Yin Xuege, deep in thought, suddenly jolted. He hurriedly raised his head and looked toward the ventilation window.
A half-conscious, listless jailer was dragged forcefully to Yin Xuege's cell door by two entirely deathly-white paper figures. The two paper figures had bamboo slats inside and were pasted together with white cotton paper outside. No one knew which rural workshop apprentice had used such crude techniques to paint two twisted, ferocious faces of a boy and girl on them.
In short, these were two eerie things that, if they appeared on the streets at night, would be enough to frighten thirty or fifty burly men to death.
The jailer was tall and powerfully built, but when these two weightless paper figures—floating three inches above the ground as they moved forward—grabbed him, he trembled from head to toe in terror. His crotch was already soaked, and an indescribably foul, fishy stench wafted from him.
After dragging the jailer to the door, the middle-aged Daoist in an apricot-yellow Eight Trigrams robe grinned and patted his face with the Azure Steel Sword. Then he swept the horsetail whisk in his hand heavily across the cell door. The whisk, made of purple-gold threads, struck the door and instantly sent sparks spraying everywhere. A pale golden radiance flickered across the door, and countless dense, dark-gold written talismans emerged from the golden light.
"Boundless Heavenly Venerable above, you lowly barbarian, do you know what I want you to do?" The middle-aged Daoist smiled amiably. "Open the cell door for me, and I'll spare your life!"
The jailer, scared witless, shakily pulled out a long string of keys, selected the key to Yin Xuege's cell, and inserted it into the lock. Then both his hands moved rapidly across the cell door as he began chanting a tongue-twisting spell.
"Hmm, you barbarians possess a bit of supernatural skill after all!" The middle-aged Daoist narrowed his eyes and nodded with a smile. "No wonder our family's affairs still can't get around you red-haired, green-eyed fools."
With several metallic clangs, Yin Xuege's cell door opened. The middle-aged Daoist swung the long sword in his right hand, and several clear, misty sword rays shot out. The shackles and chains on Yin Xuege's body snapped one after another. He leaped up, clenched both fists at his waist, and warily looked toward the middle-aged Daoist.
"All right, little fellow. I'm Jiang Tuochen, and I came specifically to rescue you. Don't look so ready to cross swords with me. I'm saving you purely out of kindness!" Jiang Tuochen smiled brilliantly, his two rows of pearly white teeth gleaming under the tunnel lights.
"I don't know you!" Yin Xuege stared at Jiang Tuochen with a stern face, but the Daoist's name had already made him think of Jiang Rusheng, who had suddenly visited the Great Berlin City-State. Jiang Rusheng, an elder of the ancient Jiang Family from the East, had only just left, and now this Jiang Tuochen had suddenly infiltrated the Blood Prison and opened Yin Xuege's cell. If the two of them were unrelated, that would truly be a ghost story.
There was no such thing as a free lunch. This was something countless stewards in the Children's Hall had repeated countless times. Yin Xuege didn't believe Jiang Tuochen had broken into the Blood Prison and rescued him out of pure kindness. There had to be some benefit he was seeking!
But Yin Xuege was only a tiny juvenile. What could Jiang Tuochen possibly value in him? Or rather, what could Jiang Rusheng possibly value in him?
"Idiot brat!" Wumu poked the end of his dog snout through the ventilation window again and howled loudly. "Don't waste time! Someone's come to rescue you, so get out of this damned place first! Even if he plans to chop you up for pizza toppings, that's still better than staying here!"
After roaring at Yin Xuege several times, Wumu's tone suddenly became fawning beyond measure. "Respected Daoist from the East, could you trouble yourself to rescue me too? I'm Silver Wolf Commander Wumu, the most promising genius and elite of the noble Silver Wolf Family of the Werewolf Clan! If you're willing to rescue me along the way, I can give you half of all my assets!"
Jiang Tuochen turned around with a smile and glanced at the half of Wumu's dog snout sticking comically out of the ventilation window. Then he forcefully shook the horsetail whisk in his hand. "Kill everyone imprisoned here! We can't let anyone in the Great Berlin City-State know that we rescued this boy!"
Several young men and women surrounded by pure qi answered in unison. They hurried toward Wumu's cell, preparing to strike him down!
Wumu cried out in terror. "Hey, hey, little bat! You can't let them run wild like this! We have a relationship, don't we? Do you know how much I suffered for your sake? Hey, hey, don't you want to know about your mother?"
Yin Xuege's heart stirred slightly. He glanced at Jiang Tuochen standing at the cell door, then strode over and naturally bowed to him. "Thank you for your aid, but if possible, could you rescue Lord Wumu as well?"
A flash of blood flickered through Yin Xuege's eyes, and he said coldly, "Of course, Lord Wumu must first swear some oaths—for example, that he will become my follower in the future? Lord Jiang Tuochen, since you came to rescue me, would you be willing to agree to this small condition?"
Several young men and women had already reached Wumu's cell. One of them pulled out a black orb the size of a fist and made as if to throw it into Wumu's cell. Countless twisted immortal-script talismans were densely carved across the orb. From time to time, thin tongues of flame and lightning spurted from within it, while a suffocating, searing aura of thunder and fire continuously radiated outward.
