Chapter 301 - 292: Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty, Blue Banner Mu Family

Chapter 301: Chapter 292: Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty, Blue Banner Mu Family

Silver cutlery clinked lightly against a delicate white porcelain plate, producing a crisp sound.

The blade of a knife sliced through a steak grilled to a golden brown. A neat little piece of meat was lifted on a fork and slowly brought to the mouth.

The hall, site of the previous fierce battle, had been cleaned up. A long dining table draped in red velvet was now set in the middle.

Fu Juemin sat at one end of the table, his posture relaxed, slowly and deliberately eating a small, freshly cooked steak from the plate before him.

A beautiful woman stood to the side, holding a bottle of red wine and pouring for him. It was the same pretty woman who had previously failed to assassinate Chen You.

This mansion had originally been her family’s, and she had retrieved this bottle of wine from their hidden cellar. Now, with downcast eyes and gentle movements, she appeared exceptionally attentive and docile.

The thick-browed youth who was with her, wrapped in bandages, lay resting on a soft couch nearby.

Chen You was also there, still kneeling in the same spot at Fu Juemin’s feet.

"There’s no rush."

Fu Juemin picked up his wine glass and swirled it gently, the deep red liquid leaving a thin film on the glass.

He took a sip, not looking at the man kneeling at his feet, and spoke in a calm, unhurried voice. "One thing at a time. Speak slowly."

Chen You’s face was a mixture of pale and ashen, his jaw clenched tight. He kept his eyes downcast, his gaze flickering as if he were weighing something over and over in his mind.

After a long moment, he finally bowed his head completely and spoke, his voice dry and raspy. "Sir... what is it you wish to hear?"

"Who is behind you?"

"In Yingjing, the Mu Family."

"Which Mu Family?"

Chen You hesitated slightly before answering, "The Blue Banner Mu Shulu Clan, one of the Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty. Outwardly, they call themselves the Mu Family."

"The Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty..."

A flicker of light passed through Fu Juemin’s downcast eyes, but his expression remained unchanged. "This is the first I’ve heard of them.

"Tell me, what exactly are these Nine Banners?"

Chen You answered, "The previous dynasty always claimed to be descendants of the ancient Chi Dragon. According to them, as the Chi Dragon propagated through the world, its bloodline split into nine colors. These correspond to what they call the Nine Banner Race.

"Among them, the Yellow Banner of Jin Su is the Royal Banner.

"The Upper Three Banners are Profound, Purple, and Chi, with the Profound Banner as their head.

"The Lower Five Banners are Blue, White, Azure, Ochre, and Gray. This humble one currently works for the Blue Banner Mu Shulu Clan.

"This Blue Banner, also called the Cangming Banner, does not consist of the Mu Shulu Clan alone..."

’This Chen You has probably spent too much time with those remnants of the previous dynasty, what with his "Sir" this and "this humble one" that.’

Fu Juemin sliced lightly with his silver knife, watching the slightly pink juices flow from the cut steak and pool on the white porcelain plate. He suddenly lost his appetite.

"Why is the Blue Banner Mu Family capturing people?"

Fu Juemin put down his knife and fork and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"To refine Human Pills?"

"You know about Human Pills too, Sir."

Chen You, perhaps feeling he had been obedient enough, started to straighten up slightly. But when he met Fu Juemin’s casual glance, he hurriedly lowered his head again.

"The Mu Family needs people, but not entirely for refining Human Pills."

Chen You answered, "It’s also to prepare for the Magic Sacrifice."

"Magic Sacrifice?"

"Yes.

"Each of the Nine Banners of the Previous Dynasty, every banner and clan, worships a Demon Fiend. If they don’t periodically use living people for the Magic Sacrifice, these Demon Fiends can easily get out of control..."

"How many people have you sent to the Mu Family in the past six months?"

"Several thousand in total, I should think."

Fu Juemin couldn’t help but shake his head. "Just one Mu Family, in just six months, needs several thousand living people for the Magic Sacrifice to feed a Demon.

"By that logic, wouldn’t everyone in the world be captured by those Nine Banner remnants in Yingjing?"

Chen You looked mortified and lowered his head. "This humble one would not know about that."

"What is the Demon Fiend that the Mu Family worships?"

Fu Juemin stood up from the red-draped dining table.

Chen You’s posture became even more humble as he answered obediently, "It’s a crow."

"A crow?"

Fu Juemin had seen the demonic transformation of Chen You’s arm when he attacked and had already guessed as much. But now, with Chen You’s own confirmation, a faint glimmer still flashed in his eyes.

A crow.

’A crow counts as a type of bird, doesn’t it?’

’My Five Beasts Skill, with its Five Beasts and Five Phases, still doesn’t have a single Demon Soul to empower it.’

"Stand up."

Fu Juemin stood before Chen You, looking down at him, and said flatly, "Raise your arm. Let me see it."

"Yes."

Chen You stood up as commanded.

It was no wonder he was so obedient. After subduing him, Fu Juemin, just as he had with Jin the Third, had injected a stream of Five Poison Qi into his body.

Considering Chen You’s strength, the amount was certainly much greater than what Jin the Third had received.

