Chapter 65 (Catching a turtle in a jar)

Jin Du's eyes were like those of a venomous snake as he sized up the young man before him, then hissed and flicked his tongue: "Not bad, you did a great job. Where did you find the person?"

Upon seeing this person, he was reminded of Yuan Shenxing. The two had the same stubborn face, and he couldn't wait to see that face reveal a mixture of joy and pain.

The subordinate immediately replied, "Young Master, this is a newly recruited disciple this year named Zhou Bai, who comes from a place called Zhoujia Village."

Zhou Bai's heart sank. He could tell that the other party was threatening him with his relatives and friends. It was a blatant conspiracy, but he couldn't ignore it.

"Zhou Bai?"

Jin Du read it aloud again, looked at Zhou Bai with great interest, and said approvingly, "This is a good name. The cypress tree is resilient and unyielding, and your actions must be worthy of it."

He said meaningfully, "The stench was overwhelming."

Zhou Bai gritted his teeth, making a grinding sound. No matter how much he wanted to curse without restraint, his family's lives were in the other party's hands. What else could he do?

Kill Jin Du? He couldn't do it.

Zhou Bai had only been a member of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect for two months, and his cultivation was too low to kill the other party. To put it bluntly, even if he wanted to perish together with the other party, he couldn't even touch the hem of the other party's clothes.

Jin Du admired Zhou Bai's expression at that moment, a dreamy look appearing on his face. The feeling was just right; he wanted to hate but dared not, wanted to die but dared not, making the game more exciting.

He suddenly reached out, grabbed Zhou Bai's chin, and playfully rubbed it a few times.

Zhou Bai trembled with nausea. The sticky, slippery touch made his stomach churn. He wished he could cut off the hand that was causing the trouble.

He struggled desperately with his bound hands, but the rope tightened more and more, mercilessly digging into his flesh, and the pain traveled from his wrists to his brain.

Never before have I felt so clearly powerless.

Zhou Bai stared intently at the hand, and then...

"Hah!"

He couldn't hold back any longer and vomited all over the floor, which splashed onto Jin Du's palm.

His subordinates couldn't help but hold their breath. Good heavens.

He couldn't quite imagine what the young master's next reaction would be.

Jin Du stared at the stain on his hands, his face stiff. He suddenly slapped Zhou Bai across the face, and Zhou Bai's head was knocked to the side by the force. Soon, a red handprint swelled up.

"This is absolutely disgusting!"

Jin used a cleansing spell to wash away the filth, then glanced at Zhou Bai with disgust, his dark eyes flashing wildly as if he were considering whether to keep this prey.

Zhou Bai maintained a straight face on the surface, but inwardly he felt extremely pleased. That's right, he was going to spit on the other person's hand. Even if it couldn't dispel the other person's filthy thoughts, it would be good to disgust the other person.

Upon seeing this, the subordinate quickly knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "I failed to teach him proper manners. I hope the young master will forgive me and allow me to take him away and teach him properly."

The young sect leader's temper has become increasingly cruel, and he can only rely on these male concubines to soothe his emotions. The bad thing is that recently these "consumables" have been dying one after another. Without them to bear the brunt of his anger, wouldn't it be him who suffers?

Therefore, his subordinates sincerely hoped that Zhou Bai could hold out longer, so as to buy time for them to find the next "consumable" and avoid incurring the wrath of the young sect leader during this period.

Jin Du snorted coldly, his right hand reaching forward to grab a barbed whip: "You have indeed done a poor job. These few lashes are a reward from this young master!"

"Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!"

As the sound of the whip slicing through the air rang out, the back of his subordinate was instantly torn open, the barbs hooking out and the wounds ripped open, a horrifying sight.

His face was deathly pale, yet he still managed to say, "I accept the punishment."

Zhou Bai felt a sense of satisfaction watching this scene, but regretfully thought, "Why didn't I whip him a few more times? It would have been better if I had whipped him to death. If Jin Du is a tiger that has harmed many people, then this man is a treacherous accomplice."

Jin Du's eyes were bloodshot; he was getting somewhat addicted to the beating. Just as he was about to swing his whip again, he heard his subordinate's words of thanks. Remembering that this man was one of his most trusted men, and that if he were killed, he would never have such an easy helper again, he paused, only warning, "Don't let this happen again!"

"Thank you so much for your great kindness, young master!" The subordinate immediately seized the opportunity to curry favor.

Jin Du pointed at Zhou Bai and waved his hand impatiently: "Take him away and clean him up. Don't let him eat anything. Give him a fasting pill so he won't starve to death."

If Zhou Bai's appearance hadn't been so appealing to him, he would have at least given him a few lashes to teach him a lesson!

Zhou Bai followed his men out of the cave, glancing back at the den of demons. Although he had escaped death tonight, he feared he would not be able to escape it in the future.

