Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 171 Strange Coincidence: Killing the Wrong Person Was a Wrong Person (5.8 thousand words)
On Hama Beach, the morning mist is thick, and the salty river wind is damp and cold, with large ships passing by from time to time.

Hearing the commotion, the laborers on the beach would instinctively look up, their numb eyes often brightening, but then their gaze would dim again as they looked down at the giant ship.

Fang Shu stepped onto the wet sand and arrived at the ferry crossing on time.

At this ferry crossing, there was already a small boat, about ten feet long, made entirely of black ironwood, gleaming with a dark sheen. Its ram resembled bull horns, and the surface of the boat was engraved with simple water-suppressing patterns.

When he arrived, boxes of goods were being unloaded from the ship. The crew told him that the ship was late and the unloading was not yet complete, and asked him to wait a moment at the ferry dock.

Then he saw his two fellow disciples who were about to sail down the mountain with him.

Ling Bailang sat imposingly under the roof, chatting with a man in a black robe whose face was obscured. When they saw someone else approaching, they immediately looked up and sized him up.

The other party said loudly, "What a coincidence, Fellow Daoist Fang is also going down the mountain to visit relatives?"

The man in black robes nodded to Fang Shu, saying, "Greetings, Brother Fang."

Fang Shu greeted the two men with a slight smile. The man in black robes was none other than Black Rat from the Black Tiger Pavilion. After advancing to the Qi Refining stage, he had reverted to his former mysterious demeanor.

Although the three had a past and had even shared a room, their relationship was only so-so, especially between Fang Shu and Ling Bailang, who had a past feud over the killing of his brother. Although the other party seemed to have long forgotten about this matter, Fang Shu dared not truly underestimate him.

After chatting for a few minutes, the three of them stood, walked, or simply waited silently on the mudflats.

When there was only a quarter of an hour left before departure, one of the boatmen hurried over and invited the three of them to board the boat.

Surprisingly, the newcomer was also dressed in black robes, and his face looked somewhat familiar to the group. He was clearly not someone from the mountain, but rather a disciple of the mountain, also heading down the mountain.

The man was of ordinary appearance, but rather large build, with clearly defined muscles on his body. Upon seeing Fang Shu and the other two, he burst into hearty laughter.

Fang Shu was already puzzled. According to what Senior Sister Fang Lu had inquired about, there were three of them on the boat returning to Guling Town. How come there was suddenly an extra person?

Then the visitor said, "I am Deng Lixing, and I greet you three fellow Daoists!"
It truly seems we're destined to meet again.

Upon hearing this name, Fang Shu felt a surge of emotion and thought to himself, "Kaishan Hall, Deng Lixing."

The other party was the same person Hua Xiaqing had revealed before her death to be the one who plotted to kill Qin Min. Hua Xiaqing insisted that the other party was the mastermind and said that the other party's Kaishan Hall was also involved in the Seven Fragrance Pavilion assassin incident.

Although Fang Shu's heart stirred slightly, he showed no outward sign of it, nor did he have any intention of causing trouble. He simply silently observed the boat that was about to descend the mountain, as if measuring something.

Deng Lixing didn't find anything amiss, and the man continued to try to build rapport with the group: "Brother, Brother Hei, and Brother Fang, please come in quickly!"

When the four of them reached the side of the boat, the bow and cargo ship were already waiting for them.

The two opponents also had the aura of Qi Refining, but they were both quite old and their auras were chaotic. It was obvious that their foundations were damaged during their breakthroughs. Although they had entered the Qi Refining stage, they no longer had the potential for immortality and were only slightly better than Qi Refining Dao Soldiers.

Fang Shu glanced at the others briefly, exchanged greetings, and then silently followed Ling Bailang and the others onto the boat. After he had circled the boat and scanned it with his divine sense, he found no more Qi Refining Immortals and abandoned his idea of ​​changing boats to go down the mountain.

A quarter of an hour passed quickly, and the bow of the boat, introduced by Deng Lixing, was seen negotiating with the disciples of the miscellaneous hall at the ferry.

