Before long, another figure with a graceful posture climbed over the wall and landed lightly in the courtyard. At this time, Fang Yuan had already finished his noodles and was lying comfortably on the grass, leisurely enjoying the white clouds floating slowly overhead. Seeing this, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Master Lin, you prefer to climb over the wall even when you're coming back to your own home?"
"Cough, it's more convenient to climb over the wall..." Lin Jing replied. In fact, she was just too lazy to open the door. Then, she frowned and asked in confusion, "Wait a minute, why does it smell like something's burned?"
"Oh, I just 'played with a cat'." Fang Yuan replied casually.
"Played with a cat?" Lin Jing was completely confused by this term. But soon, she saw a small figure lying in the courtyard. The figure was charred all over, but due to its tenacious vitality, it was still alive. When she saw the cat's face under the black robe, Lin Jing's expression immediately became solemn. "So that's it... It's a cat demon." Now she understood what Fang Yuan meant by "played with a cat".
"I didn't expect them to come so quickly!" Lin Jing said again, "They even accurately found your location!"
"Yeah." Fang Yuan nodded. "So I took action quickly too." He thought to himself that the power of this electric shock technique was indeed formidable.
"However, since they know they're coming to deal with you, why did they only send a first - level little demon?" Lin Jing was full of puzzlement in her tone. "They clearly have more powerful combat power."
"More powerful beings?" Fang Yuan asked rhetorically.
"Um..." Lin Jing nodded and explained, "According to the information I gathered, Zhao Shuanghe has indeed colluded with demons. It's a couple of cat demons. This little cat demon is probably their offspring. The big ones haven't come yet, but the little one has come to the door first. Isn't this courting death?"
"However, this can be put to good use." She changed the subject and clenched her fists. "With the little cat demon in our hands, the two big cat demons will surely be hesitant. When the time comes, we can use it to threaten them, and their combat power will definitely be greatly reduced!" As she spoke, a gloomy smile appeared on Lin Jing's face. Her originally beautiful face now seemed somewhat ferocious, just like a ruthless female villain. Fang Yuan thought to himself that she should be cackling "Jie Jie Jie" at this moment. Then he asked, "What information have you gathered?"
Lin Jing continued, "An old beggar went to the yamen with the bones of his grandson. It seems that his grandson was eaten by a demon and only a bare skeleton was left. Zhao Shuanghe immediately insisted that you did it and spread the news."
"This old thing, talking nonsense with his eyes wide open!" Fang Yuan chuckled, but there was no trace of anger on his face. He didn't want to ruin his mood for a dying person. When it came to eating people, Fang Yuan looked at the little cat demon lying in the yard and thought that it was probably this little guy who did it. With a cute and soft appearance on the outside, but actually a man - eating monster. Truly, beings of a different kind have different hearts.
"What else?"
"Also, as I just said, Zhao Shuanghe has found two cat demons to kill you. They will search the city together with the people from the Black Tiger Gang. Besides, Zhao Shuanghe will hold a funeral for his son at noon today."
Fang Yuan stood up with a sudden leap. "Very well, the information has been gathered. Then let's start taking action." A funeral? Humph, the father and son might as well hold a joint funeral. That would save some money.
...
Today, Changqing City is extremely desolate. There are no street vendors on both sides of the street, and most shops have their doors closed. The common people are in a state of panic, and the whole city is filled with a depressive atmosphere. This depression comes from many aspects: the hypocritical Zhao Shuanghe, the evil - doing Black Tiger Gang, and Fang Yuan... At first, the common people cheered for Fang Yuan for getting rid of the Han family and Zhao Jing. He became a hero in the hearts of the common people. But this morning, a piece of news on the notice board of the county yamen turned the situation around - Fang Yuan eats people!
At first, the common people scoffed at this. However, the bloody skeleton of a child placed under the wanted notice was said to be the remains that had been completely eaten by Fang Yuan. This made their hearts waver. They suddenly realized that Fang Yuan might not be a great hero after all, but a man - eating demon. His previous acts of eradicating evil might just be a coincidence. Thus, Fang Yuan also became someone the common people of Changqing City feared.
"There are so few people on the street today..." Wu Haisheng looked out of the window at the desolate scene and said worriedly, "My wife, the notice from the yamen..."
"Nonsense!" Before Wu Haisheng could finish, Jiang Su'e interrupted with a cold face. "What, do you also doubt that our benefactor would do such a heinous thing? If he really eats people, the two of us would have been eaten long ago. Maybe we would be in the latrine by now!"
