343 The Art and the Slave 4

"Junior Apprentice Brother, please look at these two people. They're royalty caught in the Other Worlds. They're younger than thirty, and after being brainwashed thrice, they have almost no memories left anymore. You can even instill whatever personality you want in them," Yun Wanfei introduced. "They can grow as strong as the Realm of Snake, and are perfectly capable of being an assistant in safer areas."

As an elder of this branch of the Yun Family, she actually introduced the merchandise personally to Lu Sheng. Usually, even if there were a hundred times more merchandise like this, she still wouldn't introduce them in person.

But this was different. Both Lu Sheng's potential and background were enough for her to try her best.

Lu Sheng shook his head slightly. "Do you have other ones? I don't want ones with their personality completely wiped. There's too much uncertainty in the future. There will be a lot of trouble once they start doubting themselves, right?"

"Junior Apprentice Brother is wise." Yun Wanfei chuckled. "That's the only downside to this type of merchandise. Because their brains are wiped, it hurts their mind. Plus, it's very hard to form a memory without any loopholes, so a lot of customers don't prefer this type.

"If you don't care about this aspect, I have just caught some talented merchandise with personalities too."

She clapped her hands again.

The man and woman rose up and walked into the tunnel. A few men in black robes pushed a few golden cages to the two.

"Does Junior Apprentice Brother have any interest in this merchandise?" Yun Wanfei smiled.

Lu Sheng nodded and looked over.

There were nine cages. Most of them were female, but both the men and women were handsome and beautiful. They were obviously handpicked, and all of them had great bodies.

Every one of them was locked with chant chains around their necks, arms, and legs; and they were hung in the corners of the cages.

They were different from the previous two—although these people were caged, they were wearing clothes that showed off their best assets.

The men were wearing clothes that barely covered their hard muscles and defined abs. For women, some of their three places could be seen through almost transparent clothing, while the others were clothed in tight outfits that perfectly showed off their bodies.

Everyone seemed dazed. Their skins were pale and clean, giving off a faint scent.

Lu Sheng glanced at them. His gaze suddenly hardened, then returned to normal.

"What do you think? Did Junior Apprentice Brother see anyone that he likes?" Yun Wanfei smiled again. "All the slaves here are around a hundred to a hundred fifty devil coins. They all come with abilities. Because they're not brainwashed, this price includes the Mind-Controlling Needle Matrix."

Hearing this, Lu Sheng immediately knew that she gave the price based on an estimate of how much he had in his hand. If these people really had the strength he assumed they had, then selling them for so low a price was basically gifting them to him. Yun Wanfei was doing him a favor—a favor he couldn't not accept.

Keeping his expression neutral, he pretended to look over all the cages again. His gaze finally landed on the seventh one.

In this cage was a beautiful woman in a white, pleated short dress. Her eyes were big and pretty, her breasts round and full, and her legs long and toned. Her long, black hair fell over her face, blocking half of her sexy features. It was Duanmu Wan, whom he hadn't seen in a long time!

Duanmu Wan was obviously still drugged. Hearing the voices in front of her, she came back to her senses a bit and tried to lift her head to look out.

"There are matrices on these cages, so they can't see us from inside. This is to prevent slaves from taking initiative and revolting." Yun Wanfei could tell Lu Sheng was interested in this slave.

She continued her explanation, "We've captured cage seven close to the Great Song. Her original strength should be about the sixth level of the Realm of Snake, but when we've caught her, she had been gravely wounded and lost all her strength. She only survived after medical attention."

"I'll take her," Lu Sheng responded calmly. After all, he had known Duanmu Wan. Since he could, he should help her out.

"Junior Apprentice Brother has a good eye. I didn't even finish listing the benefits of choosing number seven." Yun Wanfei smiled. "The best part about her is not her strength nor her beauty, but her bloodline.

"Number seven's bloodline is half human, half demon. Even after losing all her strength, she can still reach a minimum of Earth level. It will be worth it whether you use her bloodline for medicine or train her as a servant."

Lu Sheng nodded. He decided not to hide anything. "To be honest, I think she looks like one of my old friends. That's why I picked her."

"You're so lucky." Yun Wanfei's smile was deep. "It would be better if she actually was your old friend. Are you paying here, or?"

"I'll pay here." Lu Sheng took out the Ziying Orb and bills worth fifty pieces of Devil Gold, and handed them to Yun Wanfei.

Yun Wanfei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This would be the first time in thirty years that she took care of such a small amount of money. But she didn't show any of this on the surface. She accepted the Devil Gold and Ziying Orb, then handed Lu Sheng a deep-purple needle box.

"This is the mother needle of the Mind-Controlling Needles [ED/N: So basically it seems like needles are a pair, one in the slave's heart (or mind, so prolly brain), another in master's hand. Mother needle as in control needle, just like you have a "mothership"]. If your slave disobeys you, you can inject True Qi into the needle. You will know the results once you test it."

Lu Sheng nodded.

"How should I bring her away?" He didn't know the rules about this.

