Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

At 9:00 p.m. the next day, Qiao Rui woke up slowly, rubbed his still dizzy head, put on his clothes and walked out of the room. He didn't even know how he got to bed last night.

The house was clean and tidy. There was hot water in the pot warming a bowl of egg noodles, but Liu Xinyue was nowhere to be seen. Qiao Rui vaguely recalled the conversation with Liu Xinyue yesterday. His expression changed and he walked to Liu Xinyue's room. As expected, she was not there and her sword was taken away. Qiao Rui opened Liu Xinyue's closet, but several pieces of clothes that he bought for her were not there.

As expected, Liu Xinyue left alone. Qiao Rui felt lost. He ate noodles in a hurry, took some luggage and money, and rushed to Changyun Coach and Horse Company to find Manager Chen.

"Has Liu Xinyue been here?" Qiao Rui asked after bowing.

"He came here at the beginning of the morning hour, bought the yellow horse, and went out of the city to chase a red apricot." Shopkeeper Chen was holding a purple clay teapot with a Cangsong pattern in his hand and slurping tea.

"A red apricot? A red apricot for the flower thief?" Qiao Rui was shocked when he heard this.

"Yes, you didn't know? The second wife of the wealthy man Wang Laokou in the east of the city disappeared yesterday afternoon. She was found this morning in the Lotus Inn. She was naked and covered with wounds, with an iron red apricot stuck in her chest. So all the martial artists in the city went out and chased her all the way, vowing to capture and kill this thief!" said Manager Chen.

Qiao Rui's face turned pale when he heard that, and he said anxiously: "Give me a fast horse, the best horse!" Who knows if that rapist only targets other people's wives and concubines. If he also likes the little girl, Liu Xinyue might be in danger.

This silly girl, why is she getting involved in this kind of thing? At least call me along.

Qiao Rui was worried about Liu Xinyue. He took out some silver and asked, "Where are they going?"

Shopkeeper Chen ordered his clerk to quickly prepare a horse for Qiao Rui, then took the silver and said, "According to an expert in tracking, the rapist went out of the city to the west!"

After paying the horse fare, Qiao Rui hurried downstairs, rode the prepared black horse, galloped out of the west gate, and left.

There were not many pedestrians on the road, with occasional wanderers stopping to rest. Qiao Rui hurried on while asking for directions along the way, heading west and then turning north.

One day, Qiao Rui arrived at Daye Prefecture and was exhausted, so he went into a restaurant in the city that looked quite busy to rest. Qiao Rui came in and saw that the restaurant was indeed full and lively, with many heroes and nobles gathered together. A waiter came to take Qiao Rui to the second floor, but unexpectedly, there was no vacant seat on the second floor either. The waiter said in embarrassment: "It's really unfortunate, sir, do you want to share a table with others or find another place to rest?"

Qiao Rui smiled slightly and said, "It's right here, just find a seat!"

"Okay!" The waiter went to arrange the seats.

Qiao Rui looked around. There were about ten tables, all filled with people. Only two tables had only one person sitting at each. One of them was a woman, who was eating with her back to Qiao Rui. She was thin and slender, wearing a light green waisted dress. Her hair was tied up high with a red ribbon, making a slightly upward ponytail, which made her look neat and tidy. There was a long sword beside the table, which looked quite expensive. At the other table sat a man in black. He was hunchbacked, dark and thin, and had an ugly face with pockmarks on his face. If he sat opposite him to eat, he would probably find the food tasteless and difficult to swallow.

The waiter was also smart. He ignored the man's table and went straight to the table of the woman in green and said some nice words. The woman probably agreed, so he happily invited Qiao Rui to take a seat.

Qiao Rui walked over and sat opposite the woman, put the goose-feather knife against the bench, and asked the waiter to bring a pot of good wine and two pieces of meat, then looked at the woman opposite him.

The woman had fair and rosy skin, big, bright and lively eyes, a straight nose, and delicate and three-dimensional facial features, which were very pleasing to the eye.

"Hey! You are... Zhao Lingying?" Qiao Rui suddenly realized that this was the popular and popular actress. Qiao Rui had seen her in many dramas before and thought that her knight-errant costume was much better than in the drama.

The woman opposite was slightly startled when she saw Qiao Rui recognized her, but when she saw Qiao Rui's short hair and outfit, she felt relieved. She smiled and nodded, and said, "Hello!" Her voice was clear and pleasant.

Qiao Rui clasped his fists and smiled, "I have long admired you. I am Qiao Rui. I have long heard that Miss Zhao is beautiful, smart and extraordinary. Now that I have seen her, it is true that she is even better than I have ever heard of her!"

Zhao Lingying laughed when she saw Qiao Rui's words were full of ancient humor. She imitated him and bowed in return, saying, "Nice to meet you! Young Master Qiao, you've adapted to the local customs so quickly?"

"Yes, an elder friend of mine said that since we are here, we should adapt to the local customs so as not to appear out of place." Qiao Rui said.

"That's right!" Zhao Lingying nodded in agreement and asked, "Where is Young Master Qiao from?"

"I'm from Longxing Prefecture. My friend was chasing the rapist Yizhihongxing. I was a little slow and followed him all the way here. But now I can't find him and I have no clue!" said Qiao Rui.

Zhao Lingying pointed at the gangsters in the room and said, "Nine out of ten people in this restaurant are here for the red apricot. The rapist committed a crime in this city a few days ago and then disappeared. So these gangsters are staying in the city, waiting for new news. If your friend is here to track him down, he must still be in the city!"

Qiao Rui heard Zhao Lingying say this and sighed, "I hope so!"

At this time, the waiter came up with wine and food, a plate of braised beef, a plate of spicy chicken, and a pot of small stew, simple but delicious. Qiao Rui took the opportunity to take out Jiang Xueyun's picture and asked the waiter if he had seen her. The waiter shook his head and said no. Qiao Rui then described Liu Xinyue's appearance and body shape in detail, and the waiter said he hadn't seen her either. Qiao Rui had to give up and buried his head in drinking and eating.

Seeing Qiao Rui like this, Zhao Lingying felt something in her heart and sighed softly, "Nowadays, it's different from the past. It's extremely difficult to find someone. Once we get separated and there's no agreement, it's really troublesome." Seeing her emotional, it seems that she also has this kind of trouble, but she quickly adjusted her mentality and smiled, "Don't be discouraged, just do your best to find him. No matter where you are, you can appreciate the beautiful scenery of the martial arts world!"

Qiao Rui was not a person who would get sad and depressed, so he smiled and nodded. After this incident, the two of them seemed to have a sense of sympathy for each other, and their relationship became closer.

At this time, all the guests in the restaurant were talking loudly, laughing, playing finger-guessing games, and clinking glasses. It was very lively. Qiao Rui and Zhao Lingying ate and drank casually while listening to their advice on the martial arts world, which was quite interesting.

The most talked about person is of course the flower-stealing thief Yizhihongxing. It turns out that after committing a crime in Longxing Prefecture, this thief ran all the way to Daye Prefecture. Three days ago, he secretly abducted the concubine of the leader of the Beggar Gang branch here. The leader was also alert and immediately thought of Yizhihongxing. He immediately informed the government office, blocked the four gates, and then searched the whole city. Sure enough, the concubine who had just been raped to death was found in an inn in the early morning of the next day. Therefore, the Beggar Gang judged that the lecher Yizhihongxing was still trapped in the city, so they sent a large number of people to check the city gates, and only allowed civilians to enter and exit. People from the martial arts world were not allowed to leave the city. With nothing to do, everyone had to stay in the restaurant and inn to drink and have fun.