The young Demon Clan boy looked at the "gentle" smile on Lu Sangjiu’s face, and as if crushed by the final straw, he let out a "WAAAH" and burst into tears!
"Don’t kill me, WAAAAH! I haven’t done anything bad, I really haven’t!"
Lu Sangjiu: "..."
The smile on her face froze. Then, questioning all her life choices, she poked the corner of her own lips with a finger.
’Aren’t I smiling? I’m clearly smiling!’
’I’m already trying so hard to show I’m friendly, so how could this boy still be scared to tears by me?’
He already looked malnourished, and now, crying so pitifully, Lu Sangjiu felt more and more like some weird old lady bullying a child.
Her mouth twitched. She did her best to soften her tone. "Um... don’t cry. I never said I was going to kill you."
Hearing this, the boy immediately stopped crying, but he continued to stare at her with tear-filled eyes, as if trying to discern whether she was telling the truth.
After a moment’s hesitation, he added in a small voice, "Not killing me... you can’t torture me, either."
Lu Sangjiu: "..."
She was speechless but could only reply good-naturedly, "I’m a good person. Why would I torture you for no reason?"
The boy added, "You can’t feed me poison, either."
Then, before Lu Sangjiu could even nod, he continued on his own, "You can’t send me to the Immortal Alliance, either... and definitely don’t hand me over to that City Lord!"
Lu Sangjiu was speechless. "Stop. You don’t need to add any more details. I told you I’m not a bad person. As long as you haven’t been causing trouble, I naturally won’t harm you."
Hearing Lu Sangjiu say this, the boy finally let out a sigh of relief. "Alright... I’ll tentatively trust you, then. You have to keep your word."
Seeing that he had finally stopped crying, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but wipe a bead of sweat from her forehead and relax as well.
She sat down casually across from the boy and asked, "What’s your name?"
The boy hesitated for a moment before saying, "...You can call me Ah Ming."
This obviously wasn’t his full name. It was probably just a nickname, or perhaps an outright alias.
But that wasn’t important.
Lu Sangjiu nodded and asked about what she truly cared about. "You just used Ghost Demon Fragrance, didn’t you? So, what is Fa Shan to you?"
Hearing her say this, Ah Ming’s pupils clearly trembled, as if from surprise, or perhaps nervousness.
"I... I don’t know what this Ghost Demon Fragrance you’re talking about is. I just happened to find that incense by accident."
"As for the Fa Shan you mentioned, he’s the Sect Master of the Divine Tomb Sect in the Western Demon Realm. How could I possibly have any connection to such a major figure?"
All one could say was that this little guy was terrible at lying. The reason he gave was plausible enough, but his guilty expression was just too obvious.
After he finished, he saw that Lu Sangjiu was silent for a long moment and couldn’t help but stress again, "Everything I said is true, believe me!"
’Could he be any less believable?’
But Lu Sangjiu understood. There hadn’t been any news of a new Transcendance Tribulation Stage expert appearing in the Western Demon Realm. That meant Fa Shan and Cangming, who had both successively entered the Body Integration Realm, were currently the most powerful Demon Cultivators.
In front of a Cultivator, claiming to have a connection with such a Great Demon was truly asking for trouble.
Of course, his reaction had already given Lu Sangjiu her answer.
If they truly had no connection, he wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction or needed to lie. This could only mean that his relationship with Fa Shan was indeed profound.
’But in that case, his status in the Divine Tomb Sect must be extraordinary. I wonder how he ended up in Cultivator territory?’
’And it looks like... he’s not having a very good time.’
Generally speaking, once one reached the Golden Core Stage, they wouldn’t feel hungry even if they didn’t eat. Most would sustain their physical energy with Spiritual Power.
Of course, feeling hungry because of a craving was another matter entirely.
It was the same for Demon Cultivators. They could sustain themselves with Demonic Qi, so they naturally wouldn’t appear gaunt.
But this boy... he was genuinely sallow and emaciated. This could only mean that not only was he not getting enough to eat, but he also hadn’t brought enough Demon Essence Stones with him.
Therefore, here in Cultivator territory, with no Demon Essence Stones to replenish his Demonic Qi, he could only endure hunger and starvation to conserve what little Demonic Qi he had.
While pondering these things, Lu Sangjiu didn’t press him further about his background. Instead, she changed the subject. "Tell me, how did a Demon Cultivator like you get all the way here from the Western Demon Realm?"
Ah Ming’s face scrunched up as he sighed. "I... I was careless and got captured."
"Captured?"
That answer was completely different from what Lu Sangjiu had expected. She was momentarily surprised, frowning before asking again, "Who captured you? Where did they capture you? And what for?"
"I was captured in the Western Demon Realm, of course."
Ah Ming said dejectedly, "I fell into someone’s trap in the Western Demon Realm. They knocked me out and tied me up."
"After that, I was in a daze. I just remember being transported somewhere with a group of people, and then the ones who caught us sold us."
"Then I suddenly realized that there was no Demonic Qi in the surroundings anymore. Instead, it was filled with uncomfortable Spiritual Energy. That’s when I realized in shock that I had probably been brought to Cultivator territory."
Lu Sangjiu frowned again. "So you’re saying you were captured by traffickers and sold over here?"
Ah Ming nodded. "And the ones who captured me should be Demon Cultivators, too. I just don’t know why they would persecute their own kinsmen and make deals with these detestable Cultivators!"
He paused, suddenly remembering something, and quickly shook his head. "Of course, when I say detestable Cultivators, I’m definitely not talking about you!"
Lu Sangjiu ignored his explanation, which was bursting with the will to live, and just continued asking, "And then? How did you escape?"
"All of our valuables had been confiscated, but luckily, I had a very well-hidden storage space on me."
"You’ve already seen how potent my incense is. I found an opportunity, knocked everyone out with it, and then escaped."
Actually, when he and the others escaped, they also killed the Cultivators who were escorting them.
But he was afraid Lu Sangjiu would get angry, so he didn’t dare say it.
Lu Sangjiu, of course, noticed this small omission. However, she wouldn’t get angry over it. ’Bad people deserve to be killed.’
"So, you were just transported to the vicinity of Yuelin City by that person, and you escaped without knowing what he bought you for?"
Ah Ming hesitated before saying, "That’s right, but I did overhear a bit of their conversation... I’m not entirely clear on the details, but it seemed like they wanted to use us for hard labor, and also for refining some kind of Magic Treasure."
"Anyway, from what I heard, they planned to squeeze every last bit of value out of us and then slaughter us. They’re incredibly vicious."
Lu Sangjiu’s expression turned grave. From Ah Ming’s perspective, this might have just been a personal, unlucky experience, but after hearing his story, Lu Sangjiu’s thoughts went much further.
’Using them for refining Magic Treasures is probably some kind of Evil Technique. If it’s just a few Evil Cultivators, that’s one thing, but using them for hard labor... that sounds like a long-term business.’
’Capturing Cultivators for hard labor would inevitably lead to accidents, but if they capture Demon Cultivators, it’s much safer...’
’After all, the borders of the Western Demon Realm are guarded by Cultivators. If the Demon Cultivators lose some of their people, it’s not like they can cross the border to come looking for them, right?’
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