After a cup of tea.
Deep in a forest outside the city, dragon-like vine trunks hung down, as if woven into a net that blotted out the sky and sun.
A few figures gathered here, surrounding a corpse and talking.
"Master Ding, we owe this all to you this time. If not for you, we might have lost a few more men."
One of them kicked the corpse upon hearing this and spat a thick glob of phlegm.
"This fellow surnamed Yuan was stubborn too, refusing to listen to my advice and join us. There was nothing to do but kill him. Such a waste of his Bone Training Realm stage three strength."
"Hah, isn't that so. In this world, those who know which way the wind blows are few and far after all."
The man who had kicked the corpse returned a gleaming snow-white saber to its scabbard. It was none other than Snow Saber Martial Arts School master Ding Ying, who now sneered, "That fool Wang Youcai really thought I'd sell my life for him as a bodyguard captain?
Selling them all out will not only win me merit within the cult, but also harvest wealth he could never give me in a lifetime."
"Quite right. But things really went smoothly this time. I wonder if the Emissary and the others have already entered the city to pillage."
"The Emissary's diversion tactic was bound to succeed."
Ding Ying said with an expression of admiration, then looked at a woman tied to a vine tree not far away.
Beside him, a pockmarked man also shifted his gaze over. Seeing that lithe, youthful figure, a trace of evil intent surfaced in his eyes, "Master Ding, this little miss of the Wang Family is quite tender, and she's at the Bone Training Realm with a sturdy frame. How about the few of us share her? Hehehe."
Ding Ying frowned. "Inappropriate! This young miss of the Wang Family is a hot commodity. If we use her well, we can still extort even more wealth from Wang Youcai to win merit within the cult. Better take her back first and wait for the Emissary's disposition!"
The others nodded in deep agreement upon hearing this.
Someone laughed, "We can only blame this little miss herself for not behaving. Hearing the caravan was raided, she foolishly ran out alone. Haha, she has no jianghu experience after all."
"Her strength is still quite formidable. If Master Ding hadn't used your methods, we'd still have had to go through some trouble this time, hehehe. Tie her back up."
The pockmarked man who had spoken earlier gave a weird laugh and prepared to step forward and lay hands on Wang Xiuyun.
Suddenly, the group heard movement from the woods behind them at the same time, immediately turning vigilant.
"Who?"
"It's me!"
A low voice came out from within the forest.
Immediately, in the shadows of the woods, a few imperceptible transparent threads swept past.
A tall, robust figure wearing a cloak walked out slowly, his hand still pinching the neck of a pale and desperate old man.
Clang!!--
The vigilant and defensive group quickly drew their weapons.
Yet the moment they saw the figure walk out, all of them froze.
"Fu Wei?"
The person who walked out from the forest had a robust build and a square face. It was impressively Fu Wei, the boss of the Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits who had been missing for many days.
"Boss Wei, what are you playing at? Where have you been all these days?"
The pockmarked man seemed to have a good relationship with Fu Wei and, having relaxed his guard, walked toward Fu Wei while cursing.
"Who is this old fellow in your hand?"
Snow Saber Martial Arts School master Ding Ying frowned, looking at the old fellow in Fu Wei's hand who wore a desperate expression.
Fu Wei said not a word. Suddenly, he thrust his hand into the old man's bosom and yanked out a wad of Silver Notes.
The group's gaze was instantly drawn to the Silver Notes, and smiles soon appeared on their faces.
"Turns out to be a fat sheep!"
Yet Ding Ying had remained vigilant from start to finish. Seeing that Fu Wei opposite him wore an unnatural expression and kept silent, he was just about to speak.
Suddenly, Fu Wei violently scattered the Silver Notes in his hand toward the crowd.
Silver Notes fluttered all over the sky, instantly disrupting everyone's line of sight.
Yet the old man pinched in Fu Wei's hand seemed to suddenly break free, darting out abruptly with an aura instantly as ferocious as a hunting tiger, launching a thunderous strike.
"Ah, you--"
Ding Ying reacted instantly, his hand drawing his snow saber in a flash.
Yet a huge, massive fist appeared from the side with a boom, and the erupting vital energy was enough to suffocate his breath.
The cold, frozen-solid gaze opposite even pierced through the saber light, stabbing straight into Ding Ying's face, making him feel as though he had been fiercely struck by a tiger's sharp claws, suffering a shock with his counter-flow energy surging, feeling so uncomfortable he nearly vomited blood.
With a resounding clang explosion, the ferocious iron fist smashed into the blade, and the hundred-refined steel saber crumpled and warped on impact.
Ding Ying's tiger's mouth split open and spurted blood, his hand emptying out. Even with the thousand-jin might of the Bone Training Realm, he could not hold onto the fiercely vibrating saber at this moment, and the hilt instantly flew out of his hand.