Their words traveled on the wind and reached Fang Shu and the others' ears:

"If we wait any longer, it will be too late."

"Brother, please do me a favor. This is my first time coming down the mountain and my first time traveling by boat. I can't afford to lose face. Besides, even if there are smugglers, they're just lowly laborers. If I find them, I'll crush them to death so as not to cause you any trouble."

It turns out that they wanted to pay money to exempt the boatmen from the task of checking and cleaning up the boats when they left the mountain, so as to prevent anyone from smuggling themselves down the mountain.

Finally, after being persuaded and bribed by Deng Lixing, the disciple from the miscellaneous hall who was conducting the inspection left with a haughty expression, without boarding the ship to check again.

Once back on the boat, the group looked more relaxed and smiled at Fang Shu and the others, saying, "At least we didn't miss the departure time, and we weren't delayed in getting down the mountain."

The other party's attitude and words made Ling Bailang and Heishu nod in agreement.

After the ship set sail, Deng Lixing suggested that the group have a small get-together and set up a banquet on the deck, bringing out wine and food to entertain them.

Fang Shu dealt with the man calmly, but he didn't eat any of the wine and meat he took; he simply put them into his sleeve. He glanced at the other two and found that they had probably done the same.

After getting thoroughly drunk, the group returned to their rooms.

This continued for the next few days.

Even the two Qi Refining Immortals at the bow and the cargo captain were seated at the banquet, laughing and joking as they ate and drank. As for the work on the ship, it was naturally handled by the crew and sailors below.

Over the course of a few days, Fang Shu and his companions also learned about the origins of the ship. It came from a small immortal clan in a fairy town at the foot of the mountain, and had been diligently supplying the Five Internal Organs Temple with immortal materials and provisions for nearly sixty years.

The current clan leader had a prior relationship with the founder of the mountain temple, and Deng Lixing was also from the mountain temple. It was through this relationship that he got involved with the clan, which can be considered an alliance between insiders and outsiders, with each getting what they needed.

All of these things sound reasonable and perfectly normal. But for some reason, Fang Shu felt that they were all too normal.

So over the course of a few days, he secretly figured out the cabins of all the crew members on the ship, as well as the corners where few people went.

This night.

The boat had been sailing away from the Wuzangmiao Mountain Gate for three or four days and was now in the very center of the confluence of the Jiujiang River, surrounded by vast expanses of water, an open and boundless expanse.

After entering his cabin, Fang Shu opened his eyes a moment later and used his wall-penetrating technique to silently escape through the cabin door.

When he arrived at a certain place, he had a breath-holding worm in his mouth and was also invisible, so he crashed into the ironwood wall in front of him.

This place was where food and water were stored on the ship. Unless it was put into use, it was always sealed off and no one came. It was also another hiding place that Fang Shu had found for himself.

Furthermore, this cabin was located in the very center of the ship, with Deng Lixing and the bow and cargo docks on either side.

After Fang Shu sat down cross-legged, he released his divine threads as usual, spreading them towards the cabin of the three people.

It proceeded cautiously and extremely slowly, and once the divine thread appeared in the other's cabin, it dared not spread any further, lest it disturb the other.

Even so, if that person were to scan with their divine sense, the divine threads would still be very easy to detect.

In the past few days, there have been several near misses, but fortunately Fang Shu chose to immediately sever the divine silk, thus avoiding detection.

However, after the divine thread broke, he could no longer see those people.

However, this time, after he extended the divine threads as usual, they did not break for some reason, and he suddenly noticed a fluctuation of magical power in the cabin where Deng Lixing was.

Immediately, he could hear a slight tremor in the nerve fibers inside the adjacent cabin, which was completely silent to both ears, indicating that someone was talking in the room.

This must be because someone in the room has cast a soundproofing spell or used a corresponding talisman.

Fang Shu held his breath and kept quiet. With a sudden thought, he immediately sent his divine sense along the divine thread.