Wu Haisheng smiled bitterly. "My wife, can you please speak more politely? I don't mean that. I know this is the county magistrate's evil scheme. I'm just worried about the safety of our benefactor!"
Hearing Wu Haisheng say this, Jiang Su'e also looked worried. Yes, when they parted from their benefactor, judging from his manner, he was going to kill the damned county magistrate. Now that Zhao Shuanghe is acting like this, the benefactor is probably even more unable to hold back. Can he succeed?
Just as they were feeling uneasy, suddenly a rapid sound of horse hooves came from outside, and Wu Haisheng's voice filled with intense hatred came, "People from the Black Tiger Gang..."
Hearing this, Jiang Su'e's body trembled slightly, and she also came to the window to look out. She saw three carriages lined up in a row, slowly approaching from a distance. Around the carriages, there was a group of big men in black clothes holding broadswords, and soldiers in black clothes carrying heavy crossbows. There were hundreds of them in total. They were exactly the members of the Black Tiger Gang and some government officials.
The Black Tiger Gang's stronghold is not in the county town, but in a small fort more than ten miles outside the city. Now that a large number of people have entered the city, their purpose is self - evident. In the first carriage, Li Qing, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang, and Zhao Zhiming, the deputy leader, were sitting opposite each other. In the past, when there were major events in the gang, the three leaders would gather together to discuss. Now only two of them were left.
Zhao Zhiming was about forty years old, with a crafty look. His eyes were full of fear. "Leader, why are we cooperating with those two monsters..." Zhao Zhiming was extremely scared because in the carriage of the third carriage behind, two cat demons were sitting!
"This is not my doing. It was Zhao Shuanghe who brought them here." Li Qing replied with a sullen face. In his fifties, his cheeks were covered with wrinkles, but his eyes were still sharp. "He has gone crazy because of his son's matter." Zhao Shuanghe told Li Qing that these two cat demons could find Fang Yuan's whereabouts and also help catch him. Li Qing's task was to take the cat demons and wander around the city. Although Li Qing was very reluctant, the Black Tiger Gang had done too many dirty things for Zhao Shuanghe over the years and was already tied to him like grasshoppers on a rope and couldn't be separated.
"But leader, isn't this too dangerous?" Zhao Zhiming continued, his voice trembling. "Those two cat demons are eating people in the carriage right now!" Indeed, at this moment, the two cat demons were hiding in the carriage, feasting. If they hadn't previously ordered their subordinates not to peek into the carriage, the surrounding gang members would probably have been scared out of their wits long ago.
"So what if they're eating people? Don't you often kill people?" Li Qing said indifferently. "What's the difference between being killed and being eaten?"
"But what about the people being eaten? I caught them all randomly from the street..."
"It doesn't matter. Just shift the blame to Fang Yuan." Li Qing showed a sinister smile. "This man - eating demon, eating just one child is definitely not enough. It's only reasonable for him to eat a few more..."
"That's true." Zhao Zhiming nodded. Seeing that the leader didn't care, he relaxed. Let the cat demons eat more other people, and they wouldn't eat him.
"Then leader, I'll take my leave first." After saying that, Zhao Zhiming was about to leave.
"With a great enemy in front of us, don't be too distracted." Li Qing admonished. He knew that Zhao Zhiming had hidden a beautiful girl in his carriage.
"Don't worry, leader. I'll be quick!" Zhao Zhiming replied with a smile, then got out of the carriage and returned to his own. Soon, his carriage started to shake. After a while, a woman's scream came, and then it became quiet again.
...
At the same time, on the rooftop of a house, Fang Yuan and Lin Jing, one standing and one sitting, were overlooking the slowly approaching team of carriages and horses in the distance.
"People from the Black Tiger Gang." Lin Jing spoke first. "According to my information, the two cat demons are probably among them. We need to find a way to separate the cat demons from the people of the Black Tiger Gang." She was still holding the unconscious little cat demon in her hand.
"Forget it." Fang Yuan shook his head. "Sometimes being too cautious is not good. It makes one seem hesitant. And hesitation leads to defeat."
These words seem so glib... Lin Jing thought to herself. Then she asked, "So what should we do?"
"I'll go first, and you cover me from behind." Fang Yuan said. "Don't we have this little cat in our hands? If the fight gets tough, we can use it to threaten the two cat demons."
"Isn't there a more detailed plan?"
"Yes, adapt to the situation."
"??? This plan is too simple and crude!"
Before Lin Jing could say more, Fang Yuan had already taken action. Golden electric arcs enveloped his whole body like flowing light. The next second, the golden light, like a shooting star, pierced through the sky and plunged diagonally into the street ahead from the rooftop!