1049: prison

Listening to Su Liang's words, Li Changkong felt a chill run through his heart.

Suppressing the emotions in his heart, his attention was more on Su Liang's previous sentence.

"You said you obtained the method for learning magic seven or eight days ago? Where is it?!"

"Give me the item, and your other decisions, whether it's leaving Li Village or exchanging the winemaking technique for a spot to join the Renault Family, I won't interfere with any of that."

At the bottom of Li Changkong's heart, he still cared about the magic manual.

How could Li Changkong not know that people like them who learned magic would be targeted and even hunted down by other Magicians.

But precisely because he knew, he had to learn even more!

For a group of people like them, if they didn't take this gamble and this risk, their descendants were destined to be like them, bowing their heads and shrinking their necks, living as slaves for their entire lives!

Even if Li Village was forced to wander in the future, they would be wandering with hope. As long as hope wasn't extinguished, there would always be a day when they could stand up!

However, if they chose to be content with the status quo, the future of Li Village could only gradually decline and even have its population become slaves under the exclusion of countless people around them!

That was a foreseeable outcome!

Among the hundred or so people in Li Village, there were quite a few outsiders who had been exiled and forced to wander by slave owners.

Their original homes were even larger than Li Village, but due to their weakness and lack of protection from national laws, in the eyes of outsiders, they were just like a group of animals living in the wild.

One careless mistake, and they would be scattered and destroyed by various factors, their wealth emptied, and their people turned into slaves!

"I can't give you the item. It was bestowed upon me by the Renault Family Head, and it is limited to me," Su Liang said, enunciating each word clearly.

Hearing this, the anger in Li Changkong's heart was beyond measure, and a sense of sorrow arose within him: "All our hopes were placed on you. Are you really going to go this far now? We are the same kind of people!"

"That was before!" Su Liang heard this and seemed to feel himself being contaminated, several ugly blue veins popping out on his forehead: "From now on, I am different from you lowly and inferior people! I am a member of the Renault Family! Once I become a true Magician, I can learn more profound magic, break the curse on me, and get rid of this dirty appearance of mine!"

Su Liang's words were chillingly thorough.

Li Changkong gritted his teeth, suddenly stepped forward, and reached out to grab Su Liang's collar, wanting to pin him against the wall and interrogate him about the magic manual.

"Bang!"

Along with the sound of the wooden chair breaking, the wooden wall of the house trembled slightly, and a person was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall!

The one who was suddenly sent flying was none other than Li Changkong!

Across from him, Su Liang was caressing a magic wand in his hand, a look of intoxication with power on his face.

"After taking the magic potion given to me by the Renault Family Head, I have only studied magic for a week in total."

"At this level, Village Chief, you are already not my opponent. No wonder you were so eager for the magic manual."

"Cough cough~" Leaning against the corner of the wall, a trace of sweetness surged up in Li Changkong's throat.

"The people of the Renault Family will not accept you. Even if you offer the winemaking technique, there is no possibility of you becoming one of them!" Li Changkong clenched his fists, his face flushed.

"I know," Su Liang surprisingly didn't retort. "After all, I'm someone who came out of Li Village. Many people in the Renault Family inherently look down on us."

"So after I offered the winemaking technique, I could only be considered to have obtained half a spot among the Renault Family, barely gaining a foothold in the Renault Family."

"And to truly become a person of the Renault Family, I need another method to fully obtain this spot."

After saying this, Su Liang slowly squatted down, looking at Li Changkong in front of him, a smile of everything being under control appearing on his face: "Village Chief, actually I have two trump cards."

"One trump card is the winemaking technique, and the other... is the entire Li Village!"

"As long as Li Village is destroyed because of me, those people in the Renault Family who are applauding will directly let me become one of them!"

"Village Chief, what do you think of my plan?"

"Bastard!" At this moment, Li Changkong's eyes were about to split, and he struggled to get up to fight Su Liang desperately.

However, in the very next moment, he was once again sent tumbling to the corner of the wall by a magic attack that Su Liang conjured with a wave of his hand!

Walking slowly to Li Changkong's side, Su Liang took a package of things from him: "My guess was correct. After yesterday, you would likely come to the city today to buy spiritual lamps, and then you would come to find me."

"This should be the spiritual lamps that Li Village will use tonight and for the next seven days, right?"

"The people of Li Village are waiting for you to bring the spiritual lamps back. Now it seems they will be disappointed. Everyone won't be able to use them tonight."

"A night without spiritual lamps... I don't know how many people in Li Village will survive after tonight. It's heartbreaking to think about."

Su Liang said this in a light and airy tone, then turned his head to look outside the door: "Come in, take him to the prison. You know what to do with the rest."

After the words were spoken, the wooden door opened, and two Knights wearing armor walked in from outside the door.

...

In the evening.

Busen City.

Renault Family Prison.

"Splash!"

Cold saltwater was splashed on his scarred body, and the surging pain stimulated Li Changkong to suddenly open his eyes!

