The Villain's Counterattack

The door of the carpenter shop was kicked open, and several Beggar Gang disciples were captured by the Five Cities Army before they could react. The burly little flag was overjoyed to see this, but when he got closer, he found a person lying on the ground. He leaned over to feel his breath and found no breath. Instead of anger, his face showed a smile.

dead!

Dead people are good, dead people represent major cases, and you can get a lot of benefits from them, no matter in which aspect.

"Shopkeeper Sun, do you recognize this man?" Xiaoqi held his position with full force. Sun Yuankai nodded hurriedly and said, "This man is Li Gousheng, the local tyrant who collects protection fees. He's said to be quite skilled in martial arts. I've never missed a single one of his monthly tributes. These guys also look familiar. Could it be..."

At this point, Sun Yuankai pretended to hesitate, and under Xiaoqi's gaze, he slowly said, "Today, I accepted an order from Lord Chang in the south of the city. A large amount of precious wood has been stored in the backyard, and they also took a deposit of 100-year-old silver. I'm afraid that they saw me because I was not careful enough, so..."

"Sun Laoliu, you bastard, it was you who invited Leader Li to stay overnight, and you assassinated him with your magic of star-sucking. Now you are biting him back, you..." A Beggar Gang disciple nearby was furious when he saw Sun Yuankai talking nonsense, and directly reported that Sun Yuankai was a member of the Beggar Gang, who got the magic of star-sucking from somewhere and assassinated Leader Li Gousheng. Perhaps it was because he was not good enough in learning the skills that Leader Li woke up, or perhaps the unexpected appearance of several of their minions disrupted Sun Laoliu's plan.

The little flag was also an ambitious man. He often heard that the so-called martial arts masters were causing great troubles outside the country and making a fortune outside the country. Many border troops and even nobles also benefited a lot from it. There were even three or five founders of foreign countries.

The current emperor is also a man of great courage. Instead of suppressing them, he gave them many conveniences. A group of ministers wanted to oppose but were forcefully suppressed. The army once again returned to the hands of the current emperor and the noble generals. The top master of Huashan Sect, Mr. Yue Buqun, the Gentleman Sword, even teamed up with several real great Confucian scholars to create a series of exercises specifically for Confucian disciples. These were designated by the current emperor as necessary skills for officials in the court. This is because the level of the exercises is related to not only qualifications but also character. If the character is not up to standard, the level of the exercises cannot be improved.

Are you talking about those who are unable to improve due to poor physical fitness?

Haha, what this dynasty lacks the least is literati who want to be officials. They would like to get rid of more of these sickly people. Unless the rich and powerful literati have diseases of affluence, how many of them are truly weak scholars?

Xiaoqi usually loved to hang out in teahouses and listen to the legendary stories of those who made a fortune in foreign countries, and even founded countries abroad. Whenever he heard about the masters who fought against hundreds of enemies and made a name for themselves, his blood would boil. However, he was of humble origin and did not have such ability.

At that moment, upon hearing the words "Star-Absorbing Demonic Technique," one person immediately came to mind: Ren Woxing, the North Cliff Old Demon, the supreme master of the Songshan Sword Contest over a decade ago. He was a true hero, a prominent figure who had expanded the Sun and Moon Demon Cult thousands of miles beyond the borders, his presence visible across grasslands and seas. It was a pity he had been injured by a villain's scheme and reportedly died in battle overseas. For this reason, the current emperor had decreed the enthronement of his daughter, Saint Ren Yingying, as the new leader.

The old demon from Beiya relied on his dreaded "Star Absorbing Technique" to become a top-notch martial artist. Thinking of this, Xiaoqi's eyes flashed, and with a wave of his hand, he beat up the beggars. Then he slowly approached Sun Yuankai and said, "Shopkeeper Sun, someone died in your house, reeking of alcohol, and with a table full of leftovers, I'm afraid this is quite bad for you. I'd like to invite you to visit the Five Cities Military Commission."