Chen You rose and cooperatively raised his right arm, proactively rolling the sleeve up to his shoulder.

In its un-demonized state, Chen You’s right arm looked no different from his left, aside from being slightly thicker and its surface being covered in keloid scars, as if from a healed burn.

Up close, however, Fu Juemin could clearly perceive faint wisps of a Demon Fiend’s aura emanating from within the right arm.

The concentration of this Demon Fiend aura was about the same as that of the Demon Fiend test subjects under Luo Zhengxiong and those modified Westerners he had encountered in Shenghai.

Fu Juemin stared at Chen You’s arm for a moment, then suddenly struck, tracing a line in the air over it with his right fingertips.

"AH!"

Chen You immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream. His arm trembled violently, but his entire body was locked in place by an immense, invisible force, rendering him unable to move.

He could only watch as a smooth incision appeared, extending from his right wrist all the way up, completely slicing open the entire length of his inner arm.

As the flesh peeled back, dark red blood gushed out in streams. Chen You’s face turned deathly white, and his body trembled.

Beyond the physical pain, the greater impact was the psychological shock of watching himself being vivisected.

This scene, however, brought a look of immense satisfaction to the face of the beautiful woman standing nearby, still holding the wine bottle.

Fu Juemin casually picked up a dinner knife from the table and, with a calm expression, began to probe and search through Chen You’s muscles.

Finally, deep within Chen You’s forearm, near the elbow joint, he found a black lump of flesh the size of a silver coin.

It looked as if it were alive, covered in fine black down, like the soft, undeveloped feathers of a chick—quite disgusting to look at.

Numerous dark red blood vessels grew from this lump of flesh, tightly interwoven with Chen You’s own muscles and bone, as if it had become a part of his body.

Looking closer, there also seemed to be some strange patterns carved into Chen You’s arm bone, which did not appear to be natural.

Fu Juemin’s eyes glinted. He abruptly pulled the dinner knife from Chen You’s flesh and slashed it across his body.

The blue, gold-trimmed commander’s uniform on Chen You split open, and soon his upper body was bare.

His unobstructed torso was revealed, and his entire chest and back were seen to be densely covered in all sorts of complex and bizarre Sanskrit symbols.

The Cinnabar-colored patterns crawled across his skin, seeming to squirm like living things with the natural flexing of his muscles.

"The Esoteric Dharma Method?"

Fu Juemin spoke.

Chen You froze for a second, then nodded. "Yes."

’Good. Now Gu Shouyu will have a ready-made research subject.’

Fu Juemin thought to himself, then asked casually, "So what you get in return for working for the Blue Banner Mu Family is this Fake Internal Energy Method of implanting Demon Flesh and Blood into your body?"

Chen You opened his mouth, about to answer, when the thick-browed youth lying nearby suddenly forced himself to sit up and roared, "For your own selfish desires, you slaughter the innocent and treat the common people like dirt!

"People like you are no better than animals! You’re a bastard, a piece of scum!..."

"Heh—"

Chen You, covered in a cold sweat, looked at the bandage-wrapped, thick-browed youth and sneered, "How old are you?"

The thick-browed youth was taken aback and answered instinctively, "Thirty-five."

"How many years have you been practicing martial arts?"

"Tw-twenty-three years. Why?"

Chen You shook his head. "To reach the Tongxuan realm at thirty-five, your Talent for martial arts can be considered outstanding.

"Your level of strength is a fair reward for twenty-three years of bitter, unceasing training through summer and winter.

"But do you know how many years I’ve been practicing?"

Chen You’s face was pale and his whole body was trembling, but he was smiling.

"Five years."

The thick-browed youth blurted out, "Impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible."

Chen You’s tone was cold. "I joined the Mu Family five years ago and started working for them.

"When I do well, they reward me with a Human Pill.

"A single Human Pill is worth several years of bitter training for an ordinary Martial Artist like you.

"My aptitude for martial arts isn’t even that good, but it only took me five years to enter the Tongxuan realm.

"Once I accumulate enough merits and use the Fake Internal Energy Method to Enter the Dao, my power will skyrocket by several levels...

"Forget a Tongxuan master like you, I’ve even killed members of a Gratitude Martial Family."

As Chen You spoke, his expression twisted into a savage sneer. "What kind of world is this now?

"If you want to become a king in these chaotic times, you either side with the Westerners and rely on their guns and cannons, or you worship Demons, feed Fiends, and achieve Cultivation by eating people.

"In this torrent of a corrupt world, did you think you could get ahead without paying a price... It’s not that simple!!"

"SHLOCK—"

A dinner knife plunged into Chen You’s chest up to the hilt, barely grazing past his heart.

The sudden, intense pain made Chen You’s face contort, and he nearly passed out.

"You talk too much."

Fu Juemin walked back to the table, wiped his hands on a napkin, and said flatly, "Remember, you answer what I ask. If I haven’t given you permission to speak, you keep your mouth shut."

"Yes."

Chen You’s face was ashen, and cold sweat poured down as he lowered his head once more, filled with deep terror.

Only the thick-browed youth remained, lying stiffly on the soft couch nearby, stunned by Chen You’s words. He stared at the ceiling, motionless for a long, long time.