“Sauron, I shall curse you for my entire life.” Tu Lingduo let out a scream. Then, the dagger in her hand stabbed desperately towards the space between her chest and abdomen, wishing to cut apart the tattoo there.
“Clang!” At this moment, a concealed weapon suddenly flew out, directly knocking the dagger from Tu Lingduo’s hand.
Ye Jingyu appeared from behind the door, saying, “Miss Tu Ling, are you truly so unable to see things through? The envoy from your family has already arrived in Tianshui City territory, preparing to negotiate with us.”
Tu Lingduo’s original martial arts were on par with Ye Jingyu’s. But every day she was fed a kind of medicine that rendered all the dragon power throughout her body impossible to unleash. All the meridians throughout her body were in a state of limp weakness, so she could not resist Ye Jingyu.
From a very young age, her parents had educated her that her entire life was to be devoted to the Tu Ling family.
This was not merely about her serving the Tu Ling family. More importantly, it was about using her own body and beauty to form marriage alliances for the Tu Ling family, or to recruit outstanding sons-in-law.
Now, Sauron had left such an enormous tattoo upon her body. She could forget about marrying out in this lifetime.
And once she returned to her family, letting her parents at home see this tattoo, all her prospects within the family would also be ruined.
Previously, not only Zhi Ning, but even her father had believed that she and Sauron had some private affair.
Now, she had once again fallen into Sauron’s hands, and with this tattoo added on top, her entire life was effectively ruined.
To demonstrate her innocence and will, the only way was to destroy this tattoo. But doing so would also destroy her beautiful body.
…
Sauron and Sorcerer Yaomeng were inside the carriage. Sword Venerable Bi Xiao and Ye Jingfeng rode horses outside. The four returned to Tianshui City at full speed.
At this moment, this female sorcerer’s upper body was completely exposed. She was thirty-eight years old this year, her body mature and full.
A dagger directly pierced through her chest, looking truly shocking.
“I am going to pull it out.” Sauron said.
Yaomeng gritted her teeth and nodded.
Sauron grasped the dagger hilt and pulled it out fiercely.
“Mmm…” Sorcerer Yaomeng let out a low hum. A stream of bloody arrow instantly spurted out.
Sauron used distilled strong spirits to clean her wound, then rapidly applied haemostatic medicinal paste. He threaded a needle and swiftly stitched together the front and back wounds. Finally, he wrapped the wound with clean gauze.
By the time Yaomeng put her garments back on, there was not the slightest trace of colour on her face.
Sauron did not ask about her past, much less about her grievances and entanglements with the Ash family. Instead, he asked directly, “In the course of your research, have you ever come into contact with a kind of liquid metal? It is fluid, yet it is metal, and heavier than iron, copper, and silver?”
“Yes, flowing silver.” Yaomeng said, “It can be directly refined from cinnabar crystal stones.”
Sauron was instantly overjoyed. What was his Phantom Shadow plan?
It was mirrors. And early Venetian merchants made mirrors by evenly applying mercury onto glass.
So to manufacture mirrors, there were two most important things. First, mercury. Second, glass.
The world where Sauron currently found himself was the same as ancient Earth. Most mirrors were bronze mirrors. More advanced ones were crystal mirrors.
And even crystal mirrors were not very clear, and it was very difficult to make large-area mirrors. The key was the price, completely astronomical.
A crystal mirror exceeding one chi in size might cost over ten gold coins.
At the very least, within Tianshui City proper, there was only one crystal mirror exceeding two chi. It currently resided in Suo Ningbing’s room.
So what to do when large mirrors were needed? They pieced together many crystal mirrors. But that sense of fracture was imaginable.
Once mercury-coated glass mirrors appeared, how disruptive would that be? Completely imaginable.
Although the clarity and brightness of mercury-coated mirrors was not the highest, silver nitrate coated mirrors had even higher clarity.
But Sauron felt they should take things step by step. First popularise mercury-coated mirrors. Once the market was saturated, then completely switch to clearer, brighter silver-coated mirrors.
At that time on Earth, when Venice’s mercury glass mirrors had first been born, they caused unprecedented sensation. Even when the French king married, Venice’s gift was a small mirror, valued at over a hundred thousand francs.
So, Sauron’s Phantom Shadow plan was to manufacture mirrors.
Of course, Sauron’s knowledge of how to manufacture mirrors was extremely rudimentary. He merely knew to coat a layer of mercury onto glass, or a layer of silver nitrate.
And as for how to make glass, he knew it was burning quartz, then annealing, which would produce glass. And quartz roughly came from sand.
That was all he knew. As for how to improve glass purity, or how to eliminate bubbles in glass, he completely did not know.
So, he needed an uninhabited island that no one knew of. There, he would build a secret underground laboratory, hiring several dozen to a hundred alchemists to conduct experiments there.
Based on Sauron’s rudimentary theoretical knowledge, first burn out relatively pure glass, then manufacture mirrors.
