“Why haven’t you taken a bite yet?”
Seeing that Wu Ming and Wu Tiehu were not touching their food and seemed to be staring at the table as if trying to bore a flower into it, Zhan Hongzhao couldn’t help but feel anxious.
He had been specifically instructed to “invite” Wu Ming back.
However, within the city walls, it was naturally not a suitable place for any action, so the plan was set outside the city.
Drugs had already been added to the tea of Wu Ming and Wu Tiehu. Additionally, a wandering physician was waiting by the roadside. Once the tea was consumed and symptoms appeared, he could immediately step forward under the pretense of diagnosis and seize the two!
This method, it was said, was originally used by notorious bandits to kidnap victims for ransom and had been practiced thoroughly by Zhan Hongzhao and his men.
Yet, they hadn’t expected that although the prey had arrived as hoped, they refused to take the bait. What could be done?
“Sir, is there something wrong? Is the tea not to your liking?”
At once, with a signal, the tea-serving girl approached, almost leaning against Wu Ming as she asked.
“Not at all! It’s just that the teacup and saucer are not very clean!”
Wu Ming replied with a half-smile.
Inside, however, he had already decided to kill. These people were definitely targeting him.
Moreover, the speed with which they had tracked his whereabouts was impressive—something even the Prefect couldn’t achieve. Therefore, they must have been sent by the Wang family!
“Are they planning to capture me to blackmail my sister Wu Qing?”
No matter who they were, unless they were completely heartless and selfish, capturing a family member and using it as leverage was an effective method, almost always successful.
After all, as long as one lives in this world, they will inevitably interact with others, and thus have weaknesses and vulnerabilities!
Wu Qing’s weakness was obvious—her younger brother Wu Ming.
Once he understood this, Wu Ming’s heart filled with murderous intent.
“These martial experts, sorcerers, and magicians—no matter how prestigious a clan might be, they can’t afford many of them. Killing them all at once would be an effective way to gradually weaken the enemy’s strength!”
With this thought, Wu Ming remained seated, neither picking up his chopsticks nor attempting to leave.
Wu Tiehu, however, seemed to understand something and had already slipped his hand into his sleeve.
This unease quickly spread to the others. Several merchants hurriedly threw down money to settle their bills and left without even bothering to collect their change.
Only the old man and his grandchild seemed somewhat oblivious, still lingering and slowly nibbling at their snacks.
Zhan Hongzhao gritted his teeth and went into the inner room, saying to the old witch, “Killing and abducting people openly on a public road will have too great an impact… Old woman, you should secretly intervene and subdue them!”
“Hehehe… It should have been done this way from the beginning…”
The old witch, hunched and frail, grinned, revealing a few yellow teeth. She quietly approached the curtain, peeked through a slit at Wu Ming’s table, then returned to the inner room, sat cross-legged, and took out a statue from her bosom.
The statue was pitch-black, resembling a goddess but with a hideous face, protruding jaw, and a beak-like mouth.
“Grandma’s Dark Raven Goddess is perfect for this moment!”
The old witch laughed, then took out two pieces of white paper, folding them into small figures. On the back of each, she wrote the names of Wu Ming and Wu Tiehu. Muttering incantations with a smug smile, she took out an object and struck the two paper figures on their heads.
Wuwuwu…
Instantly, Zhan Hongzhao felt a chilling aura and had to retreat into the sunlight to feel better.
“This old witch’s sorcery can even be used in daylight and suppress even strong martial artists with robust vitality. No wonder the master wanted to recruit her…”
Ignoring the witch who was now casting her spell, Zhan Hongzhao returned to the teahouse, gave a signal to the ghost girl and tea girl, indicating they should prepare.
Dingling! Dingling!
With the sound of bells, a middle-aged man dressed in coarse hemp clothes approached. He carried a white flag advertising “Elixir Medicine” on one side and “Cures All Diseases” on the other, appearing to be a wandering physician. He slowly entered the teahouse.
Inside the small room, the witch’s incantation became increasingly urgent as she chanted, “Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Dark Raven Goddess, I command you urgently by divine law—subdue them now!”
In an instant!
Wu Ming in the teahouse suddenly felt a dizziness, sensing a surge of darkness forming into a monstrous giant crow descending upon him. Looking across the table, Wu Tiehu was already drowsy, nearly falling onto the table.
“Using sorcery in daylight? Not bad at all!”
Wu Ming sneered inwardly. Even without his current cultivation as a sorcerer with a bright and clear consciousness, even an ordinary alchemist or Taoist priest might have been affected.
“Pity… It’s just a common nightmare spell. If it had been a real curse technique, it would have been troublesome indeed!”
At this moment, if he immediately counterattacked with Taoist magic, the witch might have suffered some backlash.
But Wu Ming chose not to. Pretending to reach into his robe, his fingers subtly activated the Tian Gong Ring, connecting his fortune and the Dragon Qi of the Suizhou Pearl.
Houhou!
A dragon-like roar of anger echoed through the air.
“What is this…?”
Inside the small room, the witch, who had been smiling sinisterly while casting her spell, suddenly wore an expression of utmost terror.
Bang!
In an instant, a flash of white light, like thunder descending.
The statue in her hand let out a mournful cry and immediately cracked. Then, the witch herself screamed in agony, blood pouring from her seven orifices as she fell backward, her body covered in large patches of charred blackness, as if struck by lightning!
Since ancient times, magic has no effect on those of noble status!
