Chapter 54: Chapter 52: Counter-kill and Rewards

[Step 1: Contextual Analysis]

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/martial arts (wuxia/xianxia) web novel. It involves martial artists, combat, and references to cultivation concepts like "武者" (Martial Artist).

Language style: The text has a straightforward narrative style typical of Chinese web novels, with some action sequences, dialogue, and internal monologue.

Tone: The tone is serious and tense, with elements of danger and combat. There are themes of protecting family and eliminating threats.

Plot keywords: Combat, assassination, investigation, martial arts, self-defense, interrogation, night operation, disguise.

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, a martial artist with surprising strength who works as a carriage driver. He’s protective of his sister.

- Zhao Hui (赵辉): Male antagonist, a former constable of Six Gates who was investigating Wu Liangchen.

- Wu Mengchan (武梦婵): Female, Wu Liangchen’s sister.

- Yang Xiaolian (杨小莲): Female, mentioned but not present.

- Young Master Yan (严公子): Male, mentioned but not present, seems to be behind the investigation.

[Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing]

I’ll now translate the text paragraph by paragraph, following all the rules and guidelines provided:

First, let’s begin the translation:

The text describes a confrontation between Wu Liangchen and Zhao Hui. Zhao Hui is surprised by Wu Liangchen’s martial arts prowess, which exceeds his expectations. They engage in combat, with Wu Liangchen gaining the upper hand. Zhao Hui tries to surrender and explain himself, revealing he was investigating Wu Liangchen on behalf of Young Master Yan regarding a case at the Five Blessings Hall. Wu Liangchen ultimately kills Zhao Hui despite his pleas.

After returning home late, Wu Liangchen briefly interacts with his sleepy sister before examining the items he took from Zhao Hui’s body, including specialized stealth clothing and drugs like Soporific and Enchanting Fragrance, suggesting Zhao Hui was more than just a former constable.

Now I’ll translate the text in detail:

Zhao Hui grew more alarmed with each exchange.

Wu Liangchen’s strength far exceeded his earlier expectations.

He had assumed Wu Liangchen only knew a few basic moves, probably stolen scraps of knowledge at best.

But now he could see that was completely wrong.

The power behind Wu Liangchen’s strikes and the deadliness of his killing techniques were beyond what an ordinary Martial Artist should possess. This had to be the strength of at least a fully accomplished second-realm Martial Artist.

But the question remained: with such impressive strength, why would he humble himself working as a carriage driver?

Could there be more to this story?

Perhaps it was connected to that Yang Xiaolian woman?

Thinking of this, Zhao Hui suddenly regretted accepting this case so rashly.

But it was far too late for regrets now.

Zhao Hui could only grit his teeth and continue fighting while secretly scanning his surroundings, ready to escape at the first opportunity.

Meanwhile, Wu Liangchen grew more confident with each strike.

He had sensed something was wrong earlier, and sure enough, after hiding in the alley, he discovered Zhao Hui following him.

Though he didn’t recognize this "Drunken Eagle-Eyed" man, he could tell the man was a Martial Artist.

And that very fact had awakened Wu Liangchen’s killing intent.

While he didn’t know the man’s purpose, the fact that he was following him in the middle of the night meant he was certainly an enemy, not a friend.

The crucial point was—if Wu Liangchen hadn’t noticed him and had gone straight home, wouldn’t he have led this danger right to his sister?

It was this thought that prompted Wu Liangchen to launch his sudden attack.

Once the fight began, he realized that while his opponent had considerable skill, he was still somewhat inferior to himself.

This gave Wu Liangchen another direct measure of his own abilities.

Though his martial training time had been extremely short, thanks to the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod’s calculations and his relentless efforts, he dared say he was now rarely matched among Martial Artists of the same realm.

Especially after integrating the Four-Step Fist with the twelve-form Wind-Chasing Leg, Wu Liangchen’s striking power had increased dramatically, with truly terrifying destructive force.

Just now, when he launched a powerful punch, Zhao Hui was forced to retreat several steps. Before he could regain his balance, Wu Liangchen’s leg was already coming at him again.

CRACK.

Zhao Hui’s arm, raised to block, was directly broken by the kick, forcing a muffled groan from him.

Wu Liangchen pressed his advantage without mercy, immediately following with another punch aimed directly at Zhao Hui’s face.

