Starting with the titmouse, seventy-two transformations

Chapter 8 Conspiracy, Discovery

The night was dark.

A figure arrived at the back gate of the Tong family compound and was welcomed inside by Butler Cheng a moment later.

Steward Cheng manages all the household affairs of the Tong family and is a trusted confidant of Master Tong.

Before long, the two entered the study in the backyard and met the person in question.

In the brightly lit room, Master Tong, dressed in a plain white undergarment, casually leaned against the daybed.

He was around forty years old, fair-skinned and plump, with a smiling face, like Maitreya Buddha in a temple.

"Fifth brother, well done."

Upon seeing the visitor, Master Tong praised him and pointed to the area in front of him:
"Drink tea."

The candlelight flickered, illuminating the face of the person who appeared, and it was none other than Master Qin, who should have been recuperating at home!

At this moment, he was radiant and full of energy, completely different from before.

"Thank you sir for the reward."

Fifth Master Qin bowed slightly, carefully took out a tiger cub the size of his palm from his bosom, held it in his hand, and handed it forward:

"We have successfully completed our mission and retrieved the tiger cub."

The tiger cub hasn't opened its eyes yet; it's fast asleep.

It has a layer of soft downy fur, yellow and black in color, and a "king" character pattern on its forehead.

A yellow talisman was prominently pasted on his back.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Master Tong exclaimed his approval repeatedly, took the item, examined it for a moment, and was overjoyed, thinking to himself:

"With this, my son will be able to stand firm in front of Young Master Zheng!"

Not long ago, the young master Zheng from the county magistrate's family wanted to refine a batch of "Tiger Marrow Warming Yang Pills," but he was missing one key ingredient.

The main ingredient is the bone marrow of a baby tiger whose eyes are not yet open.

Master Tong's youngest son had only recently been taken in as a follower by Young Master Zheng and, eager to make a name for himself, agreed to the task.

The son readily agreed, but in doing so, he ended up ruining his father's life.

Although there are large tigers in Black Wind Mountain, how difficult it is to catch a baby tiger.

If the baby is a newborn and hasn't opened its eyes yet, it's even more difficult.

Fortunately, the Tong family had some influence in the area, and after spending over a hundred taels of silver, they finally received definite information.

After a series of despicable acts that cost more than a dozen lives, they finally succeeded.

He placed the tiger cub into a jade box that he had prepared beforehand. The box was lined with several layers of white brocade, and yellow talismans were pasted on it to shield the aura.

Then, turning to look at Fifth Master Qin, he solemnly said:

"Did you leave any loose ends?"

"The others who knew about it are all dead."

Fifth Master Qin licked his lips, a fierce glint flashing across his face, then hesitated and said:
"...Zhao Lei had originally planned to go together today, but something came up and he didn't go into the mountains with us, so he probably doesn't know what's going on there..."

"Is that Zhao Shitou who's close to Liu Xiucai's family?"

Master Tong sat up straight, his fat jiggling like waves, and turned to look at Steward Cheng, who was waiting beside him, and said in surprise:

"I remember last time the land was surveyed, Liu Xiucai's grandson was whipped, but he didn't die?"

"He was on the verge of death, but somehow he pulled through..."

Butler Cheng responded, his eyes flickering as he recalled the news he had heard in the past two days.

"You made it through? You're really tough..."

Master Tong clicked his tongue, paused for a moment, and then chuckled softly:
"Find some time to visit those two places..."

He emphasized the word "look" and then gave Butler Cheng a meaningful look.

Butler Cheng's eyes darted around, and he immediately guessed what his master was thinking. He nodded in agreement.

"Sir, tigers are known for holding grudges..."

At this moment, Fifth Master Qin spoke in a low voice. Based on his understanding of tigers, if this matter wasn't handled properly, it would cause a lot of trouble later:
"That tiger demon, having lost its cub, will probably not let this go easily!"

"It's alright. It'll just go crazy and eat some people. After a while, it won't be able to find us and will eventually leave."

Master Tong waved his hand dismissively, then chuckled and praised:
"Fifth Brother handled things well this time. I'll have your son come over to learn martial arts tomorrow."

As he spoke, he tapped the small square table in front of him again and said solemnly:

"This matter must be kept secret and must not be revealed to anyone else!"

"I understand..."

Fifth Master Qin nodded hurriedly, patting his chest to assure him:

"I won't even tell my son."

"Ah."

Master Tong withdrew his gaze, snorted, and then picked up his teacup.

Upon seeing this, Master Qin wisely got up and took his leave.

After Steward Cheng returned to report, Master Tong picked up the boiled tea and drank it down in one gulp, his tone calm, almost indifferent:
“Afu…”

"master!"

Butler Cheng felt a chill run down his spine and quickly lowered his head. Having served the master for over a decade, he was most afraid of hearing such an indifferent tone.

Because this often means…

This is going to kill someone!
"This concerns Hao'er's future, and there's no room for error. I've thought about it a lot, but I'm still a little worried."

