Thud, thud. Two swift strikes.
The man rolling on the ground was instantly finished off.
After finishing the job, Tang Wen calmly pursued the others.
Although the two men had run quickly, their speed was no match for the dense jungle.
Tang Wen, on the other hand, moved much faster than them.
He sprinted like a nimble leopard, and within a few breaths, the two were within range.
Whoosh, whoosh.
"Ah!"
The stones struck the backs of their knees.
Their legs gave out, and they tumbled to the ground, rolling far away.
"Who sent you here to die? Take me to him!"
Before Tang Wen could finish speaking, the man with the knife suddenly lashed out, killing his companion in one swift motion.
Tang Wen: What kind of move is this?
Before he could react, the man turned, knelt, and held his knife out flat in both hands, completing the series of actions in one fluid motion: "Spare me, sir! I'll take you to him!"
Tang Wen's face remained expressionless, but he thought to himself: You're quite practiced at this.
"Stick the knife into the ground!"
"Yes, yes."
Tang Wen walked over, took out a rope, and tied the man's hands behind his back.
After retrieving his basket, Tang Wen tossed the man's knife into his own basket and made him carry it.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, yes. But, sir, we can't take the usual path."
"Why? Does he have more men with him, or bows? You'd better be honest! I guarantee that if anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to die!"
"No, no, it's just that he has a telescope and can see from a great distance. If we go out like this, he'll probably escape…"
"A telescope? Fine, I'll trust you."
The man had expected to have to explain the telescope further.
But Tang Wen believed him without hesitation. The man opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out.
"Move faster!"
They circled through the woods for a while, and by the time they approached their target, it was already past noon.
"That's him."
Who the hell is this?
Tang Wen looked at the figure sitting by the roadside and couldn't recall ever crossing paths with such a person.
He reached out and tied the guide's legs as well, then cut a piece of his clothing to gag him.
Once everything was done, Tang Wen slowly approached the target.
Thud!
The back of the knife struck the man's neck, and he swayed before collapsing to the ground.
Hmm, this time I didn't use too much force.
This face?
Tang Wen studied the man's face carefully and finally remembered. They had crossed paths once before.
At the blacksmith's shop? Wasn't this the person Li Da Niu had warned him to keep an eye on?
Why is he coming after me?
The man wasn't tall, but the basket beside him was quite large.
Tang Wen tied him up and stuffed him into the basket, carrying him away.
...
Splash!
A bamboo tube of water was splashed onto the hook-nosed man's face, and he slowly woke up, his neck throbbing with pain as if it were about to break.
He reached out to touch his neck but found himself tied up.
"What's going on? Guards, guards! Help! Help! It's… it's you?!"
He saw Tang Wen and realized it was the kid he had sent people to deal with! He began shouting for help even louder.
Tang Wen didn't stop him, his face completely expressionless as he let the man scream.
They were deep in the jungle, far from the camp, near a secluded pond.
The camp guards would never patrol this area.
"It's a misunderstanding, definitely a misunderstanding! It must be those Scavengers framing me!"
"Ha! I haven't even asked yet, and you've already spilled everything?"
The hook-nosed man realized he had misspoken and glared fiercely at Tang Wen, then defiantly closed his eyes and remained silent.
In reality, he was frantically thinking of a way to deceive Tang Wen.
"Sir, untie me, and let me question him!"
A familiar voice rang out. The hook-nosed man opened his eyes and saw the very person he had hired to deal with Tang Wen.
"You wouldn't dare!" His eyes darted around, and suddenly, a plan formed in his mind. "My cousin is the captain of the camp's guards. There's no one he can't find. If you dare lay a hand on me, he won't let you off! Let me go now, and I won't hold it against you..."
He spoke loudly, growing more confident with each word: these two, one a kid and the other a Scavenger, knew nothing. He could definitely fool them!
"Smack!"
"Ah!"
The long blade struck his mouth, turning his words into a scream.
"Damn you! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"
When he finally stopped screaming, Tang Wen pulled out an iron badge he had found on him. "Idiot! If your cousin is so powerful, why do you live at 2nd Street, Number 4? What, doesn't he care about your life?"
2nd Street, Number 4, was just a dozen meters from the city wall, with cheap rent. Those who lived there were the poorest of the poor in the camp.
Only slightly better off than Tang Wen and his sister had been before.
Could a real relative of a guard captain really be that destitute?
Tang Wen didn't believe it.
The hook-nosed man had no retort and gritted his teeth, closing his eyes again.
Tang Wen wasted no more words. He took a dagger and cut a piece of cloth from the man's clothes, soaked it in water, and covered his mouth and nose.
The hook-nosed man snorted, "Don't think I'll say a single word."
Splash, splash, splash...
A bamboo tube of water poured continuously onto the wet cloth. Several more bamboo tubes lay nearby, taken from the hook-nosed man's basket.
"Mmm! Mmm!"
In less than a minute, the man tied to the wooden post arched his body, desperately opening his mouth but unable to draw a single breath of fresh air.
The feeling of suffocation was unbearable and terrifying!
After another half minute, Tang Wen stopped.
To the hook-nosed man, it felt like half a year had passed. He gasped for air, looking at the calm-faced young man before him, his eyes filled with fear: Why did I provoke him! There are so many people in the camp, why did I have to mess with him!
"I have all the time in the world to play with you."
Tang Wen said calmly:
"This is just the beginning. If you don't talk today, it's fine. I can chop off your limbs, hide you in a hole, and come to torture you every day. Don't think what just happened was the worst. Look, there are plenty of ants and rats here. I'll smear sugar on you and let them slowly eat you alive..."
The hook-nosed man's face was filled with terror!
Tang Wen's calm demeanor and the mysterious methods he had just used to make him wish for death convinced him that the young man was fully capable of carrying out his threats.
"If you talk, I'll cripple you, but I won't kill you."
"Really?"
"If I cripple you, could you still threaten me?"
"No, no, I can't threaten you now! I don't have a powerful cousin. I'm lazy and gluttonous. All along, I've been working with those Scavengers to kill people."
Tang Wen stared intently at his expression, listening to every word he said.
As he admitted, his usual method was to target someone and then collaborate with the Scavengers to rob and kill.
However, opportunities to commit murder for profit were rare.
Usually, he slept during the day and waited for chances to steal at night.
Two nights ago, under the starlight, he used a telescope on the roof to observe the surrounding neighbors when he saw Tang Tang cooking and eating meat in her yard.
Thus, he set his sights on Tang Wen.
"Is it really that simple? Just because of a bit of meat?"
"Y-yes, that's it." Afraid that Tang Wen wouldn't believe him, he quickly added, "Once, I saw someone eating rice in their yard while I could only drink soup, so I targeted him."
Faced with such an absurd answer, Tang Wen was momentarily speechless, but he didn't doubt it.
His intuition told him that what this man said was probably true.
Tang Wen didn't want to continue the conversation and strode directly into the woods.
The Scavenger, with his hands tied, limped after him: "Sir, are you just going to let him go? If he escapes, he'll surely seek revenge on you."
Tang Wen glanced at him: "I said I wouldn't kill him, but I didn't say you couldn't."
The Scavenger was stunned: "Understood! I'll take care of it immediately!"
He turned back, picked up a shar
p stone shard, and slit the hook-nosed man's throat.
Thud.
Almost simultaneously, a Flying Knife pierced his back.
Both men fell dead.
Tang Wen stepped forward to confirm they were truly dead, then pulled out the Flying Knife and walked away.