I Swear to the Buddha

Jiang Yun felt a wave of dizziness. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself bound.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, and looked around.

High walls surrounded them. The three of them were tied up in a courtyard.

They were bound to three round iron pillars, their bodies wrapped in chains.

"Wake up."

"Constable Qian, Xu Xiaogang."

The other two slowly opened their eyes.

Qian Bochou's heart leaped. "Where is this place?" he asked urgently.

"Hey! Who grabbed me? I'm a constable from Nanzhou Prefecture!"

While Qian Bochou was shouting, Xu Xiaogang appeared quite calm. He glanced at Jiang Yun and gave a faint smile.

He wasn't worried, of course. Jiang Yun had shown himself to be an expert of the Daoist Fifth-Rank Shouyi Realm that night.

Could such an expert be easily knocked out by Rosemary?

Who would believe that?

In Xu Xiaogang's opinion, Jiang Yun had probably deliberately shown a weakness, allowing himself to be captured and brought back to their lair, so he could eliminate them from the inside.

Jiang Yun, unaware of Xu Xiaogang's thoughts, also felt a sense of dread. Being tied up so thoroughly, how could he escape?

Just then, the single small wooden door in the courtyard creaked open.

A beautiful figure walked in.

It was Tang Wanxin, the same woman who had been serving porridge to the poor that day.

Tang Wanxin held a bamboo steamer filled with food and apologized with a hint of regret, "My apologies to the three of you for bringing you here."

Jiang Yun frowned slightly and glanced at the iron pillars binding the three men. He could still smell a hint of blood from them.

Jiang Yun spoke, "Miss Tang, it seems we aren't the first ones you've invited here."

"The disappearances in Beihu County were all your doing."

Tang Wanxin didn't deny it. She placed the steamer on the ground, took out the food, and walked towards Jiang Yun with a bowl. "I'm sorry. My father is gravely ill. He needs your help to survive. I had no other choice."

"This meal was made by my own hands. Every person I invite here, I feed them their last meal myself."

As she spoke, Tang Wanxin's eyes welled up with tears, appearing genuinely distressed.

Jiang Yun's expression remained unchanged. He asked calmly, "Miss Tang, you've taken other people's lives and feel guilty, so you serve porridge to the poor to ease your conscience?"

Tang Wanxin nodded slightly and slowly said, "I didn't want to do this. Everyone knows I have a kind heart. If it weren't for the circumstances..."

"Hypocrite."

Tang Wanxin was taken aback. She hadn't expected Jiang Yun to react this way.

After all, she had captured many people. When they heard their lives were forfeit, most of them begged and pleaded for mercy.

Many even claimed to have a miraculous cure that could save her father's life.

"Hahaha." Tang Wanxin's face contorted into a strange smile. She took a deep breath and said, "You really aren't simple, are you?"

"Yes, I killed those people."

"But even if I didn't kill them, most of them would have starved to death anyway."

"Conversely, I only kill a little over a hundred people a year. How many poor people have I saved by serving porridge daily?"

"If I didn't serve porridge and save lives, wouldn't even more people die!"

Tang Wanxin said this only to comfort herself, but these three people...

Except for the constable from Nanzhou Prefecture, who was sweating profusely, Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang remained exceptionally calm.

Of course, Jiang Yun was only outwardly calm; inwardly, he was panicking, constantly trying to figure out a way to escape.

He didn't want to die in this godforsaken place.

But Xu Xiaogang was genuinely calm, almost finding Tang Wanxin's words amusing.

He couldn't help but think, Just keep bragging, girl. I'll show you what a super expert of the Daoist Fifth-Rank Shouyi Realm can do.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang cleared his throat and said, "Isn't it about time?"

Tang Wanxin turned to Xu Xiaogang, frowning. "What's about time?"

Xu Xiaogang didn't even look at her directly. "Was I talking to you?"

"Jiang Yun, isn't it about time you made your move? What are you waiting for? The mastermind has already appeared."

"Take her down, and we can report back."

"Being tied to this hunk of iron is killing me."

Hearing this, Tang Wanxin cautiously took several steps back, staring at Jiang Yun with a hint of alarm.

Jiang Yun turned his head to look at Xu Xiaogang, completely bewildered. What nonsense is this guy spouting?

If I could make a move, I wouldn't be stuck here now.

Tang Wanxin slowly retreated and said in a deep voice, "I'll go invite Father over. He'll let us eat."

With that, Tang Wanxin quickly left through the small door she had come in from.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang's eyes lit up slightly, and he suddenly understood. "I get it. You want to wait for that man-eating monster to come out, and then take them all down in one go, right?"

"You don't get it at all."

Jiang Yun shot him a glare. "These iron chains also have iron locks. This lock alone..."

As he spoke, Jiang Yun paused slightly, then took a deep breath and began to chant, "Way of Chaotic Reed, that which is not open shall open, that which is slightly open shall open wide, that which is wide open shall not open..."

This was the Chaotic Reed Art. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a Daoist technique.

It was said to be an ancient art for picking locks.

Sure enough, with a click.

The three iron locks instantly fell to the ground.

"Whoa, Brother Jiang, you scared me to death! So you had this trick up your sleeve." Qian Bochou shook off the chains, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and cursed, "You should have freed me earlier. It would have been much easier to capture that young lady just now."

Xu Xiaogang, on the other hand, wore an expression of "just as I expected."

Jiang Yun looked up at the towering courtyard wall. "Can you climb over it?"

Xu Xiaogang estimated the height and nodded. "My Qinggong is quite good; of course, I can. But why would we climb over?"

"To escape," Jiang Yun said without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Xu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and said calmly, "In my dictionary as Xu Wuchang, the word 'escape' does not exist."

"Creak..."

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the small door, like the low growl of a beast.

And it was getting closer to everyone.

"Can you deal with it?" Jiang Yun pointed at the small door.

"These people took my sword. Without my sword, I might not be able to handle it," Xu Xiaogang shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun bit his finger and reached for Xu Xiaogang's clothes.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?"

"I'm drawing a talisman for you."

"Drawing a talisman is fine, but why are you taking off my clothes..."

"I have to draw it on your back."

Xu Xiaogang suddenly remembered that before coming here, Xu Suwen had also dealt with Demons and Monsters with Jiang Yun.

He frowned, realizing something, and asked in a deep voice, "Did you draw a charm on my sister like this too?"

Jiang Yun shook his head without hesitation. "No."

"Swear it."

"I swear on Buddha, I didn't!"

"Aren't you a Daoist?"

"That's why I'm swearing on Buddha."

There is one more chapter, currently being written, and should be published before 7 PM.