菠萝漫画

“Thud thud thud!”

The dull sounds of the mechanical trigger, combined with the trembling of parts, sent three arrows shooting out from the sleeve crossbow on Su Changkong’s arm in a ’￡□’ shape, hitting the big tree in the courtyard!

Thump thump thump!

All three arrows buried themselves about a third of the way into the trunk, demonstrating considerable power!

“I increased the mass of the arrows, sacrificing range. Their effective lethality is about ten meters. Moreover, to enhance the power, the crossbow’s parts are under a lot of stress and will be damaged after just a few uses…”

These thoughts went through Su Changkong’s mind in silence, though he was quite satisfied with his accomplishments over the past half-month.

The sleeve crossbow, capable of firing three arrows at once, was most powerful within ten steps, and despite its mechanisms wearing out after several uses, it was not an issue for Su Changkong.

After all, the sleeve crossbow was an equivalent to a hidden weapon, not commonly used. Even if it had a farther range, the enemy would have the chance to react, so a distance of just over ten steps was sufficient!

On the arrowheads of the sleeve crossbow, Su Changkong had applied Boiling Blood Scatter; naturally, he had poisoned his Iron-Cutting Sword as well!

Any martial artist, even those in the Qi-Blood Realm, who suffered an injury from his weapons would face a desperate situation with slim chances of survival!

The combination of Boiling Blood Scatter and the sleeve crossbow was undoubtedly a new trump card for Su Changkong, giving him an increased sense of security.

“I haven’t visited Wang Yun at the Yamen in a long time. I should go in a couple of days; I need to save more money,” Su Changkong stretched languidly.

In recent times, Su Changkong had been especially busy. Between collecting herbs for Boiling Blood Scatter, his night raid on Black Cavalry Gang, crafting bolts and arrows, and recuperating his body, it had been almost a month since he last saw Wang Yun.

Su Changkong had an agreement with Wang Yun—every time Su Changkong killed a disciple of the Black Lotus Sect, Wang Yun would pay him a reward of a thousand taels of silver. This was Su Changkong’s main source of income!

Su Changkong prepared to see if Wang Yun had any new intelligence so he could earn more money.

Once he had saved enough money, Su Changkong would head to Ink Forest Prefecture City to attempt to acquire a Qi-Blood Pill and advance further into the Qi-Blood Realm!

The next day arrived, and Su Changkong got himself dressed up. Wearing black clothes and with a stern expression, he set off to the Magistrate Office as Mr. Wen to meet with Wang Yun.

“Lord Wen, this way, please.”

The arrival of Su Changkong made the guards at the entrance of the Yamen very respectful, aware that the gentleman before them was a distinguished guest of County Magistrate Wang Yun, and they dared not be negligent!

All the way he was escorted to the back courtyard of the Yamen, where Wang Yun lived and worked.

Soon, Su Changkong saw Wang Yun, who looked slightly gaunt compared to their last meeting.

“Mr. Wen, you’ve finally come!”

Wang Yun’s eyes brightened upon seeing Su Changkong.

Su Changkong accepted Wang Yun’s invitation to sit and nodded slightly, “I encountered a bottleneck in my training recently and went into seclusion for a while. Seeing your pallor, my lord, has something happened?”

Wang Yun sighed, “Indeed, quite a few things have happened… Have you heard about the Black Cavalry Gang?”

Upon hearing this, Su Changkong was inwardly stirred but feigned confusion on the surface, “The Black Cavalry Gang? What about it?”

Wang Yun’s expression turned grave, “About a half month ago, the Black Cavalry Gang offended the Black Lotus Sect. A skilled practitioner from the sect came to their doors, slew Shi Zijian and the third gang leader Chen Zhuang on the spot, and then left triumphantly!”

“A Black Lotus Sect practitioner capable of slaying Shi Zijian… I’m afraid we have no martial artist in Clearwater City who can match that!”

Wang Yun spoke with a touch of worry.

Su Changkong couldn’t help but silently laugh to himself.

to conceal his identity and create confusion, causing the Black Lotus Sect and the Black Cavalry Gang to clash and view each other with hostility, Su Changkong had claimed to be from the Black Lotus Sect when facing the Black Cavalry Gang, killing Shi Zijian in the process. As a result, outsiders like Wang Yun believed the story, truly thinking that it was the Black Lotus Sect’s member who had slain the powerful Shi Zijian!

This matter was undoubtedly a major event that shook the martial world of Clearwater City!

However, Su Changkong naturally would not reveal the specifics of the situation. He simply expressed surprise, “A member of the Black Lotus Sect killed Shi Zijian? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Hmm… indeed, it’s somewhat of a good thing. With the death of Shi Zijian, the Black Cavalry Gang fell into internal strife that very night. Then they were attacked from all sides and became like rats crossing the street, nearly obliterated. But this has also made the Black Lotus Sect even more feared and revered!”

Wang Yun sighed again.

The Black Cavalry Gang had grown too quickly and thus had an unstable foundation. While Shi Zijian was alive, he could maintain order, but his death had martial artists within the gang each harboring their agendas. Some went their separate ways, and others fought over the gang’s wealth. The gang fell apart quickly, turning to dust in history.

But the killing of Shi Zijian by a Black Lotus Sect practitioner undoubtedly made outsiders even more fearful of the sect, more wary of crossing them.

“All right, Lord Wang, no matter how strong the Black Lotus Sect is, we cannot let them run wild. Do you have any intelligence regarding their disciples?”

Su Changkong didn’t linger on the topic and instead steered the conversation toward more practical matters—he was here to make money!

“Yes, we just gathered some intelligence yesterday. Please take a look, Mr. Wen.”

Wang Yun regained his composure, took out a scroll from beneath the table, and handed it to Su Changkong.

Su Changkong opened the scroll and began to read through it.

“Ning Cheng was spotted in Green Sea Town a few days ago, publicly killing several constables. Wanted locally, he is a disciple of the Black Lotus Sect, suspected to have the cultivation of the Divine Strength Realm. According to intelligence, he is now hiding in a thatched cottage within Luofeng Forest, extremely dangerous..”