"Big brother, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right. You were kept in the dark too, weren't you? I'm not that petty!"
Clearly, Su Mei's plea for help had been a setup from the moment Lord Lin appeared. Somehow, Fox Demon had quickly recovered from her injuries, then created a lifelike illusion of Lin Tiannan to test whether Gao Xu had ulterior motives. To make the whole act convincing, she had even kept Su Mei in the dark.
Fox Demon believed that humans would never help demons for no reason. So even though her precious daughter had praised Gao Xu to the skies, she still refused to believe it.
Only after seeing with her own eyes the heartfelt affection and concern Gao Xu showed Su Mei, as well as his willingness to draw his sword against Lin Tiannan, did Fox Demon truly thank her savior.
Gao Xu had originally wanted to show some reasonable anger at being deceived, but he quickly surrendered in the face of Su Mei's tearful assault. Besides, the gifts Fox Demon brought out left him with no grounds to complain!
Queen Bee Honey*3, Viper Saliva*5, Cicada Wing Cloak*1.
Queen Bee Honey: Blue item, inferior quality. Refined from premium royal jelly, it nourishes the body and refreshes the mind. Instantly restores 5 mental points. Can be used in combat and shares a 30-second cooldown with items of the same type. Can be exchanged for 200 points.
Viper Saliva: Blue item, inferior quality. The venomous saliva of a viper, with potent toxicity. Applied to a weapon, it causes attacks to inflict a status effect for 1 minute, with a certain chance of poisoning enemies and reducing their health by 3 points per second for up to 15 seconds. Can be exchanged for 150 points.
Cicada Wing Cloak: Blue equipment, inferior quality, back armor. A cloak as thin as a cicada's wing, light and exceptionally nimble, which improves evasion in battle. Defense +1, Agility +2, Constitution +1. Equipment requirements: none. Durability: 30/30. Can be exchanged for 500 points.
(Note: In the realm, ordinary attacks do not have hit rates, evasion rates, or block rates. Everything depends on what actually happens. If you hit your opponent, it's a hit; if their shield stops your attack, it's a block. It all comes down to each side's fighting ability and combat skills. Thus, when equipment says it improves evasion, it actually means it increases your Agility attribute.)
With no equipment requirements, the Cicada Wing Cloak went on immediately. Used well, the Viper Saliva was a formidable weapon for killing enemies, while the Queen Bee Honey was even more precious!
Generally speaking, blue potions were harder to come by than red ones in the game, and the realm was no different. Putting everything else aside, those three bottles of Queen Bee Honey alone could fetch at least 3,000 points in the realm's trading zone, equal to the total reward most first-difficulty Reincarnators earned from a single story world!
Of course, apart from the material gifts, there was also the hidden reward of Fox Demon's favorability rising sharply to 80, and Su Mei's rising to 90. Seeing that this family now considered him one of their own, Gao Xu advised them to leave Hidden Dragon Cave, retreat into the mountains, and live in peace.
Fox Demon hesitated at his words, clearly reluctant to give up the luxurious life they enjoyed. But Tang Mei'er's battle had utterly shattered their confidence. They knew that if they stayed, sooner or later they would meet their end. So, with Su Mei backing him up, they finally nodded, though they were far from happy about it.
"Phew, that's finally taken care of!" Gao Xu sighed in relief and relaxed. He was thinking that if he hurried back right away, he might still be able to get some more benefits, when Su Mei suddenly tilted her head and stared at the doorway in confusion. "Mother, why did you make another Lord Lin appear?"
The moment she said this, the room fell silent. Gao Xu followed Su Mei's gaze, then pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. "A falsehood becoming truth?! Good heavens, are you messing with me?"
Indeed, the Lin Tiannan who had appeared this time was nothing like the counterfeit from before. The cuff of his left sleeve was slightly scorched, presumably by the Nine-Headed Snake's Samadhi True Fire. He had appeared without a sound, but when Gao Xu looked at him, a heavy pressure welled up from deep within his heart.
Lin Tiannan's bearing was as imposing as a mountain, yet he kept his strength restrained. His true power might well exceed Gao Xu's expectations. The Snake Demon family was in grave danger!
Lin Tiannan's stern gaze passed over the Snake Demon, Fox Demon, and Su Mei in turn, finally settling on Gao Xu. "Why have you allied yourself with demons?"
After much deliberation, Gao Xu abandoned the idea of attacking immediately. He had no confidence at all that he could last a single round against an enraged Lin Tiannan. If his opponent went all out, death was the only thing waiting for him.
Now, the only way out was to use a scheme—to seek life in death!
So Gao Xu took a deep breath. Instead of answering Lin Tiannan's question, he asked one of his own. "I've heard that Lord Lin and the Shushan Sect's leader, Sword Saint Dugu, are close friends. Have the two seniors ever discussed the matter of exterminating demons? While traveling, I once had a pleasant conversation with a Shushan disciple, and I very much agreed with one of his views: all things possess a spirit, and demons are living beings too. To kill them without cause is no different from taking human life. What does Lord Lin think?"
