Only one can live.
When they appear again, the scenery has already changed.
You XiaoMo rubs his eyes and discovers that he is in Ling Xiao’s dimension. Bluest of skies and greenest of grass beneath his feet. The grass is almost to his knees. The concentration of spiritual energy is extremely high in the dimension. He can even feel that everything he breathes in is spiritual energy. If mystics were to train here, they would probably achieve a thousand li in a day.
Just when he is about to ask why he brought him here, You XiaoMo sees a few people huddled into a ball not too far away.
One of those people seems to be familiar to You XiaoMo. Luckily it hasn’t been too long ago. You XiaoMo tries his hardest to remember and finally succeeds after a little while.
The oldest looking one, with the mottled grey beard. The one that is looking at him in horror. Isn’t that the manager of HunJi city’s Magic pill central workshop who sold him the magic herb seeds?
Thinking of why he should appear here, You XiaoMo suddenly realizes in surprise, can it be, that the one that used the Seven star hidden fragrance insect to track them is this manager of the Magic pill central workshop?
But it also can’t be right ah. Why would he want to track them? He still remembers that the power behind the Magic pill central workshop is the Master of HunJi city. Someone that is able to develop HunJi city to such a large and flourishing place should be a Master that is very fair ba. But the reality seems to tell him that it isn’t so.
Thinking like this, You XiaoMo suddenly feels his head getting all mixed up, unsure if it is really as he suspects.
Unable to figure it out, he shifts his questioning gaze to Ling Xiao, hoping to get the answer from him, “Elder brother Ling, what are they doing here ah?”
“Isn’t just as you see it? No matter how noble and virtuous, one would always entertain evil thoughts at the sight of riches.”
Ling Xiao looks over at the manager, smiling at him meaningfully. The latter is frightened by his smile, the horror appearing even more clearly on his face.
“Then what are we going to do now?”
Talking about entertaining evil thoughts at the sight of riches, it finally makes sense to You XiaoMo.
The one behind the Magic pill central workshop is the Master of the city. Since he bought so many high quality magic herbs from Magic pill central workshop, and he also bought a magic beast egg at the auction and sold quite a lot of spiritual liquid, that’s why these people started to have evil thoughts at the sight of riches, planning on killing them off and seizing their treasures. Thinking like this, he can’t suppress a shudder. He didn’t expect that just buying some things would be so dangerous. Looks like he would have to ask Ling Xiao to go with him whenever he wants to buy or sell anything from now on.
“Little brother.”
Ling Xiao suddenly reveals a strange smile.
“Are you not short of a few helpers for your magic herb fields? How about ……. I turn them into puppets. How about it?”
“Spare our lives ah, great lord. We won’t dare to do it again. Spare our lives ah great lord!”
Without waiting for You XiaoMo to say anything, those people already start pleading for their lives incessantly. That manager remains dazed for a while before suddenly scrambling to the front of them. His wretched appearance has no resemblance to how smart he looked when they saw him at the Magic pill central workshop.
“Great lord, great lord. I ……. I’m willing to do whatever you want me to do. Please don’t turn me into a puppet.”
He plays the part of someone who cares for nothing except saving his own skin to the hilt.
“You’re really willing to do anything?”
Ling Xiao smirks as he looks down at him from above.
“Of course, as long as great lord asks it, I will go through boiling water and tread on fire for you.”
The manager kowtows again and again, terrified that Ling Xiao would really turn him into a puppet.
It must be said that once a person is turned into a puppet, it will be something with no thoughts, no life, and no soul. Ordered around for all its existence to do things. But the most important thing is that the soul would disappear forever from heaven and earth, with no chance of rebirth. More tragic than death.
Seeing that Ling Xiao is showing signs of relenting, the other few people also crawl over to beg for mercy, showing that they are willing to devote themselves to him.
Ling Xiao suddenly shows a troubled expression, “But I only need one person. There are five of you so what is to be done ne?”
Just this one sentence makes the five faces change all at once. They look at each other fully on guard and with veiled killing intention. They don’t care if Ling Xiao is serious or not. This is really their one and only chance.
If there really can be only one left alive, they all want it to be themselves. Selfishness is their nature. When one’s own life is under threat, no one would abide by so-called loyalty and code of brotherhood.
