Chapter 31: Aftermath of Li's Residence
There was a great commotion in the courtyard. The strong man's blow pierced through the wooden corridor, and the sound startled all the sleeping people in the courtyard. The servants and maids hurriedly put on their clothes and rushed out to see what had happened.

They all gathered in the central hall, looking at the three night watchmen who had fallen asleep on the table. One of them was a martial artist hired by Mr. Li at a high price, and was said to be a master of Tongbeiquan.

But this master was now slumped on the table, with a sleepy smile on his face. Li Daoxuan checked the condition of several people and found that they were just knocked unconscious. The person who did it was very measured and controlled the strength just right. There was no sequelae such as concussion, which showed that he was definitely a martial arts master.

Thinking of the terrifying aura of the strong man, Li Daoxuan felt a little scared. It was only because the man had no intention of killing, otherwise, few people in the Li family mansion would have survived.

Even for Li Daoxuan, who has already generated Dan Qi, he can probably only rely on his own Dan Qi to escape from here in a hurry in order to survive.

"It looks like this person is from a famous family, right? How can an ordinary thief be so powerful?" Li Daoxuan looked at the thing in his hand, which was taken from the female thief. Although the female thief looked young, her skills were indeed extraordinary. If he hadn't taken advantage of his success in alchemy, he might not have been able to defeat her with his fists and feet.

Taking the item in hand and taking a closer look, it turned out to be a small sachet with fine workmanship. There was a pair of mandarin ducks embroidered on the sachet, which was shiny and not prickly. It must have been carefully woven by an experienced embroiderer to make such a delicate item.

The sachet exudes a faint and elegant fragrance, which should be the scent of plum blossoms. It seems that this little female thief is also a person who loves elegance and beauty. She never forgets to bring the sachet when she goes out to steal.

Open the sachet to reveal spices and a folded paper wrapped inside.

Li Daoxuan unfolded the paper in the light of the table. There were simple abstract patterns on it. Some of them looked like the paintings of kindergarten children in his previous life, using only circles and lines to represent various places and things.

Although the painting is abstract, Li Daoxuan can understand it clearly. The ○ represents the town and the countryside, the △ represents the mountain, and the Y represents the jungle. The straight line is the road, connecting the three together.

"This is Jinling, this is Lijia Village, this is Wangjiaji, this is Fangshan..." Li Daoxuan pondered the map and found that it was actually a rough drawing of the Jiangning Prefecture area. Although the distances might not be correct, the buildings marked on it were indeed in the Jinling area.

"Why would this little thief carry this kind of thing when stealing? Could it be that she is looking for a local gentry and landlord to rob the rich and give to the poor?" Li Daoxuan didn't quite understand why the female thief would carry this thing with her. Although it was marked with a place name, if you really follow the directions on it, the only one who would get lost would be the person holding the map.

After all, this kind of hand-drawn map is too different from reality. Just a slight deviation from the direction is enough to make people walk into an unfamiliar place.

It would be really laughable if a thief used this kind of map to rob the rich and help the poor.

Li Daoxuan always felt that this map was not simple, otherwise the female thief would not have put it in the sachet. He heard the exclamations of the servants and knew that they saw the gate that was broken by the strong man. The brute force that could almost carry away the door and the wall would have made him an invincible general in the previous dynasty. I am afraid that the former overlord Xiang Yu was no more than this.

"With such brute strength, I'm afraid he can become a martial arts champion."

"It's unbelievable that the thieves are so powerful."

"Alas, I didn't expect there would be a thief."

...Listening to everyone's discussion, Li Daoxuan looked at the map again. Suddenly, someone said that it would be better to steal the tomb of the prince. After hearing this, Li Daoxuan looked at the simple map in his hand as if he had suddenly realized something. He looked very happy as if he had made some new discovery.

"Lijia Village is close to Jinling, and between them is Xiaolingwei. Although there are place names marked on this map, there are only a few brief ones. It is not a coincidence that Xiaolingwei is located between these important places."

Xiaoling Mausoleum is the burial place of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, and their crown prince Zhu Biao is also buried there. Xiaoling Mausoleum Guard is the place to guard Xiaoling Mausoleum. It was established in Ming Dynasty and abolished in Qing Dynasty. Later, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong re-established this place. Later, the Taiping Army fought with the Qing Dynasty in Xiaoling Mausoleum and destroyed it completely.

Now that I have obtained this map from this little thief, I think carefully, could this group of thieves come here for the Xiaoling Mausoleum? However, the Xiaoling Mausoleum has long been destroyed in disasters throughout the ages. Is it worth traveling all the way for a desolate tomb?

Li Daoxuan didn't quite understand, after all, he just felt that there must be some secret in it. He put the paper away and naturally accepted the sachet with a smile.

Are you kidding? This is the equipment that Li Daoxuan dropped when he killed monsters.

The old housekeeper took care of the situation in the house and comforted the anxious servants and maids. He called someone to replace the door, and the clanking sound echoed throughout the night. He also took swords and guns from the armory in the house and distributed them to the servants who were on night watch.

Before, I just felt safe here because it was in Lijia Village, as it was the old house of the Li family. But now, it seems that I have to be on guard, lest I get slaughtered next time without knowing it.

Several people who were on night watch also woke up groggily, rubbing their aching necks and looking blankly at the chaotic situation in the house. After learning that he had been knocked unconscious without anyone noticing, the martial artist who claimed to be a master of Tongbeiquan also looked ashamed.

"I am ashamed to be humiliated like this." The martial artist blushed in shame. After all, the Li family had paid a high price to hire him. Who would have thought that one day he would be knocked unconscious without any sense. This was a great shame for a martial artist, just like a calligrapher being criticized for his illegible handwriting. It was a humiliation that would be remembered forever.

Seeing the martial artist so ashamed, angry and guilty, Li Daoxuan opened his mouth to say something comforting, such as saying that the martial artist was very skilled in martial arts, that the martial artist was actually very powerful, etc. But when these words came to his lips, he could not say them, so he could only swallow them silently without saying too much.

Because he felt that his words might hurt the martial artist even more, making him lose face in the martial arts profession.

He still knew a little about the rules of the underworld. Those who practiced martial arts usually had a temper, which was that they would rather kill than humiliate.

Li Daoxuan heard the old Taoist tell the story of Guo Yunshen, a master of Xingyiquan during the Jiaqing period. He practiced martial arts since childhood, and later learned Xingyiquan from Li Luoneng, the "magic fist". Guo Yunshen respected his teacher. Once, a provocateur came to ask for instruction. Guo Yunshen defeated him in a few moves, but the man was dissatisfied and openly insulted Li Luoneng. Guo Yunshen could not let his teacher be humiliated like this, so he immediately punched the man to death.

Others asked him to lie and say that the man was accidentally killed during a competition. After all, in the eyes of the Jianghu, it is normal to die because of inferior skills. The government usually does not care about these things, and often settles the matter hastily and lets him go after paying a ransom.

Who knew that Guo Yunshen was so stubborn that he insisted that the man insulted his master and was beaten to death by him. Whether dead or alive, Guo Yunshen would be the one to be arrested. The government officials had no choice but to put him in prison and sentence him to death. It was in this prison that Guo Yunshen practiced the world-famous "Half-step Collapse Fist" with the help of iron chains.

Li Daoxuan's blood boiled when he heard this. He could only sigh that Guo Yunshen was indeed a man who dared to act and take responsibility. He also gained a new understanding of the world of martial arts in this vast era.

(End of this chapter)