A Sudden Turn for the Better

Li Wei sat in the chair, listening to Xu Wanshan's story, and slowly fell into deep thought.

Previously, he had only used a few tricks to get Xu Wanshan to reveal all the information he wanted to know.

At this moment, Li Wei frowned. Clearly, the strange man Xu Wanshan mentioned was after the same thing he had thought: the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Upper Volume. But how did he know the exact location, and even the fact that the Nine Yin Transformation Scripture was hidden in Shishou?

Moreover, that bloodthirsty personality and bizarre methods don't seem like the style of people in this world at all; even the most vicious bandits wouldn't do such a thing.

"Could it be another reincarnator?" Li Wei stroked his chin, considering this possibility.

In fact, Li Wei knew about the presence of other reincarnators when he entered this mission. After all, this was an open-ended, mandatory mission, so it wasn't surprising that other reincarnators were present.

However, those reincarnators were also bound by the Rule Codex, becoming ordinary people. Therefore, Li Wei had never noticed the existence of other reincarnators.

However, more than a month has passed since the mission began, and many skilled reincarnators have started to find and practice martial arts techniques from this world. The strange man Xu Wanshan mentioned should be a reincarnator who has achieved success in his cultivation. However, this cannot explain why he knows so much about the ancient temple and the books hidden inside the stone.

Suddenly, Li Wei sat up from his chair; a possibility had occurred to him.

If he himself had the opportunity to obtain the "Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Upper Volume", then why couldn't other reincarnators? Perhaps that reincarnator was extremely lucky, obtained a clue to the Nine Yin Spirit Transformation, and knew that there was a treasure hidden in the ancient temple statue. However, fearing danger, he coerced Xu Wanshan to help him retrieve the treasure as a precaution.

If they could obtain it, that would be ideal; if not, they could at least learn about the ancient temple's situation. The fact that this reincarnator was so cautious further confirmed their suspicions: the other party must be extremely familiar with the ancient temple. At the very least, the information that 'there is danger in the ancient temple' must be present in the information this reincarnator possessed.

In fact, Li Wei knew that if he hadn't accidentally entered the ancient temple and taken the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Upper Volume, there would definitely still be fox demons and crickets that had cultivated into spirits in that temple. However, the reincarnator probably didn't know about these variables. Therefore, he believed that the ancient temple was still very dangerous, and thus he did not go there rashly.

Thinking of this, Li Wei glanced at Xu Wanshan, who was standing obediently to the side, and said with a smile, "Don't be afraid. That strange man is actually a wanted criminal. I happen to be quite familiar with Constable Zheng of Qingzhou Prefecture. Since we've run into him, I should take care of him and help you get out of this predicament!"

Li Wei had carefully considered his words. Upon hearing that Li Wei intended to deal with the strange man, Xu Wanshan immediately knelt down, his old eyes filled with tears, and said, "I have truly met a benefactor. If you can subdue that thief, I am willing to offer him one hundred taels of silver as a token of my respect..."

Li Wei naturally wouldn't refuse such a request, since Xu Wanshan wouldn't be happy if he kept turning him down.

Then, Li Wei whispered a few words in Xu Wanshan's ear, and the latter nodded and followed the guard out. Li Wei himself changed into a set of night clothes, covered his face, and then waited quietly there.

Li Wei told Xu Wanshan that the thief was highly skilled in martial arts and would not be difficult to subdue, but it would be troublesome to prevent him from harming anyone. Therefore, they could only use a plan. The plan was for Li Wei to pretend to be a guard returning from an outing, while Xu Wanshan would go and inform the strange man. In this way, they could strike the thief when he was off guard.

To enhance the effect, Li Wei smeared some of the blood from the corpse at the door onto his own body, then pretended to be seriously injured.

Soon, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, and Li Wei quickly held his breath. Because of the ancient nature of the Rule Codex, all reincarnators had lost their Detection skills, so he did not know the true combat strength of that reincarnator, and it was best to be cautious.

The wooden door was pushed open with a bang, and Xu Wanshan, with a fawning expression, led the reincarnator in.

As they walked, Xu Wanshan continued, "My guard wasn't very skilled, so he got injured. He also failed to complete the task you entrusted to him, hero..."

Knowing all along that the ancient temple deep in the mountains was dangerous, the reincarnator found these words quite natural. He waved his hand and said, "Hmph, if you could also get that thing, I wouldn't need to go through all this trouble!"

Having said that, he had already entered the room. He glanced at the black-clad guard sitting slumped in a chair, covered in blood and barely alive, and felt a chill in his heart. Then, he revealed a strange smile.

It wasn't that he had discovered anything, but rather that he was quite pleased with himself for not rushing to the ancient temple earlier. Looking at the dying and severely injured guard, he knew that the ancient temple must be fraught with danger. Fortunately, the guard was still alive, and he only needed to get some information about the temple from him before he could go there himself, which would make things much easier.

Without waiting for Xu Wanshan's introduction, he walked a few steps to the black-clad guard and said in a deep voice, "Tell me, what did you encounter in that ancient temple? I want you to tell me in detail, without omitting anything!"

