Chapter 318: Paying with Life (Third update, requesting monthly votes)

"Cough, cough..."

Lying on his back in the cold secret passage, Jiang Mingzhi felt his body beginning to grow colder and colder.

He was dying.

Feeling his life rapidly slipping away from within his body, Jiang Mingzhi was exceptionally calm, and he began to look back on his life.

"My life, it has been quite a failure."

In the eyes of outsiders, he was the eldest Prince of the Jiang Kingdom, the heir apparent to the kingdom.

But as one who drinks water knows its temperature, one knows one's own joys and sorrows.

That was merely an illusion.

His parents were indifferent toward him, treating him only as a puppet to be cultivated, not as a true child.

His own blood brother did not acknowledge him, thinking all day long about usurping his position.

The brothers he confided in knew his face but not his heart, secretly moving against him.

His subordinates only knew of status, honoring his position but not knowing his heart.

Friends...

After going around in such a large circle, now there were only two or three people left who could be called close friends.

And among those people, there was one peculiar existence.

Part enemy, part teacher, part friend.

A free and unrestrained person.

Thinking of Ren Yidao, Jiang Mingzhi smiled involuntarily, and he sent a divine sense to the silent Soul Seed within his Consciousness Sea:

"Daoist, I wish you peace."

Then, Jiang Mingzhi slowly closed his eyes.

And just as Jiang Mingzhi slowly closed his eyes, the Jiang King, far away in Jiang City, opened his eyes.

"Foolish child."

He seemed to be reproaching, seemed to be pained, seemed to be helpless.

The Jiang King looked quietly at the two straw dolls placed before him.

The two straw dolls were almost identical, only one was slightly older, while the other had been mended many times.

At this moment, the slightly older one ignited with black flames, and its body quickly melted away by nearly half.

The Jiang King shook his head, raised his hand, picked up the mended straw doll, and covered the flames with it.

Sss—

The flames transferred from the point of contact, causing both straw dolls to burn, but the intensity of the fire strangely decreased, and finally, they extinguished at the same time.

The old straw doll had disappeared by a small half, and the new straw doll was no better off.

But the Jiang King tore a section of an arm from the new straw doll and filled it into the old straw doll.

"Sigh."

The Jiang King sighed as he put down the old straw doll, which began to slowly self-repair, and set about using other materials to mend the new straw doll.

While he mended, he whispered to himself:

"Both are foolish children."

Jiang City, Jiang Mingzhi's residence.

Jiang Mingde, who had originally been throwing his weight around inside his brother's residence, suddenly became irritable, dismissed the others, and locked himself alone in the bedroom.

After closing the door, Jiang Mingde immediately knelt on the ground and vomited a large mouthful of black blood from his mouth.

"Cough, cough, cough... Damn it."

Having suddenly encountered such an accident, there was no surprise on Jiang Mingde's face; instead, he wiped his mouth with a tremble and began to curse:

"Jiang Mingzhi! You idiot big brother... cough, cough!"

"If it weren't for me, how many times would you have died these past years, damn it!? Still not learning your lesson!"

He unleashed a frantic barrage at his big brother who was not present, the vocabulary in his mouth filthy to the extreme, without a single phrase repeated.

After cursing aggressively like this for half a day, Jiang Mingde finally calmed down, bared his teeth as he moved his shoulder, which no longer hurt, and muttered:

"This time, my lifespan must have been cut by another few decades, right?"

This person, whom Ren Yidao saw was not the playboy he appeared to be, truly had a wealth of talent in his chest.

At the very least, his vocabulary was quite extensive.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Mingde wiped his mouth with his sleeve and returned to his previous playboy appearance.

"No, I must take proper revenge!"

His gaze swept over the antiques in the room, preparing to select the target for this zero-dollar purchase.

It wasn't exactly a zero-dollar purchase.

Because Jiang Mingde had already paid the price.

His own life.

Now, it was time for his idiot big brother to pay the price.

"Cough!"

Jiang Mingzhi's eyelids twitched, and he wanted to get up, but was pressed back down by Chu Hairen with one hand.

He pressed down on Jiang Mingzhi's shoulder and shook his head, saying:

"Brother Jiang, you still cannot move around recklessly; you must rest quietly for another period of time."

Jiang Mingzhi was stunned for a moment, taking quite a while to react, and asked strangely:

"Where is this?"

Shouldn't I be dead?

How am I still alive?

He looked within his body and discovered that not only was there no curse remaining, but the severe injuries he had originally sustained were also mostly healed.

How did this happen?

It is the same as before again...

"We have already come out of Death Valley; this is an inn in Wanshou City."

Chu Hairen handed over a bowl of black medicinal soup and explained:

"Last night you let me take Master Gongsun to wait for you first, but you never returned, so I went to look and found you and Hu Wanwan..."

As for what was discovered, it was naturally self-evident.

