"Crimson Stone Ox?"
Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow, looking at Xiao Shi on the bed.
Just now, when talking with Xiao Shi, he brought up this topic.
"That's right, those two bastards used the Crimson Stone Ox to trick me, but they did indeed have a massive ox horn, which must have come from a bovine exotic beast, and judging by its size, it shouldn't be an ordinary exotic beast."
Xiao Shi said weakly.
"Did he mention where that Crimson Stone Ox was?"
Lin Sheng was still very interested in this Crimson Stone Ox.
This Crimson Stone Ox was not in the hundred beast compendium, clearly it had not appeared on Yangping Mountain, and should be an exotic beast from Tongzhi County.
Now that his second imprint was activated, turtle exotic beasts were hard to find, and he hadn't had any luck with high-grade common beast bovine exotic beasts these past few days.
It wasn't that there were no bovine exotic beasts, but the amount of blood from the bovine exotic beasts available in the pharmacy was too little, nowhere near enough to meet the requirements for entering the body.
Most bovine exotic beasts are large, and the amount of blood needed to successfully enter the body is not a small number.
For such large exotic beasts, it's better to find their living body to enter the body, otherwise, relying solely on purchasing from the pharmacy, it's unrealistic to gather the blood needed for entering the body.
Now that there was news of this suspected high-grade common beast Crimson Stone Ox, it was worth the trip.
"Those two didn't mention the specific location, just that it was from a village near the County Town."
Xiao Shi thought for a moment and said.
"I see, you rest well."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng instructed him a few more times and did not stay any longer, getting up and leaving.
Returning to his residence, he immediately sent Lao Zhou to investigate the news.
As for the method of investigation, it was also simple, which was through the beggars and vagrants in the city.
Due to the Phantom Demon Beast, the number of vagrants in Tongzhi County had significantly increased compared to before during this period, although most of them were from the Lin'an area, there were also people from Tongzhi County.
After all, villages have very low risk resistance, and encountering a change can turn people into vagrants.
These vagrants migrated all the way here, and if there really was a Crimson Stone Ox appearing in the surrounding villages, someone among these people should know.
"I wonder what the attribute of this Crimson Stone Ox will be after entering the body?"
Lin Sheng pondered this question in his heart, but soon fell back into cultivation.
Now that the second imprint was activated, it was time to speed up the cultivation progress of Ape Embryo Skill and Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm.
"By then, the threat of Blood Transportation Realm Martial Artists to myself will undoubtedly be greatly reduced."
Thinking this, he had already calmed his mind and focused on cultivation.
Soon, the great sun set in the west.
Just then, Lao Zhou's hurried footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard.
Lin Sheng also opened his eyes in time, coming out of his cultivation state.
"Gongzi, there's news!!"
As soon as Lao Zhou entered the courtyard, his face was full of smiles.
Clearly, there was good news.
"Is there news of the Crimson Stone Ox?"
"That's right, a few vagrants said they saw a huge fiery red ox with a massive body in a place called Xizhu Forest outside the County Town, more than twice the size of an ordinary Iron Yak..."
Lao Zhou said quickly.
Hearing this, Lin Sheng's eyes slightly brightened. Although size doesn't necessarily represent the strength of an exotic beast, larger exotic beasts are more likely to be high-grade exotic beasts.
A bovine exotic beast more than twice the size of an Iron Yak is undoubtedly a high-grade common beast, and it might even be more than just an ordinary high-grade common beast.
"Where is that Xizhu Forest?"
Thinking of this, he asked Lao Zhou.
"This subordinate has already found out, it's about 50 li west of the County Town, there is a large area of bamboo forest there, which is where the Xizhu Forest is located,"
As if knowing Lin Sheng would ask this, Lao Zhou immediately said.
"Good, I understand, you go and rest first."
"Yes, Gongzi."
Lao Zhou cupped his hands in a salute and said no more, then hurried away.
Watching Lao Zhou's figure disappear into the distance, the smile on Lin Sheng's face slowly faded, his gaze falling outside the courtyard gate.
He let out a slight breath and walked out of the courtyard gate. The long street was bustling with traffic, people coming and going in a continuous flow.
At this moment, the sun was setting in the west, the fiery red great sun in the west illuminating a large part of the sky with a fiery red color.
Lin Sheng strolled along the street, his pace not fast, as if he were just taking a leisurely walk.
"The target is out, this person should be the owner of this residence."
In a general store across the long street, two men in ordinary clothes, seemingly casually selecting goods in the shop, kept the corner of their eyes on the tall figure that had come out from opposite.
