Douluo: A Century-old Legend I Am the Second Uncle Chenxin

Chapter 1853 Imprisoned, Helpless

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……

Ten years ago.

The child awakened a martial spirit and inherited his mother's attributes.

While Dou Jing was overjoyed, his heart sank.

This martial spirit attribute is completely out of place in the dark and damp environment of the dungeon.

More importantly, as Barton secured his position as leader, the tentacles of the Spirit Hall (Blood Fang and others) penetrated deep into the very marrow of the Bone-Digging Group, and he, as the vice-leader, was now under the watchful eyes of countless people.

His wife and children became his fatal weakness.

“Children shouldn’t stay underground,” Dou Jing confided his concerns to Barton.

After a moment of contemplation, Barton proposed a ruthless but "effective" plan: to arrange a meticulously designed "accident" so that Dou Jing's wife and children would "die a violent death" and then live in anonymity.

There is no choice.

Dou Jing reluctantly cooperated, personally "burying" his own happiness.

His wife and children were secretly moved to a secluded residence in Tiandou City.

He would take advantage of official business trips to visit his wife and children.

one year later.

The Soul Saint's keen senses immediately alerted him to the anomaly—there were subtle fluctuations of soul power around the residence, indicating surveillance!

Who else in the Huagai District, besides Patton, has the ability and motivation to deploy manpower on the ground without making a sound?

When questioned, Patton did not deny it.

“It’s for protection.” Barton slowly brewed his tea, the rising steam blurring his expression beneath his metal jaw. “Old Dou, you know what the situation is like underground right now. Bloodfang and the others… have incredibly sharp eyes. You think your ‘accident’ is flawless? At the slightest disturbance, those two will be targets.”

Dou Jing's eyes widened in fury, his soul power spiraling out of control, shattering a corner of the solid stone table with a deafening roar: "Protection?! This is surveillance! This is control!"

Patton remained motionless, letting the debris fly around.

He put down the teapot, and his hand, covered in metal arm armor, pressed down with immense force on Dou Jing's shoulder, which was trembling with anger. The force was so great that Dou Jing's bones groaned.

"Don't get angry." Barton's gentleness was suffocating. "They're alive, aren't they? They're actually safer under the Spirit Hall's nose. I'll send people to 'take good care' of them... The children will be admitted to the best Spirit Master Academy in Heaven Dou City. This is the best arrangement."

The hand on Dou Jing's shoulder was colder and more piercing than the scorpion tail that pierced Patton's body in the mine years ago, instantly freezing all his anger and brotherhood.

He understood that from that moment on, the word "brother" became the heaviest and most ironic shackle binding his soul.

Beneath the veneer of "protection" lay a blatant threat of hostage-taking. Patton's unspoken unspoken message gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake:
"Protecting my legacy is protecting your son's life."

…………

Seven years ago, in the suburbs of Tiandou City.

Dou Jing, disguised as a merchant, met an informant trembling all over in the cellar of an abandoned mortuary.

The other party was a squad leader planted by the Bone Digging Gang in the Heavenly Dou City Guard. He almost exposed his connection with the Bone Digging Gang due to a slip of the tongue while drunk.

"Co-pilot! Help me! They...they've already started investigating!" The informant cried, tears streaming down his face.

A fierce glint flashed in Dou Jing's eyes as Barton's instructions from this morning echoed in his mind: "This man is finished. Dispose of him, erase all traces. The 'Cold Iron Ingot' smuggling route he handled... cut it off for now."

No hesitation.

A phantom image of a frosty white steel fork flashed by, and the cellar was instantly frozen.

The informant's horrified expression froze on his face, transforming him into a corpse encased in solid ice.

Dou Jing flicked out a wisp of chilling soul fire, watching the ice corpse silently vaporize in the dark blue flames, leaving not even ashes behind.

On the return journey, the rain poured down, and his hand holding the reins was icy cold—Patton's "high regard" meant that he was being treated as the sharpest knife, used to cut off the tails that could not be seen in the light.

…………

Five years ago, Dou Jing went into seclusion outside the secret chamber.

Dou Jing sat cross-legged on the cold jade platform, his soul power surging like a raging sea, the bottleneck of level 79 standing like an insurmountable chasm before him.

He had been stuck here for a year, and no matter how he tried to break through, the barrier remained unmoved. The stone door to the secret chamber opened silently.

Barton's tall figure stood at the doorway, holding a chilling black jade box in his hands.

