Yin Tong Cult

Near evening, Zhao Han raced back to the mine with the wild wolf corpse.

Without time to eat, he went straight into Liu Gang's tent to report.

"So this is all the game you bagged in a whole day."

Liu Gang's expression soured—hadn't he said no wild wolves? Was this Zhao deaf or just not listening?

If Zhao Han hadn't just broken through to the Skin Refining Realm, Liu Gang would have made trouble for him on the spot.

"Alas, I'm just too useless, not as good as the others. Three members of Blood Snake Hall, relying on their superiority over me, actually seized the woodland and drove me away, forbidding me from hunting." Zhao Han's voice cracked into sobs as he spoke, putting on a pitiful act.

He dumped all the blame onto the three dead men.

"What! Those three from Blood Snake Hall dared to be so lawless? This is our Poison Dragon Hall's mine—how could they?"

Liu Gang's face shifted. He suddenly realized that Blood Snake Hall's arrival at the mine seemed to have an unusual purpose.

Normally, if they sent support, it would just be a few people. Not like this time, dispatching an entire hall, even bringing their Hall Master along.

Two halls on one mine—who called the shots? Who was in charge?

Clearly, the Main Sect had sent Blood Snake Hall to investigate Poison Dragon Hall.

As a headman, though Liu Gang hadn't earned Li Dalong's favor like Wang Hu had, he still knew some of Li Dalong's secrets.

The mine slaves vanishing out of nowhere—that was Li Dalong's doing, selling people off to an evil cult called the Yin Tong Cult for profit.

Liu Gang himself had taken some hush money, knew the truth, but kept his mouth shut.

The Main Sect had probably caught wind of something, which was why they sent Blood Snake Hall to investigate.

"Since there's a reason for it, I'll let it slide for now. Go eat and get some rest."

"Yes!"

Zhao Han left and immediately went to eat, while Liu Gang hurried to Li Dalong's tent to report.

But after a short while, Li Dalong, Liu Gang, Wang Hu, Wang Bao, and Wang Hong with her headmen all came to the communal bunk where Zhao Han was staying.

"Zhao Han, did you run into three Snake Catchers under Hall Master Wang's command?" Li Dalong demanded with a dark face.

"Yes, I met them this morning. They, they even drove me away, told me not to hunt and interfere with their snake-catching. All I managed to kill today was one wild wolf." Zhao Han put on a clueless look, trembling as he replied.

He knew full well that the three hadn't returned, and these people had come to question him.

Li Dalong mused, "So they were still in the woods this morning, but now none of them have come back."

Wang Hu said, "Could it be the Black Wolf Gang's doing? After all, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu both died under the Black Wolf Fist."

"Very likely!"

Everyone started guessing, but none of them suspected Zhao Han.

Especially Li Dalong and Wang Hu—they had even less reason to doubt him.

They all knew this was Blood Snake Hall looking for trouble with Poison Dragon Hall.

The three missing men might have been a deliberate move, an excuse to stir up conflict with Poison Dragon Hall.

Wang Hong also realized she wouldn't get anything useful out of this. After understanding the situation, she immediately sent her men to search.

"Hmph, trying to use this flimsy excuse to snoop around my turf? Do you really take me for a fool, Li Dalong?"

Li Dalong watched it all with a cold smirk.

Wang Hong, you're overplaying your hand, but I see right through you. 'Long hair, short wit' isn't just an empty saying.

Wang Hong was anxious too. She had only come to probe Li Dalong's depths; she hadn't ordered the three Snake Catchers to fake a disappearance to give her an excuse to investigate.

The three might really be in trouble.

The overnight search turned up something Li Dalong hadn't expected—three corpses.

Just like Zhang Long and Zhao Hu before them, they seemed to have been killed by the same person, using the same Black Wolf Fist.

"The Black Wolf Gang goes too far! Do they think Poisonous Snake Gang has no one?"

"Hiding in the eastern woods all day, ambushing our people—this is outrageous."

"Tomorrow I'll lead a sweep of the eastern woodland and show them what Poisonous Snake Gang is made of."

Inside the tent, everyone cursed loudly.