Fortunately, Chu Hairen had no intention of delving into this, skipping over it directly, and continued:

"Additionally, shortly after we departed yesterday, people from Beigan arrived."

"They have already occupied the City Lord's Mansion and ordered the people of the Kings to withdraw from Wanshou City entirely within three days, and the original residences are also to be confiscated."

Speaking of this, Chu Hairen's expression was somewhat subtle, as if he wanted to laugh but felt it would be too presumptuous.

Falling into Jiang Mingzhi's eyes, this was naturally disdain for the arrogance of the Beigan people.

The dragon crossing the river wants to suppress the local snake the moment it arrives?

It is somewhat overestimating one's own capabilities.

But in reality, Chu Hairen was truly happy.

He liked the personality of the person in charge from Beigan this time too much.

A slick personality would not cause disputes; only such a forceful temperament could stir up the stagnant pool that was Wanshou City.

It could even stir up the winds and clouds of the Eastern Wasteland.

Only in the most chaotic moments would it be his, their, opportunity.

Generally speaking, it is the times that create heroes.

But if the times do not come, then the heroes must actively create them.

"What does Brother Jiang intend to do?"

Jiang Mingzhi frowned and pondered for a while, then shook his head:

"In this matter, the Jiang Family will not interfere; tomorrow we will arrange to withdraw from Wanshou City."

Chu Hairen: "Oh?"

"I am severely injured and inconvenient to move, and on top of that, there are some matters that need to be handled, so I will not interfere this time."

This Wanshou City is a mess; the Jiang Family is too late to hide, and has no intention of interfering at all.

Whoever wants to interfere can interfere; the Jiang Family will not serve.

Having Beigan as an excuse actually saved quite a bit of trouble.

"Oh, alright, Brother Jiang should rest more."

Although Chu Hairen felt some regret, he still chose to agree.

"What about Master Gongsun?"

"She woke up earlier than you and her injuries were lighter; she already left early this morning. I don't know where she went, and she took her luggage as well."

Gongsun Changshou was not on the same path as the others, so her leaving was nothing rare, and neither of them took it to heart.

"By the way, Brother Chu, I need to take someone with me when I leave; please help me arrange it."

"Who?"

"Zhang Mang."

Jiang Mingzhi recalled the little blind boy he had seen earlier and smiled lightly:

"He is the new disciple Daoist Ren took in here; Daoist Ren asked me to help him remove the curse on his body."

Ren Yidao...

Chu Hairen's brows twitched slightly, and he lowered his voice to ask:

"Is Daoist Ren really as you said before, sitting on the back of the Black Fire Ghost Ape and chasing after it?"

That is a Heavenly Demon!

How could he have the means to control it?

"Absolutely true! Brother Chu, I have no reason to hide this from you."

Jiang Mingzhi hadn't noticed the problem at the time, but thinking back on it now, he also felt it was absurd.

But thinking about it again, discovering it was Ren Yidao who did it, it seemed it couldn't be that unacceptable.

"This matter... it is better not to let more people know; if someone becomes interested, we few will be unable to escape involvement."

"Hmm, I share the same view; let's ask Daoist Ren when we see him again."

"Correct."

Both of these people had a certain secret connection with Ren Yidao and could be counted as the Huhu party developing in the Eastern Wasteland.

It is just a pity that they met without recognizing each other.

Jiang Mingzhi and Chu Hairen were unaware of each other's status as their own people.

"Daoist Ren, he should be safe and sound, right?"

Jiang Mingzhi recalled the image of the giant ape flying past and smiled:

"Better not think too much about it; perhaps he is enjoying himself right now."

"Hahaha!"

"You're awake?"

"The surgery was a success!"

"Congratulations!"

"You have now become a girl!"

???

Cang Lan blinked, and without even reacting, she sprang up from the bed and flashed backward quickly, putting distance between herself and Ren Yidao.

"Ho, you're quite energetic."

Ren Yidao did not stop her, but instead shook his head with a sigh as he watched the lively Cang Lan, praising her:

"If I had broken seven ribs, I definitely wouldn't be able to be as full of vitality as you are right now."

Broken bones?

Only then did Cang Lan realize that although her body was still weak, it was far stronger than her previous near-death state.

He saved me?

This...

Before her complex emotions could ferment, they were shattered by a punch from Ren Yidao.

"Since you're awake, let's settle the medical bill!"

???

"Have you thought about how you want to repay me for saving your life?"

Ren Yidao adjusted a monocle that wasn't actually on his face and said to Cang Lan seriously:

"By the way, I didn't just save your life! I also spared your life; added together, that's two lives."

"Even if you wanted to offer yourself to me, you'd have to do it twice... Hey, hey, don't get so worked up."

Tilting his head to dodge the incoming fist, Ren Yidao kindly reminded her:

"I'm warning you! If you strike again, you'll owe me for three lives!"

If you keep hitting for a while longer, it'll be six lives...