"If Junior Apprentice Brother gives an address, we can deliver it to your door. Otherwise, you can take it home now." Yun Wanfei then gave Lu Sheng a glance, seemingly smiling. "Oh, right. Junior Apprentice Brother, just a tip. The Mind-Controlling Needle Matrix is a permanent alteration to the slave's brain and cannot be undone. If you have any other thoughts, please keep the mother needle on yourself."

"Is that so?" Lu Sheng slightly squinted.

"The Mind-Controlling Needle Matrix cannot be undone. Once it is taken out, the slave will go completely braindead. I suggest Junior Apprentice Brother not to touch it rashly. Also, to prevent slaves from stealing the mother needle, we made it so that the child needle is unable to leave a certain distance of the mother needle. Please be careful," Yun Wanfei explained. "If you want to keep your slave safe, the best way is to keep the mother needle on you at all times."

"I understand." Lu Sheng took the needle box, then gave a last glance at cage seven to make sure that that was indeed Duanmu Wan.

Confusion also flashed on Duanmu Wan's face. As a high-tier Realm of the Snake, she had a really good memory. So, of course, she remembered the voice of Lu Sheng, someone she had a deep interest in.

After hearing Lu Sheng negotiating with Yun Wanfei for so long, she could almost be sure that the new guy who arrived was the same one she knew a long time ago.

Thinking to this, Duanmu Wan's pale face started blushing. She felt angry and humiliated at the same time. She was mad at herself for losing and then not dying, and that her old friend would see her in such a humiliated state.

Hung up in the cage, all she could do was try to turn her face and hide it with her hair, to prevent him from seeing her blushing cheeks.

"If Junior Apprentice Brother has any more questions, you can come directly to the sect to look for me. I'm usually in the medicine room or library," Yun Wanfei continued.

"Thank you, Senior Apprentice Sister."

Lu Sheng stood up, thanked Yun Wanfei, and then exploded into a puff of green smoke and disappeared.

Yun Wanfei also stood up. Looking at Duanmu Wan, she chuckled. She could tell that she had done a much larger favor than she'd expected to. Who would've thought that this little slave she'd caught at the border would have such an effect.

***

"Hiss!"

The long sword trembled in the air. Lu Sheng turned his hand, and displayed more than ten sword moves in a second. He then leapt into the air lightly and spun around, cutting through everything around him.

"Hissssssssss."

A circle of thin, transparent, yet extremely sharp air cut through the five specially made wooden studs in the yard.

Lu Sheng landed lightly and sheathed his sword. He closed his eyes and started adjusting his breathing.

He didn't use his strong devil form from the Eight-Headed Devil Art or any inner Qi, liquid Qi, or Devil Aura. All he used was a bit of True Qi and true arts to reach that effect.

The sword moves were only from an ordinary Chasing Sun Sword Moves, and were pure technique. But after Lu Sheng injected True Qi into it, it immediately changed, and became as powerful as he'd just displayed.

"What great understanding!" Applause sounded from the side.

Under the sun, in the shadows of the yard, Elder Zhan Shilong walked out. His expression was that of praise.

"Lu Sheng, your True Qi is improving so quickly! Are you at level four of the Realm of Snake already? You really are the most talented of our entire branch!"

Lu Sheng opened one eye and smiled. "You exaggerate too much. I can only improve so fast due to the high concentration of Spiritual Essence in the Secret Area. It will be different when I reach the later states. I will need a bigger and bigger base, and it will be impossible to improve so quickly anymore."

"You say that, but who else is improving as fast as you?" Zhan Shilong sighed.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Just when he was about to say something else, someone knocked on the yard door.

"Is this the house of Sir Lu?" A low, male voice sounded outside.

Lu Sheng waved his sleeve and the yard gate popped open.

There was a large cage sitting outside and covered with a black cloth. There were no other people except that.

"This is the cargo you've ordered. Please check and accept it." The voice sounded from far away. He obviously had already left.

Lu Sheng's smile faded a bit. "Brother Zhang, I have to take my leave for a bit."

"Don't worry, go do your thing. I'm just about to go to the armory and check out some swords, so I won't bother you anymore." Zhang Chilong gave Lu Sheng a mischievous wink, then ran out the yard. He didn't even wait for a reply.

Lu Sheng didn't know whether to cry or laugh, knowing he was misunderstood again. But he didn't really care. He walked up, picked up the cage, and set it in the study. He then closed the yard gate and the house door before pulling down the black cloth.

"Whoosh."

Duanmu Wan was calmly sitting cross-legged in the center of the cage, completely naked.

Lu Sheng waved his hand. The lock on the cage clicked, then opened.

Duanmu Wan's eyes shot open. She quickly walked over to the door, pushed it, and walked out.

"So it was you!" Looking up, she saw Lu Sheng, who was standing in front of her. In that instant, her expression was very complicated. Mixed with anger and humiliation was the joy that Lu Sheng had found her.

"Then again, if it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have received such care…"

"Long time no see"—Lu Sheng smiled—"but before talking about the old times, can you put on your clothes?"

Only now did Duanmu Wan come to realization. She squatted down and covered her breasts and lower half, blushing even harder.