New Year's Eve, noon.
There was no one on the streets of Linlu Town.
Even the commoners knew that they shouldn't go out today.
They tactfully closed their doors, watched over their children, and tied up the animals in their courtyards, praying that the New Year would pass quickly and peacefully.
The merchants that usually came to town didn't show up today either. After all, it was New Year's Eve. To Chinese, if you could only rest for one day in a year, this would be it.
Of course, not everyone found a place to hide.
Aside from the various martial artists, the drunkards, ruffians, and scoundrels in the town also gathered in the dark alleys and street corners out of curiosity. They were a little tipsy, so they gathered there.
After all, this was a rare opportunity. They also wanted to see what kind of show these "heroes of the martial arts world" would put on.
"Master, we've checked both the front and back. Only the Beggar Clan has more people than us. The other clans have at most ten people, but …" The man hesitated halfway through his sentence.
"But what?" Tu Ji asked coldly.
"It's just that … Although their numbers are small, more than half of them are strong …" This Wild Tiger Gang spy's martial arts were average, and only his Qing Gong was outstanding. However, he had the ability to distinguish which people were the true experts, and this ability … caused him to feel rather uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Tu Ji saw through his thoughts and cast a cold glance at him. "Are you afraid?"
His gaze caused the scout's entire body to tremble and his heart to stop beating.
At this moment, only the two of them were standing in the courtyard. The other members of the Wild Tiger Gang were lying in ambush in the nearby area.
In other words, if Tu Ji was unhappy and decided to "execute" the spy on the spot, no one would care about it.
"I … deserve to die …" The spy knew that his thoughts couldn't escape Tu Ji's eyes. Instead of quibbling, it was better to admit his mistake.
"Hmph …" Tu Ji laughed. "In comparison, are you more afraid of them or of me?"
This question was difficult to answer. It seemed that either answer was wrong.
Therefore, the spy didn't dare to answer. He just stood there … and was so anxious that he broke out in cold sweat.
"Actually, the answer to this question … is not important." A moment later, Tu Ji looked at his subordinate and revealed a satisfied expression. "Actually, I'm the same as you. I'm scared too." He paused and said calmly, "I'm afraid of death, I'm afraid of losing, and I'm also afraid that I won't be able to get the [Sword Dance Herbarium] tonight."
Hearing this, the fear on the spy's face faded a little, replaced by a trace of doubt.
"It's right to be afraid. Fear can keep you away from danger." Tu Ji continued, "But you cannot lose your cool, your sense of propriety, or even your stance just because you are afraid …" When he said the last two words, he purposely emphasized them. "Remember … the more afraid you are, the clearer you have to know what you should do and do it well."
"Understood!" Large beads of sweat rolled down the spy's face. He looked at Tu Ji with a grateful expression and bowed, "Thank you for your teachings, Sect Leader!"
"Hmm … Go ahead." Tu Ji said and turned around. He waved his hand and signaled for the man to go out and investigate.
When the spy received the order, he immediately used his Qing Gong and left the courtyard in the blink of an eye.
Tu Ji, on the other hand, was still standing there, deep in thought.
From the outside, the Sect Leader of the Wild Tiger Gang looked like a rough person. But in reality, this person was as sly as a fox, as cruel as a wolf, as poisonous as a snake, as fierce as a tiger …
His dressing, his appearance, even the name of his gang and the name of his unique martial arts … were all his deliberate disguises.
He wanted others to think that he was a rough person, a martial artist, so that they would look down on him and let down their guard.
Objectively speaking, he was very successful … Duan Keyi's death was a good proof of this.
In reality, it was not only Duan Keyi.
Last night, there were ten experts who were ambushed by the Wild Tiger Gang, and none of them survived. As for how many of those experts' disciples died, no one would bother to count.
This success rate was not a coincidence. It was because the targets Tu Ji chose were all targets that he was "confident" in.
Before he took action, not only did he investigate these people's martial arts, age, and physical condition … he even investigated their habits, hobbies, and special quirks.
As for those he could not investigate clearly, such as Wang Qiong (who was more thorough than Tu Ji), Leng Yuqiu, Daoist Cotton (who did not belong to any sect and was a lone wolf), he would not act rashly.
This was Tu Ji's principle of doing things — First, he could not win, then he would wait for the enemy to win.
However, such a strategy would not work today.
At least … with the Wild Tiger Gang's strength, they could not make an "undefeatable" arrangement.
Therefore, just as Tu Ji said … he was very afraid.
But today's situation was worth him worrying about. It was also worth him giving up the part of his intelligence that he could not control to the so-called "destiny" and "luck" … to gamble.
Creak —
The sound of the door turning interrupted Tu Ji's train of thought.
He was somewhat surprised and turned around to look at the wooden door that was a few meters away from him.
It was the door of a private house.
Even though Tu Ji treated the house as his base, he did not get the permission from the owner. Of course, he did not think the owner of the house would have the guts to open the door and argue with him.
However, at that moment, the door to the residence was opened. Furthermore, the two people who walked out did not seem to be ordinary citizens at all.
"Ha …" Looking at the Childe Jian and Not a Scaredy Cat who were walking toward him, Tu Ji revealed a self-deprecating smile. "I was careless," he mumbled to himself. "Even if I couldn't sense any inner energy, I should have gone in to take a look."
