Otherworldly Desert Dust

Chapter 326 - 281: Survive First

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A beheading meal right from the start.

I’ll be damned if I hadn’t awoken just in time, huddling at home for another day or two would’ve seen this ill-fated Young City Lord...gone.

Alas, since I’ve roused twice already in his body, I suppose that’s what you’d call a fateful connection, involving so-called metaphysical cause and effect.

No matter, even if your destiny is the worst possible, I can still turn it around.

" I heard there are demon spirits outside, can you get me some demon spirit hind leg meat? Not too fatty, preferably one that has cultivated for about a hundred or two hundred years," Wu Hen said to the prison guard.

The prison guard displayed a look of surprise upon hearing Wu Hen speak.

For the past few months, the Young City Lord hadn’t spoken a word, practically indistinguishable from a madman.

But the Young City Lord still had some mettle, having managed to poison Jiang Jiutao to death.

Jiang Jiutao had rampaged through Ya City for years, countless people met their end under his whip in the streets. Though killing Jiang Jiutao did not change Ya City’s fate, it did let those who wantonly oppressed the people of Ya City know about their backbone!

"I’ll go ask. Our place has been scraped clean of jade, but we’ll find a way to procure that last good bite for you," the guard said.

It was clear the guard held some fondness for the Young City Lord.

"Oh, and about the Dream Demon..." Wu Hen didn’t spell it out explicitly, lest the other party realized he was possessed and delirious.

It seems that when my consciousness left the body of the Young City Lord, he was taken as a suspect in a poisoning case and locked up here. With little contact or communication with others in this dungeon, he avoided being treated as someone with evil possession.

"Thank Sister Ruan too, for capturing a Dream Demon that gave Ya City a slim chance to breathe. But the year’s deadline is drawing near—without enough jade to submit, we’ll still be slaughtered or expelled... Ah, Young City Lord, we truly don’t wish to leave this place," the guard sighed deeply.

"Mm, mm," Wu Hen merely nodded, choosing not to speak further.

The guard, however, seemed to have endless grievances to air, sitting in front of the cell door, sighing and lamenting the plight of Ya City’s citizens. He recounted tales of the former City Lord’s desperate efforts to carve out a path for the entire city, only to be defeated by the powers at Domain Mansion and saddled with a filthy and tragic charge.

Wu Hen listened; the chatty guard conveniently filled in the missing information. Otherwise, he would have to pretend to be mute in the times to come.

Although Wu Hen had not repeatedly stepped into the True Martial World, he was one of those keyboard heroes who knew everything. All information about the True Martial Continent was publically available. As people adapted and shared information, Wu Hen had roughly figured out how to avoid being treated as someone with evil possession.

Right now, my identity is rather sensitive, and the opening difficulty is not small; facing a beheading meal, with the whole city on the brink of downfall, it seems there’s also a matter of avenging a father’s death...

Most who stumble into this world as passersby end up as the wretched bottom of society, with incredibly tragic fates.

If it weren’t tragic, how could they possibly be lost?

In modern society, there are those compelled by life to become lost too. Their souls have long since traveled elsewhere, leaving behind bodies that retain some memory, mechanically performing repetitive tasks in a cold society. Their innate goodness keeps their behavior within normal bounds, treated as sane individuals, yet this underlines how their spiritual worlds are utterly neglected and uncared for; in truth, they’ve stopped playing along with the world’s people a long time ago.

In this continent that holds True Martial in high esteem, where hierarchies are strict and survival is based on the law of the jungle, at least in modern society one could retreat into the mountains to escape these forces, but the mountains and wilds of the True Martial World belong to powerful demon spirits—the weak would only become prey there. Industrious, honest laborers must cling to powerful martial artists for survival, or else have no space to live at all.

Such is the current state of Ya City, without the protection of a powerful martial artist.

Ya City used to have an Old Martial Master in residence, essentially retired to live out his elder years.

However, after the old master’s death, Ya City lost its martial protection and fell prey to successive demon spirit attacks. While the old City Lord was still alive, he could leverage his connections to seek out martial artists to come and defend the city...

But due to the transient nature of these defending martial artists, the old City Lord was easily targeted by those with power.

Wu Hen listened as the Old Prison Guard incessantly complained, cursing fate for bringing pack-like predators upon the former City Lord.

In Wu Hen’s eyes, such destiny was inevitable.

The Old Martial Master choosing to retire to this city was itself an unlikely event, a boon from the heavens. Not nurturing martial artists, not forming alliances with strong and reliable Martial Artist Families during his lifetime was shortsighted...

In the role of the former City Lord, although he was his father, Wu Hen was speechless at his lack of foresight for safety. Content with only kindness towards his citizens, he prided himself on a high moral standing, thinking the presence of the Old Martial Master meant there was no need for alliances with Martial Artist Families. Unaware that all past respect and goodwill toward him in the world were thanks to the Old Martial Master, he was nothing but a lamb ripe for the picking.

As for Young Master Lu Yun, he wholly inherited his father’s thoughts and beliefs, naively thinking that capturing a Dream Demon for the officials could keep the city safe.