"Hall Master Wang, I have a good plan to lure the snakes out of their holes and wipe out all those skulking Black Wolf Gang members." Li Dalong's eyes suddenly glinted as he smiled.

Wang Hong leaned in. "Oh? What plan?"

"We just need to disguise ourselves as gang members and enter the eastern woods. Then the Black Wolf Gang will surely come out to intercept us."

"But they won't know it's you and me in disguise. When the time comes..."

Li Dalong's meaning was crystal clear.

"Excellent plan. I didn't expect Hall Master Li to have such a sharp mind." Wang Hong smiled, but inwardly she grew wary.

Those three men under her command were most likely killed by Li Dalong's people, both to intimidate her Blood Snake Hall and to frame the Black Wolf Gang.

This "luring the snake out of its hole" was actually about luring Wang Hong, that blood snake, out, then killing her and pinning the blame on the Black Wolf Gang.

Did they really think my hair grew long for nothing? Li Dalong, oh Li Dalong, your little tricks are all seen through by me.

Wang Hong was already deeply wary of Li Dalong in her heart.

The strange disappearance of the Mine Slaves was definitely Li Dalong's doing.

Although Mine Slaves weren't worth much, their labor was valuable, and capturing them cost no small amount of manpower and resources.

Losing Mine Slaves one after another was no trivial matter.

"So Hall Master Wang agrees?" Li Dalong said with a grin.

"Mm, we'll proceed according to Hall Master Li's plan." Wang Hong smiled, both corners of her mouth lifting at once, her snake-like face stretching longer and sharper at the chin.

Back in the tent, Wang Hong said to her subordinates, the twin brothers Xu Kun and Xu Cai:

"Xu Kun, Xu Cai, you two send a carrier pigeon message to the Main Sect. I expect Li Dalong will make his move against me tomorrow. When he does, you two bring people to hide in the shadows—I want to catch him in the act."

"Yes, your subordinate understands!"

The two exchanged a glance, then immediately cupped their fists and accepted the order.

Leaving the tent, what Wang Hong didn't expect was that the two quietly slipped into Li Dalong's tent.

Wang Hu and Wang Bao were also there.

"Hall Master..." As soon as they entered, they spilled all of Wang Hong's secrets.

"Hehehe, Wang Hong never imagined that the two trusted leaders by her side were, like me, followers of the Holy Cult." Li Dalong laughed darkly and sinisterly.

They were all members of the Yin Tong Cult. Li Dalong was at the Muscle Refining Realm, higher in rank, serving as a Hall Master.

Xu Kun, Xu Cai, Wang Hu, Wang Bao—these people were all cult members.

"Write the carrier pigeon message like this..."

"Hall Master Li is fine. It was Black Wolf Gang spies secretly abducting the Mine Slaves. Hall Master Li feared punishment and thus dared not speak up."

"Additionally, the Black Wolf Gang is ambushing Poison Dragon Hall. Tomorrow, I will join Hall Master Li in searching for the Black Wolf Gang's hidden operatives."

The two wrote the carrier pigeon message, released it, and made their pact with Li Dalong.

Zhao Han knew nothing of their schemes, nor did he know that the Poisonous Snake Gang was rife with internal factions. As a lowly gang member, he just ate, slept, and went with the flow.

The next day, many gang members were told they could no longer go to the woods on the East Side. Whether for gathering firewood, training martial arts, or hunting beasts, they were only allowed to go to the West Side.

To the north was the Official Road.

To the south was the Mine Tunnel, surrounded by rock formations.

To the west was the forest, with fewer resources than the east.

Zhao Han wasn't worried. He just needed to take things step by step—east or west made no difference to him.

But on the East Side, something went wrong around noon.

"Xu Kun, Xu Cai... I, I treated you both well, and yet you... wuwu..."

Wang Hong lay pale-faced on the ground, struggling painfully.

A knife was stuck in each of her kidneys, and her back had taken a heavy punch.

She never expected that the Xu Kun and Xu Cai she had secretly arranged to protect her with Elite Gang Members would be the only ones there—and they had stabbed her in the back.