New Shadow Puppet, Grandfather Makes a Move

A moment later.

In a deep forest outside the city, vine trunks like coiled dragons hung upside down, weaving a net that blotted out the sky.

Several figures gathered here, surrounding a corpse and conversing.

"Sect Master Ding, we owe you this time. If it weren't for you, we might have lost more men."

Upon hearing this, one of them kicked the corpse and spat a mouthful of phlegm.

"This fellow surnamed Yuan was stubborn and refused to join us. We had no choice but to kill him. What a waste of his Bone Tempering third-stage strength."

"Sigh, indeed. In the end, only a few people in this world know how to adapt to the times."

The person kicking the corpse sheathed his gleaming long saber. He was none other than Ding Ying, the sect master of the Snow Saber Martial Arts School. He sneered, "That fool Wang Youcai, did he really think I'd risk my life as his captain of the guards?

By selling them out, I can earn merit for the Cult and also gain wealth he could never give me in a lifetime."

"Exactly. But this time it was really smooth. I wonder if the Envoys have already entered the city to plunder."

"The Envoys' feint will surely succeed."

Ding Ying said with admiration, then looked at the woman tied to a vine tree not far away.

A bald man beside him also shifted his gaze. Seeing the graceful and youthful figure, a lustful thought appeared in his eyes. "Sect Master Ding, this young lady from the Wang Family is quite tender, and she's also at the Bone Training Realm. Her body is strong. How about we brothers have some fun together? Hehehe."

Ding Ying frowned. "That's not appropriate! This eldest daughter of the Wang Family is a hot commodity. If we use her well, we can extort more wealth from Wang Youcai, earn merit for the Cult. Let's take her back first and wait for the Envoys' orders!"

The others nodded in agreement.

Someone laughed, "It's her own fault for not being honest. Hearing that the merchant caravan was robbed, she foolishly ran out on her own. Haha, she ultimately has no experience in the martial world."

"Her strength is still quite formidable. If Sect Master Ding hadn't taken action, we would have had a harder time this time. Hehehe, let's tie her up and take her back."

The bald man who spoke earlier chuckled sinisterly and was about to step forward to lay hands on Wang Xiuyun.

Suddenly, all of them heard movement from the forest behind them and became alert.

"Who?"

"It's me!"

A deep voice echoed from within the forest.

Immediately, several almost imperceptible transparent threads zipped through the shadows of the trees.

A tall, burly figure in a cloak slowly emerged, still holding a pale, desperate old man by the neck.

Clang!!--

The vigilant group quickly drew their weapons.

However, the moment they saw the figure emerge, they all froze.

"Fu Wei?"

The person who walked out of the forest was burly with a square face. It was none other than Fu Wei, the leader of the Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits, who had been missing for days.

"Boss Wei, what are you doing? Where have you been all these days?"

The bald man, who seemed to have a good relationship with Fu Wei, relaxed his guard and walked towards Fu Wei, cursing.

"Who is this old fellow in your hand?"

Ding Ying, the sect master of the Snow Saber Martial Arts School, frowned and looked at the desperate old man in Fu Wei's grasp.

Fu Wei remained silent. He suddenly reached into the old man's embrace, grabbed, and pulled out a bundle of Silver Notes.

The group's attention was immediately drawn to the Silver Notes, and smiles appeared on their faces.

"So it's a fat sheep!"

Ding Ying, however, remained vigilant throughout. Seeing Fu Wei's unnatural expression and his continued silence, he was about to speak.

Suddenly, Fu Wei violently scattered the Silver Notes in his hand towards the crowd.

Silver Notes flew everywhere, instantly obscuring the group's vision.

The old man held by Fu Wei suddenly broke free, his aura instantly becoming as fierce as a hunting tiger, launching a thunderous strike.

"Ah, you—"

Ding Ying reacted instantly, drawing his snow saber in a flash.

However, a massive fist appeared from the side with a 'boom,' and the erupting force made him gasp for breath.

The cold, tangible gaze opposite him pierced through the saber light and hit Ding Ying directly in the face, as if he had been struck by a fierce tiger's claws, leaving him stunned. His Qi surged in reverse, making him feel so uncomfortable he wanted to vomit blood.

With a "clang" and a loud bang, the fierce iron fist smashed onto the saber. The refined steel saber dented and twisted in response.