"Miss Ruan seems to have some influence, managing to protect the city and also keep me alive till now — mostly, I reckon, due to her favor," Wu Hen pondered.

But she wasn’t powerful enough to clear my name; after all, Jiang Jiutao was a hound for the Jiang Mansion. Having killed him, I cannot escape the blame.

"This weak and fragile body needs to be strengthened first, or I’ll really face execution."

"Once I escape, I must find Sister Ruan. She should take me in, helping me through this weakest period before I can slowly build my own power."

Having the Taste Spiritual Awakening, I should be able to quickly enhance my own strength.

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But Lu Yun had not practiced martial arts; his body lacked any True Qi, and simply relying on physical strength was useless, especially since it could only be elevated to a Fourth Rank Physique at best. Without the support of martial arts, it was impossible to stand against those martial masters who could release their True Qi externally.

Wu Hen’s thoughts were crystal clear.

Lu Yun was not suited for martial arts; however, he was born with a city, a city abundant with jade. For Wu Hen, that was an extremely rich Yuan You Jade Mine.

As long as the city’s stability was ensured, the problem of Little Yi’s waking sustenance would be solved.

"Yes, first, survive!"

Once he survived, Wu Hen could find a way to transfer Lu Yun back to Nuwa God End.

If the transfer was successful, he would essentially inherit everything that was Lu Yun’s.

In the passing version, Nuwa God End did not release biological signals that would induce feelings of recognition and emotional connection in the host’s friends and family, but after a successful transfer it would. Thus, the top priority was still to ensure the safety of the host’s life.

...

In front of the prison door, a Scar-faced Martial Apprentice stood there, holding a huge silver knife, his gaze icy cold.

"What are you doing?" the Scar-faced Martial Apprentice asked.

"Bringing the last meal to Young Master Lu." the prison guard said.

"Oh, eating pretty well, aren’t we? There’s no need to waste such good stuff on that dead lunatic. Better to show some respect to me. At noon tomorrow, I’ll make it quick and painless for your Young City Lord!" the Scar-faced Martial Artist said.

He was sent by Jiang Mansion to supervise the prisoners and carry out the beheadings. After chopping off the Young City Lord’s head tomorrow, he could return and report back.

"This farewell meal is for those who are about to go down below. Looking at your face, you must have lived for hundreds of years, oh True Martial Monarch..." the Little Prison Guard said.

"Heh, hurry up and get in there." The Scar-faced Martial Artist said dismissively after hearing this and waved his hand.

The Little Prison Guard entered the cell.

He woke up the drowsy Wu Hen.

Wu Hen’s arms were already skin and bones; he didn’t even have the strength to tear meat.

The Little Prison Guard was indeed righteous, taking the trouble to tear off the demon spirit meat, feeding it bit by bit to Wu Hen.

Wu Hen’s teeth were loose and falling out, making chewing very difficult. He had no choice but to swallow forcefully in order to quickly regain his vitality.

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The Little Prison Guard Qing Lei was feeding him and couldn’t help but wipe away tears at the same time.

He was a wanderer who had come to this place, and because of hunger had bumped into this Young City Lord. If it had been any other city, he would surely have been torn apart by horses, having dirtied someone’s clothes with his filthy grime.

But this Young City Lord not only spared him that fate but also gave him a meal, which helped him survive the icy rain season...

The former Young City Lord, handsome and upright, kind-hearted, like the reincarnation of a Living Bodhisattva, had now come to such an end. It was even more pitiful than his wandering days, even losing his teeth to eat, truly the heavens must be blind.

"This good meat was bought with money collected by the people in the city who have benefitted from your kindness. I’ll go back later and get some more money to show some respect to the guy outside, make him do his job cleaner tomorrow morning. I heard it doesn’t hurt a bit that way," the Little Prison Guard Qing Lei said.

"You’re giving money to the man who will chop off my head?" Wu Hen couldn’t help shaking his head.

"Uh..."

"Don’t worry, it’s normal for people to go through a trial in life. Maybe the heavens are not blind but just testing me. If I get through this, things will be different," Wu Hen said.

The Little Prison Guard Qing Lei was speechless.

Everyone said the Young City Lord had a good mindset, but this mindset was perhaps a bit too good! However, he made sense. Why should he give money to someone who was about to chop off the head of his benefactor? He only wished he wasn’t just a Little Prison Guard without any martial skills, or he might stealthily kill the Martial Apprentice and perhaps the Young City Lord could live a few more months.

"Has Miss Ruan come to see me?" Wu Hen asked.

"She used to come often during the first month you were in prison, then she stopped coming," the Little Prison Guard said.

"Do you know where she went?" Wu Hen asked.

"She is now working under Mrs. Zeng’s command, she should be in Monkey Mountain Town."

"Is Monkey Mountain Town far?"

"It’s just twenty miles south of the city, but there are Demon Spirits lurking there... Young City Lord, how do you not know this?"

"I fainted from hunger, it’s normal to remember things vaguely," Wu Hen explained.

"Oh, right, yes, I understand," the Little Prison Guard nodded repeatedly, no longer considering the possibility of evil possession.