The Kidnappers Kidnapped a Kidnapper

Ever since Wu Pifu learned the time and place of this Dream World, he had been turning over a few ideas in his mind.

First was the matter of money, a very practical problem. Eating, drinking, and answering nature's call all required money; even a penny could stump a hero. And if he wanted to establish a Sanctuary, buying buildings with money was undoubtedly the fastest option. As for founding a power or leaving his name in history, those were not things that could be achieved in a short time.

Besides, Wu Pifu harbored ambitions of his own!

He wanted to establish a Level Two Sanctuary in this world!

A Level One Sanctuary could not bring anything back to the real world. Other than drawing prizes through the Main Brain, no matter what treasures one found, they could not be taken away. But a Level Two Sanctuary could exchange matter with the Dream World. Jiujiu on his shoulder was proof enough.

Setting aside the rewards for a Level Two Sanctuary, material exchange alone was worth taking risks for. It meant he could obtain a steady supply of food from this Sanctuary. That was what could save his life, ensuring he would not starve to death just because he went a few days without entering the Dream World.

But establishing a Level Two Sanctuary would require careful planning.

Fortunately...

Wu Pifu looked at Yamadai.

After being stared at for several seconds, Yamadai asked curiously, "What is it? Have some kind of monster already set its sights on us?"

"No. I was just thinking your blond hair looks pretty nice," Wu Pifu said, leaving Yamadai completely baffled.

Yamadai was mixed-race. Most children born during the Third War had been mixed-race. By the Fourth War, though, people had once again become distinctly white, yellow, or black.

The three of them passed through the city gate inspection with ease. In fact, when Yamadai reached the gate, the Qing soldiers conducting the inspection did not dare stop them at all, allowing them to swagger straight through.

And so the three entered Xuanhua Prefecture. There was not much to see inside, though. To them, it was all low earthen houses and brick-and-tile homes. Both Yamadai and Xu Shilan watched Wu Pifu, wanting to see how he would conjure up some money.

Wu Pifu did not explain. He simply stood in the open space by the gate for about a minute, then led the other two into the narrow lanes winding between the buildings. Neither questioned him and merely followed close behind.

The three of them twisted and turned through the maze-like alleys for quite a while. At last, Yamadai could not help saying, "Don't tell me you're lost?"

Xu Shilan nodded as well. "We've passed through this place three times already. Either you're lost, or you're waiting for something."

Wu Pifu only smiled. Before he could speak, a dozen or so people poured out from various corners of the alleyways.

These dozen people wore all manner of mismatched clothes. They looked like beggars and refugees at the same time. Most of them were dark and skinny, and although they all carried "weapons" such as pitchforks, hoes, and kitchen knives, they honestly did not look threatening in the slightest.

Though the dozen people surrounded them, neither Yamadai nor Xu Shilan became alert. They were still talking to Wu Pifu and were about to walk right through the group.

The first "refugee" raised a bamboo pole and thrust it at Yamadai. But he had not aimed for the chest, head, throat, belly, or any other fatal spot. Instead, he targeted Yamadai's thigh.

Yamadai might look fierce, but he was no kindhearted man. Though the attack had come suddenly, he reacted in time. With a powerful kick of one leg, he not only snapped the bamboo pole but also sent the "refugee" flying at least four or five meters. Before the man had even stopped rolling, blood began spraying from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and other openings. He clearly would not survive.

The dozen people around them were all startled. Then they began cursing and shouting angrily, but their initial momentum to swarm forward had been broken. Several of them even began edging backward.

"What vicious methods."

"These foreign devils are cruel and treacherous!"

"And those two traitors helping the tiger!"

"Kill them! Get them! Kill them!"

The dozen people clamored loudly, yet none dared go first. Each was waiting for someone else to make the first move. Then a burst of hand-drum beats sounded, accompanied by several women dressed in red shirts and red trousers. Behind them came two martial artists escorting a young man dressed like a pampered son.

Yamadai smiled, but there was a bloodthirsty savagery in that smile. He looked at Wu Pifu and asked, "Do you want any left alive?"

Xu Shilan added, "Are there any suitable clinics or hospitals nearby? Organs are fine goods in any era."

Wu Pifu was rendered speechless.

The maintenance staff truly were full of talented people. But why had the seniors from the previous rounds been so normal?

At that moment, the women in red had reached the dozen refugees. The instant the refugees saw them, their blood surged, and they hurriedly shifted to stand protectively beside the women.

One woman stepped in front of the refugees. She clasped one wrist with the other hand and cocked it upward. "Heh-ha, heh-ha. Show us your wrist, show us your moves."

She was speaking to Wu Pifu. Clearly, the newcomers had seen that he was the leader of the three. Though they found it strange that a foreign devil would listen to a native, now that they had clashed and someone had died, they had to clean up the situation.

This was underworld jargon, or perhaps bandit slang, coded speech. Naturally, Wu Pifu did not understand it, but the Main Brain translated all languages in the world into words he could understand. At the same time, it translated the words spoken by maintenance personnel into language the intelligent beings of that world could understand. Thus, what Wu Pifu heard was: "Which mountain do you brothers stand on? State your origins. Perhaps we have some connection."

Wu Pifu replied, "No, you were the ones who stopped us. How did it end up sounding like we were the ones looking for trouble?"

