I Just Won't Play By The Book

When the five Sisters had finished resting completely, Jiang Beiran led them forward. However, what had just happened seemed to have traumatized them a little, and the five Sisters walked in an unusually careful manner, afraid of stepping into any formations again.

But while they were careful, they still followed Jiang Beiran closely, afraid of falling behind.

Relying upon strong mental power, Jiang Beiran tracked the scent left by the thief all the way out of the woods and soon arrived outside of a cave.

"This should be it," he said.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, using his perception for a while, Jiang Beiran found that most of those inside were ordinary people. Only one had practiced some cultivation, but he was only at the second level of Qi Refining.

Halting the use of his mental power, Jiang Beiran turned around and said to the five Sisters, "Come, let me test you. What should we do after we are sure that the thieves are in the cave?"

Liu Zijin thought for a while, then spoke first and answered, "Go straight in and capture the leader. This technique is called 'capturing the ringleader first to capture all the followers'."

Jiang Beiran shook his head after hearing this. He looked at Liu Zijin with a disappointed expression and said, "You are too reckless. It's not a war. What's the use of capturing the leader? The other thieves would still scatter, no?"

After hearing this, Liu Zijin immediately lowered her head and said, "Brother, you are right." After saying that, Liu Zijin thought of another plan and was just about to say something, but she heard Sister Yu speak first. "Then should we first determine what exits the cave has?"

"Smart. That's of the highest priority," he replied.

After hearing this, Liu Zijin and Fang Qiuyao both showed a look of regret, but for not quite the same reason.

After instructing them on some more details, Jiang Beiran nodded and said, "Okay, remember what I just said. Those thieves inside the cave are no match for you. Now do it."

"Yes!" the five Sisters answered in unison. They began to capture the thieves according to the plan Jiang Beiran had laid out.

Just as Jiang Beiran said, the thieves in the cave were basically ordinary people. They were totally no match for Liu Zijin and the other girls. Soon, they were either knocked unconscious or had gotten on their knees to surrender.

'Huh… that person actually did not set up a formation in their lair?' Jiang Beiran wondered.

The reason why Jiang Beiran did not follow the five Sisters into the cave was that he was thinking that there must be other defensive formations. It was much easier to break the formation when one was standing outside than when one was inside of it.

But what he hadn't expected was that there was no sign of any formation being triggered inside the cave.

'What a strange person.'

Lamenting in his heart, Jiang Beiran walked into the cave with brisk steps.

'Mhmm~ They all mastered their strength pretty well,' he thought.

He looked at the thieves lying on the ground at the entrance of the cave in a disorderly manner. With a single glance, Jiang Beiran knew that they had all been knocked out by one blow, losing consciousness in a very peaceful manner.

When he came all the way to the deepest part of the cave, Jiang Beiran saw several of the Sisters cleaning up the battlefield, gathering the unconscious thieves into one place.

"Good job." Jiang Beiran looked at them and nodded his head in praise.

"Brother, he is the leader of the group," Liu Zijin said as she pushed a young man who was tied up over to Jiang Beiran.

"Alright, got it," Jiang Beiran replied casually.

"Then I'll continue tying up those thieves," Liu Zijin said.

"Go."

After Liu Zijin went away, Jiang Beiran squatted down and looked at the calm young man with curiosity. "How come you aren't shouting something along the lines of 'let me go, quick' like other thieves?" he asked the man.

"Will you let go of me if I do shout?" The young man said as he lifted his gaze and looked at Jiang Beiran.

"Yes. As long as you shout, I will let you go." Jiang Beiran nodded his head.

"Pfft, don't act all pretentious over there," the young man said disdainfully as he turned his head away.

"Oh," Jiang Beiran said, then sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes and practiced the Rhymed Formula of Returning Hearts.

This made the young leader a little puzzled, not knowing what this man really meant.

"Hey. Now that you caught me, hurry up and send me to the authorities to collect your reward. Why are you sitting here?" the man asked.

"No hurry, no hurry." Jiang Beiran smiled and shook his head.

And so, a strange silence fell between the two.

After a few minutes, the leader, who finally couldn't stand this weird atmosphere, spoke up, saying, "Since you can find this place… Are you the one who broke the formation outside…?"

'Here it comes,' Jiang Beiran thought.

Based on years of experience in catching thieves, Jiang Beiran came to the conclusion that if he was to question the thieves immediately upon capturing them, most of them would only hold their heads high and say, "Cut the nonsense. Kill me or cut me up if you please. I do not understand what you are talking about."

This would make the interrogation very troublesome.

So, Jiang Beiran simply did the opposite by just waiting it out. When their hostility gradually faded, they would initiate a conversation with him.

Opening his eyes, Jiang Beiran looked at the young leader and said, "Did you set up that formation? It's quite interesting."

The young leader proudly held his head high and said, "If not for the lack of materials, you would not have been able to escape."

"Well, the formation does indeed have quite some background. Where did you learn it from?" Jiang Beiran asked.

"Hmph! I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh." Jiang Beiran finished speaking and continued to close his eyes and meditate.

"You!" The young leader grew impatient, saying, "Don't you know how to continue asking questions or negotiate terms with me?"

"You're trying to teach me how to do something, huh?" Jiang Beiran asked, opening his eyes.

"I…!"

Had he not been tied up, the young leader wanted to rush forward and fight Jiang Beiran to death. This guy was too annoying!

After panting twice, the young leader looked around at the female cultivators still in the Qi Refining Period as they were tying his minions up. He shouted, "Hey! Does your leader always speak like this?"

Liu Zijin and the others were actually holding back their laughter to the point of almost sustaining internal injuries. After hearing the young man's question, they all chose not to answer and continued to tie people up in silence.

"Brother, we'll go tie up those thieves at the cave entrance and bring them in as well."

"Alright, go ahead." Jiang Beiran nodded his head.

Watching Liu Zijin and the other girls leave together, the young leader, who had his temper worn out, spoke up, saying, "If I tell you where I learned this formation from, would you let me go?"

"No. I'm not interested in the kind of formation that can't even trap me," Jiang Beiran replied.

"That's just my incompetence in learning the craft! This formation is called the Mind-Controlling Formation of Small Multiples of Six. If it is set it up fully, even a Mystic King will be trapped if he walks in!" the leader of the thieves said.

"Oh."

"It's true! That's what it says in the book! It's just that no one taught me and I did not learn it well, otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have been able to walk out."

"Book?" Jiang Beiran asked.

Seeing that Jiang Beiran finally appeared to be interested, the young leader nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes! I dug it up when I used to raid tombs! It's very valuable! As long as you're willing to let me go, I'll give you that book!"

"Not interested."

At the moment, the five junior Sisters walked back in and bowed at Jiang Beiran. "Brother, all the thieves have been tied up."

"Okay, then let's go," Jiang Beiran said as he stood up.

"Hey! Don't! The formations in that book are really powerful! If you don't believe me, I'll show you! It's in the mountain at the back. It's real!!!"