Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!
Chapter 215: Beginner Foreknowledge Technique

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Beginner Foreknowledge Technique

"Were you sent by the Yin Mountain’s female corpse sect?" Zhu Shi spat out another mouthful of blood, taking a while to catch his breath before saying, "All the goods are stored in the treasury, I..."

Jiang Yuan, looking at the countdown on the Demon Suppression Net, didn’t want to waste words with him and said, "You can’t access it without permission, can you still get it? Then just die, don’t waste our time."

"I can get it!" Seeing the stick about to strike, Zhu Shi shouted anxiously, his voice cracking.

He thought, where did these people come from? Why are they not playing by the rules?

Another hit like that, and his old life would be over. At the critical moment of life and death, the interests of the hall had to be put aside. After all, the Hall Master insisted on trying to achieve something for nothing, being greedy for money.

Looking at this group with their neat and quick methods, saying little to nothing, they’re most likely professional spy operatives.

The Teleportation Scroll was a gift he gave to his beloved disciple Qing Wu, yet somehow they got wind of it. Logically, that operation was extremely secret and cautious; it shouldn’t have been leaked.

Could it be that Qing Wu ran his mouth outside and got noticed?

"Lead the way." Jiang Yuan grabbed the other end of the Demon Suppression Net and dragged the old man up, poking the jujube wood stick against his back to remind him, "You know what to do if you want to live."

Bai Yunqi was stunned, sizing up the person hidden by the Black Cloak, thinking, is this really the gentle and refined cultivator I know?

How could he be so decisive and efficient, as if more experienced in heists than myself?

Hu Zhile admired the gentleman even more, with no wasted words or unnecessary actions, subduing the Great Elder of the Bloodthirst Hall in a single encounter. There’s much I need to learn from the gentleman!

In reality, Jiang Yuan was simply in a hurry.

He was genuinely worried about completing the task before the Demon Suppression Net’s countdown ended, rendering the mission a failure, not to mention that he’d seen too many villains fall for talking too much. Since deciding to rob, it should be done swiftly and neatly.

From entering, casting the net, subduing the old man, to using the jujube stick to make him lead the way, it didn’t even take a minute.

"If I go out like this and get discovered by the hall members, you’re done for." Zhu Shi struggled a few times, finding the strange broken fishing net painful to the touch, and his vast magic power like dead water, unable to function even at the basic level.

"Then you surely die before us," Jiang Yuan replied casually. Realizing that it wasn’t ideal to go out covered in a net, he took it off and used a small section to bind Zhu Shi’s hands behind his back. As long as he could suppress the man’s magic power, they would be safe.

As expected, even without being covered by the net, Zhu Shi couldn’t use his magic power. His injuries were severe, and his wrinkled face turned several shades paler with urgency and anger.

Just then, they encountered a patrol group at the door. The leader, seeing the Great Elder with his hands behind him coming from the courtyard, immediately signaled to stop and salute him.

Zhu Shi was about to act when he felt the stick poking his back. Coughing dryly, he said, "These three are honored guests from afar, and I’m taking them to see the hall’s finest goods. One of you come and lead the way."

The captain signaled the others to continue patrolling and led the way himself.

They reached the hall showcasing "Magical Artifacts" without obstruction, and the captain dared not even look up at the Great Elder, naturally failing to convey any signs. His plan to have one lead the way fell through, and so Zhu Shi led them into the hall, thinking as long as they got close to the treasury, those three were doomed!

The hall was filled with demon beasts’ hearts, livers, and lungs, each organ enhanced with multiple properties after being ritualistically refined.

Yet, judging by the system details, these goods were very ordinary.

"Does the Bloodthirst Hall only have organs and no bodies?" Jiang Yuan glanced around, feeling a bit disappointed.

He planned to take this opportunity to collect heads, bodies, limbs, and organs for his task, even if the quality was low, as long as they were usable.

"They used to have both, but the Bloodthirst Hall wasn’t originally in this line of business; it was an assassin organization when it first started. Only after the previous Hall Master took over did they start doing this business, recruiting us Elders to oversee the operation, training disciples scattered everywhere to collect cultivator corpses for refining into ’Magical Artifacts’.

At first, both organs and bodies were refined and sold internally, but later the group refining bodies fell out with the Hall Master and left for unknown reasons, leaving the remaining cultivators lacking skill. They simply sold the bodies..."

Zhu Shi explained leisurely while leading them inside.

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, Jiang Yuan’s mind blanked, and a picture emerged in his head—a scene of them walking over a floor engraved with strange symbols as Zhu Shi, with his hands tied, led them. No anomalies showed when Zhu Shi passed, but as soon as they stepped on it, they would fall into a trap...

The sudden image abruptly ended. He realized it was the Primary Foreknowledge Technique, gained from completing a previous side quest, finally taking effect!

Initially, he thought it was a big harvest, expecting an awesome new skill yet after using it, there was no response as if it had vanished into the void.

The key was the Foreknowledge Technique was akin to the Earth Mirror Book, a passive skill. When it would trigger or what effect it would have was always unknown.

Now that it activated here, it seemed likely that the Primary Foreknowledge Technique only handled life-and-death matters. Falling into that pit meant coming close to death.

Great, it didn’t fail at the crucial moment, very practical! He took back his earlier complaints about the uselessness of the Primary Foreknowledge Technique, hoping the system would quickly upgrade it to Intermediate and Advanced Skills.

"Freeze." Jiang Yuan’s deliberately low voice was cold, as they were now just two meters away from the foreseen scene. He pressed the stick against Zhu Shi’s spine and tapped, "Trying to play tricks on us?"

Zhu Shi broke into a cold sweat instantly; Bai Yunqi and Hu Zhile didn’t understand what had happened, but they immediately became alert, closely inspecting the surroundings for any anomalies.

"How can an old man your age be so reckless?" Jiang Yuan knew he couldn’t proceed without knowing how to neutralize it. The one who tied the bell must untie it, so he opted to intimidate the old man into admitting it.

"Let’s talk reason, alright? Didn’t your Bloodthirst Hall try to pull a fast one first? You took the Immortal Jade and then repossessed the goods, taking all the benefits and not leaving any scraps for others. Is that how business should be done?" Jiang Yuan bided time, deliberately using the jujube stick to saw gently against Zhu Shi’s neck.

Sure enough, it scared the old man, making his legs start trembling.

"Now we just want to retrieve what you’ve already sold; the Bloodthirst Hall got a good price and isn’t at a loss. Weigh it out: on one hand, an unprofitable Bloodthirst Hall, on the other, your life. Do you need me to lay it out for you?"

He tugged at the Demon Suppression Net, slowly mimicking the villain’s typical tone from drama series: "If you die, your Dao disappears, then you have nothing left. At your age, playing tricks, is it that you think you’re living long enough? Or I’m hitting too lightly? Tell me yourself, what’s under that floorboard ahead?"

What could it be? Zhu Shi couldn’t dream of being so easily seen through, naturally thinking it was the deadly traps set for security within the hall!

It’s the path to the treasury; how could there be no traps set?

The only people who can access the fine goods treasury in the Bloodthirst Hall now are the Hall Master and three Elders, of whom he is one.

This entire road’s traps are known only to four people. Such secrecy involves the core interests of the Bloodthirst Hall; even when he drunkenly revealed the zero-sum game to his disciple Qing Wu, he never disclosed a word about the treasury’s secrets.

Who though these three people really were, knowing even such hidden kill traps?

Suffering severe injuries and feeling deeply unnerved, Zhu Shi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. Could it be... A lightning bolt flashed through his mind, suddenly alerting him to the possibility that someone internally was also trying to achieve something for nothing?!