"Shadow attribute?" Little brat, you can really see in the darkness?" The young man was greatly overjoyed.
"Of course, who would lie to you," Jin Ling'er said proudly. "You are the brat, watch what you say."
“Haha, this little brat is really proud. En…" The young man tilted his head in thought, then opened his mouth. Asking probingly, "Fine, little fellow, let brother test you. Speak, how many fingers am I holding up?"
In the darkness, the young man extended his finger silently.
"One finger," Jin Ling'er said without any hesitation.
The shackles once again moved in the darkness. The young man asked again, "And right now?”
"Three fingers."
"And right now?"
"Five fingers."
"And right now?”
"You haven't extended any fingers.”
In the darkness, there was a delight that others could not identify flickering in his eyes.
He deeply breathed in, as if he had made some sort of decision. Nodding his head, "Fine, right now, I really believe you can see in the dark. Things are much more simpler now. Little brat, go over there carefully and see what shape the lock is on the metal door.”
"Why do I have to listen to you?" Jin Ling'er said grumpily.
"You little brat, you are so troublesome… because only I can save you, so you must listen to me," the young man said in an exasperated tone. "If you can really see in the darkness, then things will become much easier."
"Ling'er, go over there and have a look," Bai Yuanxing, who was by the side, finally opened his mouth.
He was not aware of the young man's identity or just where his confidence originated from, or why he asked Ling'er to have a look at the lock, but any possibility that they had to escape must be examined. They just had to be careful, that was all.
Furthermore, this young man seemed to be a person who ‘would not release the hawk till he saw the rabbit’. For him to say such words on his own initiative, he must have some confidence in himself.
"Mm, okay, Brother Yuanxing," Jin Ling'er obediently agreed.
There was the sound of the steel shackles moving in the darkness.
After a while, Jin Linger’s voice sounded out again, "This lock is strange. It is round on the outside, but after half an inch, it becomes triangular. After another inch, it changes again. This… En, it seems like its…"
“It's like flat sawtooth, is that right?" the weak young man interrupted.
Jin Ling'er looked at it for a while more. His voice sounded out, "Hey, how did you know?"
"Haha, of course I know. This type of lock is called [Three Inch Locks the Light]. It's a rare type of implement to prevent theft. Not to mention opening it, many people have not even heard of its name. Haha, but I am the great and famous…" the young man said proudly with an excited laugh, but suddenly stopped midway through the sentence, not finishing. Changing the subject, "That's right, did you say you found a piece of metal just now? How many inches is it?"
"Around five inches," Jin Ling'er replied.
"And how wide and thick is it?”
"It's very thin, about half a finger's width."
The young man smiled, "That's enough, that's enough. Fine, you can come closer. Have a look at the manacles on my arms and legs. What shape are they? Have a detailed look…"
"Why should I have a look at yours first?“ Jin Ling'er countered. "You want me to open the locks for you? No, I need to first look at the locks on brother Yuanxing first. If you really have the ability, then help me first unlock his shackles. Only then will I help you.”
Bai Yuanxing did not have anything to say.
The young man was taken aback in the darkness, then smiled, "You little brat, you have so many devious plans… Fine, we'll listen to you. Haha, but since we are working together right now, you have to be a little more cooperative. Otherwise, even if we are free from these shackles, we can't open the [Three Inch Locks the Light], and therefore we can't exit from this room.”
Jin Ling'er did not say anything more, coming to Bai Yuanxing's side. He examined the shackles on his arms and legs. As he examined it, he also described it, communicating with the young man.
"This is an ordinary iron lock, it can't trouble me." The young man was exceedingly confident. After listening to this, he said, "You have to grind the piece of metal down, leaving two inches for the handle. After one inch, after a certain distance, you have to grind a triangle crevices equal distance away from each other. In the middle part, after a certain distance, there must be a pointed edge. And finally at the last inch, you have to create a saw toothed edge, that has ten jagged parts, pointing outwards, then pointing inwards… Do you understand what I've said?"
"Of course I understand, it's so simple," JIn Ling'er casually answered, then began grinding.
There was the sound of metal striking each other in the dark room.
Although it was a metal piece that was not that thick, it still took some effort in grinding it to the desired shape. Cautious of making any mistake, Jin Ling'er proceeded very carefully. Although he normally looked cheerful and bright, he was exceedingly cautious when it came to actually doing things.
Time passed by minute by minute, second by second.
Because he was able to see the hope of escaping, Bai Yuanxing felt that time was passing far too slowly. But he did not open his mouth to rush Jin Ling'er, he did not want to give pressure to this little fellow.
A decent amount of time passed by yet again.
Jin Ling'er had not even finished half of the grinding.
