Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups Chapter 1392 - 672:

The surface of the hemp rope was stained with blood, emitting a nauseating odor, and its coarse fibers cut directly into the flesh.

His feet were also bound with the same hemp rope, fixed at the base of a wooden post.

Xu Hao tried to twist his wrists.

But the hemp rope was tied extremely tightly; the knot was a dead knot specifically used for binding livestock, the more he struggled, the deeper it cut in.

The rough bark rubbed against his bare back, causing the wounds from earlier claw attacks to tear open again, seeping warm blood down his spine.

He gasped through gritted teeth, halting his futile struggles.

He then turned his neck, surveying his surroundings.

This was the open space in the center of the ancestral hall.

The large dark well was less than ten meters directly in front of him.

He had no idea how long he had been tied here after being knocked out.

On his left side, stood another wooden post.

A skinny village guard was bound to this post.

The man’s head hung low, eyes vacant, with a long strand of saliva drooping from his mouth, oblivious to his surroundings like a beast awaiting slaughter.

On his right side, there was another wooden post.

When Xu Hao saw clearly what was tied on the right, the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably.

It was the same guy whose ribs he shattered with a Liver Bursting Punch, and whose chest he burned through with True Qi.

At this moment, the chest cavity of this corpse still showed a caved-in mark, with the edges of the skin and flesh carbonized by high temperature, exhibiting a charred black color.

What made Xu Hao’s scalp tighten was that the gaping hole was crudely stitched together with black thread, as if it were a potato sack.

The corpse had lost all ability to move, relying solely on the hemp rope to stay upright.

Understanding his predicament, Xu Hao took a deep breath of the cold air, closing his eyes, and swiftly sinking his consciousness.

He attempted to continue operating the "Great Sun Burning Body Technique."

However, his Dantian was completely empty, like a dried-up well.

The desperate combat earlier had exhausted not only all the True Qi he had accumulated but also overdrawn his essence and blood to the limit.

Without ten or half a month of rest and recuperation, he could not hope to squeeze out even the slightest bit of energy.

With no hope for True Qi, Xu Hao immediately connected to the Sun Heart Net in his mind, trying to call for the chairman.

"Boss? Can you hear me?"

"Target location confirmed, Jiang Chen’s true form is in the well at the Ancient Locust Village’s ancestral hall, I’ve been captured, requesting support!"

His thoughts echoed in his mind.

A few seconds passed.

There was no response.

The Heart Net, which usually allowed him to establish a connection with just a thought, now seemed completely cut off by some invisible barrier.

Realizing his isolated plight, Xu Hao swallowed, his Adam’s apple twitching up and down.

Panic sprouted like wild weeds in his heart, but he forcibly calmed his rapid breathing.

Years of street fighting experience told him that the more desperate the situation, the less he could afford to show weakness to his enemies.

Just then, a series of light footsteps approached from the direction of the side door of the ancestral hall.

Xu Hao lifted his head, his gaze traversing the well, locking onto the sound.

Two figures walked slowly toward him, one behind the other, stepping on the white frost covering the ground.

Leading the way was Supervisor Wu, dressed in a gray coarse cloth tunic.

He held a paper lantern emitting a ghostly green glow, his face still devoid of any expression.

Following behind him was an elderly man with a cane.

The old man was clad in an exquisitely tailored black high-end suit, with a dark red silk tie at the collar.

This outfit appeared quite incongruous in the desolate, dilapidated ancestral hall of the Ancient Locust Village.

The old man hunched his back, walking very slowly.

The handle of his cane was crafted into a gold lion’s head, which flashed a blinding shine under the moonlight with his movement.

His cheeks were sunken, and his skin was covered with large dark brown age spots, with a sickly dark circle around his eyes.

Although he seemed as if a gust of wind could topple him, there was an unusual fervor in his eyes, his gaze firmly fixed on the large dark well.

The two stopped at the edge of the well and looked down, seemingly observing the movements inside.

Xu Hao, seeing this, spat bloody saliva onto the ground, breaking the silence first:

"Old Wu, that skill of yours to sneak up and knock someone out, you’ve been practicing it for years, right?"

