Volume 2: The Source of Life Chapter 29: Jiang Water Tranquility

  "Uh, there are some things." Jiang Shui Ning nodded, her cold gaze fell on my face, the faint starlight in her eyes seemed to rotate slightly, like a beautiful firefly.

  I furrowed my brow, could Jiang Shui Ning's soul device also be a hypnotic type? Looking at her eyes, it was as if they were a whirlpool that lured people into committing crimes.

  Jiang Shui Ning didn't notice my expression and continued, "I heard that Montel Village had a good harvest of spiritual mice. Tang Jia Village hopes you can share some with them." Her tone was light, but it carried an air of taking it for granted.

  I couldn't help but laugh, "News travels fast, however... Tangjia Village had also caught a lot of spirit mice before, why didn't they think to share some with the people of Montel Village? Now that Montel has caught spirit mice, they have the nerve to come over and ask for some? Is this what you call expecting something for nothing? Is there such an easy thing in the world?"

  My question was a bit sharp, and Jiang Shui's eyebrows furrowed slightly, seemingly not expecting me to ask a counter-question, and also appearing unsure of how to respond. Seeing her finally reveal a troubled expression, I felt a hint of satisfaction in my heart - no matter how cold or proud the Soul Master may be, when faced with an unsolvable problem, they would still show this helpless expression.

  The scene was deadlocked like this.

  Tang Ning'er's face turned red, he pursed his thin lips, lowered his head for a moment, and when he raised it again, his black eyes were slightly red, it was unclear whether it was shame or anger.

  "Big brother, all the spirit mice we caught in our village have gone bad and it's almost time to hand them over. Please, can you help us?"

  I took a look at Tang Ning'er. Although her delicate face showed tension, it was more of a persistence and... bravery.

  I recalled how kind he was in guiding me at that time, and I didn't want this kind child to be too distressed.

  I tapped my fingers on the table in front of me and smiled warmly at Tong Ning, "It's not that I want to make things difficult for you, but you should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The Ling Mouse from Montel Village was also obtained with great effort, and people even died for it."

  Tang Ning's face twitched, and upon hearing me say "someone died", he probably misunderstood it as something that happened when Gute and the others robbed Tangjia Village of their spiritual mouse. He fell silent for a moment, glanced at Jiang Shui Ning who was also silent, then turned to me and stuttered: "Big brother, what... conditions does Montel Village have? As long as our village can agree to it, I..."

  "Montel village has no conditions, only an additional requirement." My face must have been shrouded in mystery, because I found that both Jiang Shui Ning and Tang Ning Er were staring at me blankly, as if my words had attracted all their attention.

  A faint smile appeared in my heart, I just used a little negotiating trick to cheat these two simple people who had never been out.

  "Our request is that the Ling Mouse can give you some, but not for free. The broken Ling Mice in your Tangjia Village are useless and can be exchanged with us for fresh ones." Before Jiang Shui Ning and Tang Ning Er could react, I added another sentence: "We'll exchange three bad ones for one good one, at a ratio of 3 to 1."

  Tang Ning'er and Jiang Shui'ning were both on the verge of petrification, neither of them had expected that someone would actually be willing to exchange good spiritual mouse meat for the spoiled ones from Tang Village. It was simply unbelievable!

  Tang Ning'er looked at Jiang Shui'ning, and Jiang Shui'ning also gazed back at Tang Ning'er. The two of them were silent for a moment, neither speaking up. Their reaction was within my expectations - they were simple but not foolish. If they had agreed to this unusual request without giving it any thought, that would have been an insult to their intelligence.

  But I'm not in a hurry, I still have a trump card.

  Before Tong Ning'er and Jiang Shui'ning could understand, Gute and Kanoli suddenly led dozens of people to rush towards the gate of the waiting hall. Kanoli took the lead, his resolute face filled with a furious crimson color: "Lord Fang Cheng! Those spirit mice were brought back by our brothers at the cost of their lives! They can't be taken advantage of by the people of Tangjia Village!"

  Gutu's face turned blue with rage, and he shouted: "Sir! You can't do this! Our village has lost many good men to get these spirit mice back from the Spirit Wolves!"

  "We can't just give it away to those bastards in Tangjiacun!"

  "What right does he have to sell our hard-earned Ling mouse cheaply to outsiders!"

  Most of the villagers still have a deep respect for the soul masters, except for Gute and Kano who rushed into the hall, the others only dared to wait outside the living room and shouted.

  However, the atmosphere and pressure on the scene were enough. Tang Ning'er, who was originally hesitant, immediately became somewhat restless. Jiang Shui'ning still had a calm face, but looking at her increasingly furrowed eyebrows, it was clear that her heart was not calm.

  Originally thought that with the prestige of a Soul Reaper, no matter which village I went to, I would be treated like a noble. Who would have expected to run into this kind of situation? The villagers all looked like they were on the verge of going berserk.

  I couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, feeling that the timing was just right. I quickly stood up and raised my hands, saying: "Everyone, calm down a bit. We can ignore the people from Tangjia Village, but we can't not give face to Yunyao Sect and Miss Jiang!" I paused for a moment, and the commotion around me gradually subsided, also giving Jiang Shui'ning some time to think.

