Chapter 33: The Old Fox

"Charge the mountain!"

Zhang Long led the way, blade in hand, like a tiger descending from the mountains or a dragon emerging from the sea.

*Whistle!*

A signal arrow pierced the air and exploded in the sky.

Simultaneously, several arrows flew toward Zhang Long and his men—the work of scouts responsible for the outer perimeter.

*Clang! Clang!*

With a flash of his blade, Zhang Long casually deflected the arrows. As a third-stage body-refining warrior, ordinary arrows could rarely get close to him, and even if they did, they could hardly cause him any significant harm. Having achieved mastery in skin-refining, his skin was as tough as ox leather, resistant to common blades. Having completed flesh-refining, his muscle strength had surged, and his defensive capabilities were greatly bolstered. Even if an arrow were to barely pierce his skin, it would be snagged by the density of his muscles.

Zhou Chen did not try to stand out. He had long since spotted the hidden scouts, but he did not move to kill them immediately. Only after they exposed themselves did he raise his bow and fire two arrows, sealing the throats of the scouts with a single shot each.

"Fine marksmanship!" Zhang Long praised, leading his men forward.

They encountered many ambushes along the way, but with Zhang Long, a third-stage body-refining warrior, spearheading the charge, and Zhou Chen, a "second-stage" master archer assisting, they swept through the resistance with ease. This was the might of a warrior. Even if ordinary people held the geographical advantage, they could not stop a true warrior.

Half an hour later, Zhou Chen and Zhang Long’s party arrived before the gates of Wolong Mountain Stronghold. The gates were bristling with archers, a sea of heads waiting in battle formation. This was the most critical checkpoint of the mountain. Once this gate fell, the stronghold would be broken.

"Magistrate's Lieutenant Zhang, I am unaware of any offense Wolong Mountain has committed to warrant such a grand mobilization from you. If there has been some slight, I beg for your forgiveness, and I shall certainly present a generous gift in the future to atone for it!" Tie Xiong stood holding a gruesome, meter-long wolf-tooth club. He looked like an iron tower as he faced Zhang Long and bowed.

"Cut the crap, you bastard! Hand over the Magistrate's daughter immediately, or I will turn this Wolong Mountain into dust in an instant!" Zhang Long pointed his long blade, his tone stern and ferocious.

"The Magistrate's daughter? What Magistrate's daughter?" Tie Xiong feigned confusion, looking completely bewildered as he cried out his grievance: "Has the Lieutenant made a mistake? I have no such person here. Even if I were given the courage of the heavens, I wouldn't dare lay a finger on the Magistrate's daughter!"

Although his goal was to lure Chen Fan here, he could not show his hand. Moreover, he needed to maintain the ruse that this was their own doing, with no one pulling the strings behind the scenes. Since there was supposedly no mastermind, bandits like them would naturally not dare to openly oppose the government; they had to deny it—unless they could no longer hide the truth.

There were over a hundred men on Wolong Mountain, and they all knew about the abduction of Chen Feng, with most of them having already taken their turn with her. No matter how he tried to argue, as long as Zhang Long wasn't a complete fool, he would inevitably find out.

The situation unfolded exactly as he had expected. When Zhang Long mentioned the Magistrate's daughter, the faces of the bandits on the gate changed, filled with panic and trepidation. Zhang Long knew then that Chen Feng was definitely here, and these men were the culprits.

While Zhang Long felt a sense of relief, his eyes grew even colder. He barked, "Stop your damn lying! I’ll count to three. Hand her over, or I attack!"

"Lieutenant, this is truly a misunderstanding. We really don't have—"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"Zhang Long!" Tie Xiong roared, his humble facade replaced by raw violence. He stopped pretending. "Zhang Long, don't say I didn't warn you. If you dare take one more step forward, I will throw the Magistrate's daughter's head down at your feet!"

"You can try!"

Tie Xiong sneered, his expression cold and cruel. Zhang Long was caught between a rock and a hard place; he did not doubt the man's resolve. If they dared to kidnap the Magistrate's daughter, murder was certainly within their capabilities. If he caused the Magistrate's daughter to be killed because of his actions, his guilt would be immense.

"Tie Xiong, if you dare harm the Magistrate's daughter, you are a dead man!"

Zhang Long began to bicker with Tie Xiong, and the two sides reached a stalemate. However, Wolong Mountain had supplies, while Zhang Long's party had arrived in haste and could not afford a long standoff. Zhang Long had already secretly sent someone to notify Chen Fan. This matter clearly required Chen Fan's final decision.

