# CHAPTER 10: ENCOUNTER WITH JAILER PENG LEI > *"The whip-wielder of the past now crawls at the feet of the beggar. But the wounded hunting dog is the most vicious biting dog."* --- ### I. OLD DEBTS BENEATH THE ASHES The sound of footsteps stepping on dry gravel broke the quiet atmosphere of the entrance to Savage Warrior Crypt. The legless man sitting gnawing on a dry bone next to a pile of ashes was slightly startled. He stopped gnawing, tremblingly raised his head, using his dirty hand to wipe away the sweaty hair that was hiding his plump face. When his small blood-stained eyes touched the towering figure in front of him, the dry bone in his hand fell onto the pile of ashes. His whole body trembled as if he had been struck by lightning! — "You... You..." He stammered, his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of his sockets. He looked at the iron-thorned wild boar leather armor stained with leech blood, at the heavy Blackbone Staff tree, at the black Short Bone Cleaver sword on his side, and finally stopped at the **half of a cool ceramic bowl** pinned to the front of Chu Ye's shirt! The horrifying memories from the imperial death prison half a year ago suddenly came back like a nightmare! That broken ceramic bowl... was what his henchman threw at Chu Ye's face before slamming 36 Black Bone Needless into his body! — "So... Chu Ye?! You're not dead in the ocean yet?!" Peng Lei screamed loudly, his fat body quickly retreated in extreme fear. But the thick iron chain gripping his right ankle jerked violently, pulling him backwards onto the pile of ashes, sending coal dust flying! Chu Ye stood motionless between two statues of headless warriors. The wind blew from the crypt door, bringing with it the cold air of the underground and the smell of thousands of years of mold. He looked down at the man who was once the terror of tens of thousands of prisoners on death row - the man who used hundreds of flesh-tearing whips on his back, who choked with laughter when he heard the sound of his bones breaking under the brutal torture. Now, that person was sitting on the ground, one leg cut off with the white bone exposed, wrapped in a smelly rag, his whole body shaking like a ragged dog waiting to die. — "Peng Lei." Chu Ye's voice is strangely warm and gentle. But for Peng Lei right now, that sound is like the bell ringing from the nine levels of hell! — "Do you still recognize this bowl?" Chu Ye raised his hand to gently touch the edge of the broken ceramic bowl in front of his chest, his eyes were cold without a wave: — "Half a year ago, in the imperial death prison, what did you tell me? You said that I was a beggar dog, and that you would be the one to personally behead me and send it back to Grand Preceptor... Do you still remember?" --- ### II. KNEELING OF THE FORMER PRISON MASTER — *KANG! KANG! KANG!* The harsh sound of iron chains colliding rang out as Peng Lei frantically dragged his fat body across the marble floor. He did not dare to pick up the iron-hook whip placed next to him. He slammed his head down on the stone surface, his forehead hit so hard that it broke his skin, fresh blood mixed with black ash flowed down his face: — "Sir Chu! Commander So! The villain is guilty! The villain deserves to die a thousand times over! Please forgive this dog's life!" Peng Lei cried bitterly and punched his chest: — "You don't know... The villain was also tricked by them! That son of a bitch Wu Huasheng and that evil old man Grand Preceptor... After your ship The Black Whale left the dock, they were afraid that the villain would know too many secrets about your unjust case, so in the middle of the night they sent assassins to break into the villain's house and kill the villain's entire family, cut off one of the villain's legs and then threw him on the prison ship and banished him to this place!" He raised his face covered in blood and tears to look at Chu Ye, his voice trembling with fake resentment: — "For the past half a year, the villain was betrayed by the sword slaves here, chaining his feet to this rock to act as bait for monsters! Every day, the villain has to eat tree roots and gnaw rotten bones to survive... The villain hates the dogs as much as you do! Please, Commander Chu, have mercy on those who share the same hatred and give the villain a way to live!" Chu Ye looked at Peng Lei who was burying his head at his feet. In his heart there was no gloating feeling of a successful avenger, only an extreme contempt for the vileness of humanity. Those who hold the power to kill and kill are brutal and overbearing, treating human lives like trash; But when they fall to the bottom of the abyss, they are ready to kneel and lick the victim's own shoes to