Xiangrui paused and said in a low voice, "The traveler pleaded in every possible way, but the boatman wouldn't budge.

I witnessed all of this with my own eyes, but because I was deep in the mountains, I couldn't offer any help.

Finally, the traveler proposed a deal."

Xiangrui silently raised his head, his eyelids drooping as he said, "He said that in the mountains, there was a strange beast, half-human, half-ape, that could speak human language.

It was that monster who saved him.

If the boatman could give him something to eat, he would be willing to lead the boatman to capture the strange beast in the mountains.

Whether it was to skin it and sell its meat at the market for money,

or to lock it in a cage and sell it to nobles as a rare and exotic beast for viewing,

he would not take a single cent of the proceeds, leaving it all to the boatman."

Li Ang sat calmly on the carapace of the Digger Worm, listening without comment.

Xiangrui slowly raised his eyelids, his eyes emitting a pale green, dim light in the darkness.

"I 'heard' what he said, and deep in my heart, an unprecedented emotion called anger arose.

I cursed him with hatred, and felt a special power rising in my body, acting on him across a long distance.

In the dim feeling, I saw blood begin to flow from his orifices,

his face distorted by intense fear,

his bones constantly breaking,

his upper and lower body automatically folding in half like brittle wood, slowly stacking together..."

Xiangrui said softly, "I killed him, just like I killed the beasts in the jungle that tried to harm me."

Li Ang still didn't comment, just continued to direct the Digger Worm as a listener.

"The extremely frightened boatman believed that the traveler had died from a curse, so he immediately found a high-ranking monk in a temple after landing,"

Xiangrui said indifferently, "Those monks deceived my premonition in some way,

leading An Nan's soldiers to surround the mountain where I was, capture me, put me in a cage, and prepare to offer me to the Emperor of the Central Plains.

That's my life."

"..."

Li Ang clicked his tongue, "What do you think would happen to you if you were sent to the capital?"

"I don't know."

Xiangrui shook his head. "I also don't know exactly what abilities I have, and to what extent those abilities can reach.

Maybe I could use my divination skills to serve as a diviner or advisor in the court?

Or maybe I would be deemed no longer auspicious because my predictions were inaccurate, and ultimately become an ingredient for alchemists to refine elixirs?"

When talking about his future, there was no expression on Xiangrui's face. "By the way, why did you kidnap me? What do you want me to do?"

"Well..."

Li Ang thought for a moment, "It's not clear yet."

Xiangrui was surprised. "You kidnapped me without knowing?"

"The proprietress of the bathhouse told me, 'Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Even if you're robbing, be the king of robbers.'"

Li Ang said seriously, "So many people are snatching you, which proves you're a good thing. Of course, I'll snatch you first."

Of course, this was a lie. Anyway, according to Zhu Xuemin's notes, the half-human, half-ape Xiangrui should be the key factor in entering the third level of the Sheng Nan King's dream. It couldn't hurt to get him first.

"..."

Xiangrui was speechless at Li Ang's answer. He looked around the tunnel and asked, "Did you dig this tunnel?"

"Yes."

"How did you do it?"

Xiangrui asked curiously, "Even demons who are naturally good at burrowing would take years or even decades to dig a tunnel of this size,

not to mention having to avoid the Wude Guard's ears and eyes on the surface."

"Ha."

Li Ang smiled and said nothing.

In the past few days, he had been like a liver emperor with a body full of livers, running around Southern Territory, helping the people and solving abnormal events.

He left behind the name of Taoist Ximenzi and collected a large amount of power of faith,

causing the Swamp Divine Power's charging bar to almost explode.

Then, just like he did to Wu Hu and Xiao Shusheng in Goose City, Li Ang used the Swamp Divine Power and biological templates

to quietly devour and assimilate some of the White Lotus Sect members in Luzhou, such as Chieftain Song Jie and Vice Chieftain Bai Yongyan.

Then, under the various strongholds of the White Lotus Sect, he drove the divine power to melt the soil, and cooperated with the Digger Worm to build a large-scale underground tunnel.

That's the good thing about the belief divine power system.

Even if the energy in the charging bar is used up, as long as the reputation exists, and the story is still being passed down and praised by people,

there will be a steady stream of faith power generated and gathered into the divine mark.

It's just a pity that the transportation and information transmission methods in this world are still too rudimentary.

If it were in the real world, it wouldn't even take a day from becoming famous to becoming a viral internet sensation known to everyone.

Seeing that Li Ang didn't want to say more, Xiangrui was also tactful enough not to ask any more questions.

He sat in the cage, silently watching the tunnel scenery on both sides recede, and suddenly said, "Someone has come down into the tunnel."

Li Ang didn't turn his head. "Yeah."

"It's not that eunuch, it's people from the White Lotus Sect."

Xiangrui added, "Normal people from the White Lotus Sect. One of them is very strong."

"I know, I let them down."

Xiangrui frowned. "Why?"

"If I don't let them down,"

Li Ang said indifferently, "how can I catch them all in one fell swoop?"

————

"The White Lotus Sect demon is there!"

"Fire arrows, fire arrows!"

"Don't let them get away!"

The shouts of killing rose and fell one after another, and the light of the torches illuminated the sky as bright as day.

The sound of horses' hooves was thunderous, and the arrows rained down like a storm.

The dense iron arrowheads smashed on the bluestone ground, making a harsh noise,

causing the pale-faced people hiding in the cellars on both sides of the street to tremble.

These were soldiers from the Wude Guard, chasing and killing the White Lotus Sect members.