Chapter 519

This bastard couldn't withstand the punishment and died.

A petty clerk in light green official robes stood with his hands behind his back, calmly issuing orders to several jailers. The 'this bastard' he referred to was none other than Wu Tie.

The lively Wu Tie put on a set of clean new clothes, stood upright behind the petty clerk, listening to his words, feeling utterly absurd. He was a living, breathing person standing here—how could he resemble a dead man?

Several jailers chuckled as they lightly traced a vermilion brushstroke on a document, then respectfully escorted the petty clerk and Wu Tie out of Jinhua Prefecture City's prison. The way was clear and unobstructed; even the Embryo Storage Realm commander tasked with guarding the prison, who happened to bump into them, pretended not to see them.

Wu Tie couldn't help but gain a deeper understanding of Old Master Hu's influence in Jinhua Prefecture City.

Following behind the petty clerk, as they walked Wu Tie reached out to touch his own chest.

His chest felt a little sore; that sensation was uncomfortable.

Having just been in the underground dungeon, Wu Tie agreed to the petty clerk's condition, agreeing to ally with the 'noble one' he mentioned. The petty clerk wasted no time, immediately taking from a cold jade casket a spider the size of a mung bean bearing ghost-face markings.

This was a gu worm.

The gu worm crawled into Wu Tie's nostrils, slowly swaying its way to his chest, where it lodged on the outer surface of his heart. It extended an ultrafine sting, continuously secreting trace amounts of strange toxin that entered Wu Tie's body, swiftly circulating with his blood.

According to the petty clerk's introduction, this ghost-faced pattern spider is a primeval aberrant species; unless one is a Divine Manifestation Realm expert whose divine embryo and flesh have perfectly fused, forged into a divine form, it is impossible to rid oneself of the toxin it secretes.

If Wu Tie honestly and sincerely serves the noble one, he may enjoy wealth and honor.

If he harbors any second thoughts, then as long as the gu worm stirs slightly, it can turn Wu Tie's flesh and blood into pus and cause his soul to vanish. Moreover, the worm must remain alive inside Wu Tie to suppress its deadly poison; if the worm dies or is removed, Wu Tie is doomed as well.

Wu Tie gave a timid, assenting reply, putting on a show of furious anger yet utter helplessness.

Within his divine embryo, the yin-yang qi vessel slowly turned, the innate yin and yang qi refining all the strange poison rushing toward his soul, leaving no trace to contaminate his divine embryo. As for that poison within his body, to Wu Tie whose flesh is already as tough as a demon's, this bit of poison is merely a novel little supplement.

"Does Linghu Gu use this sort of thing to control the martial artists he recruits? Hmph, hmph." Wu Tie wore a grim face, followed the petty clerk out the prison's rear gate, boarded a carriage, and swiftly departed along the main road.

The carriage headed straight out of Jinhua Prefecture City, traveling dozens of li along the western highway, arriving at a manor encircled by green willows.

The manor was vast, with over a dozen overlapping compounds, capable of housing at least ten thousand residents.

Outside the manor, two clear streams meandered by, vast expanses of green willow shade stretching dozens of li, under which large flocks of chickens, ducks, and geese roamed freely; in the distance, rice paddies and vegetable fields could be seen, presenting a picture of extreme prosperity and leisure.

When the carriage reached the manor's gate, a gaunt, dark-skinned old man whose face was lined with wrinkles, resembling a simple old farmer, stepped forward, silently nodded to the green-robed petty clerk, and beckoned to Wu Tie.

The green-robed petty clerk smiled, tossing Wu Tie the beast-hide bundle and mixed-iron rod that had been confiscated when he entered the jail, then the carriage turned back toward Jinhua Prefecture City.

Wu Tie shouldered the rod and bundle, striding confidently behind the old man as he marched into the manor.

Behind the manor's main gate lay a vast courtyard paved with white sand; surely a formidable restriction lay beneath the sand, for as soon as Wu Tie set foot on the ground, his body suddenly sank, a terrifying force wildly tugging at him as if dozens of mountains were crashing down upon him.

Dozens of men of varying height and build stood in the courtyard, shirts off, eyes narrowed, hostile gazes fixed on Wu Tie. They all looked fierce and brutal, each face seeming carved with the characters 'I am a wicked man!'!

Wu Tie's body swayed slightly, then he steadied himself.

