Zhao Lin’s heart pounded. He looked up at the street opposite them.

Directly across from the Liuhe Sect was a two-story restaurant. Sitting in a private room by the window, one could easily monitor everyone coming and going.

Zhao Lin put himself in the assassin’s shoes. If he were the one, he’d also choose that spot to keep watch.

So, while he was practicing, he would fully open up his hearing every so often to gather sounds from across the street. And sure enough, he’d picked something up!

Zhao Lin remained impassive, carrying the iron sandbag over to the courtyard gate.

The window of the private room was half-open, and behind the screen, the shadowy figures of two people could be seen.

Zhao Lin’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He focused his ultrasound towards the private room’s window and quickly located the two people who were talking.

This was an ability he had just figured out how to use, working on the same principle as a radar’s directional pulse. It effectively eliminated interference from other background noise.

He heard the hoarse voice continue, "It’s been almost four days, and the target is still alive and kicking. The boss is not happy."

"I get it. Stop bringing up the boss every other second."

Another cold voice snorted and said, "Those two brats are slippery. Their movements are completely unpredictable. Of the four gates—north, south, east, and west—I can only stake out one. My luck’s been bad these past few days; I haven’t run into them once."

Zhao Lin recognized the cold voice as that of Heartless Pillar Zhao Feilong, the man who tried to assassinate him. He wondered who the man with the hoarse voice was.

The hoarse voice said, somewhat reproachfully, "You still underestimated them. Otherwise, you would’ve gotten them the first time. Now that they’re on guard, it’s definitely going to be harder to make a move."

Zhao Feilong sneered, "Liang Da Mazi, it’s easy for you to talk. Do you have any idea how fast that kid Zhao Lin is? I’d already stabbed him, but no matter how hard I chased, I still couldn’t catch him!"

The hoarse voice of the man called Liang Da Mazi softened a bit. "I didn’t see it myself, but I heard about it from the other brothers."

"But you’re the Heartless Pillar of our gang. You’ve never failed before!"

Zhao Feilong said in a low voice, "I’m focusing on the north gate now. As long as I can corner them one more time, I’ll make sure they don’t walk out of there alive!"

Liang Da Mazi chuckled. "That’s good. We all have faith in Brother Feilong’s skills..."

After that, the two bandits said no more. A moment later, the door curtain rustled, and one of them left the private room.

’There’s a saying: a thief can try for a thousand days, but a defender can’t be on guard for a thousand days. I can’t let this man live!’

Zhao Lin continued his bone conditioning with the iron sandbag, but his mind was racing with thoughts of how to eliminate this Heartless Pillar, Zhao Feilong.

...

"Tonight, we’re taking the north gate."

At dusk, Zhao Lin met up with Liang Song and told him what he had heard from the bandits.

Liang Song was curious how Zhao Lin had managed to eavesdrop on the bandits’ conversation. However, he trusted Zhao Lin completely and didn’t voice any suspicion, simply asking, "You know he’s lying in ambush at the north gate. Why do you still want to go that way?"

"This man is a menace. I want to get rid of him."

A ruthless glint appeared in Zhao Lin’s eyes. "But his martial arts are too strong; it’ll be hard to kill him in one blow. We need to lure the snake out of its hole. I have a plan..."

Liang Song mulled it over after hearing the plan. "It’s a good plan, but what if he doesn’t come out? Or what if he gets other bandits to help him?"

Zhao Lin shook his head slightly. "Drilling Mountain Leopard is pressuring him to act fast. He won’t be willing to give up such a good opportunity. As for him finding other bandits, we won’t give him the time."

"Besides, a man like him is used to working alone. I believe he’ll choose to act by himself."

After hearing this, Liang Song struck his fist into his palm, his eyes shining with excitement. "Alright, let’s do it your way! Kill the bandits!"

The two of them had a simple meal and hurried toward the north gate.

Although he knew Zhao Feilong was lying in ambush somewhere along the road to the north gate, Zhao Lin didn’t know the exact location. So, he kept his hearing wide open, scanning his surroundings and not letting a single unusual sound escape him.

As they neared the City God Temple, he heard faint, rapid breathing coming from the woods by the roadside.

’This guy sure found a good spot for an ambush.’

Zhao Lin snorted inwardly and immediately focused his ultrasound, sending it out in that direction.

Waves of ultrasound returned, painting a picture in Zhao Lin’s mind:

Zhao Feilong’s long, thin figure was crouched on the branch of a crooked willow tree, his left leg bent forward and his right foot braced against the trunk, poised to pounce downwards.

In his hand, he gripped a long, slender sword.

Zhao Lin could even perceive Zhao Feilong sticking out his tongue to lick his lips, a bloodthirsty sneer spreading across his face.

"I just remembered something. Let’s head back to Three Families Village tonight."

When they were about a dozen meters from Zhao Feilong’s hiding spot, Zhao Lin suddenly stopped, slapped his forehead, and feigned a look of sudden inspiration.

"We left in such a hurry that day, I left a dozen or so taels of silver in the house. Didn’t have time to grab it."

As he spoke, he shot Liang Song a meaningful look.

Liang Song took the cue and said in a voice just as loud as Zhao Lin’s, "Then let’s go back and get it. The north gate is right up ahead."

"Hold on, I think we should take the west gate," Zhao Lin said, stopping Liang Song.

Liang Song feigned confusion. "The north gate is closer to home. Why take a detour?"

"It’s about feinting and deception—making the real seem false and the false seem real. We can’t let the bandits guess our destination, right?"

"Makes sense. The city gates are about to close. Let’s get a move on..."

Talking as they went, the two of them turned around and headed toward the south gate.

’Damn it! Ten more steps and I could have made my move!’

Zhao Feilong leaped down from the tree. Watching their retreating figures, he muttered hatefully.

But soon, a cold smile crept onto his lips. ’Going home? I’ll be waiting at your house for you to come and die!’

Zhao Lin and Liang Song left the city through the west gate but didn’t go straight home. Instead, they first went to Baiqiao Village.

This was, one, to give Zhao Feilong time to get there, and two, to make some preparations.

Back when they had returned from hunting on Lao Gualing, they had buried their used clothes, weapons, and poison in Headman Zhou Pao’s backyard.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no point in keeping them hidden. It was the perfect time to retrieve and use them.

Zhao Lin and Liang Song observed the area around Headman Zhou Pao’s house for a while. After confirming there were no bandits watching, they climbed the wall and jumped into the yard.

They pried open a stone slab and dug out the long spears, bows and arrows, throwing axes, and leftover poison.

Considering the poison on the weapons might have lost its potency over time, the two of them reapplied a fresh coat.

"Do you think Zhao Feilong might get tired of waiting and leave before we get there?"

Liang Song drew his bow and nocked an arrow, shooting it at a door beam. Seeing his aim was still true, he nodded in satisfaction.

"He won’t. Patience is the one thing people like him have in abundance."

Zhao Lin gripped the heavy iron spear that had been passed down in Headman Zhou Pao’s family. He went through a few spear forms, incorporating the new Six Harmonies Staff techniques he had learned.

Compared to a few months ago, he could finally wield the iron spear properly.

Before, he only had the strength of about four hundred jin and could only manage the most basic spear moves like stabbing, thrusting, and upward flicks.

Now, with the strength of eight or nine hundred jin, he could effortlessly execute difficult techniques like pressing, cleaving, smashing, and flourishing, each move creating a whoosh of wind.

’Heartless Pillar, is it? Then you will die by this iron spear!’