Chapter 3: The Logic of Robbery (Part 1)

  No matter how much Mo Wanyou opposed, all his belongings, including the two Digging Devil Halberds that were as precious to him as his life, were eventually taken away by Xiao Si, leaving him with nothing but his underwear.

  In an instant, there were a lot more silver tickets and a large pile of refining materials and herbs in his pocket. Xiao Si finally had a bit of a feeling of getting rich.

  This time, his trip to the black market was a huge success. If not for worrying about exposing his identity and getting into trouble, he almost wanted to take that little rascal, Mo Wanye, as a hostage and then heavily extort Xu Xiaoqian.

  He looked at Bo Zhong with a smug expression and said, "No wonder you became a bandit, it seems that being a robber is quite enjoyable."

  "Divination Boy said coldly: 'You are the worst bandit I have ever seen.'"

  Xiao Si angrily said: "This vote earned more than 20,000 yuan, what makes you say that I'm no good?"

  "You are not ruthless enough and your methods are not severe enough. If you let the tiger return to the mountain, there will be endless troubles later on."

  Xiao Si said with disdain: "They don't even know who Laozi is, and there's no one to tell if they have grievances."

  "Want to use the silver ticket you robbed? Want to get rid of the refining materials and herbs you snatched? And what about this pair of earth-digging magic awls, carrying them on your back for fear that everyone in the world wouldn't know who robbed the Zhuo Yi gang?"

  Xiao Si's eyes widened in shock, and he forced out a logical argument: "Even if we kill them, won't the outcome still be the same?"

  "However, just now someone has already told these two people our true identities with their own mouth."

  Xiao Si smiled and said, "You dare to scare me? I haven't reported my name from start to finish. No matter how capable they are, it's impossible for them to guess our origin... Eh?"

  He suddenly thought of something and his face changed slightly, pausing in his speech.

  Divination Master said calmly, "Although there are many blind people in the world, it's unlikely that someone with this cultivation level would coincidentally appear at the Jiangzhou black market and also have a 15 or 16-year-old kid calling him 'Master'. It doesn't take much thought to figure out his background."

  "From now on, you must be careful. Xusiaoqian is a clever person and he will not openly confront you to settle the score. Firstly, he has no solid evidence in his hands, making it difficult for him to accuse us; secondly, he is wary of the power of Tonghuju and Shierlianhuangong, so he does not dare to provoke easily. However, with his son being kidnapped and his subordinates being killed, Xusiaoqian will not swallow this anger no matter what."

  "Xiao Si furiously shouted back: 'Why didn't you remind me earlier to take care of them with one knife? Now that you mention it, aren't you intentionally trying to harm me?'"

  "That's all because you always think I'm the best in the world, and if you don't suffer a bit, how can you understand that the Jianghu is treacherous and people's hearts are unpredictable. The kind of Jianghu you imagine, where you can live a carefree and happy life, freely and leisurely, playing games, doesn't exist!"

  Xiao Si was scolded by Tong Gou and felt resentful, so he retorted: "So to speak, you've suffered a lot as an apprentice, that's why you're so cunning and ruthless today?"

  Diviner replied: "When I was young, I was blinded because I trusted one person too much!"

  Xiao Si said with a pretentious tone of surprise: "Someone can actually outsmart you, what a genius indeed!"

  Bu Suanzi ignored his taunts and said, "The materials you stole from that Xu kid are not bad, barely enough to refine two or three 'Hundred Ghosts Night March Talismans'. As for the over 10,000 taels of silver, you can use them on the black market in Jiangzhou to buy some poisonous hidden weapons from the Tang Sect in Shu to protect yourself."

  "Hey, what about these two iron things?" asked the pair of earth-drilling drill bits stuck in the back.

  "Alright, we can refine and extract it, then combine it with other materials to create a Earth Escape Talisman."