As for glass vessels, Sauron did not intend to let them appear in the world.
Because, although they had penetrative power and shocking power, they were not as monumental as mirrors.
Presently, nobles mostly used gold and silver vessels, or crystal vessels. Purely in terms of appearance, they were not inferior to glass vessels in the slightest, and even more luxurious.
But glass mirrors were different. Once manufactured, whether placed beside crystal mirrors or bronze mirrors, that clarity and brightness would completely and utterly dominate.
With comparison, there would be shock. With shock, they could be sold at astronomical prices.
Sauron could be certain that once glass mercury mirrors appeared in the world, they would certainly become a necessity for nobles. No matter how high the price, they would buy them.
So, once Sauron’s Phantom Shadow plan succeeded, how many gold coins could he earn? Completely unimaginable. But what could be certain was that it would certainly exceed the salt industry of Chaos Stone Island.
Because it was very likely a thousand-fold, ten-thousand-fold violent profit.
Moreover, salt drying was easily copied. But glass mercury mirrors were very difficult to copy.
At this moment, Sauron truly had to thank the Dragon Emperor from three thousand years ago. He had created the civilisation of this world, but it was mostly literature, philosophy, art, and basic mathematics.
As for science and engineering, whether he did not understand it or deliberately avoided it, he had almost not touched upon it.
Originally, Sauron’s Phantom Shadow plan lacked a true leader. And now, this genius sorcerer Yaomeng before him was the best candidate.
Because she was at the end of her rope, and had a life-and-death grudge with Ash Luo.
Of course, at this moment Sauron did not reveal the slightest hint.
“Then, is this flowing silver easy to obtain?” Sauron asked.
“Extremely easy.” Yaomeng said, “However, its current uses are not great. It is mostly used to manufacture certain special medicinal pills and poisons, and even then only as a supplementary ingredient.”
Sauron nodded and said no more.
The four used the fastest speed to hurry back to Tianshui City.
…
And at this moment, within the Linhai City Lord’s residence, another thunderstorm was raging.
“What did you say? Did you not say that little beast Sauron was certain to die this time?” Tu Lingsi raged, “How is it that he is completely unharmed? Instead, our son has once again been captured by him?”
A few days prior, Duke Zhi Wei’s hundred thousand great army had pressed near Tianshui City. Everyone had believed that Sauron was completely finished, including Linhai City Lord Gui Xingfu.
However, they had not expected that merely a day later, a new flying kite message arrived.
The king had awakened. Sauron and Gao Yin, holding the Divine Dragon King’s staff, had returned to Tianshui City, forcing Duke Zhi Wei to withdraw his troops.
Sauron had once again turned the tables.
Instantly, Gui Xingfu completely could not believe his own eyes. He was nearly driven mad.
It had been a certain-death situation, yet Sauron had once again reversed it.
Was he, was he even human?
Instantly, Gui Xingfu felt a surge in his chest, a feeling of wanting to spit blood.
If there was one person in this world who most wished for Sauron’s death, it was undoubtedly Gui Xingfu.
Yet he watched with his own eyes as Sauron fell into desperate straits time and again, then counterattacked from the brink time and again, creating miracles.
After shock, what welled up was deep fear.
Linhai City bordered Tianshui City. There was only a single Nu River between them.
And Sauron’s hatred for him, Gui Xingfu, could be said to penetrate to the bone.
Instantly, Gui Xingfu actually felt some regret. Why had he insisted on being the one to take the lead against Sauron, thereby offending Sauron to the death?
But very quickly he knew that regret was now completely useless. He was destined to fight this mad dog to the death without rest.
And just yesterday, Sauron’s personal letter had already arrived at the Linhai City Lord’s residence. Gui Xingfu took one look and nearly exploded.
“Father-in-law, your son Gui Qinqu is in my hands. Three thousand Linhai Army captives are also in my hands. Do you wish to ransom them back? Thirty thousand gold coins, only thirty thousand gold coins.”
Seeing this figure, Gui Xingfu nearly spat blood.
Three thousand captives, at most four or five thousand gold coins would be the limit. Thirty thousand gold coins would be more than enough to train a ten thousand man army. Sauron was completely opening his mouth like a lion.
But Sauron had written clearly on the letter. Ransoming Gui Qinqu alone was thirty thousand gold coins. Ransoming Gui Qinqu together with the three thousand captives was also thirty thousand gold coins.
At this moment, Gui Xingfu truly felt resentment towards Zhi Ning. Gui Qinqu had clearly already been released. Yet during the second negotiation, to test Sauron’s authenticity, she had sent Gui Qinqu back again.
“This woman, she has truly been fucked silly in the head by Sauron. Normally she is brilliantly clever, but the moment she encounters Sauron she makes one foolish move after another.” Such words, Gui Xingfu could truly only say in his heart.
Moreover, he should not laugh at others when he himself was in a similar situation.
