"Lord Mu, please spare me!"
Luo Mian bowed deeply and lowered his head with a flattering smile. "I really am a bastard. I wanted to profit from the abnormal blood of the Ling Claw Plague Rats."
"But I truly never expected things to spiral out of control and trigger such a major epidemic."
"Thank you, Lord Mu, for finding Red Eagle Grass, the cure, saving the people of Hangcheng, and giving me a chance to atone for my sins!"
"I am willing to proclaim your achievement in saving Hangcheng forever! I am willing to gather enough Red Eagle Grass to treat everyone!"
Mu Ningwei smiled faintly. "I didn't expect you to have heard of me."
"Of course! I have long revered your great name!"
Mu Ningwei said, "If I weren't the one standing here, you would probably bury the truth, wouldn't you?"
Luo Mian hurriedly denied it. "What are you saying, Lord Mu? All I care about is my future. Something as significant as Red Eagle Grass—I definitely wouldn't hide it."
"At most, I'd claim the credit for myself. Hehehe."
Luo Mian laughed ingratiatingly.
"You're quite honest."
"I wouldn't dare lie in front of Lord Mu."
Luo Mian nodded and bowed. "As long as you are willing to spare my life, my lord, I am willing to help you gather National Prefecture Votes. Whatever you need in the future, I will gladly serve you like a dog or horse."
Mu Ningwei asked, "Do you think I would lack votes?"
"You definitely wouldn't lack votes, my lord. Forget four votes—even a hundred would be easy for you to obtain! What I mean is, I can gather votes for your little girlfriend."
"No! Just name anyone. Even if she is a Beginner Mage, I'll risk my life gathering votes for her!"
Luo Mian patted his chest in assurance.
"Tsk."
Mu Ningwei sighed softly. "You're so sensible that I almost feel bad killing you."
Luo Mian was overjoyed. "Thank you, my lord, for sparing my life! I swear I will never do such things again. I'll be a good person and benefit society."
Mu Ningwei shook his head lightly. "You certainly know how to talk. I'll give you a choice: become my dog, or die."
"Choose."
Luo Mian's expression darkened as he suppressed his anger. "Lord Mu, I am still a Super Tier Mage..."
Mu Ningwei interrupted him. "I know. Otherwise, why would I bother talking to you? Choose quickly."
Luo Mian clenched his fists and shouted:
"I, Luo Mian, have dominated Hangcheng for decades. I am someone of standing, with abilities and methods far beyond that useless Tang Zhong, who rose to power through his family."
"And now I am faced with this choice..."
"This is wonderful! It is my greatest honor that Lord Mu is willing to take me in!"
"I, Luo Mian, am willing to pledge loyalty to Lord Mu!"
Mu Ningwei was speechless for half a second before taking out the Dark Cross. "Do not resist."
Luo Mian felt an utterly evil, utterly dark power appear behind him, and his pupils dilated.
The Dark Cross bound him as dense threads wrapped around his body.
Within his spiritual world, the sea of stars belonging to his Shadow Element sensed the darkness outside. More than two thousand stars stopped moving at once, not daring to twitch in the slightest.
What kind of monstrous thing was this, to possess such dense and terrifying shadow matter?
Luo Mian shivered all over. Precisely because he was a Shadow Element Super Tier Mage, he understood just how horrifying the shadow magic Mu Ningwei wielded was!
He felt incomparably fortunate that he knew when to yield and when to stand tall, and that he had not made an enemy of Mu Ningwei.
Otherwise, he would probably have been cut down on the spot by now.
With such terrifying shadow magic, no wonder Parthenon dared not touch him.
But wasn't Parthenon a holy land of White Magic?
How had it produced a Dark Magic monster like Mu Ningwei?
Mu Ningwei controlled the shadow threads, sending them into Luo Mian's body and burying them within his heart and skull before dispersing them.
The Dark Cross vanished. Mu Ningwei had not planted any means of control inside Luo Mian, and he spared him.
After all, Luo Mian was merely an ordinary Super Tier Mage.
If Mu Ningwei wished, he could deal with him at any time.
Yet Luo Mian's face turned ashen.
He believed that some method of control had definitely been planted inside him.
His heart and skull still felt chilly, as though the moment Mu Ningwei had a thought and activated his dark magic, he would die!
The reason he could not sense any Dark Magic inside himself had to be because Mu Ningwei's methods were on too high a level, while he himself was simply too weak!
Luo Mian let out a long sigh, forcibly lifted his spirits, and said with a placating smile:
"Lord Mu, I will return immediately and organize people to gather Red Eagle Grass and contain the epidemic."
