Fairy, don't be afraid, I, Wang Daqi, am truly an honest man.

As Wang Daqi stepped out of the courtyard, he kept muttering to himself.

Although they had been chatting enthusiastically, he felt a chill down the back of his head, as if he were being watched by some sinister creature.

As he walked, he mentally reviewed the situation, like turning beads on an abacus:

"Something's not right. This whole thing seems like a total rip-off no matter how you look at it."

First of all, mithril is a treasure that is a hard currency in the cultivation world. Why didn't Xu Sheng take action himself and instead gave it away?

Secondly, his relationship with Xu Sheng was merely a superficial brotherhood.

Logically, this kind of thing should be handled by a trusted confidant who would never be replaced, not by someone like him who had just returned to the sect.

The logic doesn't hold up.

Most importantly, Xu Sheng's smile just now, although warm, had a hint of shrewdness in his eyes that occasionally flashed, which seemed a bit off.

"No, I can't go on this mission!!!"

Wang Daqi immediately made a decision: he would absolutely not take the job.

However, whether or not I go, I still have to watch the play.

In case Xu Sheng is plotting something bad, it's better to find out his background beforehand so we can be prepared.

For the next three days, because Xu Sheng returned home, Tang Youyou, that troublesome little devil, finally calmed down a lot.

She stopped making excuses to sneak into his room every day.

Wang Daqi finally got some peace and quiet, and took the opportunity to make some preparations.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the wind at Yemapo was particularly noisy.

Wang Daqi did not disguise himself as "Xu Taibing," but instead openly revealed his true identity, even changing his appearance slightly, and quietly lurked behind a large rock halfway up the mountain.

Looking around, five horse-drawn carriages were parked on the open ground of Yemapo.

This carriage is quite impressive, pulled by muscular, spirited horses that seem to breathe fire from their mouths and noses.

At this moment, the Zhou family cultivators responsible for delivering the goods were preparing to leave.

Wang Daqi squinted and took a closer look. Good heavens, the leader of the Zhou family's side had a refined aura around him, faintly in harmony with heaven and earth!

That's a genuine Golden Core stage cultivator!

"Tsk tsk, the Zhou family actually used a Golden Core cultivator for delivery!!"

However, when he turned to look at the Xu family's support team, his expression instantly turned strange.

The Xu family only has a dozen or so minor cultivators at the Qi Refining stage.

The leader was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The key point is that this Foundation Establishment cultivator is a complete stranger; Wang Daqi has never seen this person before in the Xu family.

"That makes it even more interesting."

Wang Daqi stroked his chin, his mind racing with calculations. "The Zhou family has a Golden Core cultivator in charge, they're protecting their treasure like their own son; but the Xu family is different, they only sent me, plus this guy of unknown origin."

Hiding in the shadows, Wang Daqi felt increasingly terrified.

He took a deep breath and quietly circulated the mysterious purple energy within his body.

Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator carefully probes with their spiritual power, they can only sense the mountains of heavy metal objects piled up inside the five carriages.

Its spiritual energy fluctuations are indeed no different from those of mithril.

However, Wang Daqi's purple aura seemed to have X-ray vision, directly piercing through the dazzling surface and penetrating deep into the interior of the box.

Upon seeing this, Wang Daqi almost cursed out loud.

Inside that thick box, apart from a thin layer of mithril on top, the rest was filled with rusty, lifeless scrap metal! @@@

"Holy crap, what a clever deception!" Wang Daqi's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

This is clearly a dead end.

If he actually accepted the mission, and something went wrong during the transport, resulting in the loss of a whole cart of mithril, Xu Taibing, the soldier in charge of escorting it, would be unable to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

"This isn't a rescue mission, this is making me the 'Great Sage Who Sets Up the Tent'!!!"

Wang Daqi instantly understood the situation.

"If this shipment gets lost or goes wrong, I'll be the scapegoat. Xu Sheng is ruthless; it seems he's found out about my affair with Tang Youyou and he's trying to ruin me!"

Thinking of this, Wang Daqi dared not delay.

He immediately pulled out an exquisite communication talisman from his pocket.

This was something Tang Youyou secretly gave him when they parted last time, saying that he could use it to cool off when he missed her. He didn't expect it to come in handy so soon.

"Tang Youyou, listen up! Our secret has most likely been exposed. Xu Sheng tampered with the mithril and wants to use me to settle accounts!! What's your situation now? Are you safe?"

Inside the Xu family's villa, Tang Youyou was trying on a semi-transparent gauze dress in front of the mirror, fantasizing about how to seduce Wang Daqi next time.

The sudden vibration of the communication talisman startled her, causing her hand to tremble. When she saw the message, her pretty face turned deathly pale.

"I...I'm safe for now. But now that you mention it, I remember...Xu Sheng hasn't entered my room even once since he came back, and he hasn't even made eye contact with me!!"

Tang Youyou's voice trembled on the other end of the communication talisman, "What do we do? Daqi, he definitely wants to kill us!!"

"Don't panic, listen to me!"

Wang Daqi's eyes hardened. "Go to the main family right now and find the steward or the head of the family. Tell them you accidentally discovered that Xu Sheng embezzled family resources and committed theft!!!!"

"Okay! I'm going right now!" Although Tang Youyou was a bit of a playboy, she knew that saving her life was the most important thing in a critical moment.

Before Wang Daqi could even relax, he immediately sent another message to Liu.

He knew that Liu had been in the Xu family for many years and had a much wider network of connections than Tang Youyou.

Upon receiving the news, Liu acted decisively, as she was all too aware of the shady dealings within the Xu family.

