Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Wrath of the Captive Horde

Ye Mo strode out of the cell door, followed closely by Wu Shan, Qian Ying, Zhao Dafu, the You sisters, Scholar Zhang, Jin Hao, and the others. On this pirate ship, it seemed that only by Ye Mo the “Immortal Master’s” side could one find any safety.

The entire lower deck of the ship had already been roused. Prisoners and slaves in the neighboring cells, startled by the deafening sound of the explosion, rushed to the bars of their spiritwood cages, staring towards the source of the commotion.

They all gaped in astonishment as Ye Mo shattered the spiritwood bars and stepped out of his cell.

“The cell’s been broken open?!”

“Immortal, save me! I have an eighty-year-old mother to care for and a three-year-old daughter wailing for food. I am so pitiful, I want to go home!”

“We’re finally saved! I am from a noble family in Wu, Immortal Master—if you rescue me, all my wealth is yours!”

“Save us!”

A cacophony of desperate pleas erupted from the hundreds of prisoners confined in the ship’s many cells, their eyes burning with fervent hope.

Ye Mo frowned at the chaotic cries echoing through the hold.

“If I let them continue making such a racket, the pirates will soon notice the uproar below deck.”

“No time to think—better rescue them first. There are dozens of cells; who knows which one holds Mo Ling, Wang Hu, Gao Jian, and the others?”

Under the prisoners’ incredulous gazes, Ye Mo struck open the nearest cell door with a single palm.

Seven or eight captives rushed out, while the shouts from the other cells grew even louder.

“How powerful! Thank goodness I never truly offended Immortal Ye, or my fate would be worse than these cell doors,” thought Zhao Dafu, secretly relieved that he had not acted out of turn.

You Mingyan was still shaken. The sight of Ye Mo’s strike left her breathless, her chest heaving with excitement and agitation.

The thunderous noise from the lower deck awakened two pirate guards at the passage entrance. The guard with the iron sword, who had been dozing against the wall, was startled by the loud bang and ensuing commotion.

“What’s going on?”

“A jailbreak?!”

Startled, they snatched up their iron swords and rushed into the cell corridor. Such disturbances had occurred before—sometimes the slaves would riot, even slaughtering each other until half were dead or wounded.

But the sight before them left the two pirate guards dumbfounded.

Fifteen or sixteen prisoners had emerged from the supposedly impenetrable spiritwood cages.

“How dare you!”

“Planning a revolt, are you? Tired of living? How did you get out? Who stole the cell keys?”

Facing a crowd of captives, the two pirates barked fiercely, angered at having their rest disturbed. Used to bullying these unarmed prisoners, they paid them little mind, waving their swords with impunity.

At their shouts, the commotion among the captives quieted; all eyes turned toward the pirates. In the past, they would have cowered on the floor. But this time, their gazes held no fear—only anger.

“They’re just a bunch of slaves—useless, no matter how many. Get back in your cells, now! Or I’ll beat you all senseless!” The dim light of the ship’s hold masked the change in the prisoners’ demeanor; the pirates, mistaking their silence for fear, grew cocky.

Their arrogance did not last long.

Ye Mo approached with a smile, holding a half-length broken spiritwood staff, striding confidently toward them. Not only he—three or four other strong captives also picked up hefty wooden sticks, following Ye Mo toward the pirates with grim faces.

“A stick?”

“Where did you get that? All the prisoners were thoroughly searched—nothing gets in or out of this hold, not even a mosquito. Did you break off the bars of the spiritwood cage?”

“Impossible! That spiritwood is harder than iron—even a master warrior couldn’t break it barehanded. How could it be snapped?”

Recognizing the stick in Ye Mo’s hand, the two pirates paled, cold dread washing over them. The jagged break was not made by a blade but snapped by brute force—what kind of strength could do such a thing?

Fear sent them stumbling backwards. Yet, as men who lived by the sword, they sensed the looming danger.

This prisoner before them was not someone they could contend with.

At last, they understood why the cells were in chaos and so many prisoners had escaped.

One thought filled their minds: escape.

But by the time they realized, it was already too late.

With a cold snort, Ye Mo lunged forward, his figure a blur. In a flash, he seized the two pirates by the throat, lifting them off the ground. Their swords were quickly taken by Wu Shan and Qian Ying.

