Chapter 576: 529 Subduing the Tiger

Several days later.

Before the east was bright, inside a silk shop in Yulang City.

"Master, Master."

A series of calls, made as soft as possible, rang out by the bedside.

The middle-aged man, resting his head on a beauty's jade arm, opened his eyes. Through the window paper, he saw the hazy night outside and flew into a rage, shouting: "You dog slave, what time is it that you're calling me? You damned thing, you deliberately disturbed my good dream, didn't you?"

The person who called him to wake up had a head of white hair and was a Sword Guest. Hearing this, he immediately knelt before the bed and said respectfully: "Master, you ordered me to wake you at the Mao hour today..."

"When did I ever tell you..." The middle-aged man blurted out, then stopped. At this moment, his brain slowly turned from the dullness of deep sleep, and he remembered, muttering: "Right, today is the day to go and observe the sword fighting at Sunset Manor."

A wave of fatigue surged up. The middle-aged man turned over and said: "Damn it, I don't want to go. I'll just not go."

What could the Sword Guest beside him say?

Although he was a Sword Guest whom the Master trusted relatively well, at a time like this, he could not say anything more to bring trouble upon himself.

However, the middle-aged man slept for a moment himself, then finally sat up irritably and said: "Dress me."

The task of dressing him was naturally done by the woman who had been sleeping in the bed. This woman was not a sword slave from his manor—sword slaves were subjected to such cruelty that they usually lost their youthful looks before they even became Sword Guests, and once they became Sword Guests, they carried an air of either dejection or malice, which manor masters did not like. This manor master had bought this newcomer while the Deep Shadow Society was approaching and slave traders were gathered; she was an ordinary female slave, and he had been finding her fresh these past two days.

As the woman dressed him, he complained: "What kind of broken business is this? Why must there be sword fighting for no reason! Going up the mountain and coming back today will take at least two days. Three days later is the Deep Shadow Society, and the Deep Shadow Society will be held for three consecutive days. At the end of the month is the Sacrifice, and the Sacrifice will take another day. Out of ten days, six require waking up early; what kind of disastrous days are these?"

"The Sacrifice naturally cannot be missed, and the Deep Shadow Society happens once every so many years, so going is fine, and one can even dig up some good things. What does the sword fighting between Sunset Manor and whatever-manor have to do with me? Why must I go? If it were in Yulang City, walking a few steps would be fine, just to watch the excitement, but now that it's at Sunset Manor, and everyone has to return to the mountain, who wants to go so far? If it weren't for Lord Panying ordering me to go, I wouldn't go, damn it. With this time, wouldn't it be better to sleep a little longer?"

Although he grumbled, he still got dressed and was helped by the female slave into the carriage, still muttering: "Sunset Manor is truly trash... to be stepped on by an unknown Third-tier Manor... the shame of the Second-tier Manors..."

At this time, the Sword Guest who had woken him up at the bedside followed and said: "Master, Lord Panying has already issued an order that there is no need to call it today; everyone is to gather under Anxi Mountain, and you can pass directly through Yinglang Bridge. The location remains unchanged."

The middle-aged man said in a muffled voice: "That's not bad. Lord Panying is actually willing to open Yinglang Bridge without collecting sacrifices; this is truly an unprecedented event. It's just like Lord Fuying walking on the ground, Lord Xin Ying being clever, or Lord Wangliang loving the sun. With so many people walking across Yinglang Bridge together, Lord Panying is taking a huge loss."

Perhaps it was precisely because Lord Panying had made an exception this time to cover all the expenses that he requested all manor masters who worshipped Lord Panying to travel light, bringing as few people as possible. Therefore, this old man only brought two sword slaves to drive the carriage and one sword slave to accompany him.

This small number of people certainly lacked sufficient combat power, and walking outside Yulang City in the past would have been dangerous, but now they were walking across Yinglang Bridge, leading directly to Sunset Manor, and a large group of manor masters were setting out together, so what danger could there be? With so many Abyss Envoys present, could anyone really turn the world upside down?

No one has that ability, you know?

The middle-aged man left his most trusted Sword Guest in Yulang City to guard the silk shop. Nowadays, this was basically his real home; he spent three hundred days a year staying down here. Who would want to return to that gray, dim manor where even the food had no flavor?

A slave owner couldn't stand it either.

Before leaving, he suddenly remembered one thing and said: "Right, I heard that the slaves in Yulang City have been restless lately?"

The Sword Guest's expression changed slightly, and he immediately said: "Master, the slaves in our manor are all very docile..."

The middle-aged man said: "I know. I'm not talking about our Fuhu Manor; I'm talking about the city. I heard that some rebellious rumors are circulating among the sword slaves of other manors? Saying something about escaping Yulang City to gain freedom? Have many sword slaves in Yulang City really been running away lately?"

The Sword Guest suppressed his pounding heart and said respectfully: "Yulang City is currently a mix of fish and dragons, with all kinds of rumors flying everywhere. Those frivolous and foolish slaves don't know what kind of demonic words they heard, so it is possible they have developed delusions. But there is absolutely no such thing in our manor; everyone is keeping to their duties, so Master can rest assured."

The middle-aged man had only said it in passing and was not suspicious. He was confident that he treated the slaves in his manor much better than other manors; even the lowliest sword slave had food and clothing, so what more could they want? There shouldn't be anyone rebelling against him, so he said indifferently: "That's right. I have shown great kindness to the slaves; anyone who still harbors different intentions is worse than a dog. You keep an eye on it; if any dog thing spreads nonsense like they do outside, pull out their tongue first and then chop them into meat paste."

The Sword Guest bowed and agreed, and then Manor Master Fuhu sat in the carriage and left.

