"It’s you again…"
In the plain colored emergency room, Dr . Ash from Canoe Town was sitting besides Garen . He was carefully taking out the brass bullet head from his arm, and slowly putting it in the metal plate on the table .
Cling!
The bullet landed in the plate, making a crisp sound .
"Tsk tsk, the bullet head had gotten bent . You were very fortunate that it went through something else before hitting you, otherwise you’d be dead for sure," Dr . Ash exclaimed . "Last time your arm was dislocated, but this time you got hit by a bullet . Did you meet some bandits?"
"Yes . " Garen nodded . "If I wasn’t this lucky, I’d be done for . All of those bandits were wearing golden earrings . They stole all my antiques as well . If I hadn’t trained in martial arts, I’d be dead for sure… Ouch!"
He moaned as the bullet in his stomach was removed . Dr . Ash dropped it in the metal plate .
"Those cursed bandits! The residents of our town also get robbed by them frequently, and we end up having to pay them every time . " Dr . Ash shook his head hopelessly . "You should report this to the Huaishan City Police department, a case like this isn’t solved in one or two days . "
He dabbed the cotton ball with alcohol and started cleaning Garen’s wounds . As the alcohol touched his injuries, Garen gritted his teeth to endure the pain .
After cleaning, Dr . Ash took out a small bottle from his bag . He dipped a cotton swab inside, and a purple colored liquid soaked it, emitting a strong smell like that of a disinfectant .
Garen endured the pain, watching Dr . Ash anoint his wounds with the medicine .
His face was bruised white and yellow while his eyes differed in size . One was small and the other big . It was so because of his makeup not getting fully washed off . But at least it was still good enough to cover up his face .
"Oh and Dr . Ash, I’ve heard that detective Dale Quicksilver has come to Canoe Town . Do you know if he’s still here?"
"Ah, Detective Dale…" Dr . Ash paused to think . "I’m not too sure either, but I did see him and two other people getting on a carriage headed to Silversillk Castle . I don’t know if they’re back . "
Garen nodded in silence .
After ten minutes or so, Dr . Ash finished dealing with Garen’s wounds . Garen paid the doctor and put on his soggy jacket, ready to leave .
"Wait!" Dr . Ash stopped him from behind . "You are going back like this? Although it’s not raining outside, your jacket is still wet, you will infect the wounds!"
"No problem, I have a strong body, I’ll be fine . " Garen chuckled indifferently .
"You don’t care but I care, this is my work!" Dr . Ash mumbled as he treaded inside, shorly after he came out with a grayish suit jacket . "Take this and put it on, don’t wet the wounds! Think about all the time and effort I put into binding them . Don’t forget to return my jacket!"
Garen smiled and took off his wet jacket and put on the grey one .
"Thanks, I’ll return it in a few days!"
"Hurry up and leave, don’t let them see you . " Dr . Ash waved his hands impatiently . "Be careful and don’t let the wounds become infected . "
Garen nodded and walked out the door with his soggy jacket in hand .
It was already dark outside . It must’ve been late in the night . Garen stood infront of the small clinic and gazed outside, listening but hearing no sound of anyone nearby .
"Woof woof . "
A faint dog bark came from a distance, making the night even more lonesome and quiet .
The houses on the sides were dark, without any lights . The moonlight shone from above, showering the road with a faint light .
Garen closed the door behind him and suddenly felt exhausted .
"After that battle, I rushed here on foot, and then spent half an hour in the clinic . My body seems to be overloaded . " He fixed the grey suit and strode along the road out of town .
The pitch-dark town seemed empty, the houses on all four sides standing like indistinct silhouettes . In the complete silence, Garen could only hear his own footsteps .
He stepped into a small puddle, and the muddy water splashed all over his pants .
Cursing under his breath, he continued walking along the street .
While walking down the road, Garen decided to check his attribute pane .
"I have one more attribute point, so I have to carefully consider everything before using it this time . "
He reached into his pockets and touched the black jade disk, a stream of cool qi flowed into his skin . Even though it was slow, the value was in its stableness .
"The enhancement of attributes needs time to precipitate, but the improvements in techniques are immediate . My techniques right now are …"
Garen’s eyes moved up to the techniques pane .
His eyes swept past the unimportant skills such as basic archery and swordsmanship and landed on the few special techniques he had learned .
White Cloud Secret Arts: Max(level 4) Explosive Fist Arts: Intermediate . White Cloud Combat Arts: Elementary .
The option for White Cloud Secret Arts was in grey, meaning it couldn’t be improved further . Garen had reached a level of mastery that no one had achieved in the history of White Cloud Gate . Currently, only his talented second senior brother could compare to his strength .