“Tell me—where did your captain put my Golden Spirit Sword and the golden armor?” Ye Mo demanded coldly.

“I don’t know! You’ll never escape on the open sea. You’d better release me, or our captain and his men will hack you all to pieces and feed you to the sharks!” one pirate spat, still struggling.

Ye Mo’s brow furrowed. He tightened his grip—a sickening crack as the man’s throat snapped.

He was not bloodthirsty, but time was short—he needed results fast, or they’d be overwhelmed by pirate reinforcements.

The pirate died without so much as a scream, eyes wide with disbelief and terror, still unable to comprehend how Ye Mo could kill without hesitation. All his ill-gotten gains, all his dreams of spending them, vanished in an instant.

The corpse thudded to the floor.

“I have no time for nonsense! Where are my possessions?” Ye Mo turned to the other pirate, voice icy.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” the second pirate, terrified by Ye Mo’s ruthlessness, pleaded for his life. “The captain—Captain Feng—loves that sword and armor. He wears the armor and keeps the sword by his side, even when sleeping. No one else can touch them, let alone steal them.”

“What is Captain Feng’s cultivation?” Ye Mo asked.

“Ninth level of Body Refinement—he’s a peak warrior! On this ship, no one is stronger. Even two or three other ninth-level warriors together aren’t his match.”

The pirate answered quickly, pleading for mercy.

Ye Mo fell silent. A ninth-level Body Refinement master, armed with the Golden Spirit Sword and Demon Crab Armor—this was a foe beyond the ordinary, almost the equal of a cultivator.

A mere spiritwood staff might not be enough to face Captain Feng.

“And what about the two spiritwood boxes?” Ye Mo thought of the Water Arrow Talismans. A martial brute like Captain Feng could not use them—only a cultivator could.

“Spiritwood boxes? I don’t know about those, but Captain Feng keeps all his valuables—gold, jewels, everything—in a treasure chest in his quarters. His room is on the second deck, the most luxurious one. If your boxes are valuable, they’ll be there,” the pirate replied hastily.

Getting what he needed, Ye Mo chopped the pirate on the back of the neck, knocking him out cold.

From Ye Mo’s first move to the fall of the two pirates, everything happened in moments. The captives, shocked by Ye Mo’s decisive ferocity, grew quiet, their eyes filled with new respect.

“Ye Bro! It’s me!” a familiar voice called out.

Ye Mo picked up an iron sword and hurried to a nearby cell, seeing Wang Hu’s familiar face.

Having slept like the dead, Wang Hu had only woken during the commotion, his cries lost in the uproar. Now, as the cell quieted, he called out to Ye Mo.

“Ye Bro, you’ve broken through to Soul Formation?!”

“Yes,” Ye Mo answered, striding to Wang Hu’s cell. With a sweep of his left hand, a sword gleam slashed down.

Clang!

A thick spiritwood bar split in two, leaving a gap wide enough for those inside to escape.

The prisoners were dumbstruck. With a single stroke, the bar was severed—truly the strength of a cultivator was beyond mortal reach.

“There aren’t enough weapons. Use these spiritwood staves for now! When the pirates charge in, defend yourselves with these,” Ye Mo instructed as he handed Wang Hu and the others the broken bars.

Wang Hu, both shocked and delighted, followed Ye Mo closely.

After freeing Wang Hu, Ye Mo turned to the other cells, determined to rescue the rest—especially his own companions from the island, who had been scattered among various cells.

The spiritwood cages were extremely sturdy. The prisoners Ye Mo had freed lacked weapons or keys, so they could only follow him, unable to help with the others.

With the iron sword, opening cells was much easier. Ye Mo wasted no time searching—he simply slashed open one cell after another.

Within a few trips up and down the corridor, in just a dozen breaths’ time, all the hundreds of captives had been freed, their spirits soaring with joy.

Ye Mo’s companions—Mo Ling, Gao Jian, Lin Zhi, Wang Hu, Yang You, and the rest—quickly gathered.

“Let’s go, everyone! We fight our way to the second deck!”

“Roar! I was suffocating down here! Damn pirates, I’ll take them all down!”

With a furious outcry, the liberated prisoners surged after Ye Mo, charging toward the second deck.