Having lived for so many years, the manager of the Magic pill central workshop has the clearest understanding of the situation. The four people he brought with him would definitely not go and die just because he tells them to. Therefore, as soon as Ling Xiao says those words, not even three seconds pass before the manager suddenly stretches out his hand. The five fingers turn into claws before ruthlessly clawing at the chest of one of the black-clothed man closest to him. The malicious force seeming to want to dig out his heart. It turns out that the black-clothed man was already on guard. Just as the manager’s hand is about to claw him, he stretches out his hand to ward off the blow and beat a hasty retreat.
The other three black clothed men already retreated immediately. All of them in tacit agreement as they keep their distance from the manager because they know that among the five of them, the manager is the strongest one. If they do not dispose of him first, all four of them would have a hard time holding on to their lives.
The manager is clearly aware of their intentions, his face getting darker. In his heart he curses that they are a group of useless fellows biting the hand that feeds them. But on the surface, he gets more cautious. He expected that it would turn out like this.
The four black-clothed man glance at each other, then not giving the manager the chance to breathe and think of a way to deal with the situation, they launch attacks on the all vital points on his body in unison. Each and every one of them acts with hardened heart and ruthless hand.
Because they are all the underlings of the manager, they understand him the most. Crafty old scoundrel. His tricks are even more callous than theirs. As the advisor to the Master of the city, it’s clear he has certain capabilities. So the four of them don’t give him any chance to speak, going straight for his old life.
But the manager is also not a herbivore. Four people joining hands as if by telepathy leaves him in a little panic, but only for a little while. He recovers very quickly, his brains churning furiously thinking of a way to deal with the situation.
Because both sides are very familiar with each other, there is no clear winner even after extended fighting.
You XiaoMo watches them with eyes peeled and mouth hanging open. He only blinked and the five of them are already in a battle. His shocked expression shifts to Ling Xiao. Swallowing again and again, “Elder brother Ling, are you really going to turn them into puppets?”
In his mind, puppets should be like walking corpses, something like zombies. Just the thought of zombies helping to plant magic herbs in his dimension makes his hair stand on end. That’s a little too terrifying. He would rather toil by himself than let these people into his dimension. For him, the dimension is like his own home, his personal space. There is no way he would let these people inside.
“Of course not.”
Ling Xiao says softly, a joking smile on his face.
Hearing him refute it without the least bit of hesitation, You XiaoMo is dumbstruck. It’s a while before he recovers. Can it be that Ling Xiao is playing with them?
Ling Xiao continues disparagingly, “Thinking of being my puppet with their strength?”
You XiaoMo, “…….”
So after all this, this grand old man is actually bemoaning that their strength is too low. So demanding. He feels that if they knew what Ling Xiao is thinking, they would die from anger alone, no need for fighting. But it’s good that they won’t be turned into puppets.
Just as they were talking, the winner is starting to emerge on the other side.
Although the manager is the highest ranked, the four black-clothed men were hand-picked by him. Because considering Ling Xiao’s strength, the manager was afraid that there would be unexpected difficulties or that they would be discovered. Therefore, he purposely chose to bring four of uncommon strength. Looks like he himself would have to eat the toxic fruit.
The four men are young. Their combat experience is not less than that of the manager. Furthermore, they are from the same team so they work together well. Although they are injured, the manager is also cornered with nowhere to run.
Seeing that he is going to be killed in the hands of these four men, the manager suddenly gets a stroke of luck that clears his mind. As if clutching on a life-saving straw, he shouts out to Ling Xiao, wild with joy, “Great lord, I know all of the secrets of the Master of the city ……. ah ……. ”
The moment he says these words, the others immediately feel threatened. Behind him, one of the black-clothed man immediately sends his palm towards his head. The twisted expression on his face clearly says that he wants to kill him off with this one blow.
But he doesn’t get the chance. His palm stops one inch short from the crown of the manager’s head. Even with his face flushed completely red, he has no way of lowering his palm any more.
The manager thought that he would be dead for sure. Unexpectedly, the mountain road has twists and turns. A look of wild joy flashes across his aged face, before turning sinister and callous. He flicks his palm and attacks the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man is instantly seriously injured. He spits out a mouthful of blood, and retreats a few steps, finally falling to the ground never to get up again.
