The Magus Era

In the campsite for captives, over a thousand slave-hunting troop leaders watched a group of ‘guides’ burning like torches, with deathly pale faces.

Cruel, so cruel! Over ten of their ‘guides’ had been burning in the fire, howling shrilly. However, healers from Yao Mountain City had been taking good care of them, feeding them with all kinds of drugs to replenish their life-force and spirit blood.

They were burning in a fire, but could not die; they were forced to stay awake. Such a cruel torture could only happen in Yao Mountain City and hell.

"The owner of Yao Mountain territory is such a monster." murmured a young Yu Clan man. This was his first hunting trip. A breeze brought over a grilling meat aroma. Instantly, the faces of this young man and the other few around him twisted. Simultaneously, they began vomiting heavily.

"Monsters?" Along with Dishi Tu, Ji Hao showed up behind this young man and said smilingly, "In fact, back in Southern Wasteland, my people called you monsters too. Three-eyed monsters, four-eyed monsters, five-eyed monsters, dark-skin monsters, green-skin monsters…"

Ji Hao shrugged and looked at those ‘guides’, who had been struggling and screaming in the fire, then continued with a deep voice, "They wanted my people and me dead, in the most miserable way. But, I want my people to live, happily and safely. This conflict can never be mediated, and can only be solved in a ‘monstrous’ way."

Ji Hao put his hand on a shoulder of the young Yu Clan man, then looked him in the eyes and said seriously, "You should feel lucky that you failed so fast, before you could cause any loss to my people and me. This is the reason why you still have a chance to go back home and be with your families."

"If, I said if, you did any slight harm to my people, I swear I would have cut off your heads, piled them up, chopped your bodies into pieces, and fed to the wolves!" Patting the pasty face of the young Yu Clan man, he continued with a bland tone, "Trust me, in order to protect my people, I can do things even worse than the hell you have imagined."

The group of Yu Clan people remained silent. Ji Hao sounded determined. His words delivered a strong coldness, that drilled straight into these Yu Clan people’ hearts. Clearly, he was a strong, tough-minded landowner, who would not be swayed. Based on this direct impression they had of Ji Hao, these Yu Clan people surely wouldn’t be stupid enough to say anything to him in retort.

"Alright, alright! Everyone, listen to me!" Dishi Tu took a few steps forward, clapped his hands loudly, and caught everyone’s attention, then said, "First of all, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dishi Tu, the commander of Blood Eye regiment from the Blood Moon army. Under Emperor Dishi Yanluo’s order, I came to the human territory to scout for the current situation of human beings."

The group of leaders exclaimed out. In both respect and awe, they looked at Dishi Tu, especially the token held in his hand, which represented his identity. All Yu Clan people on the scene bowed to Dishi Tu. They were all from small Yu Clan families, and be it in terms of social status or family background, they could never compare with Dishi Tu.

"Alright, now I’ve told you about who I am and what my mission is. Unfortunately, you have made a loss-making deal." Dishi Tu sighed and continued speaking, "Look at you… Captives, you’re all captives. Fortunately, you still have a chance to be ransomed. But your warriors, ah, so unfortunate, they are dead already. How much ransom money will you pay?"

The faces of those slave-hunting troop leaders turned even darker. Sulkily, they looked at Dishi Tu.

Indeed, these slave hunters didn’t have strong family backgrounds. But year after year, they showered in blood and did brutal works. Their experiences raised their fierce tempers. Dishi Tu was a high-grade nobleman in truth, but, if he ever dared to laugh at them, these slave-hunting troop leaders could swear that Dishi Tu wouldn’t have a chance to even watch the sun rise again!

Over a thousand slave-hunting troops could become an extremely strong force if they combined their strengths. Killing a couple of high-grade noble beings wouldn’t be a big deal to a force like this. Not to mention the fact that they could let Ji Hao bear the blame.

Sensing the viciousness from these leaders, Dishi Tu hurriedly raised his hands and laughed, "Ah, ah, I am not laughing at you. In fact, I am trying to say that I’ve brought you an opportunity to make money!"

Before these leaders said anything, he pointed at Ji Hao and carried on, "Let me introduce this noble, powerful, and wise lord to you. Marquis Yao Ji Hao, a top-grade nobleman among human beings."

Clicking his tongue loudly, Dishi Tu gave a long sigh and said, "We have already seen what Lord Ji Hao can do. That was impressive, amazing, and terrifying. We are over a thousand slave-hunting troops, with millions of warriors, but within a quarter of an hour, we were destroyed!"

The group of leader showed weird and complicated looks on their faces. They were indeed stunned by Ji Hao’s power.

Before, they thought that this would be an easy, simple small task, with a high payoff. But in the end, this small task threw them into a desperate situation. The ransom money, the pension, all the blames from the families of the dead ones; thinking about these, some of those leaders even wanted to die right now!

"On behalf of Lord Ji Hao, such a powerful, respectful man, I brought you an opportunity to make money, serious money. As long as you cooperate with Lord Ji Hao, you can all return home safely, without paying a coin. In addition, you may even receive a payback that might be beyond your imaginations!"

"Lord Dishi Tu, what do you need us to do?" A tall Yu Clan man, whose face was almost covered in a perfectly brushed golden beard, leaped up and shouted, "What do you need us to do? Make money, serious money, that’s our favorite news!"

Dishi Tu quickly told them about Ji Hao’s requirements. Relaxedly, he said, "See? It’s easy, isn’t it? You only need to testify against some people as I said, and prove that they attempted to overturn the alliance of human clans."

The group of leader looked at each other and remained silent.

They had been fighting against human clans for years. They had seen all kinds of human beings, the brave ones, the ones who chose to fight till death, the tough ones, the generous ones, but Ji Hao was the first person they met who tended to frame his own kind.

But of course, since someone among human beings had colluded with them to attack Ji Hao’s territory indeed, it was reasonable for freaks like Ji Hao to exist among human beings.

They were attacking his territory, so why couldn’t he collude with the non-humankind as well to frame them?

"How much can we get?" Asked a leader with a muffled voice.

"You will get more than you can imagine!" Ji Hao looked at him and laughed, "Have you heard about an old saying, ‘an eye for an eye’? Some people described my temper with an idiom, ‘Ya Zi Bi Bao’, means, seeking revenge for the smallest grievance. Do you understand what ‘Ya Zi’ means?"

In the fire, a human torch suddenly burst into raging screams, "Marquis Yao Ji Hao, you will die miserably!"