"Uh..."
Cao Luan slowly opened his eyes, feeling quite weak all over, as if he had practiced martial arts for an entire day.
Fortunately, as he woke up, the feeling of weakness on his body also slowly receded.
"Where is this? Why am I here?"
He raised his eyes and looked at the surroundings; it was a dirty, dilapidated woodshed, and the air was filled with a pungent, fishy smell.
Other than him, it was empty; there was no one else.
He only felt dizzy in his head. He shook his head, and then remembered that he seemed to have been ambushed by a peddler.
"Damn it, you despicable scoundrel."
Thinking this in his heart, his strength had recovered a lot at this time. He quickly felt around his body and found that all his things were still there, which greatly reassured him.
"Fortunately, my things weren't taken."
He clutched his package, and just as he was about to stand up, he heard footsteps outside the door.
Cao Luan's eyes moved, and he immediately lay back down.
With a creak, the woodshed door was pushed open, and a figure walked in from outside.
The figure was a short man, none other than Sun Mazi.
After Sun Mazi entered the woodshed, he quickly closed the door. Looking at Cao Luan, who was still unconscious, a smile appeared on his face.
"This kid must have some background, otherwise he wouldn't have entered the Body Tempering Realm at such a young age... Such a green kid must be carrying good stuff..."
Thinking of this, the smile on his face became even brighter. He stepped towards Cao Luan, already eager to see what benefits he could get from the other party.
He came before Cao Luan, squatted down, and reached out to take the black cloth package wrapped around Cao Luan's chest.
"There really is something!!"
Feeling the hard object inside the package through the wrapping, his heart was filled with impatience.
Just as he wanted to take the contents out of the package, a sharp pain came from his calf.
"Ow!!"
With a cry of pain, he directly fell to the ground.
"Hmph, you dare to touch this young master's things! I'll chop off your dog leg!"
Cao Luan stood up from the ground and looked at Sun Mazi, who was crying in pain on the ground holding his leg, with a cold smile.
"You... how did you wake up so quickly!?"
Seeing Cao Luan stand up, Sun Mazi's face showed surprise amidst his crying.
He knew this kid was a Body Tempering Martial Artist, so he used a considerable amount of knockout drug. According to past experience, without external interference, it should have kept this kid asleep for at least a day and a night. Only two hours had passed, and he had already woken up, which made him incredibly surprised.
"You won't have a chance to know. Tell me, who exactly are you? Why did you attack this young master?"
Cao Luan stepped forward and kicked Sun Mazi hard, asking sternly.
This kick made Sun Mazi cry out in pain again. To avoid being harmed again, he quickly spoke.
"I'll tell... I'll tell you, alright?"
"Be honest, if you talk too much nonsense, this young master will kill you!"
Cao Luan snorted and took two steps forward.
"I'm from the city..."
Sun Mazi spoke slowly, his face a mixture of pain and flattery, but his voice became softer and softer, causing Cao Luan to frown and lean closer.
"What did you say? Speak louder..."
"I said..."
Seeing the other party approach, Sun Mazi's flattering expression immediately changed into a smile of successful trickery. He kicked Cao Luan to the ground.
Although he was also a Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist, he had no intention of fighting the other party at all. After kicking him to the ground, he immediately shouted loudly with all his might.
"Someone! This kid is awake..."
"You're insidious!!"
Seeing this scene, Cao Luan endured the pain in his leg, stood up, and pounced towards Sun Mazi.
Sun Mazi opened the door and ran outside, but just as he opened the door, his movements froze.
The next moment, white smoke rose from his body, and the flesh on his chest fell off piece by piece, like decaying and peeling wall paint. Within a breath, he fell down, turning into a pool of blood, leaving only scattered bone fragments.
In the woodshed, Cao Luan was panting, and in his hand, he now held a cylindrical metal object.
Looking at Sun Mazi, whose clothes had been completely corroded, a look of shock appeared on his face. It seemed he hadn't expected the thing in his hand to be even more powerful than he had imagined.
Soon, the shock turned into pleasant surprise. He tightly clutched the treasure in his hand.
"I didn't expect this thing left by my father to be so powerful!!"
He was pleasantly surprised in his heart, immediately feeling that revenge was within reach this time.
"What's that noise? Go quickly and see. It sounded like Brother Sun was shouting just now..."
At this moment, shouts came from outside the woodshed courtyard.
Only then did Cao Luan react; he was still in danger.
However, having witnessed the power of the killing weapon in his hand, he was not panicked. He quickly walked to the courtyard gate.
After the half-closed courtyard door was kicked open, several burly men holding weapons immediately rushed in from outside. They immediately saw Cao Luan, who was standing in the courtyard looking at them with a cold sneer.
"Damn, this kid got out. Quick, catch him! If Wu Laoda comes and sees this, we'll definitely get a scolding..."
Several men roared and pounced towards Cao Luan, but as soon as they moved, they saw the half-grown boy opposite them raise the cylindrical object they had never seen before in his hand.
