Chapter 567

Chapter 567: Blood Array Rising

In the blink of an eye, Li Hui has been in the slave arena for six days.

During these six days, Lin Liu and Fifth Master Han have done their utmost to help him control the slaves in the arena.

These individuals come from various backgrounds: river bandits, border deserters, assassins, and half-human, half-ghost practitioners. Although their power is not high, having a brat like Xiao Jiu on top naturally makes some people unhappy. However, they do not openly show their discontent, secretly observing and waiting for the right moment to act.

“Brother Jiu! No, Lord Nine, this is the ore mined today.” More than a dozen leaders stand in front of Xiao Jiu, bowing respectfully. After his firm control and suppression, Lord Nine has become the boss of nearly ten thousand slaves in the arena.

“Mm, understood. Tonight, during the Giant Armored Tribe’s festival, you all better behave.” Xiao Jiu stands on a mining cart, scanning the area with a commanding presence, prompting the leaders to nod in agreement, though three of them have glinting eyes, deep in thought.

On the surface, the slave arena is calm, but beneath it, turmoil brews.

Li Xiao Jiu now commands the public slaves, who are considered public property of the tribe. The private slaves have already been taken away to set up altars, prepare drinks, and build bonfires.

The powerful members of the Giant Armored Tribe hold a high status, and because today’s festival is special, they show respect by not using public slaves. They are also wary of a potential rebellion from the public slaves; such a large number of slaves represent considerable wealth, which can be traded for many horned horses on the distant grasslands, a vital safeguard for the tribe.

The Giant Armored Tribe celebrates with singing and dancing, worshiping Changsheng Tian, the only god in the world, the source of their power. Today’s festival is held to praise Changsheng Tian and offer three thousand living beings as sacrifices.

As the largest bonfire in the tribe is about to ignite, Lin Liu and Fifth Master Han grow anxious. “Why hasn’t that little brat made a move yet?”

Suddenly, flames light up from the direction of the slave arena, and faint shouting can be heard. Lin Liu and Han Five rejoice, “It’s working! Quickly, get our trusted ones to incite the private slaves to start a riot, so we can sneak away with the goods through the tunnels.”

Even among their trusted ones, only about fifty really intend to leave this place.

“Roar, roar…” The aristocrats of the Giant Armored Tribe grow furious; the disorder today is a sign of disrespect to Changsheng Tian, a blasphemy against their god, which must be punished severely.

As Lin Liu and Han Five watch the flames grow higher, smiles of satisfaction spread across their faces as they grab the wealth and dive into the tunnel.

When the Giant Armored Tribe’s cavalry fails to punish the disturbance and realize that only a few deserted huts in the slave arena have caught fire, they arrive to find the flames already extinguished. Aside from two hundred private slaves causing chaos, the rest remain relatively calm.

Suddenly, a soldier from the Giant Armored Tribe approaches with an urgent report: “Chief, someone stole the treasures from the central tent.”

“What? Where did they go?”

“They have not been found yet, fifty private slaves are missing.”

“Ah! Damn it, go summon the priest to curse the slaves who stole the treasures! We cannot leave the tribe tonight, and if we wait until tomorrow to pursue, it will surely be too late. Moreover, the curse has a scope limit; it will lose effect beyond two hundred miles.”

“Understood!” The messenger departs.

Shortly after, prayer chants fill the tribe; listening closely, a sense of bitterness pervades the air, and many people feel inexplicably uneasy.

Inside the slave arena, Li Xiao Jiu stands with his hands clasped behind his back. In the past six days, he has used sharp knives to threaten more than eighty people, one of whom starts cursing loudly.

“Li, you traitor! You’ve betrayed Brother Lin Liu and Fifth Master Han, you two-faced wolf! We’ve waited for years, and after tonight, we can finally go home! It’s you who’ve erased all our hopes!” This statement resonates with many people, even among the recently recruited trusted ones, who look at the figure standing with his hands behind his back.

After a long pause, the current boss of the slave arena, Li Xiao Jiu, speaks: “You want to go home? Great! How many of you can reach the mountains in six hours? How many can withstand the priest’s curse? Of course, if there are many people, they’ll share the curse power but only become weaker. But, how can you make it to the mountains in six hours and find those secret paths before the Giant Armored cavalry arrive? Lin Liu is clever for going against the grain; they are digging tunnels toward the grasslands, and they should have escaped a hundred miles by now.”

“Tunnels? A hundred miles?” The crowd is astonished.

At this moment, a voice calls out from the distance. The Giant Armored Tribe is herding all private slaves into the arena for centralized supervision, with many archers climbing up the thick iron walls to stand guard. The arrows they use resemble siege crossbows.

Once the private slaves are gathered, everyone realizes that Lin Liu and Han Five have rolled away with the treasures of the Giant Armored Tribe.

Just by thinking about it, one can tell how brutally these big men will react after losing their treasures. They will slaughter every slave and, after the massacre, Lin Liu and Han Five will have flown far away.

“Ah! They… Lin Liu and Han Five have such malicious intentions.”

“Lord Nine has saved us! Lord Nine is our benefactor; from now on, we will listen to Lord Nine!”

People’s hearts are fickle, and it is uncertain how many truly adhere to loyalty. In fact, Li Xiao Jiu is really Li Hui, who doesn’t care about their opinions at all. He waits, waiting for an important moment to come.

The priests in the tribe are fully summoning curses on the daring slaves who took the treasures. Today counts as fortunate; only a small group of slaves is causing trouble. If thousands, or even all the slaves, jumped out, it would be hard to notice the treasures missing from the central tent in a short time.

“Hiss, the Human Race is clever; they disguised themselves after stealing the treasures. However, with the protection of the great Changsheng Tian, they cannot escape our curse range.”

“Complete it! Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Almost simultaneously, figures dashing madly across the grasslands suddenly fall. Lin Liu and Han Five widen their eyes, feeling an immense power descend upon them.

“No, resist the curse!”

They are prepared, but suddenly, the chests of all their trusted followers explode, and their bloody hearts roll out, still thumping.

“Pfft, pfft, pfft…” As all the hearts shatter, Lin Liu and Han Five gasp heavily, relieved to find they can still move. Without such an assassination weapon, they wouldn’t have dared to take the risk.

What astonishes them is that the dead followers and the shattered hearts sketch a strange picture on the ground, and as the blood drips, strange symbols naturally form.

At this moment, all the symbols flash with a blood light.

Before the two can escape, the curse power surges again.

“What’s going on? Using the Li Dai Tao Jiang death substitution technique, the priests in the tribe should think we are dead.” Lin Liu and Han Five both act at the same time, trying to use each other’s lives to save themselves.

“Bang, bang, bang…” They unleash all their means, yet they do not see rings of runes appear on their chests and backs, and when they reach the point of mutual destruction, the blood diagram on the ground completes.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz!”

The ground trembles lightly and then settles down; the blood diagram has vanished as if it never existed. The difference is that the priests who cursed the escaping slaves in the tribe feel a bit disoriented.

Li Hui observes from a distance, revealing a demonic smile: “What is Changsheng Tian? The heart of Dao dares to release this Demon Lord; once I gather enough demonic power, I’ll surely strangle the heart of Dao. Hmph, first, I’ll deal with that Wutu first god; the blood talisman array has already invaded the priests’ hearts.”