Chapter 35

Three days later, Bai Xiaosheng and Hong Wu entered the town where the incident occurred and rushed to the scene.

In the base, the dead disciples of the Beggar Sect were quietly laid out together. After a long time, the bodies had begun to emit a foul odor. However, as people who lived a life of bloodshed in the Jianghu, they did not mind such things.

Hong Wu pulled back the white cloth covering the bodies and, seeing the tragic state of the dead disciples, his face showed sorrow and anger.

He turned to the Beggar Sect disciple in charge and asked, "Do you have any leads?"

The man nodded and said, "A brother discovered that the perpetrator was a short, stout man. He entered the town five days ago, was short and fat, bald, with sparse, slightly red hair."

Hong Wu frowned and asked again, "How did you get into a conflict with him?"

The man was taken aback, his face turning unpleasant as he said, "A few brothers asked him for food, but he not only refused to give it, he was also very aggressive, injuring one person. Later, a few brothers went to confront him, and he killed three of them, chased one to here, and killed the brothers here as well."

"Such cruelty?" Hong Wu's expression changed. This man's brutality was clearly not to be trifled with. Moreover, he understood that the fault was not solely on the murderer; the Beggar Sect's words might have provoked him, leading to the killings.

As the two fell silent, Bai Xiaosheng suddenly asked, "What weapon did the man use?"

"He carried a large pair of scissors and had a golden whip around his waist," one person answered Bai Xiaosheng's question. This answer was not what he wanted to hear. His face darkened, and he said, "Brother Hong, I once heard that there is a Crocodile Sect in the South China Sea, which uses crocodile-mouth scissors and crocodile-tail whips. They are a single lineage and rarely venture into Central China. This man might be the current successor of the Crocodile Sect."

Hong Wu nodded, not responding but instead lowered his head to think. After a while, he looked up and said, "You mentioned this, and I also remember that there are countless islands and sects in the South China Sea, including the Crocodile Sect." He looked at the Beggar Sect disciple and said, "Send a message to the Beggar Sect branch in the South China Sea and ask them to investigate whether anyone from the Crocodile Sect has come to Central China."

"Alright!"

The man nodded and immediately left. Hong Wu and Bai Xiaosheng, who had been traveling all night, took the opportunity to rest. Both knew that once they received the message, they would have to continue their journey to catch up.

In the afternoon, Hong Wu and Bai Xiaosheng, who had just woken up, received a report from a Beggar Sect disciple that the man had appeared in a town a hundred miles away. Upon hearing this, they immediately set off and arrived at the town by evening. However, the local Beggar Sect disciples reported that the man had left the town and headed west. Outside the Xiao family town, thirty disciples had prepared a dog-fighting formation to intercept him.

Upon hearing this, the two did not delay and hurriedly went ahead. An hour later, they arrived outside the Xiao family town and heard the sounds of a fight from a distance in the forest. They exchanged a glance and quickly moved forward. Upon entering the forest, they saw several bodies lying on the ground, their deaths similar to those of the seventeen Beggar Sect disciples, all with their necks twisted.

Taking a few more steps forward, they saw two more bodies, but these two had died differently, their heads crushed. It seemed the man had used the crocodile-mouth scissors.

Through the trees, Bai Xiaosheng could vaguely see the figures fighting. The Beggar Sect, relying on their numbers, naturally did not fear the man, but he was not one to back down either. The two clashed, and the fight began.

Yue Laosan was very skilled, and the Beggar Sect disciples were no match for him. If it weren't for their numbers and the dog-fighting formation, they would have been killed by Yue Laosan long ago. Even now, five of them had already died at his hands.

When Bai Xiaosheng and Hong Wu approached, Yue Laosan used his crocodile-mouth scissors to cut one of them in half, causing Hong Wu to turn pale with anger.

"Bold indeed!"

With a roar, Hong Wu swung his bamboo staff and charged forward. The beggars, seeing reinforcements arrive, breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could retreat, Yue Laosan swung his scissors, smashing into one of their chests, crushing it and sending the man flying toward Hong Wu.

With a quick block and push, Hong Wu deflected the force of the dead beggar and threw him far away. In mid-air, he tapped his bamboo staff, which shot forward like a sword, aiming straight for Yue Laosan.

Yue Laosan grinned and shouted, "Damn, you've got some skills!" The crocodile-mouth scissors opened and closed with a clacking sound, instantly trapping Hong Wu's bamboo staff.

"Heh heh..." Yue Laosan laughed, exerting force, and the bamboo staff snapped in two. "Get lost!" He kicked out with a powerful force, the sound of the kick whistling through the air. If Hong Wu had been hit, he would have died or lost half his life.

