Open up and break into another world

"Put your neck under my blade and let me try out the feeling of a hostage!"

Ao Tian almost burst into tears upon hearing this.

"Master Xu, your blade is so sharp. What if you accidentally twitch? Then my life…" Ao Tian said tremulously.

"I'm not sure if I'll twitch, but…" Xu Ming sneered, "If you don't cooperate with me, I'll definitely slap you right away! And if you still don't cooperate after that, then there's no point in you being alive!"

"Master Xu, Master Xu, please don't slap me! Let's talk nicely!" Ao Tian said tremulously.

To avoid being slapped and to save his own life, Ao Tian had no choice but to cooperate.

When he put his neck towards the blade, his heart really felt like it was jumping out of his throat. His expression was even more unsightly than if his father had died: "Master Xu, please, please don't twitch!"

Xu Ming ignored his request and instead said, "Move your neck closer! Yes, yes, completely touching the blade, not even a hair's breadth apart—otherwise, I'm afraid your father might have a chance to save you!"

"Master Xu, he won't have a chance to save me, and I won't run away. Can we not practice? It's too creepy…" Ao Tian pleaded.

"How can we not practice? The martial world is treacherous; caution is the key to long life. I must be careful, careful, and even more careful!—Anyway, since we have nothing else to do, we must practice this hostage-taking routine until we're skilled!"

Ao Tian just wanted to cry silently for a while.

After practicing for a good while, Xu Ming finally found the most comfortable hostage-taking posture and ensured that the blade was always tightly against Ao Tian's neck!

That way, when Xu Ming held the knife to Ao Tian, if Ao Xiang dared to act rashly or attack Xu Ming, then—

"Sizzle!"

At best, Ao Tian would have a large gash on his neck; at worst… he would be decapitated.

"Not bad! This makes me feel safe!" Xu Ming was quite satisfied with the result of the rehearsal.

Ao Tian's heart was filled with tears: "Master Xu, you feel safe, but what about my safety?…"

However, after finally achieving some success in the practice, Ao Tian also breathed a sigh of relief: "Master Xu, now that we've rehearsed, let's take a break! You see, you've been holding the knife for so long; you must be tired!"

"Rehearsed?" Xu Ming glared. "How is that possible! This is just the beginning of the rehearsal, okay?—I can't possibly stand still when I'm holding you hostage, right? So…"

Xu Ming grinned sinisterly: "Next, we'll rehearse: walking with a knife to your throat!"

"Ah…" Ao Tian's heart was simply overflowing with tears.

"After rehearsing 'walking with a knife to your throat,' we'll rehearse 'jumping with a knife to your throat'! After all, there might be special situations where we need to jump a few times to avoid something… If we don't jump in sync, and my knife accidentally slices your neck, that's not a joke, that would be a big problem!"

Ao Tian's face was ashen, and he lamented to the heavens in his heart: "Father, Father, where are you? Come and save me…"

With such dangerous rehearsals, Ao Tian really doubted whether he could survive to complete them.

…

"Good rehearsal!" Xu Ming praised. "I hope you can perform as well in the actual battle later as you did now; otherwise…"

Ao Tian said with a mournful face: "Master Xu, Master Xu, please don't say it; I understand! Otherwise, my head will be gone!"

Since his life was directly at stake, how could Ao Tian not rehearse well and perform well?

"That's good!" Xu Ming nodded with satisfaction.

He was sure that Ao Tian wouldn't dare to mess around.

"Next, I plan to go to your Hidden Kill Sect's treasure vault!" Xu Ming said. "Do you want to walk over there safely or walk over there with apprehension?"

Walk over there safely?

Walk over there with apprehension?

Ao Tian was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"If you want to walk over there safely, then after I remove the trapping formation, don't send a message for help; wait until we reach the entrance of the treasure vault before sending a message to your father—of course, my knife will still be at your neck, but it will be a little further away." Xu Ming rarely had the patience to say so much to Ao Tian; usually, he would just slap him directly. "If you want to walk over there with apprehension, then after I remove the trapping formation, you can immediately send a message to your father for help. Then, my blade will be close to your neck, all the way to the treasure vault!"

"I want to walk over there safely! I want to walk over there safely!" Ao Tian said repeatedly.

Although Ao Tian had already practiced until he was skilled, having a blade against his neck was really something that should be done as little as possible.

As the saying goes: If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet?—Ao Tian was afraid that Xu Ming would twitch, or that his own neck would twitch, and then it would be a tragedy!

"I can't die young! I haven't collected ten thousand top-quality women yet; it would be a pity to die now…" Ao Tian wailed in his heart.

Sure enough, after Xu Ming removed the trapping formation, Ao Tian was very obedient and didn't dare to send a message to his father, Ao Xiang, for help.

Seeing that Ao Tian was so obedient, Xu Ming's blade was also placed about an inch away from Ao Tian's neck—in Ao Tian's opinion, this position was already full of security.

It was already night, and there was almost no one walking around inside the Hidden Kill Sect.

Xu Ming held Ao Tian hostage and walked all the way to the entrance of the treasure vault without encountering a single person.

"You're lucky!" Xu Ming said. "If we had met someone, you wouldn't have been able to walk so safely!"

"Yes, yes!" Ao Tian said dejectedly.

And in the depths of Ao Tian's eyes, there was a hint of murderous intent that he could barely suppress.

"Forcing me to rehearse 'knife to the neck'… I have never suffered such torment and humiliation in my life!" In his heart, Ao Tian certainly hated Xu Ming to death. "When my father rescues me, I will definitely make him capture you, abolish your cultivation, and torture you every day! Not only will I torture you, but I will also soak you in potions so that you can't die even if you want to…"

As he thought about it, Ao Tian couldn't help but emit a faint trace of murderous intent.

"What, do you hate me a lot?" Xu Ming keenly captured this trace of murderous intent.

Ao Tian couldn't help but tremble—he knew that Xu Ming's knife was currently at his neck! If he angered Xu Ming and he gently stroked his neck…

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!" Ao Tian weakly argued.

"Wouldn't dare?" Xu Ming sneered. "How is that possible? You must hate me so much that you want me to beg for death but not be able to die, right? It's okay; it's normal for you to have this idea; it would be strange if you didn't!—Okay, hurry up and send a message to your father, let him come and save you!"

"Just be arrogant!" Of course, Ao Tian only dared to think these words in his heart and didn't dare to say them out loud. "When my father comes, let's see how long you can be arrogant!"

Ao Tian took out the communication talisman with incomparable frustration and resentment, almost crying: "Father, come and save me!! I've been kidnapped—"

However, as Ao Tian's wailing continued, Xu Ming slapped him casually and snatched the communication talisman.

Pa!!

"Ah!!!!" After being slapped again, Ao Tian couldn't help but scream.

"What's wrong, Xiao Tian?" A tense voice came from the communication talisman, "What happened?"

Xu Ming communicated: "Don't worry, Sect Master Ao, Ao Tian is fine! Just now, my hand was itchy, so I just slapped him!—Oh, right, I'm now at the entrance of your treasure vault; hurry up and come over; I don't like waiting for people! Before you arrive, I'll slap your son every breath as a form of entertainment!"