The Explosive Fist Arts were at an intermediate level, the power of this technique was astonishing . During his combat with the purple eyed woman, he had only hit her twice, but these two contacts had severely injured her . Those hits had completely ignored her Body Hardening Technique, going through the surface and directly hitting her insides .
"People who achieve the level of Vibration are scary . It really is the counter to martial artists like me who are well trained in Body Hardening Technique . I have to be extra careful from now on," Garen warned himself .
He tried to see if he could enhance the level of Explosive Fist Arts again, but was unable to do so . There were some other requirements before he could enhance it . To level it up from elementary level to intermediate, he had had to take the body enhancing pills from the White Cloud Gate .
White Cloud Combat Arts, Garen thought about the fight just now .
"If my body wasn’t strong enough, I wouldn’t have been able to trade with her blow for blow . My combat techniques were too weak, so she could effortlessly block my attacks . If she had been more careful, I couldn’t have hurt her at all .
"If I had better combat techniques, I could use a completely different fighting style . My resilience is better than her’s, my strength is higher, so I could easily kill her," he thought to himself .
"My White Cloud Secret Arts have reached mastery, and because of it my muscles got enhanced, and I could double my defensive stats . I could fight blow for blow with second senior brother . My Explosive Fist Art is at intermediate level, only a few in the Gate being able reach this level . I also have exceptional physique and vitality . With these conditions, I still almost lost to her . If I had had the combat skills of senior sister, it wouldn’t have been like this . "
Garen’s eyes gleamed . "The problem is that I have too little combat experience . I could only take the attacks from the enemy and fight back after . If she was another cautious fighter…"
He pictured a fight in his mind .
The purple eyed woman swiftly circled around him, occasionally dashing forward to promptly slice at his arms and legs . The poisonous blade paralyzing his body in a breeze .
"It seems that I have great strength but could not put it to use . " He held in the temptation to enhance Vitality attribute and put his eyes on the White Cloud Combat Arts .
Cling!
The White Cloud Combat Arts jumped from Elementary to Intermediate level .
Garen’s body shivered . His limbs instantly felt more flexible and alive . It became easier to move them in all directions .
"The White Cloud Combat Arts at an Intermediate level enables the effortless use of Four Big Forms during combat . Changing forms during combat feels natural and instinctive . I wonder what the Advanced level would be like . " Garen moved his body and limbs, feeling like he had complete control over the area within the radius of one meter around him .
He raised his hand and did a karate chop in front of himself .
Shoo!
He instinctively used the Shot Form . The air snapped and made a crackling sound like a firecracker .
"I could only use Shot Form with my right elbow before, but now I can freely use all Four Big Forms with any part of my body . This intermediate level is indeed stronger . " Garen grinned with satisfaction .
After trying out the speed of his Four Big Forms, he was sure he could now beat two of himself from before .
"Now if I meet someone who is faster, I’ll be able handle them with my strength . "
He nodded with satisfaction and quickly stepped into the darkness, on the road back to Huaishan City .
*************************
It was past 2:00 am when Garen arrived at Huaishan City . He went back straight to the dojo . He asked one of the students to inform his family and stayed at the dojo for the night . The next morning, he woke up early to put on the makeup and headed right back to Canoe Town .
"Kelly! You’re here early . "
The sky at dawn was not yet bright, but grey and gloomy .
At the open-air restaurant, Garen sat at a round table with his silver suit . There was a smile in his red eyes . Grace stood next to him, dressed like a secretary, and holding a black notebook in her hands .
The two silently watched as Dale Quicksilver strolled over with a yawn .
Garen lifted a cup of coffee from the table and took a sip .
Dale fell into the chair in front of Garen . "What happened to your face? Why is it banded in gauze?" He drank a big gulp of coffee and asked . "Didn’t you say you were going back?"
"I accidentally chafed it, no big deal . What about yesterday? Was there any results?" Garen asked .
"We’ll go again today . The White Eagle has already informed Huaishan’s Police Department . I’m guessing someone should be there by noon . This is a big case with lots of casualties, so it’ll be troublesome . If I had to guess, the Golden Ring must have thought we killed their men, so we might run into some trouble at the Silversilk castle today . "
Dale Quicksilver frowned with worry .
Garen’s eyebrow flinched as he thought about last night . He was a little surprised about detective Dale’s predictions . His guess on the Golden Ring’s reaction was spot on .
"What? Are they going to find trouble with the police?"
Dale chuckled . "You probably don’t know, Kelly, but this has happened more than once . " He took out the smoking pipe that he forgot to bring yesterday, lit it up with a match, and sucked on it with great pleasure .
"Should I get some help?" Grace suddenly suggested .
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