Nightmare Immortal Era

Chapter 36: Jiangyun Hao

Ocean Cloud City is vast and still expanding without restrictions.

The technology of expanding rooms using the Jiezi Sumi technique is widely used, allowing a room as small as one square meter to be expanded to one hundred square meters.

But the rooms for imprisoning slaves are only that small.

In a room of less than ten square meters, eighty children are crammed together. They eat, drink, and relieve themselves all in this room, causing a strange smell to permeate the entire space.

Food is severely lacking, leaving them without the strength to even speak. As soon as it gets dark, they fall into a deep sleep, waiting for tomorrow to come, waiting for an unknown fate.

Whether it's starving to death or being sold, the difference is not significant.

"Hao ge, I want to commit suicide. I don't want to continue like this anymore!" A child groaned softly, "I don't want to be a slave."

"No!" The boy named Hao ge looks to be around eleven or twelve years old. Although he is skinny and hunched, his eyes are exceptionally bright. "You must stay alive. As long as we are alive, there is hope. We won't be slaves forever. One day, we will return to Jiangyun and become respectable people!"

"Will that day really come?"

"It will definitely come!"

"When will it be?"

"Maybe tomorrow, maybe a long, long time from now, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you must stay alive to see that day!"

"Is that so? I really want to see it, but, I'm sorry, Hao ge, I..."

"Liuer, Xiao Liu?" The boy noticed the sudden disappearance of the voice and quickly lowered his head, only to see that the boy had closed his eyes with a peaceful smile on his face.

Dead, he's dead?

"Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu, don't die, Xiao Liu!"

The other boys nearby glanced over silently and then averted their gaze silently.

They have seen scenes like this many times before, and slowly, they have become accustomed to it.

Only Hao ge gritted his teeth and wiped his eyes, but at this moment, there were no tears left to shed.

"Put him in the corner. Someone will come to collect him tomorrow!" Hao ge sighed, leaned against the wall, and helplessly looked at the ceiling covered in cobwebs, saying weakly.

The other boys joined forces to lift Xiao Liu and carried him to the door.

This is a scene presented by Deep Blue within the Spirit Realm, a fact happening somewhere in Ocean Cloud City.

A very ordinary fact!

Yang Ning finished watching in silence. He knew that the living conditions of slaves were not good, as he could tell from the whip marks on their bodies and their emaciated appearance when passing through the market during the day.

But he never expected the actual situation to be so tragic!

"Jiangyun, Jiangyun!!"

"Calm down!" Deep Blue reminded.

"Don't worry, I'm calm!" Yang Ning took a deep breath.

The appearance, national character, and even past experiences of the people of Jiangyun reminded him of his hometown.

However, empathy is one thing, and rationality is another.

Always remember that all suffering stems from the person's own inadequacy.

Therefore, becoming an immortal is the primary goal. As long as one can become an immortal, at least most of the things in the Extreme Eternal World that one dislikes can be resolved with a single word!

"That's him!" Yang Ning looked at the image of Hao Ge, who was young but determined, a leader among the group of children, and seemed to have good eloquence.

After searching around, he was the most outstanding.

"The communication device has been arranged!" Deep Blue said, "You can make a call now!"

"Well, let's set a convincing voice first!" Yang Ning said, "Let's use Zhong Li's voice, it sounds stable. Oh, let's use Zhong Li for the image and name as well. By the way, do you know Zhong Li?"

"I know, it's Zhong Li!" Deep Blue exclaimed.

"For God's sake, get to the point!" Yang Ning urged.

"Setup complete!"

AI voices and AI drawings are indeed used for scams. The next second, Zhong Li's deep voice appeared in Hao Ge's ears.

"He's not dead yet!"

"I know!" Hao Ge's words surprised Yang Ning. "He fainted from hunger, but there's no food here. Death is just a matter of time!"

"You're not surprised to hear my voice?" Yang Ning asked.

