Chapter 382: Volume 1 Chapter 382 Evil Dragon x Slave x Witch (2)

When she wanted to see his face clearly, the half-beast lowered its head and remained motionless.

The slave master ordered his underlings to open the cage, holding an iron chain in his hand, its end attached to the half-beast's neck, roughly dragging it, pulling it out of the cage and stopping it in front of them.

In the dim light of the corridor, she vaguely made out the half-beast lying on the ground.

He looked emaciated and weak, with wounds of various sizes, new and old, his messy long hair hanging over his face, his bronze skin covered in spreading dark-green scales; to train him, layers of scales had been forcibly peeled off.

As a half-beast, his regenerative ability surpassing that of ordinary people caused the scales he had shed to grow back anew, sprouting like baby teeth from his flesh; his body was filthy, covered in dried blood stains, and his bare feet below the ankles were broken, dragged over by the slave master's underlings.

In this place, slave deaths were as common as daily meals, and no one cared.

Moreover, slaves like these half-beasts, regarded as monsters, were as worthless as weeds.

Therefore, the half-beasts imprisoned in the cages had faces ashen with despair; they knew their fate well—locked in dark underground cages where no sunlight reached, awaiting selection by others.

Jiang Zhi withdrew her gaze and said, "I've bought all the half-beasts."

The slave master's face filled with shock; he stared at her in disbelief, overjoyed.

"Really, really?"

Jiang Zhi didn't waste words; she took out a pouch of gold coins from her pocket and threw it into his arms.

The world's currency consists of copper, silver, and gold coins; one silver coin equals 100 copper coins, and one gold coin equals 100 silver coins.

Gold coins are the highest-grade currency.

The price of an ordinary human slave fluctuates between 50 and 80 silver coins.

Meanwhile, high-quality slaves with good looks and strong strength are sent to the auction house; only a few remain in the slums, regarded by slave masters as wealth-bringing treasures. Their price fluctuates between 10 and 50 gold coins, or even higher.

Half-beast slaves are more expensive than high-quality slaves, and their numbers are also scarce.

Some people with special fetishes or who wish to use half-beast power to protect themselves will spend lavishly to buy them.

The money in Jiang Zhi's pouch amounted to over a thousand gold coins, enough to buy this slave shop.

The slave master, clutching the money pouch, beamed and said, "Miss Jiang, take them all~"

The slave master didn't know her identity, thinking she was merely a sorcerer, but he hadn't expected her to be so extravagant.

【World Salvation Progress: 0.6%】

After the slave master left, Jiang Zhi opened the main quest data and examined it carefully.

Indeed, purchasing these half-beast slaves from the slave master would increase the progress of the world-saving quest.

Although only 0.6%, it is still a good omen.

She raised her hand, cast a spell, and opened all the cages.

The half-beasts inside couldn't understand her conversation with the slave master, but seeing the cage doors open, they all looked over.

Not a single half-beast dared to move; several of them had plotted to escape here before, but were all caught and dragged back by the slave master's underlings.

They had been subjected to a spell; even if they fled to the ends of the earth, they would still be captured.

That spell even drained all their strength; at this moment they were powerless to even restrain a chicken, and even if they escaped now, they wouldn't get far.

Jiang Zhi cast the spell again, sealing them inside monster talismans.

The half-beasts turned into ink-wash paintings, printed on the surface of the talismans; unless she dispels the spell, they can forever remain only within the talismans.

This way they can be easily carried.

She thought so.

Leaving the underground cage, exiting the slums, she headed all the way toward Chendi.

Concealing her aura, she arrived at an open, safe place.

Jiang Zhi released all the half-beasts from the talismans.

Not only did she undo the iron shackles binding their necks, she also dispelled the spell within their bodies.

"You are free," she said calmly.

The half-beasts had never been exposed to outside light; even though the air in Chendi was perpetually dim and dust-laden, they instinctively reached out tentatively to touch the sky.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi turned around, preparing to leave.

Those dozen or so half-beasts followed her as well.

Jiang Zhi tapped her throat and spoke in the monster language they could understand.

"You are free; you don't need to follow me, and I am not your master."

The rabbit-headed half-beast bowed low, voice trembling, and said, "You purchased us, so you are our master."

They are half-beasts; in Chendi they have no means of survival, monsters regard them as disgrace, and humans despise them even more.

If their master abandons them, their fate is also a dead end.

As soon as the rabbit-headed half-beast finished speaking, the remaining half-beasts all knelt down devoutly.

Jiang Zhi: ……

She threatened, "I can save you, or I can kill you—so hurry up and go!"

But the half-beasts remained motionless, maintaining their posture, as if awaiting her to bestow upon them a death sentence.

Jiang Zhi didn't expect the half-beasts to be so obstinate.

Although humans treat them cruelly, once they acknowledge a master, they follow him loyally unto death.

She rested her chin on her hand and fell into thought.

She pondered how to resolve the matter of these half-beasts.

Suddenly.

A fierce wind blew over.

Dust rose, forming a small sandstorm, with two twisted shadows within it.

It was a first-rank wind-attribute monster beast.

They are the most common type of monster in Chendi.

Jiang Zhi had not yet cast a spell, and the few half-beasts kneeling before her stood up.

The half-beast with bat wings flew up and rushed into the center of the sandstorm, while the half-beast with eagle claws leapt up, extending its sharp eagle claws to stab the demon beast at the center.

They endured great torment in the underground prison, exhausted and wounded, fighting desperately just so she would take them in.

The other half-beasts followed close behind, charging into the sandstorm whose power was like a wind blade.

A few minutes later.

The demon beast in the sandstorm died, and the half-beasts collapsed to the ground, barely breathing.

Jiang Zhi felt helpless.

She was merely an ordinary wizard.

She simply had no time to raise them.

No matter how cold-hearted, seeing this scene would stir some emotion.

She raised her fingertip, and a warm light enveloped them.

Healing their wounds.

The half-beasts had gone forth with a resolve to die, but they did not expect her to heal herself; they knelt again in a row, reverent and humble.

"Alright."

She took out a brush, drew a barrier on the spot, enveloping them.

Using sorcery to reshape the land, she then sketched a river with the area of a village, drawing wooden houses and trees.

All her energy was absorbed by the brush, her face instantly turned pale, and her stance became unsteady.

This is a way talisman masters cast spells, using the brush to draw and create real things.

But it consumes enormous energy.

The envoy's energy recovers slowly.

"This is your dwelling; demon beasts dare not approach the barrier's vicinity, and the envoy cannot sense your aura."