  "Although we respect Yun Yao and Miss Jiang in our village, the Ling Mouse was exchanged with the blood and sweat of everyone. Of course, it can't be given to Tangjia Village for free. They must bring something to exchange for it. Even if what they bring is not edible, it will still be considered a token of sincerity from Tangjia Village. Otherwise, if we give it away for free, people might say that we are being charitable and looking down on them! At the same time,"

  I paused again, turned around and shouted loudly: "The blood of Montel cannot be shed in vain." I said word by word: "If you want to get the Ling Mouse, you must let the people from Tangjia Village who were injured by us come over one by one to apologize."

  "Oh yeah!" The dozens of men from Montel village all cheered loudly.

  I turned around and looked at Jiang Shui Ning and Tang Ning Er who had stood up, with a helpless expression, saying: "That's how things are, the two of you, it's settled with just one word."

  Facing countless pairs of eyes and invisible pressure, Tang Ning's expression was tense, and Jiang Shui'ning's face also showed a slight pause. However, the two this time nodded without hesitation, agreeing to what seemed like a great advantage for Tangjia Village.

  The passionate play directed by me and performed by Gute and Kanoli has completely confused Jiang Shui Ning and Tang Ning Er. As for the apology, they hope to be given some time to go back and discuss it.

  This time can be said to have made a preliminary success, and the reason for helping Montel Village so much is actually to create momentum. I want to take Montel Village as the starting point and create an image of a strong person - extraordinary wisdom, superhuman skills, and the wisdom to solve all problems.

  When this kind of image penetrates deeply into the village of Montre and radiates to surrounding villages, forming a trend, this "trend" also becomes an intangible capital and a useful tool in my hands.

  It was just that I didn't expect the development of things to far exceed my expectations. In just a few days, the title of "Arbitrator" had spread throughout the nearby villages large and small through the propaganda of Tangjiacun and Montel Village. One after another, villages began to send representatives to ask for my help in resolving disputes and difficulties in their villages.

  Everything is developing in a direction that is beneficial to me. During the day, I help various villages solve problems and develop my "influence", at night, I secretly practice with my soul device.

  I let out a soft sigh, looked at the sky outside and found that it was already the second half of the night. The entire village of Montel was quiet, following the convention of the past few days, at this time I could secretly study the soul device.

  I closed my eyes and focused on feeling the energy of the original heart within me. Although I've been trying hard for days, unfortunately, I still haven't found a way to control the soul power inside me. The only solution is... self-mutilation!

  Helplessly shaking his head, he used the skinning knife to dig out a blood hole in the palm of his hand. The quiet perception from the source of his heart surged out threads of soul power like silk, which were rapidly pouring into the wound on the center of his palm.

  As the silver thread of soul power passed through the palm, the dark dragon's miniature light shadow seemed to unlock the seal code. With a "hum" sound, the sword body flashed out with strands of white light.

  Although I haven't found a way to control the soul force, this self-mutilation method has become more and more skilled. I thought to myself with self-derision, tightly grasping the hilt of the dark dragon sword, admiring the majestic edge, just thinking about practicing like yesterday, when a strange sense of foreboding suddenly flashed through my mind.

  The taste of death!

  This is the countless cycles of reincarnation, experiencing countless times of bitter cultivation and life-and-death struggles to gain intuition.

  In an instant, I unfolded the eighteen routes of the fierce beast and quickly transformed into a leopard shape. With one flip of my body, I sprang from the bed to the corner of the house. The next second, a wave of invisible sound waves suddenly surged in from outside.

  BOOM!

  The windows, doors and wooden bed were shattered by the sonic boom. A loud explosion shook everything open. Thick smoke filled the entire room, and the sound of gritted teeth from Kens, Jet and Innie gradually came in from outside.

  "Got it!"

  "That sword seems like a Soul Tool from the Nether Gate!"

  "Don't waste your breath, first grab him and break his legs before talking!"

  The gate, outside the window, and the rooftop, three directions, three Soul Masters made their move at the same time.

  A blue light flashed, and the wall near the window was hit by an invisible sound wave, turning into a burst of debris.

  The direction of the gate, a light arc flashed by, and the entire room, space seemed to be cut in half by an invisible light arc. At the same moment, countless black poisonous bees suddenly emerged from the broken roof above, buzzing and pouring down.

  At this moment, Lin Miao Xian's words suddenly flashed in my mind: "The three Kens are the golden combination of the patrol team. If they find us, it will be troublesome!"

  It's not just troublesome, it's life-threatening!

  Kens, 5th-level Soul Reaper. Inni, 4th-level. Jette, 4th-level.

  I have no rank.

  If it weren't for countless reincarnations, if I hadn't experienced innumerable unimaginable hardships and perils, at this moment I would certainly be unable to escape the summons of the god of death.

  At this moment, I, a "monster" who has been wandering between life and death for thousands of years, have experienced countless cycles of reincarnation that are enough to make me develop the toughest nerves in the world and a calm mindset.

  At this moment, my mind was as calm as ever, and I accurately grasped the only way to survive when faced with three Soul Masters joining hands.