The Four Ears of the Damned

“Holy crap, is this Taoist so bold?”

Du ke exclaimed inwardly, bewildered. Except for the essence pill crafted at sunrise, which was beneficial for cultivation, all other pills crafted by him would burst without exception.

But this old Daoist was actually carrying his essence pill with him.

Calling him brave was an understatement.

It was no longer a matter of bravery; he was treating his own life as if it were nothing!

Even Du ke dared not casually carry the essence pill on his person, keeping it only in the black cauldron space for convenient use.

Now, this old Daoist carrying the essence pill with him was akin to having a ground-to-air missile at hand.

Well, a ground-to-air missile with a remote control still in Du ke's hands.

The explosion of the essence pill was instantaneous, extremely rapid.

Du ke speculated that even cultivators like Qiansui and Menghulu, with profound Daoist cultivation, couldn't escape in an instant.

Moreover, judging from the spiritual sense perception of the essence pill on the old Daoist, it was undoubtedly from the batch Du ke crafted with considerable power.

Carefully sensing the spiritual sense, Du ke discovered that this essence pill was exactly the one he had lost in the pile of skeletons.

And through this essence pill, Du ke had already realized that he had exposed himself.

However, judging by the Daoist's appearance, he seemed completely unaware of Du ke's background, probably considering him as a daring river pirate.

“Ahwoo?”

Thirteen tilted his head, eyes straining to look up at Du ke, accompanied by a hint of inquiry.

They had entered, so what should they do next?

“Well, let me think about it!”

Du ke rubbed his chin, his eyes showing a hint of contemplation.

“Temporarily follow behind this old Daoist, but keep a distance of three zhang and avoid focusing your gaze on him.”

Du ke used spiritual sense to convey, “This old Daoist has extraordinary bearing, and his vital energy is exceptionally strong, likely at the Innate Realm, at the very least in the perfection of True Qi!”

“This guy has a strong spiritual sense.”

“If it were just me using supernatural abilities to hide, he might not notice, but now with you, I'm not confident.”

“So, absolutely no visual contact with him, understood?”

The dog nodded vigorously, at the same time wandering around the treasure trove, brushing past the Daoist who was searching for their traces.

Following Du ke's arrangement, Thirteen stood three zhang behind the old Daoist and positioned himself with his back facing the Daoist.

Once Thirteen was in place, the old Daoist began to move behind these investigating Daoists, examining the situation inside the treasure trove.

As the old Daoist moved, his expression became increasingly distorted.

Du ke also noticed his hands twisting uncontrollably, exuding an indescribable intimidation.

Evidently, the old Daoist's inner turmoil was quite intense, to the point of being described as a raging storm of anger.

“Damn it, where's the Sword Orchid Horizon scroll that Duke Chen sent two years ago?”

“That's the culmination of his martial cultivation for a century, a masterpiece depicting the profound martial arts insights of himself!”

Daoist Chen roared, looking at the empty easel in front of him. In the midst of his crazy eyelid twitching, Du ke nodded silently.

"So, the orchid painting is called the Sword Orchid Horizon Scroll, quite a fitting name," remarked Old Dao.

"No wonder I felt a connection with this painting; it's a vessel for martial dao insights!"

Old Dao shifted his gaze away from the painting and toward the empty bookshelves that Du Ke had cleared.

With a gasp, Old Dao clutched his chest and roared, "Thirty-six volumes of alchemical scriptures from our collection are also gone!"

"What a thief! A real cunning thief!"

Amidst his rage, Du Ke counted the scrolls in his black cauldron space.

Hmm, exactly thirty-six scrolls.

Old Dao hurriedly moved towards the front, but after just a few steps, the floor tiles exploded beneath his feet.

"Seventy-two volumes of martial dao classics are missing too!"

Du Ke recounted and indeed, there were seventy-two volumes.

"The masterpiece calligraphy from the current emperor, the scriptures from the Ye Family, and the seven historical scrolls from the Chen Family—only three remain intact, the rest torn to shreds!"

Old Dao's rage peaked, and as he continued his tirade, Du Ke glanced elsewhere, muttering, "Of the seven historical books, four had some essence, the other three were garbage, so I decided to sharpen my claws on them."

"Guardians, guardians!"

An urgent cry rang out, prompting Old Dao to soar into the air like an eagle, heading towards the source of the sound.

With each leap, Old Dao covered a distance of seven or eight zhang, leaving Du Ke in awe.

"This old fellow is undoubtedly a pre-natal martial practitioner; there's no way he'd escape!"

But why not an enlightened one?

If he were enlightened, Du Ke and Thirteen wouldn't have followed him for so long without noticing.

"Alright, let's catch up and see what's on the list Old Dao prepared for us!"

As Du Ke spoke, Thirteen eagerly chased after Old Dao.

