Branch Master Shi Boyu returned to the Branch Hall and sat quietly in the main hall.

Something had happened to Zhong Desong, and it left Shi Boyu feeling deeply irritated and restless.

Once again, the second branch had lost yet another leader. Shi Boyu knew that this would make it hard for him to hold his head high before the hall master. Still, all he felt was irritation, one that had yet to flare into real anger. After all, those leaders were already on the list of people he planned to have killed sooner or later.

The Redstaff Enforcer, Xiang Guicheng, constantly opposed him in public and he thought this person deserved to be killed the most. As for the Wind Watcher, Du Hongxi, he was no better, though he was already dead.

The Virtuous Adept, Zhong Desong, never revealed his thoughts and always remained expressionless. Yet, when recommending new candidates for leadership positions, he never consulted Shi Boyu. That alone showed his lack of respect for the branch master.

Even Sun Xiao’an, the Heartkeeper, was not someone Shi Boyu could fully trust. Whenever he watched him puffing on that bubbling water pipe, he could never tell what the man was thinking.

Currently, Shi Boyu had placed a slow-acting poison on all of them. He would let the obedient ones live for a few more years. As for the disobedient ones, he would send them to their graves soon.

Yet misfortune suddenly befell Zhong Desong, and it left Shi Boyu deeply puzzled.

The Elysian Melody Dancehall had been blown up, and the master of the Medicine King Hall under the Jiangxiang Gang believed that neither Yu Nan nor Qin Tianjiu was behind it.

Someone else was behind this. This person was far more capable and cunning than Yu Nan and Qin Tianjiu.

Acting on the Hall Master’s orders, Shi Boyu swiftly covered up the incident and began a secret investigation to find the culprit.

According to the hall master’s deduction, the murderer would soon let his guard down and expose himself.

Yet misfortune befell Zhong Desong before the culprit even revealed himself. The culprit had not exposed his identity and had taken the initiative to attack!

If Zhong Desong is alive, he is missing. If he is dead, his body has gone missing. Could the person who did something to Zhong Desong be the same one who burned down the dancehall and the Geng Family’s Medicinal Trading House? But why would he take the initiative to strike at Zhong Desong? Is he fucking crazy?

These thoughts race through Shi Boyu’s mind.

And where is the culprit now? Is he still in the Inner Gully? What do we need to do to find him?

While deep in thought, Shi Boyu suddenly felt a wave of heat and stuffiness and ordered one of the gang runts[1] to open the window.

One of the gang runts came to the window and reached out, but couldn’t touch it. He didn’t dare to say anything and could only keep pushing the invisible wall with all his strength.

Shi Boyu looked impatiently toward the window as a ninth patrol captain[2] scolded, “Told you to open a damn window, and you’re still fumbling around! What else are you even good for—”

Before the ninth patrol captain could finish speaking, he suddenly noticed a puddle forming beneath his feet. “What the hell is this…”

One of the gang runts bent down to sniff the liquid and cried out, “It’s tea! It’s Old Zhong’s enchanted artifact!”

Shi Boyu had never seen Old Zhong’s enchanted artifact before, though he had heard Sun Xiao’an mention how powerful it was. Zhong Desong had once used it to kill a level-three cultivator and seriously wound a level-four one. Clearly, this was an enchanted artifact that they couldn’t face head-on.

“Move! Get outside!” Shi Boyu hurriedly shouted. “Hide first!”

However, none of his men moved.

He roared again, “Are you all fucking deaf?!”

He turned to run for the exit, only to slam into something invisible. Amid his shock, he heard one of the gang runts explain, “Branch Master Shi, we are trapped by Old Zhong’s enchanted artifact! We won’t be able to get out”

Before the gang runt could finish speaking, he let out a scream and jumped onto the table as the scalding tea burned his feet.

A dozen subordinates howled one after another. Some jumped onto the sofas and others onto the tables.

Shi Boyu moved a bit too slowly and had to be pulled onto a table by two of his men, blisters already forming on his feet.

Perched on the beam above, Li Banfeng found the situation rather strange.

According to Shopkeeper Feng, Shi Boyu had once been a Redstaff Enforcer before becoming the branch master stationed at Medicine King Gully.

If Redstaff Enforcers were known for their combat skills, Li Banfeng couldn’t help but wonder why Shi Boyu was so bad at fighting. He thought it might be because Shi Boyu’s cultivation was too low. But in truth, Shi Boyu was a level-three cultivator, which was far from weak.

Despite being a level-three cultivator, Shi Boyu did not follow a Daoist path known for combat ability, such as the Martial, Wanderlust, or Physique Cultivation paths. He was a level-three Poison Cultivator.

Standing on the table, Shi Boyu shouted, “Anyone know how to break this enchanted artifact?”

The ninth patrol captain yelled back, “Find whoever’s using the teapot! Take it from him and stop him from rubbing it, or there’s no way to break it!”

Sun Xiao’an had once told Shi Boyu how to break it, but in his panic, he couldn’t recall the method.