He was clearly very anxious, but the black-clad guard seemed to be exhausted and said something barely.

"What did you say?" The reincarnator clearly hadn't heard him clearly, so he naturally moved closer.

The black-clad guard's lips moved, but his voice was still very soft, seemingly due to his severe injuries. However, words like 'ancient temple,' 'monster,' and 'ancient book' could still be heard in his voice.

Now, the reincarnator was truly anxious. He was afraid that the black-clad guard might accidentally die, and then he would lose everything. So, he directly pressed his ear to the other's mouth.

At that moment, the dying black-clad guard's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he suddenly attacked, striking the reincarnator's chest and arms with three consecutive palm strikes. Finally, with a flash of cold light, he directly severed the reincarnator's right hand.

All of this happened in an instant. By the time the reincarnator reacted, his arm was already severed, and his right hand fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ah!" The pain in his wrist made him cry out. He was terrified because his painstakingly practiced 'Eagle Claw Technique' relied entirely on his right hand, and now he had no means of attack. He tried to retreat, but found that the black-clad guard's palm strike to his chest had actually incorporated a lot of internal force, dispersing the true energy he had painstakingly cultivated.

In an instant, he, who originally possessed extraordinary skills, became a cripple.

Taking a few steps back, the reincarnator collapsed to the ground with a thud. The black-clad guard quickly got up, took a rope from Xu Wanshan, and tied the reincarnator up tightly.

After binding the other person tightly, Li Wei got up, took off his black clothes, and took out a bottle of 'Golden Sore Medicine' from his pocket, applying the medicine to the other person's wounds.

The Golden Sore Medicine in Shadow Street is extremely effective; it can quickly stop the bleeding of ordinary wounds, and even has miraculous effects on some larger wounds. After the medicine was applied, the bleeding stopped quickly, but the reincarnator's face was ashen; he never imagined that he would be crippled so quickly.

After that, everything was completely under Li Wei's control. Seeing that Li Wei had subdued the fierce and strange man, Xu Wanshan was overjoyed and immediately presented him with one hundred taels of silver as promised. He also vacated a room for Li Wei to interrogate the strange man, as requested by Li Wei.

Li Wei, carrying the tightly bound reincarnator, entered the room. He had many questions to ask, but Li Wei wasn't worried about the man refusing to talk. He could simply hand him over to An Hei and Blood Wolf, two experts in interrogation. Even the toughest man would have to spill everything in their hands.

Li Wei had learned a bit about interrogation, and fortunately, the reincarnator in front of him was not as strong as he had imagined. After only a moment, he spoke.

"My ID is 81503. I entered this story world a month ago. My mission is to kill at least six demons. My starting point is Eagle Fortress, which is a hundred miles away from here. I am a third-generation disciple there. In the past month, I have mastered the sect's ultimate skill, 'Eagle Claw Technique,' so I went out to carry out this mission..."

The reincarnator rolled his eyes as he spoke, while Li Wei sat opposite him, staring at him expressionlessly. "Are you alone?"

The reincarnator, number 81503, hurriedly said, "No... there are two others. They are like me, but they are second-generation disciples!"

"Second-generation disciples" means that the other two are more skilled than 81503. Li Wei was silent for a moment, then said, "Now, tell me why you coerced Xu Wanshan to investigate that ancient temple. Remember, don't lie, or I'll chop you up and feed you to the wolves!"

This reincarnator's mission doesn't conflict with his own, so they won't clash unless necessary. However, Li Wei wants to know about the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two Transformation, so he has no choice but to ask this reincarnator for help.

Upon hearing Li Wei's threat, 81503 shuddered but fell silent.

"What? Don't want to talk?" Li Wei knew that this reincarnator must know something, and at least it was information that the other party considered very valuable; otherwise, he wouldn't have remained silent under these circumstances.

"My time is precious. I'll give you three more seconds to think it over. If you don't speak now, then you'll never speak again!" Li Wei's voice was completely flat, as if he were reciting a text in class. But there was no doubt that the killing intent within it was intense. In addition, Li Wei also drew a dagger and waved it in his hand.

"I'll talk... I'll talk!" 81503 saw that Li Wei didn't seem to be joking, and became anxious, so he hurriedly said.

Li Wei gestured for him to proceed.

81503 swallowed hard and began to tell his story. Li Wei listened expressionlessly, but a tremendous change was taking place inside him. This change could be described as joy.

It turns out that 81503 and two other reincarnators entered this mission world together, and then, they accidentally dug up an Ancient Tomb and found an ancient book inside.

The ancient book was the 'Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two'. Naturally, they were extremely excited to obtain this advanced technique. However, the book was only the lower chapter. Although it recorded the advanced ' Deity Transformation Chapter, it was like a flower in the water or the moon in a well to them—visible but untouchable. It was like a piece of fat meat that they could not eat, because they needed the upper chapter of the technique as a foundation to learn this Deity Transformation Chapter.

