132: ransom treasure

This was a much fatter duck than the Lin Family, and he could not let it go.

"You little whelp of the Liu Family."

Gong Yunyu's voice was like a steel blade scraping against bone, carrying naked greed and an unquestionable command:

"Listen! Want to live? Fine! Take off every one of your Liu Family's Storage Pouches, the Magical Artifacts on your bodies, Talismans, Medicinal Pills... all your valuable belongings, and hand them over to me."

"Put them on the ground. Not a single item is to be kept. Dare to hold anything back? I will rip out your heart and liver to eat with my wine."

He paused, savoring the sight of Liu Chengcai's instantly bloodless face, and continued slowly:

"Then, pick someone swift from among you and have him roll back to the Liu Family Fortress immediately to deliver a message. Tell your leader to prepare two thousand... no, three thousand Spirit Stones. Not a single coin less."

"Deliver them within two hours!"

"In exchange for the dog lives of you trash. If you exceed the time limit, or dare to play any tricks..."

He laughed sinisterly, his scarlet tongue licking across the cold tip of his spear:

"Then you can just wait for death. As for the Liu Family Fortress... hehe, I wouldn't mind leading my men there myself to 'pay a visit' and ensure... not even a chicken or dog is left alive."

These last four words struck like a heavy hammer, slamming hard into the hearts of every member of the Liu Family.

Liu Chengcai felt a chill surge from the soles of his feet straight to his crown, as if his blood were freezing solid.

The credibility of the Black Wind Stockade? That stuff isn't even fit to feed to dogs; the dogs would find it rancid.

Could these ruthless bandits who eat people without spitting out the bones really be trusted to keep their word?

If they handed over all their possessions, becoming defenseless lambs waiting for the slaughter, only to be hacked to pieces by the grinning bandits the moment after... wouldn't that just make their deaths faster and more unjust?

The immense fear and the agony of choosing between life and death nearly made him collapse.

He subconsciously turned to the Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder beside him for help, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Sixth... Sixth Elder... Seventh... Seventh Elder. Wha... what do we do? What... what should we do?"

He had completely lost his composure, pinning all his hopes on the two pillars of the Family.

The Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder exchanged a glance, both seeing extreme gravity and a hint of despair in the other's eyes.

Their lips moved slightly; they were clearly communicating rapidly via voice transmission. Time seemed to freeze for several breaths, each second stretching out infinitely.

Finally, the Sixth Elder's wrinkled old face seemed to age another ten years in an instant. He nodded with great difficulty and the slightest movement toward Liu Chengcai. His lips parted, and his voice, transmitted directly into his mind, carried immense weight and humiliation:

"Give... give it to them. Young Clan Leader, when one is under the eaves, one must bow one's head. The Black Wind Stockade has a fearsome reputation and kills without blinking. Losing wealth... is still better than... better than losing our lives immediately..."

The Seventh Elder followed up, his voice equally dry and hoarse:

"This group of Bandit Cultivators are all ruthless characters who lick blood from the edge of a blade and have crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their combat experience... is far beyond what we can compare to! Even if the Sixth Elder and I risk our old lives, I fear... I fear we could only barely hold off one Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator. It's like trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a cup of water... it won't help at all..."

He gave a bitter laugh, his eyes dull: "Looking at the Fourth Leader's posture, for now... for now it seems... they really are just after money. Otherwise, given their strength, wiping us out... would be nothing more than... a snap of the fingers..."

Both men saw the bitterness and resignation in each other's eyes. This was the most rational, yet most humiliating, choice.

After hearing this, Liu Chengcai's last shred of hope was completely extinguished. It was as if his spine had been pulled out; he hunched over, his face as ashen as a dead man's.

He lifted his head to look at Gong Yunyu's face, which was filled with greed and cruelty, and then at the surrounding Black Wind Stockade bandits who were grinning like tigers eyeing their prey. Finally, his gaze swept over the Liu Family disciples beside him, who were equally bloodless and filled with fear.

Despair, like a cold tide, completely submerged him. He nodded with difficulty, his voice so weak it was almost inaudible: "...Fine... we... will give it..."

Under the gaze of countless eyes and the immense pressure of the shadow of death, Liu Chengcai was the first to tremble as he unbuckled the Storage Pouch at his waist, which was embroidered with complex cloud patterns and clearly worth a fortune. Like discarding a red-hot branding iron, he threw it onto the dust- and blood-stained ground at his feet with a "clatter."

Next, with extreme slowness and reluctance, he pulled out from his robes a palm-sized heart-protecting mirror that shimmered with a warm, jade-like luster. This was the First Grade High Grade defensive Magical Artifact, the "Jade Light Shield," bestowed upon him by the Clan Chief when he reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer; it was his most precious life-saving item.

He gripped it tightly, his knuckles turning white. Finally, he closed his eyes in pain, his arm feeling as heavy as a thousand catties, and with immense difficulty, he threw it down beside the Storage Pouch.

He kept comforting himself in his heart: as long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood. He was the Young Clan Leader, after all, and his future was limitless; when he eventually reached the Foundation Establishment, that would be the day he would settle the score.

With the "example" set by the Young Clan Leader, the others of the Liu Family, including the Sixth Elder and Seventh Elder, whose hearts were bleeding, also began to move. For a time, the sounds of "clinking and clattering" were incessant. Magical Artifacts shimmering with various spiritual lights were tossed onto the ground. Flying Swords, small shields, jade rulers, bronze bells, horsetail whisks... along with bulging Storage Pouches, bottles and jars containing various Medicinal Pills, stacks of Talismans...

Soon, a small mountain of "life-ransom treasure" had piled up in front of the Liu Family members. Against the backdrop of sunlight and bloodstains, it refracted a heartbreaking and ironic light.

Every Liu Family member's heart was bleeding; the sense of humiliation almost swallowed them whole. Giving these up was equivalent to surrendering their final strength for resistance and their dignity, becoming nothing more than fish on a chopping block.

The Black Wind Stockade bandits, looking at the pile of valuable "spoils of war" on the ground, had greed in their eyes that almost turned into substance. Many of them had rolling Adam's apples, emitting heavy breathing, ready for action. They couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to the Lin Family members under the knife, waiting only for the Fourth Leader's command to pounce and divide the loot.

Gong Yunyu looked at all this with satisfaction, the sinister grin at the corner of his mouth widening further. He could already see the three thousand Spirit Stones and this pile of treasures falling into his pocket—a beautiful sight.

His gaze finally turned back to the Lin Family's side, turning toward that gray-clad youth—Lin Jingyu—who seemed to have been temporarily forgotten by him, yet had stood at the center of the storm all along, his expression still terrifyingly calm.

"You Little Bastard of the Lin Family!"

Gong Yunyu's voice was as cold and sinister as the hissing of a viper, the tip of his spear pointing from afar at Lin Jingyu.

"Now, it's your turn. Are you going to obediently learn from the Liu Family, hand over everything, and kneel to beg for mercy, perhaps I might even leave you with a whole corpse? Or... do you want to taste what it feels like to be hacked into ten thousand pieces by me?"

The shadow of death, carrying an even heavier scent of blood, once again pressed down heavily on every remaining member of the Lin Family.

Lin Lingshan clenched his fists, his muscles tense, like a fierce tiger about to pounce. Lin Xuan's hand, which had been wiping his sword, paused, a flash of determination in his eyes.

And Lin Jingyu merely lifted his head slightly, calmly meeting Gong Yunyu's gaze, which was filled with mockery and murderous intent. A faint, cold arc seemed to curl at the corner of his mouth.