Longevity Chronicles-Chapter 23 - 22: Heroic Couple, Court Hawks

Seeking Immortal County, at the edge of East Street, inside a dim alley.

The carriage was larger than ordinary horse-drawn carriages and was pulled by a docile yellow-maned horse. Suddenly, the curtains flung open.

A man dressed in shorts and muscles bulging from all over his body stepped down.

He was reeking of alcohol and a bit dazed, thus walked unsteadily.

From inside the carriage, behind him, a middle-aged man with a turban wrapped around his head, full of disdain, complained from the back:

"People always say that lazy people have more excrements. Daniu, you lazy fellow, you're so big, how can you even not hold a bit of 'yellow soup'."

"Walk farther to pee, don't let the wind blow your piss stench over here, it stinks too much."

In just two simple sentences, it was evident that this man had a close relationship with the muscular Daniu and also had a zest for life.

The despised Lu Daniu did not respond; he just pouted and obediently went into the alley next door.

He stood with his legs apart, relaxed his pants, and tinkled, dripping steadily, and soon after he breathed a sigh of relief as he finished.

Lu Daniu, having tightened his belt, was about to head back to the carriage.

It was at this moment, a not very bright but clearly visible "silver light" flashed past the corner of his eye in the night.

Because of his sensitivity to silver coins, the muscular man immediately turned his head.

Indeed, in a corner at the end of the alley, a shimmering silver coin was lying.

Although he was no ordinary man, at this time and age, the purchasing power of a single silver coin was still considerable—it could buy plenty of good food and even be used in the flower boat districts.

Moreover, finding money on the road, how could he, a man who trained his muscles more than his brain, refuse?

Thus, Lu Daniu cracked a grin and scurried over, squatting down to pick up the freely found silver coin.

Almost at the same moment he touched the silver coin, from his shadow behind him,

accompanied by a breath, a pale fist suddenly smashed out.

The target; the naive-looking, actually heartless man's back.

Unlike previous stealth attacks, this man named "Lu Daniu" specialized in melee combat.

As Tao Qian made his move, Lu Daniu's face suddenly changed dramatically.

His body, even faster than his brain, sensed the imminent danger.

In an instant, Lu Daniu's body started showing visible "mutations," changing incredibly quickly, nearly complete before Tao Qian's punch could land.

Accompanying the "sizzling" eerie noise, scalding steam actually sprayed out from Lu Daniu's pores.

His body started to swell, his stature already reaching 1.8 meters, now shooting towards 2 meters.

Well-defined muscles bulged, strands of sinew burst forth across sections of his shoulders, back, and abdomen, strange red tumors appeared.

His body hair also fell off in an instant.

His skin roughened, emitting a red and black mixed luster.

In a moment, before Tao Qian would stand a muscle monster that seemed unrelated to humans.

Although his feeling towards him was far from comparing to that of Cao Gang Seeking Immortal Leader Hong Heihu at the docks.

At this moment, Tao Qian still felt a slight hint of danger.

However, this danger came quickly and was resolved just as quickly.

Lu Daniu's transformed state seemed terrifying and likely formidable in a fight.

But, unfortunately for him, Tao Qian specialized in surprise attacks.

Lu Daniu realized he was being assassinated and his body mutated first, but still couldn't stop Tao Qian's fist from smashing into his back.

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"Boom!"

With a muffled sound,

Tao Qian seriously infused the Power of Bo Dragon from within his body into Lu Daniu.

If Lu Daniu could perform Inner Vision at that moment, he would have seen his backside directly concaved, the horrifying force ripping through his rough skin, shattering all the flesh beneath it, including his strong and forceful heart.

Suddenly paused, reduced to minced meat.

The roar Lu Daniu almost uttered never came.

In the alley, a "sizzling" sound rang out, and as that scalding steam dispersed, his body retreated from mutation, even beginning to excessively shrink.

In a short while, only a dwarfish corpse remained.

Tao Qian did not immediately reach out to search the body, but once again merged into the shadows, drifting towards the carriage.

The night wind blew by, bringing a drop in temperature that took away the scent of blood and also Tao Qian's presence.

Despite only one person remaining, Tao Qian maintained his careful precautions.

He approached the carriage side and, with his enhanced senses, confirmed that the one called "Zhao Dou" inside, the final beast, had a normal heartbeat and breathing.

Tao Qian then feigned a staggering gait and casually flipped open the carriage curtain.

Inside, Zhao Dou was counting some silver coins and copper coins, his face full of greed.

Hearing the sound of the curtain flipping, and without looking up, he said:

"Done with your piss yet? The boss and Old Yang are probably about to succeed and come back, no more drinking, stay alert..."

Halfway through speaking, Zhao Dou realized something was amiss.

He suddenly looked up, not seeing Lu Daniu's honest face but another unfamiliar and handsome scholar's face.

Zhao Dou's expression changed abruptly, his killing intent surged.

But just as he was about to make a move, Tao Qian had already struck a fatal blow.

Without any unnecessary words, even before Zhao Dou could finish speaking,

Tao Qian's hand had already lightning-fast slapped on the top of his head.

After killing several people, Tao Qian grew gradually familiar with this job, and his control over his inner power became more proficient.

