Chapter 541 – Kidnapped
Ye Zichen pulled open the curtains, saw that the sky had already turned dark, while several burning torches not so far in front of them.
Beasts were terrified of fire in the dark night, so it was clear that the earth dragon’s unease was caused by the flames coming closer.
As the people holding the torches moved closer, Ye Zichen and Zuo Mo could hear the chattering of the horse hooves.
“Help!” An anxious voice was heard once again.
Zuo Mo asked the driver with a frown, “What happened?”
“Young Lady, someone seems to have been met with bandits in front of us. That person is calling for help!” said the driver. “Should we go around them or…”
“Help me!”
A man covered with dirt appeared in front of the carriage before Zuo Mo could even reply.
“I am the junior city lord of Pond City. Please send me back to Pond City, I will definitely thank you greatly for this.”
“Let him come up,” Zuo Mo only felt a bit of pity when she saw the situation.
Hearing that, the man hurriedly jumped into the carriage excitedly.
However, what was strange was that the moment the man climbed on, the pursuers actually went around them a few times, then left. They showed no intention of fighting for the person at all.
“Thank you so much. I really don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for you guys,” the man smiled thankfully.
Zuo Mo nodded, “We should help each other when we’re out. We’re going over to Pond City right now, so we can take you over along the way. But this is quite far from Pond City, how did you appear here?”
“It’s a long story. I was kidnapped by those bandits,” the man sighed. “They wanted to use me to ask my father for ransom, but I managed to run away while they were off guard.”
“Then you’re pretty lucky,” Ye Zichen smiled meaningfully.
The amount of ransom that the city lord’s son could get was no small amount. Since the bandits dared to kidnap the city lord’s son, they were definitely people who lived with their lives on the line.
The fact that they actually stopped chasing when their target climbed onto the carriage…
This is kind of strange!
“Perhaps,” the man shrugged, but the moment he shrugged, Ye Zichen grabbed his arm. “Brother…”
“You’re not the city lord’s son,” Ye Zichen grabbed his wrist tightly with a frown. “Who exactly are you? Why are you trying to get close to us!?”
“Brother, what do you mean by that?” The man revealed a frantic look.
Ye Zichen snorted, “Your hands are very coarse. They are clearly hands of people who often work. Do you need to farm as the city lord’s son?”
“This is from practicing martial arts…”
“Heh, martial arts? If it was from martial arts, then the callus on your hands wouldn’t be like this. What’s more, your purlicue1 is weak. You’re at most a person who is physically strong. Say it, who exactly are you!?” Ye Zichen pinned the man onto the carriage.
However, the man suddenly laughed, “I can’t believe you even noticed that, but what a shame, it’s still too late.”
Bang.
Zuo Mo suddenly fell down in the carriage, while Ye Zichen felt a bit light-headed as well. All of a sudden, he was seeing double when he looked at the man.
“Sleep. This young lord has never seen any one be able to resist this Dreamslumber Powder!”
With that, Ye Zichen could no longer fight the sleepiness that was about to overcome him.
“Young Lady!” The driver immediately noticed something amiss within the carriage, however, the man merely scattered a bit of powder towards the driver, causing him to slowly lose consciousness as well.
“Haha, an earth dragon carriage, it seems like I caught a big fish again.”
…
“Ye Zichen…” A soft murmur sounded out by Ye Zichen’s ear, causing him to open his eyes blurrily. When he did, he saw that they were no longer in the carriage.
“You’re awake? It seems like we were tricked,” Zuo Mo, who saw beside him, said dejectedly. Even an idiot could tell in this sort of situation that the man who claimed to be the Pond City’s city lord’s son was lying.
“It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t allowed him onto the carriage.”
At that moment, both of their hands and feet were tied together. Ye Zichen tried to struggle out of it with a frown…
“Stop trying, it’s useless,” at that moment, a man’s voice could be heard near him.
Ye Zichen turned around, and saw that another man was also tied up like them not far away. It was obvious from the way the man dressed that he was no ordinary person.
“These ropes are replicas of the Immortal Tying Rope. Although they don’t even contain a ten-thousandth of the strength of the actual celestial artifact, they are still have some special effects. The more you struggle, the tighter the rope will be.”
It was as the man had said, Ye Zichen tried to struggle out of the ropes, only to feel the restraint become even tighter.
Thus, he could only give up, “Who are you?”
“I am Qiu Yuan, the son of Pond City’s city lord. The people who captured me are some bandits. They probably kidnapped me to get money from my father,” the man said with a sigh.
Ye Zichen and Zuo Mo were both shocked for a moment. Then Ye Zichen raised his eyebrows, “You are the son of Pond City’s city lord?”
“What? I don’t look like it?” Qiu Yuan raised his eyebrows. “What does your family do? These bandits always capture big fish. Since you guys are here, you are clearly no normal person. Getting captured here together is fate. We might as well get to know each other!”
“You are pretty optimistic,” Ye Zichen smiled.
“It’s not optimism. It’s impossible for us to run with this Immortal-Binding Rope. Of course, you guys have no need to worry, these bandits merely want money. They won’t do anything to us as long as the ransom is paid. So, it could be said that we’re safe,” Qiu Yuan said with a smile.
“So they do have some principles,” Zuo Mo twitched her mouth. It was obvious that she was in a rather poor mood.
“Hey, Qiu Yuan, when’s your father going to send us the money?” At that moment, the man that had lied to Ye Zichen and co. by telling that he was the song of the city lord entered.
“Boss Ma, you’ve already captured me four times this month. Even if my dad’s the city lord, he wouldn’t be able to afford it for much longer!” Qiu Yuan said helplessly.
The man smiled apologetically, “Sorry brother. Business hasn’t been good recently. You’re the only person who’s rather easy to capture, so hurry up and contact your father to pay up!”
Then, he looked over to Ye Zichen and Zuo Mo. Seeing that both of them had woken up, he walked over with a chuckle, “You’re awake. Then, don’t stay idle. Tell us your identities, so I can contact your family. We don’t have a standard ransom, the prices are all decided by your own identity. We’ll definitely let you go after getting the money!”
“Good job on that,” Ye Zichen smiled meaningfully, then raised his eyebrows. “But you are going to be disappointed. Neither of us are from large families. Do you know of Spiritual Breeze Village near Maple City? We’re from that village.”
“Don’t try to lie to me. An earth dragon carriage cannot be ridden by commoners,” the driver smiled, then motioned towards Zuo Mo. “If you don’t want anything to happen to the beauty beside you, then pay up!”
1. The space between your thumb and index finger.