Chapter 63: Eighty-Ninth on the Black List, Widow-Maker Chen Xuan

A night passed.

The morning sun rose.

Chen Xuan sat cross-legged on the couch, his hands flying back and forth with a whistling sound, continuously tearing out sharp gusts of vital energy.

Finally, when the sun reached its zenith, he gained a breakthrough feeling in the [Blood-Sucking Divine Palm].

Elated in his heart, he opened his status panel to check.

He saw that the martial arts column now displayed: Blood-Sucking Divine Palm (Novice 0/30).

Chen Xuan immediately tapped on the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm.

Swish!

Lights flashed consecutively, and the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm shifted from Novice (0/30) to Elementary (0/60).

Then from Elementary (0/60) to Proficient (0/120).

His experience points instantly decreased by 90 points, leaving 40 points remaining.

His arms suddenly swelled, and he felt some tiny meridians being unblocked all at once, producing a sour and numb sensation that extended toward his body, autonomously carving out a circulation path within and attempting to converge at his dantian.

Unique vital energy!

Realizing this, Chen Xuan closed the panel and immediately forced this unique vital energy into the corresponding meridians, circulating it slowly. After a good while, this unique vital energy finally adapted to the meridians within his body.

Anxious to test the power of the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm, Chen Xuan curled his fingers into a claw and grabbed forward toward the space in front of him.

Hoo!

A violent suction force burst forth instantly from his palm, enveloping a vase three meters away, shaking it violently until it tumbled off the ground and shattered into pieces with a crisp crash.

Chen Xuan's face darkened.

"With suction this weak, I want to suck human blood? Even sucking water would be difficult."

He fell into contemplation.

There should be nothing wrong with the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm itself; the problem was him.

His governor and conception vessels, along with the major and minor heavenly cycles, had not yet been unblocked, making it impossible for his vital energy to project outward. Therefore, trying to suck things from a distance was utterly out of the question unless he managed to clear his governor and conception vessels.

Thinking of this, he got up from the couch, walked over to another vase, gently pressed his palm against it, and once again circulated the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the vase under his palm instantly shattered into tiny fragments that adhered to his palm.

Chen Xuan glanced at it and withdrew the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm, whereupon the tiny fragments on his palm all fell away.

Just as he had guessed!

With his current realm, wanting to unleash the true power of the Blood-Sucking Divine Palm required pressing his palm firmly against the target. Only thus could he guarantee its effectiveness, rather than merely making a vase wobble as he did before.

"Not bad either. At least it can achieve a catching-them-off-guard effect, though wanting to suck human blood is probably a stretch—it's just about enough to suck dry some newbies."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself.

Swish!

Fame +85

Suddenly, a blue light flashed before his eyes.

Chen Xuan paused, stunned.

What was going on? How did so much fame arrive all at once?

He opened the panel to look.

The fame had changed to Moderate Accomplishment (173/280).

His luck value had become 31.

Surprised and delighted, he gently took a breath.

Wait, where did all this fame come from?

Could the matter of killing Wang Jiu have been exposed? Or had he made it onto the Black Notice?

A few days ago, he had heard that there was a high probability he would make the Black Notice, but seeing no notice posted, he had dismissed it. Now, with such a massive influx of fame, entering the Black Notice seemed extremely likely.

Chen Xuan calmed his emotions and walked out of the room.

Outside the door, Zhang Jinmao, Li Erha, and twenty other constables were already standing in four rows. Seeing Chen Xuan emerge, they shouted in unison.

"Greetings, Boss!"

Their voices were resonant.

Chen Xuan's face darkened.

Boss, my foot.

"Damn it, call me Constable," Chen Xuan said. "Also, have you seen Lord Lin?"

"Reporting to the constable, we have seen him," Erha said with a chuckle.

"Good. Erha, Jinmao, today I will personally lead you out on patrol. Go and prepare bronze gongs and mallets, and bring them along shortly. Niu San, Wang Liu, you two follow me first, I have other tasks for you."

Chen Xuan instructed.

The two of them immediately trotted over eagerly.

Chen Xuan led them aside and whispered into their ears.

The two of them looked startled and somewhat bizarre at first, but then nodded repeatedly.

After a long while.

Chen Xuan asked, "Did you remember everything?"

"Remembered, remembered," the two replied with consecutive smiles.

"Good, go. If anyone asks, just say you heard it from elsewhere," Chen Xuan said.

