Shen Muzhou grabbed Lin Yanxi's arm and shook his head at her.
His gaze fell into the pit, wondering if Shen Yu had successfully infiltrated, and Xiao Liu hadn't brought people over yet. Fortunately, there were no captured civilians in the pit.
The jailer smiled and paced back and forth in a small area. Then, he fiercely stomped on Xiao Shit ou's finger, grinning at them and grinding his heel on the finger for a moment.
He was arrogant, enjoying the pleasure of tormenting people like crushing ants.
"Ah—" Xiao Shit ou was, after all, just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. The pain of a broken bone made him tremble all over, groaning in agony, his eyes weakly widening to look at Lin Yanxi.
Shen Muzhou tightly held Lin Yanxi, pulling her into his embrace, and whispered in her ear, "Wait a bit longer."
His gaze was fixed on the pit behind everyone.
That look of despair and pain cut her heart like a knife, and tears welled up in her eyes. Xiao Shit ou realized something and moved his lips, weakly straightening them. Just as he was about to force a smile to reassure her,
Ming Yun rubbed her shoulder and returned to the jailer's side, pouting a little. "Master, I'm tired of standing."
As she spoke, she patted her slightly protruding belly and smiled. "The baby is tired."
The jailer's originally grim eyes softened instantly. His large hand covered the woman's belly, and he chided with a smile, "You're so pampered! If you're tired, go wait in the back. Once things are done here, I'll take you away."
"Take you away from this godforsaken place, Ghost City, forever."
He pinched the woman's chin, his eyes full of affection. Ming Yun shook her head, "I want to stay by your side, Master."
After speaking, she lowered her gaze to Xiao Shit ou, who was lying on the ground, and kicked him with disgust. Although it wasn't a strong kick, the slightest touch to his broken bones sent chills through him and made his chest ache.
Ming Yun said impatiently, "You wretch, a mere life is not worth the Master's anger."
Lin Yanxi glared at her hatefully, her voice cold with rage. "You aid and abet evil, without discerning right from wrong!"
"All these gold and silver ornaments, the Luo Zhu silks on you, how many innocent civilians had to be harmed to get them? Xiao Shit ou did nothing, yet he is innocently tormented. Don't you care about accumulating blessings for your descendants?"
Ming Yun rolled her eyes at her. "Little sister, this is the rule of survival in this world. What's wrong with that?"
Her words made Lin Yanxi understand that there were indeed people in this world who felt that everything was justified as long as it led to their own comfortable lives.
It was useless to say more. Lin Yanxi forced herself to calm down and tried to sense the talismanic energy within her again.
Condense!
Why couldn't she feel anything at all?
After trying again with no success, she said helplessly, "Let me switch with him."
A flicker of helplessness crossed Shen Muzhou's eyes. Their methods suggested that their intentions went beyond merely wanting Lin Yanxi to escape from Nan Min.
Seeing that he wouldn't let go, her voice grew a few decibels louder, almost pleading, "Let me go instead!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks in the blink of an eye. The tears in her eyes were crystalline, fragile yet resolute.
He hesitated no longer and said to the jailer, "I'll switch with you. I'll seal my acupoints and then let your men bind me. There will be no possibility of escape or counterattack. As you said, if you want to escape Nan Min, holding the Prince hostage is more effective than holding her."
"If you refuse, it only proves you have ulterior motives."
"No, absolutely not," Lin Yanxi immediately rejected the suggestion.
The jailer smiled. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Uh..."
Another groan.
The jailer raised his foot high and kicked Xiao Shit ou's wrist. A clear 'crack' could be heard as his wrist bone broke.
"What a pity, I don't like making deals. I said only she can be exchanged for this person. And who do you think you are? You're a prince in the capital, but here, your life and your status are worthless."
Shen Muzhou's hand clenched the hilt of his sword, enraged. "Then I'll kill you right now, and that woman next to you!"
Mentioning Ming Yun, the jailer's expression clearly changed.
Lin Yanxi seized the opportunity to ask, "Who is the person behind you?"
The jailer bent over with laughter. After a while, he straightened his back, his laughter subsiding, and he sneered dismissively, "Guess?"
"Forget it, what's the point even if you guess? What talisman master, what Ninth Prince, it's all bullshit. They're just ants I can crush at will, just like those lowly peasants in the pit!"
Shen Muzhou coldly raised his long sword, wishing he could flay the person before him alive. Lin Yanxi quickly pulled him back, saying, "Xiao Shit ou is still in their hands."
Xiao Shit ou trembled, suppressing his groans. After a moment, he moved his lips with difficulty. He looked at the short arrow in her hand and said, "Sister... kill me..."
Sister Yanxi, Brother Jiang, Xiao Shit ou can't hold on anymore.
He collapsed on the ground, his eyes despairing and hollow, his bones being ground to dust, only wishing for death to set him free.
Lin Yanxi was somewhat stunned. Following his gaze, she lowered her eyes to the short arrow in her hand. It was the one shot from the pit earlier to lure them in; she had been holding it all along.
She bit her lip, shook her head, and tightly gripped the short arrow, clenching it even harder. The sharp tip cut her palm, and blood dripped down.
"No, Sister will save you, Sister can save you."
The jailer smiled sinisterly and, in a cruel twist, raised his foot again.
"No!" Lin Yanxi cried out.
"Hahahaha." He laughed, then retracted his leg and placed it on the ground, taunting, "Little talisman master, where is your skill? Let me see."
Ming Yun stood beside the jailer, also revealing a mocking smile. "Overestimating yourself."