Sun Yuankai shrank his head, stuffed a silver ingot in his hand and said embarrassedly: "General, can you allow me to change my clothes? Thieves broke in just now, and I..." He paused slightly here, but pointed to his crotch. The smell of urine made Xiaoqi take a step back, his face full of contempt.

Does this kind of stuff really have the "Star Absorbing Technique"?

Xiaoqi, accompanied by two trusted aides, went to the backyard with Sun Yuankai. They watched him enter the room, close the door, and light a lamp. Shadows appeared in the light, and a woman stood up, then was comforted and laid down again. Sun Yuankai seemed uneasy and asked casually, "Is the general outside? Don't go too far. I'm scared."

Xiaoqi said, "Yes, you should change your clothes quickly. I will stay here and will not let the thieves touch you at all."

The dark figure in the room opened the wardrobe and asked again, "Is the general outside?" Xiaoqi responded again.

The person inside opened the cabinet, took out the clothes, and was busy again. During this time, he kept asking if the person outside was still there. However, his movements did not speed up at all, and instead delayed the time a lot. When Xiaoqi was getting impatient after asking more than ten times, a confidant suddenly said, "Why does this shopkeeper Sun's voice sound a bit like a woman's? Could it be that peeing in your pants has this disadvantage?"

Xiaoqi was horrified when he heard this. He cried out inwardly, "Oh no!" and kicked the door open. He saw a woman rummaging through the wardrobe, clothes scattered on the floor, and she continued to throw clothes out. He shuddered at the loud noise and blurted out, "Is the general outside?"

Xiao Qi understood everything now. He grabbed the woman and asked angrily, "Where are the six people, Mr. Sun?"

The woman was trembling all over and pointed under the bed. Xiaoqi was slightly stunned. There were not many places for people to hide in the room. He had temporarily assigned seven or eight people to guard the four sides. There was even a brother watching on the roof. He was waiting at the main door. He thought he could not escape.

But this is a case of catching a turtle in a jar. Do you think you can be safe by hiding your head under the bed? That's too timid.

Xiaoqi chuckled, kicked over a round stool, and kicked it hard under the bed, making a "bang" sound, but there was no cry of pain from under the bed, and no one crawled out. Xiaoqi's face tightened, and he drew the long sword in his hand and cut off the hanging bed sheet. He lit a fire and took a look. Under the empty bed, there was only a chamber pot and the broken round stool. There was no one there.

The woman met Xiao Qi's murderous gaze and hurriedly shook her head, saying, "There's a secret passage under the bed. The master dug it himself. I don't know where it leads to. It's been there for over a year."

"He even dug a rat hole. He is really not a good guy." The small-flag celebrity carried the wooden bed away. The wooden floor under the bed had clear grids. The woman pointed tremblingly to the original position of the bed foot. Two soldiers pried with their spears, and a square hole appeared in everyone's sight.

"Chase!" Although it took a lot of time, Xiaoqi didn't want to give up as long as there was a glimmer of hope. He called five or six trustworthy people and walked into the tunnel with torches. The tunnel was not very spacious and long weapons could not be used. After walking forward for more than ten steps, there was a mechanism blocking the way. After forcibly destroying it, pieces of stones fell down and blocked the way forward.

"This bastard actually has this trick." Xiao Qi returned to the room in a rage, waved his hand and took the woman away, and "searched" her thoroughly. He found loose change, copper coins, and land deeds, and even a booklet containing intelligence, but there was no martial arts secret manual or anything like that.

He was indeed a member of the gang, and the people behind him were most likely the beggars. Then Li Gousheng’s death might have been due to uneven distribution of the spoils, or maybe he discovered Manager Sun’s secret and was silenced?

"He can't go far, chase him!" Xiaoqi knew that his biggest advantage was that he could move around at night, while Manager Sun couldn't. However, his advantage would not last long. Once dawn came, he would be able to disguise himself and leave, and then things would be out of his control. Even if he could report to the Five Cities Army and use them to capture him at the city gate, he would probably have no chance of getting the secret book.