Immediately after, a wisp of black water mist sprayed out from it.
Some of the men raised their weapons to block, but it was useless against the water mist. Amidst the hissing sound of corrosion, a series of heart-wrenching wails followed, but the wails quickly faded, leaving only wisps of white smoke slowly rising.
Cao Luan understood that this was not a place to stay for long and immediately ran towards the outside of the courtyard.
However, the commotion here had clearly attracted a lot of attention.
In the wide courtyard outside, burly men rushed out one after another. At a rough glance, there were no less than twenty or thirty of them.
"How did this kid get out? Catch him."
Seeing Cao Luan running out, some of these burly men clearly recognized his identity and immediately pointed at him, shouting loudly.
After speaking, these burly men swarmed towards Cao Luan.
Seeing so many people pouncing on him, Cao Luan was surprised but not panicked. He raised the killing weapon in his hand and dodged to the side.
Until several big men approached him, he swung it back at them.
As the black water sprayed out, several burly men were immediately drenched. Within a breath, their muscular bodies turned into pools of pus.
"What is this thing!?"
Seeing this terrifying scene, the burly men in the courtyard were immediately intimidated and stopped their forward movement.
"If you don't want to die, get lost and clear the way, otherwise this will be your fate."
Seeing that no one dared to step forward, Cao Luan immediately shouted loudly.
However, although the burly men did not dare to step forward, they had no intention of letting him go. They still surrounded him from a distance, not giving him a chance to escape.
Seeing this, Cao Luan frowned and immediately strode towards the direction of the distant gate.
"Be careful of the thing in his hand, don't get hit by that black mist..."
Among the crowd, a man with good eyesight seemed to have noticed something and warned the people around him.
Seeing Cao Luan step forward, someone immediately couldn't help but rush towards him, but the response was a wisp of black water mist.
Although they were prepared, the water mist sprayed very quickly, and they couldn't dodge in time and were contaminated by the black mist. With two screams, these two burly men once again turned into two pools of pus in everyone's eyes.
"Spread out, don't stay in one direction..."
These burly men were not fools either. They immediately spread out, forming a circle, and rushed towards Cao Luan together.
Seeing this, Cao Luan just snorted coldly.
As soon as the crowd got close, he immediately raised the cylindrical object in his hand above his head. The next moment, tiny pinhole-sized openings appeared around the cylinder, spraying outwards in all directions.
Immediately, six or seven burly men were hit directly, turning into pus again.
This truly intimidated these burly men, who all moved away from Cao Luan, not daring to step forward.
Seeing this, a look of triumph appeared on Cao Luan's face. He walked towards the door. This time, the burly men's feet moved, but they didn't dare to move forward.
However, before he could reach the courtyard gate, a series of heavy thudding sounds came from the entrance, followed by an extremely fat, round figure walking in from the doorway.
The round figure was none other than Wu Shan, who had rushed over.
And behind him followed a tall, thin man like a bamboo pole.
Seeing these two figures, one fat and one thin, one tall and one short, enter, the crowd in the courtyard immediately made way and respectfully spoke to the two of them.
"Wu Laoda, Lao Zhou!"
"Is this the kid?"
Wu Shan ignored the surrounding crowd and his gaze fell directly on Cao Luan in the center of the courtyard. Then he glanced at the puddles of sewage on the ground that were still emitting white mist.
"This is..."
His eyes were sharp, and he saw something just from the scattered fragments on the ground.
"Deadly poison!? What strong toxicity!"
Wu Shan narrowed his eyes, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Smiling Faced Ghost Wu Shan, Droopy Eyed Ghost Zhou Quan!?"
Looking at these two, one fat and one thin, with a clear contrast, Cao Luan seemed to remember something and immediately asked.
"You are the Red Hair Bandits!!"
Although he had never seen the Red Hair Bandits, they had spent a lot of money collecting information about this group of bandits. Besides the Leader Red Haired Ghost Luo Hu, he also knew the information about the core members.
At this moment, seeing the physical characteristics of the two and how the people around them addressed them, Cao Luan realized their identities. These two were among the other five Leaders besides Luo Hu. They were all masters who had reached Forging Tendons Completion years ago and had extremely rich combat experience, and among the five, these two were the most sinful.
"Hahaha... I searched high and low, but couldn't find it. I didn't expect you... to be the Red Hair Bandits!!"
A hateful smile appeared on Cao Luan's face, and his eyes stared fixedly at Wu Shan and Zhou Quan.
"Tell me, where is Luo Hu!? If you tell me, I can leave you with an intact corpse."
"Hmph, you greenhorn kid, a mere Body Tempering, dare to talk to us like this."
Wu Shan and Zhou Quan exchanged glances, as if they had heard a joke, and both grinned.
"Calling us the Red Hair Bandits repeatedly, it seems you really came for us. Since that's the case, we'll capture you first."
Zhou Quan grinned, sized up Cao Luan from head to toe, and showed a look of considerable interest on his face, even with a hint of lust in his eyes.
