Small Thief

However, just as Fang Xing had not enjoyed his success for long, he saw Liu San silently catching up. Although his speed was not as fast as Hou Qing's, it was not much slower either. When he saw Hou Qing being entangled by the python, he was slightly surprised. Hou Qing immediately shouted, "Don't mind me, it's just a second-tier monster snake. I will follow once I slay this python. You go chase that kid, make sure he doesn't escape..."

"Oh, damn it!" Fang Xing was speechless and started running even more vigorously.

However, he also knew that this monster snake was only a second-tier monster, which was nothing compared to Hou Qing, who was at the peak of the third stage of Lingdong realm. But with Liu San chasing after him, Fang Xing felt slightly relieved.

Liu San was only at the initial stage of the third level of Lingdong realm, slightly higher in cultivation than Fang Xing. The crucial point was that Liu San was not good at body techniques, and with vines and strange trees blocking the way, his speed was further affected, while Fang Xing, relying on his small figure, darted around and escaped swiftly.

Seeing the distance between him and Fang Xing gradually increasing, Liu San's eyes turned cold.

"This kid's speed is much faster than I imagined. But this time, he can't escape..." Liu San thought to himself, taking out a jade token from his bosom.

Each outer disciple had at least one magical tool, and this was Liu San's magical tool, extremely mysterious and rarely shown.

While running wildly, he poured his spiritual power into it recklessly, and the jade token gradually lit up.

"Alright, as long as I shake off this guy, I can escape..." Fang Xing saw a thicket of thorns ahead and felt a glimmer of hope to escape.

But at this moment, Liu San suddenly roared low, and his figure, chasing rapidly, disappeared in an instant. Then his figure flashed, appearing directly behind Fang Xing about ten yards away. After appearing, he leaped forward like a giant eagle, pressing Fang Xing to the ground, twisting his arm behind his back, and lifting him up.

"Junior Brother Fang, you can't escape now..." Liu San said in a deep voice, panting heavily.

At this moment, he held Fang Xing's arm with one hand and a jade token with the other, the light on the jade token dimming.

His arm was also trembling slightly, and he was panting heavily, showing signs of depletion of spiritual power.

"How did he suddenly close the distance by about ten yards?" Fang Xing was shocked when his arm was twisted behind his back, feeling panicked inside.

Liu San also felt somewhat fortunate. If it weren't for his unique magical tool, he might have let this kid slip away.

Unknown to anyone, Liu San had a special magical tool in his hand, a jade token given to him by an elder of Qingyun Sect. This magical token was called the "Space Reduction Token." When infused with spiritual energy and used, it could instantly jump about ten yards, but it consumed a lot of spiritual power and had a time limit.

It was through this token that he approached Fang Xing unexpectedly and caught him off guard.

Although almost depleted of spiritual power, he had caught this kid. All that was left was to wait for Hou Qing to slay the python and catch up.

Thinking of this, Liu San let out a long howl.

One was to inform Hou Qing of his location through the howl, and the other was to indicate that he had controlled the opponent.

"Senior Brother Liu San, are you really going to use me as bait?" Fang Xing, now strangely calm, was held with his arm twisted behind his back, unable to turn around, and could only speak with his back facing Liu San.

Liu San seemed to feel a bit sorry, but it was fleeting, and he said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, but if I don't take you down, Senior Brother Hou will take Qian Tong as bait. Although Qian Tong has a hot temper, he once helped me!"

Fang Xing chuckled and said, "So you want to kill me? What about before we came to this mountain? Why did you force me to come?"

Liu San fell silent, and after a while, he suddenly said, "It's the way of the sect. Besides, it's useless to say these now!"

Fang Xing shook his head and suddenly said, "It's useful!"

Liu San was slightly stunned and asked, "What's useful?"

Fang Xing took a deep breath and suddenly forced his body to turn around.

His left arm, which was firmly held by Liu San, was twisted behind his back. This was a kind of grappling technique commonly used by catchers in the martial arts world. Once caught, it was like a snake being caught by its seven inches, unable to move at all. However, at this moment, Fang Xing unexpectedly refreshed his understanding. Despite his left arm being firmly held, he forcibly turned his body.

"Crack..."

As Fang Xing forcefully turned, his left arm immediately twisted and made a teeth-souring cracking sound.

Liu San was dumbfounded, staring at Fang Xing's small arm in his hand.

By now, this arm had twisted into a twisted shape, feeling extremely strange to hold.

To twist one's own arm like this, what a ruthless heart!

Even the notorious pirates he had captured before didn't have such cruel intentions, right?

While Liu San was in shock, Fang Xing was already facing him. A faint smile appeared on his pale little face as a short knife handle appeared in his right hand, and he smoothly stabbed it into Liu San's abdomen like a poisonous snake. The distance between him and Liu San was too close, coupled with Liu San's stunned moment from Fang Xing forcibly twisting his own left arm, he completely failed to guard against this short knife.

