Flying Stone Technique in Hand, Those Damn Old Swine-Dogs

A short while later, Lin Xuankong dragged Ma Xiong's and the others' corpses deep into the woods, then thoroughly cleared away the birdcage by the roadside and every other trace.

Sure enough, there was a freshly dug pit deep within the dense forest.

Unfortunately, the pit was a little too small. It was not nearly enough, since it had originally been prepared for one person. With six people, they could not have fit even if they were squeezed in!

So he had no choice but to use the iron shovel belonging to Han Si, that Black Tiger Gang member, to enlarge the pit.

After burying the six bodies, Lin Xuankong stood beside the mound of earth and gathered together everything he had searched from them.

There were over sixty taels of silver in total, most of it found on Ma Xiong.

There were also four Hundred Refinements Steel Sabers. Each was worth around eight or nine taels, adding up to more than thirty taels.

What interested Lin Xuankong most was a copy of Flying Stone Technique he found on Hu Lin. It was not a martial arts manual, but a training method for throwing Locust Stones. Flying Stone Technique! During the earlier battle, Hu Lin's stone-throwing methods had left a deep impression on Lin Xuankong!

He was certain that if Hu Lin's elder brother had also known how to use Locust Stones, and Lin Xuankong had not killed him in advance, then the two brothers using the Flying Stone Technique together would definitely have put him at a disadvantage!

After all, the gap between the early and middle stages of the first level was not the difference between heaven and earth. No matter how strong Spirit Crane Finger was, it could not withstand two experts in hidden weapons!

Now that this exquisite Flying Stone Technique had fallen into his hands, he could cultivate it properly!

Looking at these gains, Lin Xuankong felt somewhat emotional. After being ambushed and then killing his attackers, the silver and spoils he had gained could probably match more than ten years of selling flatbread. Sure enough, wealth was sought amid peril!

At least he would not need to worry about the cost of Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup for the time being!

After leaving the dense forest, Lin Xuankong first went to Li Mansion and turned down the flatbread master's job, then hurried toward Wutong Alley.

Whether Ma Xiong had spoken to save his life or simply to die more easily, he had revealed quite a lot. First of all, Zhang Wu's arrangements were largely consistent with Lin Xuankong's guesses. Zhang Wu had always coveted his little foodie's beauty and strength!

However, what made Lin Xuankong's skin crawl was this—

Granny Wang had actually accepted benefits from Zhang Wu and deliberately approached the Young Lady. That old thing's methods were clearly even more disgusting than Ma Xiong's!

That old thing brought food boxes and Honey Date Preserve, speaking affectionate and intimate words before others, while behind their backs she committed deeds that killed without spilling blood!

There was also a piece of information that Lin Xuankong could not tell was true or false. Ma Xiong had told him that after Granny Wang came over that day and saw Little Tiger go to the Lin Family, she feared that meddlesome Little Tiger would ruin her plans, so she specifically sent someone to deal with him.

That was also why Lin Xuankong had directly refused the job at Li Mansion and returned to Wutong Alley to check on the situation!

Little Tiger had a good relationship with him and had warned him several times.

Had Little Tiger not warned him, Lin Xuankong might have been surrounded and killed by Ma Xiong's men days ago! At that time, he did not even know Spirit Crane Finger. Faced with the siege of several Black Tiger Gang experts, he would have had no hope of escaping death!

When he returned to Wutong Alley, Lin Xuankong knocked on Little Tiger's door, but there was still no answer.

He looked around. Seeing no one nearby, Lin Xuankong leaped over the wall into Little Tiger's courtyard.

He looked at the somewhat messy courtyard, and an ominous feeling rose in his heart.

He quickly walked to the Wooden Building and pushed open the door. On the table in the outer room of the Li Family home sat a plate of pickled vegetables, two flatbreads with bites taken out of them, and two unfinished bowls of thin porridge.

Lin Xuankong looked carefully, and his brows could not help but tighten. The two bowls of porridge had long since gone cold, and the cornmeal within had settled to the bottom. They had clearly been left there for quite some time.

"Little Tiger!" Lin Xuankong shouted. The Wooden Building was silent and empty, without any response.

He quickened his pace and thoroughly searched every level of the Li Family's Wooden Building, but he could not find the father and son.

