102: Chapter 102 The Red Darts of the Quicksand Gang

The sound of conversation gradually faded.

Gu Shen slowly set down his teacup, a deep glint flashing through his eyes.

"A Red Escort. Recruiting Loose Cultivator guards with a heavy bounty."

Gu Shen sneered in his heart.

The escort business in the Cultivation World was mostly controlled by local snakes.

So-called "Red Escorts" were business deals that involved bloodshed.

As the local snakes, the Quicksand Gang certainly did not lack manpower, yet they were choosing this moment to recruit outside Loose Cultivators with high rewards.

This wasn't recruiting guards at all; this was recruiting cannon fodder!

"The information Wei Lingfeng gave me was indeed true."

Gu Shen's fingers gently rubbed the rough edge of the teacup.

The Blood Fiend Sect was conducting a massive search in the Black Sand Market, and it had to be for that white bone yang key.

And Deputy Gang Leader Li Kun of the Quicksand Gang had withdrawn to Luoyan City overnight at such a critical juncture, intending to transport a batch of "thorny" cargo out of the city with a heavy bounty.

"That white bone yang key, or the person holding the yang key, is very likely hiding in this Red Escort!"

Gu Shen instantly pieced the logic together.

The person holding the yang key had been forced out of the Black Sand Market by the Blood Fiend Sect and had paid a heavy sum to have the Quicksand Gang secretly transport them.

To spread the risk, the Quicksand Gang recruited unsuspecting Loose Cultivators to mix into the group as a diversion, intending to use them to delay pursuers at the critical moment.

"If I go to the Black Sand Market, I will only run headfirst into the Blood Fiend Sect's net. But if I infiltrate this Red Escort..."

Gu Shen's lips curled slightly upward.

Whether as a guard or cannon fodder, as long as he stayed close to the cargo, he could wait for the Blood Fiend Sect to strike and, when the situation turned chaotic, be the oriole that swooped in to seize the key.

"Check."

Gu Shen tossed down a few crystal fragments and stood up to walk out of the Yellow Sand Inn.

Following the directions of Loose Cultivators along the street, Gu Shen headed toward the Quicksand Gang's base in the west of the city.

The Quicksand Gang's base was located in the western corner of Luoyan City, a sprawling bluestone compound. Two stone lions stood before the gate.

By now, twenty or thirty Loose Cultivators had already gathered in front of the compound. Their cultivation levels were uneven, mostly Middle Stage Qi Refinement desperados willing to risk their lives for fifty Spirit Stones.

In front of the gate sat a large purple sandalwood desk.

A gaunt, thin Quicksand Gang steward with a goatee was sitting there registering people. Behind him stood four Qi Refinement Level 6 gang members holding Magical Artifacts, their eyes scanning the crowd fiercely.

"Name, cultivation, primary weapon or Spell," the steward asked coldly without lifting his head.

A short, chubby Loose Cultivator in front of Gu Shen hurried forward, smiling apologetically: "I am Wang Ma, Level 5 Qi Refining, skilled in the Fireball Spell and movement Cultivation Techniques."

The steward swept his Divine Sense over him and sneered: "Your Qi is unstable, and your mana is impure. Go to the left, collect a ten Spirit Stone deposit, and join Team C to make up the numbers."

Although ridiculed, the short, chubby Loose Cultivator was still grateful to receive Spirit Stones and went to the left.

It was Gu Shen's turn.

Gu Shen strode forward, making no attempt to hide the thick, robust Qi and blood of a Peak Qi Refinement Level 6 cultivator, along with a trace of extremely violent Evil Qi.

The steward's hand holding the pen paused, and he looked up abruptly, a flash of surprise in his murky eyes. The four gang members behind him also instantly tightened their grip on their Magical Artifacts, as if facing a great enemy.

"Alias. Qi Refinement Level 6. No sect, primarily practicing Body Refining and saber techniques."

Gu Shen's voice was low and hoarse, like two rough stones grinding against each other.

