She stopped her song, stood on top of the stone, and started to scream. Her scream was deafening and ugly, like a pig being slaughtered. Then she jumped away, faced the stone, and struck it again and again, as if it were the one that had killed her son.

The mother, who had just lost her son, struck the stone with the force of a raging bull. A few meters away in the grass, the Flute of Serenity lay unnoticed by the grieving woman. Once the woman's grief subsided, she would likely search for this last memento of her son. But by then, it would be long gone.

Pushing his feet against the wall, Liu Xing jumped as quietly as possible. He glided through the air and landed beside the flute. Bending over, he picked up the flute from the ground and hid it in his robe along with the Statue Summoning Technique. He observed the sad and angry mother for several more moments. In his past life, his mother had been absent from his life. The only thing he knew about her was her portrait. This Qian Biaou was already dead, but he felt that he had been fortunate to have a mother who mourned him.

Jumping from the clearing, he moved rapidly away from the Qian Clan.

The night was still young, and to drown the loneliness he felt in his heart, he decided to pursue the second treasure near Mystic Moon City. An interesting treasure called Thunderstrike Gauntlets.

***

As he ran away from the Qian clan, he summoned the interface and opened the information page about Thunderstrike Gauntlets.

Name: Thunderstrike Gauntlets

Location: This item is in the possession of a gang of bandits who frequently raid villages near Mystic Moon City.

Description: Thunderstrike Gauntlets were created by a master blacksmith called Chen Quan. Chen Quan was killed by a cultivator who was offended by his refusal to create a weapon for him. It's confirmed that the one who killed Chen Quan was a cultivator from the Ethereal Wing Sect, which is affiliated with the Verdant Mountains Sect.

Additional information: This item is suspected to be held by a cultivator named Duan Hai, nicknamed Thunder Wolf, leader of the Shadow Wolf Gang.

Liu Xing checked the info about the Shadow Wolf Gang.

Name: Shadow Wolf Gang

Location: Has a base in a cave east of Mystic Moon City.

Description: A cruel gang that enjoys raiding villages and robbing people, whether they're cultivators or ordinary folks. Has ties with the Xiao clan.

Seeing the info, Liu Xing pressed his lips. He tried to get excited about these Thunderstrike Gauntlets. This item could probably enhance lightning techniques or unleash a lightning technique. He needed to give this item to the sect later, but on the journey to gather more treasures, he could use it for a while.

Still, his mind was more focused on the fact that this item was held by a gang of cruel robbers and raiders. He could sneak in and snatch the treasure easily, but since they were robbers, he could also make the world a bit better by getting rid of them.

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"Let's observe them first." He wasn't above killing people. He had killed other people before and felt no remorse about it. As he had said to Ji Dongyang, he would dirty his hands if necessary. He just didn't want to make a habit of it.

Not long after, he arrived east of Mystic Moon City. There were several mountains here, each rocky and jutting high into the sky. Still invisible, he tried to feel the qi around him. The qi wasn't too dense, but good enough for cultivation. He tried to sense the qi that would be emitted by a cultivator but felt none. Either there were no cultivators nearby, or the base of the Shadow Wolf Gang was hidden by a talisman. As he moved along the dirt path, he followed the qi around him. Cultivators, even robbers, would prefer to stay in dense qi areas, so following the thickest qi would guarantee him finding the Shadow Wolf Gang. And indeed, his conjecture proved true.

He saw an orange light in the distance, and soon, he found a clearing full of tents and people. Scanning his surroundings, he could see at least thirty orange tents. In the center of the clearing, a huge bonfire blazed, and circling it was a group of dozens of people singing while drunk, laughing and trading dirty jokes. Some of them had faces and noses so red it looked like someone had painted them. Scanning them, he realized that the majority were cultivators in the third stage of the Lock Opening realm or lower. Most of these people wore dirty clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed for several days, but still looked decent enough. Actually, some of them were wearing lavish yet dirty robes, like that guy who sang so loudly and wore a green ornate robe that would be used by a wealthy merchant or even a governor, or the guy who ate a skewer of meat so big that it covered his face, his face dirty with oily meat, yet he wore a white robe that looked like it would be worn by a scholar.

Had they successfully robbed a merchant's clothes and were now wearing what they would sell? Liu Xing observed more. Their orange tents were also decent. There was mud and blood here and there, but there were no holes in the tents or even patches to close holes. Which meant the tents were new, and this Shadow Wolf Gang was quite successful. He remembered that this gang was backed by the Xiao clan and understood why almost all members of this gang were cultivators. The Xiao Clan must be quite a wealthy clan if they could back this gang.

He scanned the people around him. The Thunderstrike Gauntlets were in the hands of Duan Hai, the supposed leader of this gang of robbers. As their leader, Duan Hai must be the strongest, but Liu Xing couldn't sense any strong people among the partying cultivators. He soon noticed a cave not far from the clearing. At the mouth of the cave, two large torches were lit.

Walking slowly, he circled the clearing. While he was confident none of them could see or sense him, he was still a solid person. If a drunk man accidentally collided with him, it would spell trouble. As he circled the clearing slowly, a man walked into the area. He looked like a man in his forties, with a bushy beard and long hair tied into a ponytail. He wore a black cloak, but even under that cloak, he could see that this man was big like a bodybuilder. If he stood in front of him, he would look like a scrawny teenager in front of a big muscled gym maniac.

The partying people regarded him with respect, but they still smiled and invited this big man to drink. The man smiled thinly but refused, saying that he couldn't. "Yan Tianfei and Wu Datao would be angry if I made them wait."

"Ah, those two are always so strict. You and Duan Hai are the most fun to hang around with from the Four Fingers!"

"It's true. Especially our leader. He knows how to party!"

"A party without him is like soup without meat!"

The man nodded and excused himself. Liu Xing stood still and tried to hold his breath as this man passed in front of him. While he had smiled at the partying robbers, he now had a serious face like a man marching to war.

He entered the cave, and Liu Xing decided to follow him. This man wasn't Duan Hai, which made him slightly disappointed, but Liu Xing now knew that this man was an important person. One of the so-called Four Fingers. If Liu Xing was correct, these Four Fingers were the leaders of the Shadow Wolf Gang, and he was one of them.

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