20. Warrior's Promise

Su Mo did not relax his vigilance. Nor did he save people from the vats.

The place was enormous, and he did not want to take any chance. There might be traps and other dangerous things like the Blood-Sucking Fruit in this basement. The old man's death was silent, without any commotion, which added to the creepiness of the situation.

Su Mo returned to the 'house' from the basement. He positioned himself beside the door and waited for the search party to return. People are very likely to relax when they enter their own safehouse. Su Mo wanted to capitalise on that moment to finish off the three remaining people.

He did not wait underground for a reason. The old man's alertness and response suggested that the three were not allowed to enter without permission, and the old man was not to be disturbed.

The search party of three did not find anyone. They knew that someone had thrown a tree branch to bring them out. Hence, they did not relax and decided to guard the door.

Su Mo cursed inwardly. He did not expect the search party to be so vigilant.

He was also amazed by their cautiousness and the way they handled the situation without any commands. Su Mo appreciated them, and a part of him was full of praise for the organisation which trained them.

Since the three black-robed men did not enter, it gave Su Mo a few moments to think. He did not want to kill them as having such capable subordinates would take years of training and experience.

Su Mo wished that they would defect to his side. Their low level of cultivation and their task was an indication of their low status in the organisation. He could sway them to his side if they were not brainwashed to do the organisation's bidding. For that, he needed some preparation.

Su Mo decided to buy some time for himself. He picked the tree branch lying on the floor. It was the one he threw to create a distraction. It was about two-metre-long, so he cut it into smaller pieces.

Su Mo threw one piece out from the window on the 'upper floor'. The house was a complete gimmick without any floors. It may look like a double-storey building from outside, but it was just an empty shell from the inside.

The piece of wood landed quite a distance away from the house, swaying a lot of branches and bushes. The three men were fooled away by the commotion.

Now, Su Mo had enough time to explore the basement. He could fool these three a few more times before they discover his trick. However, their intelligence and training were a factor of uncertainty in the plan.

Su Mo climbed down the stairs as carefully as the last time. He first searched the old man's corpse while staying away from the Blood-Sucking Fruit.

Su Mo picked the Lv-3 dagger carefully. It was pitch-black with an unadorned handle. Su Mo also found a storage pouch with a vast space from the old man. It had a few spirit stones, gold taels, scrolls and few other miscellaneous things.

After not finding anything else of value on the old man, Su Mo turned to the altar. It was a simple wooden platform with a silver bowl and a few blood-sucking fruits placed on it. The bowl was filled with a dark liquid same as the vats. Su Mo did not touch anything and searched around the room.

The basement had nothing else other than some empty and some half-filled vats. Su Mo carefully picked a blood-sucking fruit. Unexpectedly, it was hard as a stone.

"So, I lucked out with the old man's expertise," thought Su Mo.

People tend to use their weapons in hand on anything thrown towards them under tense conditions. The old man thought that Su Mo would cut the blood-sucking fruit, but the tables turned on him. Su Mo returned the blood fruit with an out-of-the-world sword stroke. Su Mo went against the norm while the old man followed his instincts, meeting his demise.

Su Mo gathered all the fruits except the one elevated to Medium Lv-1 Spirit Herb from the young man's blood and the one which sucked the old man's blood.

While storing the fruits, Su Mo's gaze fell on the piece of cloth over which the silver bowl was placed. A few words were scribbled over it.

Su Mo carefully picked and placed the silver bowl aside. The first few words on the scroll drained all the blood from Su Mo's face.

-----

Here stands the Gate of Heaven on the Grounds of Hell

When The liquid of Birth waters The seeds of Living

While the Gate is drenched with Cold Blood

May the Banished be accepted back in the World.

-----

Su Mo backed off. The words shook his heart. He was not ready to stumble into the {World Prison trope}. This meant that the battle of human survival had already begun. Su Mo was thrust into the climax of a War that was as old as the universe.

Su Mo chuckled dryly. His mood turned worse after he understood the liquid, the vats, the bowl and the altar. The dark liquid was from the bellies of pregnant women while their bones were used to make the vats. The fruit, most probably, becomes a source of Cold Blood extracted from humans. This Cold Blood was used as energy to break the chains of the "Prisoned". Later, the organisation would use it to break the barrier of the "Prison World".

The piece of cloth was stamped "Cold Blood Hall".

Su Mo was burning with anger. He understood the frustration, the challenge and the hearts of various protagonists in their worlds. He understood their mood.

To know your greatest foe with no strength,

To have great strength and no time,

To stand alone against the world with a Truth,

An answer to their life,

"I live to fight till the end."

----

Coming to this world of Warrior's Promise, Su Mo was sure that if someone wrote about him on Earth, the story's title was sure to change. He would not be tied down to a woman. Su Mo would not spend his whole life chasing someone. There would not be the Warrior's Promise of chasing the girl to the depths of hell or climbing the stairs of Heavens to gain her back.

Simply, knowing her name had created an aversion for her love. He just had a curiosity as a traveller for a woman who could make a man fight the world for him.

Su Mo knew that a person like him would eventually find someone like that. And the chances of that woman being Gu Lanxi, the female lead of the original novel, were minuscule.

He had denied the title "Warrior's Promise" to date. But, the words on the paper and his resonating heart of a protagonist reshaped his views.

Only a single thought occupied his mind as his Martial Soul appeared behind him.

"I live to fight till the end."