Universe Infinite Canteen

The two dodged the stones flying towards them, but two others in the courtyard were hit by the stones and dragged into the card game.

Seeing their companions attacked, those two didn't mention any Jianghu morality and picked up their weapons to chop at Ma Lu, ultimately joining the fray one after the other.

Gu Qingyi initially wanted to come in as well, but then she heard Ma Lu say,

"Leave this to me. You should thoroughly check this dye workshop to see if there are any others hidden here, and look for the Lotus Bowl."

Hearing this, Gu Qingyi hesitated, but ultimately chose to trust Ma Lu and dashed through the front yard into the dye workshop.

With Gu Qingyi out of the way, Ma Lu then turned his attention back to the four burly men opposite him.

Their faces looked indeed ferocious, and they were all broad-shouldered and robust, reminiscent of the bandits and brigands from Crouching Tiger Hill.

However, Ma Lu did not see anyone with a red birthmark below the right ear, which caused a slight sink in his heart. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

Could it be that the man was still hiding inside the dye workshop, posing a danger to Gu Qingyi who had just rushed in?

But with the card game already underway, Ma Lu could only focus on resolving the current fight.

Fortunately, Gu Qingyi's family martial studies were defensively oriented, so even if there truly were malefactors still inside the dye workshop, as long as the number was not great, she should be able to hold on for a while.

Ma Lu thought this as he had already started with three cards in hand because he was the first to act, he drew two more.

He first played a Fire Toad Strength card, increasing his True Qi by 13 points, and then he spent 5 points of True Qi to play an Angry Vajra.

This was the Third Form of the Subduing Demon Vajra Skill, which could provide Ma Lu with a parry value of 20, and immunize him against all attacks with a power value of 10 points or less.

This was very useful in group fights; back in the Ruined Temple, Yan Wuji had relied on this move to fight against many by himself.

Of course, at that time, his opponents were mostly courier of the escort agency and young disciples who had just started learning martial arts.

While Ma Lu was still unaware of the abilities of the four men opposite him, as a precaution, he played a Stone Acupoint sealing card.

This move came from the petrifying skill that Ma Lu had picked up from the twin siblings at the Unified Heart Sect.

He spent 6 points of True Qi to activate this Body Protection Card, gaining another 21 parry points, and a state called Stone Acupoint.

Under the Stone Acupoint state, one can no longer store True Qi in the meridians; conversely, when it is the opponent's turn to attack, if the opponent's move includes True Qi, the move will lose 1.5 times the power of the included True Qi.

Ma Lu was fortunate, having drawn both Angry Vajra and Stone Acupoint sealing cards in the first round.

While these two cards came from different martial arts, they unexpectedly complemented each other.

Subduing Demon Vajra Skill could immunize against moves with a power value of 10 points or below, and Stone Acupoint sealing could reduce the power of moves; if the reduced power of a move fell below 10 points, it would cause no damage.

The only cost was the loss of the True Qi on him, but after this set, Ma Lu only had 2 points of True Qi left, and with the Ice Skin Jade Body Technique and Fire Toad Strength, he was not short of True Qi at present.

After playing Stone Acupoint sealing, Ma Lu chose to end his turn.

However, the four men opposite him were not in a hurry to make a move. One of them, a bronze-skinned, broad-shouldered man with triangular eyes and stubble, spoke up.

"Who are you, and why have you stormed into our dye workshop and attacked us?"

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Ma Lu originally couldn't be bothered to answer, but he changed his mind and decided to bluff, so he lowered his voice and chuckled coldly, "Heh, can't you guess?"

The man with triangular eyes frowned and said, "Kindly enlighten us."

"You're not careful enough in your work; the Divine Detectives from Iron Clothes Sect have already caught on to you."

After Ma Lu said that, he stared intently at the four men opposite him, watching their complexions change. The pupils of the triangular-eyed man especially narrowed suddenly, but their expressions quickly returned to normal.

The man with the triangular eyes also shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ma Lu sneered, "There are no outsiders here, you don't need to continue the act. It looks like you don't even know where you slipped up. Fine, then let me enlighten you, so you don't die wronged."

He paused for a moment and continued, "You pretended to be from Merry Woods, set up a trap to make the Beggar's Gang Member incur a heavy debt, and then forced him to steal the Lotus Bowl for you. You thought you had covered your tracks perfectly, but you'd already shown your hand.

"The two Divine Detectives from Iron Clothes Sect questioned the croupiers from Merry Woods and found out you had scoped out the place a few days in advance; a croupier recalled that on the day of the gambling, your men were also at the tables."

"Humph, Divine Catcher Warmth and Divine Constable Yuan are already watching you. It won't be long before they trace you back to this dye workshop."

This time, the triangular-eyed man could no longer control his expression, showing a hint of regret before speaking with a hopeful tone.

"Then, are you sent by the Young Master to lead us to a safe place to hide?"

"There are no safe places left," Ma Lu shook his head, "Since you've been discovered, it's only a matter of time before you're caught. The Young Master sent me to resolve this trouble."

"You're lying!" the triangular-eyed man's eyes flashed with a glint of ferocity upon hearing this, "We are utterly loyal to the Young Master, and he would never harm us. Who exactly are you?! Nevermind, no matter who you are, since you plan to spoil the Young Master's big plans, you must die today!"

"The one spoiling the Young Master's big plans is you people," Ma Lu chuckled coldly. "I'm just here to clean up the mess you left behind."

He felt he was getting closer to the crux, just one step away from uncovering the mastermind behind these men.

However, the four men opposite him no longer spoke and instead took action.

And their martial arts abilities were somewhat beyond Ma Lu's expectations.

Three of the four used sword techniques, and one used a palm technique. Even in Stone Acupoint state, with their True Qi consumption increased by 1.5 times, their attacks still had a power value over 10 points each.

And seeing their Heart Method Cards, Ma Lu appeared unfazed on the outside, but inside he somewhat gasped in surprise.

Because they were practicing the Beggar's Sect's Dragon Capture Skill.

Though the Dragon Capture Skill was not as exclusive as the Innate Pure Yang Palm, only available to the Gang Leader, it stood among the top three secret arts in the sect, accessible only to highly important members within the sect.

Yet now, this secret art was in the hands of these four mysterious individuals whose origins were unknown.

Naturally, Ma Lu found this odd, but now was not the time to dwell on such matters.

Even with his parry value of over 41 points, the joint attack from the four cost him 27 points of life, and even with his current level of health, that hit took its toll.

The good news, however, was that either because these four had not practiced for long, or their martial cultivation was limited, they did not master the Dragon Capture Skill very well and were on average only at the second or third layer.

They had just launched a ferocious attack, greatly depleting their True Qi, to the extent that some didn't even have enough True Qi left to activate their Body Protection Cards.

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