Under the moonlight, his shadow stretched longer and longer on the road, and the crisscrossing branches around him seemed like claws reaching out to his shadow.

"Jin Du, come here!"

Just as Jin Du was about to fall asleep, he suddenly received a message from the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect. He scratched his head in frustration, thinking that he had to go over for a lecture again. How annoying.

But there was no way to refuse his father's summons. If he did, his father would drag him to the council hall in the next moment.

Jin Du walked into the palace with a displeased expression and gave a casual bow: "You summoned me here in the middle of the night. Did someone slander me? I've been behaving myself lately and haven't caused you any trouble. You can put your mind at ease."

Sect Master Jin glanced at him indifferently. He knew his son's temperament best: arrogant and self-important, but with extremely poor aptitude and slow cultivation. If he weren't the only one of his kind, he wouldn't have bothered to raise him.

"I have heard about your recent outrageous behavior. Indulging in sensual pleasures and behaving so dissolutely, do you still want to make any progress in your cultivation?" Sect Master Jin rebuked sternly.

His words showed no concern for those who were manipulated to death.

Jin shrugged indifferently, plopped down, and said coolly, "Father is wrong. I never thought of wasting my days like this."

"As you know, the contract with the Silver Moon Wolf was stolen by that bitch. Over the years, I have tried to contract with other spirit beasts, but my cultivation has never been able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. What can I do?"

Sect Leader Jin's brows furrowed: "Are you resenting me for not finding that Silver Moon Wolf?"

The spirit beasts he later found for Jin Du, though not as good as the Silver Moon Wolf, were still top-tier. Unfortunately, things just didn't go as planned; even though Jin Du contracted them as his natal spirit beasts, he was still one step away from breaking through.

Ultimately, it's because Jin Du's aptitude is so poor that even a spirit beast like this can't help him. Only a top-tier spirit beast would be able to help, preferably one that has awakened supernatural abilities.

Jin Du turned his head away and said stiffly, "Father is overthinking it. I had no such intention."

Over the years, he repeatedly contracted with and then broke the contracts with his natal spirit beasts, causing great damage to his body. Fortunately, he had elixirs to nourish him, otherwise most of his original essence would have been lost.

He naturally resented Sect Master Jin. Clearly, if the other party had taken action or sent a high-level cultivator to capture the person, the task could have been accomplished immediately. However, for the sake of some so-called face, he only sent his junior disciples to capture the person.

And what happened? Nothing at all!

"Alright, it doesn't matter whether it exists or not." Sect Leader Jin suddenly said this.

Jin Du, who expected to be scolded, looked at Sect Leader Jin in surprise: "Father, what's going on?"

Sect Master Jin laughed heartily: "My son's luck has arrived! I've heard that a spirit beast dealer has appeared on the black market, and he has a top-tier spirit beast, a Spirit Ape!"

Jin Du's eyes widened, his voice trembling: "Is what Father said true? The Spirit Ape Clan is extremely rare. Could this news be something someone has spread to mislead you?"

No wonder he couldn't believe it. This kind of being was legendary. If an ordinary beast tamer contracted it, he could immediately become a genius. Even a useless person could improve their poor physique and accelerate their cultivation speed by contracting it.

"I have already confirmed it, there is no doubt about it." Sect Master Jin smiled smugly. He was a cautious person, how could he not investigate the origins of the spirit beast dealer?

Upon investigation, he discovered that the spirit beast dealer came from the northern part of the continent, and the spirit ape in his possession was a stolen cub of the guardian spirit beast of the Wendao Sect.

What wonderful news!

If it weren't for the fact that Sect Master Jin himself had already merged with his natal spirit beast's bloodline and their energy were connected, he would never have given up this tremendous opportunity to his son.

"That's great!" Jin Du clenched his fist and slammed it on the table, shattering it into pieces. He pretended not to see it, his heart filled with intense joy. To be able to contract a spirit monkey was such a blessing.

In an instant, the pent-up frustration in my chest vanished.

Jin Du vowed that once he completed the contract, he would definitely slap the faces of certain people in the sect. You see, even though he was the young master of a sect, he was still the subject of a lot of gossip behind his back because of his cultivation level.

In the nearby black market.

Two hooded men are having a conversation in the room.

"Did you take the bait?" the woman asked coldly.

"We've arranged to meet him at midnight tomorrow. I'll make sure he comes here alive, but doesn't leave alive." The man's voice was gentle, but it held a hidden murderous intent.

"Hmph, as long as he's taken the bait, it wasn't for nothing that we disguised ourselves as spirit beast dealers and spent so much time scheming to lure him into the trap!" Master Lingzhu lifted his hood, revealing a ruthless expression.

Zao Mo smiled and said, "This person is indeed cautious, but he would never guess that we are not Foundation Establishment cultivators at all."

Sect Leader Jin, in his delusion of killing to seize the treasure, was unaware that he was already a sitting duck!