บท 13: Chapter 12: Theft
The night was like water, and the earth had already fallen into slumber.
In the stone cave area, under the caress of the night breeze, apart from the occasional hoot of an owl, the desolate and dim stone cave area was silent.
When the time reached the early hours of the morning, an extra shadow appeared beneath the Human Bone Lamp Post, stealthily making its way to the front of a stone cave door.
Feeling around on the stone door, a small snake emerged from the shadow's fingers, slipping into the keyhole, unlocking the tightly closed door.
The shadow seemed very familiar with the surroundings; despite the pitch darkness within the room, it effortlessly found the chest where valuable items were stored, and was about to open it when a voice drifted leisurely through the air.
"Brother Peng, why stoop to this?"
Accompanied by the voice, the oil lamp in the room lit up.
Su Jie stood silently by the bed, gazing at the figure that had appeared in the cave, letting out a sigh.
The figure stiffly turned its head, letting out a bitter chuckle.
"So you've caught me, huh? I wanted to do this without anyone the wiser, seems like it's just my fate!"
"Brother Su, don't blame me. I've injured my leg, and if it's not healed before the mountain patrol, I'll only have a death sentence. I need the money for treatment."
Knowing there was no point in hiding, the figure pulled down its hood, revealing it to be Su Jie's neighbor, Peng Shiwen.
"Ah, but there's no need for stealing! If you'd spoken to me honestly, maybe I would have lent you the money."
Su Jie shook his head with heartfelt pain, as if looking at a child who had gone astray.
"You would lend me the money? Then I'll borrow it now—just 20 Blood Marrow Crystals."
Peng Shiwen was stunned, a look of joy crossing his face.
"I won't lend it."
However, before the joy on Peng Shiwen's face could last even a second, Su Jie immediately refused him.
"I've thought it over carefully, and I've decided not to lend it to you after all."
Su Jie had a serious look of contemplation, as for money, that was something he definitely wouldn't lend out.
"After all our years as brothers, don't we have any camaraderie left? You're going to watch me jump into the pit of fire with your own eyes?"
Peng Shiwen seemed taken aback by the response, his eyes wide with anger as he spoke.
Su Jie waved his hand and said, "I can't do that. I'm not so heartless. I won't watch you jump into the pit of fire with my own eyes—I'll close them."
Peng Shiwen: "..."
The next moment, Peng Shiwen became frantic: "Fine, fine, I always knew this was who you are. Since you're heartless, don't blame me for being unrighteous. Today you'll give me the money, willing or not. A person who's not ruthless shouldn't cultivate as a demon; I'm going all out."
He never considered that if he stole Su Jie's Blood Marrow Crystals, and Su Jie couldn't buy resources, entering the mountain would be extremely dangerous.
"I'm very curious about something—why did you choose to steal from me? Is it because I'm weak?"
Without a trace of anger, Su Jie remained calm as he looked at the other party.
Peng Shiwen's eyes turned fierce as he said coldly, "Nonsense. With your lousy talents, who else would I choose besides you?"
"Then you've chosen the wrong person!"
Su Jie smiled and crooked his finger invitingly.
Suddenly, Peng Shiwen felt a strange warmth in his nose as two streams of black blood rushed out, his body convulsing with intense pain in his internal organs.
"When did you poison me? This is... the Five Organs Black Blood Incense."
A trace of fear flickered in his eyes as Peng Shiwen abruptly turned to look behind Su Jie.
There, an incense stick was burning, its poisonous smoke wafting through the air, unseen in the darkness of the room until now.
"To wait for the poison to take effect, I had to chat with you to kill some time. I didn't expect you to hold out for so long."
Amidst the swirling fumes, Su Jie spoke as a black and purple Centipede, measuring one and a half meters long, darted out from his waist and pounced towards Peng Shiwen.
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Boom!
Several poisonous snakes as thick as chopsticks drilled out from Peng Shiwen's fingertips, charging at the thousand-hand centipede and attempting to bite and envenom it. Alas, they failed to pierce the chitinous insect shell and were instead swallowed whole by the centipede.
A gold toad the size of a palm leaped onto Peng Shiwen's shoulder. Its long tongue shot out like a crossbow bolt, splitting into several strands mid-air and aiming for Su Jie—this was Peng Shiwen's lifebound poisonous insect.