"It has been confirmed that there are not many people in the residence, but the specific identity has not been found out for now."
The two men talked quickly in low voices while keeping watch.
"You go and report to the First Gongzi first, I will keep an eye on things here."
"Okay, I'll go now, you be careful here."
Soon, one person put down the goods in his hand, turned around, and left towards the door.
Only one person remained, still watching the opposite side of the long street, but at this moment, he suddenly found that the tall figure that had been leisurely strolling on the long street had disappeared from his sight at some point.
"Where are the people? Where did he go!?"
A look of confusion appeared on the man's face, yet in just a moment of distraction, the person was gone.
With suspicion in his heart, he put down the groceries in his hand and quickly searched the long street with his eyes, wanting to find that figure.
But unfortunately, he couldn't find any trace.
"What are you looking for?"
Just then, an indifferent voice sounded from behind him, startling the man. Turning around, he saw only a familiar face, which was the person he had been searching for all along.
"You..."
His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth as if to say something.
"Lao Wang, why are you here, it's really been a long time..."
But he saw a smile on that person's face, and he familiarly put his arm around him.
Before he could speak, a large hand had already gripped his neck, making him unable to make any sound. Then the man felt himself being pulled and walked outside.
He struggled desperately, but his whole body felt as if it were bound by iron hoops, unable to move even half an inch.
Soon, he was taken out of the general store by the other party. At this moment, he saw in front of the small alley outside the shop, the companion who had left earlier was leaning against the wall motionless, as if resting.
And he knew very well that this was impossible, his companion's reaction clearly meant he had been knocked unconscious and placed here.
Thinking of this, he was horrified, but he couldn't resist at all, and could only watch as the person beside him walked to the narrow alley and grabbed his companion as well.
In the quiet room of the residence.
"Speak, who are you? And why did you follow me here?"
Looking at the two people in the quiet room, Lin Sheng spoke indifferently, but his words carried an unspeakable coldness.
"Who are you? I don't understand what you're saying, how dare you kidnap us on the street? What exactly do you want to do?"
However, facing Lin Sheng's interrogation, the reactions of the two were surprisingly consistent, both showing fear mixed with anger, as if they were truly innocent passersby who had been kidnapped.
"Is it interesting?" Looking at their reactions, Lin Sheng's expression didn't change at all, but the next moment, his figure flickered, and there was a crisp sound of bones breaking.
Ah!!
Amidst the wails, the two men clutched their hands, their faces contorted with intense pain.
Streaks of blood flowed from their palms, their left thumbs already flattened.
"My patience is limited, you'd better not think about testing me..."
Lin Sheng picked his ears and spoke leisurely.
Such a calm reaction made a trace of fear flash in the eyes of the two, but they still gritted their teeth and maintained their previous statement.
"You... you let me go, um, we'll give you whatever money you want..."
"Alright, I hope you can still say that later."
Lin Sheng sighed lightly, a look of helplessness on his face.
And his two hands had already reached out, clenched into fists, and smashed down.
Crack, crack...
Amidst a series of crisp bone-breaking sounds, all 10 of their fingers were smashed flat.
"Continue?"
"Ah!! I..."
The intense pain made the two roll around on the ground, tears and snot streaming down their faces, stammering out something.
Crack, crack, crack...
However, the next moment, the sound of bones breaking rang out again, this time their forearms also met the same fate.
The intense pain feedback from their bodies made the two almost faint from the pain.
However, Lin Sheng's expression remained unchanged, just quietly watching the two.
"Still not speaking? Alright..."
He muttered to himself, just about to continue his actions.
"I'll talk... I'll talk... Stop! Stop! Stop..."
Finally, one of the two shouted frantically.
"That's more like it."
Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face, and he grabbed the man who had spoken.
His gaze fell on the other person who was still gritting his teeth and not speaking.
He seemed to sense Lin Sheng's gaze.
That calm gaze, at this moment, seemed to him like a demon's stare.
Finally, this person also couldn't hold on and quickly cried out for mercy.
"I'll talk too... Don't do it anymore... I'll talk..."
Seeing that both of them were quite cooperative, Lin Sheng didn't continue to act.
He waved his hand and knocked the person beside him unconscious.
"Speak, tell me everything I want to know. Later, I will ask your companion. If your answers are different, then we continue."
Looking at the man on the ground soaked in cold sweat, Lin Sheng said with a half-smile, and this smile made the other person's scalp tingle, his heart filled with fear.
