The food and drink disappeared quickly after that.,
The Demon Race man stopped constantly making insults but the way he looked down on Yang Kai with utter scorn didn’t change from beginning to end.
“Is there something you want to ask?” The man grumbled, obviously having seen through Yang Kai’s intentions from the start.
Yang Kai simply smiled and first gave his name to his neighbour before saying, “I haven’t asked friend’s name yet.”
The man frowned, seemingly reluctant to report his name, but after considering for a moment he bluntly said, “Gou Che!”
Hearing this name, Yang Kai showed no reaction, but the nearby An Ling’er couldn’t help crying out in shock as she covered her mouth in surprise.
“Hm?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
“Are you really Gou Che?” An Ling’er stared at the Demon Race man in disbelief.
“Good!”
“My god, you’re actually Gou Che, how come you’re stuck in this prison then?”
“Is he someone famous?” Yang Kai asked An Ling’er curiously.
Gou Che snorted as he curled his lips, “Human brat, originally I thought you were somewhat clever, how come you suddenly look so ignorant?”
“Sorry, I’ve never heard of you,” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
An Ling’er licked her red lips and whispered, “Although I have heard the name Gou Che, he is not actually that famous, the famous one is his father! One of the four Demon Generals, Gou Qiong!”
“Your old man is a Demon General?” Yang Kai was also shocked.
The title ‘Demon General’ was one Yang Kai was unfortunately quite familiar with. Back in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s Evil Cavern Yang Kai had killed a Demon General’s Soul Clone! It was only after coming to Tong Xuan Realm though that Yang Kai learned of the terrifying strength each Demon General possessed from Shui Ling.
“My old man is my old man, I am me!” Gou Che seemed unwilling to borrow his father’s name and reputation.
“If you have such a powerful father, how could you have been caught and imprisoned here?” Yang Kai asked, somewhat dumbfounded.
Gou Che squinted as he glared at Yang Kai for a moment before sighing heavily, “A series of unlucky coincidences. In any case, let’s not talk about that. When I get out of here, I’ll rally together enough soldiers to raze this place to the ground.”
“May your wishes come true,” Yang Kai casually said before finally getting to the main point, “How much do you know about this place?”
“Not much,” Gou Che shook his head and no longer rejected Yang Kai outright as he had previously, perhaps agreeing with the sentiment that his enemy’s enemy was his friend, or perhaps thinking he could somehow use Yang Kai to help him escape from this predicament. “We only know that the people here call themselves the Sun Clan. They seem to have once belonged to the Human Race, but because of the Secret Arts they cultivate and that damn Divine Tree of theirs, their physique is now somewhat different from ordinary humans, so they gave themselves a new name.”
“Divine Tree?” Yang Kai frowned and vaguely remembered hearing that name when he first woke up. If he wasn’t mistaken, the Sun Clan clansmen who brought him to the hall said he would turn him into nutrients for the Divine Tree if he didn’t cooperate.
“En, it’s the root of their Sun Clan! Didn’t you see a giant tree when you first came here? The Yang Attribute energy being so rich in this place is all because of that Divine Tree! If not for it, how could our Demon Qi be so strongly suppressed?”
The energy flowing through Demon Race cultivators was called Demonic Qi, which was equivalent to the True Qi which flowed through Human cultivators.
After listening to Gou Che’s story, Yang Kai shook his head slowly, he really hadn’t seen this Divine Tree before, probably because he and An Ling’er had entered this Mysterious Small World from a different entrance.
“The Divine Tree is a strange entity that can generate Yang Attribute energy all on its own; however, recently, for some unknown reason, it seems to have become somewhat unstable. In order to keep the Divine Tree healthy and stable, the Sun Clan people here began catching people from the outside, and the only entrance to this Mysterious Small World is in my Demon Land, so those they have caught all come from my race. Strange, how did the two of you get here?”
“There’s more than one entrance to this place, we accidentally came in through one of them,” Yang Kai explained casually.
“No wonder,” Gou Che nodded lightly before continuing, “You must have felt the unusual energy fluctuations just now; they occur when the Divine Tree becomes unstable. Whenever that happens, they take some of the people they’ve captured here and use their blood and flesh to nurture and comfort the Divine Tree.”
“So those few who were taken just now…”
“They’re dead!” Gou Che sneered, “And it won’t be long before it’s our turn! I’m sure you can see, there aren’t many people left in here.”
Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. There were only one or two people left in the cells adjacent to his and it was likely there weren’t many in the other cells as well. Every time the Divine Tree’s instability appeared, they had to take several of them to act as blood sacrifices, so it was obviously it wouldn’t be long before everyone in here was dead.
The Sun Clan always abducting Demon Race cultivators from the Demon Land was bound to attract attention after so long so it was likely the Demon Land was now on guard against them so as not to let them succeed so easily anymore, meaning a fresh supply of bodies couldn’t be expected.
