Li Xiuwen slowly emerged from the shadows before walking silently toward the three senior disciples who were still bound to the tree. His eyes were not filled with hatred, but were instead empty and chillingly cold.
"You lot... are quite annoying," Li Xiuwen said in a calm voice. "I really feel like killing you."
"You... what are you saying?!" one of Zhao Feng's lackeys shouted back, his voice full of anger and fear. "You, a useless nobody... how dare you speak to us like that!"
"Useless, you say?" Li Xiuwen slowly repeated the word before punching the lackey in the stomach with a swift and merciless strike. A cry of pain was stifled by the chain around his mouth. "The first word is useless, the second word is useless. Do you gentlemen have no other words?"
"You little brat! You dare to attack me!" Zhao Feng yelled out in fury. "Don't think you'll get away with this just because you have some weird technique. The sect will punish you severely!"
"It is precisely because I have no talent that I must find a way to survive," Li Xiuwen replied with a cold voice. "You keep barking like stray dogs. It's truly annoying."
His words left Zhao Feng and his lackeys stunned with shock and anger. Li Xiuwen ignored them. He slowly gathered all his Qi into his right palm, Qi that had been fused with the essence of pure iron ore.
"If I ever get free... you are dead!" Zhao Feng threatened, his voice filled with fear.
"You can't defeat me now, Senior Brother," Li Xiuwen replied coolly. "Have you not noticed why your Qi has been slowly decreasing?"
Zhao Feng's eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me..."
"You're not that stupid, are you?" Li Xiuwen smiled a cold, bloodthirsty smile. "That's right... anyone bound by my chains will have their Qi slowly drained away. It is getting dark now, so I should finish this quickly, Senior Brother."
After he had finished gathering his power in his palm, he unhesitatingly thrust it into the chest of Zhao Feng's lackey. The violent surge of Qi instantly stopped the man's heart. His eyes widened in shock before his body went limp.
Zhao Feng and the other lackey trembled with fear. They had never imagined that this supposedly useless boy would dare to kill someone.
"You... what have you done! If I tell my master, you won't get away with this!" Zhao Feng shouted, his voice filled with terror.
Li Xiuwen gave a small smile. "Have you forgotten something, Senior Brother?" he said in a voice that sent shivers down Zhao Feng's spine. "Dead men tell no tales."
"Even if you kill me, you won't get away with it!" the other lackey said in desperation.
Li Xiuwen let out a malevolent laugh. "You may have forgotten that this is a forest with many spirit beasts. Many people have died here. And besides... they all think I am useless. Why would they ever suspect it was me?" he said as he walked toward Zhao Feng, who had now lost all traces of his arrogance.
"Well then... let's finish this."
About half an incense stick's time later, Li Xiuwen walked out of the dense forest. He looked back and then arranged the scene to make it look like they had been attacked and killed by a group of spirit beasts.