Prisoner

"Come here, find out the whereabouts of Black Tiger and his family for me. I want to tear them into ten thousand pieces!" Lin Hai roared toward the sky.

Beside a small pond in the backyard of the Lei Mansion, Lei Yun, dressed in short garments, was drenched in sweat while practicing a certain Spirit Skill. Not far away, a tall, thin man stood watching attentively.

"Not bad, Yun'er's movement technique has improved significantly lately!" the man said with a smile.

"Hmph, Grandfather only knows how to say nice things. I grabbed someone off the street at random, and his movement technique was actually faster than mine. You even lied to me about how amazing the Cloud Soaring Movement Technique is!"

Taking the tea handed over by a maid, Lei Yun drank it all in one gulp before pouting and speaking.

"No way, I want Grandfather to teach me an Earth-grade Spirit Skill!" Lei Yun took the opportunity to act spoiled.

The man looked to be about forty years old, yet he was actually Lei Yun's grandfather. It seemed he was also a high-level Spirit Cultivator who had achieved great success in his cultivation.

"Silly girl, Earth-grade Spirit Skills are incredibly rare; I don't have one either. As long as you practice our Lei Family's Cloud Soaring Movement Technique and Thunder Palm to the extreme, you are guaranteed to reign supreme among your peers."

"No, I want Grandfather to teach me another, more powerful Spirit Skill..."

"You must proceed step by step in everything you do; there is no need to rush~"

"Second Young Miss, the person you wanted has been brought here," while the two were talking, a guard hurried over, bowed to the man, and whispered a few words into Lei Yun's ear.

"Grandfather, I have some business to attend to, so I'll be heading back first."

Upon hearing this, Lei Yun was overjoyed. After greeting the man, she quickly disappeared into the dense network of courtyards in the back of the Lei Mansion.

"This child."

The man shook his head and chuckled, his face full of doting affection.

"You brat, you were running so fast, why aren't you running anymore? Lock him in the dungeon first and let him starve for three days," after confirming that the person captured was indeed Sanbao, Lei Yun danced with excitement.

"Is this all the great Miss Lei is capable of? If you have the ability, let's settle this again," Sanbao said with a cold expression, intentionally provoking her.

Deep down, Sanbao also let out a long sigh of relief. Although this girl was overbearing, her character was at least decent, and she hadn't dealt a lethal blow. If it was just a matter of imprisonment, he had bet correctly this time.

Of course, if the other party truly wanted to kill him to vent her anger, Sanbao had certain trump cards to save his life.

The Luo Clan of Deer Mountain had discovered a Spirit Copper mine. If he utilized this information to lure the people of the Lei Mansion to Deer Mountain, then as long as Old Luo stepped in, he would naturally be able to escape. However, this trump card would cause too much damage to the Luo Clan of Deer Mountain, so under normal circumstances, Sanbao would absolutely not use it.

"Compete? I'm afraid of you? But you offended me first, so before we compete, I have to crush your spirit. Take him away." Lei Yun almost fell for it, but she quickly calmed down and smirked.

"Get in there! Go."

Following a heavy kick from the dungeon guard, Sanbao stumbled and rolled into a dark, damp underground stone cell. His hands and feet were already bound by thick, dark iron chains, making movement extremely difficult.

After the guard closed the entrance to the dungeon, the entire cell was plunged into darkness, save for a sliver of white light filtering through a few small ventilation holes. It was incredibly stifling.

Sanbao mocked himself: The treatment isn't too bad; at least it's a single room.

He would just have to stay here for a few days. Once that girl's anger subsided in a few days, she should let him out. By then, he would control his performance, let her win a few moves, and this matter should be settled.

Thinking of this, Sanbao sat cross-legged on the ground and slowly entered a state of cultivation.

However, the air in the dungeon was very stagnant, and combined with a damp, miasmic aura, the concentration of spiritual energy was extremely low, making the cultivation effect naturally very poor.

Regarding this, Sanbao had no other choice but to treat it as a test of his willpower.

Just like that, Sanbao went hungry for several days in the sunless stone cell.

As the days passed, Sanbao waited in anticipation, but Lei Yun never showed up. This gave Sanbao a bad premonition. Could that girl have forgotten about him? That would be troublesome.

Having not eaten for several days, Sanbao could barely hold on, but if he didn't eat soon, he was afraid he would really kick the bucket.

Fortunately, there was finally a turning point.

That evening, the guard finally handed in some water and food, but that was all. The Lei Second Young Miss whom Sanbao was waiting for was still nowhere to be seen.

Several days passed in a flash.

On this day, when the guard handed in a bowl of rice, Sanbao seized the opportunity and asked loudly, "Brother Guard, has the Second Young Miss been here these past few days?"

