Li Qiang raised a hand to stop their argument and slowly stood up, feeling his strength begin to return. He drew a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, everyone. I'm much better now."
Nashan studied Li Qiang's face and said, "Boss, why is your face so red?"
Everyone found Li Qiang's complexion strange. It was a deep purplish red, completely different from the pale gold of earlier, and the slave brand on his forehead was a frightening scarlet.
The weakness just now had left Li Qiang deeply dejected. He showed nothing on his face, but he understood very well that losing his cultivation powers here would be a miserable thing. Forcing himself to calm down, he asked, "Nanadun, how many casualties did we suffer? Have the people outside come in?"
Nanadun said, "Luckily, the Black Camp soldiers withdrew. Otherwise, our casualties would've been heavy. I can't say exactly how many were killed or wounded yet, but it won't be few. Old Wei is badly hurt, and the other main leaders are all wounded to some extent..."
"Wei Yuanqing is hurt?" Li Qiang asked anxiously.
Lin Fenghe hurriedly said, "An eccentric old man saved him. His life isn't in danger, so don't worry, Boss."
"An eccentric old man?" In a flash, Li Qiang understood. Overjoyed, he asked, "Did he say anything?"
Lin Fenghe thought for a moment. "He seemed to be looking for someone. Hey, where's Tange? He went to help find that person... You few, go fetch Tange."
Qiao Yuhong nestled beside Li Qiang and asked softly, "Brother, do you know those people?"
Li Qiang smiled. "Yes! They're all my brothers and friends."
Qiao Yuhong said enviously, "Your friends are incredible, just like you. If only I had such great abilities." For the first time, she truly wanted to learn abilities like Li Qiang's.
Tange hurried over. The sight of Li Qiang gave him a fright. "Boss, what happened to you?"
Li Qiang smiled wryly. I must look terrifying right now. He said, "Tange, what did the man who saved Brother Wei say to you? Where is he?"
Tange said, "He was looking for a young man surnamed Li. I asked around for ages but couldn't find him. I've told everyone to come to the pool hall in a while so we can look again."
Li Qiang said, "Tange, stop looking... I'm the one he's looking for. He's my elder brother." Seeing everyone's astonished looks, he added, "Don't be surprised. My surname is Li-the characters for Mu and Zi stacked together make Li. My name is Li Qiang."
The others did not know who Li Qiang was, but Lin Fenghe was stunned. Remembering the jade token Li Qiang had shown him before, he felt his heart pound wildly and asked cautiously, "Boss... you're..."
Li Qiang did not catch on at first. "Brother Lin, my name is Li Qiang."
Lin Fenghe suddenly dropped to his knees. "Lin Fenghe, former Cavalry General of the Gusong Kingdom, pays his respects to the Tiger Might General." When he resigned his post, he had already learned what had happened in the capital. He was a clever man; putting a few things together and making some deductions, he had guessed almost the whole truth.
His kneeling left everyone at a loss. Han Jin asked, "Fenghe, what are you doing? When did Boss... become a... general?"
"Brother Lin, get up. Ah, I resigned long ago. Why bow to me? If you want to bow, go bow to my elder brother. He's your Gusong Kingdom's Sacred King..."
Lin Fenghe's legs went weak, and he landed on the ground with a thump. This time, everyone from the Gusong Kingdom understood the weight of those words.
Han Jin and Zhao Zhi were dumbstruck. Li Qiang actually called the Sacred King his elder brother-he was far too mysterious. Lin Fenghe wanted to slap himself. He had seen the Sacred King just now without paying his respects. Jumping up, he immediately ordered the prisoners around him to find the Sacred King, repeatedly reminding them that they must be respectful when they saw him.
Li Qiang also knew how the people of the Gusong Kingdom revered the Sacred King. He said loudly, "All right, let's get ready. Soon, everyone will be able to return to their homeland..." A faint ache stirred in his heart. When will I be able to return to my own homeland?
The surviving prisoners felt as though they had just awakened from a nightmare. Returning home was something they had dreamed of every day since coming to the Black Prison. Now that someone was telling them they could go home, they could scarcely believe it was true.
The hall slowly quieted, and sobbing gradually rose. As though it were contagious, the sobs spread through the crowd. Even Han Jin, Zhao Zhi, Nanadun, and the others had tears in their eyes.
Some in the crowd began searching tearfully for fathers and brothers who had been captured, while others asked whether friends from their hometowns were still alive. Almost no one in the pool hall was dry-eyed, and the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.
