Baffling Maneuvers

"This is... a missing-person notice? How did anyone know me?"

Before he could figure it out, he heard a voice.

"Save me, sir! From now on, I'll follow your every command!" Following the voice, he found that it was actually a Wolf Bandit inside a cage speaking to him.

"A Wolf Bandit with such intelligence? Is it their leader?" Although Wolf Bandits were humanoid Spirit Beasts, they were not particularly intelligent. Only their leaders were smarter—and stronger.

They used force to suppress their clans and intelligence to lead them forward.

However, the chances of capturing a Wolf Bandit leader alive were practically nonexistent.

"Are you interested in this Wolf Bandit, sir?" The shop owner noticed Ye Qing's gaze. Though Ye Qing's clothes were not extravagant, the uniquely regal air around him was unmistakable. It was a presence Ye Qing had cultivated over the years. In the shop owner's eyes, he was a major customer.

Watching the Wolf Bandit roar inside the cage, the owner continued.

"Look, sir, this Wolf Bandit is full of spirit and doesn't have a single injury. Train it properly, and it'll make a fine helper. This fellow can handle the work of ten ordinary men when it comes to manual labor."

"Interesting..." He was not speaking to the shop owner, but to the Wolf Bandit in the cage. Humans could not understand its language, but Spirit Beasts could understand one another. The Wolf Bandit's self-promotion was even more exaggerated than the owner's. It knew that falling into human hands would not end well. Spirit Beasts capable of Shape Transformation into humans were rarely seen; this might have been its last chance.

Yet the Wolf Bandit race made him hesitate. Neither humans nor Spirit Beasts looked kindly upon Wolf Bandits. Not only did they travel in packs to raid human villages, but they also hunted Spirit Beast cubs. Spirit Beasts of every race were among their targets, and often, their hunting was not for food at all, but merely for amusement. To them, slaughter was not a necessity, but a pleasure.

Thus, not only humans but even Spirit Beasts treated Wolf Bandits as pests to be exterminated. Ye Qing was interested because most Wolf Bandits, even their leaders, remained in a constant state of madness. This one seemed somewhat unusual.

But before Ye Qing could make a decision, people from Spirit Hall had already arrived.

If Ye Qing's portrait could be found even in the market, there was naturally no way it would be absent from the city gates. The moment he entered the city, someone had gone to report to their superiors. Their late arrival was only because the Hall Master had been making preparations.

"Spirit Hall? What does Spirit Hall want with me?"

"Since its founding, Spirit Hall has invited talented people from across the world. This rule has remained unchanged for ages. As a Titled Douluo, you naturally fall within the scope of our invitation. I am the Hall Master of this city's Branch Hall. Please, come speak with us."

His words were exceedingly polite, and the people around him also wore respectful expressions. One did not strike a smiling face, so Ye Qing merely declined calmly.

"No need. I'm not interested."

At that moment, something unexpected happened. The leading man actually spat a stream of blood at Ye Qing, then collapsed to the ground. From the look of it, his life had already left him.

"This is... trying to frame me with his life?!"

Ye Qing had paid no attention when the man approached earlier. The man's Soul Power had barely reached Rank 70; even his full-strength attack could not possibly harm Ye Qing. But Ye Qing had never expected him to kill himself right in front of him.

From the blood he had spat out, Ye Qing sensed the poison within it. It was poison unique to the Nine-Section Jade. Combined with this all-too-familiar method and the man's position, his identity was obvious: he was the Branch Hall Master mentioned by that father and daughter, the one whose son had died.

Ye Qing had considered what reactions the man might have—issuing a warrant or launching an encirclement—but he had never imagined that he would resort to suicide. He could not understand it. It was completely meaningless.

"Someone died! Spirit Hall's Hall Master is dead!" Such an incident was naturally witnessed in the market. A Spirit Hall Branch Hall Master had been killed in the street; that was enough to throw the small city into an uproar. The people in the market immediately scattered like birds and beasts, clearly afraid of being implicated.

But the strangest part was the attendants behind that man. They seemed to have anticipated this outcome. There was no panic or confusion. They merely surrounded Ye Qing in silence, as though it had all been arranged in advance.

"I don't know what scheme you're plotting, but anyone who doesn't want to die should get out of my way." He still had the three little ones behind him. If something uncontrollable happened, it would be troublesome. Thus, he issued a warning to those around him.

Yet these people did not retreat. They showed no fear even before his nine Spirit Rings, as though they had known about them all along. There was not the slightest emotion in their eyes. One after another, they charged at him without fear of death.

They could not inflict any harm upon Ye Qing, but they kept swarming him like flies. When one of them targeted Xiao Wu as well, Ye Qing's patience reached its limit. Yet the blood that slid across his hands had no warmth at all.

"Dead people?!" Looking at the headless corpse that rose back to its feet, Ye Qing realized that these guards were all dead. Even beheading them could not stop their movements. He had no choice but to tear them apart completely before they finally stopped.

"What exactly is going on? Never mind. We'll leave this place first." As he spoke, he prepared to leave with Xiao Wu and the others. Everything was too bizarre, and it made him feel deeply uneasy. When something was abnormal, there had to be something behind it. These baffling methods were beyond his understanding; to be safe, it was better to leave first.

The Wolf Bandit in the cage grew anxious at once. If Ye Qing simply left like this, its fate would be sealed again. It immediately shouted.

"Sir! I have a way to find out what happened. Let me out!"

"If you're lying to me, your end won't be pleasant. You know the reputation of your Wolf Bandits, don't you?"

"No, no, I never lie! Sir, take me with you when you leave. I really have a way to find out why those humans acted like that." Having successfully caught Ye Qing's attention, it naturally had to seize the opportunity. It hurriedly revealed its trump card to him.

"All Wolf Bandits possess a trace of wolf-type Spirit Beast blood. Depending on the wolf breed, Wolf Bandits can awaken special abilities. My bloodline comes from a race called Ghost Spirit Wolf. These wolves can devour the remnants of souls left behind by dead creatures, absorbing fragments of their memories and wisdom... Those people have been dead for a long time, but their soul remnants are still there..."

This explanation let Ye Qing understand why this Wolf Bandit possessed such high intelligence. It seemed to have absorbed quite a bit of wisdom. Ghost Spirit Wolves were incorporeal, spiritual-type Spirit Beasts, which was why it had escaped that maddened state.

With a casual squeeze, he crushed the iron bars of the cage and released the Wolf Bandit inside.

"Find out exactly what happened. Don't think about deceiving me. I may not know the specific details, but I can still guess part of the bigger picture."

"I understand, sir."

It ran over to the shattered corpses and began absorbing things that ordinary people could not see.