32 Infiltration

As bits and pieces of information continued to enter his mind, Tianlong got a better understanding of his opponent.

He also came to know some of the secrets of the Qin bandits that outsiders weren't aware of. Despite his low cultivation, old Zhan was highly regarded.

The memory of old Zhan's fight with Qin Houzi had enlightened him a bit regarding the bandit leader's prowess and techniques.

Apparently, the man wasn't in the Yin Yang cleansing realm …in fact, he wasn't a Qi refiner at all! He had fooled the public by spreading false information about himself.

Fortunately, his cultivation base was at the Diamond carapace realm. From what he saw in his memories, there was a golden glow surrounding the man whenever he attacked.

'Body shining with golden glow… that's the sign of mid-stage diamond carapace realm!'

'With my current cultivation realm, even if I activate my bloodline suppression on him, I won't be able to defeat him. Looks like I need to achieve at least the mid-stage of Blood Surging realm or Qi condensation realm before I can fight him…

Tianlong's eyes shone with a serious glow as he contemplated the matter.

'It's already getting late … I need to get out of here before someone discovers us!'

Looking at old Zhan who had a silly smile on his face, Tianlong quickly took his interspatial ring. Although Tianlong was wearing a similar Daoist robe, he still searched his ring for any additional clothes. Wearing it, he made some adjustments to his looks which turned him into a perfect clone of old Zhan.

'Unfortunately, I can't kill him. All of the bandits in the base are under an enslavement spell of Qin houzi. If I kill anyone, he would immediately notice…'

With a serious expression, he poked several acupoints of old Zhan which locked the internal qi of his body. Waving his hands, he took the paralysed body of old Zhan in his interspatial ring.

Although one could keep living organisms inside an interspatial ring, it would adversely affect the life force of the creature. Also, if the creature attacks the boundary of the space from within, the ring might get destroyed.

Collecting himself, he looked around the surroundings of the pool which was totally destroyed by their fight. He quickly collected all the pieces of bone and the iron cleaver.

Next, he took a lot of spirit water and splashed it around the room, then taking out a beast corpse he wrapped the cloak around it. Finally, made a huge gash on its body and threw it inside the pond.

…

"Heh~ I finally caught you getting late for work! Did the age finally get to you old man?"

By the time Tianlong returned, Li Cai was already here.

Tianlong acted according to the memory of Old Zhan and just flashed a smile and sat beside him.

He had to use both his body refining and Qi refining cultivation base in the fight and was currently feeling extremely weak. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time or he would have devoured a demonic beast and refined its flesh. For now, all he could do was absorb spiritual energy from spirit stones.

Currently, he was silently cultivating. Sitting beside him was Li Cai, drunk as usual.

Taking a mouthful of wine, he continued his slurred speech.

"We come one day late and those bastards dare to leave this place open! I'll teach them a lesson next time!"

No matter how much the man blabbered, Tianlong didn't pay any attention. He had tailed Old Zhan for the last two months so he knew somewhat about Li Cai too.

Despite his haggard appearance, Li Cai was actually a very powerful expert. His cultivation revolved around consuming spirit wine which forced him to stay drunk all day long. Once his wine was finished, he would just go and rob people for more money and buy more spirit wine. Tianlong imagined how the man's liver survived till now…

"*clicks tongue* good stuff!... ey old man, something very serious happened to me ...want to know?

Tianlong didn't respond, but the other man spoke nonetheless.

"Was having digestion problems for the past few months… went to people asking for advice… gulp~ …where was I? …ah, so instead of giving me any solutions, bastards told me to stop drinking!

"Can you imagine that? Telling me to stop drinking! …it's like telling our boss to stop f*cking once he catches herpes!

"Anyway, since I couldn't get any help from them, I decided to look for you… suddenly thought …you old freak eat so much meat but never had any problems… at least, I'm not aware of it…

"So I looked up places …found eating spiritual herbs with thick wood qi improves digestion …ate every bit of them which I could get my hands on…

Tianlong who barely paying attention till now opened his eyes in horror.

"Gulp~ The first three days …things went fine …had the biggest dump I've taken in my entire life…

"but on the fourth day… nothing; fifth day …nothing; sixth day …still nothing!

"lost all my appetite …only felt heavy the whole day …finally decided to eat even more of that stuff… went on for two weeks straight…

"felt rumbling in the stomach last night… went to toilet… it was the most musical gas I've ever released …felt I was blowing a flute…

"for an entire hour nothing …then the hardest, blackest, and the smelliest… Is this what giving birth feels like…

Tianlong sealed his sense of hearing. He felt as if he was being defiled by the man's words.

It once more reminded him why old Zhan was paired up with Li Cai. No one was willing to work with either of them. So in the end, the two got paired.

As he continued to speak nonsense, a day passed by. On the morning of the next day, some bandits forcefully opened the cave where he and old Zhan had fought.

The entire cave was a mess and the formation destroyed. The only remains they could find were pieces of cloak floating on the surface of the water.

"Looks like the man was attacked by those aquatic demons. Sadly he didn't keep his spirit stones outside …what a waste!"

"Strange! Those vile creatures didn't attack anyone so far, why would they suddenly kill him?"

"Hmph! I believe it's all old Zhan's doing. Most likely he bought the man to this cave and decided to kill him since no one was there. He's just using the beast attack as a cover!"

The surrounding bandits all turned silent. Although most of them didn't like old Zhan, none of them showed their discontent so openly like Han Mu.

All of them looked at old Zhan to see his reaction …only to see him smiling like usual. It sent a chill down the spines of many.

"Ahem! Brother Han Mu mustn't speak carelessly! For all we know, the man might've tried to go deeper inside the pond and was attacked by a stray demon." Someone tried to defend old Zhan. It was the same man who had greeted old Zhan when he was shifting duties.

The man called Han Mu sneered and didn't say anything else.

The matter was put to rest. No one really cared about the death of a random person. Whether he became old Zhan's desert or was eaten by the demons no one really cared.

Another day passed by. It was time for them to change places with the next group. There were four groups of such people working here. He would need to come here again after six days.

Tianlong was back in his or rather old Zhan's room.

He immediately took out the body of old Zhan which barely had any life force left. Immediately he sent his spiritual energy inside old Zhan to recover his life force. His condition got a little better but his face still remained pale.

The spirit soothing pill's effect was still there. With a paralysed body and lifeless eyes, the man looked more dead than alive.

After checking his vitals, Tianlong sighed in relief.

He took out a communication talisman and sent his energy inside it.

Back in the inn, Qingxue was studying an alchemy manual with a serious look on her face when suddenly a talisman kept on the table lit up.

Her face bloomed with happiness and she immediately grabbed it.

"Are you safe? How did it go? When are you coming back?" she said in a restless tone.

Tianlong wryly chuckled. Clearing his throat, he responded, "Yes I'm safe. The entire process was smooth. As for when I'll come back, it'll probably take a few months."

Qingxue's mood immediately fell after hearing that.

"Well then, can't you bring me there? I can just disguise myself as a man, maybe cover myself with a cloak or something…"

"Hm, that seems plausible …but even so you'll need to wait for at least a month. Don't worry, I'll come to the inn from time to time."

After conversing for a few more minutes, both of them hung up. It wasn't safe for him to communicate using a talisman inside the bandit's base.

Sorting out the place according to his liking, he took out the interspatial ring of Old Zhan.

The man was fairly rich for someone of his cultivation. There were about six hundred spirit stones inside along with numerous herbs.

But what attracted his attention the most, was the eerie black skull in the corner. It held the cultivation technique of the old devil.