Chapter 22: The Temple Destroyed, A Killer's Scheme

  "What are you doing? Are you going against the heavens? Let me go quickly, I am the young master of the Five Tigers Gang, my father is the leader of the Five Tigers Gang, your boss! Let me go!" As soon as Huang Weitao's command fell, several members of the Five Tigers Gang rushed into the inner hall and roughly pulled out Wang Xiaobao, who was lying on the bed recovering from his injuries. Because of their rough movements, they hurt Wang Xiaobao, and he immediately shouted at the gang members in a somewhat arrogant tone, completely unaware that disaster was looming over him.

  "This Taoist friend, you see, beheading Wang Heihu and his son Wang Xiaobao, who have brought disaster to the villagers, here. Are you satisfied?"

  "This is really a misunderstanding, the Five Tigers are doing evil in this river county, I really don't know about this matter, ignorance is no crime, please give me and the Five Tigers a chance to reform." Seeing Wang Xiaobao being dragged out, Qin Hu rushed to Sun Tao with a smile.

  "Doesn't the Five Tigers Gang's evil deeds concern you?" Sun Tuo raised an eyebrow and asked Qin Hu.

  "Brother, everything I, Qin Mou, said is true. I just wanted the Five Tigers Sect's disciples to help me find materials for my cultivation, and I really didn't ask them to do anything that would harm heaven and reason." Sun Tao was somewhat moved, and stopped the fighting Tong Bei Yuan Hou. That Qin Hu hurriedly spoke, in a situation where they could be reconciled, he didn't want to be an enemy of this Yu Shou Zong's cultivator.

  "This matter has nothing to do with you, and I don't want to have any unpleasantness with you either. As a fellow cultivator, I also know your difficulties. So here's the thing: it's the leader of the Five Tigers Gang, Wang Heihu and Wang Xiaobao who have repeatedly provoked me, and tonight they plan to take my life. If I didn't have some skills, I would have already become a soul under their knife by now. As long as you kill this ringleader, we can consider this matter settled." Sun Wei was not very worldly, but at this moment, he saw that Qin Hu's face was pale, as if he had been injured, and his whole demeanor seemed to be telling the truth, so he changed his tone of speech.

  Under the order of Huang Weitai, the dog-headed military advisor of the Five Tigers Gang, Wang Xiaobao was beheaded with a look of horror and anger on his face. The blood gushed out, and his head rolled to Sun Tao's feet like a rolling gourd. Even the seriously injured and dying current leader of the Five Tigers Gang, Wang Hei Hu, was brought out from the great hall and beheaded in front of Sun Tao. With one swift knife cut, it was all over. Looking at the terrified and wide-eyed head, father and son were dead without closing their eyes. The death of Wang Hei Hu and Wang Xiaobao finally calmed down Sun Tao's anger.

  Sun Tuo saw the two culprits being killed, and so many members of the Five Tigers Gang were also killed. Sun Tuo was satisfied with what he had achieved, so he nodded to Qin Hu and recited an incantation, putting one of the two generals, Bēng Jiàng, into the world of Journey to the West. The whole person suddenly disappeared into darkness. Having killed so many members of the Five Tigers Gang, this chaotic mess was left for the Five Tigers Gang to deal with on their own.

  As soon as Sun Tuo left, the members of the Five Tigers Gang began to tend to the wounded and rescue the dead. Tonight's disturbance was so big that if it wasn't handled properly, the Five Tigers Gang would definitely be in big trouble.

  After leaving the Five Tigers' headquarters, Sun Tuo knew that he couldn't go back to the Hongtu Inn. After the battle with the Five Tigers, returning to the Hongtu Inn would only bring trouble. Along the wide street, Sun Tuo casually found an inn nearby and stayed there, pretending to be a normal person, and began to accumulate his strength and recover his depleted spiritual energy.

  The Five Tigers Gang was attacked, and the gang members were killed or injured. This matter could not be concealed at all. The next morning, the streets of He Shui Prefecture were frantically spreading the news that the Five Tigers Gang had been attacked. The small merchants and vendors of He Shui Prefecture were all clapping their hands in joy, shouting that heaven had opened its eyes.

  After a night of meditation, Sun Tao's depleted spiritual energy had recovered. When he came out to eat, all he heard were reports of the Five Tigers Gang being attacked. The ordinary people of He Shui County were all applauding and cheering, making Sun Tao feel that he had indeed done a great good deed. The reputation of the Five Tigers Gang in the eyes of the people of He Shui County was not ordinary, which made Sun Tao wonder if it was right to release those gang members last night.

  Look at the reaction of the people in Hezhou, because the Five Tigers were ambushed, the people clapped and cheered. Sun Tiao had a feeling of being deceived. But now it's too late to regret, can't just go back to the Five Tigers and kill them all!

  Without the harassment of the Five Tigers, Sun Tao now has no specific goal. The Five Tigers won't come to find him trouble, and he won't go to find others' trouble either. Every day, except for meals, it's basically impossible to see Sun Tao's figure, as he is always cultivating in his own room, and his life has returned to a simple routine of two points (home and training) and one line (cultivation).

  ……

  The five tigers, one by one the bodies were carried on stretchers and sent to the inner hall of the Five Tigers Hall. After checking, 142 members of the gang were killed by Sun Tao last night, and 271 people were injured. This time, the Five Tigers Gang was indeed heavily wounded and dead. The Five Tigers Gang has been greatly weakened after this battle.