"Indeed! Though Shushan has made subduing demons, vanquishing evil, and protecting the people its duty, it has never slaughtered the innocent. As long as a minor demon's vital energy remains intact and it is not shrouded in resentment, that shows it has not used unorthodox arts to take human lives. There is no need for pointless killing." Lin Tiannan's upright face shifted slightly, revealing a trace of disdain. "But these two demons have more than a dozen lives on their hands. You're not going to claim they're innocent too!"
"What a joke! You bring people into the cave, shouting about exterminating demons. Were we supposed to just sit still and let you kill us?" The Snake Demon was still weakened by the Berserk Demon Art. His face was pale, and both arms were limp, leaving him unable to fight, but he showed no fear as he retorted.
Lin Tiannan raised his angry brows. "If you hadn't abducted young women and had instead stayed in the cave to cultivate in peace, how would you have brought this calamity upon yourselves?"
Fox Demon now understood that fighting would bring them no good, and restrained herself from attacking. "Though we were greedy for comfort and abducted some women to serve tea, fetch water, weave cloth, and sew clothes, we never took their lives. Our crimes don't warrant death! Since the first time Lord Lin 'paid us a visit,' have you ever once shown any intention of sparing us?"
"Well said!" Gao Xu praised her inwardly. Before Lin Tiannan could reply, he quickly sighed. "This is a difference in outlook. Perhaps Lord Lin thinks that since the Snake Demon abducted respectable young women, he must have intended to commit lewd acts, and so evil must be rooted out completely. But to demons like them, born in the wilderness and unfamiliar with human notions of propriety and shame, taking a few girls to serve as their household help is no great matter..."
Lin Tiannan snorted but did not contradict him, tacitly acknowledging the point.
Seeing that the moment was right, Gao Xu solemnly cupped his fists. "That is why I have an unreasonable request. I've heard that when Shushan disciples go out to subdue demons, they take those whose crimes do not warrant death back to the Demon Locking Tower and imprison them. Since you are on such familiar terms with Shushan, could you give these two a chance to atone?"
Lin Tiannan looked stunned, seemingly unable to believe his ears. "What did you say? Young man, do you know what kind of place the Demon Locking Tower is?"
Gao Xu nodded without hesitation. "I do! The Demon Locking Tower was originally built by an emperor of the Southern Dynasties. Later, the Shushan Sect used it to imprison demons. It contains Demon-Transforming Water bestowed by the Divine Realm and a Demon-Subduing Barrier. It is one of the symbols of Shushan's divine mandate."
"You know quite a lot. If that's the case, then why..." Truthfully, if Lin Tiannan had not seen how well Gao Xu got along with this Snake Demon family, he would have suspected that Gao Xu hated the two demons even more than he did.
The Demon Locking Tower was not very spacious, but every year Shushan's disciples sent many demons who had harmed the human world into it. The fighting inside was therefore extremely brutal, and many demons would rather kill themselves than be locked away there.
Just think of some of the figures who had emerged from the Demon Locking Tower, and you could imagine how harsh and dangerous life inside must be!
The demon-world magnate, the Heavenly Demon Emperor; Liaori, ruler of the demon realm beyond Shushan; the Ghost Realm's leader, the Heavenly Ghost Emperor; the vengeful spirit of Wine Sword Immortal's grand-uncle, Jiang Qing; the Demon Clan's banner envoy, Kong Lin... Even Evil Sword Immortal had escaped from the Demon Locking Tower!
In many cases, if you hated a demon to the core, throwing them into the Demon Locking Tower to make them wish they were dead was the perfect way to vent your anger.
Though Lin Tiannan also deeply hated the Snake Demon and Fox Demon, he was an upright man who dealt with matters fairly. He had only ever thought of killing the demons to protect the people. He had never considered using torture to vent his anger, much less exploiting his ties to Shushan to torment the pair.
Lin Tiannan had assumed that Fox Demon had bewitched Gao Xu, leaving him unable to tell right from wrong or distinguish kindness from grievance. But now, seeing the clarity in Gao Xu's eyes and the sincerity in his voice, he could not help hesitating. A faint sense that something was amiss crept over him as well.
At this point, Gao Xu was already seventy or eighty percent certain of success. All he needed to do now was persuade the Snake Demon and Fox Demon.
But ever since he had mentioned the Demon Locking Tower, even the fearless Snake Demon had begun trembling. The name alone showed how terrifying it was to demons.
Fox Demon was somewhat calmer and more composed than her husband. She stared straight into Gao Xu's eyes and smiled bleakly. "We appreciate your kindness, but rather than scrape by in a place like that, we'd rather put an end to everything. So..."
"Mother, please, don't..." Before Fox Demon could finish, Su Mei was already sobbing uncontrollably. The little girl had never heard how terrifying the Demon Locking Tower was. She thought the most important thing was for her parents to survive, so without needing any hint from Gao Xu, she played her part perfectly.
"My lady, can you truly bear to see your daughter lose both her parents at such a young age? Demons live by the law of the jungle and survival of the fittest. How do you think Mei'er's life will be without you?" Gao Xu pressed his advantage. His words finally moved the Snake Demon and Fox Demon. "As long as you live, there's hope! No matter how dangerous the Demon Locking Tower is, if you hold on to hope, the day will come when you meet again!"
"Very well. If that is what they're willing to do..." Lin Tiannan sighed and was about to agree, when another person darted into the cave and called out,
"Wait!"
Before you continue