Chapter 555

Chapter 555: Malevolent Sects

Before dawn, someone knocked on the door.

The inn attendant, feeling impatient, wondered who would come to the inn so early.

Not long after, the attendant opened the door to let in a cold-eyed man, making him hesitant to complain and step back nervously, fearing he was encountering a robbery.

This big man not only had icy eyes but radiated a cold aura. He suddenly spoke, “I heard there’s a hot spring nearby. Why haven’t I found it? Does the innkeeper know?”

The attendant let out a sigh of relief and after a moment replied, “So, you’re looking for the hot spring! It might have existed fifty years ago, but it disappeared long before my birth.”

“Oh?” The cold man sat down and tossed a wine gourd onto the table, saying, “Fill the gourd with good wine; spiritual wine would be best. And slice up a few pounds of your signature mulberry meat; I have the money.”

“Clink, clink!” Several special Geng Gold coins fell onto the table.

“Alright! Please wait a moment!” The attendant hurried to prepare, thinking that such a big customer arriving so early looked promising.

When the attendant returned with wine and meat, he noticed two more people had joined the big man—a man and a woman, both equally sinister, and he couldn’t help but murmur to himself, “Birds of a feather flock together; people are grouped by their kind.”

The newly arrived man and woman looked similar, suggesting they were siblings. The woman had her long hair pulled into a messy bun on one side, while the other half hung loose, not even reaching her shoulders.

The man wore an ancient bronze shoulder protector and was drawing on the table with his finger, saying, “I knew it; our brother Li and I should work together.”

“Sure, the usual deal: forty-sixty split!” The speaker was named Li Hu, a body refining cultivator known for his powerful punching techniques, few could rival him.

The real Li Hu had died long ago, and the current Li Hu appeared half a month ago.

Everyone who had previously known or interacted with Li Hu treated him as the original, and this brother-sister pair was on good terms with him. Just as the attendant had mused, they were alike in kind; all three were assassins.

After the attendant left, the woman began slicing the meat and said, “Brother Li, why do so many sects come to Yan Yun Kingdom?”

Li Hu shook his head. “I don’t know; the employer is also curious. He offered a hefty sum for me to investigate, but the clues are slim. The letter only mentioned looking for hot springs around here. It seems you siblings also received a similar task and arrived before me. Judging from the traces nearby, many from our circle are responding to the news, all peeking into secrets.”

The woman’s brother sneered, “The area is mixed with good and bad; the underground is filled with demonic vines, and the birds show signs of demonic transformation. I don’t know which reckless demon brat is casting spells behind the scenes, thinking they are being cautious! To us, they are just amateurs.”

“Indeed! It gets lively at night,” the woman said, just as she was about to eat, but her wrist was suddenly seized by Li Hu, who laughed coldly, “Your brother mocked others as amateurs, so here comes the retaliation. Let’s see what this meat has turned into.”

The woman looked at it in horror and quickly tossed the meat aside, as countless tiny eyes erupted from it—what good would it do to eat that?

“Giggle, you three are so comfortable, enjoying breakfast in the inn of this demon brat while slandering me,” a slim woman appeared and sat right across from the three at the wooden table.

“I am Li Hu; what do you call yourself?” Li Hu remained seated, and since the siblings saw he had no intention of striking, they also sat calmly, with him as their leader.

“You three have such great camaraderie!” The woman, with a pointy chin, held a comb, brushing her hair while saying, “I was busy all night doing the same things as you three, returning just before dawn. Look at my hair, it’s so dusty; I just washed it and then heard someone talk about amateurs. Oh, how annoying, don’t you think?”

“Stop wasting words. Do you believe I could crush your throat within two breaths?” Li Hu’s expression turned cold, making the demoness shiver from head to toe, and she hurriedly put away all her small actions, saying, “Li Hu, known as the Night Sit Tiger, a Bosa stage body refining cultivator, fierce and vigorous.”

“And these two are named Ruan Keda and Ruan Mudi, known as the Big Ghost and Little Ghost, who share a deep bond with the Night Sit Tiger, often engaging in deadly business together,” remarked the demoness with a smile. “Am I correct?”

“Bang…” Li Hu struck like lightning and truly crushed the demoness’s throat in under two breaths, letting her collapse onto the table as he shook his head, “You talk too much. Asking your name while telling us who we are is of no use; as Ruan Keda said, you are just an amateur.”

Not only was the demoness’s throat crushed; all her bones shattered from the tremendous force. Her slim form tried to escape, but the brother and sister had already acted, using small daggers to etch strange patterns on her body.

“Alright, a job well done. This puppet is quite nice; once she recovers, she will be quite useful,” Ruan Mudi said, admiring the work she and her brother had done, casually commenting, “This rookie demoness wouldn’t mistake us malevolent sect cultivators for righteous ones, would she?”

“Who knows? She came out babbling a lot of nonsense,” Li Hu rummaged through the demoness’s belongings and, in no time, pulled out various odd items. He even crushed a storage bracelet with his bare hands, easily breaking hidden restrictions and allowing articles to spill out.

“Hmm? It’s been a while; how has your strength, Brother Li, become so terrifying?” Ruan Mudi stared in disbelief.

“Luck has been fine; I recently devoured two pieces of Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures, thus my power has increased,” Li Hu said nonchalantly, scratching the ground with his foot and expressing his disdain, “Turns out she’s a broke fool; feel free to take whatever you like.”

Ruan Keda was surprised, “This demoness has reached the Bosa stage; based on her possessions, she should have a master and doesn’t seem simple. If Brother Li looks down on her with his current perspective, then my sister and I won’t hold back.”

“Enough of the nonsense!” Li Hu gave a Cold Smile, which made the siblings hurry to silence themselves and pick out useful items.

“Wuwuwu…” The demoness cried; she was just about to reveal her name when this brutal man crushed her throat.

Crushing an ordinary person’s throat would lead to death, but demon cultivators possess demonic energy to heal damage and have exceptional vitality. However, the demoness’s heart was fragile. Even though she had reached the Bosa stage, she had just debuted, never expecting the world to be so perilous. Her Master had clearly warned that cultivators fear demon cultivators.

The demoness wept without tears, unsure of what to do. These three had taken over her room, and the damned siblings were even pulling out tools, stabbing her dantian to create a clumsy painting of a ghostly maid.

When night fell, Ruan Keda and Ruan Mudi, like puppeteers, manipulated the demoness to go out to gather information, using the techniques of malevolent sects to their fullest.

Li Hu sat cross-legged, secretly thinking, “I will forcibly elevate my Ideal Body to the peak of the Bosa stage. After spending half a year stabilizing this realm, I can attain completeness. When that happens, I will be ready to face tribulation. The problem lies in that when I cultivate the Six Paths Legal Form, I wonder what terrifying celestial phenomena will arise during the tribulation. Therefore, I need to find a favorable location to face it. This Yan Yun Kingdom has a suitable place for such, indeed fulfilling the requirements.”