Chapter 65
Jin Du's eyes slithered over the young man before him like a venomous snake sizing up fresh prey.
After a long moment, he gave a satisfied hiss. "Not bad. You handled this well. Where did you find him?"
The instant he saw Zhou Bai, he was reminded of Yuan Chenxing.
That same stubbornness in the face. That same refusal to bow.
Just imagining that expression twisted between pain and pleasure made his blood stir impatiently.
The subordinate immediately bowed lower. "Young Master, he's a new disciple recruited this year. His name is Zhou Bai, from a place called Zhoujia Village."
Zhou Bai's heart sank heavily.
He could hear the threat hidden beneath those words without difficulty.
Family. Hometown. Background.
The man was deliberately laying everything out in front of him like a knife pressed against his throat.
An open conspiracy.
And the worst part was that he couldn't ignore it.
"Zhou Bai?" Jin Du repeated the name slowly, amusement glinting in his eyes. "A good name. The cypress tree stands firm and unyielding. Your conduct should live up to it."
His tone sounded almost complimentary, but the foul intent underneath was impossible to hide.
Zhou Bai ground his teeth so hard his jaw nearly ached.
He wanted to curse him. Wanted to spit in his face. Wanted to drag this disgusting beast down to hell with him.
But his entire family was in the other man's hands.
What could he do?
Kill Jin Du?
Impossible.
He had only entered the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect two months ago. His cultivation was pitifully weak. Forget killing Jin Du—even trying to die together with him was nothing more than a joke. He wouldn't even get close enough to touch him.
Jin Du admired the hatred in Zhou Bai's expression with dreamy satisfaction.
That was the feeling.
Wanting to hate, but not daring to.
Wanting to die, but not daring to.
That helpless despair was the most entertaining thing of all.
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Zhou Bai's chin, rubbing it teasingly with his fingers.
Zhou Bai's stomach lurched violently.
The sticky, lingering touch made his skin crawl. Every nerve in his body screamed in revulsion. He wanted nothing more than to chop that hand off at the wrist.
He struggled instinctively, but his bound wrists only tightened further beneath the ropes, cutting painfully into his flesh. The sharp sting shot straight up his arms and into his skull.
For the first time in his life, Zhou Bai felt utterly powerless.
His eyes fixed on Jin Du's hand, revulsion twisting violently in his stomach.
"Urgh—!"
He vomited directly onto Jin Du's palm.
The subordinate beside them stopped breathing entirely.
Oh no.
Oh gods, no.
He couldn't even imagine what the young sect master's reaction would be.
Jin Du stared stiffly at the filth coating his hand.
Then, with a savage expression, he slapped Zhou Bai away.
The force sent Zhou Bai stumbling sideways, his head snapping violently to the side. A bright red handprint immediately bloomed across his cheek.
"Disgusting!"
Jin Du rapidly cast a cleansing spell over his hand, his face filled with undisguised revulsion. His dark eyes flickered wildly, as if reconsidering whether this prey was worth keeping alive.
Meanwhile, Zhou Bai lowered his gaze calmly, but inwardly, he felt indescribably refreshed.
Good.
Excellent.
Even if he couldn't stop Jin Du's disgusting thoughts, at least he had disgusted him first.
That alone was satisfying.
Seeing the atmosphere turn dangerous, the subordinate hurriedly dropped to his knees.
"This subordinate failed to discipline him properly. Please forgive me, Young Master. Allow me to take him away and teach him manners first."
Recently, the young sect master's temperament had become increasingly violent. These male concubines were practically consumables now.
The problem was... they were dying faster and faster.
And if there were no "consumables" available to absorb Jin Du's anger, then the next person suffering would probably be him.
So the subordinate sincerely hoped Zhou Bai could survive a little longer.
At the very least, long enough for him to find the next replacement.
Jin Du gave a cold snort. His hand stretched out lazily before grasping a barbed whip nearby.
"You have performed poorly. These few lashes will be your reward."
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
The whip tore through the air with chilling force.
The subordinate's back split open instantly, flesh ripped apart by the cruel barbs. Blood seeped through his robes in ugly streaks.
His face turned deathly pale, yet he still forced out the words through gritted teeth. "This subordinate accepts punishment."
Zhou Bai watched coldly from the side, feeling only regret that the whip hadn't landed harder.
Best if the man died outright.
After all, if Jin Du was the tiger devouring people alive, then this subordinate was the accomplice feeding victims into its mouth.
Jin Du's eyes were faintly bloodshot now, the beating clearly stirring something in him. He lifted the whip again, almost addicted to the sensation.
But just as he was about to strike once more, he remembered that this subordinate was one of his more useful servants.
Killing him would be inconvenient.
The whip paused midair.
"Don't let it happen again," Jin Du warned coldly.
The subordinate immediately seized the chance to survive. "Thank you for your mercy, Young Master!"
Jin Du pointed impatiently at Zhou Bai. "Take him away and clean him up. Don't feed him anything. Give him a fasting pill so he won't starve."
If Zhou Bai's face hadn't resembled that person enough to please him, Jin Du would have already whipped him bloody as punishment.
Zhou Bai followed the guards out of the cave silently.