When the ninth patrol captain mentioned it, Shi Boyu finally remembered. But when he looked around, he couldn’t find the teapot anywhere.

He knew it had to be in the enemy’s hands, yet he had no idea where the enemy was hiding.

Shi Boyu was completely at a loss.

“Zhu, listen for any sound!”

Shi Boyu had a personal guard named Kou Zhu, a level-one Spycraft Cultivator. He listened carefully for a long time but didn’t hear anything.

However, Li Banfeng was a level-two Homebound Cultivator. With a Homebound Cultivator’s talent to be easily overlooked, he managed to hide his presence from the Clairaudient Ears of this Spycraft Cultivator.

The water kept rising, and the lower-ranked members standing on the sofa already had their feet scalded raw.

One of them lost his footing amid the screams and fell into the boiling tea. He struggled twice before the flesh melted from his bones, and within moments, he fell silent.

The rising tea was about to spill over the edge of the table. In the beginning, the ninth patrol captain stayed by Shi Boyu’s side to protect him. But when he realized Shi Boyu couldn’t figure out a way to escape from this rising hot pool of tea, he chose to put his own life first.

A red, spotted shell suddenly formed on the ninth patrol captain’s back, and a pair of black wings unfolded beneath it.

Buzz!

In an instant, he transformed into a giant ladybug and lifted off the ground. He could protect himself now. He would not die here.

He would only die if Li Banfeng kept raising the water level until it reached the ceiling. However, it was a known fact that the one controlling the teapot would also be trapped within this sealed space. If the water rose too high, Li Banfeng would end up scalding himself to death as well.

“Ahhh!” Kou Zhu let out a miserable scream and died in the scalding water.

Hovering above, the ninth patrol captain looked down at Kou Zhu, who had already been scalded to death, and at the branch master, who was about to meet the same fate.

If the branch master died, he would definitely be implicated. Even so, that was still better than being boiled alive. If it came to it, he would run for it. Living one more day was better than dying here.

The ninth patrol captain let out a quiet sigh, but soon felt his wings grow heavier and heavier until he could no longer fly.

Why can’t I fly anymore? he wondered. When he focused his gaze on the Branch Master, he saw that Shi Boyu was releasing poison.

To find the teapot, they first had to find the person holding it. When Shi Boyu could not find the person holding the teapot, he decided that he would poison the person to death.

Shi Boyu’s tactic was clear. However, if he released poison, he would kill everyone in this room. Would that matter to Shi Boyu though? It wouldn’t matter at all.

To Shi Boyu, the lives of these people were never important.

Crash!

A faint sound came from the roof above.

Shi Boyu looked up and saw a woman with heavy, seductive makeup squatting on the beam, dressed in men’s clothing.

Yu Nan? Could it really be her? Shi Boyu thought.

It was not Yu Nan. That was Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng, who had been crouching on the beam all this time, was struggling to stay steady and almost fell.

He had been poisoned. The techniques of a level-three Poison Cultivator had nearly caused him to lose consciousness.

Using the ability of a Wanderlust Cultivator, he held his position on the beam, struggling to steady himself while still rubbing the teapot.

It was clear what Li Banfeng intended. This was now a battle of endurance between the two of them.

The teapot kept spraying water as the water level in the room continued to rise. The boiling tea had already flooded the tables and seeped into Shi Boyu’s shoes.

Shi Boyu clenched his jaw against the burning pain and shouted for the ninth patrol captain to kill the woman on the beam.

The ninth patrol captain turned pale green. He cast a final glance at Li Banfeng before his wings ceased to move, and he fell headfirst into the boiling tea.

Although Homebound Cultivators were naturally resistant to toxins, Li Banfeng, even at level two, was struggling to endure. The ninth patrol captain was only a level-one Physique Cultivator, so how could he possibly endure it?

When the ninth patrol captain fell at his feet, Shi Boyu pulled him from the boiling water with one hand, laid him on the table, and stepped on his body to buy himself a little more time.

Li Banfeng took out a pair of bloodstained scissors from his waist and flung them toward Shi Boyu. This scissor was a weapon with spirit essence. As long as his aim wasn’t too far off, they would be able to cut off Shi Boyu’s head.

However, Shi Boyu grabbed another corpse from the water and pulled it in front of him as a shield. The scissors sliced through the corpse’s neck, and its head dropped into the boiling tea with a splash.

The scissor didn’t care whose head it had cut off. As long as it did cut off someone’s head, it considered itself having completed its mission.

Shi Boyu spewed a cloud of poisonous mist toward Li Banfeng. In response, Li Banfeng leapt from beam to beam to evade it, but he quickly realized that dodging was pointless.

The enchanted artifact was still active, and within the confines of the invisible barrier, the poisonous mist spread instantly.

The symptoms he had once felt at Mount Bitterfog returned, filling him with dizziness, weakness, and blurred vision until his movements lost all control.

Li Banfeng didn’t dare to move anymore as he could fall from the beam at any time.