Li Qiang said, "Nanadun, Lin Fenghe, organize things and gather the bosses from each section to count everyone. Tange, Nashan, collect all the food immediately and give everyone a full meal. Oh, not too full. Don't let anyone eat themselves to death."
Someone shouted, "The Sacred King is here!"
Everyone from the Gusong Kingdom dropped to their knees in a great rustle, prostrating themselves motionlessly on the ground. The others were so startled that they all backed away.
Most of the Black Prison's inmates came from Heavenly Court Star, with people from every kingdom. Those from the Gusong Kingdom and the Great Han Kingdom made up half the total. Next were the locals of Tanbang Star, mainly prisoners of war from the Bangqining Kingdom, with a scattering of other races.
Hou Pijing wondered how these people knew he was the Sacred King. On reflection, Li Qiang must have let it slip. When he caught sight of Li Qiang, however, his astonishment was beyond words. With his many years of cultivation experience, he knew at a glance that Li Qiang was in serious trouble.
He strode forward and cried, "Brother..." Then he could say no more.
Li Qiang called happily, "Elder brother..." Like Hou Pijing, he could not get another word out.
Lin Fenghe immediately knelt and kowtowed. "This humble one is Lin Fenghe, former Cavalry General of the Gusong Kingdom. I pay my respects to Your Highness the Sacred King and wish you peace!"
Only then did Hou Pijing recover. He sent out a thread of True Essence Power to examine the changes inside Li Qiang. Slowly, his brows drew together. He hesitated, then held back his words and waved for Lin Fenghe to rise.
He lowered his head in thought for a long while, then suddenly shot a streak of white light down a passage. "Let's wait for your Brother Fu! He's a grandmaster of artifact crafting. Perhaps he'll have a solution."
Li Qiang's heart chilled. He smiled wryly. "It's nothing so terrible. At worst, I'll be knocked back to my original form! Come, let me introduce the friends I made in the Black Prison."
Li Qiang solemnly introduced Lin Fenghe, Han Jin, Nanadun, Zhao Zhi, Qiao Yuhong, and the others to him.
Hou Pijing secretly admired this brother of his, who could make so many friends wherever he went. For Li Qiang's sake, he greeted everyone very courteously.
Lin Fenghe was beside himself with excitement. He had never expected the legendary Sacred King to be so approachable.
Qiao Yuhong looked anxiously at Hou Pijing and asked, "Sir, will my brother be all right?"
Hou Pijing paused slightly. "Hmm, even I can't say for sure. We'll have to wait for his elder brother to take a look." He wondered why this was a young girl.
"Who's his elder brother? Is he very powerful?"
Hou Pijing said, "You're from the Great Han Kingdom, aren't you?" Qiao Yuhong nodded in bewilderment.
"His elder brother is called Fu Shan. In your Great Han Kingdom, I believe he's known as the Guardian God of the Kingdom." He thought, I might as well bring out Fu Shan's status too and let him taste what it's like to have people bowing to him. Quite a few people from the Great Han Kingdom stood nearby, and they cried out in astonishment. He, too, was a figure of legend.
Qiao Yuhong was speechless for a long time. A sense of loss and helplessness welled up inside her. She knew the gulf between herself and Li Qiang was simply too great.
Ever since Li Qiang had used his own body to shield her from the overseer's whip, a thread of her affection had tied itself to him. But Li Qiang seemed only to care about her, without showing the slightest romantic feeling, and she did not quite know what to do.
Following the streak of white light Hou Pijing had sent, Fu Shan teleported into the pool hall with Zhao Hao and the other two.
The four suddenly appeared, drawing startled cries from the crowd.
Hearing the commotion, Li Qiang turned and immediately saw Fu Shan, Hua Meiniang, Zhao Hao, and Mei Jingjing. These were all people he cared about most. Seeing that they had gone so far as to wage war and fight their way from Heavenly Court Star to Tanbang Star for his safety, emotion surged through his heart like a tide.
He seemed to have a thousand things to say, yet not a word would come. He stood there blankly, as though stunned, his legs nailed firmly to the ground, unable to take a single step.
Zhao Hao only managed to cry, "Master!" before dropping to his knees. Mei Jingjing burst into tears and threw herself into Li Qiang's arms. She could barely recognize him. Hua Meiniang stood meekly to one side, not daring to play any tricks now for fear of angering Fu Shan.
Qiao Yuhong watched in despair as Li Qiang held Mei Jingjing. She stood numbly to one side, tears streaming down without stopping.
Fu Shan smiled faintly. "Hehe, we've finally found you, brother. You really were hard to find!"