  Xiao Si walked with his head down for a long time without saying a word, finally couldn't help but ask: "You've been pestering me to be my apprentice, what's your ulterior motive?"

  "Since you know it's a conspiracy, why would I tell you?"

  "You just want to cheat me out of money and sex, don't you? I'm poor, ugly, and short, what can you possibly gain from me?"

  A hint of a profound and mysterious smile spread across Bo's face as he slowly said, "You're wrong, in my eyes you are a priceless treasure."

  Xiao Si's whole body felt a chill, and subconsciously he kept a distance of several feet from Lao Mang, warning: "I'm not good at that!"

  Ba Suanzi's smile grew thicker, her gray eyes gleaming with an unusual light as she said in a low voice: "In the future, you will enjoy being with me..."

  Xiao Si's face turned green with rage as he hastily retreated and shouted: "You bastard, born without a penis!"

  He fled all the way back to the Tongbao Bureau, and even after lowering the door latch in his room, he still felt insecure. He used a table and chair to block the door, staring wide-eyed until dawn broke before feeling a slight warmth in his body.

  Fortunately, in the following days, Lao Mang's behavior was still normal, and there were no particularly unusual actions. However, Xiao Si still did not dare to completely relax, always being on guard against him suddenly making a move.

  In the past few days, he and Bo Suanzi first erased the spiritual seal of You Gu Yu on the python sea magic cauldron, then put the refining materials bought from the black market in Jiangzhou into a small tripod brought by Lao Mangzi and smelted day and night for seven whole days. Finally, they successfully concocted three drops of bronze-colored spiritual liquid.

  He spent all his energy, equivalent to the strength of nine cows and two tigers, to infuse a strand of his spiritual consciousness into the spiritual liquid, seal it with a talisman brush, and finally condense it into a new spiritual imprint.

  The entire process took a whole ten days and nights, during which it was necessary to be flawless without any mistakes.

  The most hateful thing is that the old blind man has no sense of being an apprentice, standing by and pointing fingers without practicing, with a look of watching from the other side on his face, only to pity the master who has shed blood and tears, and later even lost the strength to scold people, just wanting to throw himself on the bed and sleep for three days and three nights.

  Fortunately, the heavens reward diligence and great success has been achieved. The four little generals threw the python sea demon into a large vat filled with diluted golden silkworm juice, and before waiting for its reaction, they were exhausted and crawled onto the bed.

  Waking up from a nap, it was already the next day after noon. Xiaosan got out of bed drowsily, washed up hastily, and ate a bowl of hot noodle soup quickly before deciding to go take a look at his precious treasure hidden in the large jar.

  Who would have thought that as soon as he came out, he saw a fortune teller hanging under a jujube tree in the yard, motionless with his back to him, as if sunbathing.

  Xiao Si immediately held her breath and tiptoed, trying to sneak past Lao Mang's back.

  Alas, old blind man's eyes are unclear and ears are sharp, suddenly opening his mouth and saying: "Your trouble has arrived."

  Xiao Siyi stood still in confusion and asked: "What's wrong?"

  Bao Suanzi said, "This afternoon, there is a shipment of silver ready to be transported by water at the Tongbao Bureau. The shipowner who originally agreed to transport it suddenly changed his mind and refused to let the silver on board, even if he had to forfeit the deposit. Geng Nanxing was helpless and could only find another shipowner, but no one dared to take this business."

  "Is it Xue Xiaoqian that son of a bitch who is causing trouble?" Xiang Xiaosi understood as soon as he heard it.

  Jiangzhou is surrounded by mountains, which makes it inconvenient for horse-drawn carriages to pass through. As a result, more than half of the silver transported by the Zhongtian Escort Agency will be shipped via waterways, and the ones who control the lifeline of the waterways are precisely the Shaoyi Gang.

  "I heard that Geng Nan Yi has gone to the Zhuang Yi Gang to negotiate, I reckon Xu Xiao Qian will avoid him and let him be rejected."