Every hair on Zhao Hui’s body stood on end as he hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Wait, please! I have something to say!"

But Wu Liangchen paid no attention to this, his punch continuing without the slightest pause.

Left with no choice, Zhao Hui barely managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, using his remaining hand to block.

Predictably, this hand was also shattered by the impact.

Now Zhao Hui was truly panicking, already sensing the approach of death.

As Wu Liangchen’s leg came at him again, desperate to survive, Zhao Hui abandoned his last shred of dignity and screamed.

"I have important information to report..."

WHOOSH.

The leg stopped abruptly just inches from Zhao Hui’s face. The resulting gust of wind tousled his hair and drained all color from his face.

"My name is Zhao Hui, formerly a constable with the Six Gates. I truly mean no harm—I’m just investigating a case," Zhao Hui hurriedly explained.

"What case?"

"The case involving the Five Blessings Hall carriage service."

Wu Liangchen’s heart tightened.

So it was related to the Five Blessings Hall incident after all.

"So who sent you here?" Wu Liangchen asked coldly.

"I was dispatched by Young Master Yan’s people." At this point, Zhao Hui decided to hide nothing, revealing all the facts.

After finishing his explanation, he looked at Wu Liangchen with pleading eyes.

"My friend, I truly had no idea the matter was this complicated. Had I known, I would never have accepted the assignment. I’ll withdraw now and leave Dinghai City immediately, never to return. Would that be acceptable?"

Wu Liangchen remained silent, his expression clearly saying, "Do you take me for a fool?"

Zhao Hui sighed, knowing his proposal wasn’t convincing at all.

"So do I have any chance of survival?" he asked resignedly.

"What do you think?" Wu Liangchen asked in return.

-----------------

At two in the morning, Wu Liangchen returned home.

His sister Wu Mengchan, half-asleep, heard movements outside and asked drowsily.

"Brother, why are you back so late today?"

"Oh, I was held up by something. Go back to sleep."

"Okay!" Wu Mengchan didn’t question him further and quickly fell back into deep sleep.

Wu Liangchen, however, didn’t sleep. He closed the doors and windows, lit an oil lamp, and began to inventory what he had acquired under the lamplight.

Though Zhao Hui had claimed innocence, Wu Liangchen didn’t buy it at all and had killed him anyway.

Before Zhao Hui died, however, Wu Liangchen had extracted one crucial piece of intelligence from him.

His identity had not been compromised. Zhao Hui had found him purely by using a needle-in-a-haystack approach.

Hearing this, Wu Liangchen finally relaxed somewhat.

Otherwise, he would have been prepared to flee with his sister that very night.

Now that the threat was eliminated, he still couldn’t afford to lower his guard.

Wu Liangchen thought to himself as he laid out the items he had taken from Zhao Hui’s body one by one.

First was a badge with Zhao Hui’s name on the front and the Six Gates emblem on the back.

The emblem had been slashed through with a cut, clearly indicating it had been invalidated.

Yet Zhao Hui hadn’t discarded it, but kept it close, obviously cherishing it greatly.

Besides this, there were two silver coins and some loose copper coins.

These weren’t important. What really caught Wu Liangchen’s interest was a package.

Too busy disposing of the body earlier, he hadn’t had time to examine these items, but just from the feel of it in his hand, Wu Liangchen suspected this package contained something unusual.

Now, Wu Liangchen very cautiously wrapped a towel around his hand before opening the small package.

Inside was a set of clothing and several small bottles and containers.

When he took out the clothing, Wu Liangchen was momentarily stunned.

It was an exquisitely crafted stealth suit, complete with a face mask.

The suit wasn’t pure black but had a purplish tint, which was better for concealment in dim lighting.

Additionally, every aspect of its design was extremely practical. For instance, the sleeves had been specially treated to prevent making scraping sounds during stealth operations.

In short, this was a highly professional stealth suit.

So Zhao Hui must have been lying—his identity was far more complex than what appeared on the surface.

When he later examined the small bottles and containers, Wu Liangchen’s suspicion was further confirmed.

These seemingly unremarkable containers held substances like Soporific and Enchanting Fragrance.

Could this guy have been some kind of sexual predator?

The thought popped into Wu Liangchen’s mind.

At the same time, he quietly congratulated himself on his perfect timing when he had attacked—he hadn’t given Zhao Hui any chance to use these substances. Otherwise, he might have suffered a serious setback.