Number One

Sirens ripped through the air. Red and blue lights flashed. Lin Xiaowei, in a black women's suit that made her look more like an office worker than an officer of the major crimes unit, arrived at the alley with her partner, Zhang Qing. "Inspector Lin." From beyond the yellow cordon, a man wearing an inspector's insignia came forward to meet them. "This is the deceased's file. General manager of Longquan Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Xia Li. Male, fifty-four years old..." "Have the surveillance recordings been pulled?" "Part of them. But... the other party has a very strong counter-surveillance ability. While moving, he was either in a camera's blind spot, or he had already concealed his features beforehand. Not a single camera recorded his figure in full... I suspect this was a long-premeditated murder." Here the man's tone paused. "The way the victim died is almost identical to the three dead from sixteen days ago, forty-four days ago, and seventy-nine days ago—the ones merged into a single case and labeled the '3.11' serial murders. All of them were brutally beaten to death by physical means... I have every reason to believe the killer is the same person." "I'll go look at the victim." Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing put on expert badges and entered the sealed crime scene. At the scene, key items had been marked one by one. The first thing she saw was a utility pole snapped nearly into a V, the rebar inside laid bare. Next her gaze fell to the stone slabs on the ground, which looked as if they had been cracked underfoot. Then... Her eyes lifted to the wall of a small building beside the alley, as though a demolition hammer had smashed into it with all its force. The spiderweb of cracks spanned a full two meters. It was hard to imagine what kind of power could wreck a wall of solid brick and concrete to such a degree. Thump. Thump. Zhang Qing knocked on the wall, and a heavy sound came back. "Very solid. No cutting corners." He remarked. Lin Xiaowei did not answer. After looking for a moment, she went to the body. The scene had already been cleaned up to some extent. Even so, faced with the general manager of Longquan Real Estate—sternum caved in, arms pulverized, skull pierced clean through—Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing still felt a wave of unease. "Too savage." Zhang Qing said. "Inspector Huang, were there any witnesses?" Lin Xiaowei turned her gaze. "Yes. The victim's assistant secretary, Fang Qing. Female, twenty-six..." As Inspector Huang gave his report, he brought over a badly frightened woman, her forehead covered in blood. Zhang Qing stepped up to take over. Before long, he found Lin Xiaowei again. "Heavy blow to the skull. Her mind is somewhat disordered, and her words won't come out right. I'm afraid we'll need a specialist in psychology before we can get any useful lead." Zhang Qing said. "The clues left behind may not be useful either. The other side is a professional." As she spoke, Lin Xiaowei reached out again and ran her hand along the broken utility pole, still standing only because its rebar frame held it up. "Tell me. Is this really destructive power a human being can possess?" Flesh and blood, splitting reinforced concrete!? How was that possible!? "Of course it is." At that moment, a man who looked to be in his thirties, and a woman about Lin Xiaowei's age, crossed the cordon and walked onto the scene. "You are...?" There was confusion in Lin Xiaowei's eyes. "Inspector Lin." Inspector Huang Bing, who was in charge of the scene, smiled as he made the introduction. "This gentleman is a specialist in the field. The acknowledged number one of the martial world in Yunmeng City... even in all of Tiannan Province—Xia Wuyuan. He is also the martial consultant the higher-ups specially invited to crack the '3.11' serial murders." The man called Xia Wuyuan crouched beside Xia Li and set straight to examining the wounds with his own hands. "Hey. Don't move the victim's body so casually." Zhang Qing could not hold it in. But Xia Wuyuan gave no sign of having heard. He did more than examine Xia Li's corpse. He even went over the body with a flurry of pats and strikes. "I told you not to touch it. You'll easily destroy whatever traces are left on the victim..." Zhang Qing could not help stepping forward. "Don't be in such a hurry. Leave it to my senior brother." The young woman who had come with Xia Wuyuan stopped him. "If my senior brother can't crack this case, then don't expect anyone in Yunmeng City—or the whole of Tiannan Province—to crack it." "You..." Zhang Qing frowned. That was quite a claim. "Xia Wuyuan!?" Just then, Lin Xiaowei, inspector with the major crimes unit, seemed to remember something and burst out, "Champion of the Fourteenth National Martial Arts Tournament? Xia Wuyuan, tenth-generation successor of Zhenwu Fist?" "You're Old Master Lin's granddaughter, of the Five Elements Fist, aren't you? A pity your father never passed the Five Elements Fist on. Otherwise you wouldn't have asked a question like the one just now." Xia Wuyuan drew his hand back from the utterly shattered bone of Xia Li's right upper arm and stood. "First the skin, then the flesh, then sinew and bone transformed; Breath and internal force to strengthen the organs; Change the blood, wash the marrow, and enter sainthood— Immortals, Buddhas, gods, and demons all fall prostrate." "I've heard this saying..." Lin Xiaowei thought it over. "The fourfold method of martial training." "Correct. Four stages of training: temper