The steward looked Gu Shen up and down, noting his scarred, fleshy face, and sensed the fierce aura that only came from years of licking blood off the edge of a blade. A smile immediately appeared on his face.

"So it is Fellow Daoist Chen. Such hard-training skills are rare among Loose Cultivators; you are quite an expert. I wonder on which road Fellow Daoist Chen used to make his fortune?" the steward asked tentatively.

Gu Shen's eyes turned cold, and his right hand rested extremely casually on the hilt of the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist.

Only a sliver of the scabbard gap was visible.

A flash of deep blue lightning flickered within the scabbard, accompanied by an extremely subtle electromagnetic pressure.

The steward's pupils constricted.

A top-tier Magical Artifact! And it's lightning-attribute!

"The road I was on is dead. What, does the Quicksand Gang need to check family trees when recruiting?" Gu Shen's tone was unfriendly, perfectly playing the part of a Cultivator Bandit who had just pulled off a big job and urgently needed to hide his identity to avoid the spotlight.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!"

The steward waved his hands repeatedly; such a killing god was exactly the kind of tough character needed for a Red Escort. He immediately picked up his pen and wrote heavily in the register: "Fellow Daoist Chen's strength is impressive; you may join Team A to guard the Red Escort closely. This is a thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stone deposit; upon completion, the remainder and the barrier-breaking pill will be presented. Please go to the backyard to rest, Fellow Daoist. We depart at the Hour of the Rat tonight!"

Gu Shen took the heavy Spirit Stone bag, said nothing more, and strode into the Quicksand Gang's compound.

Exactly at the Hour of the Rat. West of Luoyan City, Quicksand Gang base.

The night wind was like a knife, sweeping up withered leaves across the courtyard. A dozen thick torches were erected around the yard, their flames flickering unsteadily in the wind, stretching the shadows of everyone in the yard to great lengths.

More than forty recruited Loose Cultivators stood in small groups. The surroundings were silent, with only the sound of heavy breathing rising and falling in the cold wind. Men die for wealth, just as birds die for food. For the heavy reward of fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, these people had all put their heads on their belts.

Gu Shen stood with his arms crossed, leaning against a rockery in the corner. He closed his eyes, his Peak Qi Refinement Level 6 aura blending naturally into the surrounding shadows.

Creak—

The heavy gate to the backyard was pushed open.

Three massive beast-drawn carriages, pulled by second-rank Yao Beasts known as "Horn-Scaled Horses," slowly rolled into the front yard, surrounded by a dozen core members of the Quicksand Gang.

The carriages were built entirely from refined iron and century-old ironwood, sealed on all four sides without even a single window. The surfaces were tightly covered with black oilcloth, upon which spiritual light faintly flowed, clearly indicating the presence of Talismans to block Divine Sense.

The wheels ground against the bluestone slabs, emitting a dull crushing sound. Muddy water was squeezed out from the seams between the stones.

Extremely heavy.

Gu Shen opened his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over the three beast-drawn carriages, his pupils constricting slightly.

"Crab, scan those three carriages." Gu Shen thought silently in his heart.

The black iron clasp attached to the inside of his collar emitted an extremely faint vibration frequency.

"Understood, Master. Penetration scan initiated."

Two breaths later, Crab's dry, monotonous electronic voice transmitted through bone conduction into his eardrums: "Master, the front and rear carriages are loaded with high-density Ore and show no signs of life. But the middle carriage... it has high-level isolation formation patterns on the outside, and the internal temperature is extremely low."

"Thermal imaging shows that what is inside is not an inanimate object. It is a living person with extremely weak vital signs. Moreover, the person's body surface is constantly radiating extremely pure Cold Evil Qi fluctuations."

A living person. Cold Evil Qi fluctuations.

Gu Shen lowered his eyelids, hiding the sharp glint in his eyes.

The Quicksand Gang's Red Escort was not transporting any thorny cargo at all. They had gone to such great lengths, even spending heavy sums to recruit these Loose Cultivators as meat shields, because the thing they truly needed to protect was the living person in the middle carriage!

"Could the clue to that white bone yang key lie with this person?"