Iron Bull taucht wieder auf

Kapitel 203

“Mr. Feng, I’ve said everything I need to say. Give me the check, and we’re even! My brothers and I will leave now, and we have nothing to do with the expedition team.” Jiang Guang’s attitude was clear: he was only interested in money, and who went missing or who was unconscious was none of his concern.

“We should talk about the price separately. Can we talk upstairs?” I stood up and gestured for people to come upstairs.

Li Zun'er suddenly blushed and stood up excitedly: "Could it be...could it be that I didn't get a share? If I hadn't copied it down word for word, if Kang'er hadn't met Miss Su Lun and acted as a go-between, would they have received such a high reward? My son and I should at least get a share, otherwise...otherwise I'll sue you..."

It's clear that he's a very stubborn person, and his pursuit of money doesn't diminish just because he's nearing the end of his life.

Jiang Guang and Jiang Liang strode upstairs, their footsteps making a loud thumping sound on the stairs.

Li Zun'er rushed ahead of me to go upstairs, but I grabbed his arm and said, "Old Li, how much do you want? Just name your price, and I won't haggle."

I really don't want to argue with such an old and stubborn person; his involvement will only make things worse.

“Miss Suren said she would give me 50,000 RMB after the expedition. I have an ancient book written in tadpole script, and she offered me the same 50,000 RMB. Now she’s disappeared. What’s the deal with this money? Who will buy my book?” Li Zun’er shouted urgently, hot breath constantly escaping from his nostrils and mouth, like a tired, old horse.

I gestured for Li Kang to help him up, and at the same time smiled and promised, "I will give you 500,000, but on one condition: you stay here and wait patiently. Whether the expedition succeeds or not, this money will be deposited into your bank account within three days. You can keep the ancient book or not, but I will keep my word to Su Lun."

The things he recorded were basically meaningless, but as he just said, if it weren't for Li Kang's matchmaking, this expedition would never have started.

"A gentleman's word?" He raised his right palm and held it in the air.

I raised my hand and gave him three slaps: "A chariot cannot be overtaken."

Li Zun'er then shakily pulled a brown oil paper package from his pocket and handed it to me with both hands: "Mr. Feng, we've already sworn an oath. I trust your character, so I'm giving you the ancient book ahead of time. We Li family members value integrity the most, so you can't lie to me, okay?"

His expression was very serious, as if he were holding a priceless family heirloom.

I took the oil paper package, squeezed it, and found it contained a thread-bound book of about a hundred pages. Near Xi'an, counterfeit antique book workshops are everywhere. So-called "unique ancient books" often cost only three yuan each, specifically designed to swindle foreigners—it's become a tacitly accepted "unspoken rule."

"Don't worry." I handed the oil paper package to Flying Eagle and asked him to keep it safe before heading upstairs.

The Jiang brothers stood by the window with their arms crossed, looking completely confident. In the underworld, there's a saying: "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake," but these men weren't even close to being local bullies.

"Speak, besides what you just mentioned, what else did you say to Suren?" I asked bluntly.

"What?" Jiang Guang was stunned, glaring at me angrily, like a goat that might charge at me at any moment.

“Unless there’s something more secretive, Suren wouldn’t have come into the mountains so rashly. Let’s not beat around the bush, tell me everything, and I’ll give you a fair price.” I didn’t want to waste any more time.

"That's all. I've told you everything I know. Just give me the money!" Jiang Guang glanced at me sideways, moved his feet, and slowly approached.

Knowing Su Lun as I do, she wouldn't insist on doing anything unless she was at least 70% certain. Based solely on the Jiang brothers' brief account, which didn't even clearly explain the route to the Epang Palace or what they saw inside, how could she possibly launch an operation?

"Don't do it, or you'll get hurt—" I called out to stop Jiang Guang's foolish actions, but he didn't listen to a word. He roared and slammed his hands on my shoulders. Jiang Liang, on the other hand, approached from another direction, crouching down and grabbing my waist with his hands transformed into tiger claws.