This compound, covering dozens of mu, was strange: gravity had been amplified to a terrifying degree; unless one was a body cultivator of the Embryo Storage Realm who had trained to at least the level of the army's Nine Refines Mysterious Skill, it would be impossible to withstand the gravity here.

Ordinary iron-forged puppets would be crushed into iron discs here!

Dozens of men stood firm in the courtyard, not a drop of sweat on them, showing their strength comparable to elite officers of the Great Jin Army; even the commanders of Jinhua Prefecture City might not match them.

Wu Tie merely swayed, then steadied himself, whereupon the dozens of fierce men simultaneously showed disappointment.

A man over two zhang tall, his skin pitch-black like coal, muscles knotted, scars crisscrossing his bald head, roared angrily: 'My gold… you dare stand firm? Old Five, go, teach him a lesson!'

Another man of similar height to Wu Tie, around one and a half zhang, even more burly, with the same coal-black skin, bellowed, the white sand beneath his feet exploding in a large patch as he shot forward like a cannonball, slamming his shoulder into Wu Tie's chest.

The 'simple old farmer' who had guided Wu Tie in gave a leisurely hum: 'Around here, the rule is: no one may die!'

Wu Tie raised an eyebrow: 'The rule is that no one may die?'

He swung his mixed-iron rod hard, flinging the beast-hide bundle far away, then brought it down in a crushing blow to the big man's head.

With a tremendous crash, the thick mixed-iron rod struck the bald man's head, sparks flying; the man hit the ground hard, rolling his eyes and convulsing violently.

All were Embryo Storage Realm body cultivators, with formidable physiques, strong defenses, and tenacious vitality. Wu Tie's blow was heavy, but at most it would cause the man severe concussion and unconsciousness for three to five days, certainly not threatening his life.

The big man who had just been issuing orders let out a furious roar, stepping closer to Wu Tie, drawing from somewhere a strangely shaped dog-leg saber over a zhang long, flashing cold light; he stuck out his tongue and licked the blade's edge viciously.

"No one may die—that's the sole rule among outlaws… kid, you got no complaints?" The bald man growled low: 'You dare injure my brother and make me lose money, kid—I'll give you a proper thrashing!'

Wu Tie laughed 'crack crack crack', eyeing the bald man, he rubbed his mixed-iron rod with both hands; a continual 'boom boom boom' rang out as brilliant lightning burst from the rod, its electric light flickering wildly, then Wu Tie turned himself into a ball of lightning and lunged at the bald man.

The mixed-iron rod and dog-leg saber clashed violently, electricity howling, thunder exploding, terrifying lightning force surging along the saber and continually blasting the big man.

The big man also burst forth a vast yellow glow, thick and hard, like the earth itself—evidently he cultivated an earth-attribute art, and those who practice such arts are invariably physically formidable and immensely strong.

Their weapons violently collided, tremendous force kicking up gales, bursts of explosive energy spraying in all directions.

The entire manor was enveloped in a colorless transparent barrier; a powerful defensive ward steadfastly guarded the courtyard, so no matter how Wu Tie and the dark-skinned big man brawled, not a blade of grass in the manor suffered harm.

An Embryo Storage Realm body cultivator, unless trapped in a military formation or suffering a lethal wound, can plunder heavenly and earthly essence, replenishing stamina and mana at will, enabling near-endless combat. Wu Tie and the black-skinned big man went at it furiously for a full hour, both drenched in sweat, panting like thunder, yet the fighting spirit in their eyes grew ever fiercer.

The gaunt old guide sighed softly: 'All right, Hei Hu, this is Xiong Kuang, a hero from Vast Desert Prefecture. You two are about equal; enough, no outcome will come of this. From now on you'll be brothers sharing meals, stop, stop…'

The gaunt old man said leisurely: 'Xiong Kuang, find yourself a place to stay. This is Green Willow Manor, one of the encampments of the outlaws under Old Master's command; those who live here are all fellows like you, mortal menaces, all subdued by Old Master.'

"Rest a few days, eat, drink, and enjoy… as long as you diligently serve Old Master, there will be plenty of benefits for you."

Wu Tie turned his head, glaring fiercely at the gaunt old man: 'I am not Xiong Kuang… hum, you've got the wrong guy.'

The gaunt old man lazily waved a hand: 'You can only be Xiong Kuang; a talent like you couldn't have popped out of a rock… the only one who could match you is Xiong Kuang.'

