Not Only the heart is evil, but also the hands of others.

Among the misty clouds, everything was left behind by Duke.

Still maintaining the state of being one with the dust, his figure disappeared without a trace. There was not even a hint of wind as he ran.

He would not disturb the fog, leave no traces, let no one see any tracks.

This was the effect of the Ling Mao's supernatural ability to be one with the dust, and because of this ability, the Chi Yu Xiao Fei Lian that Duke belonged to was listed as one of the four great Ling Mao.

As Duke's martial arts cultivation continued to deepen, this ability to be one with the dust would also strengthen accordingly.

Just after waking up, disappearing without a trace under the pursuit of a group of spirit dogs, he could still beat them without being discovered.

Now, Duke, who had cultivated into the Water and Fire Fairy Garment, was simply not something ordinary martial artists could detect.

"Thirteen's scent is still extending into the deep mountains. Who exactly took him away and ran so fast?"

While tracking Thirteen's scent, Duke shuttled quickly through the woods.

In the vast sea of clouds, Thirteen's scent was quickly becoming faint as the dense fog also meant abundant water vapor.

In such an environment, scents would quickly become diluted until disappearing.

However, Duke had exceptionally keen senses. Having caught Thirteen's scent, it was as if he saw an infinitely extending ribbon leading deep into the sea of clouds.

This "ribbon" was actually the scent trail left by Thirteen. Felines inherently had acute senses of smell, so Duke could even "see" various lingering scent trails through his sense of smell.

For example, the earlier bloody smell, when perceived by Duke's senses, was a "dark red" scent trail.

At this moment, as Duke tracked Thirteen's scent trail, he was rushing deeper and deeper into the depths of Steaming Cloud Mountain.

The cat, who had originally wanted to go down the mountain, was now going against his original intention and getting further and further away from it.

Ding!!

The crisp clang of metal striking metal suddenly floated over. Duke's ears perked up as he leapt onto a big tree ahead without stopping.

His claws hooked into the rough tree bark, and with just a simple exertion of strength, he quickly climbed up the tree.

"The smells are starting to get more mixed!"

Duke raised his head and closed his eyes to carefully sniff the air ahead.

In the air ahead, Thirteen's scent was being obscured and covered up by other drifting smells.

Among them were the smells of blood, sweat, grease, wine, smoke...

All kinds of smells were different but mixed together, covering up Thirteen's scent trail.

"Damn, why did so many smells suddenly pop up?"

Duke's ears flicked as he pondered briefly before leaping down from the tree. As the feeling of weightlessness suddenly hit, the cat's front paws reached out to hook onto a horizontal branch of another tree, then leapt out again.

After a few such leaps, he arrived at the direction where the smells were most intense. Duke's vision penetrated the fog and he directly saw several men with knives and swords, sitting together laughing and chatting about something.

"Oh my, this time we have Big Brother Wang to thank. If not for Big Brother Wang, we wouldn't have caught such a good deal."

A young man with a burnt pancake in his hands and crumbs all over his mouth laughed as he flattered a man in the middle of the crowd.

The man was holding a wine bladder in his hand, and the smell of wine Duke detected was coming from it.

"Come on, we're all martial artists, helping each other is what we should do." Wang Big Brother took a gulp from the wine bladder, and as his adam's apple bobbed up and down, he also heartily drank a good mouthful of wine.

"This dull knife brewed by Old Donkey still goes down best. Brothers, have a sip. In the early spring of Steaming Cloud Mountain, the fog is thick and the chill is heavy. Drinking some wine will drive away the cold and warm up the bones."

Wang Big Brother very generously passed the wine bladder around. The man to his right silently raised the wine bladder and took a gulp.

Wang Big Brother went on, "After we rest up, let's go take another look ahead. Those top experts who went chasing after that barbarian spread out a lot of news, attracting many people to Steaming Cloud Mountain."

"Although our skills are low, we can still scrounge up some scraps."

As Wang Big Brother spoke, an old man who had just taken a sip of wine reached into his bosom and took out a small porcelain bottle.

"Hehe, these scraps are enough. This time I got a Blood Qi San, I can take it back for my grandson to use."

"Old Man Ma, you're already so old yet you're still thinking of your descendants. Why not save up some coffin money for yourself?"

Someone next to him joked with the old man. Old Man Ma chuckled and tucked the bottle into his bosom, slapping his chest and saying, "Ah, when you're old, what's the point of saving up coffin money? While I can still move around, I'll leave a bit more for the family, so they won't get bullied after I'm gone without a pillar to depend on."

"Old Man Ma, don't worry. Following me, you definitely won't suffer losses. I won't let any of you brothers suffer losses either!"

Wang Big Brother guffawed, and the others chimed in in agreement.

"Big Brother Wang, following you all this way has already gained us a lot of benefits. Wherever you say to go next, even up Knife Mountain, down Flaming Mountain, I won't hesitate!"

"Among all of us, Big Brother Wang has the keenest nose and the most vicious eye."

"That's right, ordinary martial artists may know these money-making methods, but who else can see where the riches are?"