Sure enough, he heard voices, and there were three of them.

"It's time to make a move! Once these three are eliminated, you, young friend Deng, will be the only one in Guling Town qualified to compete for an inner disciple position."

Someone said hesitantly, "Eliminating three people?! Isn't that too many? This is too unusual and will easily be discovered by the temple."

"What's there to be afraid of! My Pan family will just abandon this ship, and the two of us will go into hiding, won't that solve the problem?"

“Exactly. Neither of us are afraid, so why are you afraid, young friend Deng? Besides, it’s perfectly normal for ships and horses to encounter some mishaps on the road. Not to mention our cargo ships, even the official ships of the Five Sects of Lushan that transport immortal materials are often harassed by demons and suffer considerable losses.”

These words caused Fang Shu to slowly open his eyes in the dimly lit warehouse.

Sure enough, Deng Lixing's appearance this time was too coincidental and was indeed unusual.

In the next cabin.

Deng Lixing hesitated, "Let me wait a few more days, let me think about it some more..."

The man looked conflicted.

It should be understood that once such a thing is committed, the consequences are too great and the implications too severe.

As a Qi Refining disciple of the Five Internal Organs Temple, Deng Lixing still had a path to immortality even if he couldn't compete for the inner sect. However, having committed such a crime, his future remained uncertain, and there was no turning back after the incident.

Suddenly, Deng Lixing spoke up: "Could we intercept and kill only one person?"

Upon hearing this, the boatman and the cargo driver from the Pan family immediately revealed a mocking smile.

The two laughed and said, "If you're going to do it, then do it. Why leave any loose ends? Are you really not worried about retaliation or being found out by the temple?"

The two men, their faces still bearing a fierce look, suddenly moved closer and squeezed in front of Deng Lixing.

“Young friend Deng, now that we have brought this up, if you refuse, my Pan family will be in a real predicament. Otherwise, if you are not careful and you sell my Pan family after returning to the temple, my entire clan will be implicated.”

Deng Lixing's face tightened; he finally understood.

He had clearly gotten himself into trouble; if he didn't obey these two men's orders, he might be killed.

"How dare these two old birds be so bold!" Deng Lixing cursed inwardly.

Fortunately, just as he was agonizing over his decision and gritting his teeth to agree, the two men suddenly walked away, muttering in silence:
"We still have a few days before we leave the middle of the river, so we'll make sure the boat goes slowly."

"If you don't make a decision within three days, don't blame us for being impolite and making the decision for you."

Upon hearing this, Deng Lixing breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands in greeting: "Please rest assured, both of you. Allow me to think it over carefully and come up with a foolproof plan."

Little did he know that after leaving his room, the boatman and the cargo handler from the Pan family were once again filled with mocking smiles.

As they looked at each other, they both took out a recording talisman from their hands, examined it for a moment, and then hid it in their sleeves.

It turns out that the reason these two wanted to force Deng Lixing to agree was that they hoped he would confess to the plot to kill him.

In this way, they would have a handle on Deng Lixing, and he would be stuck on this path from now on, unable to extricate himself no matter what.

the other side.

After the three people dispersed, Fang Shu silently withdrew his divine sense and severed his divine threads.

He lowered his head, frowning as he pondered, not understanding why the Pan family's fleet would have such audacity.

Although they had a reason to interfere in the inner disciples' competition, such behavior was still far too arrogant.

Or rather, it's too crude.

Fang Shu pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure out the reason.

But since I can't figure it out, I'll stop thinking about it. Anyway, the solution to this problem is quite simple.

Fang Shu glanced at the cabin where the white wolf and the black rat were, but after a moment's thought, he didn't go to them to inform them. He simply sat cross-legged in the storeroom, silently regulating his breathing and taking stock of the Gu worms on his body, preparing methods for each one.

The next day.

Deng Lixing invited everyone again, gathering them on the deck for drinks and entertainment.

He, along with the bowman and the cargo handler, drank heartily and soon became completely drunk.

