Sitting still, Lu Lin took a rest in the hotel room until half a Shichen later. He figured it was about the hour of Hai, so he rose from his seat and paid the check, then strolled in the direction of Linyuan Pavilion.
Upon his arrival, a few of the warriors were already waiting at the door of the Pavilion.
A while later, all eleven of them had gathered.
They strode into the Pavilion and stated who they were, then an old man, seemingly the shopkeeper, retrieved two hefty packages and passed them.
"Here is your Sect's order of the two hundred Qi-Blood Pills, one hundred Tendon-Tempering Pills, and a Xueyan Deer's horn. Please acknowledge receipt, all of you," the old man said with respect.
Linyuan Pavilion was an obvious pill-refining workshop.
Though Xuesha Demonic Sect had its own alchemists, under its banner, there were hundreds of thousands of warriors all over the mines, herb plantations, and beast houses. Its in-house low-level pills were in short supply.
What's more, most muckety-muck immortals concentrated on refining unearthly, wondrous pills. How could they be willing at all to refine all day long what mortal warriors used? As such, most Qi-Blood Pills and Tendon-Tempering Pills had to be imported from the outside world.
Someone unlidded the box, setting a strong herbal fragrance wafting out and revealing neat lines and rows of full and round pills that shimmered with allure.
All of a sudden, several gazes turned scorching. If only they could get these pills....
But this thought was only fleeting. Anyone who stole the Demonic Sect's stuff was asking for death...
"It's weird. Why has the Sect sent only us warriors to escort such a batch of precious pills? " Lu Lin grew suspicious and found this matter unusual.
Done with the check, the lid was closed and tied up again.
Two Body Tempering Sixth Level warriors, who were the strongest of them, humped a package each.
Having acknowledged receipt in writing, their group left the Pavilion and silently hurried in the direction of the Sect's outpost in the west of the city.
As the night sky darkened, pedestrians became fewer and fewer along the way. After several Lis(1 Li equals about 0.31 mile), the surroundings had already sunk into a deathly hush. In front of them, a quiet, deep, dark alley stretched for a few hundred meters like a massive beast's throat and seemed deserted in every way.
"Wait a minute," called out Lu Lin, coming to a sudden halt.
"Why?" Shi Xiao knitted his brows and questioned in a cold tone with a trace of urgency hidden in it.
Lu Lin showed a grim look, staring into the dark alley that seemed able to devour all light. Unspeakable dread had possessed him, as if a calamity would strike once he entered it.
"Everyone," he said in a low voice, "We might as well take a detour, how about this?"
"Lad, what are you up to? Want to delay us by a detour? Something of an intrigue in your mind?" Shi Xiao thundered a scolding, putting him on the spot.
Lu Lin tuned it out but set about examining the facts."Think about it, everyone. Isn't this task weird? Haven't superintendents at the Tempering Body Ninth Level, or even the Tenth Level, usually been the ones assigned to escort this many pills? Why is it us this time? Inside the Demonic Sect, oddity means danger most of the time. When we get involved, the slightest carelessness might prove fatal. To save our skins, we cannot be too careful."
Upon hearing this, the rest of them displayed a serious look and thought it over, then decided that he had a point.
Inside the Sect, given their status, warriors would mostly become abandoned pawns or cannon fodder once involved in what they shouldn't be.
"What this good man said makes sense. I find this matter strange, too. It will take some time to make a detour, but better safe than sorry." The package-humping bald man spoke out first.
"That's right, let's make a detour!" After some thought, the others nodded in unanimous approval.
Shi Xiao's face instantly darkened. In his eyes, killing intentions erupted, and his Qi and Blood burst out of him as he landed his fist on the back of the nearby bald man without any warning.
"You...!"That man had never expected a sudden attack from a companion. In such a short time, he had little time to dodge!
Crack!
An ear-piercing bone crack sounded clear in the quiet night air.
The bald man was flung forward a few meters, and a lot of blood spewed out of his mouth.
"Shi Xiao! What are you doing!"
"Are you crazy?!"
In shocked anger, all the rest of them sprang back, putting quite a distance between them and Shi Xiao, then unsheathed their weapon, with a vigilant stare fixed on him.
"Now!"
Almost at the same time, from up the dark alley came a low call, whereupon several athletic, ferocious figures like leopards rushed out!
Shortly after, down from the high wall on either side jumped four phantom-like figures, cutting off their escape!
"No! It's highwaymen! Let's split up!" Another package-humping young man shouted with bulging eyes, then whirled about, intent on breaking out from the side.
Yet, the other party was already prepared for this. From among them, two men shot out at lightning speed, blocking his way, their attacks swift and vicious.
At the same moment, a strapping man with a face full of fat lines and a savage look pounced straight upon Lu Lin, as his bowl-sized fist, stirring up an evil wind, came smashing his way like a sledgehammer.
Lu Lin let out a low roar and mustered all his strength, fending him off with both fists!
Bang!
The fists met head-on, giving off a dull sound.
Lu Lin felt nothing but a huge force barreling up his arm, shaking it numb, while uncontrollably stumbling back.
The strapping man seized the moment to step forward, driving another punch like a snake from its hole at Lu Lin's chest!
This punch was too fast to dodge!
