...

Rustle, rustle.

In the mountain forest, the branches swayed.

Thud, thud, thud—

The sound of sharp blades piercing flesh echoed.

Lin Zheyu easily dealt with several bandits and began to search them.

After rummaging for a long time, there was not much to be found.

As before, they were mostly poison powders, medicinal powders, and hidden weapons.

Lin Zheyu had studied the Poison Canon for a long time. Although he was not an expert, he had some understanding.

The poisons used by these bandits were mostly concocted from poisonous insects and plants found in the mountains, mixed together. Their toxicity was not very strong.

They were quite effective against martial artists below the Qi Blood Realm, but for someone like Lin Zheyu, who had undergone the Qi Blood First Transformation, the effect was much less.

The resilience of Qi Blood was strong, greatly alleviating and recovering from the symptoms of poisoning.

Ordinary poisons, unless in large doses, did not have much effect.

However, some potent toxins required even Qi Blood Realm martial artists to be very cautious.

The Soul Reviving Powder obtained from the Zhao Family was one such poison.

A Qi Blood Realm martial artist poisoned by Soul Reviving Powder could only use their strong Qi Blood to slightly alleviate the symptoms, buying time for treatment.

If delayed, there was a risk of death.

"These are just ordinary poisons, not very valuable."

Lin Zheyu identified them, then casually collected them.

In recent days, he had been searching around Lion Valley, killing some bandits, but the gains were not great.

Last time, he was just lucky to encounter bandits returning from a robbery, thus securing such good loot.

"Running around like a headless chicken in the mountains is not a solution either."

"Under normal circumstances, senior brother and his group only act when bandits attack merchant caravans. Perhaps I should stay near their camp, wait for them to advance against the bandits, and then follow for a sneak attack."

Lin Zheyu pondered to himself.

This seemed like a good idea.

The city guards had scouts stationed at major routes, constantly keeping an eye on the bandits' movements.

By leveraging their power, Lin Zheyu could swiftly gain intelligence on bandit activities.

...

In Songyi City.

The location of Lin Zheyu's home was relatively secluded, with not many passersby.

Two unfamiliar faces appeared outside the small courtyard.

They brazenly walked past the courtyard.

Seizing a moment when the nearby Feihong Gang members weren't watching, one of them stealthily entered the courtyard, moving with extreme agility.

The other nonchalantly walked past, sitting under the shade to keep watch outside.

As the man entered the courtyard, Xiaohuang began to bark.

Bark, bark...

After just a couple of barks, the man shot a pebble from his hand, hitting the dog's head and knocking it out.

He glanced around and began searching the area.

Apart from some flowers and plants left by Liang Song, as well as some martial arts equipment, there wasn't much in the courtyard.

"Thunder River Vine, Qingniang Insect, Red Tea Flower..."

"All poisonous herbs and insects, this kid indeed knows something about poisons."

The man searched around and found some poisonous herb residues and insect corpses in the yet-to-be-disposed trash.

After restoring the trash to its original state, he took out a piece of wire, bent it a few times, and easily picked the lock on the door.

The bedroom had few belongings, not much stuff.

He searched around thoroughly but found no other clues besides knowing the other party had knowledge of poisons.

"Hidden well, can't even find any silver taels," the man muttered quietly.

He searched carefully but discovered nothing of value.

Soon after, his accomplice outside the courtyard gave a soft cough, and the man quickly exited the courtyard.

The Xing Mansion.

"Report to the sir, I searched Lin Zheyu's place and found some poisonous herb residues. That kid indeed has knowledge of poisons."

"Aside from that, no other discoveries. The yard showed no signs of a fight."

"We asked the surrounding residents, and they didn't hear any strange noises that night."

The man who just appeared at Lin Zheyu's courtyard was reporting the findings to Xing Zhicheng.

"Hmm."

"You may leave now."

Xing Zhicheng nodded, frowning slightly, looking somewhat restless.

"Father, should I just stake out at the city gate and seize an opportunity to capture that kid for questioning?" Xing Penghai suggested.

They had done so before.

At that time, Lin Zheyu was at the city gate sending off his senior brother, staying there for some time, allowing Xing Penghai and Xing Jinglong to arrive in time.

"How to catch him?"

"Every time he returns, he passes through different gates and at unpredictable times. We have limited manpower and can't just sit at all four gates doing nothing."

Xing Zhicheng said with a frown.

Although the Xing Family was strong, they were just a branch of the Xing family, with limited manpower and troops at their disposal.

Moreover, after losing ten elite soldiers and two Refining Internal Organ Realm experts last time, many of their privileges were revoked.

"But, should we just let Uncle Zhiyuan's matter go?"

"The clan leader and those elder uncles are so heartless. They just claimed they'd investigate Uncle Zhiyuan's death and asked us to wait for the results!"

Xing Penghai said angrily.

In big families, life was not as good as ordinary people imagined.

Many families had intense internal strife and power struggles.

Just after Xing Zhiyuan and Xing Jing'an died, the elders in the clan weren't thinking of finding the killer for revenge.

Instead, they were fighting vehemently to seize resources, redividing the power that Xing Zhiyuan once held.

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