"With this?" Su Xuan blinked, surprised. It was a common thermos, and it was unclear how he intended to use it.

Su Xuan didn't elaborate. He picked up the thermos, emptied the water, and poured the anesthetic inside. Then, he filled a basin with hot water from the washroom and submerged the thermos in it.

Qi Li suddenly understood. Su Xuan wanted to heat the anesthetic, causing it to vaporize and replicate the effect from Lycar's place!

"Wait for me in the room."

Estimating that the anesthetic had nearly finished vaporizing, Su Xuan grabbed the thermos and walked toward the door. He paused, turning back to pick up the discs the old innkeeper had brought over. "These might come in handy," he whispered with a small smile.

"Be careful," Qi Li urged, clenching her fists. She was quite nervous and wondered what he planned to do with those discs.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

Su Xuan went to the adjacent room and knocked on the door.

"What is it?"

A bearded man opened the door and froze when he saw Su Xuan standing outside. They were just about to go looking for trouble with Su Xuan, so why had he delivered himself to their doorstep?

"Hey, man. A small favor," Su Xuan said, holding up the discs. "How about we swap movies? I've seen all of mine."

"Um..." The man squinted, considered it for a moment, and then stepped aside. "Come in!"

"Thanks!" Su Xuan entered the room, holding the discs in one hand and the thermos in the other.

SQUEAK!

The man casually shut the door.

Su Xuan scanned the room. Besides the bearded man, two others were sitting cross-legged on the bed. They opened their eyes the moment Su Xuan entered and subtly moved their hands behind their backs.

"Sorry to disturb you," Su Xuan said, turning to the TV to swap the discs. An movie was still playing on the screen.

"What are you doing with that thermos?" the man who opened the door asked, slowly approaching Su Xuan from behind.

"The water heater in my room is broken. I was going to get some hot water from downstairs," Su Xuan replied.

"The innkeeper has plenty of movies. Why didn't you just swap with him?" The man was now only three steps away.

"I was afraid he'd charge me," Su Xuan said as he finished swapping the discs.

"The movies at this inn are free!" the man's voice turned sharp as he swung his fist at the back of Su Xuan's head. He planned to subdue Su Xuan and use him as a hostage to easily get their Senior Brother Niu back.

"What if they aren't?"

Su Xuan remarked casually. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he sidestepped at the last second, dodging the lethal blow. At the same time, he let the thermos slip from his grasp. It crashed to the ground with a CLANG, and a plume of white vapor instantly billowed upwards.

Su Xuan immediately held his breath and slid past the man, making a dash for the door.

"Trying to run?"

"No chance!"

Thinking Su Xuan was trying to flee, the man reached out to grab him, paying little attention to the rising white mist.

"You're not getting away!" At the same time, the two men on the bed sprang up, each brandishing a short knife as they lunged at Su Xuan.

Su Xuan thrust a palm behind him, unleashing the Floating Cloud Sect's Cloud Wave Palm, before yanking the door open and bolting out. The bearded man was forced back several steps by the palm strike, conveniently blocking the path of his two knife-wielding companions. They exchanged a look, stunned by the power of Su Xuan's attack.

Regrouping, they rushed to the door to give chase, only to be dumbfounded. Su Xuan was holding the door shut from the outside.

Then, they felt something that made their skin crawl. Their bodies felt incredibly heavy, and their minds grew sluggish, as if they were heavily intoxicated. One by one, they collapsed to the floor.

CREAK!

The door opened again. Su Xuan stood in the doorway with a smile, then dragged the three paralyzed men into his own room.

"That... That was so fast!" Qi Li, who had been waiting anxiously, stared with wide eyes as Su Xuan dragged the men inside. Only a few minutes had passed since he left with the thermos.

"Go get Brother Lu. Tell him to bring our guy," Su Xuan said to Qi Li. He then tore the bedsheets into strips and began tying up the three unconscious men.

Qi Li quickly fetched Lu Dongshan.

"This..." Lu Dongshan entered, carrying the sack with their captive, his shock evident. He was about to ask for an explanation, but Su Xuan shook his head.

Su Xuan opened the sack and looked at the bruised and swollen face of their leader. "Hello there! Do you recognize these men?"

The leader, who was also bound tightly with ropes, saw the three men on the floor, and his expression changed dramatically. He quickly feigned ignorance. "Did you use your despicable tricks to trap people again?"

"I did," Su Xuan nodded. "And they've already confessed a few things. For instance, that your surname is Niu."

"Yes, my surname is Niu," the leader sneered. "So what? They don't know anything else. They were just following orders, so you can stop wasting your time trying to trick me."

"Is that so?" Su Xuan pouted. "Fine, no more tricks. I'll give you two choices. If you want to live, tell me the details of the conspiracy. Why are you trying to incite a war between the two sects? If you want to die, you don't have to say a thing." He glanced at Lu Dongshan. "My friend Brother Lu is getting tired of carrying you all this way. I think it's about time we got rid of you."

"Heh!" The leader laughed again. "Do you take me for a three-year-old? I'll die for sure if I talk. If I keep my mouth shut, I'll live a long life—maybe even long enough to see both the Yuling and Floating Cloud Sects annihilated!"

"He's a smart one," Su Xuan said, shrugging at Qi Li and Lu Dongshan.

"Brother Su, there's no hurry to interrogate him," Lu Dongshan said, stepping forward to stuff the leader back into the sack. "Once we're back at the sect, I have many ways to make him talk. Besides, an answer forced out of him now likely can't be trusted anyway."

"Mm," Qi Li agreed. "Our Floating Cloud Sect has a secret art called the Mind Control Technique. It can make people tell the honest truth."

"You should've mentioned this earlier," Su Xuan said, finally understanding why they hadn't bothered questioning the man on their journey. They had a trump card up their sleeve all along.

With that, he stopped racking his brain and proceeded to thoroughly loot the three unconscious men. He found a good number of elixirs, generously giving a share to Qi Li and Lu Dongshan.

"He's a natural for this kind of life," Lu Dongshan murmured to Qi Li.

"Indeed," she replied, both of them holding the pouches of elixirs with strange expressions.

But this was just another example of Su Xuan's peculiar proclivities. What happened next, however, was what would truly leave them stunned.

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