The Jianghu's Scattered Sands

In the Great Shrine of the Beast Taming Clan, the eight stationed soldiers were either dead or had fled, and the imperial forces stationed there had vanished without a trace.

Even the best man can't fight off a hundred men. The soldiers, though a small but elite unit, couldn't withstand the onslaught of over a hundred martial arts practitioners.

The corpses of more than ten martial arts heroes also testify to the ruthlessness of the official counterattack.

However, the cause of the most deaths and injuries among the martial arts heroes was not the imperial court, but rather the traps set by the Beast Taming Sect's secret vault.

After Su Fei pried open the floor tiles outside the secret vault in front of everyone, he was swarmed out by the martial arts heroes. Many of them Divine Ability to pry open the vault, hoping to take the treasure and leave as soon as possible.

All the agreements made by the group beforehand are null and void.

This is related to the fact that the heroes of the martial arts world are a disorganized bunch, that Su Fei is too young to command respect, and also to Su Fei's own strength.

Before the secret vault was found, many people treated him with great courtesy, but once the vault's entrance was revealed, no one paid any attention to this young master of the Beast Taming Sect.

Su Fei emerged from the crowd looking disheveled, even taking a few steps back.

He looked utterly dejected, but the faint glimmer in his eyes proved that he still held a sliver of hope.

As Su Fei retreated to the back of the ancestral hall, he was stopped by the Four Heroes of Qingzhou and the Lord of Huanglong Island.

"Young Master Su, the imperial court is not lacking in capable people. If they could find the secret vault by prying up ten or eight floor tiles, they would have dug it up long ago, wouldn't they?" Huanglong Island Master blocked his way.

"That is indeed the entrance to the secret vault," Su Fei said. "The people of the imperial court are generally law-abiding; they wouldn't dare to cause damage without orders!"

"Why doesn't the young sect leader go over and dig some more?"

"My strength is too low; I can't beat them," Su Fei waved his hands repeatedly. "Besides, our Beast Taming Sect's skills are all in beast taming. Our martial arts and Technique Method are just average, far inferior to the Island Lord's strong physique and combined strength!"

"Hehe!"

The master of Huanglong Island chuckled dryly.

He touched his extremely strong body, flicked his breastplate, and then looked at his knee pads and other joint areas.

Like a general on a battlefield, the Yellow Dragon Island Master's protective gear was indeed heavy, and his body was indeed strong.

However, wearing such thick armor made him much slower than an ordinary person, causing him to fall behind.

After questioning Su Fei a few times, he picked up his broadsword and, cursing as he did, crawled through.

As for the Four Heroes of Qingzhou, they rose to prominence through their skills in pickpocketing and theft, belonging to a branch of the thief's sect. People from this school are good at small, delicate things, but they certainly can't squeeze into crowded and competitive places.

The four heroes of Qingzhou could only sigh and lament that they could only pick up scraps this time.

But there was no sense of disappointment on their faces when they sighed. Whenever someone obtained something valuable from the secret vault, the four of them would keep an eye on them until they stole what the other person possessed.

Human greed is insurmountable, but because of the unique characteristics of these four individuals, they did not rush to the forefront.

The four heroes of Qingzhou chatted for a while, pointing at some people and suggesting that they were likely the big winners of the secret vault.

"It's open!"

The secret door to the vault wasn't particularly thick; it was just a single, thick stone slab. Many people could break a stone slab with their bare hands, let alone when they were carrying swords or knives.

This is one of the main reasons why everyone couldn't contain themselves when they saw the secret vault door open.

The sounds of breaking and dragging came, and Wenren Dong, one of the Four Heroes of Qingzhou, couldn't help but stand on tiptoe to take a look.

"Charge! Everyone, charge!"

The second brother, Wenren Xi, mumbled a few words, while the third brother, Wenren Nan, looked on with longing envy. The fourth brother, Wenren Bei, twirled an extremely small, sharp blade in his hand, preparing for a possible theft of a fat sheep.

The four of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts, and Su Fei had lagged behind even further, almost stepping out of the ancestral hall.

The moment his foot touched the threshold, there was a cracking sound, followed by a cacophony of buzzing noises.

This caused Su Fei to immediately drop to the ground.

Inside the ancestral hall, hundreds and thousands of crossbow bolts flew out from dozens of recessed bricks, as if released from their bows.

Another plume of black, poisonous smoke shot out from the entrance to the secret vault.

Some people were shot through the body by crossbow bolts before they could react, while others reacted and used the bodies of others to shield themselves from the bolts, but they could not prevent themselves from inhaling the poisonous fumes.

Many people collapsed, some were in excruciating pain from the toxic fumes entering their abdomens, and others quickly held their breath and tried to escape.

Some of the people who emerged saw Su Fei raise his knife at the entrance, and the heavy mahogany door of the ancestral hall creaked shut as if a spring had been released.

"Damn you, Su Xiaoxie! You actually used your grandfather as a scapegoat!"

Why do this?

"He could have avoided this disaster if he had just led the way!"

"This kid is plotting against us. Let's break down this door and capture him first!"

"Not only is there a hidden agenda, he's clearly trying to scam us!"

"Skin him alive and bleed him!"

After a few shouts and a brief discussion, it was inevitable that some toxic fumes would be inhaled.

Feeling utterly exhausted, the survivors, having barely escaped, couldn't help but slash their swords at the gate and skylight.

But before anyone could break through the window or the door, a crossbow bolt shot out, pinning the person trying to crawl out firmly to the window.

Su Fei's purpose in using the power of martial arts heroes and knights was simply to storm the garrison, drive back the government troops, and fix the traps in the ancestral hall. Once he had used these people, he would no longer need to rely on them.

He let out a few sharp whistles, and the barking of several hunting dogs immediately rang out in the distance.

"Four of you, lend us a hand! If we can block this place, the entire treasure trove of the Beast Taming Sect will belong to the five of us!"

Outside the ancestral hall, only Su Fei and the Four Heroes of Qingzhou, who were near the gate of the ancestral hall, were present.

After Su Fei had said a few persuasive words, the four of them couldn't help but be tempted, and they all looked at each other to see what the others thought.

Their strength was average, so it was inevitable that they wouldn't be able to snatch any treasures. They could only target a specific person they liked and steal from them.

But stealing is never as satisfying as choosing something yourself.

Wenren Dong and his group didn't expect to turn the world upside down overnight. As long as the harvest satisfied them, they would consider it a complete success. After all, the principle of the Thieves' Guild was not to be greedy without limits.

"They've been given a muscle-weakening drug. This poisonous smoke won't kill them, but just a few inhalations will render them weak and powerless, unable to exert even a fraction of their usual strength," Su Fei said. "If we keep them locked up for a while longer, these people will be completely powerless to resist!"

"That..."

"Just say the imperial court killed these people, what does it have to do with us!"

Su Fei gritted his teeth and said something.

He carried a poisoned crossbow bolt made by the Mohists, while three hunting dogs came galloping towards him from a distance.

This calmed Su Fei down a bit.

As long as the four heroes of Qingzhou don't sabotage him, his methods are sufficient to deal with those in the ancestral hall who have been poisoned by the smoke.

If the other party can lend a hand, this matter will be settled.