I didn't understand what those two were thinking, so I simply focused my energy on protecting myself and let them succeed.

Part Two: A Smile That Captivates a City

— Chapter 5 - Serial Killings —

Jiang Guang was quite surprised that he had subdued me in one move. He grinned and laughed, "Huh? This guy's martial arts are so bad? Miss Suren said he was some kind of 'invincible hero of Egypt,' but I think he's really nothing special. If we brothers went to Egypt, we might even become some kind of hero."

Jiang Liang sighed: "Where are the people from the caravan who were supposed to meet us? Why haven't they shown up yet—"

Jiang Guang lowered his voice: "By the way, it would be best if they dealt with Flying Eagle and Flying Moon. The group outside is very skilled. We should stay here and wait until Flying Eagle's men are wiped out before we go out."

"Were you brothers bribed by the Southwest Caravan? Or were you originally their subordinates?" I suddenly found it somewhat laughable. The Southwest Caravan was content with its isolated location, doing its own business and making its own money; why would it bother meddling in other people's affairs? What benefit would they gain from eliminating the expedition team and the Flying Eagles?

"Yes, it's bribery. The caravan promised us brothers one million RMB if we brought the expedition team into the mountains. It's always that much. Now you understand the difference between us brothers and the Li family, right? They only know how to make money by selling things, while we make money by selling people. Over the years, our total income from selling people has become an enormous figure, you can't even guess, hehehehe..."

Jiang Guang revealed his true colors, his eyes gleaming with greed.

"Those legends are all false, made up by the caravan members for you. What about Suren? Has she fallen into the hands of the caravan?" My heart suddenly felt relieved. If she had been captured by the caravan members, with her resourcefulness and wisdom, she could at least save her life.

Jiang Liang released me, glanced warily out the window for a moment, then reached into his pocket, pulled out a short gun, skillfully chambered a round, and quietly returned to the stairwell. The most powerful aspect of the Northern Shaolin "Tiger Claw Kung Fu" is its ability to sever a person's tendons, instantly paralyzing them from the waist down. Judging by the immense strength he had just unleashed, he probably thought he had already rendered me incapacitated.

"No, you guessed wrong." Jiang Guang seemed somewhat dejected.

Jiang Liang, not wanting to be left out, chimed in: "Those legends are all true, but the one who actually visited the Epang Palace wasn't us, but 'Kongkong Xiaosheng.' Have you ever heard of that person?"

I nodded. Before disappearing from the martial arts world, "Kongkong Xiaosheng" was ranked twenty-fifth on the "List of Tomb Raider Masters". He was from Foshan, Guangdong. It is said that he had a lot of connections with the "Ten Tigers of Guangdong" and the Five Masters of Southern Shaolin. His best martial arts skills were "Bone Shrinking Technique" and "Turtle Breathing Technique".

"Kongkong Xiaosheng went to Lan Valley, but unfortunately, when he came out exhausted, he encountered us two brothers and was tricked into drinking 'Ten Directions Muscle-Weakening Powder,' so he couldn't use any martial arts. To survive, he told us the whole story of his tomb raiding trip, and thus, his tomb raiding story naturally became the Jiang brothers' adventure. The compass in his backpack also ended up in our hands. Of course, as a world-renowned tomb raider, he couldn't have only brought out that much; he also brought out a key carved from white jade and a very short bronze dagger. However, I've already sold these two items to a Nepalese man, but unfortunately, the price was too low. That Nepalese monk was really stingy; after much pleading, he only gave me 50,000 RMB."

Jiang Liang spoke with great enthusiasm, almost forgetting his own business.

My biggest concern was Suren's whereabouts, so I pressed him with, "Have all the expeditions that were drawn by that legend died?"

