Jiang Yun felt dizzy and disoriented. He had no idea how long he had been asleep. When he opened his eyes again, he was already tied up.
He shook his head, trying to clear it, then looked around.
High walls surrounded them. The three of them were tied up in a courtyard.
They were each bound to a round iron pillar, chains wrapped around them.
"Wake up."
"Constable Qian. Xu Xiaogang."
The other two slowly opened their eyes.
Qian Bochou's heart leaped. He asked urgently, "What is this place?"
"Hey! Who the hell grabbed me? I'm a constable from Nanzhou Prefecture!"
As Qian Bochou shouted, Xu Xiaogang seemed calm. He looked at Jiang Yun and smiled faintly.
Of course he wasn't worried. Jiang Yun's performance that night had shown he was an expert of the Fifth-Rank Shouyi Realm.
Could an expert like that really be knocked unconscious so easily by bewildering incense?
Who would believe that?
In Xu Xiaogang's view, Jiang Yun had probably exposed a weakness on purpose, letting these people take him back to their lair so he could wipe them out from within.
Jiang Yun had no idea what Xu Xiaogang was thinking. He was also silently fretting. Now that he was trussed up like a dumpling, how was he supposed to escape?
Just then, the only small wooden door in the courtyard creaked open.
A graceful figure walked in.
It was Tang Wanxin, the woman who had handed out rice porridge to the poor earlier that day.
Tang Wanxin carried a tray of food and wore an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry to have brought you three here."
Jiang Yun furrowed his brow. He glanced at the iron pillars holding them and could still smell traces of blood on them.
"Miss Tang, it looks like we're not the first people you've brought here."
"Were you behind the disappearances in Beihu County?"
Tang Wanxin didn't deny it. She set the tray on the ground, slowly took out the food, and carried a bowl over to Jiang Yun. "I'm sorry. My father is ill, and he's gravely sick."
"He needs your help to survive."
"I had no other choice."
"I made this meal myself. I personally feed a last meal to everyone I bring here."
As she spoke, tears welled in Tang Wanxin's eyes. She looked genuinely heartbroken.
Jiang Yun remained expressionless and asked calmly, "You feel guilty about taking other people's lives, so you hand out porridge to the poor to ease your conscience?"
Tang Wanxin nodded slightly and said slowly, "I don't want to do this either. Everyone knows I'm kindhearted. If I weren't desperate..."
"Hypocrite."
Tang Wanxin paused, clearly not expecting Jiang Yun to react that way.
After all, she had brought many people here. Most of them had begged her on their knees as soon as they learned she planned to take their lives.
Quite a few had even claimed to know life-saving remedies that could save her father.
"Hahaha." A strange smile spread across Tang Wanxin's face. She drew a deep breath and said, "You really are an unusual bunch."
"Yes, I killed those people."
"But even if I hadn't killed them, most of them would have starved to death anyway."
"On the other hand, I only kill a little over a hundred people a year. How many poor people have I saved by handing out porridge every day?"
"If I weren't handing out porridge and saving lives, wouldn't even more people die?"
Tang Wanxin said this only to make herself feel better, but the three people before her—
The constable from Nanzhou Prefecture was drenched in sweat.
Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang, however, were both unnaturally calm.
Of course, Jiang Yun was only calm on the surface. Inside, he was panicking like crazy, racking his brains for a way to escape.
He didn't want to die in this hellhole.
Xu Xiaogang, though, was genuinely calm. Listening to Tang Wanxin, he almost wanted to laugh.
He couldn't help thinking, Go ahead and gloat, girl. In a moment, I'll show you what a top expert of the Daoist Fifth-Rank Shouyi Realm can do.
Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang cleared his throat and said, "That's about enough, isn't it?"
Tang Wanxin turned to him and asked with a frown, "What's about enough?"
Xu Xiaogang didn't even bother looking at her. "Was I talking to you?"
"Jiang Yun, it's about time you made your move. What are you waiting for? The mastermind's already here."
"Take her down, and we can go back and report."
"Being tied to this hunk of iron is killing me."
At his words, Tang Wanxin cautiously backed away several steps, eyeing Jiang Yun warily.
Jiang Yun turned to Xu Xiaogang, his face full of question marks. What nonsense was this guy spouting?
If Jiang Yun could make a move, would he have waited until now?
Tang Wanxin slowly retreated and said in a low voice, "I'll go get my father. It's time for him to eat."
With that, Tang Wanxin hurried out through the small door she had entered.
Xu Xiaogang's eyes lit up slightly. He suddenly understood. "I get it. You're waiting for that man-eating monster to come out so you can take them all down in one fell swoop, right?"
"What the hell do you get?"
Jiang Yun glared at him and said, "There's a lock on these chains, too. Just this lock alone..."
As he spoke, Jiang Yun paused, then drew a deep breath and recited, "The Way of Chaotic Reed: those who don't know how to open it will surely open it; those who know a little will open it wide; those who know a lot will never open it..."
This was the Chaotic Reed Art. Strictly speaking, it didn't count as Daoist magic.
It was an ancient lockpicking incantation, passed down through the ages.
Sure enough, a click rang out.
All three locks dropped to the ground at once.
"Oh, Brother Jiang! You scared me half to death. So you had a trick like that up your sleeve." Qian Bochou shook off the chains and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You should've unlocked them sooner. I could've grabbed that young lady just now!"
Xu Xiaogang, meanwhile, looked as if he had expected this all along.
Jiang Yun looked up at the towering courtyard wall. "Can you get over it?"
Xu Xiaogang sized it up and nodded. "My lightness skill is pretty good. Of course I can. But why climb over?"
"To escape," Jiang Yun replied without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, Xu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and said calmly, "The word 'escape' doesn't exist in my dictionary."
"Grr..."
Suddenly, a strange sound came from the small door. It sounded like a beast growling low.
And it was getting closer.
"Then can you handle it?" Jiang Yun pointed at the small door.
"Their people took my sword. Without it, I might not be able to handle the thing." Xu Xiaogang shook his head.
Hearing that, Jiang Yun bit his finger and started pulling off Xu Xiaogang's clothes.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?"
"Drawing a talisman for you."
"Then draw it, but why are you taking off my clothes..."
"I have to draw it on your back."
Xu Xiaogang suddenly remembered that Xu Suwen had also fought demons and monsters alongside Jiang Yun before they came here.
He frowned, realizing what was going on, and asked in a low voice, "Did you draw a talisman like that on my sister too?"
Jiang Yun shook his head without hesitation. "No."
"Swear it."
"I swear to the Buddha Ancestor that I never did!"
"Aren't you a Daoist?"
"That's why I'm swearing to the Buddha Ancestor."
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