"You..." Chen Quanxu visibly hesitated upon hearing that, clearly not approving of such a battle plan.
In the end, he let out a sigh. "You're the cautious one, after all. Kill those two. As for the other three, I'll use some hallucination on them."
It wasn't that Wu Youren was forcing him; rather, Chen Quanxu had explained earlier how he had taken out Namuzha.
At the time, he hadn't taken part directly in combat either, merely employing some hallucinatory arts.
The result was that Namuzha died two kilometers away, and the battle traces clearly indicated that he had genuinely perished in a barbarian's self-detonation.
Yet Chen Quanxu's claim was, "If I hadn't interfered with his senses, how could a broken bone have slit his throat?"
The youth hadn't shown the slightest skepticism toward that explanation, so it would hardly be appropriate for Chen Quanxu to hold back now.
The two apprentice knights on watch were in poor shape: one was dozing off, while the other wasn't any more alert.
It was indeed a two-man guard, but both assumed their partner would stay vigilant, and the Guizu activity here... really wasn't very severe.
Before they knew it, both lost consciousness, without even feeling a chill on their necks.
Carrying the two corpses, Wu Youren walked five hundred meters away, raised his hands, and formed a few gestures. The soil on the ground began to slowly heave and surge.
"Earth magic," the small snake observed, not showing much surprise this time.
Pausing, it began to nitpick instead. "Feels a bit lacking, and the energy doesn't look much like an ability master's either."
"I'm impersonating an ability master anyway," the youth chuckled softly. "Something that resembles one yet isn't will give them a real headache."
As the two spoke, the churning soil swallowed up the two corpses.
The youth didn't bury the corpses very deeply—only around seven or eight meters. Knight-level Guizu were unlikely to reach down and mutate them.
However, that wasn't the fundamental reason; Wu Youren had no reason to show any courtesy or care toward the people of Liang.
The primary reason was: aside from ability masters, very few martial artists would be bored enough to dig such a deep hole.
The three inside the shelter were still sound asleep, completely oblivious to what was happening outside.
Chen Quanxu warned him, "You've got ten to fifteen minutes left, or it'll be hard to make it back before dawn!"
"I might run over... then so be it," Wu Youren decided. "Senior, don't rush me. I have my own rhythm."
"If you aren't in a hurry, why should I be?" The small snake indicated that its emotions were perfectly stable.
Treading softly, the youth made his way to the observation post where Salim was and struck silently, subduing the night watchman who was nodding off.
This man was around thirty years old, yet not only was he merely an apprentice knight, his vigilance on night watch was truly abysmal.
Wu Youren truly understood now why Chen Quanxu looked down on these people with such disdain!
They really were only good at torturing people; on the battlefield, their performance was worse than that of raw recruits!
At least the latter knew they were facing a life-and-death ordeal, whereas the former only thought: My workplace changed today, and it's a bit dangerous!
After subduing the watchman, it took the youth fifteen minutes to silently breach the shelter's defenses.
It had to be said, though the people of the Life-and-Death Knot lacked combat prowess, they were exceptionally adept at setting up all kinds of hidden little mechanisms.
Fortunately, Wu Youren had a clear goal: simply to enter soundlessly.
Even when he spotted some vicious traps, so long as they didn't block his path, he ignored them completely.
Compared to the other apprentice knights, Salim was clearly far more alert—whether from having a guilty conscience or from professional training, it was hard to say.
When Wu Youren threw a heavy punch, just as it was about to strike the burly man, Salim's eyes snapped open.
Almost at the same instant, he reached out and drew a kukri from beneath his pillow.
Unfortunately, that was all he managed to do.
Though Wu Youren's punch was soundless, it packed immense power and carried the concussive force of his internal breath.
The blow dazed Salim for at least five or six seconds, leaving only a vague thought in his head: Enemy attack!
He wanted to shout an alarm, but alas... his professional habits wouldn't permit it!
For soldiers or ordinary martial artists, raising a prompt alarm was a reflex, but intelligence operatives did all their work in the shadows.
Before Salim could recover, Wu Youren hammered him with two more heavy punches and casually jabbed two needles into his chest.
Ironically, the poison needles were something Wu Youren had just confiscated; members of the Life-and-Death Knot carried them on their person at all times.
They weren't lethal, but they could instantly paralyze a person's nerves—even a grand knight, caught off guard, would succumb.
Wu Youren had tried hard to control the noise, but these three solid punches striking flesh were still far from silent.
Especially inside this enclosed space, they were definitely louder than snoring.
The apprentice knight sleeping nearby was a light sleeper to begin with and woke up immediately.
Hilariously, he chose to pretend to be asleep while stealthily reaching under his pillow.
He failed to realize that his abruptly suspended breathing had already given him away.
Even if he had known, it wouldn't have mattered. The next instant, his head jerked violently, and he lost consciousness.
His final thought in this world was actually: The Intelligence Operative's Professional Handbook... has ruined me!
Wu Youren delivered these four punches as fast as lightning.