Jiang Guang nodded without hesitation: "Yes, after Kongkong Xiaosheng, we learned to deceive and kill people in exchange for large sums of money from the caravan. But this time it was really bad. We don't even know how that stone wall covered with talismans appeared. Then Sulun and Schiller disappeared at the same time, and then Schiller fell into a coma. All of this has left us stunned. So now—we're going to end this last human trafficking operation, take all the money and escape to Nepal, buy two large farms, and live happily ever after."

In fact, they are already over sixty years old. Even if they are living a glorious and carefree life, they only have thirty more years to live.

The sun shone brightly outside the window, and no one could have predicted that the southwestern caravan would soon be storming in. At the entrance to the village, Flying Eagle's men sat on a rock, basking in the sun, smoking, chatting, and laughing, without even the most basic precautions.

"Is there anything left to discuss? Was killing so many people really necessary?" Throughout history, the martial arts world has been rife with killings caused by treasures, wave after wave, never ceasing. I don't want people in the 21st century to still be killing each other over gold and silver jewels that we can't take with us when we die.

Jiang Guang shook his head helplessly: "These are not things we can decide. People need money all the time in this world. With money, you can have everything. The caravan has already given us millions. Now that we're in this quagmire, there's no turning back."

Jiang Liang suddenly raised his gun, pointing it at the stairwell. Peeking out from there, it was none other than the Li family father and son. Li Kang stared in astonishment at the gun in Jiang Liang's hand, his eyes wide, his hands instinctively raised above his head.

Looking out the window, I could see that Feiying, Feiyue, and Liangwei had already descended the stone steps and joined the team members who were chatting and laughing.

"This old man said—" Li Zun'er climbed upstairs panting, looked up and saw Jiang Liang staring at him menacingly, and with a "Ah!" he opened his mouth wide and collapsed to the ground.

"Look, I didn't intend to kill them. They came to me of their own accord. What am I supposed to do?" Jiang Guang grinned maliciously. With a snap, a sharp dagger appeared in his palm and he held it towards Li Zun'er.

"What are you doing? Trying to kill me? Is there no law? In broad daylight..." Li Zun'er stammered in protest.

The light reflected from the dagger fell on the intersecting beams of the roof, and I suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with the scene. If both the wooden building and the villa in Xunfu Garden were built by my elder brother, and both used the same intersecting beams, could there be some special meaning behind it?

He can hang a compass on the beam of the Xunfuyuan villa, but what about here? Could something else have been hung here as well?

A moment of distraction made me forget what was about to happen, and I focused intently on looking up at that point of light and shadow.

"Old Li, I'm sorry, we've been friends for a while, so don't blame me for being ruthless today. Blame it on you two for being so clueless and coming here to die." With a flick of the dagger, the light spots on the beam disappeared. I took a step forward, reached out, and the dagger was already in my hand.

"This is just the crudest imitation on the market. Next time you really want to kill someone, remember to find a dagger with better rigidity, understand?" I flicked my right hand, and the dagger shot straight to the top of the beam, embedding itself in the cross-shaped intersection of the beam.

With a "click," Jiang Liang's index finger pulled the trigger, but I pressed the magazine lock spring before he could. With a swish, the magazine ejected and was caught between my two fingers. My little finger flicked it to close the safety, and the trigger was stopped after only one-third of the way in.

Dealing with people like them is easy; one hand would have been enough. If it weren't for the need to uncover the truth, we would have used much more force long ago.

Li Kang exclaimed with delight, "Mr. Feng, you are truly skilled!"

I didn't feel particularly excited about saving their lives from the brink of death. The Southwest Caravan was the most stubborn and largest force in the jungle, and if they decided to intervene, no one could stop them.

Li Zun'er slowly got up, pointed at Jiang Guang's forehead and sighed repeatedly: "People's hearts are not what they used to be, people's hearts are not what they used to be. I trusted you brothers so much, helped you write books and established theories, and even asked Kang'er to actively contact the expedition team, and you...you..." Suddenly, a finger-thick spurt of blood shot out from Jiang Guang's forehead and sprayed directly onto Li Zun'er's brow.

"What is this?" Li Zun'er raised his hand to wipe it.