Thinking of Ma Xiong's words, of what that old hag Granny Wang had done, and of how he had not seen Little Tiger calling out to sell fruits and melons in the streets these past two days, a blaze of anger gradually rose in Lin Xuankong's heart. He clenched his fists and walked toward the exit.

Just as he passed through the outer room, Lin Xuankong suddenly stopped and turned to look at the rice jar in the corner. He seemed to have heard a faint rustling sound coming from inside.

Had a rat gotten into the rice jar?

Lin Xuankong continued toward the door.

After stepping outside the wooden door,

Lin Xuankong turned back and returned. What if—what if the Li father and son had not lost their lives? In that case, it would be a shame if the rats ate the old rice in their home.

Walking to the rice jar, he reached out and lifted its lid. The sight before him made his expression change.

Li Dahu, whom he had seen just two or three days ago, was curled up in the large jar with his body twisted. His face was bluish-white, his eyes wide open, and his expression contorted. He had clearly suffered terrible pain before his death. The stench of blood mingled with rotting odor wafted from the rice jar.

What chilled Lin Xuankong most was that Li Dahu was not alone in the jar. Beneath Li Dahu's corpse, Li Xiaohu's body was tightly bound with hemp rope and pinned underneath. A filthy rag had been stuffed firmly into his mouth. His lifeless eyes, filled with terror, stared out of the jar at Lin Xuankong!

For nearly two days and one night, Little Tiger had been tied up like this and thrown into the large jar, unable to move. Above him was his father's corpse, slowly rotting away. Lin Xuankong did not know what terror, rage, and helplessness the youth before him had endured during those two days and one night!

Li Dahu had no relatives in Great Marsh Prefecture, and people rarely visited his home. If Lin Xuankong had not come, what would have happened?

Just because Little Tiger had kindly warned him a few times, perhaps ruining Granny Wang's disgusting scheme to seduce and beguile the Young Lady, would Little Tiger and Li Dahu—two living lives—have died so miserably, trapped inside this narrow, cramped, horrifying rice jar?

If he had not received the Young Lady's guidance, if he had not advanced to the middle stage of the first level so quickly, then today he too would surely have died like the Li father and son: terrified, miserable, and unknown to anyone!

Common folk truly were no better than grass and mustard.

Those Martial Cultivators truly stood so damned high above everyone else!

Those damn old swine-dogs truly deserved to die!

That damn Black Tiger Gang truly deserved to die!

Lin Xuankong desperately suppressed the endless rage and impulse in his heart. He knew that no matter how badly he wanted to kill Granny Wang and Zhang Wu, no matter how badly he wanted to eradicate the Black Tiger Gang, his strength was still insufficient. He still needed to grow stronger!

Suppressing his fury, Lin Xuankong used the Mortal Transformation Vitality in his body to slowly soothe and regulate Little Tiger's arms and body.

After being bound by hemp rope for nearly two days and one night, Little Tiger's arms, legs, and torso had all suffered varying degrees of damage from the lack of blood circulation. When he had first been pulled out of the rice jar, his hands and legs had almost completely lost all sensation.

Now, as his blood gradually began to flow freely again, the intense numbness, itching, and pain were beyond imagination. After all, even an ordinary person whose leg had merely gone numb for a short while would feel terrible once circulation returned. Yet Little Tiger's entire body had been affected!

Little Tiger gritted his teeth and breathed heavily, but from beginning to end, he did not cry out in pain even once. This youth possessed the ferocity of a tiger and wolf.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn,

Nourished and regulated by the Mortal Transformation Vitality, Little Tiger's arms and legs gradually recovered. The madness in his eyes slowly sank deep within them, while a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

Once Lin Xuankong stopped regulating him, Little Tiger immediately rolled off the bed, dropped to the ground, and repeatedly kowtowed. "Uncle Lin, great kindness needs no words of thanks. From now on, Little Tiger's life is yours!"

Lin Xuankong reached out and pulled Little Tiger up. Looking at Little Tiger, who had suffered such a terrible calamity, he wanted to offer a few words of comfort.

But he knew,

At a time like this,

Any comfort offered in words was powerless.

Blood—only blood could bring comfort!