I can extract hidden information from everything.

Chapter 17 The Straw Fairy

Xu Yan never expected that on such a dark and windy night, there would be someone like him, acting as a thief.

The other side probably didn't expect to run into Xu Yan here.

Xu Yan thought for a moment, then reached into his robes, took out an old cloth, and casually covered his face with it.

It is perfectly reasonable for a coroner to carry a piece of cloth with him.

The two looked at each other silently, neither of them uttering a sound.

The air was still as water, filled with an awkward silence even deeper than the night itself.

The man in black broke the silence first, cupped his fists at Xu Yan, and pointed to the courtyard below.

"Is this an invitation for me to come down with you?"

Xu Yan stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.

Without exchanging a word, the two turned and went into the yard.

Once inside the courtyard, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement and quickly hid in a secluded corner.

"Seeking wealth?"

Xu Yan asked.

He guessed that the person who infiltrated the security escort agency at this time was probably there to steal money.

The man in black slowly spoke, "Who would come to a security escort agency seeking money? Are you here for the money?"

Judging from the voice, it's a man, and he shouldn't be very old.

Xu Yan thought about it for a moment, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.

The security escort agency is full of strong and skilled martial artists. If you come here to steal something and get caught, you'll probably get a beating first and then be handed over to the authorities.

Xu Yan then asked, "For lust?"

The man in black shook his head: "The girls in brothels are quite pretty and skilled. What would I be after if not beautiful women at the escort agency?"

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow: "Then what do you want?"

The man in black caught his breath.

He hadn't expected Xu Yan to ask such a direct question right away.

Does coming to a security escort agency necessarily mean coming for those mundane things?

"I have come here to seek justice."

"The head of the Shunshui Escort Agency was corrupted by evil spirits and wanted to take the opportunity to break through to the late stage of the Daoist Canon in order to prolong his life."

"He used various means to lure young women, fed them large amounts of tonics, and then devoured their flesh and blood."

"People corrupted by evil spirits should be killed."

After saying this, the man in black's breathing became slightly rapid.

Xu Yan suddenly realized, "So he's a young hero with an explosive sense of justice."

Just now, he could glean some meaning from the man in black's words.

To put it nicely, he's bursting with a sense of justice; to put it bluntly, he's just a hothead.

"And you?"

The man in black glanced at Xu Yan, ignoring his assessment, and asked instead, "You exude a murderous aura; it seems you've killed before. What are you seeking here?"

Now it was Xu Yan's turn to answer.

Xu Yan pondered for a moment, then said, "It's not convenient to disclose."

The man in black paused, then said, "I've already told you, why didn't you?"

Xu Yan shrugged: "It's your business if you say it, but that doesn't mean I have to say it too. Besides, it was you who wanted to say it."

Upon hearing this, the surroundings immediately fell silent.

The man in black felt a tightness in his chest.

Xu Yan was right; he really didn't tell me his reason.

Although speechless, the man in black was certain of one thing: Xu Yan was not a member of the Shunshui Escort Agency.

Just as the two were silent, a slight noise came from behind them.

Xu Yan and the man in black both fell silent and looked toward the source of the sound.

Suddenly, the door directly in front of them opened.

A middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes and with a large belly slowly walked out.

The middle-aged man was obese, and his face looked as if it were covered with a layer of lard, glistening greasy in the moonlight.

A maid followed behind him.

The maidservant carefully supported him, saying, "Master, it's dark and the road is dark, please be careful."

Upon hearing this address, Xu Yan immediately understood the identity of the obese man.

In the Shunshui Escort Agency, only the head of the escorts can be addressed as "Master," and this person is the head of the escorts, Wu Song.

This is the only security escort agency in Anping County, and it's quite large. Xu Yan had heard of it before.

Wu, the镖主 (bodyguard), was panting heavily, seemingly struggling even to walk.

With the help of his maid, he walked to the door of the woman in yellow.

"Give it to me."

Wu, the镖主 (bodyguard/escort), wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and reached out his hand to the maid.

The maid understood and actually unbuttoned her outer garment, revealing her fair chest.

However, the next moment, the erotic scene turned terrifying.

The maidservant stretched her right hand toward her heart, and her skin and flesh tore open.

The inside was empty; it was actually stuffed with straw.

She rummaged through the straw for a while, then took out a palm-sized miniature alchemy furnace and presented it to Chief Wu with both hands.

Chief Escort Wu took it and chuckled, "If you can live a few more lifetimes through this, it's worth it. But are you getting used to this body?"

The maid bowed her head and replied, "Master believes in the Straw Fairy, and naturally I do too. All the bodyguards in the escort agency believe in it."

Everyone is waiting, waiting for the Straw Fairy to favor them.

"It is my blessing that I was the first to refine the straw jade body."

Chief Wu gently stroked the maid's head, his eyes suddenly turning cold: "Then lend me a straw."

Before he finished speaking, his hand had already plunged into the maid's chest and abdomen, pulling out a handful of blood-stained straw.

The maid's eyes widened, and she didn't even have time to scream.

After losing the straw to support her, she turned into a human skin and collapsed softly to the ground.

In the shadows, just as the man in black was about to make his move, Xu Yan suddenly raised his hand and pressed him down.

The man in black looked puzzled.

"Splash splash..."

At that moment, the sound of footsteps rang out.

More than ten people, all bodyguards, emerged from various rooms of the escort agency.

They gathered in the open space, surrounding Chief Wu, their eyes gleaming with excitement as they all stared at him.

Wu Biao opened his arms wide and shouted, "Having consumed so many powerful elixirs, today I will become a Straw Immortal!"

"The secret techniques of the Ascension Sect can help me prolong my life. Once I become a Straw Immortal, you can all enter the Dao and become Straw Seeds!"

Upon hearing this, the bodyguards' eyes lit up with fervor, and they all kowtowed.

"Congratulations on your ascension to immortality, sir!"

Although the voices were kept very low, when they were gathered together, they had a chilling quality.

"Is it the Ascension Cult again?"

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow.

Ever since he saw Master Wang's elongated arms, he felt that the Ascension Sect was extremely strange.

Unexpectedly, they were also involved in the security escort agency.

The man in black lowered his voice and said coldly, "A force that indulges in evil is intolerable to the righteous path."

Xu Yan glanced back at the man in black and thought that this righteous young hero seemed to know a lot of inside information.

"Perhaps I can ask when I have the chance, but not now."

"Snapped!"

As I was thinking this, a deep, muffled sound rang out.

After stuffing the stolen straw into the miniature alchemy furnace, Chief Wu kicked open the door.

When Xu Yan saw the scene inside the room, his fingers tightened slightly.

Inside the house, the woman in yellow was tied to a pillar, her body wrapped in straw.

The straw, like ropes, bound her tightly.

The woman in yellow also had her mouth stuffed with straw, so she couldn't make a sound.

Her yellow clothes were soaked in blood, covered in wounds from being pierced by straw.

"What a magnificent medicinal herb! It wasn't for nothing that I deliberately wiped out your entire family and then pretended to adopt you!"

Wu, the镖主 (bodyguard/escort), had a gleam in his eyes and was rubbing his hands excitedly, preparing to go inside.

Xu Yan stroked the hilt of the knife at his waist, staring intently at the smoke before him.

"Good stuff, it was worth the trip."