With three sharp, hissing sounds, three jets of blood spurted from Jiang Liang's brow, chest, and dantian simultaneously, instantly filling the second floor with the stench of blood.

I shouted, "Back off! Back off now—"

In that instant, I realized that something strange and inexplicable must have happened to Jiang Guang and Jiang Liang. The jungle is inherently a mysterious and unpredictable world; nothing strange happening here should be surprising.

Jiang Guang turned to look at Jiang Liang. They were two steps apart, and the blood spurting from their bodies shot into each other.

"What is this? Is this the curse of the Dragon Witch? We...we have so much money, I don't want to die, I really don't want to die, brother, save me...save me..." Jiang Liang's face was filled with terror. He had already thrown away his empty gun, and his ten fingers were spread haphazardly, but he dared not cover his wound.

"I, I—" Li Zun'er also screamed in agony. The blood flowing from between his eyebrows had the effect of highly corrosive sulfuric acid, and his old face was instantly disfigured.

"Kang'er, Kang'er, where are you? Where are you...?" His eyes were the first to be attacked, followed by his nose, mouth, and Adam's apple.

Li Kang retreated downstairs step by step, his mouth agape to its limit. Ignoring Li Zun'er's howls, he suddenly turned and sprinted down the stone steps to the building entrance. He was silent thereafter, probably having fainted from the fall.

The first to die was Li Zun'er, and the second was Jiang Liang. As they breathed their last, their bodies emitted a nauseating, fishy stench.

"Mr. Feng, are you still there?" Jiang Guang always faced the stairs; his martial arts skills were superior, which allowed him to hold out longer.

"I'm here." I had retreated to the window position, pistol in hand, alertly sensing the window and the stairwell, because I could sense that the force that had miraculously killed the Jiang brothers was nearby.

"It's the Witch Longge. She's the ruler of this jungle, and even the Southwest Caravan is just her puppet. So, don't try to fight her. Doing so will only lead to your death. Listen to me, retreat as soon as possible to save your lives. Because we are all mortals, we can't be like that person, coming alone and leaving successfully, even the Witch Longge couldn't do anything to him... cough cough..."

A dying man's words are often good; the fact that he can say these things proves that his conscience has not been completely extinguished.

"That person? Who are you talking about?" My face was turned towards Jiang Guang's back, but the muzzle of my gun was subtly angled towards the window. A gust of wind blew past the window, carrying something else with it.

"His surname is Yang, and the heroes of the martial world all respectfully call him the 'King of Tomb Raiders.' Alas, those who can stand against the Witch Longge are no ordinary mortals; he is not even human—he is a god, an omnipotent deity. His lightness skill and swordsmanship are faster than lightning; he killed thirty gunmen from the Southwest Caravan in a single second. Who can do that? The treasure is tempting, but not everyone has the ability to covet it. Young man, turn back. If I can save you, it will be my redemption for my past sins. Turn back..."

He stumbled forward, his body slamming against the stair railing, blood gushing from his face, chest, and abdomen.

"Bang, bang bang bang," I fired five shots in quick succession, because just as Jiang Guang fell, a gust of wind swept in from outside the window, carrying something unknown, just like what I felt on the other side of the stone wall.

"Dragons ride the clouds, tigers ride the wind"—that's a common saying among martial arts masters. But I know that this has nothing to do with dragons and tigers; it's just an extremely sinister undercurrent.

When it swept over the corpses of Jiang Guang, Jiang Liang, and Li Zun'er, it clearly snatched something from them. I keenly realized that it took their thoughts. Then its energy suddenly increased, becoming incredibly active, like a campfire with newly added kindling.

I held my breath, the gun pointed directly at it. There were fifteen bullets left in the magazine, but I knew that ordinary bullets wouldn't seem to do much harm. It was motionless, probably waiting for its chance to seize my soul.

"What are you?" I spat out the four words through gritted teeth. I knew the other party wouldn't answer, but I still asked instinctively. After Li Kang rushed out, Flying Eagle and the others would definitely realize something was wrong in the building and would rush over. If they wanted to continue surviving in the jungle, they had to get rid of this thing first.