Shouldn't you first ask who I am with caution?

"It's just someone who wants my life!" Hao Ge laughed. "After all, I'm just a slave now. Besides my life, what other value can be exploited? Those slave traders don't have the leisure to joke with me."

He stood up, and the young people next to him immediately dispersed, allowing him to walk to the corner.

The groans in the cell suddenly grew louder the next moment.

"You can't be a competitor to this slave trader. There's no competition in a profitless transaction. Are you an enemy of Extreme Eternal?" Hao Ge asked.

"You're quite smart for a kid!" Yang Ning sighed.

"If I weren't smart, would you have found me?" Hao Ge retorted.

Indeed! Yang Ning nodded. He had picked him out from hundreds of cells. He knew Hao Ge was smart, but he didn't expect him to be this smart!

"Then guess what I want you to do?" Yang Ning asked in return.

"I don't know what you want me to do, but I know you have a way to save Xiao Liu!" Hao Ge said. "If you can't do it, you wouldn't have spoken!"

Yang Ning understood. This kid wants to see his abilities first!

Of course, it's also possible that he wants to freeload on his abilities. After all, he can save Xiao Liu first and then refuse to cooperate!

At this moment, the initiative unexpectedly fell into Hao Ge's hands!

Of course, this initiative is fragile. It is built on the premise that Yang Ning cannot do without Hao Ge, but in reality, Yang Ning can change partners at any time.

Yang Ning needs a smart person as a partner, but it doesn't mean he can only choose the smartest.

So Hao Ge is gambling!

His expression was calm, but Deep Blue had already detected his soaring heartbeat.

"Damn brat!" Yang Ning exclaimed, wondering if this person could be Jiangyun's savior.

He didn't know, but Yang Ning did want to find a smarter collaborator, otherwise this person would come seeking help every few days, turning into a babysitter.

"Did you see the spider above your head?" Yang Ning said.

"I saw it, so what?" Hao Ge looked up. The spider on the ceiling was the size of a child's palm, with black and white stripes, not many in number, about a dozen.

"This kind of spider is called a zebra spider, it's non-toxic, you can eat it after removing the head and legs!" Yang Ning said.

"Hmm?" Hao Ge's eyes lit up, immediately stood up, and then found that he couldn't reach it, so he quickly waved his hand.

Two children next to him hurriedly came over.

"Help me catch the spider!" Hao Ge said.

The two children immediately squatted down, lifted Hao Ge up, and Hao Ge reached out and directly grabbed the two largest spiders in his hand, first removing the head and then the legs. Then he called his little friends and asked them to wake up Xiao Liu.

"Hao Ge, can we eat this thing?" one of the children asked.

Naturally, they trusted Hao Ge, but this spider was hairy, just a glance at it made people shudder!

"You can eat it!" Hao Ge said firmly.

He didn't think the person went through so much trouble just to play a joke.

Even if it was a joke, it was just a companion who would die tomorrow morning becoming dead tonight, what's the difference?

For someone in his situation, many times, there simply was no choice!

Xiao Liu woke up in a daze, before he could turn around, he felt someone prying open his mouth and stuffing something inside.

He didn't see clearly what it was, but he felt it was furry.

A person who was extremely hungry wouldn't care what they were eating. Since it was already in his mouth, Xiao Liu took a few bites, then his eyes lit up, and he took a few more bites before swallowing it.

After eating, he finally regained some strength. Xiao Liu opened his eyes and saw Hao Ge beside him.

"How do you feel?" Hao Ge asked.

"Tastes like chicken." Xiao Liu blinked his eyes. "Where did it come from?"

Hao Ge pointed to the sky, and the other boys immediately rushed over.

These spiders had lived here for so many years, they had never seen such a scene before, and they had no defenses at all, they were directly caught.

Unfortunately, there were too few of them, not enough for everyone.