Ding Ying's tiger's mouth split open and bled. His hand went empty. Even with the thousand pounds of force from the Bone Training Realm, he couldn't hold onto the violently vibrating saber. The hilt instantly flew out of his grasp.

"Roar!"

The old man's fist followed up. His left fist came in, and his sleeve instantly swelled like a hurricane, emitting a tiger's roar. Like a tiger's claw, it fiercely landed on Ding Ying's face.

"Bang crack!"

A chilling explosion reverberated. Ding Ying's head exploded like a self-detonating watermelon.

"This aura!!"

"Blood Change Realm!?"

At this moment, the other two people nearby finally snapped out of the sudden change, their hair standing on end from shock. Before they could react, their faces and bodies were already splattered with blood.

The next instant, their eyes turned red, bloodshot from extreme fright.

A Blood Change Realm expert was actually grabbed by the neck by Fu Wei, then suddenly broke free and ambushed them?

What in the world was going on?

At this moment, the closest person let out a yell and tried to retreat, but he was no match for the old man's speed.

The old man turned and kicked, like a fierce tiger's tail whip. The kick was like a giant axe, fiercely chopping down on the opponent's hastily raised arms.

"Crack—!"

The piercing sound of bone breaking erupted again. A figure screamed and was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the woods behind, shattering branches and leaves with a "kā-lā-lā" sound.

Seeing this, the last baldy lost all will to fight. With a roar, he threw his weapon at the old man and turned to flee quickly.

"Stay where you are!"

The old man grunted.

He charged forward like a pouncing tiger, snatching the weapon away in an instant. His spine moved like a dragon, and his body under his clothes seemed to swell with surging Qi and Blood. His knotted muscles twisted like ropes as he suddenly twisted his waist and threw a punch!

"Roar—!"

With a "kā-lā" sound, a surge of powerful energy shot out like an arrow.

The fleeing baldy screamed, a deep gash opening up on his back. His internal organs ruptured, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, falling to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, two Martial Cultivators in the Bone Tempering Realm and one in the Muscle Refining Realm fell like stalks of wheat.

Only two figures remained on the scene.

One was Fu Wei, who had transformed into Shadow Puppets.

The other was a mysterious guest who looked like an old farmer.

"Fortunately. Fortunately, I was quick and decisive, otherwise if we had gotten entangled, and these few had fought with all their might, I might have still gotten injured."

The old man stood in place, speaking with an air of experience. He looked at the twitching baldy on the ground, slowly exhaled, and calmed his surging Qi and Blood. He then stomped his foot.

With a crisp sound, the person on the ground stopped moving.

He turned back to the stream and looked at Wang Xiuyun, who was tied to a tree not far away and had already opened her eyes.

Seeing that although her eyes were open, her gaze was hazy, clearly not fully recovered from the effects of some medicine.

He relaxed and walked over to untie her. Then, he picked up her soft, limp body and threw her directly into the icy stream.

"Plop!"

As Wang Xiuyun's delicate body fell into the stream, her clothes were quickly plastered to her body by the water, accentuating her curves.

In the cold stream, this would help her sober up faster and regain her mobility.

While Wang Xiuyun was soaking in the water, The old man quickly collected the Silver Notes from the ground and dragged the corpses into the shadows.

With a flick of his fingers, the transparent threads retracted, no longer channeling Exotic Power.

Instantly, the tall and sturdy figure of Fu Wei opposite him shriveled, collapsing to the ground like a layer of skin, section by section along the bamboo joints.

The old man, as if performing a magic trick, touched his face.

Swish—

A Shadow Puppet mask, like a human skin mask, was removed, revealing a youthful face with sharply slanted eyebrows and clear, bright, piercing eyes. It was none other than Chu Ge.

Just a quarter of an hour ago, after extracting the general whereabouts of Ding Ying from two "Life Chasing Ghosts" of the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult, Chu Ge had rushed over to try and rescue Wang Xiuyun.

Although Wang Xiuyun was a bit too blunt in her speech, she wasn't a bad person. When he had sold off his family's assets before, she had spoken kindly to him, allowing him to earn an extra five thousand taels.

If he could help her this time, he naturally would.

At this moment, in a corner invisible to Wang Xiuyun, Chu Ge sent Ding Ying and the others off, sacrificing them all into the Dragon Bell, destroying the evidence, and preventing anyone from realizing they were killed by the Crouching Tiger Fist