Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Shen Qing was not worried that Tian Xiaohu would betray him to the government office.

The county government was, frankly, even more ruthless than him.

If there was money to be made, they would take it; if they could avoid a problem, they would avoid it.

If they really couldn't avoid it, they'd make money first and then deal with the issue, ensuring they never came out on the losing end.

As for justice and integrity, the government office didn't care at all.

As long as they could pay the required taxes to the court on time and take care of those above them, they couldn't care less whether the common people lived or died.

If a problem arose, the Four Great Eastern Families would clean up after them.

The Great Zhou Court was not co-governing the realm with these grassroots civilians.

Beyond that, the relationships within the village were also very delicate.

People liked to wield power within their own nests, but once they left the village, they were extremely united.

If one person was in trouble, the whole village would lend a hand.

Anyone from the village who made a name for themselves in the county had family and fellow villagers by their side.

Tian Xiaohu, being from the same village as him, would be taught a lesson by the agreed-upon customs here if he committed such an act of "utter disloyalty."

His family had only him, without any notable figures in his clan, and no connections in the county city.

Tian Xiaohu was not a fool; he knew which side to choose.

In the afternoon, the city was bustling with many people leaving.

But as they moved away from the city gate, the departing crowds gradually thinned out a bit.

After about forty minutes through the slum area, Shen Xiaohu suddenly cried out, "Look, over there!"

At his words, Shen Qing and Tian Xiaohu looked up and followed Shen Xiaohu's pointing finger, their faces registering shock.

In the dim slums alley, shadows crisscrossed.

A row of bodies was hung from the eaves, the ropes creaking as they swayed gently in the cold wind.

The air seemed to solidify around them, and a stench of blood emanated from the alley.

The most central corpse, beneath tattered clothing, bore the pockmarked face etched with the last moments of terror and unwillingness of life.

Passers-by quickened their steps, not wanting to disturb the scene.

Shen Qing glanced and recognized the alley where he had killed Old Ba Zi earlier; he faintly felt that this might have something to do with him.

People from the slum area walked by on the street. He reached out, grabbing someone at random to ask, "What happened here?"

"None of your damn business…" The person grabbed was a surly teenager who replied impatiently.

However, the boy abruptly stopped speaking.

Shen Qing, who had killed many people, had a sharp gaze filled with an imperceptible murderous aura.

The teenager felt as if breathing had suddenly become difficult.

Shen Qing's grip on his wrist tightened more and more, as if he was about to crush his bones, causing a sharp pain to shoot through the boy's wrist, to the point where he didn't dare to make any sudden moves.

Under his watchful eye, Shen Qing slowly pulled out two large coins from his bosom and jingled them.

The teenager knew he was unlucky today, having encountered a formidable figure, and dared not offend further; he immediately lowered his head and said, "It was Boss, Boss enforced family law and had Wang Mazi and his group killed."

"Boss?" Shen Qing furrowed his brows.

"He's the local tyrant of this area; Old Ba Zi and Wang Mazi, all these tough guys, made their living under Boss."

Shen Qing pressed on, "What family law did Wang Mazi break to be executed by Boss?"

"Wang Mazi caused in-fighting, killing Old Ba Zi and breaking a taboo. Now, those under Wang Mazi are either dead or have fled; almost all of them are here." The teenager nodded his chin towards a line of corpses, indicating Wang Mazi's.

"Sir…" The teenager looked pitifully at Shen Qing, pleading with his face.

Shen Qing released his grip, tossing the two large coins carelessly in his direction.

Then, he whipped the reins and urged the horse cart forward, his eyes lingering thoughtfully on Wang Mazi's body.

This Boss was also a ruthless character, and he would have to be cautious when encountering him in the future.

The half-grown lad who had just regained his freedom glared at Shen Qing with venom in his eyes.

The superiority Shen Qing had exuded earlier had made him extremely uncomfortable, causing him to lose a great deal of face.

"Damn it, I'll go shake them down, and see if I don't kill you all…"

He spat a thick gob of phlegm onto the ground. After cursing a few times, he bent down to pick up the two large coins from the ground.

Whoosh!

At that moment, an arrow whistled through the air, suddenly piercing through his palm and nailing it to the ground, causing him to let out an involuntary scream.

"Ah!"

Tian Xiaohu stepped down from the cart, walked over with an expressionless face, and coldly glanced at the lad, maintaining silence, subjecting the half-grown boy to immense pressure, almost causing a mental collapse.

With a thunk.

The lad seemed unable to support himself any longer and sat down on the ground with a thud.

Ignoring the wound on his hand, he pulled out the arrow and threw it to the ground, scrambling away quickly.

Tian Xiaohu took the two large coins from the ground and, with a flick, cleansed the blood-stained feathered arrow before handing it back to Shen Qing.

"The people here are cheap, they fear might but not virtue, give them an inch and they'll open a dye workshop. You have to make them fear you, that's the only way.

Shen Qing gave a soft grunt and loosened his grip on the bow.

He had heard those words. If Tian Xiaohu hadn't acted, he too was prepared to give that lad an arrow.

But he wasn't aiming for his hand…

After walking out of the shantytown, there were already fewer pedestrians on the official road.

Shen Qing no longer hesitated, raised his hand, and gave the reins a fierce lash.

Crack!

The crisp sound of the whip followed behind the nag.

The nag, struck by the whip, immediately broke into a run.

In the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, the sky after the Shen Hour was a leaden gray, and the cold wind cut like a knife against the skin.

The cart carrying the three of them bumped along the official road, the wheels crunched over the frozen ground with a dull creaking, racing toward the distant Hongshan Village, looming faintly through the thin snow.

When passing branches, specks of snow scattered, adorning their eyebrows and coats with quickly melting ice-cold droplets.

Tian Xiaohu and Shen Xiaohu were both wearing bulky cotton-padded coats, their hands gripping the cart's edge tightly, their knuckles turning white from the cold.

They intermittently exhaled puffs of white breath that the cold wind shredded to tracelessness.

As for Shen Qing, holding the reins, his complexion was rosy, not feeling the cold at all.

In his hands, the nag was as obedient as a docile maidservant, allowing him to command and handle at will.

After running for almost half an hour, the nag's stamina seemed to be slowly depleting, and its speed inevitably began to decrease.

Shen Qing appeared thoughtful, his pupils flashing with a light as if a drop of ink had fallen into water, creating ripples.

In his vision, a line of ink characters then emerged.

[Skill: Driving Skill (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 101/100 points]

[Status: Eligible for upgrade]

[Note: Mastery of driving skills comes with practice—the continuous exercise can improve skill progression, mastering the key points of driving. In the future, driving can be both stable and fast, natural as moving one's own arm, leaving others behind in the dust.]

Shen Qing couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

He hadn't expected that driving these past few days would have filled his driving skill progression.

Shen Qing's mind stirred, and he chose to breakthrough.