His words left the dozen refugees, the women in red, the two martial artists, and the young master all stunned. Then the young master burst into laughter. "I misjudged you. You're actually decent folk. Uncle Li, Uncle Yang, go. Don't kill the foreign devil. Uh, don't kill that woman either."

The two martial artists nodded and strode toward Wu Pifu's group.

At the same time, the women in red actually pulled out talisman papers on the spot. With a flick of their wrists, the papers ignited on their own, and they began muttering incantations while performing a spirit dance.

The three immediately went on guard, but it was the women in red they were guarding against.

As the women in red chanted and burned paper, the refugees all became fervent. Shouting, "Divine arts protect our bodies! Blades and guns cannot harm us!" they charged at the three.

Yamadai kicked again. The first man held a pitchfork, but Yamadai's kick shattered it all the same. The enormous force struck the man and sent him flying four or five meters away, where he fell and began vomiting blood.

Take a look at a Tier Two body. It was roughly someone who could fight like Tyson, run like Bolt, and had the endurance of an Iron Man triathlete. What was more, Yamadai was already tall and powerfully built. His physical strength was at least three or four times that of these refugees. The force of one kick was like being hit head-on by a sports car. Unless they wore armor, anyone holding cold weapons was simply there to be slaughtered by him.

"...Nothing special about them?" Yamadai looked at Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu raised his head and glanced three or four meters above the women in red. Then he shook his head and strode toward the front line.

Unlike what ordinary people could see, when the women in red chanted and burned their talismans, Wu Pifu saw a vague humanoid outline appear above their heads. Yet he could not make it out clearly, as though some force—or reality itself—were forcibly dispersing it. Seeing this, Wu Pifu immediately relaxed.

After all, this was a Baseline Reality 0.9 world. Major deviations from reality were basically impossible. Even if there truly were supernatural phenomena, it would not be something a few random passersby could casually use. At the very least, it would have to be a world below Baseline Reality 0.5.

Since that was the case, Wu Pifu did not hesitate. He strode toward the two martial artists and told Yamadai at the same time, "Whoever hits you, hit them back."

Yamadai froze briefly, then understood Wu Pifu's meaning. Whoever attacked him, he would attack them. Whoever went all out against him, he would show no mercy to.

By then, the two martial artists had come within three meters of Wu Pifu. They clearly knew a combined attack technique, and their heights and appearances were somewhat similar. They were either fellow disciples or blood brothers. In National Arts, only people with exceptional coordination could master a combined attack technique.

But Wu Pifu was not afraid. He reached out first, and as he struck, his hand slowly curled into a claw.

That move immediately made the two martial artists cautious. But by then, Yamadai had charged into the dozen villagers and cultists like a tiger among sheep, beating them until they cried and fled. Even the women in red were forced to retreat with them. The two martial artists could no longer worry about anything else. One formed claws like a tiger, while the other struck with pecks like a crane. They attacked Wu Pifu from left and right, using Tiger-Crane Double Form.

As the two rushed in, Wu Pifu's eyes widened. He had already entered the blood circulation state of the Tiger Demon Art. At that glare, the two martial artists' limbs paused slightly, as though the thing they were pouncing on was not a man but a real white-browed tiger, with the stench of blood and a gale of slaughter washing over them.

It was only the slightest pause, one ordinary people would not even notice. But in that instant, Wu Pifu surged forward. Claw met claw, their five fingers aligned directly against one another. Yet in the next second, the tiger-claw martial artist screamed and staggered back. Blood seeped from all five fingertips, and his fingers had fractured and twisted into a mess. With a single touch, his tiger claw had been crippled.

"A master! He's a master!" the tiger-claw martial artist screamed.

At that moment, the crane-form martial artist could no longer stop his momentum. His pecking strike was about to hit Wu Pifu's side at the kidney. The instant he heard those words, his whole body shuddered, and he immediately tried to retreat. But how could Wu Pifu allow that? Though turned sideways, he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. His other hand rose into a palm, chopping downward like a blade toward the crane-form martial artist's pecking forearm.

With a crisp crack, the crane-form martial artist also screamed and staggered backward. One of his arms hung bent in the wrong direction. It had clearly been completely broken.

The exchange had happened in a flash. The victor was decided in less than a second. The two martial artists had their hands and arms crippled, losing all combat ability, while Yamadai had beaten the dozen cultists until they wailed for their fathers and mothers. The women in red were all dumbfounded.

Wu Pifu then looked directly at the young master, stamped down hard, and shot forward until he stood before the still-shocked man.

The young master trembled from head to toe. He had naturally heard the martial artist shout the word "master." His father was a master of National Arts, so he knew that such a person could lightly tap someone and rupture their internal organs. He immediately shrieked, "My father is Xu Zhenshan, chief of the Yanshan Screeching Harrier! You must not kill me!!"

Screeching Harrier was also underworld jargon. It referred to horse bandits, bandits, mountain bandits, and the like. In modern terms, kidnappers.

Wu Pifu did not kill him. Instead, he placed one hand on the young master's shoulder. The man's body nearly went limp and collapsed to the ground. Wu Pifu grinned and said, "All right, now I know you're the son of a kidnapper chief. So now..."

"You've been kidnapped."