“The fruit you ate a few days ago came from their Divine Tree,” Gou Che frowned and explained, “Seeing how you ate that thing so happily, and considering the annoying feeling that comes from your aura, you should cultivate a Yang Attribute Secret Art, right?”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Then you can relax for a while. Before everyone else here is killed off, they probably won’t touch you. Their Divine Tree is especially fond of people like you so I’m sure they’re saving you for last,” Gou Che said, obviously taking some pleasure in Yang Kai’s misfortune, his menacing smiling giving An Ling’er the chills.
“Many thanks for your consideration,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and replied.
Gou Che just snickered before turning his attention to An Ling’er, sweeping his eyes over her body wantonly before saying meaningfully, “Brat, if I were you, I would enjoy myself while I can. You have such a beauty nearby yet you haven’t even touched her, could it be you have problems down there? That’s not good, you can’t disappoint her like that.”
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As soon as Gou Che said this, the other Demon Race captives burst out into a fit of laughter.
Yang Kai’s face went black and suddenly felt like this guy was somewhat off putting. An Ling’er on the other hand did her best to cover herself while shooting a hateful glare towards Gou Che and hiding herself behind Yang Kai.
…..
Since talking to Gou Che that day, Yang Kai gained a slight understanding of his current situation and began making some psychological preparations.
After getting a taste of wine after who knows how long, Gou Che became somewhat shameless; whenever the Sun Clan came to deliver food, he would always take two jugs of wine from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t mind though and simply shared without any complaints.
After getting along for a dozen days or so, Gou Che’s attitude had become more temperate and although it wasn’t as if he was treating Yang Kai like a sworn brother, he at least mellowed his insufferable arrogance.
The only thing that continued to frustrate Yang Kai was how Gou Che always egged him on regarding An Ling’er, each time causing the naive young woman to turn beat red and cling to Yang Kai to hide her embarrassment.
Being imprisoned here, while constantly on edge, not knowing when they would be dragged off and executed had caused the already unruly Demon Race cultivators to completely let loose and seek for some kind of entertainment anywhere they could.
In the past ten days, Yang Kai felt the unstable Yang Attribute energy fluctuations coming from the Divine Tree twice.
Both times, several of the Demon Race prisoners were taken out, never to return.
As the days went by, the number of Demon Race cultivators in the cells continued to dwindle and the moods of those who were left behind grew even heavier.
Their time of death was not far away, and everyone was aware of it.
The atmosphere was incredible gloomy, with only Yang Kai and Gou Che capable of looking forward. Neither of them seeming to be worried, as if they didn’t care whether they lived or died.
Yang Kai spent most of his time cultivating, not missing any opportunity to improve his strength.
He knew that the day he was taken out from this place, he’d have to fight a difficult battle. In this Mysterious Small World, to survive, he knew he would have to kill. If that is the case, then sharpening his blade at any opportunity he can was the best thing he could do right now.
Below the Saint Realm, he didn’t put anyone in his eyes, if anyone provoked him, he could directly release his Soul Devouring Insects and turn this Mysterious Small World into a mass graveyard. Presumably, the leaders of the Sun Clan wouldn’t be able to accept such an outcome which would give Yang Kai an opportunity to sit down and bargain with them.
Therefore he didn’t have any reason to panic.
But this was his biggest trump card and he wasn’t prepared to expose it until the last possible moment.
Two months passed by and basically every five days, a group of people would be brought out from the prison, but as more time went by, Yang Kai felt that the frequency of the Divine Tree’s episodes was increasing.
There were already very few people left in the dungeon.
With the exception of Yang Kai and An Ling’er, only Gou Che and his cellmates were left.
The next time the Divine Tree acted up, it would be their turn. This feeling of impending death unnerved even the normally calm Gou Che.
One day, while drinking with Yang Kai, Gou Che suddenly said, “Friend, you look like a real man. If death is really imminent, would you not resist?”
“Do you think I have the ability to resist?” Yang Kai chuckled.
“They didn’t seal your True Qi, your chances are at least better than mine.”
“Well, if it comes down to it, it certainly won’t just sit still and wait for death.”
“Good, when the time comes, I’ll help you. If you really can escape from this forsaken place, please bring a message to my father; tell him about this place and what happened here so he can take revenge for me!” As he spoke, Gou Che’s expression became fierce, “I have to let these bastards know my Demon Race is not to be trifled with.”
Yang Kai glanced over at him thoughtfully, faintly thinking that this hoodlum should still be hiding some methods, or at least was still capable of putting up some resistance.
However, it seemed like whatever methods he had were very limited; from how he spoke, it didn’t seem like he had any hope of escaping.
[With his help, maybe there really would be a chance to escape!] Yang Kai thought to himself.
As they were talking though, a familiar energy fluctuation filled the air.
Yang Kai, Gou Che, and An Ling’er’s eyes flashed, each of them falling into a temporary daze.
“It’s time!” Gou Che took a deep breath and said.
The Divine Tree had become unstable again, and now, besides them, there was only one other Demon Race cultivator left in this prison. They would certainly be chosen this time.
*Deng deng deng deng…*
The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside and with a loud bang, several Sun Clan clansmen burst into the prison.