Shaking his head, the gaunt old man chuckled: 'Even if you aren't, from now on you must use that name. Well, anyway, you're already Old Master's man—could you possibly run away?'

Wu Tie grinned.

Outlaws, ah, the jianghu outlaws recruited by Master Hu are merely the outer cannon-fodder of his 'Fox Tail' jurisdiction—indeed, they don't really care about the identities of these jianghu ruffians.

With the Ghost-Face Pattern Spider under their control, what are these cannon-fodder to them?

Wu Tie was about to speak when the Black Tiger across from him dealt a heavy blow, slashing his blade down onto Wu Tie's body. Wu Tie let out a great roar, and a thick layer of golden light burst forth from his skin—with a 'hum', the golden light condensed on his body's surface into a heavy, ancient-looking golden great bell, which firmly caught that strike.

The gaunt old man cracked a grin: 'Here, Xiong Kuang's prized divine ability, the Buddhist Golden Bell Shroud, has been unleashed—the lone bandit Xiong Kuang of Hanmo Prefecture… what a fine hand, what a fine hand!'

Bang!

Wu Tie seized the moment when the Black Tiger's blow missed, his eyes wide in shock, and he thrust his mixed-iron staff upward, delivering a vicious, obscene 'yin' strike that slammed hard into the Black Tiger's crotch.

The Black Tiger clenched his legs tight, his dark face paling slightly; he grunted, staggered back two steps with an odd posture, gripping his knife hilt tightly, and gave Wu Tie an extremely ugly grin: "Good, Xiong Kuang… I, your father, will remember you! From now on we'll be brothers sharing the same pot… heh, hehe… I, your father, will remember you!"

Wu Tie glanced at the Black Tiger without a care, picked up his mixed-iron staff, retrieved his animal-skin bundle, and strode head‑high and chest‑out toward the manor's depths.

After wandering about and picking here and there in Green Willow Manor, Wu Tie finally chose a small building beside a stream and took up residence there.

Over the next few days, Wu Tie had nothing to do, so he roamed about Green Willow Manor, eating and drinking to his heart's content. Every day, servants brought him plenty of meat and wine for his three meals, the dishes were abundant, and every three days they also sent down cultivation-assisting elixirs; each pill glowed with inner radiance, all being high-grade immortal pills and spiritual medicines.

After hanging out for a few days, Wu Tie also figured out that Green Willow Manor was merely one of several strongholds where Old Master Hu had gathered a band of outlaws; the manor had a single steward—the gaunt old man—and two or three thousand servants and maidservants who attended exclusively to the more than three hundred vicious outlaws residing there.

Besides these people, there were also over two thousand honest farming households in the surrounding manors.

These farming households were tenants of a mid-level landlord in Gold Flower Prefecture City, and this landlord was evidently just a lackey of Old Master Hu, employed specifically to conceal Green Willow Manor's wares.

All these outlaws had, over the past few years, been roaming the vicinity of Gold Flower Prefecture and had suffered mishaps similar to Wu Tie's.

They had committed a crime in Gold Flower Prefecture and inadvertently run into Old Master Hu's men; first they were arrested by the prefectural troops and thrown into jail, subjected to brutal torture, then someone appeared, threatening them with death, and forced them to swallow that ghost‑patterned spider worm, after which their lives were completely under others' control.

The few outlaws with the longest tenure in Green Willow Manor have already been allied with Old Master Hu for several hundred years.

Over those centuries they never even knew how many shameful misdeeds they had done for Old Master Hu.

The more they did, the greater the rewards they received from Old Master Hu—such as divine arts and secret techniques on par with those inherited from elite martial clans, various immortal weapons and secret treasures, and assorted Great Dao elixirs, and so on.

The few senior outlaws inside Green Willow Manor had cultivations that nearly reached the Divine Realm; within the Embryonic Storage Realm they were absolutely the strongest, most terrifying top‑tier figures, and when Wu Tie entered Green Willow Manor, the provocateurs like Black Tiger and his ilk were nothing but ordinary lackeys compared to them.

In other words, within Green Willow Manor Wu Tie is now merely a petty lackey.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye a month had passed.

That day, Wu Tie was in Green Willow Manor's gambling hall, playing dominoes with a gang of outlaws, when a sharp bugle call suddenly pierced the clouds; the manor steward's voice echoed from afar: "Gentlemen, the master has issued a mission… hurry out, hurry!"