When Tu Ji came here this morning, he did consider barging into the house and killing the occupants. However, he was afraid that things would get out of hand. Therefore, he only used his inner energy to check the situation outside the house. After confirming that there were only two people in the house and that there was no reaction from his inner energy, he concluded that there were only two commoners in the house.
"If I remember correctly …" As he spoke, Tu Ji was ready to fight, but he did not show it on his face. He looked at the Childe Jian and said, "This should be Young Hero Huangfu …" Then, he turned to look at Not a Scaredy Cat. "And this … is Heroine Chai."
Tu Ji had already bribed the shopkeeper of the Ke Lai Pavilion, so he knew everything about the inn like the back of his hand. With Tu Ji's intelligence, it wasn't difficult for him to remember every guest's name.
"Gang Leader Tu, you sure are well-informed," Not a Scaredy Cat said. "This is the first time we've met, but you seem to know us well."
She reacted quickly. Almost immediately, she remembered how Tu Ji found out about her and Childe Jian's names, so she tried to test him.
"Humph … I'm just well-informed," Tu Ji replied with a cold smile. "But you two … are very capable." He paused for a second and continued, "Let's not talk about the two of you being able to escape unscathed from Leng Yuqiu yesterday. Let's not talk about the fact that you can hide your inner strength. What I'm most curious about is … how did you manage to ambush in this room?"
This question confused Tu Ji. After all, he had only decided to use this house as his base of operations that morning. If he wanted to set up an ambush beforehand, he would have to be a prophet.
"There is no such thing as an ambush." Blade Runner replied in a relaxed tone. "We predicted that things would not be peaceful last night, so we decided to leave the inn and find another place to hide so that we would not be dragged into any unnecessary trouble. So … we found this random house to hide in. " He shrugged. "The family received some money (the money they extorted from Leng Yuqiu was enough for this family to live for a year) and happily left the town. They planned to go to the mistress's family and stay there for ten days to half a month before coming back."
What he said was half true.
'Avoiding getting dragged into trouble' was only one of the reasons they were there. Actually, their main goal was to ambush Sashimi and Meng Jingchan.
These two from Jiang Hu were not easy to deal with. When they entered the town, they naturally noticed the presence of the two members of Regulation and the 'sound shells'.
But … Xu Huai Shang's skill of 'invisibility' in the sound shells was something that Childe Jian and Not a Scaredy Cat could not do. Therefore, the plan they came up with was to wait for the enemy to arrive. The two would pretend that they did not know they were being watched and would eat, drink, and rest. At the same time, they would chat with various NPCs in town to gather information. It was as if they were playing a single-player RPG game. At night, they even found a house to hide in like everything was going well.
All of this was to create the illusion that "we don't know that we are being watched" for the watchers. But in reality, they were constantly on guard against the enemy's movement and were prepared to counterattack when the enemy came.
Who would have thought that at night, Sashimi would be killed by Xu Huai Shang. The sound shells were the special items that Sashimi created using his skill, and they disappeared with his death.
Childe Jian and Not a Scaredy Cat, who noticed this, did not dare act rashly.
If the two were outside the town, they would have nothing to worry about. After they noticed the disappearance of the sound shells, they could enter the town without fear. But they had entered the town during the day. This meant that before the sound shells disappeared, their location was still within the enemy's grasp.
Therefore, they had to consider the possibility that the enemy had purposely made the sound shells disappear to create the illusion that the surveillance had disappeared. That way, they would be exposed.
With that thought in mind, it was not easy for them to move. They could only continue to wait.
They waited until morning, but instead of Sashimi and Meng Jingchan, they saw the Mad Tiger Gang that came to scout the place.
Who would have thought … that Tu Ji would choose this courtyard as his hiding place and meeting point. His gang members were also waiting for orders with this place as their center.
At this point, Childe Jian and Not a Scaredy Cat decided not to come out. With their hearing, they could hear every word that Tu Ji said inside the house. Through the communication between Tu Ji and the other scouts, they could grasp the situation in the town and observe how it would develop.
"Oh?" Tu Ji did not buy Childe Jian's explanation. "Then, based on what you've said, your appearance in this house … is just a coincidence?"
"Whether it is a coincidence or not is no longer important," Not a Scaredy Cat said.
"Then, what is important?" Tu Ji did not beat around the bush and asked directly.
"That we came out is very important," Blade Runner said.
Tu Ji thought about it and realized that the man had a point. He could not help but wonder, 'Why would they voluntarily come out? If they wanted to eavesdrop, they would have stayed inside the house. If they wanted to ambush us, they would not have opened the door so openly. '
"That means …" Tu Ji's mind was very sharp. "Something happened that forced you to come out?"
"That's right," Blade Runner said.
"Can you … tell me the reason?" Tu Ji asked.
"Of course." Childe Jian did not mind telling the man the reason they left the house because even if he did not, the man would soon find out.
"Someone has entered the town," Childe Jian said after exchanging a look with Not a Scaredy Cat.
"What kind of person?" Tu Ji asked.
"I don't know his name," Childe Jian replied.
"Then, you should know something else," Tu Ji said.
"Ah …" Childe Jian's expression froze, and he said seriously, "What I know is … his kung fu is very high, so high that it is beyond your imagination." He paused for a moment before adding, "Also … he has the 'Sword Dance Grass Record' on him."
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