The other three men know that Ling Xiao was the one that acted. At once, they do not dare to make any more moves. They can only watch while suppressing their anger as the manager runs up to the man in a pandering manner.
Although Ling Xiao didn’t take any action in front of them, anyone with eyes can see that Ling Xiao’s strength is above theirs. More importantly, they have long been scared out of their wits by this mysterious dimension.
“Great lord, I am Tang Hun’s advisor. I know many of his secrets that others don’t know. I can tell you anything you want to know. Also, that pair of Seven star hidden fragrance insects, they were raised by Tang Hun ……. ”
The manager didn’t expect that his desperate idea would actually work. Wild with joy, he spills everything he knows without giving it another thought, hoping that this man would leave him a way out.
At this time he already doesn’t care what kind of outcome is in store for him for betraying Tang Hun. In his eyes, no matter how awesome Tang Hun is, he is only a Spiritual level fighter, while this man in front of him now is a genuine Imperial level fighter. Otherwise, how could he have such a huge dimension?
“Since they are raised by Tang Hun, you should know about the Seven star magic herb ba?”
Ling Xiao looks at him expressionlessly, speaking indifferently. Not showing the least bit of surprise at his words.
The manager is stunned for a moment before quickly recovering, rubbing his hands while speaking, “Servant indeed knows. At first, Tang Hun did have a few Seven star magic herbs. But those few stalks of Seven star magic herbs were used by Tang Hun a month ago. But I know that there is another place that has Seven star magic herbs. In order to locate Seven star magic herbs, Tang Hun has been asking around for a few years. Finally, he got the information half a year ago. The Seven star magic herb is inside the Paradise realm that will soon open two months from now.”
“Is that it?”
Ling Xiao raises his brows.
“Also, in order to make it easier to find the Seven star magic herb, Tang Hun managed to get an incomplete map from who knows where. At first, servant didn’t know what that map was. But there was once when Tang Hun let it slip. That’s how servant found out that the incomplete map is actually the map of the Paradise realm.”
The manager speaks cautiously while stealing glances at Ling Xiao’s expression out of the corner of his eyes.
“How can you be sure that the map is real?”
Ling Xiao asks, still not showing any change in expression.
“Indeed, servant cannot be absolutely sure. But Tang Hun did swear that the map is a hundred percent genuine. Servant has followed Tang Hun for many years and knows that he wouldn’t tell lies when it comes to things of such importance.” says the manager.
Ling Xiao stares at the terrified manager for a while before suddenly breaking out in laughter, “How is Tang Hun as a person? How does he normally treat all of you?”
The manager is stunned. He can’t seem to figure out what he is thinking, so he replies cautiously: “To tell great lord the truth, Tang Hun this person is not only easily jealous and greedy for riches, he is also very treacherous and ruthless while insisting that his word is law. Although servant has been by his side for tens of years, servant has never gotten unconditional trust from Tang Hun. He only trusts himself. HunJi city appears peaceful on the surface but it is actually very unstable on the inside. In order to increase his strength, Tang Hun frequently sends his disciples to look for magic pills and miracle drugs, causing the death of many a disciple, so much so that everyone is starting to get a little resentful. So, many people are already getting unsatisfied with Tang Hun. It’s just that Tang Hun’s strength is higher than everyone and he also has a group of bodyguards who are loyal to the death.”
These words indirectly reveal the manager’s feelings. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say ‘Tang Hun’ over and over again.
Listening to their conversation, You XiaoMo feels that it is getting more and more off-base. He feels like he is hearing about a landowner bullying his slaves. Thinking like this, he suddenly speaks to them, failing to conceal his excitement, “Then do you all want to break yourselves free from slavery and sing songs of freedom?”
Notes:
li – 0.3 miles
eating the food from inside while pandering to those outside – biting the hand that feeds you
magic horn – telepathic
unexpected branches and knots – unexpected difficulties
oneself eat the toxic fruit – reap the consequences of ones own actions
frighten away the three immortal souls (spirit and intellect) and seven mortal forms (carnal life and desires) – scared out of ones wits
I say wind so it’s wind, I say rain so it’s rain – my word is law
say left one word, right one word – say over and over again
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