Soon, outside the narrow alley, members of the Ya Gang gathered.
In the small courtyard, Liu Yuanshan's eyes were gloomy.
He stepped into the room, his gaze first sweeping over Xie Chunniang's corpse, then falling upon the group of Gang members on the floor.
Especially Ding Wu and the other Body Tempering Martial Artist.
“Very good, it seems this is the murderer's hiding place. Since they've come out, they shouldn't think about escaping again…”
Liu Yuanshan spoke slowly, his face grim.
“Who is the owner of this courtyard? I want all their information.”
As his words fell, several people were quickly brought in by Wang Laojiu.
These people were from other families in the alley, and seeing the fierce-looking thugs and hooligans around them, their faces had long since turned pale with fright.
“Tell me everything you know?”
Liu Yuanshan's gaze swept over the few people as he spoke coldly.
“We… we don't know what happened, we just heard some noise in this courtyard, but it ended quickly. After that, we saw Old Lin Tou and his family leave in a hurry by carriage…”
An older man among the few quickly spoke.
Then, the few people began to reveal all the information they had about Lin Hong's family.
“This place is inhabited by Old Lin Tou and his family. Old Lin Tou has a leg injury and is disabled. Before, he used to set up a stall on the street selling miscellaneous items. His wife usually helped people wash clothes and do odd jobs to make a living. They also have two sons.”
“The elder one works as a long-term laborer for the Sun Family, and the other one works in Zhenshan Tower. I heard that he seemed to have joined the Hunting Beast Hall a few days ago and just came home to visit two days ago.”
“Hunting Beast Hall?”
After hearing these people's words, a coldness appeared on Liu Yuanshan's face.
“Leader, it seems the murderers who killed Brother Gou should be these two boys.”
Wang Laojiu, who was standing nearby, spoke at this moment.
“The boy who joined the Hunting Beast Hall probably has some martial arts foundation, and the elder one might have also learned martial arts at the Sun Family.”
“A carriage with two old folks, they won't be fast. Immediately prepare a few fast horses for me and chase!”
Liu Yuanshan spoke coldly.
“Yes, Second Master.”
Wang Laojiu immediately responded, and soon someone led over a few fast horses.
Liu Yuanshan, along with Wang Laojiu and a few Gang experts, rode away on their horses, quickly disappearing into the night.
At the city gate, the guard captain on duty saw Liu Yuanshan and the others arriving in a hurry. He frowned and was about to reprimand them when he saw a waist token appear in the other party's hand.
Upon seeing the words on the waist token clearly, the guard captain's pupils slightly contracted. He waved his hand behind him, and the city gate was opened halfway.
“Officer, have you seen a carriage leave?”
Liu Yuanshan did not rush to leave. He reined in his horse and asked the guard captain.
“Half an hour ago, a Zhenshan Tower carriage left.”
The guard captain's eyes flickered twice as he spoke.
“Officer, did you see which direction they went?”
“All the way west. Looking at the direction, it should be towards Yangping Mountain.”
The officer did not hide anything and spoke plainly.
“Thank you.” After thanking him, a smile appeared on Liu Yuanshan's face. He raised the horse whip in his hand and severely whipped the horse beneath him.
Amidst the horse's painful neighing, the few fast horses quickly galloped away.
“Second Master, that person is from Zhenshan Tower and is also in the Hunting Beast Hall. Should we report this to the Leader first?”
On the horse, Wang Laojiu's face showed some hesitation as he asked Liu Yuanshan.
“It's not too late to talk about it after we get back. If we don't hurry and that kid reaches Yangping Town, it will be too late.”
Liu Yuanshan said coldly without looking back, his tone firm and unyielding.
Hearing this, Wang Laojiu opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't dare to say anything more and spurred his horse to follow.
“Hunting Beast Hall?! Hmph…”
After hearing that Lin Sheng was from the Hunting Beast Hall, Liu Yuanshan was also a little surprised, but he was just a newcomer who hadn't joined for long.
Even if he wasn't a newcomer, so what? Dying on the road in the wilderness, who could say for sure?
He didn't know exactly who the murderer who injured his brother was, but he figured it was definitely related to this family.
So, no matter who it was, he would send their whole family on their way.
Of course, he was well aware that being able to deal with Ding Wu and his group meant that the opponent's strength was stronger than he had imagined, at least two or three Body Tempering Martial Artists.
Therefore, he specifically brought a few experts with him this time.