At the same time, a dozen small snakes crawled out from the hem of Peng Shiwen's pants, swiftly slithering towards Su Jie.
This was Peng Shiwen's poisonous insect tactic: first, use the toad's split tongue to bind the enemy, and then release the snakes to bite and inject deadly poison.
Su Jie understood his opponent's moves; his body remained still, but the flesh under his ribs writhed.
Several pale arms burst out from the flesh, each grasping and holding the split tongues tightly.
Then, with a sweep of his sleeves, Su Jie released a swarm of Silver Winged Golden Line Cicadas and Yin Fire Blood Bees that buzzed and flapped their wings angrily.
The former sliced through the tongues with incredible speed, while the latter raised their tails high and sprayed fire lines towards the group of snakes on the ground, burning them and causing the smell of cooked meat to waft through the air.
All of this was just the clashing of inferior poisonous insects; the greatest threat was the fast-moving, utterly unstoppable thousand-hand centipede that ignored all attacks and lunged forward.
"Low-grade poisonous insects, spiritual power of the Yunling Third Level, you've hidden it well..."
Peng Shiwen's pupils contracted fiercely; sensing the threat of death, he pressed on the gold toad on his shoulder.
Using some unknown method, the toad's size suddenly swelled, and without a moment's hesitation, it turned and fled, abandoning its lifebound poisonous insect without a second thought.
Because Peng Shiwen was painfully aware that, no matter how strong the gold toad was, it was no match for the low-grade thousand-hand centipede—the difference between them was colossal.
The gold toad inflated its belly, and its croak resonated like thunder.
Croak!
Dozens of forked tongues shot out, their number several times greater than before.
The thousand-hand centipede paid them no mind, as its pale human-like hands from underneath its body tore the binding tongues to shreds and, with a whistling sound, chased after Peng Shiwen.
Peng Shiwen's left leg was injured, and he had also inhaled Su Jie's poisonous smoke, so how fast could he possibly run?
He had barely left the stone cave when the thousand-hand centipede pounced on him, coiling around him repeatedly, turning his upper body into a wrapped dumpling.
"Spare... spare my life..."
Peng Shiwen's face showed fear as he begged for mercy.
"Had you known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? Brother Peng, it's even you who taught me, 'Without cruelty, don't practice demon cultivation.' So, you can only obediently go die now."
No sooner had he spoken than the thousand-hand centipede released its constricting grip and returned to Su Jie's side, flaunting its antennae as if awaiting praise.
Looking at Peng Shiwen again, his body was covered with green handprints, and he was long since poisoned, blood flowing from his seven orifices, lifeless.
"You did well, here's your reward—a tasty treat."
After patting the headplate of the thousand-hand centipede, Su Jie grabbed Peng Shiwen's lifebound gold toad with a pale hand and fed it to the centipede. Although it was inferior, Peng Shiwen had raised it for half a year, and the thousand-hand centipede found it quite delightful.
After rewarding the creditable thousand-hand centipede, Su Jie wrapped it back around his waist and chest.
Then, after a moment's consideration, Su Jie deliberately smeared some of Peng Shiwen's fresh blood on himself and rubbed his cheeks, making his complexion appear sallow and pale as if he had suffered a grave injury.
Having finished all of this, Su Jie then dragged Peng Shiwen's body out of the cave.
By now, the commotion from the fight had awakened many, with eyes from various stone caves looking over inquisitively.
In-fighting among the disciples of Ghost Ridge Palace was common, as after all, they were demon cultivators. But Su Jie emerging as the victor surprised many. However, upon seeing Su Jie's 'pitiful' state, they quickly understood—it was merely a bitter victory where both sides had suffered, and Peng Shiwen wasn't such an imposing figure that anyone would take it to heart.
Su Jie stood his ground, waiting, because he knew someone would come to deal with the situation.
Su Jie didn't have to wait long. Two members of the Law Enforcement Team dressed in red uniforms, openly displaying their Yunling Seventh Level powers, walked over.
The Law Enforcement Team was a special force belonging to the Sect, accountable only to the Sect Master, distinct from ordinary disciples.
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