If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Zhou Yang got up from the soft couch and stretched out a big yawn.

His bones cracked and popped all over his body.

Qin Shuang was sitting at the table, fiddling with the VIP token of the Qizhen Pavilion in her hand.

She glanced at Zhou Yang and gestured for him to come over.

"Take this, the auction is about to begin."

"Remember, when you encounter Li Wei, no matter how much he offers, you should add one hundred taels more than him."

"If this money isn't enough, come directly to me."

Zhou Yang took the token, weighed it in his hand, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"My lord, your arrangement is exactly what I need."

"My favorite thing to do in this life is to raise prices."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that Li Wei loses all his money, even his underwear."

Qin Shuang glared at him, then turned and walked out.

"Enough talk, let's go."

The two left the post station and headed straight for Qizhen Pavilion, the largest auction house in Haicheng.

The entrance to Qizhen Pavilion was bustling with carriages and people, all of whom were high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

Zhou Yang followed behind Qin Shuang, dressed in brocade robes, truly resembling a wealthy young master.

When one of them saw Qin Shuang arrive, he hurriedly ran inside to announce her arrival.

Qin Shuang ignored him and walked straight into the hall.

The hall was already full of people.

Zhou Yang spotted Li Wei sitting in the front row at a glance.

The man was speaking arrogantly to a middle-aged man next to him.

The middle-aged man exuded a powerful aura; sitting there, he was like a mountain.

Chen Qianhu.

Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes. These two getting together probably weren't up to anything good.

He followed Qin Shuang and sat down in the row behind Li Wei.

The auction began soon.

One by one, rare and precious treasures were presented.

Zhou Yang was dazzled by the sight of the thousand-year-old snow ginseng and the meteorite iron weapon.

"Next up is a century-old purple Ganoderma lucidum."

The auctioneer on stage shouted loudly.

"Starting bid: one thousand taels!"

Li Wei held up a sign.

"One thousand one hundred taels!"

"One thousand two hundred taels!"

"Two thousand taels!"

Li Wei seemed very confident and kept raising the price.

Zhou Yang had been waiting for this moment.

He held up the sign in his hand, his voice loud and clear.

"Three thousand taels!"

The entire room fell silent.

Li Wei turned his head and glared fiercely at Zhou Yang.

"Who are you?"

"Where did this little bastard come from, daring to steal from me?"

Zhou Yang sat in the chair, crossing his legs.

"Who I am is none of your business!"

"I've got my eye on this, is that not allowed?"

Li Wei gritted his teeth.

"Three thousand five hundred taels!"

Zhou Yang didn't even look up.

"Four thousand taels."

Li Wei's face turned bright red with anger.

"Five thousand taels!"

"Six thousand taels."

Zhou Yang spoke in a flat tone, as if he were simply asking for a penny.

Li Wei suddenly stood up.

"Are you deliberately picking a fight?"

Zhou Yang shrugged.

"If you don't have money, don't pretend to be a big shot."

"If you can't afford it, then get out of here."

Qin Shuang sat to the side, smiling as she looked at Zhou Yang.

"Increase it to ten thousand taels."

She whispered to Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang felt a secret sense of satisfaction.

This rich woman gives me so much confidence.

He raised his sign again.

"Ten thousand taels."

The meeting room erupted in uproar.

This is a century-old medicinal herb; ten thousand taels is already far too much of a premium.

At this moment, a servant came over and whispered a few words to Li Wei.

Li Wei sat in his seat, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Commander Chen patted Li Wei on the shoulder, his eyes flashing with cold light.

"Forget it, Li Wei."

"This thing isn't worth the price."

"We have more important things to film later."

Li Wei snorted coldly and glared fiercely at Zhou Yang.

"So it was you, Zhou Yang. I didn't come looking for you, but you've come here to die."

"I'll kill you after the auction ends."

Zhou Yang pursed his lips.

"If you're so capable, come over here now."

Qin Shuang glanced at Chen Qianhu with a nonchalant air.

"Commander Chen has quite the refined taste."

"Bringing your subordinates out on a shopping spree, how much profit have they made this time?"

Commander Chen laughed.

"Commander Qin is joking."

"We're all working for the imperial court, so we should rely on our own abilities."

"As for Commander Qin, his bodyguard has quite a temper."

Zhou Yang then turned his head and looked at Commander Chen.

"Commander Chen, is that right?"

"Judging by your appearance, you're destined to be nothing more than a commander of a thousand men for the rest of your life."

"Want to take it a step further? Dream on."

Commander Chen was taken aback.

He never expected that a mere guard would dare to be so insolent towards him.

He looked at Zhou Yang and sneered.

"it is good."

"very good."

"I hope you can always be this courageous."