"Roar!"
The old man's fist momentum was connected. With his left fist following up, his sleeve instantly billowed and expanded from the gale, emitting a roar like a tiger. Like a tiger stretching its claws, it landed fiercely on Ding Ying's face.
Thump-crack!
A hair-raising explosion echoed out, and Ding Ying's head burst apart like an exploding watermelon.
"This aura!!"
"Blood Change Realm!?"
At this moment, the other two on the side finally woke up from the instantaneous sudden change, their entire bodies shivering with goosebumps. Before they could even react, their faces and bodies were covered in the spattered blood.
The next instant, the eyes of both men turned red—they were congested from extreme shock.
A Blood Change Realm expert was actually pinched by the neck by Fu Wei, and then suddenly broke free to ambush them?
What on earth was this situation?
At this moment, the one closest let out a loud cry and wanted to retreat, but he was simply no match for the old man's speed.
The old man whipped around with a kick like a tiger whipping its tail, the lashed-out leg resembling a giant axe as it chopped down fiercely against the opponent's hastily raised, blocking arms.
"Crack!--"
The ear-piercing sound of bone cracking erupted once more, and a figure screamed as he flew out like a cannonball, crashing into the forest behind and snapping branches and leaves in a flurry of kacha-cha sounds.
Seeing this, the last pockmarked man had no fighting spirit whatsoever. With a roar, he suddenly hurled his weapon at the old man and turned to flee at top speed.
"Stay for this old man!"
The old man gave a low shout.
A forward rush like a tiger pouncing, the moment his arm batted away the weapon, his entire spine moved like a dragon. Beneath his clothes, his body seemed to swell and bulge amidst roiling Qi and blood, his knotted muscles twisting together like ropes as he abruptly twisted his waist and threw a punch!
"Roar!--"
With a boom-crack, a surging burst of vital energy struck out like an arrow of air.
The pockmarked man fleeing ahead screamed as a deep gully was instantly torn open across his back, his internal organs shattering completely. He vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, two Bone Training Realm and one Muscle Refining Realm martial artists fell one after another like harvested rice.
Only two figures remained in the clearing.
One was the Fu Wei transformed by a Shadow Puppet.
The other was a mysterious guest who resembled an elderly farmer.
"Good thing. Good thing this old man was fast and decisive in his strike, or else if it dragged on and these fellows were full of fighting spirit and fought me to the death, I might have taken a slight injury."
The old man stood his ground and spoke with an air of seniority, looking at the pockmarked man still twitching on the ground. He slowly let out a breath, calmed his roiling Qi and blood, and abruptly stomped his foot down.
With a crisp snap, the person on the ground lost all movement.
He turned and returned to the stream, looking at Wang Xiuyun not far away who was bound to the tree with her eyes open.
Seeing that although her eyes were open, her gaze remained hazy, evidently not yet completely recovered from a certain medicinal effect.
He immediately relaxed, walked over to untie her, and then picked up her soft, limp body, tossing her directly into the cold stream.
With a splash!
After Wang Xiuyun's delicate body landed in the stream, her clothes were quickly soaked and plastered tightly against her entire body, revealing her curvaceous figure.
Soaking in the icy stream water would quicken her recovery and restore her mobility.
Taking advantage of the time Wang Xiuyun was soaking in the water.
The old man swiftly retrieved the Silver Notes from the ground and dragged the corpses into a dark corner.
With a casual flick, the transparent threads between his fingers were retracted one by one, no longer infused with alien power.
Immediately, the tall and robust figure of Fu Wei opposite him shriveled down, collapsing onto the ground section by section along the bamboo joints like a layer of skin.
The old man made a magic-trick-like motion and touched his face.
Swish--
A Shadow Puppet Face Pattern resembling a human skin mask was peeled off, revealing a young man's face with sword-like brows slanting into his temples and clear, black-and-white, bright eyes. It was impressively Chu Ge.
Just a quarter of an hour ago, after extracting Ding Ying's general whereabouts from the mouths of the two "Fatal Ghosts" of the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult, Chu Ge had rushed over swiftly to try and rescue Wang Xiuyun.
Aside from being a bit blunt in her speech, Wang Xiuyun was not a bad person. Previously, when he was liquidating his family's assets, she had even put in a good word for him, allowing him to earn an extra five thousand taels.
If he could lend a hand this time, he naturally would.
At this moment, in a corner out of Wang Xiuyun's sight, Chu Ge sent Ding Ying and the others off, sacrificing them all into the Dragon Clock and destroying their corpses to prevent anyone from realizing they had been beaten to death by the Crouching Tiger Fist...
(About to hit the first round of recommendations. For those who like it, please don't let it sit on the shelf; keep up with the serial read and vote. Thanks, iron-ribbed bros!)
Before you continue