Planning

"Eagle Claw Thousand Jin Strength is a second-rate martial art with considerable killing power, even stronger than the Thirty-Six Grappling Hands..."

In the courtyard, Lin Sheng toyed with several pieces of gravel in his hand, while a few half-bricks sat atop the wall of the neighboring courtyard.

Every so often, he tossed out a stone, knocking the bricks flying.

Now that he had no cultivation technique to practice, he spent his idle time training the throwing technique he had learned from Liu Jie. Though it did not count as a martial art, paired with his current strength, it could still unleash no small amount of power.

At his feet sat a black earthen jar containing a heap of red and green plants mashed into pulp, giving off a faint fishy stench.

The contents of the jar were poisonous plants he had picked while entering the mountains to complete missions.

They were basically all highly toxic, and mixed together, their poison became even more potent.

As for what these things were for, naturally, they were for self-defense—or... killing.

"Ma Long has mastered the Raging Bull Fist, and his cultivation is already close to breaking through to late Muscle Forging. Then his Eagle Claw Thousand Jin Strength should not be at a low level either. He has at least reached minor mastery. Among early Muscle Forging martial artists, he counts as a capable hand."

Lin Sheng calculated inwardly.

During the day, he had also subtly drawn out Ma Long's exact strength from Wang Sanyang.

Wang Sanyang had admitted that Ma Long was considerably stronger than him.

Therefore, if he wanted to deal with the man, he had to prepare more thoroughly.

He could not foolishly wait for the other man's cultivation to break through again. If he dragged things out until the other man reached late Muscle Forging, making a move against him would undoubtedly become extremely troublesome. He had to settle him as soon as possible.

Over these past days, he had deliberately, or seemingly unintentionally, gathered information about Ma Long.

As the captain of the Third Squad, Ma Long absolutely counted as a notable figure in Yangping Town, so gathering information on him had been quite easy.

Lin Sheng had already learned most of Ma Long's residence, habits, and other details.

Next came planning how to deal with him.

"With my current strength, plus the body-entry effects of the Tusk Mountain Boar, I should be able to suppress Ma Long steadily in direct strength. But to avoid alerting the snake in the grass, I still need a quick battle and a quick decision. I cannot give him too much chance to struggle..."

As he pondered, by the time he went to sleep, he had already made his decision.

The next day.

"You want to take a few days off?"

Wang Sanyang looked at Lin Sheng in surprise.

"That's right. I've been out for quite some time, and I want to go home and have a look."

Lin Sheng nodded.

"I see. That works too. Quite a few people in the squad still haven't recovered from their injuries, and no troublesome missions will fall to us for now. Go back for a few days, then."

After only a brief consideration, Wang Sanyang readily agreed, then added an extra warning.

"Try not to spread the word about your return. Avoid any accidents on the road."

"I will."

Naturally, Lin Sheng understood what kind of accident he meant. It could only be Ma Long.

After leaving the Ninth Squad's base, Lin Sheng did not hurry home. Instead, he bought quite a few things on the street, mostly local specialty jerky and furs, as well as some clothes.

Afterward, he wandered the streets a little longer and bought some miscellaneous items before finally heading toward the courtyard.

"Captain Lin, where are you off to?"

As he neared the courtyard, someone suddenly called out to him.

Holding his things, Lin Sheng turned around and saw a red-faced man with a thin, hunched body.

"It's Wang Jiu. Nothing much, just buying some things to keep at home..."

A flash of nervousness crossed Lin Sheng's face, but it quickly returned to normal as he smiled and replied.

"Keeping supplies at home? Captain Lin is certainly thorough..."

The man named Wang Jiu saw Lin Sheng's reaction, and a strange glint flashed through his eyes. Then he merely nodded and said nothing more.

"Then go on with your business, Captain Lin."

Wang Jiu cupped his fists and turned to leave.

Lin Sheng immediately quickened his pace and headed home.

Watching Lin Sheng leave, Wang Jiu, who had already walked several yards away, suddenly stopped. As though he were merely strolling, he blended into the crowd on the street and followed after him.

Only after Lin Sheng entered the courtyard did Wang Jiu hurry closer. He turned into an empty corner by the wall, pressed his ear close, and listened furtively.

Soon, he heard low murmurs from within the courtyard.

"These furs aren't cheap. Mother should like them. And the Pine Deer meat jerky can help Father build up his health too..."

Hearing this, Wang Jiu revealed an expression that said just as expected. He did not linger, instead slipping away on tiptoe until he vanished into the crowd.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Lin Sheng crouched in the yard and gently stroked the yellow-haired stray dog as it gnawed fiercely at a cow bone, a smile spreading across his face.

"Sure enough, Wang Jiu is Ma Long's man."

Ever since he had revealed his Body Tempering strength, he had noticed that Wang Jiu, the new transfer in the Ninth Squad, often looked at him in secret, deliberately or otherwise. Strange intent occasionally showed in his eyes, and sometimes he even seemed to be following Lin Sheng in secret.

Clearly, there was something wrong with the man. After gaining Perception Boost by incorporating the Horned Eagle, Lin Sheng had become almost certain that Wang Jiu was Ma Long's man.

Through Wang Jiu's mouth, Ma Long should soon learn that he was returning to the city.

Only once the sky had grown dark did Lin Sheng ride out of town in a horse-drawn cart.

The cart belonged to the Beast Hunter Hall convoy and was used to transport goods. He had borrowed it.

With his current status, such a trivial matter naturally amounted to nothing.

Lin Sheng half lay in the cart, idly playing with the whip in his hand. Though the cart had no carriage compartment, lying down was still more comfortable than riding a horse.

His eyes were half-closed, as though dozing. Up front, Old Ma needed no urging from him and simply made his way toward Lin'an County.

Just as the cart left town, two furtive figures also appeared outside the town. They followed Lin Sheng from afar for a while before stopping.

"This brat really is going back to the city. Old Jiu, follow him. He's got plenty of goods in that cart, and it's an old horse, so it won't move fast. Don't get too close and let him spot you."

"Fine, don't worry. So what if that brat is at Body Tempering? He's just a green kid. When it comes to tracking, I leave him two streets behind."

Wang Jiu patted his chest and spoke dismissively.

"Good. I'll go notify the boss now."

The other man seemed quite confident in his ability. Saying no more, he turned and left.

Wang Jiu lengthened his stride and quickly crept toward the cart in the distance.

He slowed his breathing and kept it even. This reduced the expenditure of stamina, a tracking technique he had figured out himself.

Though his strength truly was nothing special, it would have been absolutely impossible for him to survive steadily in the Beast Hunter Hall for two years without some skill.

He had possessed exceptionally sharp eyesight since childhood, clearly better than most people's. This allowed him to spot danger earlier than others in Yangping Mountain. He did not need to outrun those savage ferocious beasts—he only needed to outrun the teammates beside him. That was why he had preserved himself through several crises.

Later, Ma Long had taken a liking to him, allowing him to become Ma Long's trusted confidant.

At this moment, he kept walking while staring at the cart ahead. Narrowing his eyes and focusing his vision, he could vaguely make out the human silhouette lying atop it.

"You're already at death's door, yet you're still so comfortable. I'd like to see how long you can stay comfortable..."

He sneered, his eyes full of mockery.

"I don't know how long I can stay comfortable, but you're about to become uncomfortable..."

The sudden voice frightened Wang Jiu so badly that he sprang into the air.

"Who is it??"

He turned to look behind him, only to see a familiar face calmly watching him.

Wang Jiu's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief, but he would never have another chance to speak.