beg to breathe one more day. — "You want to live?" Chu Ye asked faintly. — "Want! The little man wants to live!" Peng Lei quickly nodded like pounding garlic, his trembling hands reached into the tattered shirt on his chest, pulled out an old sheepskin stained with dried blood and offered it up: — "This is the map of Savage Warrior Crypt's agency! Over the past half year, the villain has used the lives of more than ten sword slaves to explore every trap in the tomb! Inside the main chamber of the tomb, there is a thousand-year-old black jade coffin, where **Millennium Ancient Corpse** is buried! In that monster's chest, there is a priceless block of **Ancient Bone Feral Glyph** that can help you cast an indestructible mind armor! The villain can guide you!" --- ### III. BREAKING IRON CHAINS & PLOTTING IN THE SHADOWS Chu Ye took the sheepskin roll and opened it to examine it under the glimmering light of the ashes. The dried blood drawings recorded in quite detail the nooks and crannies of the tomb, the locations of iron traps, the underground tunnel filled with toxic mud, and the entrance to the financial coffin. This map is truly something of great value to him right now. Chu Ye put the map in the leather bag, then pulled out the **Short Bone Cleaver** bar on his waist. Peng Lei saw the flash of the black blade and was so scared that he peed his pants and screamed: — "Please forgive me, sir! Don't kill me!" — *WASH! KANG!* A blade of light cut through the wind and slashed down! Not slashing Peng Lei's neck, but slashing through the large iron chain clamping his leg! The blade was made of Crude Flint and the beast's fangs were exceptionally sharp. In just one slash, he cut the knuckle-thick iron chain in half, freeing the prison guard's bloody ankle! Chu Ye bent down, picked up the piece of iron chain over a meter long that had just been cut off, and wrapped it carefully around his left arm, forming a layer of defensive chain armor and a long-range whipping weapon. After that, he sheathed the knife and coldly looked at Peng Lei, who was happily holding his crippled leg: — "Stand up." — "Thank you... Thank you, Commander, for not killing! I swear from now on I will be your buffalo and horse!" Peng Lei quickly stood up with a rotten wooden stick, bent his back and bent his knees like the most loyal servant in the world. — "You don't need to swear." Chu Ye turned and walked towards the dark archway of the tomb, his voice rang out as cold as ice and snow: — "I let you live not because I forgive you. I let you live so you can experience the feeling of being a crippled dog crawling behind a beggar. Lead the way. If you dare to play tricks... my blade will cut off your remaining leg!" Peng Lei trembled and bowed his head: — "Don't you dare, little man! Please lead the way, little man!" He limped forward, holding a torch soaked in animal fat and lighting a fire from the ashes, illuminating the way into the dark stone tunnel. But the moment Peng Lei turned his back on Chu Ye, in the flickering darkness of the torch, the prison guard's face suddenly distorted into a devilish smile, full of resentment and cruelty! His tiny eyes glanced at the Short Bone Cleaver bar on Chu Ye's waist, then at the chipped ceramic bowl on his chest. *— "You little beggar brat... Do you think that if you escape death, you can ride on top of Peng Lei's neck? Wait until you fight Millennium Ancient Corpse to the death in the main tomb... I will trigger a thousand-pound trap that will crush both you and that monster into mincemeat!"* Peng Lei gritted his teeth inwardly, his hand hidden in his torn sleeve tightening a black bronze office key. He did not know that, behind him, Chu Ye was always watching his every limp step. And Chu Ye's right hand never loosened its hold on the hilt! --- ### IV. DESCENDING INTO THE SUBTERRANEAN DEATH-REALM The stone tunnel leads deep into the ground, sloping gently downwards. The deeper you go, the more humid and bone-chilling the air becomes. The stone walls on both sides are covered with sticky black moss, scattered with dry bones of grave robbers thousands of years ago pinned to the wall with iron spikes. The flickering torchlight cast shadows of two people on the cliff - one tall, wearing armor with iron spikes, standing tall like a wild beast; a fat man limping along with each bloody step. The sound of water dripping from the cave ceiling echoed intermittently: *Click... click... click...* And from the depths of the tunnel, a stream of death aura reeking of a thousand-year-old mummy accompanied by the heavy breathing of an ancient entity began to echo... The ancient tomb tyrant monster — **Millennium Ancient Corpse** — is waiting for them in eternal darkness!