The power of the Bo Dragon Bloodline surged from his palm, reducing Zhao Dou's brain to a mushy state, which then trickled out from his ears and nose.

He was even less capable than Lu Daniu, not even having the chance to display which Evil Technique he had cultivated.

Tao Qian was actually somewhat curious, but for such a small curiosity, it wasn't worth the risk.

In his past life, he had learned from watching various films and dramas that whether one is a villain or a hero, once they've decided to make a move, they shouldn't waste time talking.

Talking too much is often the cause of many powerful figures' deaths.

After silently criticizing this, Tao Qian first moved Lu Daniu's corpse over and didn't forget to take back that one silver coin used as bait.

Then, as usual, he searched the body.

It didn't take long to achieve a result, a somewhat disheartening result.

Treasures, Cultivation Secret Manuals?

Neither was found.

What Tao Qian found were merely some silver coins and a few bottles of liquor.

This outcome made Tao Qian doubt his own hands.

Previously, searching Zhang Xian and Yang Ding had yielded considerable gains.

How could it be that with the genuinely combat-skilled Lu Daniu and Zhao Dou, there was not even a little bit?

From a lucky hand to an unlucky one, the transition was too swift.

Although there were some silver coins, silver dimes, and such, having obtained a large stack of banknotes, the now affluent Tao Qian looked down upon them.

After perceiving the corpses of the two men, Tao Qian understood the reason:

"The bounty for the Four Beasts of She County is not bad, and they even managed to mix into the Devil God Army in positions like 'Abnormal Catcher'; although they haven't entered the Energy-Introducing Realm and remain at the bottom of the Cultivation World, their level is higher than that of Wu Ming of Seeking Immortal Hermit."

"All four had extraordinary encounters, but taking a serious count, Zhang Xian and Yang Ding were the only two with inheritances, although severely incomplete and merely scraps."

"As for the combat-skilled Lu Daniu and Zhao Dou, one had devoured an alien in childhood and gained augmentation of flesh, while the other was even unluckier, taken by an evil Magician in childhood for human modification, though he survived, both actually had no future and knew no cultivation, just acting on instinct."

"In the Cultivation World, there are too many such individuals."

"That's why they so desperately wanted to acquire true scriptural inheritances."

"Just that they did too many unconscionable things and happened to run into me."

After slaying the Four Beasts, gaining practical experience, and collecting several secret books and treasures, Tao Qian was completely satisfied and concluded this mission.

It wasn't complicated; he simply dumped the corpses of the three beasts next to Miss Zhou.

Then he used the stench of the Qu Worm Feces Stone to wake her up.

Upon hearing Miss Zhou's scream echoing through the heavens, Tao Qian, with his bulging loot, drifted away into the distance.

…

Leaving Zhou Mansion on East Street, Tao Qian headed directly for Vegetable Market Street.

But his destination wasn't the end of the street where Chengyou Bookstore was located.

Instead, it was the heart of Vegetable Market Street, recently often used as an execution ground.

There, a wooden post called "Soul Summoning Pole" was erected.

Hanging on the post were the heads of several Heroes, including one of the original bodies Tao Qian had possessed when he reincarnated.

When Tao Qian first arrived or borrowed a scholar's body to be reborn,

he was as powerless as a chicken, also devoid of any authority or wealth to leverage.

Even with anger in his heart, he was unable to act.

But now, everything was completely different.

With the contributions from the "Four Beasts of She County," Tao Qian fully knew what kind of power he now possessed.

So, the things that should be done, needed to be done.

"A dark and windy night is most conducive for action."

As Tao Qian uttered this, his figure had already neared the destination.

His original intention for coming here was to help collect the heads of the Heroes; what to do afterward would depend on his further adaptation to the world and additional information gathered.

Before this, Tao Qian had learned from an old clerk.

The officials from Seeking Immortal County Government planned to use these heads to fish for other Heroes.

Just like in the Immortal Realm, Tao Qian knew it was "bait," knew it was a trap, yet he still planned to dive into it.

In the Immortal Realm, Tao Qian relied on his Abnormality to freeload off the realm's master.

But here, Tao Qian wasn't planning to freeload; he intended to dismantle the trap entirely.

If this group of individuals from the official violent institutions of this world, also known as "court hawks," were too ruthless, Tao Qian wouldn't hesitate to decisively eliminate some of them.

Having acquired the life experiences and memories of both a Hero and a scholar, Tao Qian held not a shred of goodwill towards these people.

Just as he made up his mind and approached his destination, suddenly, a disturbance came from ahead.

The sounds of numerous footsteps, shouts of killing, and the clashing of weapons in battle carried by the night wind entered Tao Qian's ears.

"Hmm?"

Startled, his hidden figure had already appeared in a shadowy corner of Vegetable Market Street.

Looking out, he saw a battle drawing to its close.

However, the numbers of the two sides were vastly different, with the disadvantaged side about to be defeated.

One side consisted of several tens of people, mostly constables from the county government, but the core was a group of about seven or eight worldly society figures, including three dressed as monks.

The other side consisted of two 'fish' that had swum into the trap, a man and a woman, both of exceptional bearing and appearance, seemingly a couple.