activa-t Chapter 1 Girl, I need your help in my cultivation.
Chapter 1 Girl, I need your help in my cultivation.
The Republic of China was established in 1927.
Autumn.
In the "Baihualou" brothel in Tianjin, the night is deepening in the top-ranking room.
The room was warm, and the charcoal brazier crackled and popped, making one's bones feel soft from the smoke.
"Are you impotent?"
Hong Shao leaned against the carved bed railing, her body covered by a light veil, half-transparent, reminding Zhou Xing of the cream buns from his previous life.
On the edge of the bed, Zhou Xing sat upright like a bell, his back ramrod straight. His eyes were fixed on Hong Shao without blinking.
"I'll just take a look."
He cleared his throat.
"look?"
Hong Shao chuckled, "You have to pay to watch it."
"You'll get your share."
Zhou Xingyi said earnestly, "Miss, I need your help in my cultivation."
"Cultivation? Then come up here."
Hong Shao glanced at him lazily, her expression a mixture of annoyance and weariness.
"You came at noon and have been sitting here until it's dark, more than six hours. I've changed my clothes seventeen or eighteen times, from gauze to satin, from long to short."
She leaned forward, the silk slipping from her shoulder to her navel. "Sir, the real cultivation lies beneath the clothes. You, on the other hand, are only looking."
Zhou Xing remained silent, still staring.
The faint, muffled sound of ship whistles from night boats on the Haihe River drifted in from outside the window.
Just then, the ancestral thumb ring in Zhou Xing's arms suddenly felt hot.
Immediately afterwards, a profound understanding of martial arts surged into his mind from the ring, settling heavily throughout his body.
It feels like an electric shock under the skin, first tight then loose, leaving you feeling completely comfortable.
[Complete Li Lianying's obsession (Gold), and learn "Tai Chi Listening Force".]
It became.
President Zhou let out a long breath, and his tense shoulders and back relaxed.
He had been in this world for a month. The original owner's parents had died early, and he was a third-level police officer in the French Concession.
When Zhou Xing transmigrated into his body, he discovered he had gained an additional talent:
By touching the "token," one can sense the obsession of its owner; by fulfilling that obsession, one can learn that person's martial arts techniques or insights into martial arts.
He had just finished settling the obsession of Li Lianying, a former eunuch of the Qing Dynasty.
This man was a disciple of Tai Chi master Yang Luchan, who was taken in by the Prince's mansion. He was castrated from a young age, and the rules of the Prince's mansion were very strict. He never saw a woman's body until his death.
His biggest obsession before he died was to visit a brothel and see if the women's bodies were as he imagined.
Zhou Xing went to Hong Shao and critically examined her for six hours before his obsession dissipated.
It is evident that watching movies has made an outstanding contribution to the physical and mental health of modern people.
He sighed inwardly, stood up, walked to the bedside, gently lifted Hong Shao's silk robe, which had slipped down to her arm, back over her shoulder, and bowed to her.
"This is a thank you."
Hong Shao froze, turning her head to look at him. This man was handsome, yet strange.
Zhou Xing pulled a Colt from his pocket, the dark muzzle pointing at her:
"This is a tip."
Hongshao's face turned pale instantly, and she shrank back, bracing herself against the bed.
"Sir, you must be joking..."
Zhou Xing smiled, pressed down with his thumb, and the hammer snapped open with a "click":
"Excuse me, I'm a police officer."
"Hong Shao, you've been caught."
Three days ago, a businessman surnamed Chen in the French Concession died suddenly. He was a well-known philanthropist in the area who often helped the poor.
The forensic department said the case involved a sudden heart attack.
However, after examining the body, Zhou Xing noticed that the deceased's right hand was clenched tightly, indicating signs of struggle, and there was no history of heart disease. From a modern criminal investigation perspective, there were simply too many loopholes.
More importantly, Chen Shanren's face when he died: his eyes were wide open, but the corners of his mouth were strangely pulled upwards, as if he were smiling.
Zhou Xing knew this face all too well.
When he first transmigrated a month ago, the original owner of this body had this stiff expression on his face. He rubbed his cheeks for a long time before they softened.
There must be a connection here.
He investigated the clues alone, and after more than two days, he finally found a trace at Hongshao's place in Baihualou.
Having irrefutable evidence in hand allows them to fulfill their obsession, killing two birds with one stone.
"Sir, if you want to get something for free, just say so. I can't be scared."
Hong Shao looked pitiful.
Before he could finish speaking, the door was flung open with a bang!
A wiry man rushed in carrying a machete. Zhou Xing had investigated this man as well; he was in cahoots with Hong Shao.
Upon seeing the situation inside, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he shouted, "Put down your gun!"
They rushed over immediately.
When Zhou Xing saw him charging towards him, he swung his gun backward.
"Bang!"
Gunshots.
A burst of blood erupted from the man's calf, and he screamed as he collapsed to the ground.
Almost simultaneously, Hong Shao moved.
She slid off the bed as if boneless, her fingers spread wide, piercing Zhou Xing's eyes; she showed no trace of the fragility of a courtesan.