The box was opened, and a soul bone floated silently—a left arm bone as white as a ten-thousand-year-old glacier. "Old Dou, you've been stuck at level 79 for a year, you can't delay any longer. This one... its attributes are perfect for your 'Frost Steel Fork'."

Dou Jing's pupils contracted sharply.

This soul bone is 30,000 years old and possesses a powerful aura; it is by no means an ordinary object!
"Commander, this is too..."

"Take it!" Barton forcefully pushed the jade box in front of him. "The Guard Department needs a Soul Douluo to oversee things! Your breakthrough is the anchor of the Bone Digging Squad! You and I are brothers... we're inseparable!"

Dou Jing nodded emphatically, a resolute glint in his eyes: "Alright!"

Patton personally protected the Dharma for three days.

When the immense soul power finally broke through the barrier and the pressure of an 80th-level Soul Douluo swept through the secret chamber, Dou Jing roared to the sky!
He looked excitedly at Barton, only to see the other man slowly approaching, his hand, covered in metal gauntlets, slapping heavily on his shoulder, which was burning hot from the breakthrough.

"Congratulations, Lao Dou." Barton said with a smile, but the force from that hand made Dou Jing's newly promoted Soul Douluo's powerful body feel a little sluggish.

The coldness of the metal seeped through the clothes, instantly extinguishing the ecstasy.

Looking into the unfathomable light in Barton's eyes, Dou Jing suddenly realized—this soul bone was not a gift, but a chain!
Patton himself put even stronger shackles on him and his faction!

………………

three years ago.

A heated argument erupted in the guild leader's office over the allocation of a batch of high-level soul tool materials.

Blood Fang and Huo Yifeng's side were aggressive, demanding that the vast majority of materials be supplied preferentially to the "special channels" (human trade lines) they controlled.

With Dou Jing present, Barton attempted to secure a larger share for the Bone Digging Group headquarters.

"...Patton! Don't forget who's supporting this 'Crimson Supply Line'!" Bloodfang slammed his fist on the table. "The higher-ups need people! And you're dragging your feet, even fighting over these materials? Without the support of our garrison, do you think you can hold onto your position as regimental commander? The Jin family is so far away, what can they give you?!"

The argument escalated, with Bloodfang even threatening to use force to resolve the "logistics problem."

In a fit of emotion, Blood Fang growled incoherently, "...Just like that little brat back then! If I hadn't known he was a son of the Dou family and had some use, according to our rules, he should have been sent directly to the Spirit City Advanced Soul Master Academy for 'unified training' long ago! Keeping him in Heaven Dou City is already giving you face!..."

These words struck Dou Jing like a thunderbolt, leaving him instantly feeling cold.

It turns out that Bloodfang and his gang had discovered the child's existence long ago and planned to kidnap him.

Was it Patton... who suppressed this more dangerous and radical plan?!

Afterwards, Dou Jing found Barton.

Barton leaned back wearily in his chair, the metal jaws gleaming coldly under the light. He did not deny Bloodfang's words.

“…Old Dou,” Barton said with a deep weariness, “the garrison’s appetite and methods…are more ruthless and cruel than you can imagine. I…can only do this much. In Tiandou City, at least…you still have a chance to see him.”

At that moment, Dou Jing saw the complex emotions flashing across Barton's eyes—resentment? Helplessness? Or mockery of his own situation? The hatred in his heart had not disappeared, but a trace of indescribable sorrow had been added.

He realized that Patton himself was also struggling in a much larger web.

The so-called authority of the regimental commander is equally fragile under the infighting among the forces within the Spirit Hall.

…………

These fragments of memory dissipated with the clanging of cold iron chains, echoing through the dark dungeon.

Dou Jing's muscles twitched slightly, finally turning into a long, weary sigh that seemed to seep into his very bones:

"Barton... what did he say?"

He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes looking at Zhu Yanfeng and Qin Luguang, and gave a bitter and complex assessment:

"As a person... he still retains some of his old principles, but ultimately... he is trapped in the prison of the Jin family and the Spirit Hall, and has no choice in his own destiny."

This conclusion is both a final assessment of Patton's life and a footnote to his own 21 years of ups and downs.

Former brothers-in-arms have ultimately become trapped beasts struggling to survive and tearing each other apart in the web of power.

The open and honest camaraderie that once existed around the campfire in the mine has long been ground down and vanished in the face of cold calculations and the cruel laws of survival.

(End of this chapter)