The Dou Ling Empire.
The slums.
The crude room was extremely cramped, just large enough for two people to live in.
The dim light illuminated the face of a stunningly beautiful girl.
The beautiful girl held a bowl of medicinal soup, bringing a wooden spoon toward the woman lying in bed.
"Mom, everything will be all right. Drink your medicine first," she comforted her.
The woman's face was slightly pale, and even her lips had lost their rosy color.
She reached out to stroke her daughter's hair and replied, "Nannan, this illness... I know my own condition. Don't waste the best years of your life on me. Cough... cough, cough!"
"It isn't worth it."
"Mom, please stop saying that. I'll find a way to cure you. Just focus on recovering. Staying alive matters more than anything."
After feeding her the last spoonful of medicine and chatting with her mother for a while, Jiang Nannan finally left the room, carefully closing the door.
She had to work at the restaurant today. Although she dearly wanted to stay with her sick mother, she had no choice. Living always required money.
"This city's pretty big!"
"I'm tired anyway. Let's go in and have some fun."
A black-clad man carried a boy roughly one hundred and sixty centimeters tall on his shoulder.
The boy was none other than Cao Yu. After nearly eight or nine days, he had finally reached the Black Tortoise Sect's territory.
Just then, a lavishly dressed old man appeared on the street, accompanied by five or six burly men. Judging by their imposing presence, they were clearly all Soul Kings or above.
The surrounding passersby hurried to avoid them, pointing and discussing them in hushed voices.
"Is that Steward Liu from the Black Tortoise Sect?"
"Who else! Who knows what dirty business he's out to do this time? They've already ruined plenty of innocent young girls these past few years."
A sturdy man could no longer bear it. He set down the load balanced across his shoulder and cursed, "Black Tortoise Bloodline, my ass! Just a bunch of stinking turtles. Pah!"
The people around him hurriedly cautioned him, "Hey! Stop talking. Be careful Steward Liu doesn't hear you, or you'll be in for a good beating."
The man said bitterly, "I just feel awful for the children of poor folk like us. Why is it always these poor children who get ruined?"
"Why doesn't their Black Tortoise Sect ruin girls from wealthy families?"
A woman in her forties stepped forward. Malnutrition had left clearly visible wrinkles on her face. She smiled and said, "Ah! Young man, that's what you don't understand. Since ancient times, it's always been the rich bullying the poor. When have the rich ever bullied each other?"
"When I was young, didn't I enter the Black Tortoise Sect too? Only that faithless man thought I was ugly and threw me out."
Someone asked in confusion, "Then why weren't some of the others thrown out?"
The older woman said, "The pretty ones can naturally hold a man's interest. They might even manage to become the principal wife."
"Those who are passable might become maids and earn enough to eat, so they won't starve."
"As for someone like me, I was never pretty, even as a child. He used me and tossed me away."
"Now I'm all alone, while that faithless man lives carefree. Why, his principal wife even gave him a big, healthy boy over a decade ago. You could say he had a son in his old age."
The timing brought something to mind. Hadn't a young master been born just over a decade ago?
Everyone asked curiously, "Could that big, healthy boy be the Black Tortoise Sect's young master, Xu Sanshi?"
The older woman nodded. "Yes! If I'd had a child too, they would be quite a bit older than Young Master Sanshi."
From the passersby's discussion, Cao Yu also learned that the men approaching so aggressively belonged to the Black Tortoise Sect.
Clearly, they had only just begun their rounds. Steward Liu held a thin sheet of paper and read its contents aloud at every place they reached.
Steward Liu stepped forward and called out, "Friends and neighbors, please hear me out!"
"In half a month, Young Master Xu Sanshi of the Black Tortoise Sect will undergo his Black Tortoise Bloodline awakening. An untouched maiden will be needed."
"Anyone interested may discuss it with me. The current payment is four hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Other terms are negotiable. Is anyone willing?"
The surroundings instantly fell utterly silent. Everyone cast disdainful looks at him, wanting to curse him aloud, but none dared speak when they saw the five or six Soul Kings.
Steward Liu glanced around awkwardly. He was used to it anyway, so he continued forward, not intending to bother with these people.
Just then, a black-clad man stepped out and blocked the road. Steward Liu looked up at him and asked.
"My good man, do you have goods on hand that you wish to discuss with this old fellow?"
"Come with me," the black-clad man said coldly.
Steward Liu pondered for a moment, then prepared to follow him and take a look.
A guard beside him reached out to stop him, his expression serious. "Steward Liu, aren't you afraid..."
He waved impatiently and said, "With you here, what's there to fear? Besides, this is the Black Tortoise Sect's territory. No one would dare cause trouble!"
"Come on! Let's follow him and have a look. Perhaps Young Master Xu's bloodline awakening will be settled."
He held an exquisite fan in his hand.
Snap!
The fan opened, revealing a beautiful pastoral landscape. Surrounded by his guards, Steward Liu followed the man.
Before long, they increasingly felt that something was wrong.
The mysterious man kept leading them into narrow alleys. Realizing something was amiss, they stopped where they were and surveyed their surroundings with grave expressions.
Steward Liu shouted, "Hey! Where are the goods? You aren't planning to rob us, are you?"
He threatened him again. "My good man, don't forget that this is the Black Tortoise Sect's territory. If you dare provoke us, just think about how you'll end up."
In the next instant!
A dark figure suddenly darted out of an alley and stood a short distance away, looking down at the group with arrogant disdain.
He shouted, "That's right! I'm here to rob you!"
"The Black Tortoise Sect? More like a bunch of turtles! You're exactly the sort this young master likes to bully."
The dark figure was none other than Cao Yu. With a wave of his hand, a Gold Soul Coin dropped into the black-clad man's pocket.
"Tie them up!" he said brazenly.
Boom!
These men would not simply sit and await their doom. The guards beside Steward Liu swiftly released their Martial Souls.
But before they could fight back, the black-clad man flashed before them like the wind, reached out, and struck.
Bang! Bang!
In the blink of an eye, these Soul Kings were sent flying into the wall before crashing heavily to the ground, curled up like shrimp with agonized expressions.
Then he bound them with Soul Power.
Cao Yu had not let the Shadow Clone strike too hard. At most, these men had suffered a few superficial injuries. Some rest back home would set them right.
Since Steward Liu was getting on in years, he was fortunate enough to escape injury.
He was, however, terrified.
Pointing a trembling hand, he said, "You... you can't do this! You're making an enemy of the Black Tortoise Sect! Aren't you afraid the Black Tortoise Sect will take revenge on you?"
Yet the people before him paid no heed to his words, continuing to rummage through their clothes.
Steward Liu felt humiliated, and even more furious on behalf of the Black Tortoise Sect, which stood supreme in his heart.
Since when had anyone dared disregard the Black Tortoise Sect?
Usually, only their Black Tortoise Sect bullied others. Now look at this-someone was bullying them instead!
Unforgivable!
[ps]: You've been reading for so long, and writing isn't easy for a newbie author. If you haven't favorited this book yet, please do-that means adding it to your bookshelf. The number of favorites for this book isn't very promising right now, so I'm on my knees begging for everyone's support!
(End of chapter)