Zhou Xing felt a chill run down his spine; without even looking, he "heard" the eerie wind emanating from her fingertips.
He turned sideways, yielded, and reached out—the movements were fluid and seamless. His right hand gripped her wrist like a silken thread, and sensing Hong Shao's center of gravity, he pulled her along with it.
Hongshao crashed into his arms.
A warm, soft, and smooth sensation bounced into his arm and chest.
Zhou Xing pressed down on the back of her neck with his left hand and slammed her to the floor, while simultaneously thrusting his knee forward to brace against her knees.
"Bang."
Hong Shao felt dizzy and lightheaded, her face pressed against the cold brick floor, unable to breathe.
[Tai Chi Listening Skill] is indeed powerful; with just one touch, one can feel the other person's center of gravity and strength.
Zhou Xing pulled out handcuffs and cuffed her shut with two "clicks".
Only then did he look up at the man rolling around with his legs tucked in his hands at the door, and asked Hong Shao:
"Has he always been this brave?"
Seeing this, the man, his face contorted in pain, glared angrily and roared:
"Let her go! Come at me if you have a problem."
"The warm-hearted guy is behind the dog."
Zhou Xing chuckled, "Don't worry, none of them will escape."
Just then, another person rushed in through the door, wearing a disheveled police uniform, holding a gun in one hand and fastening his belt with the other.
Seeing the scene inside, they were stunned:
"Old Zhou, what's going on?"
This is Zhou Xing's colleague, named Sun Youfu, who is half a rank below him.
"These two are the murderers in Chen Shanren's case."
Zhou Xingyang raised his chin. "Cuff that guy on the ground and lock him in the empty room next door. Bandage his leg; I'll question him later."
Hong Shao's face was pressed against the ground, and upon hearing this, she said resentfully:
"Pah, you bunch of scoundrels, you just want to freeload, what excuse do you have?"
Hearing this, Sun Youfu leaned closer and lowered his voice:
"Isn't this making too much noise? This family just paid their monthly fee a couple of days ago... Wasn't it stipulated that Boss Chen died from an accident?"
Zhou Xing glared at him: "Just do what I tell you to do, stop talking nonsense. If the case is solved, you'll get a share of the credit."
Sun Youfu shrank back, not daring to say anything more. In the past month, his old friend seemed like a different person; his eyes were ruthless, and his hands were cunning.
He jogged over, handcuffed the man, and shouted at the crowd that was gradually forming outside the door:
"French Concession police are on duty! Everyone disperse! Otherwise, you'll all be arrested!"
Seeing that Zhou Xing remained unmoved, Hong Shao forced out a voice through clenched teeth:
"You can't afford to mess with us. You're just a foreigner's dog. If you lay a finger on me, I'll kill your whole family."
Zhou Xing ignored him and waited until Sun Youfu dragged the man away and closed the door before taking out an oilcloth bag from his pocket, unfolding it to reveal several needles of varying lengths inside.
He squatted down in front of Hongshao, picked up the thinnest needle, and examined the tip of the needle in the light of the charcoal brazier.
Do you know what the prisoner's dilemma is?
He asked with a smile.
……
Half an hour later.
Inside the top-tier room, Hong Shao and the man named Qingzi sat side by side on the ground, their bodies bearing only gunshot wounds and no other injuries.
But their eyes were unfocused, and their bodies were trembling uncontrollably. Every time Zhou Xing glanced at them, they would flinch.
Zhou Xing pulled over a silk scarf and slowly wiped his hands.
It seems the skills from my past life haven't been lost.
With the newly acquired listening skill, he had a more accurate grasp of the meridians and acupoints. Before he had even finished one round of the seventy-two sets of acupuncture techniques, he had already performed all the required moves.
Hong Shao confessed that he and his companion belonged to a denomination called "Chinese and Foreign Charity Association".
That place outwardly does good deeds, but secretly it takes care of the "dirty business" for the gentry.
There's an old fox in the gang who came from western Hunan and knows how to use witchcraft to suppress evil spirits.
Taking a person's personal belongings and hair can cause them to "frighten and go mad, and their heart and blood to wither and die."
They call this "picking flowers." Hong Shao is an outsider who doesn't know much and is only responsible for collecting "materials," such as the customer's hair, nails, or personal items.
Aoko was her devoted follower, doing things alongside her.
Through this method, they have harmed many people, and most of them were drowned in the Haihe River before they even saw the police station.
This world is even more bizarre than he imagined.
The warlord's gun, the concession's flag, the nameless corpse in the Haihe River.
Zhou Xing looked at the items he found in the hidden compartment of the dressing table:
A strand of gray hair, a cigar butt wrapped in red paper, and a piece of yellow paper with his birth date and time written on it.
Hong Shao said there's another big job tonight.
Their target was a foreigner; they were incredibly audacious.
Hong Shao also said that this technique cannot be used too far from the target; one mile is the limit.
"Old Sun! Take him with you, let's go!"
Zhou Xing packed up the items, put them in his pocket, and shouted outside.
The original owner of this body had already failed because of this once. In this life, he would live with clarity and die with clarity.
Now that the clues have surfaced, we can't let them disappear again.