Supervisor Wu turned his head at the sound, a hint of surprise flickering in his eyes like dead water:

"You woke up so quickly?"

"Hey!"

Xu Hao cracked his dry lips, his tone full of mockery:

"I just don’t get it. Your damn company hires people just to tie them to a post and let them freeze in the wind?"

Supervisor Wu quietly looked at him without responding.

Instead, the old man next to him, leaning on a cane, turned around, covered his mouth with a snow-white handkerchief, and coughed violently twice.

"Cough cough... young man, there’s no need to be so angry."

The old man put down the handkerchief and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"In fact, you could have lived a little longer, enjoying a few months of peaceful days in this village. It’s just your own doing, violating the taboos here."

Xu Hao let out a cold laugh, raising his chin slightly:

"Old bastard, which grave did you crawl out from?"

"Let me tell you straight, I, Xu Hao, have backing in the underworld. If my boss finds out I disappeared on a mission, do you believe he’ll come wipe out your broken village by tomorrow?"

The old man wasn’t angered by these arrogant words but instead let out a laugh like a leaking wind.

He tapped the stone slab of the ancestral hall’s floor with the bottom of his cane.

"Backing? Boss?"

The old man shook his head, gazing at Xu Hao with a superior air of pity:

"The day you came for the interview, Supervisor Wu reported your phone behavior to me word for word. You demanded a million annual salary upfront, wanted a private bath, and a chauffeured car, and even cursed out the HR supervisor on the phone."

The old man’s speech paused, the sarcasm at the corners of his mouth becoming more evident.

"At the time, we were wondering, how could anyone be so stupid to go undercover in such a way? Real spies are all cautious and low-key. You, on the other hand, might as well have ’I’m here to make trouble’ written on your face."

"So, we unanimously believed you’re just a simple-minded gangster with some basic Outer Door Hard Qi Skill, thinking you’re invincible, and having stumbled upon my secret, came here to blackmail some money."

Xu Hao squinted his eyes, grinding his molars in frustration.

So this was how his flawless disguise was perceived by them.

"I’ve been in charge of recruitment for many years, and I’ve seen countless ’two-legged sheep’.

Supervisor Wu took a step forward with the lantern, his cold gaze sweeping over Xu Hao’s rope-bound body and spoke:

"According to the rules, your vital energy is very vigorous, a rare superior vessel. I plan to keep you here in the village, letting the array slowly absorb your qi and nourish the master."

He lifted his rigid hand and pointed to the corpse roughly sewn with black thread on the wooden post to the right.

"But you were too restless and broke the master’s favorite vessel. That vessel was supposed to be cultivated to bear a trace of the master’s divine thought."

"Since you destroyed it, we’ll have to use you to fill tonight’s sacrificial gap. The master will surely be very satisfied with your full-bodied vitality."

Xu Hao listened, suddenly thrusting his neck forward, berating:

"You want to slaughter me like a sheep? Screw you!"

If not for the hemp rope tightly binding his shoulders, he would have smashed his head into the other’s nose.

After a few curses, he scrutinized Supervisor Wu’s zombie-like face and sneered.

"Look at yourself now, neither human nor ghost, not even a bit of warmth left in you. Serving as a dog for the monster at the bottom of the well, and you think you’re superior?"

The old man, listening to Xu Hao’s cursing, didn’t get angry but instead shook his head with a bit of sentiment.

"A dead look? Young man, you don’t understand what a true miracle is."

The old man no longer paid attention to Xu Hao’s reaction, turning to look at Supervisor Wu.

His gaze lingered on that face untouched by the passage of time, with a tone that bore a complex emotion:

"Supervisor Wu, you look much younger than me. But who would have thought that thirty years ago, you were also lying in a hospital bed, relying on machines just to breathe, almost a dying man?"

Supervisor Wu slightly lowered his eyelids, answering in a calm voice:

"All this is the master’s grace. Chairman Qian, as long as tonight’s sacrifice goes smoothly and the master returns to the world, you will receive the same blessing."

The old man called Chairman Qian took a deep breath of the cold air, his chest heaving intensely:

"Yes... the gift of immortality..."