172: Mengpo Soup

“Everyone, time is almost up. It’s your turn to make a choice now.”

As Song Zhong finished speaking, the magma spreading from the fissures in the ground swallowed the dozen or so prisoners lying on the ground.

The prisoners looked at the pale smile on Song Zhong’s face, and an inexplicable tension arose in their hearts.

They dared not meet Song Zhong’s gaze, only daring to steal glances at Song Zhong from the corners of their eyes before quickly looking away.

This guy was truly a Devil King who killed without batting an eye. After Scarface and the old man’s two attempts, no prisoner dared to scheme against Song Zhong now.

Xie Yu and the two believers were also completely dumbfounded.

This lord seemed even more difficult to deal with than Whisper; he killed people with a smile.

“What should we do?” the Sixth Seat asked.

Xie Yu was a little flustered. Whisper had not appeared yet, and a faint sense of unease began to arise in his heart.

Whisper’s original instruction was to use the Night Watcher to eliminate Song Zhong.

But now Song Zhong was alive and kicking. Could it be that something had happened to Whisper?

What if, what if Song Zhong knew about Whisper’s plan, could he still survive? Xie Yu’s heart was filled with worry.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” the Fourth Seat asked, his wounds still not healed.

“I’m a little worried,” Xie Yu said. “What do you think Lord Song Zhong will do with us?”

The Fourth Seat and the Sixth Seat’s eyes dimmed when they heard Xie Yu’s words.

Song Zhong looked at the death row prisoners before him; they were now suppressed by his Aura.

From the very beginning, Song Zhong had intended to use some of them to establish his authority.

These people were all desperate criminals who had been in an environment like the Zhaijie Institute for so long. To make such a group of people obedient was not something that could be achieved through kind words.

As the saying goes, evil people are dealt with by even more evil people. To deal with these guys, one had to be more brutal and ferocious than them.

Sure enough, as soon as he arrived in the Great Scorching Hot Hell, someone started causing trouble.

Little did they know this had just fallen into Song Zhong’s trap.

He had just wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, and a chicken had jumped out.

Judging by the reactions of this group of people, his actions just now had been quite effective.

After a few seconds of stalemate, some people finally couldn’t hold on.

“Lord Song Zhong, I am willing to become your believer!”

A prisoner, snot and tears streaming down his face, dropped to his knees with a thud, ignoring the gazes of those around him, and began kowtowing to Song Zhong.

Perhaps influenced by the first prisoner, a second and third prisoner immediately began to kneel before Song Zhong.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

One after another, prisoners began to kneel on the ground, looking like some kind of Mysterious religious ritual.

“Hehehe, very good, you have made the correct choice.”

Song Zhong looked at these “submissive” prisoners with satisfaction. With a thought, an “iron pot” appeared out of thin air on the ground.

The iron pot was completely black, with many large and small chips on its rim, and a thick layer of ash attached to its bottom, giving it an incredibly ancient feel.

The iron pot floated in the air, and below it, a bonfire had appeared at some unknown time.

Strangely, the color of the bonfire was dark green, almost identical to the ghost fires in a graveyard.

The iron pot was filled with a pot of soup, which was very bland and looked no different from well water.

Under the scorching of the bonfire, the liquid in the iron pot quickly boiled.

A strange, faint fragrance permeated the air.

“What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant.”

“I smell it too. Look, there’s a pot next to Lord Song Zhong.”

“I think I’m a little hungry.” A prisoner’s stomach rumbled. The food in the Zhaijie Institute was rationed, so these people couldn’t eat too much.

“Hehehe, everyone, although you have shown your submission to me, I am very clear that some of you are not convinced by me.”

Song Zhong swept his gaze over the prisoners. “Perhaps some of you are thinking of temporarily humoring this kid, and then dealing with me when you get a chance later, aren’t you?”

Facing Song Zhong’s questioning, the prisoners immediately panicked.

“No, we are sincerely serving Lord Song Zhong.”

“Exactly, exactly, we have no ulterior motives.”

“Lord Song Zhong saved us from the Zhaijie Institute, he is like our reborn parent. How could any child want to deal with their parents?”

Listening to the prisoners’ words, one might have thought this was a loving family gathering if they didn’t know better.

“Hehehe! Whether you are sincere or not, it’s not up to me, and it’s not up to you.”

Song Zhong pointed to the iron pot next to him. “The thing in this pot is called Meng Po Soup. If you are truly devoted to me, after drinking it, you will begin a new life.”

Song Zhong paused for a few seconds. “If anyone deceives me, this Meng Po Soup will turn into a corrosive poison, and those who are insincere will suffer from perforated intestines and die from ten thousand poisons gnawing at their hearts.”

“So, who will drink the first sip of this Meng Po Soup?”

Upon hearing Song Zhong’s words, some of the prisoners immediately changed their expressions.

Just as Song Zhong had said, many of the prisoners were not truly submissive; they were merely feigning surrender.

“I will, Lord Song Zhong, I’ll be the first.”

Immediately, a person rushed out from the crowd. He strode to the iron pot, picked up a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of Meng Po Soup, and poured it down.

As the Meng Po Soup entered his mouth, the prisoner felt a strange sensation wash over him.

He felt a tingling numbness throughout his body, his eyes gradually lost focus, he felt a little sleepy, yet his consciousness was clear.

Past memories flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, but as each frame flashed, it disappeared.

Ultimately, only memories of Song Zhong remained in the prisoner’s mind: memories of Song Zhong disregarding his own safety and risking his life to rescue him from the Zhaijie Institute.

At this moment, the prisoner’s eyes regained their luster, but what was different was that a hint of fanaticism had appeared in his gaze.

“Great Divine Power, please allow me to prostrate myself before you!”

With a thud, the prisoner once again knelt before Song Zhong.

Song Zhong grinned, revealing his pale teeth. “My child, congratulations on embracing a new life.”

“Praise the Divine Power! I am willing to offer my life to you.”

After the prisoner finished speaking, a soft glow suddenly appeared around his body, so warm and peaceful.

Then a Mental Energy spread from his body, and those who knew this prisoner were immediately stunned.

“I remember he was only in the Sea Realm before. How did he Breakthrough to the Boundless Realm now?”

“Do you think drinking that soup allows for a Breakthrough?”

“Really? Then is it still not too late for me to sincerely submit now?”

Seeing this scene, the prisoners immediately started having their own little schemes, and soon several more ran to the front and began drinking the Meng Po Soup.

“I’ll come too!”

“Praise Lord Song Zhong!”

Soon, the prisoners became agitated, scrambling to get close to the iron pot, afraid of being too slow and missing out.

Song Zhong watched all this calmly. These prisoners did not know.

The Breakthrough scene they had just witnessed was nothing more than an illusion created by Song Zhong.