```
"Go, check it out outside."
With a ferocious look in his eye, Brother Hu shoved one of his lackeys, ignoring his resistance, and sent him outside to investigate.
However, no sooner had the lackey vanished under the glow of their flashlights than a scream erupted.
The group watched in horror as the man appeared to be dragged away by some creature in the darkness.
The cellphone he had been clutching tumbled to the ground, followed by a few more shrieks that ended abruptly, and then silence fell once again.
When Brother Hu quickly shone his flashlight toward the spot, he saw a contorted figure lying on the ground.
The man looked like a broken toy, with his head folded onto his backside, his limbs twisted into a pretzel shape, his eyes wide open, filled with intense fear.
Gulp!
A group of tattooed brutes turned pale with fear, some of them unable to hold onto their metal rods and knives, which clattered to the ground.
They had cut people, been to jail; to ordinary folks, they were extremely violent thugs.
But killing people was one thing--aside from Brother Hu, none of them had actual experience with it, let alone had seen such a spectacle!
Even Brother Hu felt his hair standing on end; he had never seen anything this bizarre before.
Now he began to believe that they had encountered a ghost.
Otherwise, how could a living person be twisted into such a strange shape in just a few seconds?
"There really are ghosts, there really are ghosts, wuu, we're done for."
"Call the police, quickly, call the damn police! Let them come save us."
The group of tattooed toughs was on the verge of a mental collapse, and even Brother Hu stopped insisting. Getting caught for a minor offense like stealing some wood would have landed him in jail for a few years at most, but staying here could mean death!
"Be careful, I'll call the police."
Brother Hu turned cowardly and tried to dial 911 himself.
But before the call could go through, something in the darkness was rapidly closing in.
Whoosh!
A nasty gust of wind blew in, and the thousand-hand centipede's grotesque body emerged from the darkness, biting down hard on Brother Hu.
"Monster... Monster!"
The thugs exploded into panic, scattering in terror.
But what they didn't know was that escaping from this abandoned building was already an impossibility.
Several pale human hands detached from the belly of the thousand-hand centipede and stealthily disappeared into the dark, and soon after, a few desperate screams echoed in the silent building, carrying far before everything turned quiet once more.
The thousand-hand centipede made a sizzling noise twice, clutching Brother Hu, who was still struggling in terror.
Behind it, the pale hands dragged the bodies, heading toward the ground floor.
...
On the ground floor of the abandoned building, Su Jie stood in front of several heavy trucks, pulling back the tarpaulins to reveal loads of intact, precious small-leaved rosewood logs.
"Stealing from anyone but me, why do they all have to follow Peng Shiwen's example?"
With a sigh, Su Jie lamented that he genuinely wanted to be a law-abiding citizen, so why did they insist on forcing his hand?
At that moment, the thousand-hand centipede came down from the building, bringing back fourteen bodies, neatly arranged in front of Su Jie. Lastly, it dropped Brother Hu, whom it had been carrying in its mouth, at Su Jie's feet like a prized offering.
"Good boy."
Su Jie scratched the thousand-hand centipede's chin.
The bulky tail of the thousand-hand centipede wagged back and forth like that of a happy puppy.
"Are you human or ghost, human or ghost..."
Brother Hu trembled uncontrollably, glancing at the corpses of his subordinates all around him, his insides quaking with fear.
He had never before encountered such a ruthless individual, and the methods of this person were beyond anything he had heard of.
"Who I am... didn't you investigate that thoroughly enough?"
A hint of a smile played on Su Jie's lips as he stepped out from the shadows into the moonlight, bending down to face him.
"It's you, you are the owner of those materials…"
Upon recognizing Su Jie's face, Brother Hu felt his legs go numb, realizing why Su Jie had come after them, and it was indeed no injustice.
"Now that you know, it will be easier to deal with you. I'm interested in some information about your boss. If you give it up..."
"I won't betray the boss. In the movies, that's how it always goes, say it and you'll kill me to silence me."
Brother Hu wore a determined expression, and it almost made Su Jie laugh.
"I didn't see you as the tough guy type. Good, I do have some expertise in making people talk. I hope you don't disappoint me."
Trying to play the hero in front of Su Jie, Brother Hu clearly didn't know the punitive measures of a Demon Cultivator.
Ten minutes later...
```
"I've said everything I could, please, just give me a quick death."
The previously unyielding Brother Hu lay on the ground, consumed by despair and fear, wishing for nothing but death.
"Really, not even ten minutes endured. In the next life, remember to be a good person like me."
Su Jie snapped his fingers.
You call yourself a good person, demons aren't as bad as you...
