57: Chapter 57 The Black Horned Beast Infiltrates Linjiang Prefecture

The two streets assigned to Chen Hu were Donglin Street and Chayuan Street.

The prosperity of these two streets was average, yet they could still bring in a few hundred taels of protection money a month.

Some time ago, the General Hall had just transferred a group of people to establish the Fourth Battle Hall.

Now, they had taken over eight more streets.

The General Hall was unable to provide any support in terms of manpower.

With insufficient manpower, he needed to recruit on his own.

After returning to the hall, Chen Hu immediately summoned the four major gang leaders for a meeting.

There were two topics for the meeting.

First, it was to temporarily transfer five people from each stronghold to manage Donglin Street and Chayuan Street.

Second, it was to recruit personnel externally.

Chen Hu gave each stronghold a quota of 10 spots; once the personnel were recruited, he would select twenty people from among them to become official members of the Fierce Tiger Gang.

There was one more thing: Chen Hu arranged for Er Niu to go to the Donglin Street stronghold to serve as the temporary major leader.

Time flew by.

Evening soon arrived.

After leaving the hall, Chen Hu took a few catties of cooked meat from his Storage Ring and headed towards Widow Wang's home.

As usual.

Widow Wang served Chen Hu attentively.

In return, Chen Hu also gave her some intense guidance.

After receiving his guidance, Widow Wang fell into a deep sleep in his arms.

Meanwhile.

Two tall and sturdy figures appeared in the western suburbs of the Prefecture City.

These two individuals shared a common characteristic: their arms were about one-third longer than an ordinary person's.

If anyone familiar with the Divine Fist Sect were here, they would be able to judge from their arms that they were Disciples of the Divine Fist Sect.

The Disciples of the Divine Fist Sect primarily practiced the "White Ape Divine Fist."

This fist technique could reshape their arms, making them longer than those of ordinary people, and could also forge immense strength in their arms; when combined with the "White Ape Divine Fist," it could often unleash unimaginable power.

Suddenly, He Gang paused and looked at the outline of the city ahead.

He furrowed his brows slightly and said to the Senior Brother beside him, Xiahou Tao, "Senior Brother, that seems to be the Linjiang Prefecture city ahead!"

"This is troublesome!"

Xiahou Tao's face showed a look of worry: "If that beast runs into the Linjiang Prefecture city, it will be difficult for us to catch it. Once too much of a commotion is made, it might alert the noble families and the Zhenwu Division within the city. If they want to fight us for that beast, with our strength, we certainly won't get the upper hand!"

"It seems we can only ask for reinforcements from the Sect!" He Gang said helplessly.

The brothers had been quite close since joining the Divine Fist Sect.

After years of supporting each other, both had reached the Late Stage of the Tendon Refining Realm.

This time, they had finally managed to get news of an exotic beast and planned to join forces to capture it.

Then, they intended to use this exotic beast to make a Breakthrough to the Bone Refining Realm together.

Unfortunately, this exotic beast was too cunning, even though the two brothers had made full preparations.

Yet, when they were hunting this creature, they still let it escape the encirclement.

The brothers pursued it relentlessly.

Unexpectedly, as it fled, it had come to the Linjiang Prefecture city.

This exotic beast was a Tier 3 exotic beast; if killed, it would yield at least 100 jin of exotic beast meat.

One jin of meat from a Tier 3 exotic beast was worth at least 50 taels of gold.

An exotic beast that could provide 100 jin of meat was worth at least 5,000 taels of gold.

Moreover, besides the meat being valuable, the exotic beast's fur was also excellent Materials for crafting protective gear.

Its claws and bones could also be used to forge weapons.

Its blood could even be used to make medicinal cuisine.

Therefore, the total value of the exotic beast they were hunting was at least 7,000 taels of gold.

"That is the only way!" Xiahou Tao nodded helplessly.

If they asked the Sect for help to capture this exotic beast, the Sect would take half.