Footsteps came from downstairs in a flurry, interspersed with the clicking of gun bolts being pulled back.

I was distracted for half a second. After all, my attention was always affected when those sounds came into my ears. But in a duel between people, this flaw was negligible because it was impossible for my opponent to break through the 15-step distance and attack me in half a second.

With a "whoosh," it rushed towards me, seemingly having already discerned every change in my thoughts, aiming for that half-second of opening.

I fired nine shots in quick succession. The recoil from the gun hadn't even completely dissipated from my palm when it arrived. A bone-chilling cold instantly spread throughout my body, as if I had been naked and fallen into a freezer at minus twenty degrees Celsius, rendering me incapable of any movement. I felt as if I had turned into a perfectly frozen popsicle.

The sunlight streaming through the window suddenly dimmed, and He Jishang's sharp shout rang out: "Xiao Qing—" Before the words were even finished, the green snake coiled around her waist had already sprang up and coiled towards my shoulder. With a whoosh, it wrapped around my shoulder, neck, face, and forehead five times, densely covering my upper body.

I took a deep breath just as it wrapped around my nose, then immediately held it. The slippery, cold sensation of the green snake was far more reassuring than the gloomy aura. At that moment, it felt as if a giant helmet was on my head, robbing me of all sight, hearing, and smell. In this state, time and location had lost all meaning for me, but relying solely on my last instincts, I still managed to fire the remaining six bullets from the gun.

Bullets can tear through human flesh and rip open the unarmored metal plates of a train carriage, but they can only pass through "it" without any obstruction and hit the wooden building's walls.

The first thing to return was hearing, accompanied by a wet sensation, followed by the cry of an eagle: "How could this happen? How could this happen? Where is the killer?"

The feeling of being tightly bound above my head suddenly disappeared, the green snake slid to the ground, and I was immediately able to breathe freely again.

There were at least a dozen people standing on the second floor, all heavily armed, while the rest of the team members filled the narrow staircase. The thing was gone; I breathed a sigh of relief and was completely at ease.

He Jishang leaned against the window, arms crossed, his expression incredibly strange.

"Feng, what happened? How did they die?" Flying Eagle brandished his pistol, clearly suspicious of He Jishang. His face looked noticeably haggard, with sunken eyes, bags under his eyes, and dark circles.

Liang Wei walked over and picked up the green snake from the ground. I then noticed that it had been cut into three pieces, the wounds so clean it looked as if a sharp blade had swiftly sliced through them, the white stubble of the ring-shaped bones glaringly obvious. It was clear that Liang Wei was extremely exhausted; his movements of bending over and standing up were slow and sluggish.

I put away my empty gun, wiped the snake blood from my ear, and smiled at Flying Eagle: "It's alright. It seems to be similar to the strange thing that happened over by the stone wall. An evil aura rushed in and killed the three of them. Everyone, please step back first. I have something to discuss with Miss He."

Flying Eagle grunted and waved behind him. The team members immediately retreated in an orderly manner.

I patted Liang Wei on the shoulder: "You should get a good night's sleep. Being too tired will affect your ability to think, which is not good. We have a long road ahead of us, and we'll rely on you a lot in the future!"

Liang Wei smiled, revealing teeth stained yellow from cigarette smoke: "I know, I'm just worried about Xiao Guan's whereabouts. If he were here, his ability to adapt to changing circumstances would surpass mine."

His dark forehead was covered with wrinkles of varying lengths and depths. He suddenly turned to He Jishang and raised his voice: "The Five Poisons Sect of Yunnan and the Tang Clan of Sichuan are the two major sects in the martial arts world that are most skilled at poisoning and killing. Their methods are clean and efficient, unmatched. Moreover, they always admit to killing without hesitation and never try to shirk responsibility. This has always earned them the respect of the heroes of the martial arts world, hasn't it?"