The auction continued.

Zhou Yang obtained the purple Ganoderma lucidum and happily tucked it into his pocket.

This trip was incredibly profitable.

After the auction ended, Qin Shuang left Qizhen Pavilion with Zhou Yang.

The two rode out of Haicheng.

The night was deep, and only the cold wind howled along the official road.

"Sir, the way Li Wei and Commander Chen looked at us just now was as if they wanted to devour us alive."

Zhou Yang, mounted on his horse, cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

Qin Shuang remained calm.

"Scared?"

"What's there to be afraid of if the money's in place?"

Just as Qin Shuang finished speaking, more than a dozen sharp arrows suddenly shot out from the woods on both sides of the official road.

"Whoa!"

Qin Shuang pulled on the reins, dodging the arrow.

"There's an ambush!"

Zhou Yang pulled out the dragon's spine and charged into the forest like a cannonball.

A dozen or so men in black rushed out.

Chen Qianhu and Li Wei stood in the middle.

"Qin Shuang, hand over the items."

"And your Xuan Yin Body is just what I need."

Commander Chen's face was full of greed.

Zhou Yang looked at Qin Shuang.

"What the hell is the Mysterious Yin Body?"

Qin Shuang's expression was rather unpleasant.

Don't listen to his nonsense.

"This is a trap."

"Take me away!"

Zhou Yang glanced at Chen Qianhu and Li Wei.

Both of them had very strong auras.

Especially Commander Chen, who exuded a strong sense of oppression.

"Walk!"

Zhou Yang stopped wasting words.

"Turbulent Dragon Slash!"

A dazzling blade of light erupted from the dragon spine in his hand.

They forcibly blasted open a road.

Although Commander Chen was surprised by Zhou Yang's strength, that was all he could think of.

"Trying to run away?"

"Did you really think I wasn't prepared?"

He held a formation plate in his hand and slammed it heavily on the ground.

A golden halo suddenly lit up the ground within a radius of 100 meters.

This is a trap.

Qin Shuang's expression changed.

"Damn it, it's the Dragon-Locking Formation!"

She turned to look at Zhou Yang.

"Charge out!"

"This formation won't last long."

Zhou Yang gritted his teeth and slashed at the golden light with his sword.

"when!"

A loud bang made his arm go numb.

The strength of this formation is beyond imagination.

Li Wei burst into laughter.

"Don't waste your energy."

"In this Dragon-Locking Formation, you are like turtles in a jar."

"Commander Chen, how should we divide these two?"

Chen Qianhu licked his lips.

"Leave the woman to me, kill the man."

"Remember, don't hurt the woman."

Hearing this, Zhou Yang felt a surge of anger.

"Old man, you've got quite the nerve."

"If you want to harm my master, you'll have to get past the knife in my hand first."

The dragon spine in his hand trembled incessantly.

That last strike had already depleted a significant portion of his internal energy.

If we can't break through this formation, we'll really be doomed today.

"Turbulent Dragon Slash!"

"Again!"

"boom!"

He unleashed three consecutive slashes, the blade energy exploding within the formation.

The light from the array flickered.

Commander Chen's expression changed.

"How come this kid is so strong?"

"What kind of swordsmanship is this?"

Li Wei was also stunned. According to the servant, he was at most at the early stage of the Hundred Battles Realm, but the strength he was showing now was no less than that of Li Wei, who was at the peak of the middle stage of the Hundred Battles Realm.

"Attack together!"

Commander Chen dared not be careless and drew his sword, charging forward.

Li Wei followed closely behind.

The two men, one in front and one behind, charged towards Zhou Yang.

Qin Shuang stood behind Zhou Yang, a long sword appearing in her hand.

"I'll hold off Commander Chen."

"You're blocking Li Wei's way!"

"Delay as much time as possible."

She gritted her teeth and charged at Commander Chen with her longsword.

Zhou Yang turned his head and grinned at Li Wei.

"Li Wei, I beat you at the game earlier, so I should be able to beat you at killing me too."

Li Wei's face was contorted with rage.

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

"kill!"

The two fought.

Li Wei also used a set of Xuan-level sword techniques, each strike extremely ruthless.

Zhou Yang, on the other hand, relied on the sharpness of the dragon's spine to forcefully engage in combat.

His fighting style is simple and brutal.

Just do it.

Mighty Bull Demon Fist, Chaotic Void Step, Soul-Severing Finger.

Several martial arts techniques were used in turn.

"How is that possible?"

"You're so young, yet you've mastered so many martial arts techniques?"

Li Wei became increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed.

This kid is not only incredibly strong, but also has unpredictable movements.

Every time I tried to hit him, he would simply dodge.

