Bing just got done taking care of the Sharp Jaw Wolves. His qi was nearly empty but his body was in perfect condition! He downed a Qi recovery pill to refuel his qi back to half and took a careful look around in his surroundings. So far, he couldn’t spot or sense anyone nearby. If this task from the Mission Hall really was a trap, then now would be the perfect time for them to attack. 

  As of now, Bing was checking the condition of the fallen Sharp Jaw Wolves. For those whose bodies were too damaged, he ate with his devil hand. Inside the den, Bing could hear several little growls and see a litter of silver eyes staring at him with hatred. If he wasn’t so sure his karma would be reduced even lower, he would take care of the pups as well. Leaving little seeds like that were no doubt bad for his future. No sense leaving a dangerous problem alone when he could solve it when it wasn’t dangerous at all. 

“I’m probably overthinking this... They’re just animals.” He laughed off his unease. 

  Bing gathered the necessary number of wolves with good corpses and took out the capture spell. As he was putting them all into capture beads, he heard a sound behind him. His head instantly swiveled in that direction and his body puffed up with muscle. 

“This lard ass already knew this was a trap.” A voice suddenly said. 

  Bing rose from the ground and stared in the direction where the voice came. He could still not spot anybody near him or sense them. 

“He’s smarter than he looks.” A girlish voice laughed. 

“Not too smart to realize that he’s already dead.” 

  Just as he said that, Bing could see his vision going blurry. Poison?! In the air?! The pudgy cultivator covered his mouth and nose with his hand but it was too late. The poison was already inside his body and he couldn’t do anything anymore. Bing fell face first into the ground unconscious as 3 figures came out from the surroundings. 

“To think this fat ass managed to get himself a bounty of 10 middle-grade spirit stones. We can’t give him to Dark Hands for 50 low-grade spirit stones.” 

“Isn’t it his lucky day to be caught by us? Instead of boiled alive like a pig and used as cultivator ingredients, he gets to be executed by the Huan clan.” 

“You sound like a retard. He wasn’t lucky at all. If he was lucky, he would’ve never taken the task from the Mission Hall.” 

“I was just saying...” 

“Maybe being eating alive by the wolves would’ve been the worst outcome for him.” 

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s tie him up, return to the sect, and get in contact with the Huan clan. They should be eager to get this fatty delivered to them on a silver plate after losing one of their commanders in the Treasured Plains. It’ll be a good way to boost moral again by killing someone whose been a thorn in their side for a while.” 

“I’ll go to the Huan clan.” 

“I’ll watch the fatty.” 

“I’ll cancel our deal with Dark Hands. They wouldn’t dare try anything with me.” 

“Be careful, Jig.” 

“You too, Wolf.” Jig said as he disappeared. 

“Don’t I get some words of caution too?!” The young girl of the group shouted. 

“You have to watch over a Qi Gatherer. What’s there to be cautious about, Chin?” Wolf asked. 

“You’ll never understand a maiden’s heart...” She pouted angrily. 

“Save the nonsense for later. Let’s get going already.” 

  Bing woke up with a start after realizing what happened to him. His eyes crazily darted around the pitch-black room he was placed in. The round youth’s first thoughts was if he was alive or not. That was quickly answered by lightly biting his tongue. After giving himself a few seconds to recover from the pain, he realized that his arms and legs have been tied together. Both of his arms were tied with a rope and both of his legs were tied with a rope, not his arms and legs were tied up and he was in some sort of pretzel shape. Bing wasn’t bendable like that. 

  Along with the bindings, several talismans were placed on his body. He could recognize a few of them. A qi draining spell, a strength limiting spell, and a slowness spell all on his body. Whoever these people were that kidnapped him must not be amateurs. With talismans like these at the ready, they had to have kidnapped all kinds of people. But why hadn’t they killed him yet? 

“Oh, you’re awake. That’s quicker than normal. Usually they’d be out for hours.” It was that girl from before he was poisoned. 

  She walked into the room he was in and turned on the light, lighting up his surroundings. They placed him in some sort large empty room. Nothing was inside it except for him tied up in a chair surrounded by big walls and the wooden door leading into the room. The girl in front of him was not anyone he recognized. 

“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?” She playfully smiled, knowing he was curious about her and her group’s intentions for him. 

“Why have you captured me?” He wasn’t too sure why they didn’t just kill him. 

  Is it because of his connection with Jing or something else? 