Though the fourth punch prioritized speed and was inevitably a bit weaker, it still killed the man.
The apprentice knight's skull remained intact, but if sliced open, the inside would have been reduced to mush.
Wu Youren spent half a minute quickly clearing the battlefield.
His primary goal was their personal belongings; he didn't touch anything else.
Even so, he nearly triggered a trap once, though fortunately his circulating internal breath prevented a hidden razor blade from cutting him.
He did reap some spoils: a dozen or so silver dollars... Truly dirt-poor bastards, no wonder they squeezed him so vigorously!
Of course, that was mostly just grumbling; Wu Youren knew full well that these people couldn't possibly lack money!
They didn't carry much cash simply because they could shake down people wherever they went; their own money stayed safe at home.
Liu Jingming had mentioned that at Red Pine Martial Academy, the Life-and-Death Knot extorted more than just Jin hostages.
Whenever foreign students ran into trouble, they could secretly fan the flames as well.
Huh? There was also a resentment crystal. This trip... was worth it!
Under the apprentice knight's pillow lay a sleeve crossbow.
Wu Youren originally hadn't wanted to touch it since such weapons were too rare, but on second thought, that seemed unwise, so he stomped it flat and stuffed it into his backpack.
"Are you out of your mind?" the small snake couldn't help muttering. "Wasting time."
A few seconds later, Wu Youren, with the large backpack on his back and Salim dangling in his hand, quietly melted into the rainy night.
After sprinting for nearly a kilometer, his nerves relaxed slightly, and he explained in a low voice:
"A nasty weapon like a sleeve crossbow—if I left it behind, the investigators would conclude the killer probably had no use for it!"
"Holy shit..." Chen Quanxu was rendered speechless by that logic.
Only after a long pause did he grumble, "You're a seasoned criminal, aren't you? Back then... I was nowhere near your level!"
He felt genuinely wistful. Had he been this meticulous back in his day, he probably wouldn't have ended up in his current state.
Wu Youren replied offhandedly, "How could I be a seasoned criminal? I scraped by walking on eggshells for eight years, living such a stifling existence... Sigh, never mind."
In his heart, he believed the guards of Hostage Manor faced less pressure to survive than the hostages, though there was no need to say that aloud.
More importantly, he needed a bit of help. "Senior, is there a deserted spot nearby?"
Chen Quanxu was, after all, a genius of his generation, and quickly collected himself. "Are you going to interrogate him?"
"I'll torment him a bit at the very least," the youth replied calmly. "He said he'd make me taste what it's like to wish for death."
"Torment... Mm, that's easy." The small snake flicked its tongue and soon settled on a location.
Half an hour later, Wu Youren reached a gravel-strewn area.
The youth first pulled the two corpses out of his pack, and the stones began to churn, bringing up sand and dirt from below.
Only after watching both bodies sink beneath the ground did he set Salim down and sever his tendons and hamstrings.
Next, the churning sand and dirt continued to rise. When Salim was buried up to his chest, he finally blinked his eyes open slowly.
Salim had awakened earlier, but his body was completely numb, his mind was groggy, and he couldn't exert the slightest strength.
Even now, his gaze lacked focus. He could only hear a thin voice saying:
"What interrogation methods do you have? I could supply a few."
"Interrogation... will probably be quite difficult," Wu Youren answered thoughtfully.
The man was certainly worth interrogating—for instance, which Jin hostages had compromised themselves, or what new developments had arisen between the two countries recently.
Yet he didn't assume that just because Salim bullied the weak and feared the strong, he was necessarily spineless. One shouldn't underestimate intelligence personnel like that.
The crucial thing was that time was running out. "Let's just settle for pure torment."
It was that Jin hostage! Salim finally recognized the voice.
He strained to bring his vision into focus, but his efforts fell short.
He couldn't even manage to speak, only producing a low, rumbling rattle from his throat.
He saw him. He vaguely made out the shadow of a figure—a very familiar silhouette.
Yet where that thin voice was coming from, he couldn't sense at all; he could only hear it speak.
"That makes it even easier. In a tree a hundred meters away, there are a few parasitic wasps. Why not have them lay eggs in him?"
"Lay eggs? Will there be enough time?" The youth's voice carried a hint of doubt. "Time is awfully tight, isn't it?"
"Did you forget what I do?" the thin voice replied. "Don't worry, forced maturation is within my abilities."
"Still, are you truly not going to ask him anything?"
"Not asking," the youth said, his figure flickering as he vanished. "He'd keep his mouth shut tight anyway, so why waste time?"
I can answer! Salim's throat rumbled again.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't get a word out. Damn it, was the dosage of these poison needles always this strong in the past?!
The next moment, the youth returned and crouched down, revealing that youthful, tender face.
Salim blinked desperately, trying to convey a look of pleading.
Maybe I wronged you when I made things hard for you in the past, but that was just my job!
We're all just trying to make a living, we all have families to feed. Why must humans torment fellow humans?
Chapter 179