Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 121 Distrust

Mao time, at the west city gate.

Shen Qing, who was already prepared, arrived at the west city gate as scheduled, carrying a heavy bow and a package.

When he arrived, several officials from the Weiwu Division and some martial artists from other forces had already arrived.

Among all the people, Shen Qing found a familiar figure.

This familiar figure was none other than Xiao Zhi, who was quite familiar to him.

He walked over and asked in surprise: "Brother, are you going too?"

Hearing Shen Qing's greeting, Xiao Zhi turned around and asked in surprise: "Master is asking you to go this time?"

Shen Qing nodded and said, "Well, the eldest and fourth brothers both have hidden injuries. You also know about the second and third brothers. Apart from me, there are no other suitable disciples."

Xiao Zhi was also aware of what happened in Linfeng Hall. He could only sigh and said helplessly, "Alas... That's right, there really is no other suitable person."

"Why did you go there this time?"

Xiao Zhi smiled and said, "Of course it's for a better future. If I can successfully kill the tiger this time, I may be able to obtain the status of a military officer. This business is worth doing because it will benefit three generations."

Shen Qing glanced him up and down, as if he got to know him all over again.

Unexpectedly, this unprepossessing chef actually has such ambition.

While the two were chatting, Linfeng Hall, including one of his direct disciples, five inner court disciples including Xiao Zhi, and ten outer court disciples arrived one after another.

As far as Shen Qing knows, every year there will be disciples who are not talented or do not have enough financial resources leaving Linfeng Hall, but this does not mean that these people have lost contact with Linfeng Hall.

As former disciples of Linfengtang, they could occasionally take on work from Linfengtang to supplement their family income.

So among the people who rushed over, some were people Shen Qing knew, while others were old disciples who were no longer in the hall, and Shen Qing had no impression of them.

I see that most people have arrived.

The five Weiwusi officers checked the roster, and after confirming that there were no problems, they shouted, "It's getting late, we'll set off now."

Shen Qing took a quick look at everyone. Apart from the sixteen people from Linfeng Hall, other forces also sent about the same number of people. The total number of people in the team was close to fifty.

They are all martial artists.

There are already several such teams.

The tiger demon lurking in Shicheng Mountain might be more difficult to deal with than he imagined.

On the official road, five Weiwusi officials, in numbers of two by two, were distributed in front and behind the team, heading towards the direction of Shicheng Mountain.

People from different forces spontaneously found their own teams, banded together, and formed small groups.

"May I ask, sir, how are we going to arrange for so many of us?"

On the way, a martial artist who was about thirty years old walked up to the officer from the Weiwu Division and asked.

Yu Xiaoruo, an officer of the Weiwu Division, looked back and saw that the martial artist was tall, with a resolute face, and was a stranger.

He did not hide anything and said, "We will divide into five teams and station them in the villages near Shicheng Mountain to look for the trace of the demon tiger. Once we find it, we will work together to kill it."

"So are there any other people in the villages now?"

"Of course, we are going there to replenish their lost manpower."

"I see." The martial artist, who was about thirty years old, clasped his fists and said, "What's your name, sir?"

"If you have something to say, say it quickly, and if you have a fart, hurry up!"

"Sir, my name is Chang Yinfa. I studied under Master Li for a year two years ago. This small token of my respect is not enough."

Yu Xiaoruo accepted it without leaving a trace and asked, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

Chang Yinfa smiled and said, "I wonder if you can transfer me to a stronger team?"

"What? You don't believe in Linfengtang?"

"Alas... Hall Master Li's disciples are either dead or disabled. Although the disciple we sent now has some talent, he has only studied for half a year and still lacks practical experience. We should also think more about ourselves, right?"

Chang Yinfa put on a smile and stuffed some silver into the bag: "My Lord, please be flexible."

Yu Xiaoruo of the Weiwu Division pointed to the side and said, "Go to that team."

Immediately after Chang Yinfa, many new and old disciples of Linfeng Hall came forward and paid silver to the people of Weiwusi.

Shen Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and asked Xiao Zhi beside him: "What are they doing?"

Xiao Zhi had communicated with these people before, so he knew what was going on. He hesitated for a moment, but still said, "They are changing teams." "Change teams?"

Shen Qing immediately understood. For this tiger-killing operation, the county government gave Linfengtang a high reward, so some people wanted to try their luck by taking advantage of the situation.

These people didn't trust him and found another safe place.

"Should we stop it?"

Shen Qing said: "No, let them go."

In his opinion, even if such a person was brought in, he would be useless and would not be able to provide him with much help.

Soon, with Shen Qing's deliberate indulgence, the original team of sixteen people in Linfeng Hall was reduced to seven.

Among these people, except Xiao Zhi who trusted him, the rest of them stayed because some had no money or were reluctant to spend it, and some were confident in their own abilities and were too lazy to move.

When people from other forces saw this, they couldn't help but feel pity for Shen Qing.

The team came to a fork in the road, and the military officer Yu Xiaoruo stopped them and said, "There are two villages nearby. Brothers from Linfeng Hall, your base will be in Shiqiao Village. Brothers from Feiying Hall will take this road and go up to Heshan Village. If you find a tiger monster, set off fireworks to signal it. Do you understand?"

"understood."

Everyone responded in unison and separated.

Each team was accompanied by a member of the Weiwu Division.

Accompanying Shen Qing was an official from the Weiwu Division named Lian Bing, who looked quite honest.

When he passed by Shen Qing, he glanced at him vaguely with an unfriendly look on his face.

It seemed as if it was very unlucky to be with Shen Qing.

After walking for a long time, they finally arrived at the so-called Shiqiao Village.

The whole mountain village is in ruins.

A small stone bridge lies across the mountain stream, covered with weeds.

There are several houses at the entrance of the village across the stone bridge. They look dilapidated and have been abandoned for many years.

Among the crowd, an old disciple from Linfeng Hall looked around and said, "This village doesn't look like it was abandoned because of the tiger monster. It should have been abandoned earlier."

"Life in the mountains is not easy. There are many villages like this in the mountains." Lian Bing said nonchalantly, "We have more than a dozen people stationed here. Let's go over and join them first."

Led by Lian Bing, they headed towards the depths of Shiqiao Village.

The whole village was empty and lifeless, and everyone felt something was wrong.

Lian Bing said in a deep voice: "Cheer up."

Everyone's expression became serious, and they followed Lian Bing to a house that was relatively intact.

A strong smell of blood came from inside the house.

Lian Bing looked very unhappy.

"Kick the door open and let's go in and take a look."

A strong man kicked the door without saying a word.

"rush!"

Lian Bing took the lead and rushed in, followed by others.

After making sure there was no danger, Shen Qing quietly followed everyone in.

When he saw the scene in the house, he couldn't help but frown.