Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

Beyond Xiaoqingshan, further into the mountains, lies a continuous range of peaks.

It's past mid-November, and the ancient trees in the mountains are still lush and verdant.

In the surrounding area of ​​the complex and varied landscape of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, searching for the few rebels and the family members of Minister Fu is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Cao Xiong looked at the gray wolf that kept twitching its nose, and a sense of anticipation flashed through his mind.

Wolves have a more sensitive sense of smell than most dogs, and from the first time he saw the gray wolf, he discovered that its talent for smell was terrifying. Now that it has embarked on the path of the extraordinary, its sense of smell is probably even more terrifying.

The gray wolf gradually increased its speed, with Cao Xiong, along with a group of yamen runners and Cao Man, following closely behind.

After crossing Xiaoqingshan and walking for about ten miles, the gray wolf suddenly stopped, glanced back at Cao Xiong, and then ran quickly to the left front.

"Follow me!" Cao Xiong was overjoyed; the gray wolf must have made a discovery.

Sure enough, the gray wolf eventually stopped beside a ditch.

Upon closer inspection, traces of a fierce battle can be found here.

Cao Xiong stepped forward and squatted down in front of a few weeds stained red with blood.

His fingers twirled the blades of grass; the bloodstains were not dark brown, but a deep red, half-dry on the surface and still moist and sticky inside.

This suggests that the weeds were likely contaminated with blood within two days.

"Grey Wolf, can you determine the direction they went after the fight?"

The gray wolf kept sniffing around after hearing Cao Xiong's words, but ultimately failed to find anything.

Cao Xiong repeatedly simulated the scene of the battle in his mind, and examined the traces left around him. Finally, he locked onto an area and slowly advanced.

After an incense stick had burned, the gray wolf finally made a new discovery.

Two male corpses lay in a patch of undulating, overgrown weeds.

When Cao Xiong rescued Fu Qingfeng, he had fought with those men in black. Just by glancing at them, he knew that both of them were rebels.

He approached the corpse, his nose twitching as he smelled a faint scent of blood.

"There was no putrid smell, and the blood smell was very faint, so it must have been there for about a day."

Cao Xiong looked up and around. It was already dark, and the trees provided some shade.

Cao Xiong's awakening of his divine consciousness was fortunate, but the remaining constables were all ordinary people and couldn't move too fast.

Moreover, since entering Xiaoqingshan, these constables have not rested and their physical strength has been severely depleted.

The two sides arrived at this place almost a day apart. If they continue at this pace, they probably won't be able to catch up with the rebels.

Cao Xiong had no choice but to separate from the others and let Cao Man lead the constables.

He followed the gray wolf alone, taking the lead and quickly leaving the others behind.

Gray Wolf and Cao Xiong moved faster and faster, the two of them constantly traversing through the mountains.

Finally, in the dead of night, the man and the wolf stopped outside a cave.

The entrance to the cave was deliberately covered with branches and weeds, but it still couldn't stop the fire burning inside the cave.

Cao Xiong slowly drew his Evil-Sniffing Blade. If it were the family members and retainers of Minister Fu, they would certainly not dare to light a fire here.

The identity of the person inside the cave is self-evident.

Cao Xiong channeled his inner energy and unleashed the "Leaf-Picking Step," treading on grass and trees like a graceful bird, heading straight for the cave entrance.

"Lightning fast!"

With a swift slash, the branches obscuring the cave entrance were cleaved apart by the longsword.

The interior of the cave was revealed.

Three men in black stood together, each holding a sword, while a goat was roasting over a fire nearby.

"They're soldiers!"

"kill!"

The three men in black reacted immediately upon seeing the black chainmail Cao Xiong was wearing.

"Hmph~"

After Cao Xiong saw that the strongest of the three men in black was only at the Bone Forging Realm, he put away his Evil-Sniffing Longsword.

He clenched his fists and faced the three men.

The sword struck the armor, producing a harsh scraping sound.

Cao Xiong gripped the blades of two of the horizontal swords with both hands and snapped them in two with a sudden burst of force.

"Click~"

As the horizontal blade snapped, Cao Xiong stepped forward, his hands forming claws, and pressed down on the shoulders of the two men in black.

Two screams and the cracking sound of bones dislocating suddenly echoed from inside the cave.

In the blink of an eye, Cao Xiong dislocated the arms of the two men in black who had approached him first.

Cao Xiong moved like the wind, passing the two crippled men, and appeared in front of the last man in black.

This person was also the only Bone Forging Realm martial artist among the three men in black.

The man in black smiled mockingly, his lips curving upwards. "Vacuum Homeland, Unborn Mother."

Then, the man in black vanished into thin air right in front of Cao Xiong.

"Spells?"

Cao Xiong frowned; he couldn't detect any spiritual energy fluctuations in this person.

He drew his Evil-Sniffing Blade, his inner strength surging throughout his body.

"The sea of ​​suffering has run dry."

The longsword, carrying surging internal energy, danced wildly like a whirlwind, its shadows flashing everywhere.

The knife marks on the mountain wall are as deep as half a finger.

"Ah~"

With a scream, the last man in black reappeared.

"You can't hide it this time."

Cao Xiong's voice rang in the black-clad man's ear, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

Before the man in black could react, Cao Xiong's palm had already landed on his dantian.

"Pfft~"

The man in black crashed into the mountainside, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His dantian was destroyed, and his internal energy dissipated like water without a source.

Cao Xiong approached the man in black and took a yellow talisman from his palm.

The golden characters on the talisman were somewhat faded.

Cao Xiong sat by the fire, tore off a goat's leg, and threw it at the gray wolf guarding the cave entrance.

The gray wolf opened its mouth and bit down, a look of enjoyment on its face.

"Tell me, how is the situation of Minister Fu's family?" Cao Xiong pressed his long sword against the chest of the black-clad man whose dantian had been destroyed.

"Heh heh, you lackeys of the imperial court, you think you can get anything out of me? No way."

"Whoosh~"

Cao Xiong flicked his long sword upwards, severing the black-clad man's right arm in one stroke.

"I'll ask you one last time." Cao Xiong's face was somewhat gloomy in the firelight.

The man in black gritted his teeth, trying not to cry out in pain; his eyes were bloodshot.

"I won't tell you, you'll never understand, you can't kill me, the Pure Land of Emptiness will grant me eternal life."

"Enough with the nonsense." Cao Xiong gently pushed forward, and the long knife pierced the black-clad man's chest.

When Cao Xiong drew his long sword, the man in black's body had almost turned into a dried-up corpse.

[Kill a mid-stage Bone Forging Realm martial artist, 0.1 fragments]

A bewitching red light flashed across the surface of the longsword.

The other two men in black swallowed hard. At that moment, Cao Xiong was no different from a demon in their eyes.

"Neither of you are going to say anything?" Cao Xiong tore off a goat leg and took a big bite.

The cave was silent except for the sound of Cao Xiong chewing mutton and the crackling of the fire.

"Speak, speak, General, I am different from them. I have just joined the religion, and I support the imperial court."

One of the men in black knelt on the ground and crawled a few times toward the fire.

Cao Xiong raised an eyebrow. "Join the sect?"