"Grass threads obscure horseshoes!"

Zhou Yang seized the opportunity and struck the back of Li Wei's knife with his palm.

The powerful internal force directly caused Li Wei to stagger back several steps.

Taking advantage of the opening, he stabbed Li Wei in the chest with a finger.

"Soul-Severing Finger!"

Li Wei was shocked and hurriedly drew his sword to parry.

"when!"

When I touched the blade with my fingertip, I actually poked a small hole in it.

Li Wei's expression completely changed.

"What kind of fingering is this?"

Zhou Yang ignored him.

He glanced at Qin Shuang beside him.

Qin Shuang was struggling to hold on, and she already had several wounds on her body.

"grown ups!"

Zhou Yang roared.

"This deal was a huge loss!"

"This time when we go back, we'll pay more!"

Qin Shuang was so angry she almost vomited blood.

"What time is it?!"

"Still thinking about money!"

"Hold on for me!"

Zhou Yang stopped wasting words.

The dragon spine in his hand shone brightly.

"Turbulent Dragon Slash, Second Form!"

He directly overdrawn all of his innate true energy.

A blade of energy, five meters long, slashed fiercely at the golden halo.

"Snap!"

A crack appeared in the formation.

"It's broken!"

Zhou Yang was overjoyed.

He grabbed Qin Shuang's hand and rushed straight through the crack.

"Trying to run away?"

Commander Chen was furious.

"Chase after them!"

The two ran desperately through the woods.

The pursuers behind them were relentless.

Li Wei was yelling wildly from behind.

"Don't let them get away!"

"Commander Chen said, whoever captures Qin Shuang will receive a reward of a thousand taels of gold!"

Zhou Yang was so tired of hearing it that his ears were practically calloused.

"You poor wretch!"

"Only worth a thousand taels?"

"Sir, your status is far too low."

Qin Shuang slapped him on the back in anger.

"How dare you say that?"

"If you had been any more aggressive just now, would we have had to run so badly?"

Zhou Yang ran while panting heavily.

"I've done my best!"

"I'm only at the early stage of the Hundred Battles Realm, while the two on the other side are at the mid-stage and late-stage respectively."

"Being able to get you out of here is already an extraordinary achievement."

The two rushed into a dense primeval forest.

The trees here are towering and the terrain is complex.

Zhou Yang stopped and hid behind a big tree.

"My lord, it's no use."

"I can't run anymore."

"Take a break first."

Qin Shuang was also extremely tired.

She had expended too much energy trying to stop Commander Chen.

At this moment, I felt completely exhausted.

"It's still dozens of miles to Haicheng from here."

"Commander Chen's men will definitely catch up."

"We need to find a place to hide."

Zhou Yang looked around.

"There's a cave here."

He pointed to a crack not far away.

Qin Shuang glanced at it, but had no other choice.

The two crawled into the crevice.

It's dark and damp inside, a good place to hide.

Zhou Yang plopped down on the ground.

"This is really going to be a disaster."

"If I die here, all five thousand taels of silver will be wasted."

Qin Shuang glanced at him.

"rest assured."

"He won't die."

"We can get back to the city as soon as it gets light."

Zhou Yang pursed his lips.

"Why did Commander Chen arrest you?"

"And what's with this talk of the Mysterious Yin Body?"

Qin Shuang paused for a moment.

"This is my secret."

"I have had a constitution since birth called the Mysterious Yin Constitution."

"The man who unites with me can forcibly break through his cultivation level."

"Commander Chen has been harassing me relentlessly, that's all."

Despite having anticipated it, Qin Shuang's honesty at this moment put Zhou Yang at ease.

"So you're like Tang Sanzang's flesh, aren't you?"

"No matter where you go, monsters want to eat you."

"From now on, I'll have to be on guard against you every day."

Qin Shuang looked at him.

"Scared?"

"If you're scared, then leave."

"Nobody's stopping you."

Zhou Yang looked at Qin Shuang. Her cold and beautiful face now showed a hint of fatigue.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind.

This rich woman may be arrogant most of the time, but she's actually quite reliable when it matters.

At least, they didn't abandon themselves.

He chuckled.

"Leaving is impossible."

"I sold my life to you."

"I won't run unless you're dead."

A strange light flashed in Qin Shuang's eyes.

"You are quite loyal."

"Unfortunately, that's all he's capable of."

Zhou Yang was unconvinced.

"Am I incompetent?"

"I really made Li Wei so angry at the auction that his face turned green."

"That's called wisdom!"

"Do you understand?"

Qin Shuang ignored him.

She sat cross-legged and began to regulate her breathing.

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Quickly restore your internal energy."

"We still need to figure out a way to fight our way back tomorrow."