Before they could get close, Old Dao's roar echoed once more.

"Damn it, damn it!"

Old Dao stomped in frustration, surveying the emptied weapon racks with continuous roars.

"Ah, Old Dao's Foolish Tiger Swallows Gold Spear, Dragon and Phoenix Twin Maces, Drunken Snow Blade, Ling Frost Sword, Black Demon Bow, Tian Gang Axe..."

With a roar, Old Dao, Thirteen swayed his tail, having stored all these weapons in his storage pouch, not leaving a single one for Wutong Temple.

Before long, Old Dao arrived at the last position of the weapon rack, staring at the empty display with a hand over his heart, retreating a few steps.

"The imitation Wuxian Armor from the Su Family is also gone!"

Seeing this, Old Dao, on the verge of spitting blood, felt as though his heart would shatter.

"Wuxian Armor?"

Du Ke glanced at Thirteen, who grinned and wagged his tail, having taken it for himself.

"Good dog!"

Du Ke patted Thirteen's head, causing his tail to spin like a propeller, leaving a blur.

"What else is missing? What else is missing?"

At this moment, Old Dao panicked, shouting, "Stop, all of you, stop! Let's first see what's missing from the treasure trove. Hurry, hurry, investigate!"

Before long, a Taoist priest arrived in front of the Old Dao. Kneeling on one knee, before he could utter a word, the Old Dao interrupted, demanding, "What is missing?"

"Medicine..."

The Taoist only managed to utter a single word before being flung away by the Old Dao's sleeve, landing several meters away.

The Old Dao, with a mad expression, dashed towards the spot where Duke and others had gathered medicinal herbs earlier, only to freeze in place upon arrival.

"I had amassed a century's worth of medicinal resources at Wutong Temple..."

Muttering to himself, the Old Dao's body began to sway, his blood boiling, causing him to spew forth a mouthful of blood on the spot.

"Splurt!"

A stream of blood shot out of the Old Dao's mouth, hitting the ground and leaving a shallow dent as he staggered back, collapsing to the ground.

"Master, master!"

"Master, please don't get angry!"

"Master, take care of yourself!"

The other Taoists hurried to the Old Dao's side, offering words of comfort.

But the Old Dao let out a mournful roar, "Get away from me!"

With a sweep of his sleeve, he sent all the Taoists flying, tears of blood streaming down his face.

"A century's accumulation, all gone!"

"Not only that, but even the Five Elements Essence specially refined for Wutong Great God is gone!"

"That was the fuel for Wutong Divine Fire designated by Wutong Great God!!"

"Who, who could be so ruthless!?"

The Old Dao pounded his chest, crying out, "This is driving us to our deaths!"

"Master, I've found some clues!"

A Taoist approached the Old Dao, speaking in a low voice, prompting the Old Dao to stand up abruptly, grabbing the Taoist by the neck.

"Speak, quickly."

"If you're playing tricks on me, I'll tear you apart alive!"

"Master, it's over there!"

The Taoist, lifted by the neck, pointed to a nearby empty space. The Old Dao rushed over, searching around but found nothing.

"Where is it?"

"On the ground!"

With that, the Old Dao immediately crouched down and saw two plum blossom palm prints imprinted on the floor tiles.

"Are these... cat paw prints?"

The Old Dao suddenly remembered the stolen hole he had seen near the Jiazi Shen Five Ritual Altar, along with the torn three-volume historical book.

Raising his head abruptly, he saw a dark gap stamped on the dome.

"Could it be the legendary Four-eared brocade thief!?"

The Old Dao, speaking up to this point, also stood up, directly flying up into the air, his feet treading empty space as he soared towards the dome.

Gripping the dome with five hooked fingers, the Old Dao looked at the gap left by Duke and Thirteen, his expression twisted.

"This gap is just big enough for a cat to pass through!"

"So, it was the spirit cat of Mao City, no wonder so many things were lost!"

"What a Four-eared brocade thief!"

The Old Dao released his grip on the dome, landing lightly on the ground, and stomped hard.

"What a Four-eared brocade thief!

Stealing from all over the world, yet having the audacity to play tricks on Wutong Temple!"

As Old Dao reached this point, he slammed his palm into the empty space before him, causing the ground to rumble instantly. In the explosion of his palm wind, the nearby Jinshan mountain shattered into pieces.

Amidst the shower of gold coins, silver, and gold bricks raining down from the sky, Old Dao roared, "Four-eared brocade thief, I will hunt you down and skin you alive to make a scarf out of your hide!"

Seeing this spectacle, Du Ke and Thirteen exchanged a glance, while White Cat blinked innocently.

"Oh dear, even before meeting this Four-eared brother, he's already saddled me with such a big blame. I truly feel too guilty!"