  The entire Five Tigers Gang was shrouded in gloomy clouds, and the large courtyard was filled with a deadly atmosphere. Since last night until now, the inner hall of the Five Tigers Gang had been enveloped in a deadly aura, and those disciples who had suffered fatal injuries but could not die immediately were sent to the inner hall and never reappeared. The Five Tigers Hall was heavily guarded, even officials who came to investigate the case were intercepted outside and denied entry.

  "Yellow White Tiger, come in!"

  "Master Xian, what are your orders!" Hearing the command from within the Wuhu Hall, Huang Weitao, the Dog Head Military Strategist of the Five Tigers Sect, pushed open the gloomy hall and said with a nervous expression.

  "Three days have passed, is there any news about that kid?" Inside the Wuhu Hall, at this moment, hundreds of corpses were placed, all of whom were members of the Wuhu Gang who died in battle. Among them, most did not die at the hands of Sun Tao, but rather at the hands of their own people. Each corpse was wrapped in white cloth and placed in the main hall, turning the Wuhu Gang's headquarters into a temporary morgue. Qin Hu's body was shrouded in dark energy, his face revealing a ghastly pale color, as if he were a dead man himself!

  "Reporting to Master Xian, that little guy is currently staying at the Lai Fu Inn. Every day, except for meal times, he will appear in the lobby once a day, and most of his time is spent indoors without leaving the house." Looking around at the stench emanating from the corpses, Huang Baihu cautiously replied.

  "The Beast Tamer, the Ape. This is a good prey, and that Ape, this is a good puppet. If it were to be refined into a puppet, it would definitely be stronger than these useless things." The thin middle-aged man Qin Hu heard this and muttered to himself, stroking his chin which had no beard.

  "It's been three days, it's time to deal with these puppet corpses. A disciple of the Beast Tamer Sect, and still a young one at that, so naive and inexperienced. What a perfect fat sheep! His wealth will become mine, Qin Hu's wealth. And that ape, what great material for a puppet!"

  "Get the word out, transport these corpses to the outskirts of the city and put them in a ruined temple tonight. This is a big deal, killing so many of my Five Tigers disciples, how can this be settled so easily?" Qin Hu looked at Huang Weitao who was crawling on the ground: "Oh! Right, give this letter to that kid and ask him to meet me at the ruined temple outside the city, I want to give him a big surprise."

  ……

  At the Rich Guest House, Sun Tao's room, after finishing dinner, Sun Tao returned to his room and found an extra envelope made of sheepskin on the table. Sun Tao glanced around the room and saw nothing unusual, so he opened the envelope and read: "Fellow Taoist, it has been many days since we last met, I have missed you dearly. Today, I specially invite you to meet at the Land Temple outside the city to discuss Taoist principles. If you don't come, consider this an empty invitation. The one who signed off is Qin Hu of the Five Tigers Sect."

  "Qin Hu of the Five Tigers Gang, how did he find me? The Land Temple outside the city, discussing Taoist rituals. If we don't see each other, it's probably a bad banquet and a bad meeting!

  Recently, I've been hearing about some good things the Five Tigers Gang used to do, which made the people of He Shui County resentful, even the government couldn't handle them. The Five Tigers Gang suffered a great disaster, and the people of He Shui County, from the wealthy families to the street vendors, even the beggars on the streets, all applauded.

  Sun Tuo knew he was deceived by Qin Hu's superficial appearance, and now seeing the letter left behind by the members of the Five Tigers Gang, Sun Tuo had a mocking smile on his face."

  This was clearly a trap, and the location, at the Temple of Land outside the city, must have had many people waiting in ambush for him. The mastermind behind the Five Tigers Gang wanted to put Sun Tao to death. Sun Tao couldn't understand why the Five Tigers Gang's Qin Hu thought he could kill him. If he had that kind of ability, he should have fought him three days ago instead of killing the current leader Wang Hei Hu and making peace with him!

  "This place is over ten miles away from the city, and the mountain road is rugged. It will take more than half a day to get there. Since Qin Hu of the Five Tigers Gang wants to die, I'll fulfill his wish." Feeling that he had been fooled by Qin Hu of the Five Tigers Gang, Sun Tao threw down the letter in his hand, and a thick, substantial killing intent flashed through his eyes. He then left the inn without stopping and headed towards the Land Temple outside the city.

  The temple of the land god outside the river water county, has been abandoned for many years, is in a state of disrepair, the remaining broken beams, the vast area, once showed that this land temple was once prosperous. The weeds outside the broken temple gate are dense and deep, with countless wooden vines wrapping around the temple, as if it were a wild land.

  Sun Tuo left the county town of He Shui, and after spending more than half a day inquiring about it from various sources, he finally learned that this Land Temple was actually an abandoned temple outside the city that had been deserted for many years. This place was rarely visited by people, making it a perfect spot to commit murder, arson, and destroy all evidence.

  "This gang of Five Tigers is really up to no good! Choosing this place, they must be here for revenge." Looking at the dilapidated temple gate with few visitors, a path had been trampled out in the overgrown weeds outside, with irregular footsteps. Sun Tao couldn't help but curse under his breath, thinking that this was likely a trap set by the Five Tigers gang in this broken temple, a trap designed to kill him. Judging from the situation, there must be many people arranged inside the temple.

  Sun Tuo touched the storage bag in his hand, feeling the large number of talismans inside. Sun Tuo secretly let out a breath of relief. No matter how many people were around him, with these talismans in hand, he could still respond calmly to the Five Tigers Gang's crowd. He pushed aside the weeds blocking his way and headed towards the broken temple in front of him.