Chapter 64: A Mere Minor Agricultural Official Dares to Seize Treasure?

Straw men climb mountains using their own feet, while Zhao Xing uses straw men to climb the mountain.

He crafted a rattan chair and secured it to both sides with two bamboo poles.

Then, two divine-traveling straw men made of green vines carried the chair forward.

The remaining straw men were dispersed in the front and rear.

The furthest straw man was sent out three miles, which was also the limit of Zhao Xing's control.

Although the mountain path was steep, the three-mile control limit was measured in a straight line, so it was more than enough.

Once any disturbance occurred, Zhao Xing would know in advance.

"The straw man technique is truly useful," Zhao Xing could not help exclaiming as he sat in the chair.

The divine-traveling straw men walked the mountain path as if it were flat ground, moving even faster than he could on his own.

"I must research the divine-traveling straw men more in the future. By then, dashing a hundred miles while consuming only a single straw man will save both time and effort."

Additionally, among the group of straw men, there were four special ones. Each of these four was equipped with two first-tier East Lake pearls.

This was the sixth straw man technique he had learned just two days ago: the "scouting straw man."

It granted Zhao Xing a secondary perspective.

For the rest of the straw men, Zhao Xing only had a vague sensing connection, but these four allowed him to see with absolute clarity.

The spell was of a low rank, merely at the first transformation level, yet it was already sufficient to see a great distance.

After climbing for barely a quarter of an hour, Zhao Xing discovered other climbers.

Through the perspective of a scouting straw man, he spotted four climbers in a pine grove to his front-left, violently besieging two others.

"Are they robbing people?"

Zhao Xing instantly perked up.

He immediately signaled the straw men to close in toward the front-left.

...........

"Qin Feng, the two of us are willing to give up this low-grade spiritual herb, so why must you push us to such extremes?" One of the tall martial artists, wielding a sabre and wearing soft armor, faced the onslaught of two opponents while desperately parrying, roaring in a low voice.

"Zhou刚, only now do you think of begging for mercy?" The cold youth, also wielding a sabre, unleashed a flurry of blade lights as he pressed the attack. "Hmph, too much time has passed. Last time when we were on night guard duty at the city gate, my brother-in-law merely had a drink, yet you and Fang Jie insisted on detaining him. Where was your leniency when I begged you back then?"

"Bastard, was your brother-in-law just 'having a drink'? He was attempting to breach the checkpoint! At the time, the prefecture was strictly cracking down on the mysterious heavenly demons, and the regulations were absolute. How could you blame Fang Jie and me?" Zhou刚 shouted in fury.

"Cut the crap! I couldn't stand the two of you back when I was in the Lake City Martial Directorate! Now you're contesting treasures with me—old grudges and new grievances will be settled together!" Qin Feng launched a continuous flurry of attacks, his sword techniques growing increasingly fierce.

The scouting straw man not far away rolled its eyes, taking in every detail of the scene.

As for the sounds of their combat, they did not escape Zhao Xing's ears either, as a gentle breeze carried the voices straight to him.

"Lake City Martial Directorate? Clerks from the neighboring county?" Zhao Xing stroked his chin. Scanning them from afar with the Five Elements Observation technique, he instantly judged that their realms were all around the fifth or sixth rank of Qi Gathering.

Their moves were quite similar, suggesting they had been taught by the same master. However, with a four-against-two advantage, the larger group had clearly gained the upper hand.

It seemed this conflict wasn't just about the treasure, though that was to be expected.

Under the same roof, friction was inevitable. Even blood relatives experienced this, let alone colleagues.

Bound by etiquette and facing each other day after day in the outside world, things were different here. With the Carefree Monument present, whatever happened would be forgotten once they descended the mountain, making conflict erupt easily.

Not to mention, there was a treasure right before their eyes.

"Based on my sensing, that should be a low-grade spiritual herb." Zhao Xing looked toward a certain direction. In that pine grove lay a rotting log about two arm-spans in circumference.