"Exactly. If not for Big Brother Wang, how could I have picked up such a fine blade?"

A man drew out a huge ghost-headed blade, still with finger marks remaining on it. As soon as the blade appeared, Duke raised an eyebrow.

If he remembered correctly, this blade belonged to one of the corpses in the woods he had passed through earlier. But now it was in this man's hands.

He had also heard Granny Hen and Master Jia mention scavengers and spoils of the dead before.

In other words, these people were like scavengers.

Wherever there was a killing, they would go to scavenge the bodies and squeeze out their last bit of value.

Were resources so scarce outside?

Duke tilted his head. Back at the Su Estate, all kinds of elixirs and mountain delicacies he wanted were readily available. Exquisite cuisines were wasted as soon as they were tasted. And there were personal cat servants waiting on him.

But looking now at these scavengers, Duke suddenly understood a bit of what that long-armed strange guest called Sun Hong said before leaving.

Martial arts must be fought for. Martial arts requires fighting.

At the same time, the wine bladder was also passed around back to the man called Wang Big Brother.

Weighing the wine bladder in his hand, a different smile also appeared on Wang Big Brother's face.

This smile, in Duke's eyes, made his heart turn cold.

"Ah..." The young man who had dropped pancake crumbs earlier suddenly pressed his forehead, swaying as he said in puzzlement, "Why do I suddenly feel dizzy..."

"Me too!"

"Not only is my head dizzy, I can't exert any strength!"

"Could it be the wine in the bladder?"

"No way?"

"Brother Wang!"

Someone immediately guessed what was wrong. The one with the surname Wang now stood up and drew the long blade from his waist. As the cold long blade left its sheath, he also laughed and said, "Brothers, don't blame me!"

"When Master led me in the door, he said martial arts must be fought for. But who to fight with?"

As Wang Big Brother spoke, he also slowly paced, coming behind a man and raising his long blade upright. As the blade slid into the man's collar, there was also a puff as he quickly stabbed the blade into the man's back.

"Of course it's fighting with men, fighting over martial arts, fighting over elixirs, fighting over weapons, even fighting over the women of the brothels sometimes!"

"So don't blame me. If you want to blame, blame yourselves for trusting others too much."

As he spoke, the man surnamed Wang also stabbed several men to death in succession with the same method, including the young man eating pancakes.

"Surnamed Wang, we're all scavenging dogs rummaging through piles of dead men. Aren't you afraid of violating taboos by doing this?"

Old Man Ma rasped. But the man surnamed Wang didn't care at all.

He came over to stand in front of him, and as the blade slid across his throat and stabbed in, he also quickly reached into the old man's bosom.

"Old Man Ma, if you're thinking of family, I have to think of myself too!"

The one surnamed Wang took out the porcelain bottle from Old Man Ma's bosom, but Old Man Ma firmly grabbed the man's wrist, not letting go even as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"You can't take this. It's for my grandson!"

"You can't take it!"

"A bottle of Blood Qi San can only support three days of cultivation at most. It's better for me than for your useless grandson!"

The man who kicked the old man over grabbed the porcelain bottle and wiped it on his chest at the same time.

"The cost of my bone tempering is quite high!"

At the same time, the man surnamed Wang also killed all the rest of the people, leaving only a few corpses with their eyes wide open.

"Wow, a big harvest!"

The man who put down his knife began to ransack and search the clothes of these corpses, whether it was weapons, elixirs, gold and silver coins, or clothes, he searched everything.

Du ke, who was squatting in the tree watching this scene, now had his cat's mouth slightly open, unable to speak.

Earlier, he had some insight, but reality quickly gave him a big slap in the face.

It is true that martial artists compete with each other, but XuanHuan says that martial artists should not only compete with others, but also fight against the heavens.

But the cruel scene before him made the cat feel cold.

The companions who were chatting and drinking together just now turned into food for the greedy ambitions of cruel people in an instant.

"No wonder Su Xiuwu said before that the outside world is too dangerous. Not to mention the strength of the outsiders, just the vicious human nature here, I'm afraid none of the Su family juniors can match it."

"No matter how they fight and suppress each other in the house, at least they are still connected. But everything outside is just naked cannibalism!"

Du ke trembled slightly, and a nameless chill spread in his heart.

Chi Yu Xiao Fei Lian and the Northern Spirit Dog were the only ones he could rely on after being lost outside. Although the cat now had some strength, his strength was insignificant and he was somewhat struggling to protect himself.

What’s more, he was one of the four great spiritual cats, Chi Yu Xiao Fei Lian, and the dog was the Northern Spirit Dog.

If they wanted to go home, they would not have peace all the way.

There had already been people who recognized the dog's origin and tried to steal it. The scene before him was a good wake up call for Du ke.

Don't easily trust anyone, and don't easily rely on other people's goodwill.

In the outside world, he had no capital to be willful, nor room to be reckless.

He had to act cautiously, be vigilant, and be vicious!

At least he had to be more vicious than this man surnamed Wang, and more ruthless than this man surnamed Wang!