In the world of martial arts, grind your skill level to become a saint.

Su Hao ignored the knocking and watched quietly.

After waiting for several breaths and seemingly finding no one at home, the Nestorian Christians outside whispered a few words before leaving.

Su Hao stood on a wooden ladder against the wall, watching the group leave through the top of the wall, his eyes somewhat cold.

This group of people has come five or six times during this period.

Most importantly, it's always the same few people who come.

Moreover, their arrival time is not fixed; sometimes it's in the morning, and sometimes it's at noon, which seems to be as if they are scouting the area.

Su Hao had a feeling that he was being watched.

His courtyard, now reinforced with iron plates at the entrance and covered with barbs coated with deadly poison, is truly an anomaly in this rat-infested alley.

He originally did these things only to prevent those who had mastered the tracking technique of the Fragrance Insects from finding him, but he never expected that they would attract the attention of the Jingjiao people instead.

Everyone assumed that the security measures he had put in his house meant there must be some secret or something good inside.

A few days ago, Su Hao noticed that the barbs he had placed on the wall had some bloodstains on them, which looked like someone had been cut.

However, at that time, his family's rice and other belongings were not lost, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

As for the person who was ultimately cut, whether they were poisoned or what happened to them afterward, that's none of their business.

Watching those people leave around the corner, Su Hao finally climbed down the ladder and sat down to continue eating.

While Su Hao was eating, several figures dressed in white robes were hiding in the shadows in an alley just a few dozen meters away from his courtyard, their eyes coldly observing the courtyard where Su Hao lived.

"That guy's still inside...we'll only have a chance when he leaves!"

A somewhat obese man with a mustache, holding a wooden box in both hands with the words "Zhong Jing" written on it, had a sharp and cold voice.

"He must die! Xiao Yuan died from being cut and poisoned by the barbs on the wall! We must avenge him!"

Another short dwarf with a face full of pockmarks also spoke up.

"How can we avenge him? That guy reinforced the doorway and raised the wall, not to mention the barbs on it are highly poisonous. Have you forgotten how long it was since Xiao Yuan was scratched? His flesh was already rotting when he came back! And that guy is very likely a martial artist!"

The last one among them had a crooked mouth, and the man with a bald head frowned.

They joined the Nestorian Church simply so they could use its name to swindle and make a living.

They never expected that a few days ago, their sworn brother Xiao Yuan would lose his life because of a theft. The target of the theft was the very house they had knocked on earlier.

In the days that followed, they confirmed that only a boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old lived in that household, and there was no one else.

They had originally planned to take action directly, but after the boy opened the door that time, they changed their minds.

Seeing the other person's strong and muscular physique, as well as the boxing stance standing in the courtyard, they realized that he might be a martial artist.

Originally, he wanted to give up the idea of ​​revenge because of this incident. After all, the reason why Xiao Yuan lost his life was only because he was too stupid and too greedy.

"Are we just going to let this go?! Er Gou, that's our sworn brother!"

The dwarf roared.

"Alright, alright, we'll definitely avenge Xiao Yuan. I stole some poison from the medicine street last night. We'll wait for him to leave, then sneak into his house..."

The obese man's voice grew softer and colder.

Crunch!

Just as the group was still making plans, the sound of a door opening not far away made them turn their attention to the door.

The group hid again, their eyes fixed on Su Hao, who was already carrying a cloth bag and leaving the house not far away.

He's gone!

Several people's eyes lit up with joy.

The obese man nodded. "No rush, let's wait until he's gone a bit further before we act! Er Gou, go in and sprinkle the powder into his water tank. You're the quickest one among us."

Upon hearing this, the man known as "Second Dog" hesitated for a moment, but could only reluctantly nod.

Of the group, he was already the most dissatisfied with Xiao Yuan. Now that Xiao Yuan was dead, leaving him with this job, he was extremely unwilling.

However, considering that his older brother had saved him, he decided to lend a final hand.

After waiting for nearly fifteen minutes, the group emerged from the shadows and began to look around.

The obese man who was originally carrying the wooden box nodded slightly, then took out a packet of powder from his pocket and handed it to Er Gou.

"Watch out! My brother, we're waiting for you outside!"

The obese man had sincere eyes and spoke earnestly.

"Yes... Big Brother!" Er Gou's tense mood relaxed because of this scene, and he nodded repeatedly.

Immediately, the obese man stood under the wall, lifted up the dwarfs to form a human wall, and Er Gou dashed up and flipped over the human wall, then landed steadily on a spot without barbs.

"So simple, these barbs are nothing special. Little Yuan, you really died a pathetic death..."

A hint of disdain and regret flashed in Er Gou's eyes.

He never expected that such a simple protective measure would directly cost Xiao Yuan his life.

This is enough to show how careless and inattentive Xiao Yuan is.

Therefore, Er Gou was not surprised at all that something would happen to him.

Just as Er Gou was about to jump off the wall and get ready to do something...

Suddenly, I heard a sound like wind breaking in the air, followed by a soft popping sound in my chest, and then a sharp pain!

"This...me?"

Er Gou stared wide-eyed, looking down at the black arrow that had appeared in his chest without him noticing. He tilted his head and fell to the ground.

boom!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground startled the obese man and the dwarf man who were waiting below.

Looking down, I saw that Er Gou was spitting blood, his neck was broken from falling from a height, and he was lying on the ground in a strange position, without making a sound.

"Dog!"

The two obese men exclaimed in surprise and rushed over to check.

puff!

But the next moment, he heard the sound of an arrow piercing flesh.

Then there were two more "plop plop" sounds.

The alley fell silent again.

……

Su Hao washed the bloodstains off the back of his hand with water, then picked up the hammer and began his daily practice to improve his skills.

"Looks like I'll have to spend money to find a place to stay. This Rat Alley is too chaotic. There's no such thing as being able to guard against thieves forever..."

Watching the iron block in his hand deform and stretch as it was constantly hammered, Su Hao thought to himself.

Thinking about the people he had just dealt with, he felt somewhat helpless.

He had only guessed that the other party might be related to the bloodstains on the barb earlier.

After all, the poison on those barbs was a uniquely formulated concoction; without his antidote, it was safe to say that any ordinary person would surely die if poisoned.