“You have quite the hit out on you tubby! For just being a Qi Gatherer, the bounty on your head isn’t a small amount! You should be proud.” She complimented him. 

“If it wasn’t required that you must be alive, we wouldn’t have bothered carrying your heavy self all the way from the Immortal Forest. We would’ve just taken your head!”  

“So, this is because of the Huan clan. Alright.” That made Bing less nervous. He already planned to deal with the Huan clan so, this was just another offense to add to the long list of offenses they made towards him. 

“Saying it like that is kinda strange, don’t you think? Why else would anyone be after a little Qi Gatherer like you?” She asked. 

  Bing stayed silent at this point. Since she didn’t plan to kill him, there wasn’t a need to really conversate with her. Plus, she wasn’t his type at all. Too childish, thin as a twig, and no chest whatsoever. Looking at her gave him no excitement at all, even in a tense situation like this. 

“Ooh. Giving me the silent treatment huh? Must be real popular with the ladies, aren’t you?” She asked, hitting him where it hurts. 

“Chin. I’ve readied the deal with the Huan clan. Let’s drop him off and get our payment.” Park spoke. 

“Good. I was getting sick of this tubby anyway! He’s no fun at all.” She blew a kiss in his direction and everything got fuzzy again. 

  He’s definitely got to figure out a way to combat poison for the future... He should ask the Empress about it when she forces a task on him. Maybe as a reward she could give him a spirit tool that makes him immune to poisons or something. His body might be strong but it wasn’t powerful enough to handle poisons it seems. 

“Wake up Fat Ass!” Bing felt a sharp slap on his cheek. 

“What’s going on!?” He sat straight up and felt his skull smash against the person that woke him up. 

“Hahaha. I didn’t think you had it in you. To bring us straight into a fight like this! I don’t know how you do it but you gotta teach me how you get into shit so often!” Hu Tao said before running off fighting several cultivators dressed in dark black garbs. 

“Bing! There you are! Get off your butt and start telling us what the hell did you do!” Ying grabbed his arm and nearly wrenched it out of its socket by pulling him to his feet. 

“That’s what I want to know! I just woke up and don’t know what’s going on! I only asked you guys for help because I got poisoned and was going to get kidnapped or killed!” Bing told her. 

  He messaged the group for help once he realized that he was poisoned back in the Immortal Forest. 

“Dark Hands?” Jing’s voice caught his ear. 

“Yes. They are a notorious group known to deal in all sorts of despicable acts. Murder, assassinations, kidnapping, robbery, anything for the right price is their motto.” Wan Qing relayed. 

“So that means Bing wasn’t their objective. He just got caught up in all this. Let’s get out of here then.” Jing commanded as a member of Dark Hands tried to cut her head off from behind. 

  With a leisure block with her hand covered in water behind her head, the sword slash was blocked. In that quick moment of blocking the assassin’s blade, she severed his head from his body with a slash of her water-covered palm. 

“Everyone stand around me.” Jing pulled out a few movement talismans and everyone but Hu Tao did as she said. 

“What about Hu Tao?” Bing asked. 

“What about him?” Ying asked back. “He’s having the time of his life fighting those guys.” 

  And fair enough, a huge grin was plastered on Hu Tao’s face as he ripped through both the Huan clan and Dark Hands cultivators. 

“I see what you mean...” He silenced himself and everyone but Hu Tao was teleported outside Jing’s home. 

“Thanks for coming to save me everyone...” Bing told them all. 

“If you want to pay me back, cook for Ni Xong sometimes.” Wan Qing said before walking off. 

“Buy me something to help me understand fire better.” Ying told him. 

“You don’t have to owe me anything Bing.” Lei smiled. 

“Did I ever tell you how much you mean to me Lei?” Bing said with tears in his eyes. 

“Don’t act like I was asking for too much!” Ying yelled. 

“Of course not.” He immediately bowed for forgiveness. 

“I’m not threatening you! Quit acting like I'm going to hit you for every little thing!” 

  He stayed silent this time. 

“Next time you get kidnapped make sure to get kidnapped by people with some wealth or background. Now get from my house.” Jing said to them all. 

“Yes, Empress!” Bing responded as Lei and Ying snickered at how over the top he was with Jing. 

CaptainBoyHole

Hmm. I don't feel right leaving you guys off with this chapter on a friday. It doesn't feel all that interesting. I guess i'll upload another chapter today.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.