How did I endure the torture on Mount Bitterfog? Oh, right. I didn’t, Li Banfeng thought.

Back then, when he had suffered the same symptoms, he hadn’t been able to endure them either and had retreated straight into the Pocket Dwelling.

I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t hold out. Aside from Chubby Qin, most of the others didn’t make it, Li Banfeng muttered inwardly.

Then, at the thought of Chubby Qin, something came to mind.

Chubby Qin’s blood! Li Banfeng still had some stored in the pendulum. He twisted it open and drank the blood in one gulp.

Feeling his dizziness ease, Li Banfeng gathered all his strength and kept rubbing the teapot.

The water level kept rising, submerging the Ninth Patrol Captain’s body. Shi Boyu dragged another corpse beneath his feet and continued spewing poison at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng took another gulp of blood, but it didn’t help as much this time. After all, Chubby Qin was only a level-one Gourmandism Cultivator, and while his blood could strengthen the body, it could not purge the poison.

There was a huge gap between level one and level three. His body’s rate of strengthening couldn’t keep up with how quickly the poison was spreading.

Shi Boyu kept fishing up corpses and stacking them beneath his feet. The pile grew taller and began to wobble.

Watching Shi Boyu sway on that unstable mound, Li Banfeng considered waiting for the right moment to close in and kick him into the boiling water.

Then, a stream of green liquid seeped from Shi Boyu’s body, dripping down to his feet and spreading across the corpses beneath him.

Then, a layer of glue seemed to form on the corpses, sticking them firmly together.

Li Banfeng was horrified. What kind of technique is this? Is he a Glue Cultivator?

Of course, Shi Boyu wasn’t a Glue Cultivator. The poison he released had corroded the corpses, causing their flesh and bones to fuse together.

Even in such a dire situation, Shi Boyu, who had been through so many fights, still managed to come up with a countermeasure. Venom was far more potent than poisonous mist. If Li Banfeng so much as got close and touched even a single drop of it, he would die on the spot.

By now, Li Banfeng had drained every last drop of blood from the pendulum, while Shi Boyu had pulled up the final corpse within reach.

Li Banfeng’s face turned ashen green, and he felt that he could no longer hold on.

A smile appeared on Shi Boyu’s face. He knew he had already won.

Judging by the speed of the rising water, Shi Boyu was confident that the woman with striking makeup would fall from the beam before the water rose higher than the last corpse beneath him.

The moment she died, the enchanted artifact would lose its power.

Shi Boyu smiled as he glanced toward Li Banfeng. “If you don’t want to boil yourself alive, put that teapot away now. Once you fall, it’ll be too late for regrets.”

However, instead of putting the teapot away, Li Banfeng threw it into the water.

Shi Boyu froze, unable to understand what Li Banfeng was planning. His eyes fixed on the teapot and he wanted nothing more than to pull it out right away.

Seizing the moment, Li Banfeng took out his key and slipped back into his Pocket Dwelling.

The teapot was too far, and Shi Boyu couldn’t reach it. When he looked up again, he realized that Li Banfeng was gone.

Where did she go? How did she disappear? Shi Boyu thought. Then he looked down and saw that the water level was still rising.

What? I thought the teapot fell into the water?

The teapot had indeed fallen into the pool of water, but it would take five or six minutes for the water to stop gushing out. That was simply how this enchanted artifact worked.

Shi Boyu cried out in desperation, “Someone! Anyone! Hurry! Bring me that teapot! Quick!”

He was a core member of the Jiangxiang Gang. At just thirty, he had reached level three in cultivation and earned the position of branch master.

His future had seemed bright and full of promise. With the hall master’s trust behind him, he was confident that he would one day make a name for himself in Medicine King Gully.

The boiling tea rose past the corpses and covered his feet.

Unable to bear the searing pain, Shi Boyu jumped up. But the moment he leapt, the corpses stuck together beneath him collapsed, sending him plunging into the boiling tea.

The pain was beyond imagination. It felt as though he had fallen into molten iron.

With the body of a level-three cultivator, he mustered all his strength and swam toward the table. However, the instant his hands touched its edge, the flesh on his palms sloughed clean off.

If I can capture the one on the beam, my name will be known to thousands upon thousands.

And if I can capture the person from the Outer Provinces, the one Boss Xiao wants, I’ll surely become a hall master.

I was meant to be a hall master. How could I just…

As his thoughts faded, Shi Boyu lost consciousness in the scalding water.

Meanwhile, Li Banfeng was vomiting again and again inside the Pocket Dwelling.

A message from our author Salagus (沙拉古斯):A beautiful Saturday morning, isn’t it? Dear readers, chat a bit with meeeeeee

1. Raw is 小幺, which means the youngest. The author left a note saying that this means the branch master’s lackey ☜

2. The raw is 大九, which means Big Nine. The author noted that this is a leader under the branch master. Previously, we learned that Chu Yunlong is a leader and a Wind Watcher, so I think there are nine leaders under the Wind Watcher. ☜

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep