Chapter 956: Prison Storm (Conclusion)

"Alas, it's over, it's all over this time!"

"We're done for!"

"We boarded the wrong pirate ship!"

"This lad has now fallen so low that he must take his own people to the Eight-Level Pagoda Prison; he can barely save himself, yet we actually expected him to rescue us—this is truly foolish!"

Numerous prisoners sighed one after another, their faces filled with loneliness and despair.

Xu Que smiled with solemnity, waved his hand, and said, "Don't lose heart; failure is the mother of success. Without experiencing failure, how would you know what despair is?"

"Fellow Daoist, don't try to comfort us; we... eh?"

One prisoner had only spoken half his sentence when he suddenly froze, feeling that something was slightly off.

The others also widened their eyes in shock, then nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Without experiencing failure, how can one know despair?

Mai Pi, oh, so infuriating!

This lad caused so much trouble; not only did he fail to comfort us, but he actually spoke such sarcastic remarks?

"Ahaha, I misspoke, I misspoke; don't get anxious. Since I promised to rescue you all, I will certainly keep my word. I have planned everything; rest assured!" Xu Que laughed it off, putting on an expression of strategic mastery.

The prisoners were stunned, finding it hard to believe.

Things have escalated to this point; can he still save us?

"Fellow Daoist, since things have come to this, please tell us your plan so we can feel a bit more at ease," a prisoner said with a bitter smile.

"Very well!" Xu Que nodded and said seriously, "My plan is actually..."

"Is what?" The numerous prisoners pricked up their ears, and even the jailors present listened intently, intending to understand the situation and decipher the plan.

Xu Que glanced around at everyone and said seriously, "It is that there is no plan!"

"Ah?" Everyone froze instantly.

"That's right, there is no plan. As the saying goes, formless moves defeat formed moves; plans often cannot keep up with changes, so having no plan is the best plan. Just follow me with confidence; I can rescue you all!" Xu Que preached with a straight face.

But none of the people present were fools; they looked at Xu Que with faces full of despair, already at a loss for words.

Formless moves defeat formed moves?

What the hell is this 'formless moves defeat formed moves'? This is clearly just scamming people!

And he still talks about rescuing us; rescuing our asses!

"Eh? Why doesn't this Divine Venerable have the character 'Evil'? Could it be that this Divine Venerable is too good?" At this moment, just as everyone wore faces of despair, Er Gouzi suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Que turned his head to look and couldn't help but freeze.

Indeed, no character like the "Evil" above his own head appeared above Jiang Hongyan, Er Gouzi, and the others, nor was there the slightest change in their bodies.

"What is this situation?" Xu Que asked in astonishment.

"That character 'Evil' is a symbol of extreme evil; it appears when Evil Value accumulates beyond ten thousand. Fellow Daoist, you had already accumulated several thousand points of Evil Value earlier, and adding the smashing of the Jade Token, your Evil Value has likely exceeded ten thousand!" a prisoner said with a face full of bitterness.

If not for considering that Xu Que might still save them, he would not bother with Xu Que at all right now; he would even want to beat Xu Que to death.

"So that's it, extreme evil! This Divine Venerable knew it all along; this kid is indeed an extremely evil person!" Upon hearing this, Er Gouzi immediately wore an expression of 'just as expected,' nodded, and said.

Xu Que rolled his eyes; what does it matter if there's an "Evil" character above his head? As long as he leaves this place and escapes the rules of this wretched location, even a hundred "Evil" characters would be useless!

However, since there was now a way to enter the Eight-Level Futu Prison, there was no need to cause further trouble; anyway, he had only earned back half the cost so far, and if he just left now, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

No, no, he couldn't engage in losing business; he must find a way to recoup the losses.

Xu Que stood in place, lost in thought.

Numerous jailors had also arrived, surrounding the corridor so tightly that not even water could leak through, watching Xu Que and the remaining prisoners with extreme vigilance.

They did not rush to attack; on one hand, they feared Xu Que, as the incident where he had knocked out the Guard Chief with a single staff strike and killed him had left a deep shadow over them, and no one was willing to step forward as cannon fodder at this moment.

