Chapter 198: Whipping

"Want to run?" Syudos didn't know how much he had struggled after being suppressed by the Blood Binding. At first, he was still able to breathe in the Magic Arrays, but when Lin Yun advanced to become a 9th Rank Great Mage, Syudos' temper completely disappeared...

The power of nine Magic Arrays completely pressured Syudos to the point where he couldn't stand up anymore. He could only let Lin Yun flatten him, and thus, Syudos spent his days in the dark, unable to resist.

Today was the first time Lin Yun released Syudos, and he finally had the opportunity to feel some happiness by making someone else suffer, so how could Syudos be kind to Xiuban?

"Good, even I can't get away, so how could you dare run?"

The Flame Shackle flashed and coiled around Xiuban. The shockingly high temperature made Xiuban scream.

"I only wanted to breathe the air outside! I swear I didn't think of running!" The Draconic Beastman looked as if he was drowning, waving his hands wildly.

But no matter how much he struggled, how could he escape Syudos? He was a genuine Upper Rank Flame Spirit. His Human Incarnation form already had the strength of a peak 9th Rank High Mage. And now that he was appearing in his Flame Spirit form, his power was on the level of an Archmage.

Xiuban was a 9th Rank Great Swordsman at best, and one who hadn't received any martial training. In Syudos' eyes, he was no different from an ant.

"Lord Syudos said that you wanted to run, you don't dare to acknowledge it?" The Flame Spirit was unable to restrain his anger and directly dangled Xiuban on the carriage, hurling raging Flame Shackles at him.

After whipping him over a hundred times, Syudos had vented some anger and felt better as he watched the blood dripping down from Xiuban's lacerated flesh. "I shall see if you still dare to run!"

"No more... I don't dare..." The Draconic Beastman sat down in a corner of the carriage after being freed from the Flame Shackles. He was in a very pitiful state while inwardly cursing, 'Fuck, I'm not crazy enough to go for another beating...'

"Count yourself clever," Syudos coldly snorted before transforming back into a ball of fire floating in the spacious carriage.

But Xiuban didn't dare to think that this was a harmless Light spell anymore. Syudos' lesson had almost caused the Draconic Beastman to lose his life. He didn't dare to move for the rest of the night, and each time he looked at that ball of flame, he would feel a chill in his heart.

Lin Yun recovered from his state of meditation at dawn. He took a glance at the Xiuban in the corner and saw the countless burnt marks. Lin Yun naturally understood what had happened.

"Slept well?"

"Slept very well, very well..." The Draconic Beastman's tears flew down, and he had no choice but to squeeze out a stiff smile.

"Looks like you got along with Syudos..." Lin Yun smiled and withdrew the Upper Rank Flame Spirit. He then took out a palm-sized hand-crossbow from his pocket. "I still have to research that beast-tooth necklace and can't return it to you for the time being, so you can use this hand-crossbow for now..."

"Ah?"

"Ah what? Don't mess with it, it's poisonous..."

"You are really giving it to me?" Xiuban naturally knew that it was poisonous. One of the reasons the Highland Beastmen were known as the Rats of the Beastmen was that apart from their legendary poor ethics, they were very good at using poison. From the most common Fighter to the immoral Elders, they were all experts with poisons. As for the Witch Doctors who were regarded as the souls of the Highland Beastmen tribes, they had been exposed to poison since birth. Every drop of their blood would carry intense toxicity.

How could Xiuban, who had been born in a Highland Beastmen tribe, not recognize that this hand-crossbow used poison?

The problem was that the poison was too toxic...

Xiuban only needed to smell it from a distance to know that the toxicity of that hand-crossbow could instantly kill a magic beast over level twenty. The most frightening part was that this hand-crossbow itself carried very powerful magic properties. It could be considered as a perfect combination of poison and magic enchantment. There was even some spirituality coming from the hand-crossbow. Just by holding it in his hand, Xiuban felt incredibly powerful.

Xiuban even felt that he could defeat an Expert Swordsman without any problem.

"Wh... Why?" A shocked expression appeared on Xiuban's dark red face.