the body from without, stretch the sinews and draw out the bones, strengthen the organs within, all the way to changing the blood and washing the marrow—and, alongside these, the methods of channeling force in a strike. Together they form the four great realms: Martial Artist, Martial Master, Grandmaster, and Martial Saint." On the subject of martial study, Xia Wuyuan spoke as readily as a man counting the treasures of his own house. "Aren't the official martial ranks in the nations of the Central Continent just levels one through ten?" Zhang Qing, off to the side, could not help asking. "The times move forward, and the divisions of the martial path grow ever finer. But look closely: levels one to three, four to six, and seven to nine still correspond to Martial Artist, Martial Master, and Grandmaster." Xia Wuyuan nodded. "In his day, Old Master Lin was a Great Martial Master of great renown in Tiannan Province. He was only a single step from strengthening the organs within and reaching the limit of the human body. He never became a Grandmaster, yet his command of force had climbed to the realm of transformation. Twenty years ago he ranged across Tiannan, and few could match him." With that, he looked at the cracking on the wall, two meters in diameter. "A Grandmaster does more than channel force to the point of transformation. His physique reaches the limit of the human body. When his power bursts forth, splitting steles and cracking stone is only to be expected—and doing this much lies well within his reach." At those words, Zhang Qing, Lin Xiaowei, and Huang Bing all could not help drawing a sharp, cold breath. Splitting steles and cracking stone!? If force like that landed on a person, how could there be any chance of living through it? "The strength of a Grandmaster can match a hundred. Set in ancient times—clad in iron armor, mounted on a warhorse, armed from head to foot—he could cut through a formation of a thousand. A match for ten thousand." Xia Wuyuan looked at the corpse beside him. "Xia Li, general manager of Longquan Real Estate, was on the surface a real estate tycoon of immense wealth. But in the martial world he had another identity: ninth-generation successor of Dragon Form Fist, and the finest successor that art has produced in all these years. His strength was no less than Old Master Lin's in his youth." "Huh?" Zhang Qing seemed to remember something. "Inspector Huang questioned the survivor, Fang Qing. According to her, after the killer struck he left a message: 'Ninth-generation successor of Dragon Form Fist—and this is all he amounts to.'" "Not only the ninth-generation successor of Dragon Form Fist." Xia Wuyuan drew a deep breath. "The successor of Army-Breaking Fist, the successor of Zhao Family Fist, the sect master of Luohe Gate... every one of these renowned Martial Masters fell at his hands." His expression was grave. "What this man has committed is not merely the '3.11' serial murders. The Procuratorate merged several similar cases. The killer's methods are identical to his. In other words, the renowned Martial Masters he has killed in recent years number no fewer than ten." When that figure came out, Lin Xiaowei and Zhang Qing felt their scalps prickle. No fewer than ten renowned Martial Masters!? That many victims!? Had the man lost his mind!? "He... what is he trying to do!?" Zhang Qing could not help asking. "Everyone who died at his hands was, without exception, among the strongest Martial Masters of this age. If I haven't guessed wrong..." Xia Wuyuan said heavily, "He wants to be number one in Tiannan!" "Number one in Tiannan?" A question mark practically popped up on Zhang Qing's forehead. What era was this? Still clinging to that old feudal notion, set on taking the title of number one in Tiannan? Fine. The title of number one in Tiannan was enough to earn him millions, even over ten million, from every match. But... Proving oneself number one in Tiannan by killing... Even if he truly got that far, then what? Could he stand up to firearms, or stop an artillery shell? Killing at the risk of being hunted down by the Guard Bureau... What was he after? "Number one in Tiannan?" The woman beside Xia Wuyuan said coolly, "If he wants to seize the title of number one in Tiannan, he'll have to ask whether my senior brother agrees." Xia Wuyuan waved a hand. Judging by the destruction the fight had left, Xia Li's strength was greater than the outside world had rumored. He had certainly already stepped into the Grandmaster realm of training the organs from within. Had he gone for an official rank evaluation, he ought to have been rated seventh level. If he could work his connections and open the right doors, eighth level would not have been too much to hope for. Strength of that order, and that vicious man had still beaten him to death. Even Xia Wuyuan himself, champion of the National Martial Arts Tournament... had no certainty of victory. But for one who trained in the martial way, realm was not the only measure of a person's strength. The use of force, the state of the body, the will of the spirit—not one could be lacking. Who stood higher in the end could only be known after they fought. And so he would not belittle himself. "The higher-ups have defined this operation as the Slay the Demon operation, and given this killer the code name Shadow Demon, meaning he comes and goes without a trace. But..." Xia Wuyuan said heavily, "I will catch him." His tone was stern and righteous. "For nothing else. Only to uphold the dignity of the law, and give the dead their justice."