"Brother Fu, I knew I'd see you again. Niuniu, stop crying. Look, aren't I perfectly fine?" Li Qiang released Mei Jingjing and helped Zhao Hao up, smiling. "I've been a truly useless master. If you're willing, I'll formally accept you as my disciple."
Overjoyed, Zhao Hao knelt again and respectfully kowtowed three times, his forehead striking the ground. "Master above, please accept your disciple's bow!"
Li Qiang looked curiously at Hua Meiniang, who stood so meekly to one side, and could not help laughing. "Elder Sister Hua, why are you being so good and not saying a word? I'm really happy to see you this time!" He had already noticed that Hua Meiniang seemed to have some feelings for Fu Shan.
"So you weren't happy to see me last time? You little brat, watch out or I'll give you a beating..."
"Oh? Ah... Elder Sister Hua, you must maintain your ladylike bearing, or no one will like you." Li Qiang glanced at Fu Shan and grinned mischievously.
He had seized Hua Meiniang's weak spot, leaving her choking on her words.
Hou Pijing burst out laughing at the sight. "Little witch, so..."
Hua Meiniang flared up petulantly. "Don't say it... you're not allowed to say it..."
Even with tears still on her face, Mei Jingjing could not help bursting into laughter. She went over and hugged Hua Meiniang. "Sister, you're so fierce!"
Hua Meiniang stamped her feet in anger, but could think of no good response. With Fu Shan beside her, she did not want to act too outrageously.
Hou Pijing reminded Fu Shan, "Chongbi, look..."
Fu Shan waved a hand slightly. "I know. Let's discuss it when we're free."
In fact, Fu Shan had known something had gone wrong with Li Qiang's cultivation the moment he saw him. He was a steady man who did not want to draw conclusions immediately, and intended to observe him further.
Nashan suddenly knelt and said to Li Qiang, "Boss, accept me as your disciple! Please grant this one-eyed dragon's... um... tiny request..." He was utterly envious of these people's great abilities and thought that an opportunity like this would vanish in a flash. If he asked Fu Shan or Hou Pijing to take him as a disciple, they might not agree. At least he had spent so long with Li Qiang and was on good terms with him. Having been a boss in the Black Prison, he had an exceptionally thick skin and excelled at adapting to circumstances. Whether Li Qiang agreed or not, he would bow first and worry about the rest later.
Li Qiang saw trouble coming. Lin Fenghe was watching too, his knees bent as though he also intended to kneel. I haven't even mastered cultivation myself, yet I'm supposed to teach disciples. Isn't that a joke?
He shouted, "Stop... nobody move!" He even made a referee's stop gesture, regardless of whether anyone understood it.
Fu Shan, Hou Pijing, Hua Meiniang, Mei Jingjing, Nanadun, and the others all smiled. Zhao Hao remembered how pitiful Li Qiang had looked when he himself sought to become his disciple, and found it very amusing. Feeling sympathy for Nashan, he said, "Master... well, junior brother..." Li Qiang's glare frightened him into silence.
Nashan had a little quick wit. Shuffling forward on his knees, he actually crawled to Fu Shan's feet and kowtowed. "Senior martial uncle, Nashan kowtows to you. Please stand up for me."
Seeing Li Qiang scratch his head and ears like a monkey squatting on a stove, Fu Shan teased, "Ah, I can't decide this for him. But here's an idea: just keep following him around. There's nothing he can do about that."
"Oh! I understand. Hehe." Nashan sprang up and used his greatest skill-climbing straight up any pole offered him. Standing beside Li Qiang, he bowed with a grin. "Greetings, Master!" Then he addressed Fu Shan, Hou Pijing, and the others. "Greetings, martial uncles! Greetings, martial aunt! Greetings, senior brother!" Li Qiang nearly fainted. To think there could be such a tyrannical disciple.
Afraid something else might happen, Li Qiang hurriedly said, "Tange, get food ready for everyone. Once we've eaten and packed up, we're leaving. Don't all just stand there."
Tange said awkwardly, "There's only a little food, not enough for everyone. Should we divide it up so each person gets a token amount?"
Fu Shan said, "We had someone bring provisions especially. Wait a moment." He, too, sent out a streak of white light, while Tange watched curiously.
There was a soft sound, and a pale blue-green pouch appeared in Fu Shan's hand. He handed it to Tange. "There's enough food inside for several days. Take it for now, and come to me if it isn't enough. Oh, just reach inside and take it out. It contains flatbreads."
Tange curiously reached inside, then gaped in astonishment. The question that had troubled him for so long was instantly answered: why could Li Qiang take out so many things? He must have something like this too.