Let alone a few Body Tempering Martial Artists, even someone in the Early Stage of Forging Tendons like him would definitely not gain any advantage.
Moreover, he didn't believe there would be any Forging Tendons Realm Martial Artists among the opponents. After all, Martial Artists at this level were considered experts in Lin'an County, so how could they be struggling in Waguan Street?
Furthermore, there were two old folks as burdens, so this time he was determined to take them down.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Clatter, clatter, clatter…
The sound of urgent hooves kept ringing out. The carriage galloped along the official road, but after all, it was an old horse, and even when driven at full speed, its pace wasn't very fast. The carriage was also carrying a lot of things.
“A Sheng, those people in the room were…?”
At this moment, Lin Hong and Xie Guilan on the carriage asked, still somewhat shaken.
Xie Guilan was better off, as she hadn't seen the situation in the room and had only heard Lin Hong's brief explanation. Lin Hong, however, had witnessed that scene firsthand.
“They were from the Ya Gang…”
This time, Lin Sheng didn't hide anything and explained in detail how the family had been targeted by Liu Ergou and how he had secretly dealt with Liu Ergou and the others.
Hearing this, the two elders' expressions kept changing, their faces showing both shock and fear.
“These damned bastards from the Ya Gang.” Lin Hong couldn't help but curse.
Xie Guilan, however, had a look of deep worry in her eyes.
“A Sheng, didn't you just kill someone, and more than one at that…”
“What else could I do in that situation?” Before Xie Guilan could finish speaking, Lin Hong had already frowned and reprimanded her.
Compared to Xie Guilan's helplessness, Lin Hong quickly calmed down.
He understood very well that his son had done nothing wrong. With the Ya Gang's way of doing things, if they were targeted and not dealt with, it would inevitably lead to the destruction of their family.
“A Sheng, what do you plan to do next?”
“Don't worry, the government won't pay too much attention to matters between Gangs. As for the Ya Gang, we'll be safe once we reach Yangping Town.”
Lin Sheng said calmly.
This sudden incident had indeed greatly exceeded his expectations and caught him off guard.
It could be said that it completely disrupted his original plan.
Although it was still under control, a hint of lingering fear arose in his heart.
It was also because he had broken through to the Forging Tendons Realm before returning this time. Otherwise, encountering so many people from the Ya Gang at once would have been difficult to resolve in a short time and would definitely have caused a bigger commotion.
The reason he lured those people into the room before taking action was twofold: firstly, these people were armed, especially with crossbows, and if they were poisoned, getting hit would undoubtedly be very troublesome and might even affect Xie Guilan and Lin Hong.
Secondly, fighting in the courtyard would cause too much noise and might attract more attention, potentially drawing in more Ya Gang members. Although he believed he could escape, it wouldn't be easy to take Lin Hong and Xie Guilan with him.
That's why he lured them into the room and quickly ended the fight.
After extracting the information he needed, he immediately took Lin Hong and the two others and left in a hurry.
At this moment, while driving the carriage, he was holding a fluffy little thing in his other hand.
It was covered in yellow fur and struggled constantly in Lin Sheng's hand, occasionally opening its mouth to bite fiercely at the hand gripping it. However, it couldn't even leave a white mark on the palm.
This little thing was Xie Chunniang's weasel.
After learning that this little weasel was somewhat unusual, Lin Sheng directly caught it and brought it out.
Looking at the weasel struggling in his palm, Lin Sheng seemed to lose patience. The next moment, his hand tightened, and instantly the weasel, which had been struggling, went limp like mud and stopped moving, clearly dead.
Lin Sheng's hand was like a hook, inserting into the weasel's body. The blood inside its body was drawn into his fingers as if by a pull.
Soon, the weasel's information appeared in his consciousness.
It was actually a mundane intermediate level exotic beast.
However, the amplification effect was somewhat disappointing to Lin Sheng.
It only added one point each to agility and perception, and no new amplification terms appeared.
Shaking his head slightly, he had already thrown the weasel's corpse away. He didn't choose to absorb it into his body but kept its image in the blood mist of the void space.
This was a function of the mountain and sea scroll that he had discovered while pondering.
He could choose not to absorb it into his body temporarily and store the absorbed blood in the void space, then absorb it into his body when he wanted to.
Although this weasel had nothing particularly noteworthy about it, collecting more exotic beasts in the mountain and sea scroll might bring some benefits. Therefore, whenever he encountered exotic beasts he hadn't seen before, he would try his best to collect them.