Lin Yanxi's right hand tightly gripped the arrow, bright red blood seeping through her fingers, dyeing the Soul Ring crimson.
The power of the art is back...
She lowered her eyes and felt it again, the endless talismanic energy flowing into her body and condensing.
"Alright, then let you see." Her voice was sweet but sounded somewhat terrifying.
She flung the short arrow in her hand with force, its blood-stained tip flying straight.
The jailer was startled, his face instantly turning pale. The cheerful, playful smile was gone. In his panic, he grabbed someone at random to shield himself.
A tall, voluptuous figure in a magnificent silk gown was pulled in front of him. A short arrow pierced her body. She looked down in disbelief at the arrow stuck in her chest.
"Ming Yun!"
He stared with wide eyes, quickly releasing his grip on her sleeve, his whole body trembling.
"Ming Yun, I..."
Her eyes, filled with shock, looked back at him, a mixture of confusion and resentment. She trembled her lips but said nothing. Finally, her lustrous, beautiful eyes slowly dimmed, becoming vacant, devoid of any life, and she slumped into the jailer's arms.
Lin Yanxi watched them coldly, the cold, starry black pupils gradually tinged with a faint purple.
Seeing the opportunity, Shen Muzhou swung his sword at the guards surrounding him.
The jailer knelt on the ground in regret, holding Ming Yun in his arms. "No, Ming Yun, wake up, you'll be fine, you'll definitely be fine. Heaven protect us!"
Shen Muzhou carved a bloody path for her. She walked to the jailer's side and said, "Heaven will not protect beasts like you."
"It will only protect you, Ming Yun, and your child, to forever fall into hell and never be reincarnated."
"You are utterly unworthy of being human."
The jailer's eyes turned red, and he roared in agony, "I will make you pay for my wife and child's lives!"
He raised his long saber and turned to hack at Xiao Shit ou.
Lin Yanxi had already cast a immobilization spell. A talisman strip glowing with purple light floated in mid-air in her hand. She pushed it back with her other hand.
"Still!"
The talisman strip attached itself to the jailer, and he instantly became immobile. He stared with wide eyes, raising his long saber, but no matter how much he exerted force, he couldn't move an inch.
This was Xiao Shit ou's first time seeing talisman art. His originally weak and dim eyes brightened. Enduring the immense pain, he crawled to a safer location.
Lin Yanxi tilted her head slightly. His wrist twisted backward with a crisp 'snap,' his fingers bending backward as if being broken one by one. The saber fell powerlessly to the ground.
His bones were crushed inch by inch.
"Ah! Talisman art?"
He broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, never expecting talisman art to be so powerful.
This scream attracted Shen Muzhou's attention. He looked towards Lin Yanxi's side and his heart leaped. Not good, he feared it was like the last time in Quanjin Village, she was controlled by the Soul Ring again.
In a moment of distraction, several white blades simultaneously slashed at him. He dodged the fatal blows by turning sideways, but several bloody marks still appeared on his body.
He counter-attacked, his long sword striking for the throat, and several guards fell.
"Go to hell! Damn talisman master! I'll kill you." The jailer's eyes bulged with rage, wishing he could tear the person before him to pieces.
Unfortunately, he could do nothing but wail and curse.
Lin Yanxi's eyes flashed with intense killing intent. With a gentle wave of her hand, his limbs broke simultaneously, causing him such pain that he could no longer speak. Every deep breath he took caused his chest to heave, pulling on the pain of his broken bones.
"Sister Yanxi..." Xiao Shit ou called out, feeling that she was acting strangely.
Her gaze sharpened slightly. Her vacant eyes looked at Xiao Shit ou, and for a moment she paused. Her eyes softened, but upon seeing the shocking wounds on him, hatred surged onto her face again.
When she looked back at the jailer, her expression was even more fierce. She quickly cast another hand seal, and a yellow talisman flew out. Her pale purple pupils were filled with icy malevolence, and her voice was chillingly sinister. "A debt of blood must be paid with blood!"
His whole body suddenly convulsed, and a strange gas flowed within him, about to explode.
Shen Muzhou glanced at her, his long sword continuing to parry. His footwork was quick and fierce; with a swift movement of his hand and sword, he struck the guards' vital points, and they fell.
Just as the jailer despairingly closed his eyes, the restraint on his body suddenly disappeared, and he collapsed on the ground like a puddle of mud.
Five figures in black cloaks descended from above. One of them made a hand seal, breaking the yellow talisman on the jailer.
The jailer's limbs were crippled. Even without the talisman's restraint, he was a useless man. He couldn't even think of revenge; he would probably just join Ming Yun underground. He looked at Ming Yun lying beside him, and her slightly bulging belly.
"Ming Yun, I'll take you home."
He regretted it deeply. Tears streamed down his face.
No, he couldn't die. If he really died, how could he face Ming Yun?
Unwillingly, he raised his eyes and begged the figures in black cloaks, "Sirs, save me, please save me!"
Upon seeing the black cloaks, Shen Muzhou attacked with renewed ferocity, swinging his sword like a madman. In one unguarded moment, a guard's blade cut into his shoulder. Ignoring his own injury, he counter-attacked, killing the guard with his sword before rushing towards Lin Yanxi.
The black cloaks stood in a line. The leader looked at Lin Yanxi and said, "She really is a talisman master?"
Another black-cloaked figure laughed maliciously. "I heard the talisman master clan are all useless. Hahaha, let's see how capable she is!"
With that, their subordinates formed hand seals, and dark energy of spells coiled around their fingertips. In the next instant, it coalesced into a surge of magical power that flew towards Lin Yanxi!