Fang Shu sat among them, quietly drinking his wine.

Zheng!
Suddenly, without any warning, he launched his attack.

He faced the bow of the ship, opened his mouth, and his tongue flew out like a sword, striking the bow's neck.

The man on the bow of the boat, drunk, suddenly changed his expression.

Although he was also a Qi Refining Immortal with considerable magical power, the bow of the ship still couldn't react when Fang Shu suddenly attacked. In particular, Fang Shu had used a manipulation technique to control the tongue sword in his mouth, which was both accurate and powerful.

*Thud!* The man's inner energy flickered, and his neck was pierced, pinning him to the deck, blood gushing out.

As for the guy standing to the side, his expression changed drastically. He reacted quickly, and even though he was drunk, he still made some movements with his hands and immediately prepared to cast a spell.

But then a scream rang out.

This man's fate was even more tragic; he had already been approached by the Gu worms released by Fang Shu.

The worms landed on him instantly.

Under the sunlight, the neck of the cargo carrier caught fire, making it difficult for him to control himself, and he could only stumble backward.

Then his whole body burst into flames, turning him into a human torch, rolling and howling on the deck.

Just a breath.

Fang Shu suddenly launched an attack, crippling or burning the two men at the bow and the cargo handler.

Deng Lixing instantly sobered up. He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him, his face pale.

As for Ling Bailang and Hei Shu, they remained relatively calm. They merely squinted at Fang Shu with apprehension, unaware of why Fang Shu would attack them.

However, when they saw that Fang Shu's gaze was fixed on Deng Lixing without even looking at the two of them, they tacitly shifted their gaze and squinted at Deng Lixing.

“Last night, these three conspired in the cabin to get rid of the three of us,” Fang Shu said slowly.

He briefly recounted the conspiracy between Deng Lixing and the other two the previous night, but did not explain how he had found out.

Upon hearing this, Deng Lixing's expression instantly became quite interesting.

He exclaimed, "Fellow Daoist Fang, you can't just say things like that. Do you have any evidence?"

Upon hearing this, not only Fang Shu couldn't help but chuckle, but even Ling Bailang and Hei Shu, who were watching coldly from the sidelines, also smiled.

That made Hei and his companion relax even more, realizing that Fang Shu had no hostility towards them for the time being.

Among them, White Wolf stepped forward, grabbed the bow of the ship that was nailed to the deck, and seeing that the man was not quite dead, snapped his neck.

"Hey, evidence? Just kill those two men from the foot of the mountain and then find evidence. Even if we kill the wrong person, so what?"

Black Rat also moved his hand, and several black shadows pounced out from under his black robe, surrounding and biting the burning, rolling cargo head to prevent it from jumping off the boat into the water.

The black rat nodded towards Fang Shu:

"Thank you for informing me of this, Brother Fang. Otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome if they had made their move. If Brother Fang has killed the wrong person, I am willing to share the responsibility with you."

The white wolf laughed loudly: "Count me in! It's just a matter of losing some Dao merit."

Fang Shu listened to their conversation, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but simply nodding in acknowledgment.

Deng Lixing looked at the three of them, especially Fang Shu, who was still sitting in the same spot, looking relaxed and at ease.

The man's face momentarily showed a dazed expression.

Could it be that, as the ship's captain said, he was simply too kind-hearted?

quickly.

The white wolf searched the body on the bow of the ship and actually found the so-called evidence.

Faced with the evidence of several audio talismans, Deng Lixing's expression turned extremely awkward, and for a moment his voice became stammering:

"Gentlemen, I, Deng, did not agree to this matter."

He chuckled awkwardly, "So, I was also coerced and schemed against."

He was met only with the wistful gazes of Fang Shu and the others.

By this time, the cargo truck that had been burning nearby had been completely destroyed.

The black rat let out a soft "hmm" and reached out a hand.

Several black rats that were circling the cargo suddenly burrowed into the charred corpse and bit out a gray bone.

After examining the bone for a moment, the black rat passed it to Fang Shu and the white wolf.

