The Hunchback

Great Strength King, the Sky-Touching Beast, and Golden Saber had been humiliated by the strange man and forced to return the toll money they had been collecting on a regular basis to Lu Qiying. Even days later, they still smarted from the insult. They had made inquiries and learned that those experts were Dragon King's subordinates.

They couldn't afford to provoke them, so they could only vent their anger on underlings. Just as the three decided to forget the whole thing, a Northerner came to see them and said, "A man who doesn't avenge himself isn't a man—let alone a bandit. Now the whole Western Regions says you're scaredy-cats who tremble from head to toe at the mere mention of 'Dragon King.'"

It was the simplest kind of provocation, but it worked wonders on the three men. They all flushed and puffed out their chests, proclaiming that they would have their revenge. The Northerner knew that unless he pointed these bandits in another direction, their enthusiasm wouldn't last more than a few days.

"He said provisions are the lifeblood of the Dragon Army, and the thing Dragon King cares about most. If we can't touch Dragon King or his experts, what's stopping us from going after the provisions?" The Sky-Touching Beast had taken just one punch from Molin and been knocked off his feet, without even a chance to use his Lightness Skill. His confidence had been utterly crushed, and he confessed everything without a fuss.

Silence fell over the tent. The Sky-Touching Beast thought he had said something wrong and looked nervously at Molin. He still didn't know that the cripple was the real master.

Li Man felt a bitter ache in his heart, and even his voice trembled a little. "What was the Northerner's name? Who sent him?"