Discovered!
Both Rong Zhi and Xia Yunting were surprised. They considered their martial arts skills formidable, yet they had been found so easily.
Fortunately, Xia Yunting reacted swiftly, pulling Rong Zhi back a hundred paces, preventing their identities from being seen.
Concealed by the weeds, they watched as the four individuals split up and searched in four directions, holding their breath and remaining vigilant.
However, as time passed, Rong Zhi noticed something was amiss.
Although the four men had detected an anomaly, their search seemed to be aimless.
One walked slowly as if blind, another limped, taking a few steps and then resting. The other two seemed fine, but despite agreeing to split up, they kept bumping into each other.
"Ouch, who bumped into me carelessly?"
One man clutched his head and cursed.
As soon as he spoke, there was no reply.
The man, with only the whites of his eyes showing, fumbled all over the other person's body and then patted his head.
"No wonder you're not talking, you're mute."
The one called mute's face darkened, and he threw a punch straight to the other's stomach.
"Ah! It hurts so much!"
The blind man stumbled backward, unable to see the path, and crashed into a tree, letting out another piercing cry.
From another direction came a gloating voice.
"How can you fight your own men? Hurry and find the person. If outsiders sneak in and take all the rats inside, what will happen? Ouch! Who put this branch on the ground?"
The speaker's foot slipped, and he tumbled into the grass. He struggled for a long time, propping himself up with one hand, but was unable to get up.
The blind man recovered and burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, you can't get up again, can you? Say 'Grandpa' and I'll help you!"
"Bah! Can you even find your way?"
The lame man cursed, "I'm lame, and you're blind, half a pound, six ounces. Neither of you is better than the other... Hey! Deafy! You're stepping on my thigh! Stop it, or my third leg will be gone!"
The tall, deaf man looked into the distance, not hearing anything, and took another step forward.
A shrill cry echoed through the entire forest.
"Auuuugh! My leg! My third leg! Mute, save me!"
The lame man struggled like a flipped turtle. The mute finally couldn't stand it anymore, went over, grabbed the deaf man, and pointed to the ground. The deaf man then looked down, his mouth twitched, "Sorry, it was too small to see."
"Who are you calling small?"
With the mute's help, the lame man finally stood up and threw a punch at the deaf man, but lost his balance and hit the mute instead.
"Oops, sorry, wrong person."
He was answered with a heavy punch.
Although the deaf man couldn't hear what the lame man said, he saw that the other man intended to hit him, so he joined the fray. The three of them immediately began to fight.
The blind man fumbled his way over.
"What are you doing... Ouch!"
Before he could finish asking, he was pulled in. The four of them couldn't recognize who was who. One threw a punch, another kicked, and the scene was filled with the sounds of fighting and the curses of several people.
"Blind man, what did I do to you to deserve this punch? My leg, my leg!"
"Who hit me in the eye just now? I can't see anyway, and you want to ruin this decoration too!"
"Lame man, are you cursing me again?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rong Zhi: "..."
Xia Yunting: "..."
It was as if they were just playing around.
The two looked at each other.
Xia Yunting pointed at the four men, then at the mansion, implying that it was a good opportunity to sneak in while they were fighting.
Rong Zhi, however, shook her head.
The fact that these four could discover her so quickly meant they were not simple. Perhaps it was some sort of illusion.
Speaking of which, this setup of a blind man, a lame man, a deaf man, and a mute felt so familiar?
A thought flashed through her mind, and Rong Zhi's eyes widened.
She remembered!
"Quick, dodge!"
Rong Zhi shoved Xia Yunting forcefully, pushing him away, and then rolled on the ground, scrambling with all her might to climb up a nearby tree.
At the same time, a person descended from the sky precisely where they had been lying. This person was short, dressed in tatters, but their exposed muscles were taut and powerful.
His hand formed a claw, and as he landed, he struck the ground with his claw, digging a large hole in the earth with his bare hands, his entire arm disappearing into the ground.
This was a place where, despite recent rain, the ground was still very solid from constant foot traffic. Yet he had dug out a deep pit as if it were made of tofu. What power was this?
If they hadn't dodged in time, they would have been pierced through by now.
Xia Yunting quickly hid in the grass, his brow furrowed. His heart, which had begun to relax, suddenly tensed up again.
Just now, he had sensed a strong killing intent. Without Rong Zhi, he would not have been able to dodge, and even if he survived, he would have been crippled. This person was no ordinary foe.
With a "ch," the dwarf pulled out his hand. He glared around and cursed.
"Damn it, they dodged really fast."
As soon as he said this, the men who had been acting like they were just playing around stopped fighting and walked over.
The blind man rolled his eyes, the mute's face was expressionless, the deaf man clenched his fists, making a cracking sound, and the lame man hopped along. Although the four had various disabilities, they moved more nimbly than normal people.
They approached the dwarf, making the already short man look like a seedling.
All five men exuded killing intent as they scanned their surroundings.
It turned out these men had been faking it. Their goal was to lower their guard.
Rong Zhi shook her head at Xia Yunting, signaling him not to act rashly.
Xia Yunting tightened his grip on his side, obeying Rong Zhi.
He could sense that Rong Zhi seemed to recognize them.
"This is weird, how did this person disappear?"
"People come to this place every few days. Jia Dabao is utterly useless, we should flay him." The blind man snorted.
"Haven't we been harassed enough? Ever since that incident where our cover was blown, the people haven't stopped coming."
