"Let you leave? A Heaven Realm Cultivator? Do you think he is right to intimidate me? Even if I go to save my friend, the Patriarch himself won't come. Even if he comes himself, it would be too late. He is not enough to scare me at this point, so you should worry more about yourself than about me," Long Chen said as a subtle smile appeared on his face.
" I will let you live if you listen to my commands from now on. Do you agree?" he asked the man.
'Agree? Does he want to use me to spy on the clan and let his friend escape? This idiot, does he really think I will betray my Kingdom? And survival against Patriarch? He thinks he can fool me with that bluff?'
While Long Chen waited for the response, the man was forming a plan of his own inside his head.
'As long as I am inside the Clan, he can't harm me at all. In fact, I can give his information to the Elders, and they will catch him as well. Then I'll see how he dares to be so cocky before me when I torture him in the prison! I'll agree to him now, and when I'm inside the clan, I will be free! This fool will never see it coming.'
"I agree. I will listen to you only. Anything you say, I will do. I will be your dog. Just let me live," the Man pleaded to Long Chen.
"Hah, that's good. Don't think I don't know what's inside your head, though. You're too weak to hide your thoughts from me. I can read your thoughts like the back of my hand," Long Chen muttered as he smirked.
He had received a skill from the Divine Heaven Sect that made him capable of reading the thoughts of the people that were much weaker than him. He had long since mastered it. This skill had helped him a lot in forming his plans.
Not only that, this skill had helped him in unexpected ways that he never thought it would, helping him see the reality of a few people that he previously trusted a little too much. He had always been one step ahead of others when forming a plan partially because of this skill.
"Don't worry, I have a way to make sure you willingly cooperate with me," he muttered as he smiled.
He raised his hand, and a caterpillar-like creature appeared in his hand. It was a small insect-like creature that had two little wings to help it fly.
"Cati, it's your turn to show your skills. Have a great outing," Long Chen said to the Heart Devouring Insect. "That's your target."
The Heart Devouring Insect started flying towards the man and entered his chest, slowly moving towards his heart.
"What just entered your body is the Heart Devouring Insect in its evolved friend. If it dies when it's inside you, you will die as well. If you try to bring it out forcibly, you will die as well. Moreover, it has a mental link with me. I can hear everything you do. It can kill you in my single command. If any harm comes to me, you'll die," Long Chen explained to the man as he released him.
"Let me show you a little trial of its powers. You won't die," he let out as he turned back and snapped his fingers.
"Aaah!"
Ignoring the painful screams of the man, Long Chen walked towards the girl who was on the bed.
"You heard everything, didn't you? I completely forgot about you in my concern for my friend, but I can't let you spoil things for me. I can't drag you with me either. Forgive me," he said to the girl before he shifted to look at the man.
As Long Chen's back was facing the girl, his Spirit Sword came flying, stabbing the chest of the man, killing her.
"I dislike it a lot, but it's necessary. I can't put my goal at risk for you," he muttered as he subtly glanced back.
He observed the man that had finally stopped screaming in pain. His eyes were filled with tears, and his face was pale.
"You understand, right? This is the least my Heart Devouring Insect can do. If you even thought about betraying me, you wouldn't even get a chance to scream before you die."
"I-i will do what you wish. P-please. Never again! It hurts! It hurts so much!" the man pleaded as tears fell down his pale face.
"Be a good boy then. This amount of pain is nothing. Stand up now and get dressed," Long Chen commanded. "I'm waiting outside."
He stepped out of the room.
"Hah, it's good that no one else came to check. I would have needed to kill more if others had come," Long Chen muttered as he shook his head. "The guests and ladies must have thought that whatever the commotion was, that old lady would handle it."
After a few moments, the dark-haired man also stepped out of the room. He was fully dressed now.
"Take me to your clan. You can tell me more about your clan on the way."
"Y-yes."
The two of them went downstairs and left the Blossom Pavilion.
"You came out alone? Where is Ji Shan?" Zhiqing asked as soon as Long Chen stepped out of the pavilion.
"He wasn't inside. The other part of the talisman was with this guy. He took it from Ji Shan, who is inside a prison," Long Chen called out.
Zhiqing was stunned to hear about Ji Shan. She couldn't help but ask, "Inside a prison? What did he do? How did he end up there?"
" Apparently, he kidnapped a girl. Whatever, we'll only get the truth once we help him escape the prison," Long Chen answered, sighing.
"I'm going to see the clan that dared to hold my friend hostage. Come with me," he continued as he followed the dark-haired man.
"Who is he?" Zhiqing asked while walking beside Long Chen.
"He is..." Long Chen opened his lips to answer, but he stopped midway. "Oh, right. I forgot to ask his name."
"What is your name?" he asked the man.
"I am Xie Luqing," The man answered, respectfully.
"Right. He is Xie Luqing. He is a member of the Xie Clan that has Ji Shan in prison. He is working for me now."
Long Chan looked back at Zhiqing and answered her after getting an answer of his own.
"Can we trust him?" Zhiqing inquired.
' He is a man of that clan. If he knows about us, he can betray us when he's inside the clan and get us in trouble,' she thought.
"Don't worry. I have taken precautions. He wouldn't betray us. He would die before he can even open his mouth if he even tried," Long Chen answered.
Xie Luqing's face twitched as he heard Long Chen's words, but he couldn't do anything since he believed that Long Chen wasn't bluffing.
If the insect that was inside his heart could give him such pain, then it wasn't impossible for it to kill him. He had no doubts about that.
After walking for an hour, Long Chen couldn't wait anymore as he finally asked. "How long is it going to take?"
"We'll be there in five minutes at most. We're almost there," the man answered as he glanced back at Long Chen.
"Hmm? Those guys? Why would they be here?" He muttered as he saw two middle-aged men in the distance.
The men also seemed to have noticed him. They got closer.
"Hey, Luqing! Are you again coming from the Blossom Pavilion? Hahaha, you sad man. You can't even find a wife despite your age. You're an embarrassment to our clan, going to that brothel daily!"