Bai Yuanxing wanted to get rid of the tense and nervous atmosphere in the air. "What's your name? If you are able to escape, do you have any friends you can rely on? I am familiar with Youyan Pass, I can arrange some matters for you."
"Haha, friends?" The young man let out a faint smile. "I don't have any close friends. My mother and my father were killed tens of years ago. And the people from my grandfather's generation have all died. This world is large, but i've long grown to being used to having no one to rely on. If the outside really is Youyan Pass, then I should really experience the glory of the Northern Empire."
"This… sorry, I should not have mentioned this." Bai Yuanxing lightly sighed, apologized, then said with some emotion, "There are people with the same fate everywhere. My parents also died when I was eight in the battlefield between the demon race and Youyan Pass. I've not seen my mother since I was small. It is said that she disappeared not long after I was born…"
"Haha, so your life was so tragic. Haha, then I feel happier." The young man's tone was delightful, quickly becoming cheerful again.
Bai Yuanxing: "…”
He suddenly felt that attempting to use words to comfort this fellow was a mistaken decision.
After a brief moment of silence.
“I'm called Xiao Buliu," the weak young man said beside him. "What about you, the little brat called you brother Yuanxing, you are called Yuanxing?”
"Bai Yuanxing."
"Eh? This name is somewhat meaningful.
"How is it meaningful?"
"Haha, of course it's meaningful. Look, you are called Bai Yuanxing, I am called Xiao Buliu, we are somewhat fated. Buliu(leaving) must definitely go Yuanxing (far away). Haha…" The young man began laughing again.
Bai Yuanxing was hesitant
Then in the darkness he also began grinning silently.
"You seem to like to laugh." Bai Yuanxing changed the subject. "According to what you say, you've been trapped here for at least one and a half months. To be able to endure till now in such a pitch black environment everyday, your will must be very strong."
"At the start I nearly went crazy. But I realized that if I die, there would be no one to take vengeance for the death of my parents. If it died just like that, will my enemies laugh till their lips split open?" Xiao Buliu grinded his teeth. "So when I was at the boundary of mental collapse, I kept telling myself, ‘no matter what, I must survive’. Then that person called Li Rui, kept bringing food day after day, conversing with me. Although it was all pointless topics and conversations, and he did not obtain any useful information from my lips, but at least there was something to distract me everyday. I gradually grew used to it."
"Just who were the people who killed your parents? Martial artists? Or…" Bai Yuanxing could not bear but ask. "Perhaps I can help you."
"Help me?" Xiao Buliu smiled. "You can't help me. That person's fame is quite significant in the South West martial scene. Furthermore, he's a person that is famed for doing good, there are hundreds if not thousands of people who helped him before. There are countless people from the Murim that goes to pay their greetings to him regularly, and his strength is also exceedingly terrifying. I tried to take vengeance over a thousand times, but no matter what method I used, I could not kill him.
"For your enemy to be like such a person? This…" A thought could not help but appear in Yuanxing’s mind.
"I know what you are thinking of, but you are wrong. My parents are not demons or anything of the sort, they were famous heroes in the South West JIanghu…" There was an unlimited regret present in the young man's voice.
"This… how could this be. " Bai Yuanxing was stunned then instantly realized something, growing enlightened, "That's right, I understand."“
Xiao Buliu snorted, interrupting Bai Yuanxing's words. "You've guessed wrong again. Since my parents weren't bad people, then you must imagine my enemy is someone who's a hypocrite and faked his fame, he's a wolf hiding in sheep’s clothing. On the surface he seems kind and genial, but in reality he's a demon. Isn't that right?"
"Could it be this is not true?" Bai Yuanxing said with shock.
"Of course not." Xiao Buliu shook his head. "Although I've dreamed many times of killing this person, but i must admit, he is a true hero. Everything he does is to help others, to aid others. He would never care about his fame or fortune. If he was someone that had nothing to do with me, I would definitely respect him out of the bottom of my own heart."
Bai Yuanxing had his mouth wide open, not knowing what to say. "To use such words to evaluate your enemy, you are a gentleman."
"Peh, who cares about that?" Xiao Buliu said grumpily. "If that person's fame was not so great and I could kill him, and bad mouthing could pose an effect, I would have long hired a thousand storytellers to describe him as a trash with boils underneath his feet and ulcers on his head."
Bai Yuanxing felt that the personality of this Xiao Buliu was too unpredictable. He could only close his mouth. But after such an exchange of words, he was not so defensive towards him anymore.
"I've managed."
Jin Ling'er jumped up excitedly, the chains jangling.
He had finally finished crafting the metal implement according to Xiao Buliu's request.
