Chapter 40 – Snake-Crane Conflict, the Imagined Truth

9:25 AM.

Lu Yuan lay face down on a massage table, wearing only his underwear.

Unknown soft music played in the background, and a faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the air.

Tap, tap, tap—

He quickly sent a message to Zheng Qiuling on his phone, saying he might not return until after ten.

After sending the message, Lu Yuan tossed his phone aside and relaxed to enjoy this rare massage.

This time, the person giving him the massage was a small and thin middle-aged man. He was silent and reserved, but his technique was better than the last masseur.

The pressure was just right, and the points he pressed were more precise.

However.

The biggest difference from last time was the type of oil—or rather, the ointment—used.

Lu Yuan remembered that last time, borrowing from Cheng Peng, he had used a lightly scented white ointment.

This time, it was black.

It was thicker and had a slightly pungent smell, not as pleasant as the last one. The sensation on the skin was also different.

First, it felt hot and spicy, then it turned cool, penetrating deep into the skin and lasting for quite a while.

“Is this the secret ointment of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style from Yuan Martial Arts Gym?” Lu Yuan thought to himself.

This time, Lu Yuan didn’t fall asleep.

After the half-hour massage, he lay there for a little while longer before getting up to take a shower.

The effect of the massage was indeed impressive.

By the time Lu Yuan walked out of the martial arts gym, he already felt that most of the soreness in his body had subsided.

He estimated that he might not even need to wait until tomorrow.

By tonight, he would almost be fully recovered.

“I’ve heard that the more ancient the martial arts school, the better they are at healing injuries.

Because the heritage of a martial arts school inevitably faces challenges from others. Disciples might get injured during martial arts contests or their daily training.

If they don’t have a unique healing method, no matter how powerful their martial arts, it would be difficult for the school to pass down through generations.”

Lu Yuan couldn’t remember where he had read this.

Thinking about it now, it made a lot of sense.

The last bus finally arrived, albeit slowly.

The bus was quite crowded.

Most of the passengers were office workers, clutching briefcases or carrying laptop bags, their faces showing signs of exhaustion.

Seeing them, Lu Yuan felt as if he were looking at his past self.

After casting a sympathetic glance around, Lu Yuan found a seat near the rear door.

Outside, the city lights shimmered.

In the night sky, a beautiful full moon hung like a silver disk.

Lu Yuan suddenly remembered the flock of crows he had seen after leaving the Mosa Combat Sports Club the previous night.

He wondered if it was a coincidence.

At that moment, a shadow swiftly flew past his line of sight.

He heard the flapping of wings, quickly turned to look, but saw nothing. He couldn’t tell if it was a crow.

Lu Yuan took out his phone and searched online.

According to an encyclopedia, crows are highly social creatures, usually active during the day.

However, due to the bright city lights at night, seeing them after dark wasn’t unusual.

So, it was a normal occurrence?

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, then couldn’t resist searching for information on the Sky Water Stream Crane Style.

“No results found.”

Hmm.

Not giving up, Lu Yuan deleted the word “Crane” and searched only for “Sky Water Stream.”

This time, quite a bit of information popped up.

“Xiabang Martial Arts Association President, Sky Water Stream Sect Leader Cai Huazhang, invited to attend the international martial arts exchange.”

“Congratulations to Sky Water Stream disciple Huo Ning for winning second place in the 37th ‘Young Eagle Cup’ National Martial Arts Tournament.”

“Participating martial arts schools include Sky Water Stream, Hengshan Style, and Black Sand Sect.”

But there was almost no information related to the word “Crane.”

Lu Yuan kept scrolling, scrolling down more and more.

It wasn’t until he reached the fifth page that he found a clue.

“Since the Snake-Crane Conflict of Sky Water Stream more than twenty years ago…”

This was the start of an article introducing the history of Sky Water Stream, only showing this short line.

Lu Yuan tried to click on it, but was met with a “Page not found” message.

“Darn!”

Lu Yuan scrolled a bit further but found nothing more. He had no choice but to put his phone down in frustration.

“Snake-Crane Conflict?”

“So, besides the Crane Style represented by Yuan Martial Arts Gym, the Sky Water Stream also has a Snake Sect? And now, the people ruling Sky Water Stream, basking in glory, are from the Snake Sect?”

Lu Yuan’s brain, with its ten points of intelligence, started working rapidly.

Combining elements from the various novels he had read in his past and current lives, he quickly concocted a “twisting and moving” yet “reasonable” plot.

“The Snake-Crane Conflict ended with the Crane Style losing the competition for the Sky Water Stream sect leader position. Disheartened and fearing retaliation from the Snake Sect, they went into hiding, changing their name to Yuan Martial Arts Gym and relocating to Jiaoyan.”

The more Lu Yuan thought about it, the more he felt this was the truth.

The Snake Sect.

Just from the name, they didn’t sound like good people.

Back during the Snake-Crane Conflict, who knows what kind of schemes and underhanded tactics they used to win the leadership.

“Reviving the Crane Style is our duty!”

This slogan suddenly popped into Lu Yuan’s head.

But he immediately dismissed it after a second.

“Come on, I’m not even an official disciple of the Crane Style yet.”

“If I do become one in the future, I hope they won’t drag me into some revenge plot.”

As Lu Yuan was musing, his phone chimed with a notification.

He glanced at it and saw it was an automated push notification from the Jiaoyan evening news.

“Recently, our city has experienced two more suspected cases of missing persons, occurring in Luming Community. We urge residents to be cautious when going out at night. If any situation arises, please seek help from the police immediately.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered.

Another case of a missing person.

Judging by the addresses, both incidents seemed to have occurred in the east district.

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but recall the crying woman he saw outside the martial arts gym and the maglev shuttle he spotted on the playground this afternoon.

“Hopefully, the authorities can resolve this issue quickly.”

Lu Yuan sighed softly.

The case was becoming more serious, affecting a wider range of people. He feared that, sooner or later, it might impact those close to him.

That was the last thing he wanted to see.

He then casually browsed a few major public forums in Jiaoyan.

It turned out he wasn’t the only one who had seen the maglev shuttle this afternoon.

Many people had taken photos of it.

There was much speculation about the origin and destination of the maglev shuttle.

Lu Yuan kept scrolling through the forums and, before he knew it, arrived at his stop.

“Mom, should I make you a bowl of noodles and bring it down?” he asked.

“No need. Go do your homework. It’s getting late. Are you planning to sleep tonight or not?”

“Okay,” Lu Yuan replied, pulling himself back from the window and reluctantly sitting down at his desk.

Homework still needed to be done.

But for Lu Yuan, the amount of homework assigned by school wasn’t much of a challenge.

“It’ll take me at most half an hour to finish.”

Lu Yuan took out all his homework and spread it out in front of him.

He was just about to activate [Absolute Concentration] to finish his homework as quickly as possible and then practice martial arts for a while.

Suddenly.

He looked at his professional panel, and an idea popped into his head.

“I still have one skill point left.

Should I level up [Absolute Concentration]?”