So they began to gather their strength to search for the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Upper Volume, and in that same scene, they found a clue. The tomb owner who had been robbed had once participated in the construction of an ancient temple. In a moment of greed, he secretly left behind one of the two ancient books that should have been placed on the head of the statue. Afterwards, he suddenly fell seriously ill and died in less than a year. Before his death, the tomb owner recorded the whole incident on a piece of silk and buried it with him. Obviously, this piece of silk naturally ended up in the hands of the three reincarnators, number 81503.

So, 81503 was sent out to find the first part of the cultivation technique. Because the silk cloth said that the ancient temple was dedicated to the Yin God, which might be dangerous, he found Xu Wanshan and asked him to investigate first. As for the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two that they found in the tomb, it was left in the hands of the two other reincarnators who stayed behind... Li Wei knew what happened after that.

After confirming that the number 81503 was not lying, Li Wei left the house. He did not intend to kill this reincarnator, because he could not guarantee that the three of them had a way to contact each other. If 81503 suddenly died and the other two found out, it would be bad.

Having learned of the location of the 'Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two' by chance, Li Wei decided to immediately head to 'Eagle Fortress' to seize the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two ', lest things escalate and become complicated.

After instructing Xu Wanshan to keep an eye on the reincarnated person, Li Wei borrowed a horse and galloped off before dawn.

Li Wei had heard of 'Eagle Fortress' before. It was located west of Qingzhou Prefecture and could be reached by horseback in just one day. Li Wei rode his horse at full speed through the night and arrived at noon the next day.

The area surrounding Eagle Fortress is a small town with many ordinary people living there. Shops line the streets and vendors are everywhere, making it quite lively. Although it is not as good as Qingzhou Prefecture, it is not bad either. After traveling all night, Li Wei found an inn and went inside.

Three hot dishes, three cold appetizers, and a pot of warm wine were laid out on the table. Li Wei began to drink alone. Any place, such as an inn or tavern, is the best place to gather intelligence. Li Wei had only eaten a meal, yet he had already heard a lot of useful information.

"Hey, have you heard? A few disciples from Eagle Fortress returned yesterday. This time they went into the mountains and hunted down a tiger and three bears. It's a blessing for us to have such valiant figures here!" a diner said, picking up food with his chopsticks.

"That's nothing! A couple of days ago, I saw two disciples from Eagle Fortress slaughter a wild boar that had become a demon. You probably wouldn't believe it, but it was a legendary wild boar demon, as big as a calf! I was terrified and just lay down not far from them. They said that killing monsters was a mission, and they had to kill six..." Another diner, chewing on a piece of fatty meat, said loudly, clearly showing off his experience.

His tablemates all looked on with envy, and then they started asking each other what the monster that had become a spirit looked like. Of course, some people believed it and some didn't, but fortunately, everyone had drunk quite a bit of alcohol, so they didn't find it absurd, they just thought it was funny.

After eating, drinking, and having fun, the group said their goodbyes and stumbled out one by one.

The man who claimed to have witnessed the disciples of Eagle Fortress slaying a monster had just reached a small alley when his path was blocked.

A dozen minutes later, the man ran out of the alley with an excited expression. If you looked closely, you could see that he seemed to be holding a silver ingot weighing at least five taels in his hand.

Li Wei returned to his table and began to process the information he had just obtained. He had spent five taels of silver to extract the names and appearances of two disciples from the Eagle Fortress from the diner.

"If I'm not mistaken, these two should be the companions of Reincarnator No. 81503. They killed the mountain boar demon to complete their mission, and finding them will allow us to find the Nine Yin Deity Transformation, Part Two Transformation Technique!" With a target in mind, Li Wei didn't delay. He paid the bill to the waiter and went out.

In this small town, finding a disciple of Divine Eagle Fortress was incredibly easy. Li Wei found one without much effort.

From this disciple, Li Wei learned the appearance and location of the two target reincarnators.

Of course, this time, the tactic of bribing with silver didn't work. Li Wei extracted this information using his own gauntlets. To avoid causing further bloodshed, Li Wei gagged the disciple, tied him up like a dumpling, and threw him into a small alley. Under normal circumstances, by the time this unfortunate fellow was discovered, more than six hours would have passed.

Li Wei had plenty of time, but his time was also very tight. The sooner he obtained the Deity Transformation Chapter, the sooner he would be able to kill the Wolf King, complete the hidden quest, and obtain the Heavenly Realm Fruit.

Therefore, Li Wei did not wait any longer and headed directly towards the location of the two reincarnators. The disciples of Eagle Fortress had said that at this time, all the fellow disciples of Eagle Fortress would be in the training ground to receive their master's instruction, without exception unless there were special circumstances. Therefore, when Li Wei found the location of Eagle Fortress and then climbed over the wall to reach the training ground, he indeed saw a group of people standing in the open space, and on the wooden platform, an old man with White-Brow was giving instructions.

Li Wei had no interest in listening to the old man's explanation of the cultivation techniques of 'Eagle Claw Technique'. Instead, he looked at the disciples below the stage. In fact, even if he didn't know what the two reincarnators looked like, Li Wei could tell from their aura who he was looking for. After all, they were reincarnators. Although they had a mission assigned to them, they were still not from this world. As long as you paid attention, you could find clues.

Soon, Li Wei identified two people whose auras were somewhat unique.