Hao Ge commanded, giving more to the bigger ones and less to the smaller ones, then asked, "Senior, are you still here? Can't we really eat the spider legs?"

"Just gave them back to you, and now I'm already a senior!" Yang Ning laughed. "My name is Zhongli, as for the spider legs, if you're extremely hungry and eat them hastily, the sharp spider legs can scratch your esophagus, but if you chew slowly, it's no problem. The spider head is the same, just remove the teeth and you can eat it!"

"Okay, okay!" Hao Ge nodded and said, "My name is Jiangyun Hao, thank you very much, senior. I'll tell everyone now!"

He carefully didn't mention Zhongli's name.

"Jiangyun Hao? Is Jiangyun your family name?" The name of the Jiangyun country comes from the surname Jiangyun, and Hao Ge's name is Jiangyun Hao.

"Are you Prince Jiangyun?" Yang Ning asked.

"I am not a prince!" Jiangyun Hao said, "Many people in the Jiangyun Kingdom did not have surnames before, but after the establishment of the country, they took on the surname Jiangyun. My ancestors were farmers!"

"Is that so!" Jiangyun has been destroyed for almost a hundred years, and Yang Ning really doesn't know what the former Jiangyun Kingdom was like.

"How do you feel?" Yang Ning asked as Jiangyun Hao finished eating even the spider legs.

"I feel better!" Jiangyun Hao said.

But a small spider is not enough to feed a hungry child.

Jiangyun Hao felt Yang Ning's kindness, so he didn't want to trouble Yang Ning any further.

Yang Ning said, "Take three steps to your right, and there is a nest of snakes under that floor tile. They are non-venomous and can be eaten, but be careful when catching them, there might be quite a few!"

Deep Blue heard the faint sound of snakes.

Jiangyun Hao's eyes lit up again. What's a few more? We have over eighty people, we're afraid it won't be enough!

He quickly directed his companions to lift the floor tiles and start catching the snakes.

This time, they caught more than a dozen snakes, plus more than a dozen snake eggs.

With limited resources, they could only eat them raw. Jiangyun Hao distributed the snake meat to the older children and the snake eggs to the younger ones, and it was surprisingly evenly divided.

"This child also has strong leadership skills!" As the saying goes, it's not about having little, it's about having it unevenly. You can tell if a person has leadership skills by how they distribute things.

"Thank you, senior, for letting us have a full meal!" Jiangyun Hao sighed, "Even if I die immediately, I'm willing!"

Yang Ning smiled and said, "I let you eat your fill, but I didn't ask you to die!"

"Senior, whatever orders you have, just say it, as long as it's not asking us to betray Jiangyun." Jiangyun Hao didn't try to be clever this time. He had already shown off enough earlier, and too much is as bad as too little.

"No rush, let me save you first!" Yang Ning said, "I have two methods to help you escape. Which one do you choose?"

"Please tell me, senior!"

"The first method is that tomorrow, I will send someone to buy all of you."

"The second method is that I will save you tonight, but you will be wanted throughout the city. All slave traders, even cultivators, will take on the task of finding you!"

"With the first method, all of you will survive, but with the second method, you may die, and it will be a gruesome death! And even after death, you won't rest in peace. Your bodies may be hung on the city walls as a warning to others!"

Jiangyun Hao remained silent for a long time and asked, "If we escape tonight, will you still help us on our journey?"

"I will!" Yang Ning answered.

"In that case, there's no need to consider. I choose the second method!" Jiangyun Hao said.

"Tell me your reason," Yang Ning asked, "Didn't you say that as long as we're alive, there is hope?"

"When we escape, I become the hope!" Jiangyun Hao said earnestly, "As long as we're alive, they will know that someone is fighting for everyone's freedom!"

"As long as we experience freedom, they will know that they won't always be slaves!"

Yang Ning remained silent for a long time and said to Deep Blue, "I seem to have saved an extraordinary person!"

(End of this chapter)