Chapter 10: Tracing the Trail

At night, Fang Xiu leaned against the wall base, moving slowly and unsteadily toward the south of the city, his five senses fully open, monitoring every movement within a hundred meters around him at all times.

At this time, floating clouds covered the moon, and most of the stars had disappeared; the streets of Gushan County were pitch black, with almost no pedestrians.

Fang Xiu's eyes had night vision, allowing him to walk unhindered in the darkness, but he remained cautious at all times, wrapping cloth strips around the bottom of his wooden stick to minimize the sound of it striking the stone slab road; once he spotted someone ahead, he would immediately dodge in advance, completely concealing his tracks.

Except for the two wild cats doing indescribable things, no one knew he had passed by, and the two wild cats also ignored him.

His inner force was ultimately limited; after forcing himself to walk a few hundred meters with a broken leg, it was basically exhausted, so he had to stop and go, wasting no short amount of time, and the broken bone area of his left leg had completely gone numb, without any sensation.

To the south of the city was an abandoned City God Temple, not small in area, long since occupied by others; Mo Laodao had repeatedly warned them to stay far away from that place, and when Fang Xiu begged for alms, he discovered many beggars gathered there.

It seemed the City God Temple was the Gushan County branch of the Beggar Sect; no matter which novel, the Beggar Sect liked to use such places as strongholds.

When he arrived near the City God Temple, it was nearly midnight; the whole county town had fallen asleep, but inside the City God Temple, lights were bright, and someone was drinking and laughing.

The branch chiefs of the Beggar Sect were basically five-bag or six-bag disciples; even in the martial world, they were skilled fighters, and all tricks and underhanded moves were useless before absolute strength; facing such an enemy, Fang Xiu could only end up captured alive, and he absolutely dared not get too close.

Less than a hundred meters outside the City God Temple stood an old locust tree, its trunk thick enough for one person to embrace, over ten meters tall, probably more than a hundred years old; this distance was just right.

Fang Xiu quietly walked under the old locust tree, circulated inner force into both hands, hooked his fingers into tiger claws, firmly grasped the trunk, and climbed up the tree with a few light movements.

It was early spring; the leaves on the old locust tree had only just sprouted tender buds; fortunately, it was night, so whoever looked over could only see a pitch-black mass.

Fang Xiu firmly hugged the tree branch, facing the City God Temple, closed his eyes, and pushed his hearing and sense of smell to the extreme.

Many people had gathered inside the City God Temple; Fang Xiu could clearly smell their body odors.

Beggars did not bathe much all year round, and everyone smelled sour and stinky, but under Fang Xiu's perception, everyone's body odor was different.

Adding their heartbeats—one, two, thirteen—Fang Xiu quickly confirmed there were twenty-seven people in total inside the City God Temple, among whom nineteen gathered in the main hall, with a bonfire lit, drinking and eating meat.

There were also eight others, two in a group, one open and one hidden, guarding the four directions of the City God Temple respectively, watching the area within thirty meters around the City God Temple tightly.

Fang Xiu silently thought it was lucky he was cautious enough; from the start, he had never thought of getting close, only relying on his extraordinary five senses to monitor from afar; otherwise, with his condition, forcibly approaching would surely lead to discovery, and then it would be walking into a trap, unable to even run.

Just at this moment, perhaps because hearing and smell had completed positioning, the uncontrollable intuition took effect again, and a three-dimensional dynamic image appeared in his mind once more.

Although he could not see the situation inside through the wall, the layout of the entire City God Temple, the positions of these people, and even their movements were clear to him.

But this was not what Fang Xiu wanted; he carefully observed every corner of the dynamic image, even discovering a secret basement behind the City God statue, but he could not see A Ku's figure at all; however, Fang Xiu vaguely smelled A Ku's scent, faint and barely there.

Fang Xiu could be certain A Ku had once been captured here, but had already been transferred away; the distance was too great, the scent too faint, and Fang Xiu could not continue tracking based on A Ku's scent.