"Brother Wu, leave this kid to me. You just watch from the side. After we get the information we want, I can have a good time with this kid..."
"Sure, but Brother Zhou, the thing in this kid's hand has some tricks. Be careful."
Wu Shan had no objection. He could see at a glance that the thing in Cao Luan's hand was the source of the powerful poison. He had encountered countless poisons in his decades of roaming the Jianghu, but this was the first time he had seen such strong toxicity.
Moreover, he was fat and lacked flexibility, and he didn't plan to make a move himself. Leaving it to Zhou Quan was fine.
He understood why Zhou Quan volunteered. It was because his preference was different from ordinary people; he wasn't interested in women but liked these handsome young boys.
"Don't worry."
Zhou Quan dropped a sentence and strode towards Cao Luan.
"You're courting death!"
Seeing the other party ignore his words, a ruthless look appeared on Cao Luan's face.
Clutching the killing weapon in his hand, as soon as the other party got within 10 meters of him, he immediately twisted the mechanism.
Instantly, a wisp of black mist shot towards the other party.
However, the other party seemed to have been prepared. Before the black mist could get close, he had already flashed to the side like a monkey and pounced towards him.
Cao Luan immediately retreated, twisted the mechanism again, and shot out black mist, but it was still skillfully dodged by the other party.
And the distance between the two had been narrowed to three or four meters.
The other party's agility surprised Cao Luan, and he retreated even faster.
"Kid, where else can you run?"
Amidst sinister laughter, Zhou Quan had already taken a step forward. His speed was even several times faster than before, and he was already right beside him.
This sudden change greatly alarmed Cao Luan. Without hesitation, he immediately twisted the mechanism significantly and raised the killing weapon high.
Dense holes the size of pinheads immediately appeared around the cylindrical short rod, and the next moment, black mist sprayed out in a 360-degree radius, leaving no room for evasion.
This situation also caused Zhou Quan's face to change. He activated a secret technique without hesitation. His legs swelled up, and he stomped heavily on the ground. He actually twisted his body and exploded backward, reaching the nearest spectating burly man, grabbing him and holding him in front of himself as a shield.
Zizila—
A corrosive sound like frying oil rang out. This unfortunate burly man didn't even have time to wail before he was contaminated by the black mist and melted away within a breath. In this interval, Zhou Quan had also retreated out of the range of the black mist.
Seeing a wisp of black on his long sleeve, rapidly spreading upward, he immediately tore off the entire sleeve.
Seeing the burly man in front of him turn into black water, a look of solemnity appeared on Zhou Quan's face, but it was quickly replaced by greed. He looked at the cylindrical short rod in the other party's hand.
"Tsk tsk... Interesting, kid, the thing in your hand is quite good. It's mine now..."
"You're dreaming!"
Just as Cao Luan was about to retort with a few sarcastic remarks, he saw the other party flip his wrist.
Then he felt a pain in his wrist.
"Not good!!"
In his shock, he had no time to activate the killing weapon again.
The tall, thin figure was already close and snatched away his reliance.
Then he was slapped to the ground.
"You greenhorn kid who hasn't even shed his mother's milk, I don't know who gave you the courage to come here yelling with this thing, and even looking for the Leader? It's truly hilarious."
Zhou Quan mocked him without concealment, playing with the short rod as if he couldn't get enough of it.
"Bastard, give me back my things!!"
One side of Cao Luan's cheek was swollen high. Enduring the severe pain in his wrist, he shouted angrily.
At this moment, his right hand hung limply, clearly broken.
"Hmph, it seems you really don't understand your situation. You killed so many of my men. I'll take good care of you in a while. I hope you can let me play for a bit longer..."
Zhou Quan held the short rod with a chilling, grotesque smile on his face.
At this moment, Cao Luan finally panicked. He finally realized his situation. Without the thing his father left him, he was just a small Body Tempering Martial Artist.
Thinking of the rumors about this Zhou Quan, his face showed fear and despair, and hot tears immediately flowed down.
At this moment, he deeply regretted it. He regretted why he came here, regretted why he came alone without telling his sister...
Thinking of the suffering he was about to face, he closed his eyes, wanting to bite off his tongue and commit suicide, but he didn't dare.
Soon, his scalp hurt, and he was already being lifted by his hair.
"Yo yo yo, crying? It's still early. Crying already? You're truly lovable..."
Zhou Quan reached out, wiped the tears from the other party's small face, put them in his mouth, and laughed lewdly, eager to take him into the room.
"Alright, Lao Zhou, let's finish asking what needs to be asked first. It's not too late to hand him over to you later."
Wu Shan also walked over at this moment.
"Alright, I'll do as you say."
Zhou Quan touched Cao Luan's face, nodded, and handed him over to Wu Shan.
"It seems I arrived just in time..."
And just then, a calm voice sounded from the courtyard entrance, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the courtyard.
Only a bang was heard.
A man-sized hole was broken in the thick, tightly shut heavy door. A large hand reached in from outside, opened the bolt, and then a tall figure with a moving neck stepped in.