Fang Shu took the bone, rubbed it a few times, and exclaimed in surprise, "This is a magical artifact, the Dry Bone Observation Device?"

Ling Bailang took it and nodded, "It does indeed seem to be the way of the Dry Bone Temple, just like what the immortals in the temple have said."

This thing has appeared.

Fang Shu understood now and knew why the Pan family fleet would attempt to harm three outer disciples at the same time.

It turns out that the Kugu Temple is also involved behind the scenes.

This group is probably just a pawn planted by the Kugu Temple within the Five Organs Temple's territory. They want to take this opportunity to push Deng Lixing and seize his weakness so they can plant another pawn within the temple.

When Deng Lixing saw the gray bones, his expression became even more interesting, clearly indicating that he had also understood something.

The man swallowed hard, his face full of bitterness, and said:
“Three fellow Daoists, if I were to say that I truly do not know this, I would not dare to do so. Do you three believe me?”

His words drew laughter from the group once again.

Fang Shu spoke up: "It's come to this point, Brother Deng, and you're still talking about believing or not believing? Could it be that you really never had any intention of harming anyone?"

He waved his hand, and more Gu worms flew out from his sleeve, circling around Deng Lixing's side.

Deng Lixing's expression changed.

His face instantly transformed into a blue-faced, fanged expression, with numerous figures surrounding him, protecting him.

This person used a divine method to open the netherworld, bringing the ghosts he was raising inside his body to the surface.

"Brother Fang! I have something to tell you, and I hope you will show mercy."

Deng Lixing spoke hastily: "I did indeed have a wicked thought this time. But to be honest, it was someone in the Gu Hall who was very generous and approached me, which almost made me deal with a tiger."

But I didn't agree! If you believe me, I'm willing to go back to the temple with you and confront that person!

Fang Shu raised an eyebrow at these words; he hadn't expected to gain this much.

The white wolf and black rat beside him also froze in place.

But the next moment.

The worms surrounding Deng Lixing then pounced on him and bit him.

Fang Shu calmly replied, "Thank you for telling me, Brother Deng. However, with such a strong ghostly aura emanating from you, I really cannot miss this opportunity."

The voices of Ling Hei and his companion also rang out from the side:

"Thank you, Brother Fang, for saving us from harm."

Without any prompting from Fang Shu, the two attacked simultaneously, each unleashing their own spells.

The white wolf bared its sharp teeth and its hands, like wolf claws, and immediately pounced forward. The black rat, on the other hand, waved its hand, and black light shot out, hissing as it stabbed towards Deng Lixing.

Deng Lixing was surrounded by the three men, his face filled with fear, even though he managed to pull out a near-fifth-level protective talisman from his sleeve in time.

The talisman only lasted for a breath or two before being torn apart by the white wolf.

puff.

Without further ado, his heart was directly ripped out by Ling Bailang, while the ghost possessing his body was burrowed into by Fang Shu's Gu worms and devoured.

Its remaining flesh was surrounded by slave rats under the black rat robe, and its two fleshy legs were gnawed into bones in the blink of an eye.

The man collapsed to the ground, his eyes dark and unfocused. He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

After finishing off this person, Fang Shu and his two companions, who had been chatting and laughing just moments before, immediately stopped, their smiles fading as they stood apart, exchanging wary glances.

Pfft!
Then, the sound of kowtowing broke the silence between the three.

It was the crew and sailors on the ship who, upon witnessing the horrific scene, were so frightened that they trembled and knelt on the deck, kowtowing repeatedly.

Fang Shu looked at the other person thoughtfully, pondering how to deal with him.

Meanwhile, the two men to his left and right, White Wolf and Black Rat, both narrowed their eyes again, their eyes gleaming.

A few more days.

The three sailed out of the middle of the river, but before they reached Guling Town, they parted ways.

Because of this, the Pan family's cargo ship ran aground when it was temporarily docked, and the entire ship sank, its fate unknown.

(End of this chapter)