Since Fang Xiu left the slum, his mind had been in turmoil; he suddenly discovered that although Gushan County was small, he could not leave no matter what.

Whether it was a lame leg unfit for long journeys or a heart with attachments that could not be severed, Gushan County was like a great net holding him firmly trapped.

How was A Ku now? She probably would never have a chance to eat her favorite meat buns again.

A Ku's illness had just improved; would it worsen again after today?

A Ku loved to smile; probably she would never have a chance to smile happily again.

All thoughts churned repeatedly in Fang Xiu's mind; his heart simply could not be calm.

Adults all knew to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, let alone in a life-or-death crisis, but Fang Xiu could not convince himself no matter what.

It was a regret that could not be resolved; ultimately, it was still a regret that could not be resolved; Fang Xiu thought of the bamboo slips in his consciousness again; the bamboo slips remained motionless, as if silently mocking Fang Xiu.

He had come to the City God Temple completely subconsciously, thinking at least to find A Ku's current whereabouts, not expecting to rescue A Ku by himself, but the result still disappointed him; Fang Xiu felt cold all over; what he feared most was that perhaps A Ku had already been killed at this moment.

At this moment, the conversation of those beggars attracted his attention; the beggar in the center spoke after drinking a bowl of wine.

"Everyone, starting tomorrow, perk up your spirits; brothers from the neighboring county have sent news that Sect Leader Hong appeared there three days ago; according to his pace and direction of departure, at the latest he will arrive at our Gushan branch tomorrow."

"Stop all those things you usually do; everyone, settle down; if you need to beg for food, beg for food; if you don't want to beg for food, find a place to sleep; those shady matters must not be known to Sect Leader Hong; otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

The beggars below did not take it seriously; one beggar said.

"Branch Chief, put your mind at ease; Sect Leader Hong is not coming for the first time; the brothers all know what to do; I guarantee they will follow the rules and let Sect Leader Hong leave happily."

The branch chief directly lifted his leg and kicked the beggar, then cursed: "Don't be damn careless; this time is different from before; if Sect Leader Hong discovers the matter of Qingyu Guan, not a single person in our Gushan branch, from top to bottom, will survive."

As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed a piece of meat and put it in his mouth; after eating, he turned to ask another beggar.

"Tu Lvzi, are the boys and girls wanted by Qingyu Guan all hidden? This time we can sell them for a high price; the Taoist priests of Qingyu Guan are very generous; after Sect Leader Hong leaves, immediately send them to Qingyu Guan; you send a few people tomorrow to guard them; absolutely no mistakes allowed."

"By the way, why haven't Lin Gouzi and Feng San returned yet? Didn't those two guys go to catch that lame boy?"

Tu Lvzi replied: "Branch Chief, when we caught that little girl, he was the only one in the house; I brought the little girl back, and Lin Gouzi and Feng San stayed there; in my opinion, it's fine; that boy is lame in one leg and absolutely cannot run; you know those two; maybe they were too late to catch the boy and were too lazy to come back, and went drinking again."

The branch chief cursed in his mouth but did not take it seriously; the withered, thin old beggar and the lame boy were not worth caring about; he did not think anything would happen.

"Damn it, those two guys are full of lazy bones; you go find them tomorrow morning and tell them to be honest and well-behaved for these two days. Bury that old beggar directly; send the lame boy to the place where children are hidden; counting him, the ten boys and girls wanted by Qingyu Guan are complete."

I myself had no impression of the Beggar Sect, neither good nor bad, but I liked Qiao Feng, Hong Qigong, Guo Jing, and Huang Rong; later, from descriptions of the Beggar Sect in other novels and some of my own observations, I formed a bad impression, but the Beggar Sect in this book is generally good; a flaw does not hide the jade; in the future, there will be an inseparable relationship between Fang Xiu and the Beggar Sect, but he will not become the sect leader.

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(Chapter End)