This means that such evil spells and minor sorcery are ineffective against those with great fortune.
Wu Ming, protected by the Suizhou Pearl that stabilized his fortune, was almost comparable to a dragon. Thus, not only did the witch’s spell fail, but she immediately suffered divine retribution!
If someone were to examine her now, they would find that her three souls and seven spirits had completely dissipated, and even the deity she worshipped had been affected.
“Ahh!”
The witch’s shrill scream echoed through the teahouse, and Wu Tiehu suddenly snapped awake.
“What happened?”
Wu Ming, however, “looked greatly alarmed,” rushing forward in a few quick steps, opening the door to the inner room. Seeing the witch’s gruesome death, he inwardly sneered but outwardly expressed shock: “How dare they secretly worship an evil god and use sorcery to harm people!”
At this moment, the tea guests who hadn’t left yet saw the obvious remaining evidence and were shocked. Some even thought about the tea they had just drunk, feeling nauseated and furious.
“What should we do?”
Zhan Hongzhao, the tea girl, the ghost servant, and the wandering physician were all stunned.
They never expected that the witch, who could cast spells in broad daylight and subdue martial artists, would die so quickly, rendering all their subsequent plans useless and bringing endless trouble.
According to the laws of the Zhou Dynasty, those who use evil arts to harm others are considered heretics, and killing them is justified. Their accomplices would receive eighty strokes and be exiled for three thousand miles!
Now that the crime was caught in the act, Zhan Hongzhao, the tea girl, and the ghost servant couldn’t possibly escape.
Realizing this, the group exchanged glances, their faces showing determination.
“Don’t you dare leave! She used sorcery to harm us, and you must all come with me to see the authorities!”
Wu Ming, on the contrary, seemed eager to escalate the situation, loudly shouting: “I am a gentleman! This evil woman dared to harm me—what audacity! No one else is allowed to leave—stay here as witnesses!”
Inside, he was secretly amused.
At this time, the Prefect was at odds with the Wang family. It would be a miracle if Zhan Hongzhao and the others dared to go to the authorities.
Once they were imprisoned, not only would the Wang family’s influence fail to rescue them, but their connections might even become death warrants!
At the same time, he remained vigilant: “Fortune isn’t omnipotent. If today this witch had used the curse technique, I would have had no choice but to rely on my own magical abilities to resist.”
The nightmare spell was just a minor trick, but the curse technique was different!
It was particularly effective at countering fortune. In other words, no matter how much fortune one possessed, they would still fall victim.
In ancient times, even the most privileged heirs and descendants of noble families, and even royal children, often fell victim to curses and witchcraft within the grandest palaces and estates, proving their terrifying power.
Just like Jia Baoyu and Wang Xifeng in “Dream of the Red Chamber,” no matter how divine their origins or prestigious their positions, they still nearly lost their lives and required divine intervention to be saved.
“Attack! Kill them all!”
With bloodshot eyes, Zhan Hongzhao roared, releasing two palms that instantly killed two onlookers who had just approached.
The tea girl and the ghost servant also changed expressions, drawing their weapons. The tea girl wielded a pink silk ribbon, while the ghost servant brandished a pair of dark, sharp claws.
As for the wandering physician, he glanced around, hiding in a corner as if trembling in fear, yet his hands were hidden in his sleeves, searching for targets.
“Haha! In broad daylight, in the light of day, you dare to harm others with evil arts and even commit murder—do you want to rebel?”
Wu Tiehu roared, quickly pulling out a horned dagger from his robe and rushing toward the tea girl and the ghost servant.
“Kill!”
His martial arts had improved, and he now possessed star-power. As he charged forward, he was like a tiger descending from the mountains, his presence imposing, and behind him, a white tiger’s phantom seemed to appear—this was the secret technique from the Star World, enhancing his aura.
The two opponents were also seasoned experts, but they were just ordinary martial artists. How could they have encountered such a terrifying person?
At that moment, they felt as if facing an entire army and were momentarily stunned.
It was precisely this hesitation that allowed Wu Tiehu to strike without hesitation. His blade turned, drawing a long, white arc tinged with red, mercilessly slicing through the tea girl’s neck.
Gulu!
The girl was just a moment too slow, and her beautiful head rolled away. Wu Tiehu continued his momentum, delivering another fierce blow to the ghost servant’s iron claws.
The ghost servant, once known as “Ghost Shadow,” had successfully robbed hundreds of households at night without ever failing. His lightness kung fu was naturally extremely agile. Fortunately, in the chaos, he managed to retreat three steps, narrowly avoiding being gutted. His iron claws clashed with Wu Tiehu in a fierce battle, but he was quickly pushed into a disadvantageous position.
“Sigh… I originally didn’t want to do this. Why must you bring suffering upon yourself?”
Zhan Hongzhao, however, had calmed down. Seeing Wu Tiehu’s ferocity, he wasn’t particularly surprised: “Let me personally handle this. You can only expect more pain!”
As he spoke, his entire body shot forward like a nimble cat. Wu Ming could feel that Zhan’s movement was not only lightning-fast but also skillfully used every table and obstacle in the teahouse to his advantage.
Even when confronting Wu Ming, a seemingly powerless “young master,” he was exerting himself to the fullest without holding back.
“An expert at the Grandmaster level!”
Watching Zhan Hongzhao’s figure dart forward with clawing attacks, Wu Ming murmured to himself.
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