Tie Xiong had his men bring out an armchair, and he sat there eating and drinking, looking leisurely and content. He wasn't panicked in the least. He knew Zhang Long would notify Magistrate Chen Fan to fetch reinforcements. And that was precisely the result he wanted.

"Tie Xiong, if you release the Magistrate's daughter, I can let you leave safely!"

"I don't trust you, unless the Magistrate gives his word personally!"

...

Zhou Chen stayed quietly to the side. He had no desire to earn credit, nor did he care to ponder how to rescue the girl. A tree that rises above the forest will be destroyed by the wind. He only needed to do his part. After all, in everyone's eyes, he was just a newly promoted second-stage body-refining warrior who had finished tempering his skin.

He did not waste his time, however. In his soul, he practiced dual cultivation with Ji Fengxia within the *Fengyue Treasure Mirror*, never missing an opportunity to earn Fengyue Points.

...

Qinghe City. The Magistrate's Office.

"Scoundrels!" "They are courting death!"

When Chen Fan received the news, he was furious, jumping with rage. Yet, after his anger subsided, he did not lose his composure. Wolong Mountain had never provoked the government before. To dare touch his daughter now—could there be someone behind this?

The Magistrate's Assistant, Chen Dao, pondered aloud: "Magistrate, there must be something fishy about this. I suggest we pay a price to hire men from the Salt Gang and the Fishing Gang to help with the rescue." He was implying that Chen Fan should not go himself.

Chen Fan had already completed bone-refining, stepping into the fifth stage of body-refining. In Qinghe City, only the heads of the three great families and the two branch leaders of the Salt and Fishing Gangs possessed this level of cultivation.

"Although Wolong Mountain has only one road and the back is a sheer cliff, a warrior at the third or fourth stage of body-refining could climb it," Chen Fan mused. "Let Zhang Long and the others create a diversion in the front. You go to the Salt and Fishing Gangs and have them send men to infiltrate from the back of the mountain to rescue Feng'er! If they can save her, there will be a rich reward!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Chen Dao hurried away to the branches of the Salt and Fishing Gangs in Qinghe City. The two branch leaders, after a moment's thought, agreed and each dispatched a third-stage body-refining expert.

The two experts quietly left the city and rushed toward Wolong Mountain at top speed. Upon reaching the mountain's territory, they stealthily made their way to the rear.

"Chen Fan didn't come!"

On a peak behind Wolong Mountain, a woman in white looked down at the two warriors climbing the cliff. She raised an eyebrow. "That old fox, Chen Fan!"

She knew the operation had failed. If she killed these two third-stage warriors, Chen Fan would become even more vigilant and would be even less likely to come. But if she didn't kill them, the rabble on Wolong Mountain would never be able to hold them off.

"Forget it, no need to alert the enemy," the woman in white sighed, abandoning the current plan.

As for infiltrating the Magistrate's office to kill Chen Fan, she had the strength to do it, but killing a Magistrate in his own office would be trampling the face of the Great Qian government into the dust. Although the Great Qian dynasty, eight hundred years old, was waning, and sects and gangs were rising like the sun, claiming land as their own, the order had not yet collapsed. It still dominated the land. If she dared to kill the Magistrate in his office, the government would surely send powerful experts to conduct a rigorous investigation. Once the imperial court acted in earnest, let alone her, even the forces behind her would not dare to face its edge. They could wipe her out as an example to others with ease.

But by luring Chen Fan to Wolong Mountain to be killed, the commotion would be minimal. It would simply be a case of the Magistrate being incompetent at suppressing bandits and being killed by them. Afterward, the court would send someone to wipe out Wolong Mountain to demonstrate its authority, and the matter would be resolved.

Watching the two third-stage warriors climb up, the woman in white did not move. The two warriors seemed not to see her, passing right by. The woman in white turned around, her beautiful eyes deep and mysterious, as if a ray of brilliance had bloomed within them. Not far away, a distracted scout suddenly snapped to, and instinctively pulled out a signal arrow and fired it.

The signal arrow bloomed in the sky, and blood bloomed on the throats of the two scouts as they fell.

"We've been exposed!" The two warriors looked at the fallen scouts with grim faces. They had moved quickly, but they hadn't expected to be discovered. They had little time to dwell on it, however.

"Rescue the Magistrate's daughter at top speed!"

The two drew their swords and charged toward the bandit lair. The woman in white watched their backs, not making a move. She did not want to complicate things. The only reason she had controlled the scout to fire the signal was to alert Tie Xiong and Lu Xiao. Whether they could escape was up to their own fate. Even if they couldn't, it didn't matter. Not to mention that Tie Xiong and Lu Xiao did not know her identity or her true face, she still had other plans in reserve.