As he stepped outside, he glanced back once at that infamous den.
Tonight, he had narrowly escaped.
Tomorrow... probably not.
Moonlight stretched his shadow long across the stone path. Around him, twisted branches clawed at the darkness like the hands of demons trying to drag him back.
"Jin Du, get here immediately!"
Just as Jin Du was preparing to sleep, a voice transmission from the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect suddenly rang in his ears.
He scratched his head irritably.
Another lecture.
Annoying.
Still, he didn't dare disobey his father's summons. If he refused, the old man would probably drag him into the council hall personally in the next breath.
Jin Du entered the palace with an unhappy expression and gave a perfunctory bow.
"You called for me in the middle of the night? What now? Did someone slander me again? I've behaved very well lately, so Father can rest assured."
Sect Master Jin looked at him indifferently.
No one understood this son's temperament better than he did.
Arrogant. Conceited. Wasteful.
And cursed with utterly mediocre aptitude.
If Jin Du hadn't been his only son, he truly wouldn't have bothered investing so many resources into him.
"I've heard about your recent conduct," Sect Master Jin said coldly. "Indulging in lust and pleasure all day long. Debauched and undisciplined. Do you still intend to make progress in cultivation?"
Not once did he mention concern for the people who had died at Jin Du's hands.
Jin Du shrugged carelessly and dropped into a seat. "Father, you misunderstand. I never intended to rot away like this."
He sneered lightly. "That bitch stole the Silver Moon Wolf contract from me. Since then, I've contracted spirit beast after spirit beast, yet I still can't break through to Foundation Establishment. What exactly am I supposed to do?"
Sect Master Jin's expression darkened slightly. "So now you blame me for failing to retrieve the Silver Moon Wolf?"
The spirit beasts he later found for Jin Du were all top-tier.
Perhaps not as extraordinary as the Silver Moon Wolf, but still rare and powerful.
Yet none of it mattered.
Even after contracting them as natal spirit beasts, Jin Du still remained stuck one step short of Foundation Establishment.
In the end, the problem was simple:
Jin Du's aptitude was just too poor.
Only an extremely high-grade spirit beast-preferably one with awakened supernatural abilities—could possibly change his fate.
Jin Du turned his face away stiffly. "Father overthinks things. I never said that."
But resentment still lingered in his heart.
Back then, if Sect Master Jin had personally intervened—or even sent a high-level cultivator after Yuan Chenxing—the matter would have ended instantly.
Instead, for the sake of preserving face, he only sent ordinary disciples to pursue him.
And what happened?
Nothing.
Not only did Yuan Chenxing escape, he escaped beautifully.
"Enough. Whether you mean it or not doesn't matter anymore."
Unexpectedly, Sect Master Jin suddenly laughed.
Jin Du looked up in surprise. "Father?"
Sect Master Jin's smile widened. "My son, your fortune has arrived. News came from the black market: a spirit beast dealer possesses a top-grade spirit beast—a Spirit Ape."
Jin Du shot to his feet so abruptly the chair behind him scraped violently across the floor.
"A Spirit Ape?!"
His voice trembled with disbelief.
"Father, is this real? Those creatures are practically legendary. Could this be bait meant to deceive you?"
No wonder he found it hard to believe.
A Spirit Ape was the dream of every beast tamer.
Contracting one could instantly elevate an ordinary cultivator into a genius. Even a useless physique could be reshaped and improved through the bond.
"I've already verified the information," Sect Master Jin said smugly. "It's real."
Naturally, he had investigated thoroughly.
The spirit beast dealer supposedly came from the northern regions of the continent. More importantly, the Spirit Ape in his possession was actually a stolen cub—the guardian spirit beast cub of the Wendao Sect.
What wonderful news.
If Sect Master Jin himself hadn't already merged deeply with his natal spirit beast—making replacement impossible—he never would have handed such an opportunity to Jin Du.
"Excellent!"
Jin Du slammed his fist down.
The table shattered instantly into pieces. But he didn't even notice.
His entire chest surged with ecstatic excitement.
A Spirit Ape.
If he could contract a Spirit Ape...
In an instant, years of resentment evaporated.
Jin Du could already imagine the looks on everyone's faces within the sect.
Though he was the young sect master, countless people secretly mocked him behind his back for his stagnant cultivation.
This time, he would slap every single one of them in the face.
Meanwhile, deep within the nearby black market, two hooded figures sat across from one another inside a dimly lit room.
"Has he taken the bait?" the woman asked coldly.
The man smiled gently, though killing intent flickered beneath the softness of his voice. "We arranged to meet tomorrow at midnight. He'll definitely arrive alive."
He paused. "As for whether he leaves alive... that's another matter."
"Hmph."
Lingzhu Zhenren pulled back her hood, revealing eyes brimming with icy ruthlessness.
"All this effort disguising ourselves as spirit beast dealers and baiting him step by step would've been wasted otherwise."
Zao Mo smiled faintly. "He's cautious by nature. But he'll never imagine that we aren't Foundation Establishment cultivators at all."
Sect Master Jin thought he was coming to rob and kill others.
What he didn't know... was that he had already walked straight into a death trap.