Atop the end of the rotting log grew a gray lucid ganoderma, its edges tinged with a ring of purple. When Zhao Xing looked at it, his heartbeat quickened slightly.

After evaluating the combat situation, Zhao Xing finally reached a conclusion: this was entirely doable!

"Go, quietly steal that ganoderma over."

Zhao Xing instructed two binding straw men to creep forward.

The Mighty Vajra was far too conspicuous. Even though Zhao Xing had specifically draped a layer of grass-clothing over them, they were still unsuited for such stealthy tasks.

The binding straw men were different; their upper limbs could extend up to twenty meters! This meant they didn't need to get too close to stealthily harvest the ganoderma.

The two binding straw men moved on tiptoe, concealing themselves as they advanced among the pine trees.

Crafted from green vines, the color of the binding straw men blended seamlessly with the surrounding environment, making them extremely difficult to spot unless closely inspected.

Furthermore, these two factions were still locked in combat, paying no attention to any approaching figures.

"Rustle~"

The binding straw men crouched down behind a pine tree twenty meters away from the rotting log.

The vines slowly extended like spirit snakes, advancing along the ground and quickly reaching beneath the ganoderma.

After wrapping around it twice and applying a gentle force, the basin-sized ganoderma was plucked instantly.

The vines slowly retracted, returning to the bodies of the binding straw men.

Just as success was within reach, unexpectedly, the two factions of the Lake City Martial Directorate fighting nearby had already decided the victor.

Zhou刚's sabre had been knocked flying, blood gushing from his arm down to the bone, while his companion Fang Jie had his thigh slashed, rendering him completely incapacitated.

Qin Feng promptly halted his attacks, looking down at the two of them from above with a sense of immense gratification.

"Qin Feng, if you have any spine, just kill us!"

"Kill you? Hmph, I'm not stupid; why would I commit such a blunder?" Qin Feng sneered as he tied them up. "I should actually thank the two of you for finding this ganoderma... Huh?"

Qin Feng's expression suddenly shifted: "Where is my ganoderma?!"

To his shock, the ganoderma on the original rotting log had vanished completely!

"Someone is here!"

Qin Feng's accomplice sensed something was amiss, looking all around until his sharp eyes spotted a straw man turning tail and fleeing.

"Scoundrel! Who dares snatch food from the tiger's mouth!" Qin Feng was incandescent with rage, too busy to punish Fang Jie and Zhou刚 as all four immediately gave chase.

"How utterly useless, losing so quickly. Weren't they taught by the same master and unable to break each other's moves? At least hold out a bit longer." Zhao Xing had originally wanted to avoid combat and act as a hidden spectator, but he hadn't expected to be discovered after all.

The binding straw men could not outrun martial artists at the fifth or sixth rank of Qi Gathering. Seeing this, Zhao Xing dropped all pretense and laid his cards on the table.

"Everyone, please reconsider before deciding whether to give chase."

His voice traveled across on a gust of wind.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

Simultaneously, more than a dozen straw men materialized within the pine grove, blocking the path of Qin Feng and his three companions.

"Hm?" Qin Feng was startled and came to an abrupt halt.

Upon closer inspection, however, they were merely straw men, which instantly ignited his wrath and embarrassment.

Damn it, he had thought they were surrounded by a dozen people, only to realize it was just a Sannong's straw man technique.

"Brothers, go after the thief. I'll take care of these straw men!"

Seeing they were only straw men, the other three no longer hesitated and immediately bolted after the ganoderma-stealing straw man, leaving Qin Feng behind to deal with the puppets.

"I suggest you don't do that," the unfamiliar voice drifted on the wind once more.

Qin Feng pointed his sabre forward and said with disdain, "Still putting on a front? Mere straw men think they can bluff me? A lowly Sannong actually trying to snatch food from martial artists' hands? Ridiculous!"