She dressed herself immediately and rushed to the residence of the head of the family, Xu Changqing.

Wang Daqi has been busy these past few days, having thoroughly investigated the power structure of the Xu family.

The Xu family appears calm on the surface, but undercurrents are surging beneath.

Although the patriarch Xu Changqing was a powerful cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage, his lifespan was nearing its end.

If one cannot break through to the Nascent Soul stage within fifty years, one will turn into a handful of dust.

Therefore, he now has an almost obsessive desire for any spiritual medicine that can prolong life or help one break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

The leader of the second branch, who is also Xu Sheng's father, is Xu Bao!

He was in his prime, with peak Golden Core cultivation!

He dreamed of obtaining a priceless "Nascent Soul Pill" to break through his cultivation level.

But Xu Changqing was no pushover either.

In order to consolidate his position, he tightly controlled the resources and refused to give them to Xu Bao.

Instead, he desperately supported his own son, Xu Lincong, who was also at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

"I see…………"

Wang Daqi crouched in the bushes, his eyes flashing with cold light. "These five carts of mithril are probably money that Xu Sheng and his son deliberately squeezed out of their family to raise money to buy Nascent Soul Pills! And I am the scapegoat chosen to disappear with these five carts of 'scrap metal'."

…………

…………

"Damn it, that bastard Xu Taibing actually dared to stand me up!"

At the foot of Wild Horse Slope, the unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator spat out a mouthful of saliva, his face so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

He waited for about half an hour, but still did not see Xu Taibing.

He glanced at the sky, then looked back at the five carriages behind him, and waved to the dozens of Qi Refining cultivators under his command: "No more waiting! That good-for-nothing is probably drunk at some brothel. Let's go, proceed as planned. If this shipment delays the patriarch's important business, you'll all be in serious trouble!"

The caravan slowly began to move, the sound of the horses' hooves particularly jarring in the empty wilderness.

Wang Daqi did not rush to follow, but instead stayed far behind.

He knew full well that since this was a trap, the real show was yet to come.

The convoy traveled for about ten miles and entered a narrow pass called "Soul-Breaking Gorge".

This place, with its jagged rocks piercing the sky, is an ideal spot for robbery, looting, and disposing of bodies.

Just as the convoy entered the heart of the canyon, a sudden change occurred!

"boom!!"

With a deafening roar, the rocks on both sides of the canyon seemed to be shattered by some terrifying force, and huge boulders fell like meteors, instantly blocking the convoy's escape route.

"Ambush! Protect the carriage!"

The Qi Refining cultivators of the Xu family were immediately thrown into chaos. Some raised their magic shields, while others drew their longswords, looking around in fear.

Just then, dozens of masked men in black descended from above the canyon. Each of them exuded a fierce aura, and the magical weapons in their hands gleamed with an ominous blood-red light.

The two leading figures were also at the early stage of Foundation Establishment!

"Kill! Leave no one alive!" the leader in black roared, as fireballs and ice spikes rained down from the sky.

In an instant, screams filled the canyon.

Although the Qi Refining cultivators of the Xu family put up a resistance, they were as fragile as paper in the face of this premeditated ambush and the absolute power disparity.

Blood quickly stained the rubble, and the cultivators wailed in agony.

Wang Daqi, hiding on a high slope in the distance, activated his Azure Water Golden Eyes and could see the battle situation below clearly.

He was not only looking at the men in black, but also staring at the unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the group.

At this moment, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Xu family, facing the combined attack of two men in black at the same cultivation level, showed no panic whatsoever; instead, he revealed a cruel smile.

With a sudden twist of his longsword, a dark blade of light, instead of slashing at his enemy, swept back towards the two Qi Refining cultivators from the Xu family who were fighting desperately beside him!

"Pfft!!!"

Two enormous heads shot into the sky. The two junior cultivators stared wide-eyed until their deaths, not understanding why their leader would turn on their own people.

This is just the beginning.

This "leader" was like a tiger among sheep; his long sword was like the scythe of death, specifically targeting those Xu family members who were still alive to finish them off.

As he killed, he chatted and laughed with the two men in black: "Hurry up, that kid didn't come. The way we were going to kill him will now be used on these good-for-nothings."

"Hehe, don't worry, it's perfectly reasonable for these five carts of 'mithril' to be lost."

The man in black grinned maliciously and casually shattered the skull of a Qi Refining Stage 5 youth with a single palm strike.

In a short while, apart from the traitorous Foundation Establishment cultivator, the entire Xu family's support team was wiped out.

Corpses lay scattered everywhere, with only five carriages silently parked in the pool of blood.

Wang Daqi felt a chill run down his spine.

"Ruthless, absolutely ruthless!!!"

He cursed inwardly, "This isn't just about embezzling the money; they're also silencing everyone who knows. If I go today, even if I survive the men in black, I'll inevitably die from this mole's sneak attack. Then there will be no way to prove it, and I'll be the traitor who colluded with the enemy and stole the mithril!!"

As the group began to efficiently clean up the scene, Wang Daqi dared not look any longer. He crouched down and disappeared silently into the depths of the jungle.

…………

…………

Meanwhile, inside the Xu family compound.

Xu Sheng was sitting upright in his study, toying with an exquisite jade thumb ring in his hand.

Opposite him stood Xu Ying, her face cold and indifferent.

"How do you plan to deal with Tang Youyou? That bitch, how could she betray you like that..."

Xu Sheng sneered: "Just a woman. Once Xu Taibing is dealt with, I'll slice that bitch to pieces!"