Taking Lives at a Touch

Fang Shu, hanging downwind, listened carefully, and suddenly his expression changed.

"How many times have we come here? We've even found this little wench, why hasn't Rat Lord told us to go back yet?"

Besides Su Qingao's voice, there were other people's voices coming from the gap ahead.

"Okay, okay, what are you yelling about, you fat rat? We'll keep guarding this place."

"Forget it, why bother arguing with this beast? Looks like I'll have to wait until nightfall to go back, so as not to arouse suspicion if I go back too early."

"Sigh, what can we do? We're just kids, not the bosses. Luckily, there's still some fun to be had here."

A burst of laughter and curses rang out, followed by a woman's voice carried on the wind, filled with even greater fear and pain.

Fang Shu listened carefully for a long time and discovered that, apart from Su Qingao, there were two men's voices coming from the crevice in the rock wall.

Moreover, judging from their conversation, it seems that the fire in the Paper Workshop was also related to these two henchmen and the Rat Lord they mentioned. This group of people is very likely from the Black Tiger Hall.

This made Fang Shu think to himself:

"It seems that Su Qingao really is in league with the Black Tiger Hall Gang, deliberately setting fire to the Paper Workshop."

Before leaving town, he had imagined that he might encounter people from the Black Tiger Hall in the wild, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that he actually did.

However, including Su Qingao, there were three people in front of him, and he only had two Sleepy Insect in his hands.

"No, there's also that rat that tipped us off." Fang Shu narrowed his eyes.

He was pondering whether or not to take action, and whether it was worthwhile.

This is the wilderness, where there are no rules. Once you start, you must be swift and decisive, without taking any chances or leaving any potential problems.

Just as he was pondering this, two men's shouts came from the crevice in the rock wall again:

"Get down here, you bastard! Is this how you climb? If you climb, how am I supposed to do anything?!"

"Get the hell out of here, you shifty-eyed scum! Haven't you learned your lesson yet?!"

Squeak squeak squeak!

Under Fang Shu's strange gaze, a series of frantic, rat-like squeaks echoed from the cracks in the rock wall.

He immediately rolled over and squeezed himself into a nearby crevice in the rocks, holding his breath even more tightly.

The squeaking grew louder ahead, and a dark shadow flickered—it was the rat that had scurried into the riverbank cave. It was carrying a date in its mouth when it hurriedly scurried out again and then, without looking back, returned the way it came.

Because Fang Shu was wearing Fox Fur and was hiding downwind, the rat didn't notice him at all.

The absence of a rat in the cave instantly brought a change to Fang Shu's expression.

However, he did not immediately release his Sleepy Insect and head down into the cave. Instead, he remained hanging on the riverbank cliff, patiently waiting.

After a full cup of tea's time, Fang Shu rolled up from the riverbank again, first wandering around the area, and finding no other people or animals, before sneaking back to the vicinity of the cave on the riverbank.

He peeled back the Fox Fur, reached inside and scratched it, and pulled out two small flying insects, white with purple markings.

Holding two flying insects, Fang Shu blew them towards the riverbank, thinking to himself:

"Go!"

Buzzing, two flying insects hovered in place, circled a few times, and then, as if drunk, staggered and fell to the bottom of the riverbank.

Immediately, Fang Shu went ashore, but did not rush into the cave. Instead, he continued to lie downwind, listening to the sounds coming from inside.

"Damn it! I'm tired of playing, I'm going to take a nap."

A mumbling sound began, followed by a loud snoring.

Immediately following, a sharp cracking sound of flesh slapping rang out, followed by a woman's scream, and then a weary voice:

"If you sleep, I'll sleep too. Anyway, this little wench isn't going to get away."

Two snoring sounds rose and fell, one after the other.

But Fang Shu still didn't move; he listened carefully to Su Qingao's voice from inside the cave.

He noticed that Su Qingao's crying gradually subsided, turning into suppressed sobs, and began to rustle slightly, as if she were struggling.

Fang Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Now we can make our move!"

However, he did not directly enter the cave in his fox form. Instead, he returned to the shore, removed the Fox Fur, and then covered his face and head with a mask, sprinkling himself with perfume powder to avoid leaving any scent residue.

The reason for this is that, given Fang Shu's current first tribulation realm, wearing an Unranked Fox Fur would actually limit his ability to exert his strength.

This Fox Fur excels at concealing its form and changing its appearance, but it's not convenient for face-to-face combat right now.

To be on the safe side, Fang Shu naturally wanted to remove this constraint.

After everything was taken care of, he cautiously ventured into the cave.

Soon, a burst of fire appeared in his eyes, along with a strange, fishy smell wafting from the cave.

As they continued to descend, the scene inside the cave became even clearer in Fang Shu's eyes.

As expected, only Su Qingao and two men were present.

The former was like a dog on a leash, wearing an iron collar connected to a chain and nailed to the rock. Her feet were also shackled, and her body was covered with wounds, bruises, and bloodstains.

The latter two, with their chests exposed, were both fast asleep, one leaning to one side and the other slumped over to the other. It seemed unlikely that they would wake up until the Sleepy Insect wore off.

Su Qingao was trembling as she frantically tried to pull the iron nail stuck in the rock.

Unable to pull out the nail, she struggled to free herself from the collar around her neck, choking herself until she could barely breathe, but to no avail.

After a flurry of activity, Su Qingao suddenly remembered something. Her face bold, her voice trembling with anticipation, she cried out, "The key! Yes! The key!"

She crept hesitantly toward the two men lying on the ground, groping their bodies, trying to find the key on them.

Seeing that the two men were still asleep, sleeping like the dead, Su Qingao's movements changed from cautious to extremely bold. She simply turned them over and searched for the key.

Just as her eyes lit up and she finally spotted something that looked like a key, there were two soft "poof" sounds!

A scarlet whip flew in from outside the cave, like a venomous snake, and swiftly bit into the necks of the two men.

Two streams of hot blood immediately gushed from the necks of the two men, splattering all over Su Qingao.

This sudden turn of events left the woman stunned and unable to react for a moment.

At this moment, Fang Shu finally managed to climb into the cave from the outside.

He held the Long-Tongue Sword in one hand and scanned his surroundings warily with the other, wary of any traps in the cave.

Fortunately, the only unexpected thing was that one of the two men whose necks he had stabbed, a middle-aged man, did not faint in his sleep. Instead, he suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with fear and ferocity.

The person's Qi and Blood and qi were surging, indicating that he was not an ordinary person, but Immortal cultivator had entered the Dao. Therefore, he was awakened from his sleep after being stimulated by intense pain.

The other person's hand immediately reached for his body, but even faster than that was the Long-Tongue Sword in Fang Shu.

With a soft "pfft," the Tongue Sword twitched slightly.

Its sword tip, like a long arrow, pierced straight into the opponent's eye socket, penetrating the brain, and only stopped after hitting the inner wall of the opponent's skull.

The struggling man immediately lost his strength, his face stiffened, and the light in his eyes vanished like a candle flame.

After dealing with that person, Fang Shu's hands didn't stop there. He then used his Long-Tongue Sword to swiftly smash the skull of a young man next to him.

Although this person's bones were hard, he had not yet entered the Dao. Even his skull was pierced through, and as his body convulsed, he spurted out fluid.

Thus, both of the Black Tiger Hall's henchmen in the cave perished in the wild, with no one escaping with their lives.

Fang Shu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.