"Who are you anyway? You're not afraid of the guards when you start fighting in the market!"
Yan Mengchu got anxious and shouted.
Zhou Shu said nothing, calculated the time, and threw out the talismans one by one.
In this alley, he set up a simple soundproof magic circle. In the short term, there shouldn't be any problem, but it's hard to say what will happen in the long term, so he had to fight quickly.
He knew that with Yan Mengchu's spiritual power at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm, he couldn't hold out for long against the mid-grade thunderstorm talisman.
The lightning flashed continuously, never stopping.
Yan Mengchu, who was cowering in the shield, gradually turned pale and bloodless. Finally, he couldn't help but beg, "I'll give you the order from the head of the family, and let me go, okay?"
Zhou Shu didn't stop after hearing his words, and continued to do it again and again.
Only after noticing beads of sweat the size of soybeans on Yan Mengchu's forehead did he slow his pace slightly, stopping the Green Vine Talisman and saying calmly, "It looks like one or two more Thunderstorm Talismans will completely destroy your shield."
Yan Mengchu's heart was shaken, his already weak spiritual power becoming even more unstable, and the luster of his shield dimmed even further.
"I'll give you the Patriarch's Order, please let me go, please."
Facing death, he had no other thoughts and bent over to beg.
Zhou Shu indifferently extended a hand, "Throw the Patriarch's Order over here."
"Are you letting me go?"
He was answered by another Thunderstorm Talisman, and the lightning that had disappeared immediately exploded again.
"Ah!"
Yan Mengchu screamed miserably, his gradually thinning shield finally unable to withstand the impact. Several bolts of lightning pierced through it, slamming hard into his back.
A pungent smell of burning wafted into his nose.
"Here, here, don't use any more talismans."
Without hesitation, he threw the Patriarch's Order.
Zhou Shu reached out to take it, and after a slight probe of his spiritual power, he knew it was real, so he put it away immediately. Immediately, he raised his hand, and the green vine talisman flew out, binding Yan Mengchu tightly.
"What are you going to do?"
Yan Mengchu could no longer hold on, and fell to the ground, his face as pale as paper, staring at Zhou Shu in extreme horror.
Zhou Shu took a few steps closer, half-crouched and looked at him, with a hint of coldness in his eyes, "I want to know how you and Liuchu Sect got together, and what is your purpose?"
Yan Mengchu looked at Zhou Shu's eyes, and his heart suddenly turned cold. He quickly told the whole story, not daring to hide anything.
After hearing his words, Zhou Shu nodded thoughtfully, "It's really for the Talisman Master... Liuchu Sect..."
A cold light flashed in his eyes, and murderous intent was hidden.
"I've told you everything, can you let me go?"
Yan Mengchu huddled together, glancing at Zhou Shu from time to time.
He deliberately slowed his speech, stalling for time. Finally, he'd recovered a bit of his spiritual energy, waiting for the Green Vine Talisman to wear off before bursting forth and escaping.
But Zhou Shu knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Want to leave?"
With a snap, another talisman flew out, binding him once again.
"Damn it, how come you have so many talismans, and only mid-grade ones at that?"
Yan Mengchu was furious at having his thoughts exposed, but then, as if realizing something, he exclaimed in horror, "Could it be that you're the talisman master?"
Zhou Shu, masked within, shook his head unconsciously. "By the way, let me ask you a question. After I release you, where are you going?"
"What are you going to do? Don't you just want the Patriarch's order? Don't, don't come over here!"
Yan Mengchu stared at Zhou Shu intently. As if sensing a premonition, his bound body suddenly twisted violently, like a fish struggling on a chopping block.
Zhou Shu gave him a cold look, thrusting his longsword forward, piercing Yan Mengchu's chest.
Yan Mengchu let out a cry of "Ah!" and instantly fell silent.
Zhou Shu searched for a moment and then retrieved a Fire Bird Talisman. Yan Mengchu was reduced to ash in the flames, vanishing into thin air.
He put away the formation, looked at the blue-shirted guards who were patrolling, took off his mask, and hurried away as if nothing had happened.
Returning to his residence, Zhou Shu eagerly lay down. He was exhausted, with no strength left.
Killing Yan Mengchu and seizing the Patriarch's decree had been meticulously planned, exploiting Yan Mengchu's weaknesses to achieve success. The process seemed effortless, but the execution was incredibly exhausting.
He had just exhausted his spiritual energy, primarily due to the Shadow Escape Technique. The subsequent use of various talismans wasn't a big deal,
as talismans consumed far less energy than incantations. Killing Yan Mengchu was his preconceived plan.
Even if Yan Mengchu simply offered to hand over the Patriarch's decree, he would have found a way to kill him.
For both himself and the Yan family, Yan Mengchu must die.
Yan Yue could bear the thought of this source of trouble, allowing him to bring disaster upon himself again and again. But Zhou Shu didn't want that.
The Yan family's interests were now Zhou Shu's own. He didn't want to see any hidden dangers arise in the Yan family shop. What Yan Yue refused to do, he was the only one to do.
Cut it off when necessary; root it out.
After a few hours of rest, Zhou Shu's spiritual power recovered.
He took stock of his haul, which was quite encouraging.
He couldn't help but exclaim, "I didn't expect Yan Mengchu to have so many spirit stones! Nearly a thousand mid-grade spirit stones. What a steal!"
The Liuchu Sect not only gave Yan Mengchu the Patriarch Order but also a large amount of spirit stones, allowing him to purchase the surrounding land in the Yan family's name after taking over the shop. Yan Mengchu didn't dare use these spirit stones, stacking them neatly in his storage bag. But now, they were all Zhou Shu's.
Compared to the spirit stones, the other items were pitifully few. Aside from the low-grade longsword magic weapon, there were only a few common talismans and a copy of the Yan family's mental skills.
"With so many spirit stones, maybe I should move to a new place."
He had considered this long ago. It was fine to remain unnoticed in the shantytown, but if someone were to target him, it would be a problem. For example, Hua Ruoan, now that he knew Zhou Shu had someone behind him, followed the rules and refrained from probing him. But what if he knew Zhou Shu didn't have anyone behind him?
The pavilion area west of the market town, while expensive, was also much safer.
With this unexpected windfall, it was time to leave.
He made up his mind and quickly left.
After wandering around the market town for a while and passing through the maze, Zhou Shu entered the Yan family shop.
Yan Yue was standing in the front hall, looking out the door with a wary expression. The shop had many more jade pillars exposed on the ground, clearly arranged with various formations.
This situation had lasted for five or six days, and she didn't dare to relax at all, fearing that Yan Mengchu would come to cause trouble again.
Shopkeeper Zhang quickly approached and whispered, "Miss, someone is coming from the back hall."
Yan Yue's heart trembled slightly, and her body trembled involuntarily. The moment had finally arrived.
Is it finally here? Is it good news or bad news?... It's going to be difficult to snatch the Patriarch's Order from Yan Mengchu. Even she can't say she's sure, let alone Zhou Shu, who's at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. And Yan Mengchu has people from the Six Outer Sect with him. It's going to be very difficult, right?...
"Miss?"
Shopkeeper Zhang couldn't help but remind Yan Yue, who was lost in thought.
"Ah, I'm coming."
With an uneasy mood, she walked into the secret room, one step at a time, slowly and carefully.