"Block it!" His eyes instantly bloodshot, Lu Lin kicked Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art and Steel Elephant Body into high gear in him, setting his Qi and Blood boiling and roaring, and his muscles all over wriggling then hardening like cast iron.
Bang!
Another dull, heavy sound! The solid punch had hit Lu Lin on his chest!
Lu Lin spat out an abrupt mouthful of blood as he sailed backward through the air, as though having run smack into a speeding elephant, crashing into the mud and rock wall.
Boom!
The wall crumbled down upon impact, rocks and bricks flying in all directions, raising a cloud of dust.
Lying amid the ruins, Lu Lin coughed up another mouthful of blood before his head hung limp and the last breath in him was gone, as if he had already died.
Naturally, this was part of his disguise.
The assailant was at around the Body Tempering Sixth Level, well stronger than him.
In the first place, Steel Elephant Body specialized in defense, providing for muscles far more tensile than its peers at the same Level. Besides, he also had an ample reservoir of Qi and Blood from training in Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art. Though at the mere Body Tempering Fourth Level, his actual defense matched, if not surpassed, an ordinary Body Tempering Fourth Level practitioner.
Even a Seventh Level practitioner would have difficulty second-killing him with a punch, let alone someone at the Sixth Level.
The current situation was still cloudy. He had sensed several powerful auras, among which there were those above the Body Tempering Seventh Level. If he hadn't feigned death, he would become dead meat when the other party closed in on him.
He shifted Self Concealment Technique into high gear, withdrawing his air as he looked no different from a dead man.
The burly man threw a glance at the soundless Lu Lin amid the ruins and, sure enough, dropped his suspicions, then, snorting coldly, turned around and charged at the other resisting warriors.
"We're from Xuesha Demonic Sect! Who are you people? Gutsy enough to waylay us!"
"Shi Xiao! You renegade! The Demonic Sect will not let you get away. You will suffer a living death!"
The remaining warriors growled furiously and fought like cornered beasts.
But all this was in vain. Since the other party had the guts to carry this out, they would definitely not leave any one of them alive.
Only by ensuring a total hush and fleeing swiftly could they enjoy these pills.
Among the other party, a nine-feet-tall man with a bushy, curly beard who had apparently reached the Body Tempering Ninth Level looked particularly fearsome.
Each of his pounces took a life like a tiger's.
Even that warrior who had trained in Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art up to the sixth level could not survive more than a round against him; his palm strike slapped the warrior hard on the chest, sending a violent force through him, instantly shattering his heart!
In a dozen short breaths, apart from Lu Lin and Shi Xiao, the other nine warriors had all collapsed in pools of blood.
"Brother Bao!" Two men quickly unfastened the two packages filled with pills and offered them up to the brawny, bearded man.
Brother Bao accepted the packages and opened them, peeking in, before his eyes burst with uncontrollable greed and thrill.
He swiftly tied up the packages and set them on his back, barking, "Got what we want! Let's go! Retreat from Xuesha City immediately...."
"Go?" A delicate, pleasant voice, laced with feminine charm and killing intentions, abruptly rang out, interjecting Brother Bao, "You have killed our Sect's men and stolen from our Sect, and you still expect to escape unpunished? Indeed....naïve and cute."
Brother Bao's group, aghast and ashen-faced, jerked their heads up toward the sound.
Up on a roof ridge, a young girl around sixteen years old had been standing since whenever it was.
She wore a black gauze dress, exhibiting her slender, snowy legs. The moonlight poured down, glittering around her.
No words could do justice to her beauty, yet her eyes were cold and indifferent, looking down at them as though watching a swarm of ants.
"Cul...cultivators?" Brother Bao immediately went white like a sheet, his voice quivering.
"You've got a good eye." The girl sounded cold and emotionless. "Over the past month, many warriors from our Sect have gone missing in Xuesha City. Whether living or dead, they are nowhere to be seen. A senior brother figured there must be a parasite of a renegade in our Sect. Sure enough, this small trick has reeled in you bunch of stupid fishes. "
At this point in her speech, she swept her icy gaze over Shi Xiao, whose face had drained of blood. "A renegade... is to be subjected to the extreme punishments."
Shi Xiao's legs went limp, almost falling to the ground.
Brother Bao and his men also showed a pale face.
"Don't be afraid!" Brother Bao forced himself to calm down and yelled, trying to boost morale. "This bitch is too young to be a high-level cultivator. Even a cultivator is still human and is not an undying body! Kill her together, only by doing that can we live on!"
The two Body Tempering Seventh Level men exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with evil, then shouted in full chorus. The Qi and Blood burst out of them as they bolted like an escaping arrow toward the girl on the roof ridge.
"Are you lowlifes trying to kill an immortal? You deserve to die. "
The girl parted his lips, her words plain and unearthly.
Her slender hand lifted, a lump of black fire rising and flickering in her palm. As her palm streaked, the fire immediately stretched long into a razor-thin fire-blade, giving off an apocalyptic air, then soundlessly slashed through the air.
Pfft! Pfft!
After the two slight noises, the two Body Tempering Seventh Level men froze in their mid-jump.
The next moment, their bodies were cut in two. The cuts looked blackened and mirror-like, without a spurt of blood. The broken bodies fell to the ground and twitched a few times before going completely still and silent.