Tange's heart kept drumming. If the Bangqining Kingdom had something like this, it could solve the entire problem of supplying provisions. What a tremendous achievement that would be.
Nanadun also reached inside to feel around and was immediately captivated. His thoughts were the same as Tange's. He quietly gave Tange a look, and Tange understood and left.
The prisoners finally ate their fill. Some, still haunted by fear, even hid flatbreads inside their clothes; they had truly been terrified by starvation. Despite repeated warnings, some prisoners still ate themselves to death, making Tange and the others lose their tempers.
But they could do nothing about it. Some people lost all self-control at the sight of food.
Fu Shan had already reached a verbal agreement with the Black Camp's commander, Marshal Dede Chongmo. The Black Camp would provide transport to take the prisoners to the teleportation point, and Fu Shan would no longer pursue the Tante Kingdom's responsibility for buying people from Heavenly Court Star on a massive scale.
As the prisoners walked out of the Black Camp's mountain, every one of them felt as though they had been reborn into another lifetime.
Some clever prisoners had hidden crystals. Although these would not make them enormously wealthy once they returned, a comfortable life would be no problem. The bosses of the various sections profited most. They all had some middle- and high-grade crystals saved up, and had also taken in groups of followers. Most became powerful local overlords after returning.
They would always remember one man. Although not everyone was grateful to him, not one dared say a bad word about him: Boss Muzi, who had led the fight against the Black Camp soldiers.
Inside the teleportation array, all the prisoners from Heavenly Court Star knelt and kowtowed to thank Li Qiang and the others for saving their lives. Fu Shan sent the people of Heavenly Court Star away in batches.
Li Qiang told Nanadun, "You'll have to wait a while. Brother Fu's friend has already gone to the Bangqining Kingdom to build a receiving point. Once it's ready, we'll teleport you over."
Without a word, Nanadun stepped forward, embraced Li Qiang, and gently touched his forehead to his. Kankanqi and Tange also came forward to perform the forehead-touching salute. Li Qiang knew this was the Green Tribe's highest courtesy, reserved for those closest to them.
Li Qiang called Lin Fenghe over. "I promised to recommend you for an audience with the emperor in the Gusong Kingdom's palace. Take this gold token. The guards should all recognize it and will lead you to the emperor. Just tell him the Sacred King and Li Qiang send their regards." He added, "The Crystal Origin Bow is yours. Use it carefully, and don't slaughter recklessly. In the Green Basin, this weapon is a little too powerful."
Lin Fenghe hesitated terribly. He, too, wanted to imitate Nashan and cling to Li Qiang, but Li Qiang's recommendation was simply too tempting. This was a recommendation to the emperor from the Sacred King and his brother. Who in the Gusong Kingdom could have such an honor? Remembering how he had been pushed aside in the army, he would let them have a taste of it when he returned. In the end, he came from an official's family, and the desire to hold office had sunk deep roots into his heart. Given the chance, he was still unwilling to give it up.
He knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty the Sacred King, Boss, everything I, Lin Fenghe, have today is thanks to your kindness. I will remember it in my very bones. Please accept my kowtow." In the end, he decided to return.
Li Qiang smiled with relief. "Get up. Remember, if I go back, I'll come looking for you. Just don't pretend you don't know me then."
Lin Fenghe said respectfully, "I wouldn't dare." His solemn manner made Li Qiang too embarrassed to joke further.
Hou Pijing said a little impatiently, "Boy, stop rambling. Oh, and let me tell you: don't use your influence to bully people!"
Han Jin and Zhao Zhi stood to one side, unsure what to do. Because of his injuries, Wei Yuanqing had already been teleported away. Both wanted to stay, but did not know how to ask.
Li Qiang felt somewhat moved. Han Jin had been the first person he met in the Black Prison. He stepped forward, took Han Jin's hand, and said, "Brother Han, will you still run your escort agency after you return? I'd like to entrust an escort job to you. Will you accept?"
Out of habit, Han Jin said, "Brother Muzi, just tell me what you need. I'll accomplish it even if I have to risk my life."
Li Qiang smiled. "It's nothing that serious. I'd like the two of you to go to the Great Han Kingdom and escort Brother Hong home."
Qiao Yuhong had been following behind Li Qiang all along. At his words, she could not hold back her tears again. She had no way to make herself stay, and hearing what Li Qiang said, she finally began to sob aloud.
Only then did Hua Meiniang realize she was actually a young girl. She stepped forward, put an arm around her, and asked gently, "Did he bully you? Tell your big sister. I'll stand up for you."
Mei Jingjing was even more astonished. Why was there a young girl here? What was her relationship with Li Qiang?