"Stop talking nonsense, eat your food, and stay put," the guard didn't bother to pay attention to Sanbao at all. As he left, he whispered mockingly, "The Second Young Miss went to the East Ridge Temple; who knows when she'll be back."

Sanbao had excellent hearing, and even through the massive stone door, he caught the guard's words clearly.

No wonder he hadn't seen that woman these past few days; she had gone out. This meant he had no idea how long he would have to wait. Sanbao patted his head, feeling that things were becoming troublesome.

The floor, ceiling, and walls of the stone cell were all made of massive green granite. Trying to escape was almost impossible, and with his body locked in iron chains, even if he managed to get outside, he likely wouldn't be able to escape the Lei Mansion, which was filled with experts.

Was he supposed to stay in this hellhole until that woman returned? What if the Second Young Miss didn't come back for a year or half a year? No, he had to find a way to leave.

The next evening, when the guard handed the rice into the dungeon, he noticed there was no sound inside.

"Hey, I'm telling you, brat, don't play these games with me. I've seen plenty of them. Pretending to be dead is useless; even if you die in there, no one will care." The guard shouted loudly before walking away.

Sanbao lay on the ground without moving, but his powerful soul energy allowed him to detect that after the two guards walked away, they quietly returned to the top of the dungeon.

One of them whispered, "Something's not right, Big Brother. This kid wouldn't have actually died, would he? That would be troublesome. Before the Second Young Miss left, she specifically ordered us to treat him well. If something happens to him, our brothers will be in big trouble."

"Don't rush, let's wait a bit longer. This kid doesn't look like a good person; don't let him trick us," the other, more experienced guard replied.

Sanbao memorized every word they said, his body remaining completely still. Apparently, there were some hidden gaps outside the stone cell that allowed them to observe the situation inside.

Half an hour later, the dungeon stone door was quickly opened by the two.

Touching Sanbao's pulse and checking his temperature, one of them felt something was wrong: "Big Brother, this kid is burning up so badly. He isn't going to just die like this, is he?"

"That shouldn't be the case. He is a Spirit Cultivator, after all. It's said his strength is even a notch higher than the Second Miss, so how could his body be this weak? Could it be that the dampness in this dungeon is too heavy, causing him to be infected by miasma?"

The two discussed it for a good while before finally deciding to go fetch a doctor.

Before long, they returned with a short, stout doctor with a long white beard, whose cultivation was only at the peak of the Spirit General realm.

Sanbao dared not be careless; he circulated his metal and fire elemental spiritual energy throughout his body. To an outsider, he not only appeared to have a high fever, but his complexion was also sallow and sickly, looking truly terrible.

After checking the patient's pulse, the doctor shook his head and said, "You two, this man's pulse is extremely weak, his breathing is obstructed, and his five internal organs are burning up. I fear he doesn't have much time left!"

Having said that, he ignored the two guards' attempts to make him stay, grabbed his medicine chest, and hurried away, leaving the two stunned guards behind, cold sweat breaking out on their brows.

Sanbao had a background in medicine and was skilled in acupuncture, so he understood pulse patterns perfectly. Through his elaborate act, the doctor, whose cultivation was insufficient, failed to notice a single flaw, which terrified the two men guarding the dungeon.

"Big Brother, what do we do now? If this kid dies like this, the Second Miss will surely skin us alive when she returns!" the second guard said, thoroughly frightened.

"Don't panic, don't panic. Let's think of another way," the eldest said. Although he was also breaking out in a cold sweat, he was a bit more resourceful in a crisis.

"That's it! The Eldest Miss is an Alchemist; she must have spiritual pills and miraculous medicines on hand. If she is willing to help, this guy definitely won't die!" the eldest shouted, having thought of something.

"Big Brother, have you lost your mind? Don't forget, this kid is just a prisoner. Why would the Eldest Miss waste precious spiritual pills on him?" the second guard said dejectedly.

"You're right. What are we going to do? Should we just pack up and leave? No, that won't work. I have elderly parents and young children at home; where could I possibly go?" The two sighed and groaned, and Sanbao, feeling a bit of pity, deliberately coughed twice.

"I feel so terrible. Am I going to die? Could you two brothers make my passing a little more comfortable?" Sanbao intentionally dragged his iron chains, causing them to scrape against the floor with a metallic screech.

"Second brother, quick, unlock the chains."

"Right, I'll go get the keys!" The two were already so terrified that they didn't think twice; one of them dashed out of the dungeon.

Sanbao secretly thought, That was close. The keys were indeed not on their persons, and he was glad he hadn't made a rash move earlier.

Once the first guard was far enough away, Sanbao suddenly surged with strength. Catching the remaining guard off guard, he struck him hard on the temple with one hand, and the guard immediately collapsed to the ground.

Sanbao dragged him into the shadows and hid behind the stone door.

"Big Brother, I've got the keys! Ah..."