The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

Then, before Shi Wanshan’s dumbfounded eyes, the enormous spiked club came crashing down with a thunderous impact.

“Who goes there?”

The purple-robed sage, who had been admiring his armor with rapt attention, felt a grievous danger descending upon him, and his face changed drastically.

But before he could even react, his protective holy light shattered with a crack, and the giant club smashed squarely into his head.

Under the sheer force of the blow, his entire body was driven into the ground, buried deep, alive or dead unknown.

The whole process was simple, crude, and overwhelmingly forceful!

Hidden in the shadows outside the cave abode, Shi Wanshan watched with his eyelids twitching and the corners of his mouth spasming.

Inside the cave, the black-clad figure stared down at the limp, collapsed purple-robed sage, seemingly still not entirely assured.

He raised the club again and brought it down hard on the sage’s head several more times before finally stopping.

Only after confirming that the purple-robed sage was indeed in a deep coma, unlikely to wake anytime soon.

he quickly bent down and began rifling through the sage’s body with swift, dexterous hands, precisely stripping off the storage ring and protective artifacts.

Then, without pause, he searched every possible hiding spot across the entire body—even checking the soles of the boots and the hidden linings of the undergarments, with a proficiency that was almost unsettling.

In the span of only two or three breaths, the purple-robed sage had been thoroughly looted, stripped down to nothing but his underclothes.

The black-clad man weighed the storage ring in his hand, a glint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Shi Wanshan, watching the black-clad man now fixated on his spoils, muttered in his heart: “Perfect chance. I’ll show you what it means to be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!”

With that thought, Shi Wanshan tightened his grip on his own spiked club and mustered every ounce of his strength.

“Let me introduce you to grandpa’s big stick!” Shi Wanshan roared inwardly, about to strike.

However, just a fraction of a second before he could leap into action—

at the back of his neck, without any warning, came an extremely faint yet unmistakably real touch, as if some tiny thing had stung him with lightning speed.

Then, a force that went straight through to the soul exploded outward!

Shi Wanshan’s vision went black in an instant, his ears buzzed, and it felt like heaven and earth were spinning and tilting. The surging sage’s blood energy and spiritual power in his body were as if frozen solid, completely unresponsive.

He didn’t even manage a single grunt. His burly frame wobbled, the club slipping from his hand, and he collapsed backwards like a puppet with its strings cut, soft and limp.

In the last moment before he lost consciousness entirely, he vaguely heard a strange, eager voice tinged with smugness:

“Third Brother! Quick! Caught a fat one out here—looks like he’s dripping with oil!”

…

Inside the cave, the black-clad “Third Brother,” who had been buried in his work and was about to probe the purple-robed sage’s body once more for hidden treasures, paused at the sound. He turned with both wariness and delight.

In the mouth of the cave, another figure, also dressed in black with a masked face but slightly taller and leaner, dragged the unconscious, disguised-as-a-strongman Shi Wanshan inside like a dead dog.

“Second Brother? Got him?”

Third Brother lowered his voice, his tone carrying a note of joy.

“Mm, must have been a lookout posted outside. Hidden well, but unfortunately for him.”

The man called Second Brother kicked at Shi Wanshan, his tone one of harvest and satisfaction.

“Don’t dally. Search him clean. We can’t stay here long.”

“On it!”

Third Brother’s spirits soared. He abandoned the already-completely-ravaged purple-robed sage, rubbed his hands together, and dove with gleaming eyes at this “new merchandise.”

Deftly, Third Brother slipped the storage ring off Shi Wanshan’s finger and began to scour his body.

"Let me take a look at this fat sheep... hmm?"

The moment he touched Shi Wanshan's chest, something felt off.

The inner lining beneath those coarse cloth robes was smooth and warm to the touch, faintly glowing with spiritual light—somehow familiar.

His heart skipped a beat. He quickened his movements, tearing open Shi Wanshan's outer disguise in two or three pulls.

Beneath it, revealed a corner of a green inner robe embroidered with cyan-cloud patterns. Judging by the material and craftsmanship, this was definitely standard-issue for high-ranking sect elders!

Third Brother's hands began to tremble slightly.

He swallowed hard, and with a sinking premonition, reached for Shi Wanshan's waist.

Soon, he pulled out a jade identity token, its profound rhythm subdued and reserved. The token was warm in his hand—a simple, ancient "Xuan" character on the front, and on the back, three small characters written with iron-strength brushstrokes that he knew all too well—

Shi Wanshan!

Third Brother: "......."

He stood frozen in place, as if struck by a bolt of heavenly thunder, numb from head to toe.

Slowly, stiffly, he raised his head, looked at Second Brother, then down at the token in his hand, then back at the unconscious Shi Wanshan on the ground...

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

The cave was dead silent, save for Third Brother's own heartbeat, growing louder and louder like the pounding of a war drum.

After a long while, Third Brother spoke in a changed, slightly awkward tone:

"Second Brother, this is more than likely that Little Shi kid!"

The black-robed man called Second Brother had also clearly taken in Shi Wanshan's clothing and that genuine, authentic Qingxuan Sect Peak Master token.

His body beneath the hood gave a violent jolt. He sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively stepped back half a pace.

"Damn..."

Second Brother cursed under his breath, then exchanged a look with Third Brother beside him—both saw the same emotion in each other's eyes.

Endless awkwardness, absurdity, and a sliver of the guilty feeling of being caught red-handed.

Though both were masked in black, they could almost see the corners of each other's mouths twitching through the fabric.

Third Brother swallowed again. Carefully, he extended a wisp of divine sense and probed the storage ring he'd just stripped off Shi Wanshan's finger.

The soul imprint on the ring—bearing Shi Wanshan's unique aura, faintly concealed by the "I Cannot Be Seen Through" technique—

But since both of them cultivated the same technique, under their deliberate probing, they could still sense it.

"No mistake..."

Third Brother's voice was dry, carrying a helpless confirmation.

"This brat... coming here to play the big wolf in sheep's clothing, pulling a mantis-stalks-the-cicada routine?"

Second Brother let out a sigh too. He bent down, personally checked Shi Wanshan's breathing and physical condition, confirmed that the man was only temporarily subdued in soul by their special technique and otherwise unharmed, and only then let out a slight breath of relief.

But looking at the "fat sheep" lying unconscious on the ground, then at the storage ring he'd just snatched—still warm from its owner—an indescribable sense of absurdity welled up.

After a moment, Second Brother nudged Third Brother with his elbow and whispered, his tone full of conflict: "Third Brother, now what? This ring, and the odds and ends we pulled off him."

"Do we... give it back?"

"Give it back?"

Third Brother raised an eyebrow, instinctively tightening his grip on the storage ring in his hand—there was definitely a good amount of Little Shi's accumulated savings in there, maybe even some treasures he'd newly gained from this Emperor's Tomb.

Just give it back?

The two old ancestors exchanged a glance, and instantly reached a silent understanding.

The Third Patriarch let out a dry cough, then, with the stern tone of one who says "I'm only doing this for your own good," addressed the unconscious Shi Wanshan:

"Cough! Second Brother, that's hardly the right way to see it. As founding elders of this sect, how could we quibble over such petty matters?"

"As I see it, Little Shi running into this tribulation today isn't necessarily a bad thing! He's been sailing smooth seas in the sect all this time, and his pride has grown far too great. That's exactly why he fell for the trap so easily."

"What happened today will serve as a fitting lesson for him! Let him truly taste the treachery of men's hearts and feel the harsh beatings of the cultivation world!

This will be of immense benefit to his future path of cultivation! Now that—that is a priceless treasure!"