What if Lao Wu accidentally lets something slip while drunk, or gets greedy and gets bribed to reveal the details...?

Our Tong family's reputation will be ruined!

Master Tong sighed, his face full of helplessness, and said:
“Give Master Wu one hundred taels of silver and ask him to help send the fifth son and his family on their way.”
-
In a daze, I heard what sounded like screams and the barking of dogs.

Liu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, quietly got out of bed, went to the window, and looked outside.

Flames and thick smoke were seen rising from the west side of the village.

Everyone was fast asleep and had just been woken up; they hadn't had time to organize firefighting efforts yet.

For the villagers, fighting the fire was everyone's duty; otherwise, if the fire spread, no one would be able to escape.

He frowned, about to go out to fight the fire, when he suddenly remembered the screams he had vaguely heard and immediately stopped.

Something seems amiss; let's eliminate the danger first before proceeding.

"Change!"

Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat. A cloud of white mist rose from beneath his feet, and he transformed into a blue sparrow with a blade-like tail, flying out of the window.

The original Sparrow Eyes, the transformation of the mountain sparrow, would be greatly affected in low light at night. However, after the transformation is upgraded, this deficiency is completely made up for, making it as clear as day.

In less than a breath, Liu Sheng flew to the scene and was immediately shocked to see the raging fire.

In an ordinary house, a fire couldn't possibly spread this quickly!
More importantly, he saw a figure quickly leaving the scene, face covered by a black cloth, who ran more than ten feet away in the blink of an eye, heading straight for the village entrance.

At the edge of the village, there was only one household!
"Should we deal with the Tong family, or..."

Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately flapped his wings and followed from a distance of several dozen feet.

"who?!"

Just then, the man seemed to sense something, let out a low roar, and suddenly sprang up from the ground. A flash of cold light appeared in the dagger in his hand as he slashed at Liu Sheng from a distance!

In an instant, it was as if a ferocious tiger had reached out its claws, and a foul stench swept over us.

It's him!

Liu Sheng was horrified. He flapped his wings and suddenly accelerated upwards, disappearing into the night in an instant.

"It's just a bluebird. I thought it was..."

The man landed with his right sleeve swinging empty, looked in the direction Liu Sheng had left, shook his head, and then left.

After a while.

Liu Sheng returned home, dispelled the changes, and stood by the window, drenched in cold sweat.

The man let out a low growl, and although he suppressed his voice, he still recognized who it was.

In particular, his missing arm was a unique feature; there wasn't another one like him in the entire Baishui Village…

The martial arts master of the Tong family compound!

This person's cultivation level was unknown, yet he could leap eight or nine zhang with a single bound. Moreover, his senses were sharp, and his swordsmanship was terrifying. Even a strike from dozens of zhang away sent chills down Liu Sheng's spine.

Liu Sheng has the talent of "sparrow eyes," with terrifying eyesight, yet he still couldn't see clearly the way the man drew his knife!
This person is not to be trifled with!

"But what would be the motive for murder and arson in the dead of night? It couldn't possibly be for money, could it?"

Liu Sheng touched his chin, vaguely feeling as if he had grasped something.

Just then, Granny Liu was awakened by the noise outside and groped her way out in the dark.

Upon learning of the fire, he immediately urged Liu Sheng to put it out:

"Water and fire are merciless; saving others saves yourself..."

Liu Sheng responded, picked up two wooden buckets, and headed straight for the west side of the village.

On the way, they happened to run into Zhao Lei, who was also out putting out a fire.

When they arrived at the scene, some villagers who had arrived earlier were already organizing firefighting efforts and were extremely busy.

"It's Master Qin's house!"

Zhao Lei was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Liu Sheng with a strange expression.

As evening approached, Liu Sheng reminded him to be careful of Master Qin, and then Master Qin's house caught fire in the middle of the night...

That's quite a coincidence.

"It's actually Master Qin's house?"

Liu Sheng raised an eyebrow, his doubts deepening.

Why did Master Wu want to kill Master Qin?
No matter how powerful Master Qin is, he's just a hunter. What could he possibly have that would make a second-realm martial artist covet him?
Or is it that Tong Bapi is the one who really wants to kill Master Qin?
Liu Sheng's head was throbbing from thinking about it, so he immediately put it aside. Anyway, it had nothing to do with him, so he decided not to get involved.

About half an hour later, the fire was completely extinguished.

After everyone went inside to take stock, they discovered that all six members of Qin Wuye's family had perished in the fire.

Everyone sighed and then handed over the follow-up matters to Steward Cheng, who came on behalf of Master Tong.

That Master Tong also served as the village head, and one of his responsibilities was fire fighting and disaster relief.

On the way back, Zhao Lei remained silent, as if he had been stimulated by something.

It wasn't until they were almost home that he stopped Liu Sheng and whispered:
"The fire at Master Qin's house is strange; it looks like someone set it on purpose..."

(End of this chapter)