Shi Hao hated himself for not being able to do anything for these people.
Walking through this area shrouded in shadows, I was surrounded by wooden eyes that had completely lost hope in life.
Shi Hao felt that his body was being stared at, and it was as cold as their gazes, but he was unable to suppress the flames of anger deep in his heart.
After crossing a stone bridge, there are vendors pushing stalls on the side. When you reach the other side of the bridge, the scenery is completely new, with red buildings, brothels, precious pavilions and fragrant carriages, it is like you have entered a different world.
Shi Hao walked in silence on the way back to his residence.
After walking for a while, he vaguely felt that someone was watching him.
He quietly activated the soul-chasing and spirit-locking mental method, sensed the surrounding energy, and finally locked onto the target.
There were two people following him. Shi Hao turned around in front of a stall and pretended to look back casually. The two people quickly hid among the people and avoided his sight.
Although it was just a quick glance, Shi Hao could still tell that they were two men, wearing brown cloth clothes worn by the lower class people, keeping a distance from each other, and both wearing bamboo hats.
Shi Hao thought to himself, "It doesn't look like he's from Chongxian Sect. Could he be a spy from Liushenmen? No... It doesn't look like he is!"
A group of soldiers passed by, and the two men subconsciously turned their backs to them when they passed by.
It can be seen that it was a completely subconscious and instinctive reaction.
Even though the officers and soldiers hadn't noticed them at all and weren't there to search for them, they still couldn't help but do this.
Shi Hao flashed his feet and took advantage of the moment when they were avoiding the soldiers to slip into another alley.
After a while, the two men came running, looked around, and didn't see anyone, so they ran into the alley together and ran for a while.
A young man was walking towards them. He seemed to be about the same height as their target, but he had an angular face and a slightly hooked nose. He was not the person they were tracking.
They glanced at the man, ignored him, and continued running forward until they were out of the alley.
One of them said in a deep voice: "Where is that kid?"
Another person said hatefully, "Looks like he ran away, damn it."
They couldn't find their target, so they had to give up and leave...
—
The young man with sharp features and a hooked nose followed quietly behind the two men.
It must be said that what the Fire Charm Girl taught him were really quite practical martial arts skills.
The Evil Shadow Disguise Technique's disguise is naturally limited. It cannot control one's face too finely to completely imitate other people.
But changing the facial muscles in several key places, such as raising the forehead, widening the nose bridge, and making the facial contours more distinct, is enough to make people feel that "these are completely two different people."
The Soul-Chasing and Soul-Locking Step can directly lock onto the Qi of other warriors. At this moment, he doesn't even need to use his eyes. He can lock onto the positions of these two people just by relying on the traction of the Qi.
This caused the two men to keep looking back on the road to avoid being followed, but they were completely unable to discover him.
Sometimes, the two men would suddenly stop, hide in the dark, and make sure that no one was following them before continuing on their way.
Shi Hao knew that they were not being so cautious because they guessed that they might be followed by him.
It is because of their living environment that they have to be cautious at all times.
Entering a secluded place, the two men began to quicken their pace.
Using their Qi to guide him, Shi Hao always followed them.
Until they arrived at a large courtyard, the two men slipped in.
Shi Hao climbed over the wall quietly, hid under the eaves, and listened to the conversation in the hall.
"We ran into the lackey of the Man Court who appeared on Hongshan Mountain yesterday." One of them said fiercely, "Although I didn't go to Hongshan Mountain yesterday, Lao Yang recognized him. His wrist was stabbed by that guy."
A woman's voice followed: "I heard that man is very powerful. Yesterday's plan should have gone perfectly, but it was ruined by him alone. You didn't go looking for trouble with him, did you?"
Shi Hao was puzzled. He seemed to have heard this woman's voice somewhere before.
Another person replied: "We followed him to see who he was, but unfortunately we lost him along the way."
Another strange old man's voice sounded: "Be careful, don't let him follow you."
The two men said, "Don't worry, Mr. Qiu!" "We have been very cautious along the way and made sure no one is following us."
Shi Hao's mind suddenly changed, and he said, "That may not be the case!"
As soon as his voice came out, several people in the room were startled. There was a whistling sound of wind, and another flying knife broke through the window and turned around.
A young woman flew out, grabbed the flying knife, and fell to the ground.
I saw a man standing under a tree, the leaves swaying in the wind, and the shadows of the leaves fell on his body, mottled.
She was surprised and asked, "It's you?"
At this moment, several people rushed out of the house quickly and surrounded the young man under the tree one after another.
In addition to the two men, there was also an old man in a robe and several warriors with at least ninth-grade strength.
They looked at the young man under the tree, surprised and suspicious. The old man quickly glanced at the young woman and asked, "Do you recognize him?"
The woman put away her flying knife and said, "He is one of us! It was this hero who killed the two evil rats and bats and the six minions of the Barbarian Court on Luanqi Mountain and saved the two children."
The old man in the grey robe was moved and bowed to the young man under the tree: "May I ask where this righteous man came from and why he is here?"
Shi Hao looked around and saw that the young woman was the woman in tight clothes who had killed Zhao Haisong with a flying knife in Luanqi Mountain.
Although the other warriors surrounded him, their attitudes became more moderate after they learned that he was the "hero" who saved the two children.
Shi Hao looked at the old man and said slowly, "I'm sorry, the person these two brothers were following on the street was the same target as me. I didn't know if they were friends or enemies, so I followed them secretly and disturbed everyone."
The two men looked at each other in horror.
They had done their best to guard against danger along the way, but they didn't expect that they were still being followed without anyone noticing.
This person's ability is truly incredible.
The old man thought secretly, "This man is capable of following us here and hiding in the dark. If he doesn't make any noise, we will have no chance to find him. Since he made the noise, he must have no ill intentions. Besides, Tong'er saw him kill the two evil rats and bats and many of the barbarian court's hawks and dogs with her own eyes, so he must be a fellow traveler."
Then he waved his hand, asking everyone to leave. He bowed to the young man and said, "Please come in, sir."
Shi Hao bowed and said, "Please!"
Follow the old man into the hall.
There wasn't much in the hall, just a simple wooden table, a few wooden stools, a ceramic tea set on the wooden table, and some coarse tea next to it.
The old man invited him to sit down and asked, "May I ask your name, sir?"
Shi Hao said calmly: "My last name is Hao!"
But he changed the pronunciation of his name "Hao".
The old man didn't take it seriously when he saw that he only gave his last name. After all, the two sides were unfamiliar with each other, so they were bound to be on guard.
The old man said: "My last name is Qiu, everyone calls me Old Qiu."
The young woman next to him smiled and said, "My name is Lu Tong!"
Shi Hao nodded and said, "Mr. Qiu, Miss Tong!"
Old Master Qiu said, "The righteous man took the initiative to speak up and let us know that he was here. Is there anything you want to ask?"
Shi Hao said in a deep voice: "Why are you following the young city lord of Xiaohan Mountain City?"
Old Master Qiu said, "The young city lord of Xiaohan Mountain City? It turns out that the one who protected the daughter of Wusu Baoteng, Marquis of Manting County, in Hongshan yesterday was the young city lord of Xiaohan Mountain City? As far as I know, Xiaohan Mountain City is not a martial arts sect. I didn't expect that their young city lord is so amazing."
Shi Hao knew that these people had their own organization in secret. Because they were hiding in the dark, they were somewhat isolated from the news. However, sooner or later they would be able to find out his identity that appeared in Hongshan.
It would be better to say it in advance and regard it as the goodwill of this "righteous man".
He said slowly: "Yes, I heard that the Six Gates' hawks were investigating the origin of his martial arts, so I followed him secretly to see what secrets he had. I didn't want to meet your people.
"I originally thought that the two brothers following him were from the Six Gates, until I recognized the voice of Miss Tong, and then I realized my misunderstanding."
Lu Tong was wearing a light green dress. She personally poured a cup of tea for the hero and said in surprise, "The Six Gates are investigating him? Isn't he a lackey of the Man Court who works for the Marquis' Mansion? He injured more than a dozen of us yesterday and saved the Litong County Lady."
Shi Hao shook his head slowly: "From the current point of view, it should not be. Yesterday, he was just invited as the young city lord of Xiaohan Mountain City, and happened to attend the meeting, and then he was dragged into it for no reason.
"Whether it was the Marquis' Mansion or the Six Gates, no one knew beforehand that he was a martial artist. That's why I became curious about him and wanted to know his background, so I followed him secretly."
Old Master Qiu said, "So, although he protected the county lord of Man Ting yesterday, more than ten of us were injured in the wrist by him and retreated in panic, but no one was killed. I heard from the brothers who participated in this incident yesterday that this man's swordsmanship is superb and mysterious."
"Since he has such abilities, if he is determined to kill people, it may be difficult for all our people to retreat. It seems that whether this person is an enemy or a friend remains to be seen. It is very likely that he really just happened to be involved and was forced to get involved."
Shi Hao was worried about these people, so he deliberately made trouble for him, a "running dog of the Barbarian Court."
At that time, he would be in a dilemma, and neither would he be in a dilemma, so he would stay here first and use another identity to distance himself from the crime.
Shi Hao said slowly: "Why did you want to kill the Litong County Lady? Is it just because she is the daughter of Wusu Baoteng?"
There was a deliberate hint of dissatisfaction in his tone, as if he looked down on such behavior that implicated innocent people.
Mr. Qiu and Lu Tong looked at each other.
Elder Qiu whispered, "At this point, we will not hide anything from you. We don't want to kill her, but to capture her. We want to use her life in exchange for a secret from Mingkun Temple of Chongxian Sect."
Shi Hao asked: "What secret?"
After a pause, he said, "If you can't tell me, that's fine."
Elder Qiu shook his head and said, "There is nothing that cannot be said. We have a tip-off that the Mingkun Temple of Chongxian Sect secretly conducted a secret experiment with the Yueketai clan, a wealthy barbarian clan. It is said that it was originally a hypothesis with little possibility and was not taken seriously at the beginning, but it turned out to be unexpectedly successful.
"The informant we had ambushed in Chongxian Sect only managed to reveal a few clues, letting us know that this experiment was called 'Conferring the Gods'. With its success, it is very likely to completely change the situation in the martial arts world, allowing the Barbarian Court and Chongxian Sect to truly rule the world of martial arts. But when he was about to reveal more clues, he was killed.
"Mingkun Temple is heavily guarded because of a theft two days ago. We have no choice but to capture the Litong County Lady. She is the apprentice of Zhuo Mulan, a wandering monk of Mingkun Temple, and the daughter of Wusu Baoteng. If we capture her, we may be able to force Mingkun Temple to exchange the secret of the 'Experiment of Conferred Gods' for her.
"Unfortunately, although we have made careful preparations, we failed at the critical moment due to the interference of the young city lord of Xiaohanshan City."
Shi Hao frowned, and his slightly gloomy hooked nose became more sinister and fierce: "The Conferred God Experiment?"
Chapter 15 The Thief Dies
"That's right. We are sure that this matter is of great importance, but we know nothing about the truth. To be honest, our association is called 'Dark Thunder', and all the members are martial arts heroes who are against the Barbarian Court. Their goal is to one day drive out the barbarians and restore the land of China.
"But the Barbarian Court is powerful, and there are many martial arts scums in the Six Gates who are accomplices. Although there are some masters in my Dark Thunder Society, they are all in the heartland of the Central Plains. The Western Shu Province is relatively remote, and there are only a few of us. The situation is urgent, and we can't find more masters for a while, so we can only choose Litong County Master as a breakthrough point."
Shi Hao nodded and suddenly asked, "The female thief that the Six Gates have been searching for these days is also one of yours?"
Lu Tong said: "She is not one of ours. Her sudden appearance has alerted the enemy and made the situation even more troublesome."
Shi Hao added: "You failed in your attempt yesterday, the Marquis' Mansion will definitely protect County Lady Li Tong strictly."
Mr. Qiu and Lu Tong were both helpless.
Shi Hao said in a deep voice: "As far as I know, the Princess of Litong County has a senior sister named Du Yuejiao. If we can capture her, perhaps we can also exchange her for the secrets related to the Conferred God Experiment?"
Qiu Laodao: "This..."
Lu Tong said: "Unlike County Lady Li Tong, Du Yuejiao is Zhuo Mulan's direct disciple. Zhuo Mulan must have participated in the Conferred God experiment in Mingkun Temple. As Zhuo Mulan's disciple, Du Yuejiao must have known about it.
"But this Du Yuejiao has been practicing the authentic Chongxian Sect's skills since she was young, and her swordsmanship is superb. None of us in Jin County can match her. Moreover, as a strong fighter among the younger generation of Chongxian Sect, she may have one or two magic weapons hidden."
Old Qiu sighed helplessly, "Master Hao, don't underestimate her just because she is young. In our plan yesterday, we only dared to take action after confirming that she would not participate in the Hongtong Banquet.
"Her strength may not be weaker than that of the young city lord of Xiaohanshan City. If she was there yesterday, no matter how many people we had, we would have had to avoid her first."
Shi Hao said: "Don't worry, you don't need to do anything. I just need you to help me do two things. One is the terrain around Mingkun Temple and the general schedule of the people in Mingkun Temple. Since you originally wanted to go to Mingkun Temple, you must have done some research.
"The other is a place in Jin County that will never be discovered by anyone. To be more precise... a prison."
He said coldly, "No matter how severely I torture her, this prison will not be noticed by anyone."
Old Qiu and Lu Tong looked at each other. Old Qiu gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, brave man, leave these things to us."
—
Leaving the secluded house, Shi Hao walked alone in the market.
He went to a blacksmith shop and bought a kitchen knife.
Once upon a time, the Barbarian Court even stipulated that ordinary people were not allowed to buy kitchen knives individually. Five households could only own one kitchen knife. Purchasing kitchen knives privately was also illegal.
To this day, this regulation is still included in the law, but it is less enforced and no one cares about it.
After all, this is a world of martial arts and magical powers. No matter how many kitchen knives ordinary people have, they cannot pose any threat to the Barbarian Court.
For the Barbarian Court, the biggest threat is still those warriors who break the law and are not under the control of the court.
It was a very ordinary kitchen knife, with a handle made of logs, a dark black blade and a fairly sharp edge.
The blacksmith assured him that it would be very useful for chopping bones and meat.