This thought flashed through Brother Hu's mind. Then his consciousness was engulfed as swarms of Yin Fire Blood Bees covered his entire body, burrowing into him from his mouth and nose.
Su Jie then opened the ancient mirror he had brought with him, tossing the corpse and the small-leaved red sandalwood into it, effectively erasing all traces of the scene.
Having put everything in order, Su Jie vanished into the night.
He was off to find the real mastermind; the ones he'd killed were merely pawns.
...
"What did you say, Ah Hu isn't answering his phone, what about Lei Zi and the others?"
In a luxurious villa in Linping City, Cui Yunchun, dressed in pajamas and listening to Ma Lanfei's report, stood up abruptly.
"Chairman Cui, you told me to call Ah Hu every three hours. I did as you instructed, but half an hour ago, no one answered his phone, and nobody responded to Lei Zi and the others either."
Ma Lanfei spoke anxiously, as it wasn't yet midnight and her calls had gone unanswered, prompting her to come and report immediately.
"Could it be that Ah Hu and the rest got greedy and decided to keep the merchandise for themselves..."
Ma Lanfei hesitated before venturing a guess.
"Impossible, I raised Ah Hu from an orphan, he's loyal to me. Something's definitely happened to them. Make inquiries immediately, and focus on this Su Jie fellow."
Cui Yunchun was livid, his eyes fierce as if to devour someone.
Startled, Ma Lanfei was about to make a call when suddenly a voice echoed in the room.
"Boss Cui, so eager to find me, huh!"
The voice came from outside the door, startling both occupants of the bedroom.
"Who are you, wait, Mr. Su, you are Mr. Su, aren't you?"
Cui Yunchun was initially taken aback but then quickly came to a realization.
"I admit I was wrong in this matter, and I am willing to apologize. I'll pay one hundred million yuan for your losses, how about that? I can add more if it's not enough."
True to his experience in surviving many upheavals, Cui Yunchun was quick to concede.
If Su Jie could enter his home silently, it meant his life was under threat.
"One hundred million yuan is a big sum, but it's too late to talk about this now."
With a cold chuckle, footsteps approached from outside the bedroom. As the door opened, a figure stood in the moonlight, sending chills down the spine.
Cui Yunchun and Ma Lanfei peered closely, and simultaneously shouted, "Ah Hu!"
The man at the door was their associate, Ah Hu.
"How are you here, did you actually betray me? You've got some nerve."
Cui Yunchun seemed to realize something, his mix of shock and anger fixed on Ah Hu.
"Brother Hu, how could you do this? Chairman Cui had been so good to you, yet you conspire with outsiders to betray us."
Ma Lanfei was equally furious, her heart also secretly relieved.
After so many years of companionship, at least Brother Hu wouldn't kill her, she hoped.
However, facing Cui Yunchun's rage, Ah Hu responded strangely, lifting his arms stiffly, his eyes filled with despair:
"Save me, Mr. Cui, save me..."
Before he could finish his plea, Ah Hu's face contorted, his skin twitched as if something was wriggling underneath, and he spoke in a hoarse, stiff voice: "Tch, still far from perfect, a mere human can't maintain control. Well then, Boss Cui, you seem to like setting fires, so I'll offer you a fire in return. An eye for an eye, fair, isn't it?"
It was only then that the two realized something was very wrong with Ah Hu, as if he was under someone's control.
Unaware of Gu Masters, Cui Yunchun and Ma Lanfei didn't understand that this was a technique resulting from the application of spiritual power by a Gu Master, a skill that Su Jie had recently mastered while practicing the Insect Control Technique.
Due to Su Jie's insufficient strength, coupled with inherent flaws in the technique, such as time and distance limits, similar to signal fluctuations, sometimes the victims would break free from control, just as had happened moments ago.
"Mr. Su, we can still talk, name your price."
Feeling utterly uneasy, Cui Yunchun shouted out in panic, but this time Ah Hu did not respond. His flesh split and Yin Fire Blood Bees emerged, swarming towards the two.
The gory and terrifying scene nearly sent both into shock; pleas for mercy came too late.
Inside the bedroom, tiny fires started to burn, igniting a massive blaze courtesy of the Yin Fire Blood Bees from Tianyuan World.
Standing hundreds of meters away atop a tree, Su Jie surveyed the fiery blaze engulfing the building.
"Not bad at all, the flames are spectacular; no wonder villains love arson after murder, it really is quite satisfying."
A smile lingered on Su Jie's face as he cast one last look at the sky-high flames and then turned away from the place.
"Out for two hours, it's time to rest, tonight I can finally get some good sleep."