between the Little Chef and that "hero" surnamed Jiang, which had led to this life-or-death conflict.
But just before entering the cave, Jiang Bihe had clearly softened his footsteps. So how had the Little Chef known that the person approaching wasn't him?
The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed. In the end, he gave up.
"Ugh! I really can't solve riddles. Just tell me the answer already!"
Li Chaofeng saw that he'd surrendered, yet there was no trace of smugness on his face. Instead, recalling the events at yesterday's banquet, his expression was full of disgust.
"Because in the whole damn world, there's no one—no one—who smells as bad as you."
Halfway through speaking, Li Chaofeng took a deep breath, then forcibly dulled his sense of smell again before continuing with a curse.
"I swear, are you allergic to water or something? Just how many years has it been since you last took a bath?"
Hearing this, Hu Tiehua quickly sniffed himself a couple of times, then burst into laughter.
"I smell? Hahaha! That's called manly musk, kid—you wouldn't understand."
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he slapped his forehead in realization.
"So you've got a bloodhound's nose. And during the banquet, you wiped your hands on that guy's clothes—not just oil stains, but something else too, right?"
Hearing that, Li Chaofeng narrowed his eyes and smiled. He didn't take offense to the "dog nose" comment—instead, he nodded approvingly.
"Not bad. You're not all brawn."
Indeed, back at the banquet, Li Chaofeng had secretly wiped a compound of animal scent glands onto Jiang Bihe's clothing.
To ordinary noses, this mix had only a faintly fishy odor—barely noticeable once it mixed with sweat. But to Li Chaofeng, the scent was strong enough to be detected from miles away.
This particular scent was something he had specially prepared for Jiang Bihe. As long as Jiang came near, Li Chaofeng would know.
And if, after they had parted ways, Jiang Bihe gave up his pursuit, Li Chaofeng—sensing the scent moving away—would turn back and hunt him down instead.
From the very beginning, their reunion could only end one way: life or death.
Li Chaofeng had no intention of one day returning to the Four Seas Inn only to find it reduced to rubble.
The only difference was how the confrontation played out—either Jiang Bihe attempted an ambush and was counter-killed, or Li Chaofeng stealthily approached and struck first.
The latter would have been far more difficult.
Li Chaofeng didn't know martial arts. The only chance he had to kill Jiang Bihe was through surprise.
But Jiang Bihe wasn't some clueless prey. If ambushed, he would fight back with everything he had.
So instead, Li Chaofeng lured him into making the first move. Once Jiang thought Li Chaofeng was helpless—unarmed, lacking inner strength—he let down his guard and started toying with his "prey."
And that… was when Li Chaofeng struck.
To bait Jiang Bihe into attacking him, Li Chaofeng had spent the last few days pretending to be ignorant, relentlessly mocking Jiang Bihe's honor as a "hero"—even when Jiang started catching on, he didn't stop.
He made sure their parting terms would be nothing less than a battle to the death.