On the other hand, they were also waiting for the Prison Warden to arrive; as long as the Prison Warden took action, they believed Xu Que would no longer pose a threat.

"Eh, that's right!"

At this moment, Xu Que's eyes suddenly brightened as he thought of something, his gaze instantly falling upon Er Gouzi.

Er Gouzi froze and suddenly became alert: "Kid, what do you want to do?"

Whoosh!

Without another word, Xu Que rushed forward, grabbed Er Gouzi, and lifted him into the air.

"Howl! Kid, what are you doing, what are you doing? Release this Divine Venerable immediately, or this Divine Venerable will fight you to the death!" Er Gouzi struggled wildly, shouting loudly.

"Stop messing around; cooperate a bit so we can earn some treasures!" Xu Que pressed Er Gouzi's mouth shut and said via Sound Transmission.

"Treasures?" Upon hearing this, Er Gouzi immediately became interested, nodding hastily and saying, "Great, great! This Divine Venerable will cooperate, but the spoils must be split between us: one part for you, nine parts for me!"

"No problem!" The corner of Xu Que's mouth curled up; he looked directly at the numerous prisoners and said with a smile, "Everyone, do you want to leave Futu Prison?"

The dozen or so prisoners froze; did they want to leave Futu Prison?

Nonsense, who wouldn't!

But the problem was, they couldn't even stay in Level One Futu Prison anymore, so how the hell could they leave?

"Hehe, let me tell you, your opportunity has arrived!" Xu Que smiled and said, "Look at your own Jade Tokens; your Evil Value is only a little over one hundred points, which isn't much, right? Meanwhile, the few of us here are about to be sent to the Eight-Level Futu Prison. If you attack us, guess whether you'll receive Good Value?"

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes instantly brightened.

Although they all held the status of prisoners, from beginning to end, it was always Xu Que who committed evil deeds; this group of theirs had not truly participated. As long as they cleared off their one hundred-plus points of Evil Value, they could still leave.

Most crucially, Xu Que and the others had smashed their Good and Evil Jade Tablets, committing a grave offense and about to be imprisoned in the Eight-Level Futu Prison; anyone attacking Xu Que and the others could obtain Good Value!

Moreover, this would not be counted as mutual assistance; it was completely legitimate punishment of evil and promotion of good!

In other words, Xu Que and the few others were now several walking, human-shaped sources of Good Value!

Thinking of this, the flames of hope reignited in everyone's despairing eyes, and some became excited.

"Fel... Fellow Daoist, according to what you say, could it be that you... want us to attack you? And you won't fight back?" a prisoner asked excitedly.

If Xu Que agreed, they certainly wouldn't strike too hard; just going through the motions with a casual punch or two would absolutely earn them enough Good Value to leave.

"No, no, no, you're only half right!" Xu Que shook his head, smiling as he replied.

The dozen or so Prisoners froze; only half right?

Then what did the other half mean?

"I can agree to let you strike, but the only one you may hit is this dog... oh no, this wolf!" Xu Que said, lifting Er Gouzi in his hands.

"Only hit it?" The many Prisoners were dumbfounded, turning their gazes toward Er Gouzi one after another.

Er Gouzi also paused for a moment, but upon realizing what was said, instantly flew into a rage, struggling again and roaring loudly, "Awooo! Kid, you're insane! Why should only this Divine Venerable be hit? Why should this Divine Venerable let them strike me?"

Xu Que immediately pressed Er Gouzi's mouth shut again, looked at the dozen or so Prisoners, and said with a smile, "Everyone, you've seen it; it is unwilling to cooperate, and furthermore, every blow landed on its body pains my heart as well. Therefore..."

Therefore?

All the Prisoners looked at Xu Que.

The corners of Xu Que's mouth lifted, and he laughed, "Therefore, if you wish to hit it, there is a fee! One Immortal Artifact per punch, ten Immortal Artifacts for an overnight session, honest pricing with no cheating; those who wish to haggle need not bother!"

【Second Update!】