"Phew..."

The knife went straight to the hilt!

Liu San was extremely shocked, looking down at his wound, his face showing a complex expression of astonishment, surprise, and pain.

Fang Xing didn't stop there; after one strike, he raised the knife again and fiercely stabbed into Liu San's chest.

Depleted of spiritual power, Liu San couldn't mount an effective counterattack in this unexpected situation.

Fang Xing suddenly jumped, delivering a flying kick, knocking Liu San to the ground.

As he jumped, his left arm swung in the air like a puppet on a string, incredibly eerie.

"Liu San Senior Brother, I'm sorry. Back then by the bonfire, you guessed that I wasn't asleep and deliberately told me what treatment I would receive, reminding me to escape quickly..." Fang Xing came to Liu San's ear, looking at Liu San's terrified eyes, and said softly, "For a moment, I thought you were a good person and planned to spare you when I killed everyone else."

Liu San's Adam's apple moved slightly, his mouth slightly agape, as if he wanted to say something.

"I don't know why you changed your mind again and came at me wholeheartedly, but it doesn't matter!"

Fang Xing had no intention of listening to what Li San wanted to say. He swung his hand and slashed, cutting open Li San's neck directly.

Blood splattered out like a fountain.

A trace of helplessness and despair appeared on Li San's face.

He, a talented cultivator at the Triple Spirit Awakening stage, had no room to fight back against Fang Xing.

Is this a child?

Li San despaired, thinking that he was more ruthless and cunning than any pirate he had ever seen before.

But all along this journey, he had treated him as a child...

For someone who had been a bounty hunter, this was truly the most failed thing in his life...

Fang Xing paid no more attention to him and picked up the jade talisman by his side. Holding his trembling left arm, he gritted his teeth and continued to flee into the mountain forest.

He didn't have time to linger; he had to escape as quickly as possible.

"Boom..."

In just a few moments, Hou Qing rushed over swiftly and saw Li San on the ground at a glance.

He was covered in blood, holding a sword in his hand, and the sword was also stained with blood. It was clearly the blood of the python. Seeing this scene, Hou Qing's pupils contracted as if he had been pricked by Li San's wide-open eyes. But soon, his face returned to indifference. He stepped over Li San's body and coldly uttered two words, "Useless!"

With a glance, he saw the direction Fang Xing was escaping to.

The branches that had been knocked aside had not returned to their original state, leaving a clear trace.

Hou Qing's long sword trembled, shaking off the python blood on the blade. He chased after Fang Xing.

This time, he didn't chase for long before suddenly feeling a sharp gust of wind. In an instant, he drew his sword without even summoning his flying sword. The Qingfeng Sword in his hand spun out a cluster of snowflakes, and a continuous sound of "ding ding ding ding" rang in his ears. At least dozens of silver needles that had been shot out were deflected by the Qingfeng Sword. Then, another silver light shot towards him like lightning.

Hou Qing sneered, pressing his five fingers in the air, and his spiritual energy formed an invisible barrier.

The silver light was halted by this spiritual energy barrier, gradually losing its momentum to fly forward, and then landed with a clank.

Hou Qing smiled and walked forward slowly, saying softly, "This is the flying sword I bestowed upon you. You want to use it to kill me?"

In front of him was a huge banyan tree that could hardly be embraced by two adults. Fang Xing, with his small body, was leaning against the tree, looking at him with a playful smile. His hands were empty, with a small iron tube thrown by his right hand, and his left hand hung weakly at his side, appearing completely helpless, as if he had given up and accepted his fate.

Hou Qing took a quick look at Fang Xing's appearance and said calmly, "I admit, you are much more troublesome than I imagined. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have bothered to capture you at the mountain gate. It would have been better to line up and wait. It's better than unexpectedly getting you as an opponent. When Liu Feng recommended you to me as bait, I should have slapped out all his teeth..."

As he spoke, he opened his five fingers, and the flying sword flew out from his waist pouch, floating lightly in the air.

"But since it has come to this, let me finish you off quickly. To be honest, I'm afraid of what you would become when you grow up..."

A murderous intent condensed in Hou Qing's eyes as the flying sword moved like a spiritual snake, seemingly ready to strike at the defenseless Fang Xing at any moment.

Suddenly, Fang Xing giggled, his only intact right hand resting on the back of his head, assuming a more comfortable posture.

"Are you going to kill me like this?"

He laughed, "I remember you once said you would let me know how to write the word 'miserable,' right?"

Hou Qing was taken aback, and his expression gradually changed. A glimpse of coldness flashed in his eyes.

The flying sword swooshed back into his waist pouch, and then he picked up the Qingfeng Sword.

"You're right..."

He took a step closer, slowly approaching. At this moment, Fang Xing tightly grasped the Celestial Ring embedded in his hair.