He stopped thinking about it and concentrated on driving the carriage. The threat from the Ya Gang had been greatly reduced for him now, but there were still two Forging Tendons Realm experts in the Ya Gang.
Moreover, there were still many Gang members. If they reacted and chased after him regardless, it would be somewhat troublesome.
However, in his opinion, the Ya Gang shouldn't react that quickly.
By the time they discovered the corpses in his room, a considerable amount of time should have passed.
…
Soon, another half an hour passed.
“A Sheng, how far are we from Yangping Town?”
From the back of the carriage, Lin Hong asked with some unease. Along the way, he would occasionally look back, afraid that someone was chasing them.
“At this speed, we should arrive in about two hours.”
Lin Sheng estimated the time and replied.
“Another two hours!”
Lin Hong muttered, reaching out to pinch his leg.
They had been traveling for over an hour since leaving the city. Although they were on the official road, it was still bumpy, causing their legs to ache. Xie Guilan next to him was the same, but both were gritting their teeth and persevering.
They wouldn't feel at ease until they reached Yangping Town.
After all, in their eyes, a rogue Gang like the Ya Gang was extremely ruthless, and once provoked, it would lead to endless trouble, especially since so many people had died this time.
At this moment, Lin Sheng suddenly brought the carriage to a halt with a “whoa.”
“What's wrong, A Sheng? Why did you stop?”
Lin Hong asked anxiously.
“We've been driving for a long time. Let's rest for a bit. It won't take long.”
Lin Sheng turned back and said with a smile.
“Father, Mother, you rest. I'll go relieve myself and be back in a moment.”
“But what if pursuers catch up…”
Lin Hong was still a little worried.
“It's alright. We've gone this far. They won't catch up even if they chase.”
Lin Sheng showed a reassuring smile and stepped towards the dark woods on one side.
As soon as he entered the woods, Lin Sheng's agile figure swiftly moved towards the back.
With his strong perception, he had already heard the sound of urgent hooves approaching from behind.
At this speed, it wouldn't take long before they caught up.
As for who the owner of the hooves was? He probably didn't need to think about it.
“I didn't expect them to catch up so quickly?”
Lin Sheng muttered, feeling quite surprised.
He had originally thought the Ya Gang wouldn't react so quickly. It seemed he had underestimated the Ya Gang.
Since he couldn't avoid it anyway, it was better to deal with it directly to avoid scaring Xie Guilan and the other two.
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up…
A few miles behind Lin Sheng, several fine horses were galloping on the official road.
The person leading them was tall and sturdy, with a cold expression on his face.
Who else could it be but Liu Yuanshan.
“That kid left the city less than an hour before us, but he only has one horse, so he can't go far. We should be catching up to them soon.”
Liu Yuanshan instructed the people behind him without looking back.
“Load arrows into the short crossbows. When we catch up, attack the horses directly with arrows.”
“Okay, Second Master.”
“Later, Wang Jiu and I will deal with the two young ones. The rest of you capture those two old folks. I want to see what tricks they can still pull.”
Liu Yuanshan said, a cold smile appearing on his face. No matter what the two boys were hiding, as long as they controlled the two old folks, the outcome was decided.
“Ergou, your brother will avenge you immediately.”
He muttered softly.
Swish, swish, swish…
Suddenly, a sound of rushing wind came from the woods on one side.
Liu Yuanshan's thoughts were immediately pulled back. His expression changed slightly, and he quickly called out a warning.
“Be careful!!”
Saying that, he had already pushed off the horse's back with his feet, his body soaring into the air, avoiding the strong gust of wind that was heading straight for his chest.
However, the people behind him were not so lucky.
Five of the seven people let out cries of agony, blood splattering from their bodies, and they fell off their horses.
Seeing this scene, a ferocious look appeared on Liu Yuanshan's face.
“Despicable scoundrel, you're seeking death!!”
However, before he could finish speaking, several more sounds of rushing wind came towards the remaining three of them.
This time, the few people were prepared and drew their weapons to block. However, to their surprise, the target this time was not them, but the horses beneath them.
Amidst the muffled thuds, shattered stones landed on the horses' legs. The horses neighed loudly, unable to maintain their footing, and directly threw Wang Laojiu and the others off their backs onto the ground. Only Liu Yuanshan leaped up and landed on the ground, barely maintaining his balance.