This trip to Baishi Town was not particularly satisfactory for Xu Shu.
He was not greeted with gongs and drums like a "welcomed county mayor" upon arrival, nor did he leave with fanfare.
Clearly, he had single-handedly crushed all the White Lotus Sect demons in Baishi Town, giving everyone a clear blue sky, right?
It’s not just that the whole town didn’t kneel and shout ’Lord of Blue Sky’; not even a single person came to see him off!
"I’ve done all kinds of good deeds, and if I can’t be appreciated by others, if the people can’t extol me, isn’t it like wearing a brocade robe to walk at night?!"
"...Indeed! Doing good without seeking return is truly my noble virtue, but do none of you have any gesture to make?"
"Sigh, the local villagers are really so rude!"
Standing on the city gate of Baishi Town, Xu Shu looked back from a height, having the entire town in view. At every doorstep, there were simple altars with remaining heat used to honor the Mother of Non-Birth, yet the streets and alleys were deserted, resembling a dead town with ten houses and nine empty, making him feel quite disheartened, unworthy of his contributions.
"..."
Xiao Ya probably read the undertone hidden in Xu Shu’s flamboyant expression and eyes, and rolled her eyes speechlessly.
With the way you went with those few slaps, the huge Town Mayor Mansion was beaten by you into a crater-like condition. Were I one of the Baishi Town’s people, I’d hide indoors too, and who’d dare to come out to thank and send off the county mayor?!
The three of them walked briskly away from Baishi Town.
But on the surface, it appeared that only two people were traveling, namely "Abdominal Yin Tiger" and "Fried Mao Tu".
As for Xiao Ya, she stayed hidden in optical diffraction throughout, stealthily following behind in a manner unknown to outsiders.
Although the Destruction Association also had masks for "Red-braised Chicken" and "Suilu Wuma", these two were both burly men whom Xiao Ya couldn’t imitate, so the ultimate choice was naturally Xu Shu to act alone.
During this time, Xu Shu continuously engaged in deep conversations with Mao Tu along the way, learning in detail about the characteristics of Yin Hu and his interactions while with the Red Emperor Army, noting, imitating, mastering, striving to play the role of the Destruction Association Tiger flawlessly.
In fact, letting Mao Tu alone handle the people of the Red Emperor Army was the best way, as this would definitely not expose them.
However, Xu Shu considered that if of everyone, the most powerful Yin Hu were dead, while only a Third-tier Middle Stage Mao Tu survived, the difficulty of not raising suspicion was much higher than him playing Yin Hu.
In the exchange with Mao Tu, Xu Shu received a fairly good news that no matter whether it’s with Voodoo or Yan Hui, the Destruction Association members were actually relatively unfamiliar, as everyone hadn’t been cooperating for long.
The one familiar with Yan Hui was the founder of the Destruction Association, "Zi Shu", but Zi Shu’s whereabouts had always been mysterious and stealthy, rarely appearing in person, and wasn’t here this time either;
Meanwhile, previously, the high-ranking member in the Red Emperor Army responsible for liaising with the Destruction Association was Bruce White, the "Red Archbishop", who for some reasons also didn’t enter the mysterious sect site this time.
In other words, despite the Destruction Association not being weak in strength, they were actually marginal in this exploration of the ruins, not particularly valued!
For Xu Shu, the difficulty of bluffing through naturally decreased a lot.
Learning is endless, Xu Shu still needed to learn a lot from Mao Tu’s experience.
The two had a rapid increase in their relationship through shared experiences.
After all, being "Yin Hu", and being a close relationship member in the black and evil forces with Mao Tu, some nudging of hands or rubbing of raised buttocks were considered normal exchanges among such people, nothing special.
The Xiao Ya behind them watched with quite an emotion, thinking that Xu Shu, being such a gentleman, yet sacrificing and allowing an "old woman" to take advantage of him, was truly bold and capable, making great sacrifices.
For a moment, she admired Xu Shu even more, feeling strongly that this person would surely achieve great things in the future.
The times of shared experiences are always brief.
After not too long.
The Destruction Association Executioner Yin Hu, "weak in breath", "severely injured", "sinister and cunning", "wary of everyone", emerged with the help of Mao Tu, who was also covered in blood but luckily not seriously injured, out of a narrow natural stone cave, returning to the entrance leading to Baishi Town.
Unless they were extremely familiar with the high-ranking members of the Destruction Association, one could hardly see anything inconspicuous.
Separated by several mountains between Baishi Town and Luling County, with only this one official road in and out, exiting the cave, one sets eyes on the long corridor bridge standing on the cliff face, overlooking the snow-clad Luling County town surrounded by mountains.
On this way out along the mountain path, Xu Shu also encountered several teams of explorers with relatively lower strength and greater caution.
Although they had cleverly changed into local clothes, their sneaky actions still exposed them as true "outsiders".
Time waits for no one. Although Baishi Town is remote, as one of the Luling County’s eight "filthy" small towns, it naturally gradually attracted the attention of Transcendent squads coming to explore.
But after Xu Shu’s observation and judgment, these people’s strength wasn’t high; not one Third-tier was seen, and there were even quite a number teamed up by "Second Order Great Power" leaders or "Top-tier First Order" ones.
Just from what Xu Shu saw, there were ten different teams.
This couldn’t help but make Xu Shu somewhat emotional, that the danger distribution in the ’No-Life Mysterious Sect’ was much denser than in the ’Wulaoxuan Sect’, with each White Lotus Sect branch possessing combat power equivalent to five Third-tier, nearly twenty Second-tier.