Chapter 342 - 330: Ambush (Part 1)
"You want to capture them?"
The moment Song the Third heard Zhao Lin's question, he guessed his intentions.
"Exactly!"
Zhao Lin admitted it outright. "If you help me capture them, it will be considered a major meritorious service. It should reduce your sentence somewhat."
"Those few Communication Talismans you have on you... I assume they're for gathering evidence on them, right?"
"This... Fine. But you must keep your promise."
Song the Third agreed without hesitation. He was already caught, so dragging two more people down with him would actually make him feel a bit better.
"Good. It's a deal."
Zhao Lin nodded in agreement. "Tell me. How did you conspire to rob passing cultivators, and how did you split the loot? Explain the whole process clearly."
Song the Third thought for a moment, collecting his thoughts before speaking. "The first step is to pick a 'fat sheep'—usually a lone cultivator with a low cultivation level."
"The ticket from the Ferry Station to Yinfeng Valley is twenty Yuan Spirit Coins. If they spot a fat sheep, Blackskin and Huang Teng will quote a ridiculously high price, making the target angry enough to leave and walk to Yinfeng Valley on their own."
"Afterward, they'll send a Communication Talisman to notify me and Li Daoyou, and the two of us will intercept the target along the path."
Zhao Lin had a sudden realization. 'No wonder the Spiritual Vessel's price was so outrageous. They were sizing me up and deliberately trying to drive me away.'
Song the Third continued, "Blackskin and Huang Teng travel back and forth to Yinfeng Valley with the Spiritual Vessel every day. We have a pre-arranged meeting spot."
"At noon the day after a successful job, we meet at the designated spot to hand over the spoils."
"Noon the next day..."
Zhao Lin glanced outside the cave. "That would be tomorrow at noon."
After a moment of thought, he asked, "Do they come together, or does only one of them show up?"
He had used his Qi Observation Skill back then and saw that both cultivators at the Ferry Station were at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining. For them to dare deal with a Late-stage Qi Refining bandit cultivator, they must have something to rely on.
Just as he expected, Song the Third answered, "They're afraid we'll double-cross them, so they don't dare come together. Usually, only one of them comes to the meeting while the other waits on the Spiritual Vessel."
Zhao Lin frowned. This felt complicated.
If he only caught one, the other would see that something was wrong. He might bring guards to get his partner back and then turn the tables, framing Zhao Lin for colluding with bandit cultivators. That would be a huge problem.
'It would be best to capture both of them. That's the only way to make them shut up or confess.'
"Is anyone else involved in this?"
Zhao Lin thought that if other people were involved, especially the upper echelons of Qiuyang County, he would have to change his strategy—or perhaps avoid this mess altogether.
Hearing this, Song the Third shook his head like a rattle drum. "Impossible. We only pull one or two jobs a month. How could the loot from that be enough for many people to split?"
Zhao Lin mulled this over. Although that made sense, he still had to be cautious. After thinking for a long time, he finally had an idea.
"It's getting late. Time to rest."
Zhao Lin waved his hand, extinguishing the Lighting Skill, then stood up and walked over to Song the Third.
Song the Third was startled and stammered, "What... what are you doing?"
"Nothing much. Just making sure we can both get a good night's sleep."
Zhao Lin struck Song the Third several times, sending Spiritual Power into his body and once again throwing his meridians into disarray.
Then, he pulled a bundle of rope from his storage pouch and tied him up securely.
...
Early the next morning, the first thing Zhao Lin did after waking up was to land a few heavy blows on Song the Third to ensure he couldn't use his Mana.
Then, he sorted through the three confiscated storage pouches.
He hid the Spirit Rice and Spirit Stones deep inside the cave, and kept the elixirs, talismans, and Spirit Coins for himself.
He packed only a few miscellaneous items and two magic treasures into a storage pouch and tossed it to Song the Third to hold.
The magic treasures were worn out and not worth much. Besides, they were marked, and using them himself would likely attract trouble.
Once everything was taken care of, Zhao Lin, without untying Song the Third, simply picked him up, left Baiyan Mountain, and headed straight for the place where the three of them had fought.
Being carried by Zhao Lin, who was still moving as fast as flight, Song the Third felt a bitter taste in his mouth. 'Damn it all. I thought I'd picked a soft persimmon, but I ended up kicking an iron plate.'
At daybreak, Zhao Lin arrived at the spot where he had buried the handsome cultivator, Li Daoyou.
He moved the large rock, took out the head and the Heaven-piercing Halberd, and put them in the storage pouch on Song the Third's person.
He then searched Li Daoyou's body for a while and found the same three types of escape talismans: a Wind Riding Talisman, a Water Talisman, and a Concealment Talisman.
"Alright, now take me to your meeting place."
Zhao Lin untied the ropes on Song the Third and tossed Li Daoyou's storage pouch to him as well.
'There are cultivators who specialize in seals and can open locked storage pouches. Since I can't open it myself, I might as well just hand it over. That can also be counted as a meritorious contribution.'
"Capture Blackskin and Huang Teng, and I will report your cooperation faithfully. If you try any tricks..."
Zhao Lin formed a blade with his fingers and made a cutting motion across Song the Third's neck. The meaning was self-evident.
"I wouldn't dare."
Song the Third said quickly. Zhao Lin was cautious, thorough in his planning, and extremely powerful in combat. He had basically given up all hope of escaping.
An hour later, the two arrived at the designated meeting place: a hillside a dozen or so li outside Yinfeng Valley.
"Every day at noon, a Spiritual Vessel transporting cultivators arrives at Yinfeng Valley. Blackskin and Huang Teng use their break to hurry over."
Song the Third looked up at the sky and said to Zhao Lin.
"Just do as I said earlier. We'll take down one of them first."
Zhao Lin took off his own storage pouch, undid its seal, and handed it to Song the Third.
The storage pouch was issued by the Spirit Dao Institute and had a specific pattern on it. If he tried to pass off a different pouch, it might be noticed.
Zhao Lin gave him a few more instructions, then walked off to hide in the distance.
Song the Third stood there in a daze, constantly trying to think of a way to escape. Unfortunately, with his cultivation suppressed and his talismans confiscated, he couldn't come up with a single plan after wracking his brain for a long time.
...
Just past noon, a cultivator approached from a distance at the foot of the hill.
The person arriving for the meeting today was none other than the dark-faced cultivator who had dealt with Zhao Lin the day before.
Back when he was cultivating at the Spirit Dao Institute, the dark-faced cultivator had been hailed as a genius. He had reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer in less than three years, ranking among the top disciples.
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, his cultivation had stagnated ever since. After ten years of hard work, he had only broken through to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and had made no progress since.
Although he knew that this was the nature of cultivation—one could encounter an insurmountable bottleneck at any time—he couldn't accept it.
'I don't have the backing of a cultivation clan, so I have to find ways to accumulate cultivation resources on my own...'
Seeing Song the Third, the dark-faced cultivator collected his thoughts and smiled. "Brother Song, why are you here alone?"
Despite having dealt with him many times, he remained quite vigilant, constantly scanning the area with his Divine Sense.
"He's cultivating in the cave. Said he's reached a critical point."
Song the Third replied, his expression unchanged.
"He's about to break through?"
The dark-faced cultivator asked with concern, though inwardly he was deeply resentful. 'Even a common bandit cultivator is about to break through, while I'm still stuck at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.'
"Who knows? Don't worry about him. I brought the goods."
Song the Third said, pointing to the storage pouch on the ground.