"And I will tell everyone that it was you, compassionate and highly skilled in medicine, who discovered Red Eagle Grass as the cure and saved everyone in the city."
"What do you think?"
Mu Ningwei nodded. "I will gather the Red Eagle Grass myself. You need not do anything. From now on, you are to do good deeds in my name every year. If I discover that you have done wrong, death will be your only destination."
Luo Mian's expression stiffened, and he hurriedly nodded.
"I am willing to spend the rest of my life atoning for my sins!"
"My lord, I will take my leave first and not disturb you and your little girlfriend's time alone."
After receiving permission, Luo Mian immediately turned into a black shadow and fled.
Mu Ningwei found it somewhat regrettable that he had not tested the power of the Light Element.
Still, subduing Luo Mian brought greater benefits.
It was not that Mu Ningwei cared about having an ordinary Super Tier Mage under his command.
Rather, controlling Luo Mian and having him do good deeds in Mu Ningwei's name would make it easier to gather Faith Divine Power, while also benefiting society as a whole.
The only reason Luo Mian was allowed to live was that he knew how to behave.
Had he made even one wrong choice, Mu Ningwei would already be using the soul of a Super Tier Mage to feed the Dark Pseudo-Dragon, his new pet.
Shaking his head, Mu Ningwei turned into darkness and went to protect Mu Nujiao during her training.
To Mu Ningwei, the Hangcheng incident was not even as important as accompanying Mu Nujiao while flirting with her.
On the fifth day after Tang Yue confidently declared that she did not need Mu Ningwei's help.
Online discussions claiming that the Totem Black Snake was the source of the epidemic grew increasingly intense.
Nearly all civilians believed that the Totem Black Snake's venom had caused the outbreak.
Zhu Meng went to see Tang Zhong every few days, and every meeting ended on bad terms.
On the sixth day.
Tang Zhong found Tang Yue with a weary expression.
"Take the guardian deity and leave. I can barely keep Zhu Meng under control anymore."
Tang Yue felt helpless. "Uncle, has the situation become this urgent?"
Tang Zhong sighed. "Everyone supports Zhu Meng. They have been blinded by rumors. Hurry. You only have tonight to place the guardian deity into the Totem Pearl and leave until it finishes its shedding period."
"But after tonight, I will not be able to restrain Zhu Meng. He will definitely send people to arrest you."
"Although High-level Mages will alert the Totem Black Snake, Zhu Meng can summon many Intermediate Mages. You have only just broken through to High-level Mage. It would be best to find a reliable helper to act with you, so you can look after each other."
Tang Yue immediately thought of Mo Fan.
Mo Fan was very strong, and as an Intermediate Mage, he would not alert the Totem Black Snake.
Unfortunately, he was not in Hangcheng. It was somewhat too late to ask him for help.
With her mind in turmoil, Tang Yue went to West Lake and placed the Totem Black Snake into the Totem Pearl.
She did not trust anyone in the family.
The news that the Totem Black Snake had entered its shedding period must have been leaked by someone in the clan, drawing Zhu Meng here.
In the end, Tang Yue gritted her teeth and set out alone with the Totem Pearl.
When dawn was just beginning to break, Zhu Meng received intelligence from an informant that Tang Yue had fled with the Totem Pearl. He hurriedly gathered the elites among the Intermediate Mages and sent them to arrest Tang Yue.
Afterward, Zhu Meng found Luo Mian and said unhappily.
"During this time, I have been the only one taking action. Hurry up and do your part! We are about to eliminate the Totem Black Snake, this menace!"
Luo Mian remained calm and composed. "Not so, Zhu Meng. I am handling something more important."
"What could be more important than eliminating the Totem Black Snake?"
"Solving the epidemic."
Zhu Meng was overjoyed. "You found a way to solve the epidemic?"
Luo Mian nodded. "Do you remember that Mu Ningwei I told you about? He truly deserves to be called someone from Parthenon. He has already found the cure, and I have been assisting him these past few days."
"Tomorrow, the cure can officially be put into use. At the latest, the epidemic will be eliminated the day after tomorrow."
Zhu Meng said seriously, "Saving people is what matters most. Continue with your work. Mu Ningwei? I never expected him to be the one who saved everyone. I had underestimated him."
"As for Tang Yue, she cannot escape my grasp."
Events unfolded exactly as Zhu Meng expected.
Five days later.
Tang Yue was captured. Zhu Meng used her as leverage, and the Totem Black Snake submitted.
That was why, when Mu Ningwei returned to Hangcheng, Tang Yue came running to him and begged so desperately.
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Little Nuomi, love~
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