Chapter no.15 An Invitation

The meadow was a picturesque landscape of lush green grass and wildflowers that swayed gently in the cool breeze. The sun was high in the sky, casting a warm glow over the area and the dying screams of prisoners created melodic tune that echoed through the air with blood-curdling scream joining in as an arrow dismembered Zhang Pei's arm. Blood sprayed like a geyser from his dismembered arm as Zhang Pei bit through the pain and grabbed onto his saber, determined to defend himself.

Holding his saber with one arm, Zhang Pei stared at the bowman in front of him, who was dressed in a dark tunic and leather pants. He held a longbow in one hand and a quiver of arrows on his back. The bowman's eyes were cold and emotionless as he pulled back on the bowstring and let loose an arrow towards Zhang Pei.

( ~ Whoosh ~ )

Zhang Pei coated his sword in a fire attributed to Spiritual Qi as he effortlessly cut straight through the arrow, but the young master seemed to have forgotten one factor; Zhongli.

( ~ Waaahhhh ! ~ )

With a battle cry, Zhongli threw his shield at Zhang Pei's back. The shield was made of metal and was adorned with intricate carvings that depicted various runes. It was a formidable weapon in its own right. Zhang Pei spun to cut through the shield, but it was the wrong call as an arrowhead blasted through Zhang Pei's head, leaving behind a corpse with half of a skull as the young master's brains were splattered all over the field.

( ~ Crunch ~ )

Stepping on Zhang Pei's corpse, Zhongli stared at the bowman while his eyes glanced at the shimmering of light from all around him. He was surrounded by a group of archers, all dressed in similar clothing and wielding longbows.

With the absorbed blood of that giant and this blonde idiot, I should be able to escape. Zhongli thought as he touched his space sack, he had a mist talisman ready for escape.

( ~ Rustle ~ )

( ~ Rustle ~ )

( ~ Rustle ~ )

The bushes moved to reveal a beautiful black-haired woman who smiled as she approached the middle of the battlefield. She was dressed in a flowing black robe that was adorned with gold embroidery. A sword was strapped to her back and she held a staff in one hand.

" Why don't we relax? I'll put down my weapon, you do the same." The woman said as the bowman put his weapons down while the shimmer of lights all around him disappeared.

She must be the boss. Zhongli thought as he gazed upon the smiling woman.

Lin Lai smiled and answered," Brother Zhongli, I would like to have a word."

" How do you know my name ?"

" From the board, of course."

" Board ?"

Lin Lai smiled and tapped on her collar causing a blue screen to be projected from the collar in front of Zhongli where he saw some pictures grayed out while some were not.

" Ok, so what do you want with me ?"

" We wanted you to join us."

" Join you."

" Yes, we need to band together if we want to defeat monsters like these."

Lin Lai said as she tapped on a picture that expanded out, revealing the individual's name, coins, and kills as if she was trying to show that joining her was extremely beneficial for Zhongli.

Zhongli physically stopped as he saw the individual's kill count. 129 Kills?!

Zhongli sucked in a deep breath before looking at the smiling woman. "Fine, I'll accept but only on one condition."

" What is that ?"

" Whoever we kill, I get to drink his/her blood."

" Just the blood ?"

" Yes, just the blood. You can have the meat all you want." Zhongli stated, causing Lin Lai to frown before she extended her hand towards Zhongli who clasped her hand.

As Zhongli shook Lin Lai's hand, he felt himself standing before an undescribable monster whose aura was enough to crush him. This woman was powerful. That was the only thought Zhongli could muster as he felt Lin Lai's pressure on his shoulders.

Lin Lai just smiled and let go before casually leaving. This was all a power play by Lin Lai showing Zhongli that she could have killed him at any time but she spared him. Why?

Glancing at Zhang Pei's corpse, Zhongli couldn't help but wonder why this woman killed Zhang Pei and spared him. Was it because of the guy's attitude that she killed him while she spared Zhongli to gain a controllable pawn?

Zhongli shook his head as he threw Zhang Pei's corpse into his spatial bag. It didn't matter what that woman thought, she just presented him with a way to get so much stronger.

The sky was overcast, casting a gloomy shadow over the area and the wind howled through the empty streets, creating an eerie sound that echoed through the air from the forests to the abandoned towns.

But the eerie silence was abruptly interrupted by a voice calling out from the collars that all the prisoners were forced to wear.

( ~ Attention Everyone! ~ )

" The first day of the tournament is finished. We will announce the winners of the day based on the number of coins awarded to them. But before we will announce the deceased."

( ~ Right now, the dead boy no. one is Chen Mong. Two: An Ziwen. Three: Bei Tingfang. Four: Chen Bijun. ~ )

The list continued on, each name causing a chill to run down the spine of the prisoners as they realized the brutal reality of their situation. They were nothing more than animals in this place, surviving and killing one another for the entertainment of scum.

( ~ An hour later, the collar stated. A moment of silence for the dead ~ )

A few seconds later the silence is broken by the sound of a fart.

( ~ My apologies, ahhahahhahhhhahhahha! ~ )

The actions have been done now, while it would have affected the prisoners before their imprisonment, but now they were indifferent. Even in this state of utter indifference to the disrespect these people were giving to the death of many, everyone realized that they were nothing more than animals in this place, surviving and killing one another for the entertainment of scum.

( ~ The winners of the days are ; No. 1: Yang Xinhai. No. 2: Lin Lingtian. No. 3: Lin Lai. Congratulations to all of these three! You will be given cultivation pills and the rule of cultivation causing your location to be discovered will no longer apply to you. ~ )

Everyone on the island froze at the prizes for the winners as greed began to arise in the hearts of many. If they could become the next winners then they had the chance to increase their cultivation with pills without any danger but they needed to get something to get the attention of those white bastards.

What if we kill this day's winners?

A similar thought echoed throughout many minds.

Scratching his ears, Zhongli frowned as the bowman called.

" Oi, hurry up."

Zhongli nodded before following the bowman, his mind filled with thoughts of how to survive and come out on top in this deadly game.