"Country bumpkin, do you know what contract you have signed?" Lin Yun didn't have time to say anything before Lord Shawn's voice was transmitted out loud from his ring. "You actually signed a total of seven clauses. Don't even ask about the details, you only need to know this, you already sold every part of your body to Merlin. In other words, ever since you signed that contract, you became Merlin's personal belonging. How could Merlin not be generous when it comes to protecting his personal belongings?"

"..." The Draconic Beastman's face paled. He looked at the hand-crossbow, then at the calm Merlin.

"Private belonging is a bit too excessive, there is a better way to put it..." Lin Yun conscientiously thought for a bit, before asking the Draconic Beastman, "Do you think being a pet sounds better?"

"..."

After breakfast, the expedition left the Silver Moon Mercenary camp. They walked on the rugged path for two days. The path from Thousand Sails City to the Four Seasons Canyon would take five days. During that boring journey, the leaders of the nine forces would visit each other to chat.

And Lin Yun's carriage was the one that was disturbed the most.

Besides Solomon, Cadgar, and other acquaintances, some unfamiliar leaders also used various excuses to board Lin Yun's carriage, talking about nonsense such as the weather that day, before politely returning to their own carriage, wasting time like that for two days in a row.

But it was also strange.

Lin Yun, who was always stingy about time, was like a completely different person for these two days. He would politely receive these people every day, entertain them, and politely see them off. Because Lin Yun knew that these people came to show their attitude towards him. If he didn't see them, they might actually feel insecure and wonder if they had done something wrong. They might even worry about the Gilded Rose's retaliation. And if they were courageous enough, they might take a risk out of desperation even if they ended up suffering from it.

Thus, for these two days, regardless of whether he was busy or not, Lin Yun took some time to chat with the other leaders for a bit. The contents of the discussions didn't matter. What mattered was that they were building relationships.

After two days, almost all the influential people had come to talk with Lin Yun. The only one who hadn't come was Fran.

Nothing could be done about it, as Fran simply couldn't come. That Fire Dragon Roar had almost killed Fran. Although potions had been used to recover his injuries, psychological wounds couldn't be healed so easily.

On that day, Lin Yun had stomped Fran's head into the sand in front of everyone.

Fran was like a zombie after suffering from such humiliation. If it wasn't because of his desire to still explore the Vaughn "Treasury", Fran would have already rushed back to the Mercury Tower instead of remaining with the joint exploration team and being pointed out by people.

After leaving the Silver Moon Mercenary camp, Fran remained in his carriages for two days on the basis that his wounds had yet to recover. Lys thought that this couldn't continue, so after dinner, he took a potion for curing burns and visited Fran.

"Hey, I did advise you..." Lys looked at Fran and saw that his injuries had already recovered and understood that he had only been hiding in the carriage out of shame.

But hiding wasn't a good solution.

'We will soon arrive at the Four Seasons Canyon, if you don't come out of the carriage as the help sent by the Mercury Tower, how are you supposed to get a share?

'Moreover, who was to blame? You are the one who wanted to seek revenge for Rieser, you are the one who wanted a fair fight, and you even made the first move. Who else can you blame other than yourself? Blame Merlin for being too strong? Blame Merlin for being able to cast spells so quickly? Blame Merlin for stomping your head on the sand? Aren't you the one making trouble for no reasons?'

"It's okay, Lys, you don't have to say anything else, I won't let Mafa Merlin get away with this." As Fran recalled the humiliation of that day, his eyes filled with hatred. Even as he looked at Lys, a faint hostility could be seen.

The other reason Fran didn't return to the Mercury Tower was his desire to retaliate. Fran even looked forward to the joint exploration team arriving at the Four Seasons Canyon and entering the Vaughn "Treasury" in advance...

He believed that this was the best place to enact his revenge.

'Aren't you powerful, Mafa Merlin? Let's check if that is truly the case in the Vaughn Treasury. The treasury of the last Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty, that is a field for alchemy. I don't believe that I, Fran, someone who became a Master Alchemist a decade ago, won't be able to handle you, Mafa Merlin...

'I'll let you know how serious the consequences of insulting a Master Alchemist are...'