Nodding repeatedly, the two withdrew.

Chen Xuan walked back toward the group and saw that Zhang Jinmao, Li Erha, and the others had already prepared a huge bronze gong, tied with a red cloth and hung from a large carrying pole that required two people to lift.

Chen Xuan took the mallet and struck the bronze gong hard.

Clang!

The sound was deafening.

He nodded repeatedly, quite satisfied.

"Alright, everyone follow me out on patrol!" Chen Xuan said.

He wanted to see if the Black Notice really was posted outside, or if other news had spread to cause his fame to skyrocket.

Zhang Jinmao and Li Erha immediately ordered a few men to lift the bronze gong, and a crowd followed behind Chen Xuan as he headed out.

The moment they stepped out of the yamen, Chen Xuan frowned, noticing that the jade screen on the other side outside the yamen was surrounded by a dense crowd, discussing animatedly in an uproar.

"What is going on here?" he asked.

"Reporting to the constable, people from the marquis's estate came today to post the Black Notice, which is why so many people have gathered to watch," Zhang Jinmao smiled and said.

The Black Notice had been posted early in the morning, but he hadn't gotten around to reporting it. Besides, the notice was posted right at their own doorstep and could be seen the moment one walked out; in his view, reporting it was unnecessary.

Chen Xuan's expression shifted slightly.

The Black Notice really had been posted.

Damn it, he must have made the list.

He elbowed his way through the crowd and looked forward.

A huge banner made of black silk was pasted high on the jade screen, covered with oversized names written in red vermilion ink. Behind each name were notes detailing origins, deeds, bounties, and so on.

His gaze swept quickly, his pupils contracting as he indeed spotted his own name.

Black Notice Number Eighty-Nine: Widow-Maker Chen Xuan.

Bounty: One hundred fourteen thousand eight hundred taels.

Origin: Rising star of the Five Poisons Sect.

Strength: Ninth layer of Qi Storage.

Unique Skills: Widow-Making Dragon Claw Hand, Iron Cloth Shirt, Five Poisons Divine Palm, Unnamed Swordsmanship.

Evil Deeds: Killed Cui Qingzheng, young master of the Cui clan; killed Fang Xuanwen and Fang Yu of the Longteng Martial Arts Hall; lured the righteous alliance into a trap set by the Five Poisons Sect, indirectly causing countless deaths; fond of leaving others without descendants—castrating first and killing later, with cruel methods (suspected of having childhood trauma and an extreme hatred of men).

...

Upon reading this, Chen Xuan almost cursed out loud.

Castrating first and killing later, my foot.

Childhood trauma, my foot.

Slander!

Pure slander!

Apart from killing Cui Qingzheng by mistake, the others either deserved to die or had nothing to do with him.

Were the people in the Six Doors yamen thinking with their rear ends?

Chen Xuan's face turned livid with anger.

"Widow-Maker Chen Xuan? What kind of person is this? Truly vicious. Everyone needs to be careful from now on."

"Indeed, he actually likes to leave people without descendants. What kind of horrifying hobby is that?"

"It's said that this Chen Xuan used to be an innocent young boy, but was later forcibly turned into a eunuch. Ever since then, he has harbored a deep hatred for men. Once he mastered martial arts, he specialized in taking revenge on men; since he became a eunuch himself, he wants everyone else to become eunuchs too."

Someone in the crowd spoke up.

"What? There's such a thing?"

The crowd gasped in astonishment.

"Wrong, wrong, that's not how it goes. I heard that because Chen Xuan practiced an evil art of the Five Poisons Sect, he needed male yang energy to cultivate, which is why he frequently leaves people without descendants and strips away their yang energy."

Another person chimed in.

The crowd erupted in another wave of astonishment.

Chen Xuan was so angry he almost vomited blood.

Damn your ancestors!

Where did these rumors come from?

He glared fiercely at those few people and angrily squeezed his way out of the crowd.

"Constable, are we still going on patrol?" Zhang Jinmao asked.

"Patrol!" Chen Xuan gritted his teeth.

Look at that, how important was public opinion?

He now felt an even more urgent need to build his own public opinion organization.

"Beat the gong for me!"

Clang!

Zhang Jinmao struck the bronze gong hard, the sound reverberating down the entire long street.

Li Erha shouted from the side, "The Qingfeng City yamen is officially open today! Those with grievances come to seek justice, those with enmities come to settle scores, come and take a look!"