But if they didn't ask the Sect for help, they were afraid they would get nothing at all.

"How about this, Junior Brother, you immediately go to the Sect stronghold and send the message back, while I track that beast, so others don't take advantage of us!" Xiahou Tao added.

"Alright, Senior Brother!"

He Gang nodded.

Following that, the two brothers began to act separately.

Linjiang Prefecture, West City.

A small black-furred beast, only the size of a house cat but with a pair of sharp horns, appeared in a dark alley.

This small beast was called a Black Horned Beast.

It had a unique ability: it could change the size of its body at will.

It was precisely this ability that allowed it to escape the hunt by the brothers He Gang and Xiahou Tao and flee into the Linjiang Prefecture city.

However, it was currently injured.

It urgently needed to devour the hearts and livers of living creatures to recover from its injuries.

The Black Horned Beast suddenly darted up the wall on the left side of the alley and jumped silently into a mansion.

This mansion belonged to a wealthy merchant.

Besides the seven members of their family, there were more than thirty other people in the mansion, including guards, servants, maids, and rough-working matrons.

The Black Horned Beast was an exotic beast.

It possessed a certain level of intelligence.

It did not act immediately but hid itself in the darkness and shadows, waiting for a lone human.

Time slowly passed.

Half an hour later.

The Black Horned Beast finally found an opportunity.

"Puff!"

The Black Horned Beast lunged out, and before the servant could react, its neck was bitten through.

Then the Black Horned Beast quickly dragged the servant's corpse into the darkness.

After eating the servant's heart.

The Black Horned Beast's injuries recovered slightly, so it patiently hunted for a second person.

At this moment.

Xiahou Tao arrived nearby, relying on the scent of the Soul-Chasing Incense.

After sensing that the Black Horned Beast had remained in the mansion ahead.

He guessed that the beast must be hunting living creatures to recover from its injuries.

But he did not act rashly.

Because he knew that, on his own, he could not take down the Black Horned Beast.

He only needed to lock onto the Black Horned Beast and wait for the Sect's reinforcements to arrive before capturing it in one fell swoop.

However, he was also a bit worried that the commotion caused by the Black Horned Beast would be too great.

And thus attract people from the Zhenwu Division.

Fortunately, over an hour passed.

There was no commotion from within the mansion.

Clearly, that beast also had some intelligence and did not dare to be too unscrupulous.

Just as Xiahou Tao expected.

After the Black Horned Beast had hunted two servants and one maid in the mansion, it chose to leave.

After swallowing the hearts of three people, its injuries had recovered by nearly half.

It only needed to swallow seven or eight more people for its injuries to fully heal.

But less than a quarter of an hour after the Black Horned Beast left.

One of the servants killed by the Black Horned Beast was discovered.

Because this servant was the son of an old servant.

Seeing that his son, who had gone to the toilet, had not returned for a long time, the old servant took a lantern to look for him and discovered his son's corpse.

Before long.

Constables arrived at the wealthy merchant's mansion.

After counting the people, they found two more corpses in the shadows.

After examining the corpses.

The Constables immediately understood that this was not an ordinary murder case.

Therefore, the leading Constable immediately sent someone to deliver a message to the Zhenwu Division.

The Zhenwu Division took it very seriously.

The one leading the team was Commander Lu Luyang, one of the three thousand-household commanders of Linjiang Prefecture.

After examining the wounds of the three corpses and the eaten hearts, his eyes lit up.

He was ninety percent sure.

The culprit who killed the wealthy merchant's two servants and one maid was the exotic beast, the Black Horned Beast.

The Black Horned Beast was not an ordinary exotic beast.

It was a Tier 3 exotic beast; if he could capture it, even if he couldn't keep it all for himself, he could still get ten or eight jin of exotic beast meat.

Perhaps he could use these ten or eight jin of exotic beast meat to make a push for the Bone Refining Realm.