Wumu let out a hoarse, ear-splitting scream and began cursing loudly. "Little bat, I can become your follower, but you have to give me a certain amount of freedom too! Ah, damn it, is that a Heavenly Thunder Bead refined by those ancient monsters of the Eastern Cultivation World? I don't want to taste that thing!"
Jiang Tuochen waved his horsetail whisk, stopping the young man from taking further action. He smiled at Yin Xuege and nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.
"What a clever child. I like clever little ones! Of course, since I was able to force my way into this Blood Prison specifically to rescue you, I naturally won't be stingy about agreeing to a few small conditions of yours! But nothing in this world is given without reason, little fellow. Can you agree to some of our demands?"
Yin Xuege raised his head and looked straight into Jiang Tuochen's eyes. "I don't know what I have that's worth your attention!"
"The Sunwalker aptitude!" Jiang Tuochen said bluntly. "You're a Sunwalker, and according to the legends of the Blood Demon Clan—or rather, the Vampire Clan—Sunwalkers possess extraordinary potential. What we value is your potential! Our family hopes to have a potential ally in the West in the future."
He lightly tapped Yin Xuege's shoulder with the lotus-shaped head of his horsetail whisk and smiled at him. "You're very weak, but your potential is right here. Breaking into this place to rescue you isn't particularly difficult for us either, so why shouldn't we do it?"
Yin Xuege understood what Jiang Tuochen and the people behind him meant.
"I may be very weak now, but what you value is my future? The future me may become very powerful?"
Jiang Tuochen nodded repeatedly with a smile. He looked at Yin Xuege with satisfaction, just as a shrewd merchant might look at his investment. His smiling face had practically blossomed into a dazzling chrysanthemum.
"You possess the aptitude of a Sunwalker. If you don't die prematurely, you'll certainly become very powerful in the future. Perhaps you'll become an influential member of the Western Demon Party Alliance! Why shouldn't we have faith in your future? As long as you're willing to swear with your soul—for example, that you'll never become enemies with our Jiang Family and are willing to become our eternal ally—then everything can be discussed!"
Narrowing his eyes, Yin Xuege's blood light flickered rapidly. Although he was only a juvenile, the knowledge inherited by the Children's Hall was not lacking in various contractual and negotiating techniques. In ancient times, the Blood Demon Clan had belonged to the evil dark faction and was proficient in all kinds of deceptive methods. As a juvenile of the Yin Clan, Yin Xuege's attainments in this area were not shallow either.
"Provided the Jiang Family does not threaten my safety, and provided the Jiang Family does not take the initiative to violate our alliance, I'm willing to become the Jiang Family's eternal ally! I won't take the initiative to attack or harm any member of the Jiang Family unless he attacks me first!"
Yin Xuege looked at Jiang Tuochen earnestly. "I hope you can understand. As a Blood Demon, even if I'm an insignificant Blood Demon juvenile, I must ensure my own interests and safety. If the Jiang Family can treat me fairly and justly, like a true friend, then I'll be very happy to become the Jiang Family's most loyal ally!"
"Clever little fellow! An extremely clever and wise choice!" Jiang Tuochen looked at Yin Xuege with surprise and delight. "I'm quite envious of certain aspects of your Blood Demon Clan's inheritance. Little fellow, you're so young, yet you're far stronger than some of the spoiled scions of my Jiang Family."
He tucked the horsetail whisk into his collar, raised his left hand, and lightly slapped palms with Yin Xuege three times.
"Then once we're out, we'll formally establish our alliance. The soul-oath ceremony can't be handled too casually." Jiang Tuochen smiled at Yin Xuege, then turned and pointed toward Wumu's cell. "That big dog in there—are you really going to let him out?"
An angry roar came from inside the cell. "I'm the esteemed commander of the Silver Wolf Clan! I'm the genius Lord Wumu! I'm not a dog, and you can't insult my race! Damn Eastern Daoist, if I were outside, I'd definitely gnaw your head off!"
After roaring furiously several times, Wumu's voice became fawning and spineless once more. "You've really surprised me, little fellow. You're actually a Sunwalker? All right, you're qualified to make me your follower. As long as you let me out, I can become your follower!"
Before Yin Xuege could speak, Jiang Tuochen impatiently shouted, "Big dog, don't spout empty words. Offer up your Essence Blood, and I'll help you establish a Soul Master-Servant Contract with this young master."
"Hey, old Daoist, this has nothing to do with you!" When Wumu heard the words "Essence Blood" and "Soul Master-Servant Contract," he immediately shouted in exasperation. "This is between me and my dear little brother Yin Xuege. It has nothing to do with you!"
Jiang Tuochen waved his hand and ordered briskly, "Number Seven, blast this ungrateful wolf to death!"
The young man standing at the cell door shook the Heavenly Thunder Bead in his hand and made as if to throw it into Wumu's cell.
Happy weekend, everyone. The weather really isn't very good!
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