"What are you afraid of? With the Five Ghosts of Sanyang Mountain, even an immortal would beg for mercy."
The Five Ghosts of Sanyang Mountain?
Xia Yunting looked at Rong Zhi with a questioning gaze, but unfortunately, Rong Zhi was not looking at him. She was turning her head towards the direction they had come from.
What was going on?
Xia Yunting was surprised. He followed her gaze and immediately understood why.
Not far away, a woman in red was approaching.
"Young lady, you can't go there. Please listen to the adults!"
"I won't. If my father won't tell me, and even you are hiding it from me, what exactly are you doing? I must see it with my own eyes."
Zhang Yajing shook off Li Zhao and walked closer, only to be startled by the strange-looking figures.
The five stood side-by-side not far away. One had only the whites of his eyes, another had a ferocious face and remained silent, one stood crookedly with an empty pant leg, one was excessively tall, and one, no taller than a five or six-year-old child, had a full beard.
Combined with the dim night, these five looked like ghosts.
"My god, what kind of people are these?"
Li Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he grabbed Zhang Yajing, wanting to leave.
"Young lady, don't ask anymore. Hurry up and go. If we don't leave, it'll be too late."
"Let go of me!"
"I won't!"
Just as the two were at an impasse, the dwarf suddenly dropped to the ground and crawled forward like a centipede at an astonishing speed, leaving only a blur.
Li Zhao turned pale with fright and quickly shielded Zhang Yajing. The next moment, both were knocked down. The dwarf grabbed both of their ankles with his hands and pressed them forcefully into the ground, like planting seedlings. They were pushed into the earth, leaving only their chests and above exposed.
"Ahhhh, help! Ugh!" Li Zhao shouted, but before he could finish, he was shoved a mouthful of dirt.
The dwarf picked at his ear.
"So damn noisy. If you shout again, I'll pull out your tongue."
Li Zhao, his mouth blocked, rolled his eyes, unable to make any sound.
This terrified Zhang Yajing.
"Who are you people? How dare you attack even government officials? Be careful, I'll tell my father and have you all thrown in jail!"
"And who are you?"
The dwarf glanced at Zhang Yajing's red clothes and then at his own, confirming she was not one of them. His tone became even more impolite.
"Don't think I won't kill you just because you're pretty. I have no interest in women."
He then grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground, preparing to stuff it into her mouth, but was stopped by another hand.
The lame man frowned as he looked at the person before him.
"Wait a moment, this seems to be Magistrate Zhang's daughter. We can't kill her."
"What if she's the magistrate's daughter? Even if the prefect came, I wouldn't be afraid. I missed my target just now, and I'm still upset. Don't stop me, or I'll bury you with her."
At this moment, the blind man also spoke.
"No, we still need the magistrate right now, we can't kill his daughter. We need to find the person from before. These two are nothing."
"Then what do I do with my pent-up anger?"
"Just do what you usually do. Pour more water into the soil around them. When the sun hardens the soil tomorrow, let them suffocate. Then call Jia Dabao to dig them out tomorrow and teach them a lesson!"
"If that doesn't work, you can also release a few poisonous snakes around them. Play with them however you like, just don't kill them."
The lame man added with amusement.
Listening to their discussion, Zhang Yajing's eyes showed a hint of fear, but she still glared.
"If you dare do this, my father will not let you off!"
"Your father is nothing!"
The dwarf kicked her, leaving a deep shoe print on Zhang Yajing's face.
"Who are they?"
A voice suddenly appeared beside Rong Zhi. It was Xia Yunting, who had silently jumped over at some point.
"The Five Ghosts of Sanyang Mountain, notorious assassins in the martial world."
Sanyang Mountain? How had she never heard of it?
"That's not important. What's important is that they later pledged allegiance to the Blood Drinking Pavilion. The Blood Drinking Pavilion is the number one assassin organization in the martial world, with strength comparable to the imperial court. The strength of these individuals is only at the lowest level within the Blood Drinking Pavilion. There might even be other assassins here. Even if we can defeat these few, we might not be able to retreat unscathed."
Blood Drinking Pavilion!
Hearing the name, Xia Yunting's expression became even more solemn.
"We'll wait here first. After they leave, we'll sneak away and make further plans."
Xia Yunting was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright, Xiao Mo, I'll listen to you."
Over there, the dwarf indeed brought several buckets of water and poured them one by one onto the ground. Zhang Yajing continued to curse them.
"You bunch of despicable, shameless, and lowly people, may you die a terrible death and have no descendants! I curse your wives to run off with others and your sons to not be your own!"
The group was not annoyed.
"Curse all you want. Let's see if you have the strength to curse tomorrow!"
As the buckets of water were poured, Zhang Yajing's strength gradually waned. She felt the pressure around her increasing, and finally, she couldn't help but cry.
"Father! Help! Big brother constable, I've wronged you..."
"Hahahaha... Now you know the consequences, cry, cry all you want."
After finishing their task, they remembered that there were still people missing.
The dwarf waved his hand.
"Forget it, I can't sense any more auras. They must have been scared away. Let's go back quickly!"
People came to this place every few days, so they were already accustomed to it and didn't think too deeply.
After they returned to the mansion, Zhang Yajing was still crying incessantly.
Suddenly, a masked man appeared before her, startling Zhang Yajing.
"Who are you?"
"Don't speak, keep crying."