Wang Baitong spurred his horse on at full speed, fearing that Iron Leg would escape too quickly and disappear from sight. He didn't even bother to have dinner and rode non-stop all the way until daybreak the next morning.
By then, the horse was already foaming at the mouth. Only then did he stop to take a break at a roadside inn. Just as he had tied up the horse, out of the corner of his eye, Wang Baitong caught sight of a tall and thin Taoist priest walking out of the inn. The priest had an unusually long horse-like face.
Wang Baitong was overjoyed. This Taoist priest was none other than Iron Leg. He saw that the priest was carrying a parcel on his back, and from within the parcel peeked the tender cheek of a baby. The baby had its index finger in its mouth, eyes closed, sucking away contentedly.
With a shout of "Aha!", Wang Baitong pulled out his Measuring Mountain Ruler, held it behind his back, and walked straight towards Iron Leg, bumping right into him.
Iron Leg glared at him and cursed, "Fatso, are you blind while walking?"
Wang Baitong stuck out his neck and retorted, "What? You got a problem with that?"
Iron Leg took a closer look and cursed again, "Damn it, it's you!"
Wang Baitong cursed back, "Damn it, it's your grandpa here! What, don't you recognize me anymore?" And with that, he swung the Measuring Mountain Ruler towards Iron Leg's face.
Iron Leg's steel knife, which he had used to stab Old Yan that day, was no longer in his hand. So at the moment, he could only dodge to the left and right.
It turned out that after snatching the baby that day, Iron Leg hurried down the mountain. After walking for dozens of miles without stopping, the baby in his arms started crying. So he had to enter a village by the roadside and found a woman who had just given birth to a child. After the baby had a few sips of milk, it finally stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep.
Iron Leg then tied the baby to his back and continued on his way. He knew that this baby was Tang Zhen's. He planned to take the baby back to the Tiyun Valley in Yandang Mountain, the stronghold of the Mountain Moving Sect, so that he could have an explanation to the old master. In the future, he could use the baby as a bargaining chip. He was feeling quite smug about it when suddenly, he felt a pain on the back of his left hand. When he lifted his hand, he saw that there was a thin black line on the back of his left hand, which was slowly creeping up along the blood vessels.
Iron Leg was terrified. He quickly slowed down his pace. Strangely enough, when he slowed down, the black line climbed slowly, but when he sped up, the black line would quickly crawl upwards.
Iron Leg felt his chest getting tighter and tighter. He knew something was wrong. He must have been poisoned in the underground ancient tower's burial chamber. He just didn't know whether it was the two zombies or the Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan who had poisoned him. It seemed that he couldn't run anymore. If he ran again, the blood circulation would accelerate and the poison would take effect without a cure. So he hurriedly returned to the nearby village and bought a horse from the villagers. There were very few horses in the small village. After searching for a long time, he finally found an old horse.
The old horse was slow-paced and ran very slowly. Iron Leg had been riding non-stop all night without sleep. It was not until daybreak that he got off the horse to take a break at the roadside inn.
Just after having breakfast and getting ready to set off, by sheer coincidence, he ran into Wang Baitong who was looking for him. Meeting on a narrow path, Iron Leg secretly thought it was bad. He was still injured and poisoned, his martial arts skills were reduced by eighty percent, and he didn't have a handy weapon in his hand. Under the torrential onslaught of Wang Baitong's two Measuring Mountain Rulers, he could only retreat step by step.
Wang Baitong pressed on relentlessly. Iron Leg retreated to the front of the eating shed built in front of the inn. He grabbed a bench from the ground and used it as a weapon, suddenly smashing it towards Wang Baitong's head.
The diners in the inn had already moved aside, fearing that they would be hurt by these two unruly guests.
Seeing the bench swung by Iron Leg with great force and a gust of wind, Wang Baitong didn't dare to confront it head-on. With a tiger-like leap, he jumped aside.
Seeing that his blow missed and the bench flew out of his hand, Iron Leg immediately flashed his body backwards. After taking a few strides, he reached the horse post where Wang Baitong had tied his horse. He untied the reins and spurred the horse on at full speed.
The baby on Iron Leg's back was awakened by this fierce struggle and started crying loudly.
After avoiding the bench, when Wang Baitong went to chase after him again, Iron Leg had already galloped dozens of yards away. Wang Baitong chased with all his might, but he was short and had short legs. How could he catch up with the fine horse stolen by the Five Heroes of Southern Sichuan? In a short while, Iron Leg had disappeared without a trace, and faintly, the crying of the baby could still be heard in the distance.
Wang Baitong was so tired that he was panting heavily. After chasing for a while, he stopped and started cursing loudly.