Watching his Master's back gradually disappear, the Sword Guest's eyes flickered, and he silently recited in his heart:

Freedom, freedom.

Liberation, liberation.

The news that a sword slave had completely broken free from their master's shackles and gained freedom for the rest of their life had been spreading for a long time. Among the sword slaves in Yulang City, there were few who didn't know about it, at least at the Sword Guest level.

This pie in the sky was truly too big, so big that no one could pretend not to hear it. As long as they were not a manor master, all Sword Guests were slaves; who didn't yearn for liberation? Even if it were just one day of liberation, it would be good.

Of course, this rumor was very outrageous, almost like a dream, and originally it was unbelievable, perhaps even a dangerous trap. But this message wasn't passed to him by someone else, nor did someone hand him a flyer; it was suddenly spoken right into his ear.

This at least showed that the person who released this news had great Supernatural Power, stronger than them, these Sword Guests, and the words of the strong were certainly more credible than those of the weak.

But he still didn't dare to act rashly. He was doing okay now, had a little power, and didn't worry about food or drink. Although he was still a slave in essence, he was already better off than others. He hadn't reached the point where life was worse than death, so he didn't dare to take risks; he just wanted to see if there were any pioneers, or if he could catch up and follow the crowd.

There were pioneers, and they were emerging one after another.

Manor Master Fuhu was a wealthy idler obsessed with pleasure. He had been indulging in debauchery at home with his newly bought female slave for several days and hadn't stepped out. How could he know that the hearts of the sword slaves in every household were restless now, and that those attempting to communicate and escape were endless?

Some of those who fled failed, and their ends were miserable. But some succeeded.

Someone actually succeeded!

The Sword Guest also knew that someone had succeeded, and it was a Sword Guest he knew, who had truly broken free from their master's control; it couldn't be fake.

His heart was also somewhat shaken. Of course, due to years of accumulated awe, if the Master were sitting at home, he truly wouldn't dare to move. But since the Master was going to a Second-tier Manor to watch the battle and would be gone for at least two days, wasn't this a great opportunity?

The Sword Guest let out a deep breath: In this Yulang City, surely he wasn't the only one thinking this, right?

Manor Master Fuhu finally arrived under Anxi Mountain before the agreed time and saw quite a few people gathered there. Some were Lord Panying's people, and others were under the seats of other Abyss Envoys.

A lot of people really came.

Anyway, everyone was going to Sunset Manor today, so everyone could just walk across Yinglang Bridge together. One Yinglang Bridge could actually accommodate quite a few people, and opening it once cost a certain amount of power, but the increased consumption for having more people at once wasn't much, so walking together was more cost-effective.

Seeing that there was still a little time, Manor Master Fuhu went to look for manor masters he was familiar with. After searching a circle, he discovered that the Manor Master of Xianglong Manor, whom he was most familiar with, hadn't come.

This was strange; they had clearly agreed to go together.

He was a bit puzzled and grabbed a manor master he was relatively familiar with to ask: "Manor Master Chunmi, have you seen Old Xiang?"

The Manor Master of Chunmi Manor clearly knew more than he did and said: "Him? He can't come; he went back to his manor. Someone in his manor is rebelling."

"What the hell? Rebelling?"

Manor Master Fuhu was shocked. A manor master being rebelled against? And inside the manor? Did the sword slaves have such guts?

If it were about a few slaves escaping in Yulang City, that would be one thing; after all, Yulang City had too many temptations and loose management, and there were always slaves who went crazy and wanted to run, so catching and beheading them was fine. But how could they rebel inside Wangliang Mountain?

Wait...

It seems like this kind of thing happened before?

Manor Master Fuhu asked nervously: "Is Old Xiang dead?"

Manor Master Chunmi said inexplicably: "No, he was fine yesterday; he just rushed back after hearing the news. Hopefully, he makes it in time and doesn't end up homeless."

Manor Master Fuhu was even more puzzled and said: "Rebelling without killing the master?"

Ever since the manors under Wangliang Mountain were established, the only chance for those below to rise against those above was the 'Black Tiger Steals the Heart'—killing the master with one blade before they could activate the Sacrificial Array, which would briefly render the Sacrificial Array useless. At that time, whether it was bribing an Abyss Envoy to gain Wangliang's recognition or sealing the Sacrificial Array and going their separate ways, there was at least a glimmer of survival. How could the sword slaves rebel while the master was still alive?

Since they were that stupid, there was no need to worry; Old Xiang would crush them all with one finger when he got back.

Spring Pillar of State shook his head and said, "The rumors lately are not right. Rebellions and runaway slaves are emerging one after another; I have heard of three manors that have rebelled. Four of my sword slaves have escaped; how many have escaped from your place?"

Tiger Subduing Master said, "None at my place."

Spring Pillar of State looked at him askance with an expression that said, "You aren't telling the truth, are you afraid of losing face?" and shook his head, saying, "Everyone is escaping, this is not our fault. It is those slaves who have gone mad; there must be someone behind it inciting them. If I find out who it is, I will surely have him cut into a thousand pieces and thrown into a vat of boiling oil."

Tiger Subduing Master felt very displeased and was just about to retort that you only know how to be cruel and do not understand how to use both kindness and severity, so of course it is easy for slaves to escape, I am not like you, when suddenly he was startled and thought to himself: Wait, could it be that the dog slave Xing Zu is deceiving me?

Could my manor also be leaking?

Thinking of this, sweat broke out on his back, and he suddenly wanted to turn around and go back to investigate, when he heard someone shout, "Yinglang Bridge has opened, all manor masters, board the bridge in order!"