Into the Den of Thieves

Upon seeing that, Su Zimo quickly laid down and concealed her breath, pretending to be asleep.

Tonight, she was determined to sneak into the thieves' den and find out what they were doing with the captured people. Every night, five men and five women would disappear, and it was too strange.

The door was gently pushed open from the outside, and the person's footsteps were barely audible, almost silent.

Su Zimo knew that the person's cultivation was not low, so she couldn't afford to be careless. She breathed steadily, not giving the other person any reason to suspect. Before the intruder entered, she had already concealed her cultivation, allowing the other person to relax their vigilance.

Suddenly, Su Zimo felt a chill as the blanket was lifted off her!

Su Zimo pretended to wake up slowly, and when she saw the figure in black, she trembled in fear, huddling in the corner with her knees hugged.

"What... What do you want?" Su Zimo asked with a trembling voice, her eyes filled with fear as they darted between the intruder.

Unfortunately, the intruder said nothing and struck Su Zimo with a palm.

Su Zimo rolled her eyes dramatically; now she had no choice but to play dead.

Su Zimo cooperated well with the intruder. When the intruder's hand landed on her neck, her body tilted to the side.

Without hesitation, the intruder lifted Su Zimo onto their shoulder and dashed into the night.

Mu Yunxuan, Su Li, and Li Qiao, who were hiding nearby, swiftly chased after the person in black.

Feng Qingyang, on the other hand, went back to get help.

"Bang!" Su Zimo was thrown onto the cold ground, and a sharp pain surged through her whole body, especially from the wounds that hurt the most. It was so painful that she clenched her teeth tightly. Some dust entered Su Zimo's nose, making it itch, and she felt the urge to sneeze. Su Zimo held back as best she could. At that moment, only she knew the anguish in her heart, like a suffocating fish, no matter how hard it struggled, the water was still far away.

"Ah...!" A woman's terrified scream echoed in her ears! Su Zimo barely had time to think. Her priority now was to alleviate the pain in her body. Damn it, she had made a mistake. These bastards were truly heartless. After a while, Su Zimo gradually regained her senses. She could hear sobbing and whimpering sounds around her.

An urgent footstep approached, and Su Zimo quickly held her breath.

"We've caught another one. When the other two return, we'll have the required five men and one woman for tonight. It's the final night, and the Sect Master wants you to watch over these people carefully."

"Don't worry! We won't fail the Sect Master's orders. As soon as the other two return, we'll immediately extract the blood from their hearts and deliver it to the Sect Master."

The man spoke with utmost confidence.

Extracting blood from their hearts? What did these bastards want with heart blood?

Su Zimo was puzzled. She hadn't heard of any cultivation method that required heart blood.

"These are the Divine Grade Tier Three Advancement Pill and the Divine Grade Tier Four Barrier Breaking Pill. They were refined by Senior Liu, the master alchemist of the Pill Tower. I don't need to say much about the efficacy of these pills. You know it well. They are the rewards from the Sect Master."

Su Zimo was shocked. So, these bastards could even get Senior Liu's alchemical pills? Weren't those pills exclusive to the Pill Tower? How could they easily obtain such precious pills? Su Zimo couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"But what about Senior Liu Qing, the alchemist who achieved the Saint Grade Tier Four before turning forty?"

Upon hearing the name that resounded like thunder, the man became extremely excited.

His gaze towards the Divine Grade Tier Four Barrier Breaking Pill and the Divine Grade Tier Three Advancement Pill in his hand became even more fiery.

"That's right, it's him. Look carefully. The Sect Master won't treat you unfairly."

"As for the pills refined by Senior Liu, their effects go without saying. Feng Zuoshi, rest assured, we will do our best to serve the Sect Master."

The man's voice was full of confidence.

"Good! As long as you remain loyal, the valuable items in the Sect Master's possession will be yours. Keep an eye on them! The other two women should be captured soon. Once we have the right number of people, we will act immediately."

"Rest assured, Feng Zuoshi!"

Su Zimo heard the sound of footsteps receding.

Shortly after, the man who spoke earlier also left. Su Zimo knew he wouldn't go far and was probably guarding the entrance.

When she heard the sound of the door closing, she abruptly opened her sharp eyes.

"Phew!" Su Zimo took a deep breath; she was close to suffocating.

She got up from the ground and looked around. It seemed to be a thatched hut with lots of straw on the floor and a strong smell of blood.

