Han Zhao quickly found the west wing.
His figure was like an agile black cat as he silently passed through the roof, easily avoiding the surrounding bandits.
With the enhanced hearing of the Life Nurturing Technique, Han Zhao heard a voice in the west wing.
Han Zhao was speechless.
"You're still so energetic despite being injured?!"
He waited patiently. Now was not the best time to strike.
Two women walked out of the room. One of them was still dressed as a heroine with a long sword at her waist.
Han Zhao circulated his true qi to strengthen his hearing and discovered that the other party's heartbeat was a little irregular and her breathing was chaotic.
This was a sign that her blood qi had been greatly damaged, she was indeed heavily injured.
"Could it be a supplementary cultivation method?" Han Zhao thought to himself.
Alcoholism and indulgence were taboo for martial artists, especially when they were injured.
The other party shouldn't be so stupid. Clearly, she had practiced the same evil technique as Kuai Wei, who he had killed back then.
Got it!
Han Zhao suddenly came up with a plan.
After all, this was his first time facing a Blood Tempering martial artist. Even if the other party was seriously injured, he did not know if they had hidden a trump card.
Now that he was in the dark and the enemy was in the light, he could take advantage of this.
Thinking of this, Han Zhao waited for the two girls to leave the courtyard and quietly followed behind them. Then, he hid behind a rockery and waited quietly.
A few minutes later, a woman in coarse linen clothes slowly walked over.
Judging from her steps and her breathing, she was clearly an ordinary person without any martial arts foundation.
When she passed by the rockery, Han Zhao suddenly jumped out, covered her mouth, and dragged her behind the rockery.
He grabbed the woman's pulse and whispered, "If you don't make a sound, I won't kill you. Do you understand?"
In order to prevent a wrong kill, he had to go through the process.
The woman in the sackcloth nodded repeatedly.
"Where are you from? Why are you at the Flying Dragon Stockade?" Han Zhao asked in a low voice and placed his hand on the woman's throat.
The woman was originally terrified, but when she looked at the masked man's eyes that were as bright as the sea of stars and heard his hoarse and low voice, she suddenly calmed down a lot. She whispered, "I was originally from Chu Country. Because of the drought and plague, my family died. Later, I fled here and was captured by the Flying Dragon Stockade…"
Han Zhao frowned slightly. From the woman's words, she seemed to be from a scholarly family and indeed seemed to have been abducted. He said, "Do me a favor and I'll bring you out of this place. How about that?"
"I'm willing to help you get rid of the thieves, but I'm afraid I'll be a burden to you. After this is done, you should leave on your own." The woman in linen clothes was a little tempted, but in the end, she shook her head.
Han Zhao was stunned and fell silent. After a while, he said, "In that case, one day, when I destroy the Flying Dragon Stockade, I'll save you and the others."
"Thank you, Young Hero," the woman in sackcloth said.
"I'm sorry." Han Zhao nodded and knocked the woman out with a hand chop. Then, he took off her coat and changed out of his night clothes.
Crack, crack!
With a slight sound of bones rubbing against each other, Han Zhao's 1.7-meter-tall body gradually shortened to about 1.6-meter-tall.
His original facial features were also changing. In the end, he was about 60 to 70% similar to the woman in linen clothes, but his appearance was more gentle and more beautiful.
He took off his Extraction Saber and hid it behind the rockery.
Then, he crumpled the night suit into a ball and stuffed it into his chest.
"Ahem…" Han Zhao choked.
[If you dress as a woman, there should be a market for you. It's a good way to earn money.]
The system notification appeared at the wrong time.
Han Zhao rolled his eyes and sashayed out of the rockery towards the west wing.
When he was about to reach the door, he picked up some of the Breeze Powder powder that he had prepared and stuffed it deep into his nostrils. As long as he breathed hard, he would be able to breathe the Breeze Powder into his nose.
He had just reached the door of the main room when an impatient voice came from inside the room.
"Why are you so slow? Come in quickly!"
"Yes, sir~" Han Zhao's gentle voice sounded as she gently pushed open the door.
A young man in black was leaning against the bed. He had a dignified appearance, but the lewdness between his brows ruined his overall temperament.
"Oh? A heroine chef? Quite creative!" The young man was stunned. He sized up Han Zhao's figure and looked at her coquettish expression. It was obvious that she was not a good woman. He smiled and said, "Are you new? Or are you the courtesan of the Drunken Moon Pavilion?"
"I am Hongxiu." Han Zhao curtsied.
The young man hooked his finger at 'her' and patted the bed. "Hurry up and come up."
[The other party looks anxious, but he's actually wary of you.]
The system notification appeared. Han Zhao noticed that the young man's gaze had stopped on the sword at his waist.
He walked forward and unbuckled the sword at his waist. Holding the hilt, he stabbed at the young man's chest and said in a coquettish voice, "Pervert, face my sword!"
