The rain was pitter-pattering, and it didn't seem like it was going to subside anytime soon.

Before him stood a masked person covered in black. His whole body was so tightly covered that even his fingers were enveloped by a pair of thick gloves.

​​

The only party of him exposed, a pair of eyes, was so murky that it looked like only shades of dusks resided within.

If he were to see this pair of eyes again in the future in a sea of people, he wouldn't be able to recognize them.

They belonged to an ordinary person!

But could this dude really be an ordinary person?

Xu Xiaoshou stared at Hiding Pain, which was stuck between them. In one quick moment, it sprung toward him, and yet he was able to react to it.

The sword came extremely close to the masked person's heart, but he directly stopped it with two fingers.

Xu Xiaoshou was completely puzzled.

This was a ninth-grade spiritual sword that had cost him thousands of spiritual crystals. On top of that, it also carried a powerful innate sword will with it when it'd sprung at him, yet this man had easily blocked it.

And, looking at his next move, it looked like if he were to cross his fingers, the sword would simply break in half.

"Hey, don't!"

Xu Xiaoshou closed the gap between them in a flash and grabbed the masked man's fingers. "Don't break it," he said, a look of shock on his face. "This is my life. If you break it, who will I cry to?"

The masked person was really shocked. Xu Xiaoshou's reaction was...

"He's not scared of me?" he thought.

"I'm not going to break it. Take your hands off me...

"Hmm? And your legs too!"

His expression turned serious, although this wasn't visible to the others, as he was covered in a black rag.

But this boy...

He had actually encircled him with his arms within such a short moment and now he couldn't move either of his hands.

At the same time, both of his legs had also crawled up on his own thighs, making the lower half of his body unsteady and exposing its instability, making it prone to attacks.

That was a very powerful body manipulating technique...

A human lock?

Was his zodiac sign the octopus?

"Let go!"

"I just wanted to ask for directions!"

Xu Xiaoshou listened to this coarse voice that was like a saw on his ears, and got goosebumps. His eardrums were experiencing hell.

Was this a voice of a human? It was so disgusting!

However, judging from the voice, the masked man was probably quite old, at least of a middle-aged uncle level.

Xu Xiaoshou increased his strength for his human lock. "No, who the h*ll would ask for directions in such wee hours of the morning?

"And it's raining heavily. Are you a psycho!?"

"..."

The masked man let out a deep sigh. "Don't you think you'd already be dead right now if I wanted to kill you?"

"Ho!" Xu Xiaoshou laughed coldly. "Or maybe the only reason why I'm alive right now is because I have you locked up like this."

"..."

The masked man was completely p*ssed. What the h*ll was that? He was definitely toxic!

"Let go!"

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"..."

Xu Xiaoshou kept quiet for a moment, then he took advantage of the masked man's momentary relaxation to push the black sword into his heart with his chest.

"Ugh!"

The masked man's eyes widened with disbelief and shock.

Even with his black mask on, Xu Xiaoshou could smell the blood. After ensuring that he was safe, he finally asked, "Okay, what did you want to ask me?"

"???"

Cursed, Passive point, +1.

Spited, Passive Point, +1.

Marked, Passive Point, +1.

Hoho, he'd been marked?

Did that mean the man was planning on killing him someday in the future?

Xu Xiaoshou became murderous suddenly and continued to thrust the sword forward to impale the masked man.

"Ha!"

At this time, his palm felt a painful sensation, and he involuntarily released his fingers. The masked man flicked his finger, and the black sword was sent flying.

Bang!

Not letting go of the opportunity, the masked man clashed head-on with Xu Xiaoshou's head, intending to knock him back.

However, the next moment he clutched his forehead and moaned instead.

"What the...

"Are you made of iron?!"

Xu Xiaoshou's legs were still on his thighs, and he immediately bounced back to lock him up. Now the masked man couldn't even move his head.

After doing all this, Xu Xiaoshou felt a little scared.

What did this guy do just now? How could he pierce his palm with just two fingers?

To be frank, Xu Xiaoshou's body was enhanced with the eight great innate passive skills...

This masked uncle felt odd!

Xu Xiaoshou glanced over and caught a glimpse of the fading sword will on the tip of his fingers.

Sword will?

What a weak sword will!

If it wasn't for his highly sensitive Sense, he wouldn't have even detected it.

So here was the question: if this man could pierce through his palm, then why did he feel pain from a headbutt?

It was weird. This man was really weird!

He wanted to take off the black mask that covered the masked man's hair but was afraid that he'd be killed for knowing that man's real identity.

This strength of this masked man was a mystery.

"If you don't belong to Tiansang Spirit Palace, then how did you get in?" Xu Xiaoshou probed.

The masked man fell silent and didn't talk. After a while, he finally let out a cough, which made Xu Xiaoshou realize that he was choking him.

He relaxed his grip on the man's throat.

"Ugh! Cough cough..."

The masked man declared naturally, "I am!"

"Cheated, Passive Point, +1."

"..."

Xu Xiaoshou was a little speechless. He wanted to laugh but couldn't.

Although this man was shameless, it meant that he'd come in from outside the spirit palace, since he had lied blatantly.

So...

Xu Xiaoshou was a little panicky. The spirit palace was guarded by a powerful array. The two he'd just killed were probably from within the palace.

With their strength, they probably hadn't entered from the outside.

However, this masked man had really come in from the outside? Didn't that mean he was an expert among experts?

But why was he so weak?

This didn't match up with his actual strength.

"Who the heck are you..." But Xu Xiaoshou abruptly stopped mid-way through saying this, thinking it could be problematic for him to learn the masked man's identity, so he changed the question. "What do you want?"

"To ask for directions!" the masked man yelled.

"To heaven?"

"..."

"Cursed, Passive Points, +1."

Ha, his psychological activity was still abundant!

Xu Xiaoshou tightened his grip. "Spit it!"

"Cough cough! Let go..." The masked man struggled violently, and his two fingers made to project a faint sword will. This startled Xu Xiaoshou, so he let go slightly.

"Phew..."

The masked man panted heavily and suppressed the desire to attack, telling himself that Xu Xiaoshou was an irrelevant small fry and he shouldn't startle more people.

After resting for a long time, he asked slowly, "The inner yard, where is it?"

Xu Xiaoshou: "???"

"Just that?"

All this time just to ask where the Inner Yard was?

Why didn't he just say so earlier?!

This provoked the masked man again, but he managed to suppress his anger and nodded in response.

This was probably the most ridiculous thing that had ever happened to him in his few decades of life. All he'd wanted to do was ask for directions and had ended up injured and even gotten stabbed in the heart instead.

And worse still, he'd gotten a sarcastic reply after asking...

Frustrating!!