His precious daughter had also once been fucked silly in the head by Sauron, and had to go to the Divine Dragon Temple to have her memories washed away.
Facing Sauron’s extortion, Gui Xingfu decided to ignore it, waiting quietly for developments.
However, another day passed, and Sauron sent someone to deliver a letter, and a gift.
That gift was a piece of skin. The foreskin from a man’s private part.
Sauron’s letter said, “Father-in-law, Second Brother’s foreskin is overly long, which is harmful to his health. For the sake of his physical and mental well-being, I took the liberty of having someone perform surgery on him. No need to thank me!”
Seeing this letter, Gui Xingfu could endure no longer. He directly bit his teeth until they bled, roaring, “Sauron, I shall tear your corpse into ten thousand pieces, ten thousand pieces!”
…
Within the underground prison cell of the Tianshui City Lord’s residence.
Tu Lingduo rolled about on the ground in agony. The twice-daily torture of pain had come again.
That hellish itch seeping from the marrow, erupting once every six hours.
She, Tu Lingduo, feared not death, and feared not pain.
But this itch was too terrifying. It truly felt as if countless ants were biting inside the marrow, inside the bones.
This itch was useless even if one scratched the flesh into mangled shreds. It completely entered the bone and marrow.
Over the past dozen or so days, she had suffered this hellish torture twice every time.
Moreover, every time it erupted, her hands and feet would be bound, preventing her from scratching. Otherwise, her entire body would likely have been scratched into mangled shreds by now.
Sometimes when the itch reached extremes, her body would even lose control, directly losing control of her bladder.
Tu Lingduo had risked life and limb for the Black Ice Residence, not knowing how many times she had been injured, nor how many times she had walked at death’s edge.
Yet the pain and torture she had suffered over the past few years combined was not even half of this.
She was very strong, never once begging for mercy, always cursing Sauron.
But the object of her curses had never appeared.
Even, many times she had nearly been unable to endure. It was the hatred brought by cursing Sauron that allowed her to persist through this terrifying torture.
And this time was no exception.
Her four limbs were bound. She could only endure the torture of the hellish itch.
This pain at the extreme caused her to roar and curse desperately.
“Sauron, you shall not die a good death. Your Tianshui City Suo clan will certainly perish. Your descendants, the males shall be slaves for generation upon generation, the females shall be prostitutes for generation upon generation.”
“Sauron, one day you shall fall into my hands. At that time, I shall certainly castrate you, then cut the flesh from your body inch by inch, roast it over fire until cooked, then force you to eat it yourself.”
She cursed desperately, shouting the most malicious words she could think of.
However, she had repeated these words who knew how many times already. Cursing while visualising the scenes in her mind, she could persist through this terrifying torture.
Over the past dozen or so days, Sauron seemed to have vanished from her world.
No matter how maliciously she cursed, Sauron never appeared.
However, this time, when this hellish itch torture ended and she lay completely limp on the ground, Sauron suddenly appeared before her.
That handsome face was still one that made people sink into depravity, like a devil.
“Ah…” Tu Lingduo struggled desperately, opening her little mouth to reveal white teeth, as if wishing to bite him to death.
Sauron said, “Your family has sent someone to ransom you back. The sky-high price I asked, they have agreed. So I have made a small fortune.”
“I shall bite you to death. I shall bite you piece by piece, flay your skin, and eat your flesh bite by bite.” Tu Lingduo said fiercely.
Sauron acted as if he had not heard, saying, “You have my graffiti on your bottom, and my tattoo covers your entire body. You cannot show yourself to anyone. Moreover, the twice-daily hellish torture makes you wish you were dead, does it not?”
The moment these words were spoken, Tu Lingduo’s gaze filled even more with hatred and killing intent. If gazes could kill, Sauron would have died ten thousand times over.
Sauron still acted as if he had not seen, saying, “Now I have a piece of good news, and a piece of bad news to tell you.”
“The good news is.” Sauron took out a crystal clear pearl, saying, “This is a Marrow Cleansing Pearl. I obtained it from a genius sorcerer. It is priceless, unique in the world. Not only can it make the terrifying tattoo on your body disappear, but it can also make the graffiti on your bottom disappear, restoring your pure white, flawless body. Moreover, the twice-daily hellish itch torture will also disappear along with it.”
The moment these words were spoken, Tu Lingduo was completely stunned, as if she were in hell and suddenly about to be saved.
Sauron smiled, “And the bad news is, if you wish to make the tattoo disappear, to restore your body to snowy white flawlessness, to be freed from the hellish itch torture, you must exchange it for something else.”
With that, Sauron looked into Tu Lingduo’s beautiful, stubborn eyes, and said word by word, “The thing to be exchanged is… your chastity and innocence. I shall absolutely not force you. You choose for yourself!”
Hearing this condition, Tu Lingduo’s beautiful face instantly turned deathly pale.