The young man was shocked. He realized that Han Zhao's saber was sheathed. His movements were light and soft.
The corners of his mouth curled up. He reached out and grabbed the bottom of the scabbard. He laughed evilly. "Sabers are used to cut people. Swords and spears are used to stab! Let me teach you how to use swords first, then let you recognize spears!"
As he spoke, the young man pulled the saber out of the scabbard and tried to snatch it from Han Zhao's hand.
Whoosh!
A clear sword cry sounded. The terrifying sense of danger made the young man's hair stand on end, but it was already too late.
A black light flashed in front of him.
Gulp~
The young man's head rolled onto the bed, and he stopped holding the scabbard in his hand.
"Huh? Where's my head?!" Looking at the headless body leaning against the bed, the young man suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief.
In the next second, Han Zhao's sword pierced through his glabella. The sword turned and completely destroyed his consciousness.
"Is this the vitality of a Blood Tempering martial artist?!" Han Zhao looked surprised as he sheathed his sword.
He did not expect that even after being beheaded, the other party did not die immediately. He actually still had consciousness.
If he hadn't reacted quickly, it would have been troublesome if the other party screamed.
This time, in order to save the sword qi nurtured in the Afterlife Sword, he even wore female clothes.
It was a close call after all.
"Hmm?"
"There's poison in the blood?!"
The pungent smell of blood lingered at the tip of his nose, making Han Zhao suddenly feel dizzy and his body numb.
He hurriedly inhaled the Breeze Powder into his nose, and a foul smell immediately rushed to the top of his head.
Immediately after, a cooling aura appeared. His consciousness quickly recovered, and his body no longer felt numb.
He skillfully took out a black cloth and wrapped the young man's head in a few more layers. Then, he began to search the corpse.
Blood Spirit Policy, Hundred Poison Palm, and the Luan Phoenix Harmony Technique.
Han Zhao glanced at it and kept the secret manual and banknotes.
Then, he searched the room to see if there was anything else good. In the end, he found a half-meter-tall iron cage in a corner against the wall. There was a colorful bird locked inside.
The bird's head and nape were dark brown. Its body feathers were brownish-yellow with various stripes. The feathers on its entire body contrasted with each other. It was red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple. It was very eye-catching.
At this moment, the bird was lying motionless in the cage. It was unknown if it was dead or alive.
"What bird is this?!"
Han Zhao was stunned.
A system notification appeared.
[65% probability of being an unknown bird demon; 34% probability of being a red-bellied rooster; 1% probability of being a descendant of a phoenix with a thin bloodline. After nurturing it for 10,000 years, there's a chance of its bloodline returning to its ancestral roots and turning into a spirit beast.]
"Phoenix? Any bird is considered a descendant of a phoenix, right?"
"10,000 years of cultivation? By then, the grass on my grave is probably 100 feet long!"
Han Zhao was speechless, but he didn't mind. He carried the cage and left the main room.
This chicken looked good.
Whether it was stewed and eaten or sold, it was not a loss.
He returned to the rockery and retrieved the Extraction Saber. Then, he took off his female clothes and changed into his night clothes to wake the woman up.
"I've already killed the evil person inside. Go to the main house now and pretend that you just found out. This matter has nothing to do with you, understand?" Han Zhao handed the linen clothes to the woman.
"Thank you, Young Hero." The woman took the clothes and hesitated. "Young Hero, can you leave your name? I want to…"
"My name is Song Que. Go." Han Zhao nodded.
The head of this heretic Blood Tempering martial artist was worth 500 taels of silver. He could not give up. Moreover, his battle results of killing a Blood Tempering martial artist could not be hidden. Song Que's name would definitely spread nearby, so it did not matter if he said it.
"Young Hero, see you again." The woman walked towards the main house.
Seeing that she really had no intention of making a fuss, Han Zhao blended into the night and rushed in the opposite direction.
After a while, a scream resounded through the night sky.
This commotion quickly attracted the attention of the bandits in the village. A large number of bandits woke up from their sleep and rushed toward the residence with torches.
Looking at the bandits who were lured away, Han Zhao took the opportunity to escape and leave the village.
He stood in the bushes not far from the village and watched the commotion inside.
"Squawk~"
After Han Zhao sped away, the rooster in the cage was shaken awake and made a sound.
"Shut up," Han Zhao said in a low voice.
"Squawk!" There seemed to be anger in the rooster's voice.
"Alright, alright! I'll get you something to eat later."
"Squawk!"
"Make another sound and I'll stew you!"
"..."
"Can't I deal with a feathered beast like you?!" Han Zhao chuckled and shook the cage hard, but the rooster inside didn't dare to make a sound.
He took a deep look at the village not far away and muttered, "The next time I come, there's no need to be so secretive."
With that, he turned around and left, taking advantage of the night to go down the mountain.