"Go!" In the crisis, Hong Wu swung his left hand, launching a flying stone that carried a strong wind, causing Yue Laosan's skin to sting.

"Damn, I hate it when people use hidden weapons to sneak attack!" Twisting his body, the seemingly fat Yue Laosan moved like an eel, not only dodging Hong Wu's flying stone but also turning his body, his leg like a steel whip, striking Hong Wu and sending him flying.

After two exchanges, Hong Wu was severely injured, a feat that left the beggars and even Bai Xiaosheng wide-eyed.

Hong Wu and Bai Xiaosheng had fought him before, and in their many matches, they were mostly evenly matched or Bai Xiaosheng would win. But each time, it took over a hundred moves to determine a winner. Even when Bai Xiaosheng went all out, it took at least fifty moves to defeat him. Now, Yue Laosan had defeated Hong Wu in just two moves. This naturally left Bai Xiaosheng shaken.

Was Yue Laosan too strong, or was he too weak?

In an instant, various thoughts flooded his mind, making Bai Xiaosheng bitter. Yes, Yue Laosan was the third of the notorious Four Evils, his skills could not be weak.

Duan Yanqing, who was almost as skilled as Xiao Feng, could see Yue Laosan's potential, so his skills were naturally extraordinary. What Bai Xiaosheng did not expect was that he would be this strong. In other words, the current Bai Xiaosheng was still very weak and, in the presence of these experts, was not even considered a top-tier player.

"Damn..." cursing under his breath, Bai Xiaosheng saw Yue Laosan laughing wildly, and he brandished his long sword, a light sword cry ringing out as the scabbard shot forward.

"Haha... You, a pretty boy, want to challenge me too?" Yue Laosan laughed, sweeping his crocodile-mouth scissors, which shattered the scabbard.

His sharp weapon left many people in awe. However, Bai Xiaosheng did not retreat. He knew that if he retreated, he would never be able to challenge higher-level opponents. So, he could not retreat.

Raising his sword, Bai Xiaosheng's blade glinted as he thrust forward. Yue Laosan's move was the same, the crocodile-mouth scissors smashing down. The force was so great that Bai Xiaosheng knew that if it hit, his sword would break. Thinking of this, he bent his sword, creating a flurry of sword shadows, and moved it to dodge the crocodile-mouth scissors, then stabbed at Yue Laosan.

Yue Laosan's crocodile-mouth scissors tilted and smashed down again, but Bai Xiaosheng bent his sword and dodged, then attacked Yue Laosan. They exchanged blows, and in an instant, ten moves were made. However, these ten moves were strange; neither of them touched the other, and their weapons did not even clash.

In just ten moves, Bai Xiaosheng had expended a great deal of energy, performing beyond his usual capabilities.

He had to dodge Yue Laosan's crocodile-mouth scissors while also blocking his attacks, a dual task that required rapid sword movements, leaving him exhausted. However, he knew he could not show any weakness, so after ten moves, he withdrew his sword, stepped back, and stood in front of the Beggar Sect disciples, looking at Yue Laosan from a distance.

"Boy, your sword skills are good. What's your name?" Yue Laosan, carrying his crocodile-mouth scissors, asked with interest.

Bai Xiaosheng smiled, moved his sword, and a sword light flashed, carving "Bai Xiaosheng" on the ground. "That's my name."

"Bai Xiaosheng..." Yue Laosan nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad. Yue Laosan had a good fight today, so I'll let you go for now..." With that, Yue Laosan leaped onto a tree branch and disappeared into the distance. The Beggar Sect disciples wanted to chase him, but Bai Xiaosheng waved his hand and said, "Don't chase him."

The others were puzzled, frowning at Bai Xiaosheng. Bai Xiaosheng, feeling relieved, fell to the ground and fainted. This shocked the beggars; Hong Wu was already severely injured, and now this one too. A man with some medical knowledge immediately checked Bai Xiaosheng's pulse and sighed in relief, saying, "He's just overexerted."

"No wonder this brother didn't want us to chase. He's out of energy."

"Yes. I didn't expect that guy to be so formidable. Hong Brother was only able to last two moves before being severely injured, and this brother, though skilled, could only last ten moves before giving out."

"Talking about this now is useless. We need to get the two brothers back quickly. To deal with that guy, we can't rely on just us."

"Right. Let's go, let's go..."

The beggars carried Bai Xiaosheng, Hong Wu, and the dead brothers and quickly left the forest.