Three women and five men were locked up in this room. The Left Envoy, whatever that ghostly title meant, said that they were still missing two women to complete the count of five men and five women.

Seeing Su Zimo waking up, the others looked at her with sympathetic yet fearful eyes.

Sympathetically, Su Zimo, just like the others, had been captured, and fear gripped them as they realized their lives would end tonight, but she had just woken up and had no idea.

"Miss, are you okay? They threw you down pretty hard," a bold woman slowly approached Su Zimo, her eyes showing concern mixed with deep fear. Su Zimo watched her body tremble slightly, not only due to the slight chill of the night but also out of fear.

"I'm fine, thank you!" Su Zimo tested them one by one and found that they were mostly ordinary people. The woman who had spoken to her earlier had a cultivation level of High Profound Qi.

This place wasn't too far from the city, and Yunxuan, Li'er, and the others should be nearby, following closely behind her. However, when they entered, she sensed that the guards here were all experts and numerous in number.

On the way here, she had secretly memorized the direction, confident that with Yunxuan's abilities, they wouldn't lose track. But if they did, it would be disastrous for all of them. Su Zimo couldn't help but make contingency plans in her mind.

She patted the dust off her body. Damn it, tomorrow, when everything settles down, half of her body would be covered in bruises.

The people in the room looked at Su Zimo in slight surprise as she remained calm and composed, neither crying nor making a fuss.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a woman screamed, and Su Zimo nearly jumped up. She really wanted to cover the woman's mouth because her scream could potentially alert the people outside.

Su Zimo looked down and saw a fat rat running past her, its body stained with blood.

However, the woman's scream, combined with the direction the rat was running towards, made Su Zimo suddenly realize that there was a hidden compartment in this room. It was poorly constructed and could be easily seen with the naked eye.

Su Zimo was about to walk over to investigate when heavy footsteps approached.

Quickly, she sat down next to the woman who had just spoken to her, wearing a look of fearful anticipation as she stared at the door.

The door was pushed open again, and two men in black carried two women into the room, dropping them heavily on the ground like sacks.

Su Zimo noticed that both women had fainted from the impact. They didn't even furrow their brows. Su Zimo couldn't help but think how nice it would have been if she had fainted earlier.

"We have enough people now. Go and inform Feng Zuoshi and the Sect Master," one of the men quickly commanded.

"No need. Just extract the heart blood from them. I'll be waiting outside," another person said.

Su Zimo's heart constricted. These bastards were truly inhuman.

Her gaze shifted slightly towards the door. Yunxuan should be nearby.

The others began to panic, and even the man behind Su Zimo started sobbing.

"Please, spare me! I have a seventy-year-old blind mother at home. If I die, how will she survive alone?" the man pleaded, and Su Zimo frowned. There was nothing she could say at this moment.

"Go and bring the jade bones," someone ordered.

Jade bones. Su Zimo's eyes widened, revealing a hint of coldness. They actually used jade bones to extract heart blood. Jade bones were the spinal bones of the Jade Dragon Demon Beast, a bone that was hollow in the middle, thirty centimeters long with a sharp and pointed end. People used it to make weapons and musical instruments because it produced a clearer sound than a qin. Su Zimo knew about it because she had seen Bai Qingjun play it in the Mingyue Valley, and it sounded beautiful. Ignorant of the world, she only learned about the instrument made of demon beast bones after asking about it. But she was startled not because of the wonders of this world, but because she had not fully integrated into this marvelous world.

Thinking of this, in the dimness, Su Zimo's lips curved with a touch of coldness and contempt. They actually used jade bones to extract heart blood.

Outside the courtyard, Mu Yunxuan, Su Li, and Li Qiao hid in a large tree, observing the situation inside the courtyard.

"It's well hidden here. No wonder no one could discover their lair. The area outside the forest is a swamp, and ordinary people can't even enter, let alone escape once captured," Li Qiao said.

"Do you know who owns this courtyard?" Mu Yunxuan wanted to thoroughly understand what was going on.

Li Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "I don't know. I've been in control of Weiku City for three years, and no one has ever reported that there is another courtyard here."

Mu Yunxuan furrowed his brow. No wonder they chose this place. It made it even more difficult to trace their identities.

Suddenly, Mu Yunxuan saw two people carrying trays and walking towards the opposite building. His gaze sharpened, and he knew it was time to take action.

<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>