He had originally wanted to deliberately mislead the other party, but he didn't expect the other party to be so rigorous, forcing him to give up his little tricks and cooperate truthfully.
"We are people of Governor Guo's eldest Gongzi, Guo Feng. The reason we were monitoring you is because of the death of Ba Long and his gang of bandits..."
Before long, the man revealed everything he knew, while Lin Sheng listened quietly, his brows slightly furrowed.
He then knocked out the man in front of him, slapped awake the man who had fainted earlier, and repeated the same questions.
The answers of the two basically matched, which made Lin Sheng completely believe the information from their mouths.
This also made his mood sink to the bottom.
"One wave hasn't settled, another one rises. As expected, once trouble starts, if it's not solved from the root, it will be endless..."
Lin Sheng sighed deeply.
He really didn't expect that what the bandit leader on that low mountain said back then was actually true, they really had a connection with the Guo family, the Governor of Tongzhi County.
This also made his head ache. One must know that in Great Yan, the strongest force is undoubtedly the official power.
Even the government of just one county has Great Yan standing behind it.
"Governor's eldest son, Guo Feng."
He chewed on this name.
Clearly, his act of annihilating that group of bandits and releasing the living people from the underground cage had disrupted this First Gongzi's plan.
During his time in Tongzhi County, he had heard of this First Gongzi's name more than once.
Intelligent, with extraordinary martial arts talent, deeply valued by the Governor.
Not yet thirty, he had already reached Forging Tendons Completion, just a step away from the Blood Transportation Realm.
Moreover, he was ruthless and had many businesses in the County Town.
He was definitely a prominent figure in the County Town.
Lin Sheng rubbed his temples, feeling a bit annoyed.
Oh, right, from the mouths of the two, he also roughly understood the whole story of the matter. The source of all this seemed to stem from that Guo Second Young Master.
That's why that group of bandits took action, stole his property, and were finally wiped out by him.
"I originally wanted to spend some time peacefully in the County Town and improve my cultivation. Now it seems this plan needs to change."
Slightly shaking his head, he waved his hand and crushed the necks of the two people in the quiet room, then his figure disappeared from the courtyard.
Tongming Academy.
"Ghost Face? Why are you here again?"
Huang Quan looked at the masked man in front of him, stroking his chin and asking.
"I want to post a commission, help me find a few Star Apprentices."
Lin Sheng said directly.
"Commission? Star Apprentices? What do you want to do? Tell me about it."
Huang Quan immediately became interested and asked.
"Help me escort a few people to Fu City."
"An escort mission? The distance from Tongzhi County to Fu City is not short, how much are you planning to pay?"
Huang Quan knew Lin Sheng didn't have merit points, so he directly asked how much he was willing to pay.
"One thousand taels."
Lin Sheng looked at Huang Quan and said.
"Of course, if it's an expert, I'm willing to pay more."
"Is that so, tsk tsk, it just so happens that I have some time these past few days, so three thousand taels, and I'll personally go."
"One thousand five hundred taels."
"One thousand five hundred taels is too low, I'm a Blood Transportation Warrior after all, it should at least be two thousand five hundred taels."
Huang Quan shook his head, slightly indignant.
"Let's meet halfway, two thousand taels, last offer."
Lin Sheng said directly.
He originally planned to find a few Star Apprentices to escort Lin Hong and others to Fu City, but if Huang Quan personally took action, it would undoubtedly be more secure.
Of course, the price couldn't be too expensive, otherwise, he would still prefer to choose Star Apprentices.
"Hmm, 2000 taels, it's still a bit less, but forget it, seeing that we're quite familiar, let's go with that."
Huang Quan smacked his lips, seemingly a bit hesitant, but in the end, he agreed.
"When do we set off?"
"Two hours from now."
"So urgent?" Huang Quan was a bit surprised.
"Yes, it is very urgent." Lin Sheng nodded.
"Also, I would like to inquire about the information of the Guo family's First Gongzi in the city."
"You mean Guo Feng?" Huang Quan stroked his chin, sizing Lin Sheng up and down.
"What, did you provoke this Governor's crown prince?"
Lin Sheng nodded.
"There are indeed some minor troubles."
"Alright, for the sake of two thousand taels, I'll briefly tell you about it."
Huang Quan understood in his heart and also said directly.
"This Guo family's First Gongzi can be considered a notable figure. In my opinion, he has a chance to break through to the Bones Transformation Realm in the future, and there are rumors that he has some connection with the Yuanyang Beast Sect."