The villainous bosses from their past lives have all been reborn.

Iron-Armed Ape and his skilled men were searching around the Tiger's Den when they saw the blade shadow, which was several dozen feet long, flash by. They quickly approached the scene.

However, upon arrival, they found only the ruins of the tiger's den, and not a soul in sight.

The iron-armed ape looked around and spotted several footprints. It then squatted down, plucked a clod of dirt from one of the footprints, licked it between its teeth, and said:

"It tastes like Yuan Liulang's! Let's go!"

……

Iron-Armed Ape and his men pursued the enemy for a while and found a large farmhouse. Just as they were about to approach, they were stopped by the people inside the farmhouse.

Although these people were dressed in ordinary clothes, Iron Arm Ape was quite familiar with their aura.

Blackguard!

"Iron-Armed Ape, this is not a place for you!"

Faced with Black Guard's warning, Iron-Armed Ape honestly replied:

"I followed Yuan Xiu and found this place."

"Are you saying that we Black Guards were harboring Yuan Xiu?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

Iron-Armed Ape quickly said that even though he could easily crush the Black Guard in front of him with one hand, he dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction.

"Alright, go look somewhere else!"

……

"Alliance Leader!"

In a dark room of the farmhouse, Shu Fang led Yuan Xiu and the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect in, and then brought in two meals.

"There were only some cakes, it was rather simple."

"It's alright!"

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect seemed to be hungry, grabbing a piece of bread and starting to eat. Meanwhile, Yuan Xiu was reviewing the intelligence circulating in this intelligence station.

Most of the intelligence was about Thousand Valleys Cave. Unlike the Mountain Lord, Iron-Armed Ape had surrendered to the imperial court long ago.

Of course, it wasn't his own choice at first. But since he tried to establish a gangster force like everyone else, the Black Guard ended up infiltrating his ranks.

This Black Guard relayed the information about spiritual roots back to the area, which resulted in the recruitment of a large number of Black Guards, including Cao Xiaohu, the Director of the Eastern Depot.

Cao Xiaohu subdued the Iron-Armed Ape and made him serve him. Afterwards, he cooperated with the Liu family of Xia Prefecture and the Xia family of Jin Prefecture.

As for the identities of the other two grandmasters, they are still not recorded here.

The matter of the Fire Elixir, which Yuan Xiu most wanted to know, was not recorded here. All that was known was that the black armor worn by the Iron-Armed Ape was crafted by one of the grandmasters, likely derived from his profound techniques.

After the Grand Elder finished eating, Yuan Xiu picked up the cake and asked:

"Is this Blackguard intelligence post safe?"

"Don't worry, Alliance Leader, this area is under my jurisdiction for the time being. Iron-Armed Ape was just outside when my men stopped him."

Yuan Xiu stroked his chin and said:

"He's certainly been following us around diligently!"

"The Alliance Leader is right! This Iron-Armed Ape's tracking skills are no less than mine. If we don't eliminate it, it could become a great threat."

At this moment, Shu Fang had concealed his sharp edge, displaying only a heartfelt and submissive demeanor. Just like in his previous life, Shu Fang had stood by Yuan Xiu's side, acting as her protector. The tacit understanding between them didn't even require deliberate coordination.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves approached from outside the farm; new intelligence had arrived.

Shu Fang glanced at Yuan Xiu, then turned and went out to deal with the situation. A moment later, he came back in with a piece of intelligence.

"Alliance Leader, this is intelligence from Yanzhou. It is extremely urgent and is marked to be delivered directly to Xiazhou City. It must not be opened en route."

Yuan Xiu asked:

Where is the messenger?

"I managed to stabilize the situation, but it won't last long, at most fifteen minutes."

Yuan Xiu gave the Demonic Sect's Grand Elder a wink, walked over, took the intelligence report, and his eyes turned snow-white as he used his Xuan Technique to see through the text behind the sealing wax.

In the dark room, only the flame of the oil lamp flickered faintly.

After the elder finished reading, he closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his eyes, now back to their original color, were completely calm. However, this calmness seemed too deliberate, which only made people more uneasy.

He handed the intelligence to Shu Fang.

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect, having carefully composed himself, spoke in a completely emotionless voice:

"Alliance Leader, it is said that the Demonic Sect attacked the Yuan family in Yanzhou. Commander Yuan Feng was killed in battle, and the entire Yuan family was slaughtered by the Demonic Sect. The military forces in Yanzhou are now temporarily under the command of the Governor of Yanzhou."

After the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect finished speaking, the secret chamber suddenly fell silent.

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect raised his head and looked at Yuan Xiu. He saw the Alliance Leader standing with his back to him before a simple wooden table, on which sat a half-eaten pancake. His back was ramrod straight, yet exuded an indescribable loneliness.

Shu Fang remained silent. He had followed Yuan Xiu for many years and knew this alliance leader all too well. At this moment, Yuan Xiu was like a sword forcibly sheathed—appearing calm on the outside, but its blade trembled within.

After a long while, a shout came from outside the secret room.

Shu Fang realized what was happening, took the intelligence and went outside. When he returned, Yuan Xiu's pale face had recovered.

However, Shu Fang looked even worse when she came in again.

"Alliance Leader, there's another piece of news: Yuan Cai's whereabouts in Jinzhou are unknown."

After listening, Yuan Xiu felt a strange sense of relief. He had been like a lost traveler lost in the dark of night, but now he felt as if he had found a glimmer of light.

"I originally thought that the forces behind Liu Jing didn't try to win over the Yuan family because they knew that Yuan Cai had sided with the Demonic Sect. Now it seems that this force has the same idea as you."

Yuan Xiu looked at the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect. Facing the other party's sharp gaze, the Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect felt a chill run down his spine.

"Is the alliance leader saying that they also want to take advantage of Yuan Cai's 'One-Day Calamity'?"

Yuan Xiu snorted coldly and said:

"The destruction of the Yuan family was to consolidate military power in Yanzhou; the capture of Yuan Cai was likely for that spiritual root."

"So what should we do?"

"Use their own methods against them."

……

Hujiaji.

"Captain Wang, we really have nothing to do with the Demonic Sect!"

Wang Duwei ignored the wealthy Hu family members who were lying on the ground begging for mercy, his eyes filled with indifference.

"If you didn't collude with the Demonic Sect, where did that Iron-Armed Ape come from? And what about those assassins? Could it be that Commander Liu failed in his duty to protect the territory?"

Commander Wang did not give these wealthy households a chance to continue arguing. He waved his hand and ordered his men to take them away.

"Captain, what should be done with these people?"

"Their property was divided among the brothers, and as for the people... they colluded with the demonic sect, so they were all treated as people from the Northern Kingdom and sent to Thousand Ravine Cave."

"promise!"

After Wang Duwei finished speaking, he turned and walked into the most magnificent mansion in the area.

"My beauty, I've arrived!"

The door had just opened when he was greeted not by the wealthy man's beautiful concubine, but by a withered hand.

The Grand Elder of the Demonic Sect locked Wang Duwei's neck with one hand, pouring in demonic energy to prevent him from making any move.

Commander Wang looked at the other person in the room and said with difficulty:

"Yuan Xiu, you..."

"You're still not very skilled at colluding with the demonic sect!"

……