"Hoo!!" A sound of being tormented by pain came from his throat. Li Changkong's eyes were bloodshot, staring fixedly at the Soldier of the Renault Family in front of him.

"How is it? Can you still bear it? Hahaha, don't worry, there are still things you haven't tried yet," an old Soldier with a greasy face and yellow teeth saw the 'prisoner' suffering, a look of perverted joy on his face.

Beside the old Soldier, a Middle-aged Soldier advised: "Don't keep holding on like this. As long as you admit in front of this recording magic stone that the winemaking technique was stolen from our Renault Family by your Li Village, we can let you go directly."

After the two finished speaking, Li Changkong, who was tied to the cross, remained silent, only his blood-red eyes conveying an undiminished anger unto death.

"This guy is really tough. He's enduring even after being beaten like this. I still have to go to Tom's Tavern to drink, it's just wasting time."

"It's almost dark, I don't know if I'll still make it in time later," the Middle-aged man who had been trying to persuade him saw that Li Changkong didn't respond, and a surge of anger gradually rose on his face.

"I agree to your terms," suddenly, Li Changkong, who was tied to the cross, spoke in a hoarse voice.

At this moment, his gaze was directed towards the window outside the execution room.

"Oh? Why didn't you cooperate earlier?!" The two Soldiers, the Middle-aged Soldier with a look of joy on his face, while the older Soldier was a little disappointed.

"I can say that Li Village stole the Renault Family's winemaking secret recipe, but the premise is that you have to help me take the spiritual lamps to Li Village. It's almost dark now..."

After A Man's words were spoken, the expressions on the faces of the two Soldiers suddenly twisted.

The Middle-aged Soldier's face contorted, revealing a surge of anger.

The older Soldier, on the other hand, was excited about being able to continue the torture.

"Still thinking about those lowly guys? It seems they haven't been beaten enough!"

...

"Creak~"

The iron door of the prison was opened with a strange sound, and Li Changkong was casually thrown onto a pile of straw like a piece of rag.

"I'll give you one night to think about it. If you still haven't figured it out, I'll continue to beat you to death tomorrow!"

The jailer left a hateful remark, locked the door, and left the prison.

In the cold prison, Li Changkong on the straw pile no longer had the strength to make a sound.

"Cough cough~"

Two coughs, like someone with consumption, came from a corner of the prison.

This sound made Li Changkong a little clearer.

Outside the small window, a beam of moonlight shone into the prison.

This also allowed Li Changkong to see that besides himself, there was another person in the prison.

The other person was the same race as him.

"Young man, I guess you were a very normal person a day ago, right?"

The person in the corner's voice carried a hint of Vicissitudes: "Alas, this World is like this. People like us are destined to be like duckweed in this era, with no fixed abode. Any ripple can instantly destroy us."

"One day you can be with your wife and Child by the warm kang, and the next day you're like us."

Li Changkong heard this and fell into a long silence.

The other person's words were the truth.

He had led Li Village for the past few years, and there wasn't a single day when he wasn't on edge.

Fearing that Li Village would earn too much money, leading to the coveting of others, Li Changkong deliberately suppressed Li Village's industries and spent all the money earned in a short period.

He also worried that Li Village would anger a great figure for them, leading to the village's destruction, and countless incidents ended with his side suffering losses.

Li Changkong sometimes also found himself very hypocritical.

He told the people in the village not to provoke others, and to endure and yield as much as possible when facing oppression from others.

But when educating the children, he told them to stand tall and be A Man...

"Perhaps people like us don't belong to this World. The scenery at the heights is destined to be unrelated to people like us," Li Changkong's voice carried a hint of relief and release.

"If there is a next life, would you still choose to be a person like us?" The person in the corner of the prison slowly opened his mouth, his tone also carrying a hint of wandering fantasy.

This drew Li Changkong's thoughts into it.

"Of course I will continue to be this kind of person. I want to truly figure out whether our group of people is cursed! What kind of irresponsible bastards our ancestors who left us in this World were, and how are those guys who despise us nobler than us!"

After saying this with hidden resentment, Li Changkong's breathing became even weaker.

Quietly looking at the full moon outside the window, he thought about what he had just said to the fellow prisoner in the prison, and couldn't help but laugh at himself: "Now it seems that to fulfill those wishes, I really have to place my hope in the next life."

"Still want to be a person like us? In a couple of days, you'll be taken to the execution platform, and being beheaded is very painful," the fellow prisoner seemed to disagree with Li Changkong's words.

"Aren't you also going to be beheaded like me?" Li Changkong smiled, only feeling that the other person's words were a bit naive.

"No, I'll be released from prison soon," the fellow prisoner's matter-of-fact voice made Li Changkong's expression stiffen slightly.

At this moment, a Knight wearing armor walked in from outside the iron door.

The other person looked at the letter in his hand, then looked at the prison in front of him: "Who is called Ye Tian?"