  Ba Suanzi said: "Don't think of being a turtle hiding in its shell, this fire will burn to your body sooner or later."

  "Old man is going to get burned, you can't escape either." Xiao Si's eyes rolled and he said: "Unless you let Old Lan say something?"

  "From the day I joined your sect, I am no longer a member of the Twelve Linked Ring Sect," said Bo Suanzi, shaking her head.

  "Who would believe it!" Xīao Sì muttered to himself, then asked: "When can the Earth Escape Symbol be refined? I might as well go all out and sneak into the Zhuō Yī Help gang without being detected, and kill Xu Xiǎo Qián."

  "Foolish words." Bu Suanzi sneered, "How could the leader of the Black Clothes Sect not have any earth escape restrictions? If not, Xu Xiaoqian's head would have been taken long ago. Moreover, with your current cultivation, you might be discovered even before getting close to him, which is equivalent to jumping into a net."

  "Am I that incompetent? You're also to blame for the trouble, don't think you can stay out of this. Quickly tell me, what should we do?"

  Ba Suanzi smiled and said, "You are Master."

  "Damn it!" Xiang Xiao Si cursed: "Since we can't kill Xu Xiao Qian, setting his doghouse on fire should do the trick!"

  Bu Suanzi didn't make a sound, and Xiao Si puffed out his chest: "Tonight I'll go press the plate, and tomorrow we'll take action. Don't worry, if I get caught, I'll definitely report the name of the Second Master of the Twelve Linked Rings Stronghold, and let them count how many brains they have on their necks!"

  Ba Suanzi silently pulled out a fluffy thing from her sleeve and handed it to Xiao Si.

  "What the heck is this?" Xiaosan took it and shook it open, only to find a strange outfit with a pointed hood, wings, and a tail.

  "Tonight, wear it and you can use the Wind Control Technique to overlook the Zhaoyi Gang's headquarters from high altitude without arousing the guards' vigilance."

  "You want me to pretend to be a fool?" Xiao Si was furious.

  "This is the most secure way, if you can't blame anyone else, it's because your cultivation is too poor. After figuring out the terrain and defense situation, you can take action. However, it's best to find an alibi first, so that afterwards no one will suspect you."

  "Damn it, I still need to find a scapegoat to take the fall for me, that's the perfect plan."

  "Divination Boy guessed that this little guy was secretly brewing evil intentions and calmly said, 'You've finally figured it out.'"

  Xiao Si laughed and said: "I'll soon make Xu Xiaoqian understand too!"

  He took Lao Mang's bird-repelling cloak and went straight out of the courtyard to find Yi Bo.

  Yi Bai is now the deputy head of the second squad of the Jiangzhou branch of the Biaoju, but the feeling of being bullied still lingers and he can't help but feel weak in his legs whenever he sees Xiao Si.

  Never thought that Xiao Si would be so enthusiastic and inviting, he must have been asked to drink at the Wangjiang Building.

  Yi Bai was surprised and delighted, but also felt a little helpless. Although he ended up paying the bill, they still had a great time drinking together. However, the next day when he woke up with a splitting headache, Yi Bai vaguely remembered that he kept pounding his chest on the table, but couldn't recall what they talked about.

  However, he did not know that on the same night, a strange large bird had been hovering over the Zhuoyi Gang's headquarters for as long as it took to burn an incense stick, and finally plunged into the Yangtze River with the courage of a moth flying into flames.

  According to legend, a fisherman nearby was awakened by the bird's mournful cry and curiously rushed out of the cabin to take a look. He saw that the strange bird was slowly floating up from the water surface towards the boat, and vaguely heard it speaking human language, constantly shouting "You guy Ha Ba". The fisherman was so frightened that his soul left his body, and he swung his bamboo pole into the water, fiercely poking at the strange bird that had just poked its head out of the water, intending to climb onto the boat, and knocked it back into the river.

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