"If I dispelled it, you'd definitely try to escape, and you might expose yourselves. Since nothing's really wrong anyway, it's better to let you stay like this," Xiaoyao replied. Even now, he didn't really plan to help them dispel the drug's effects.

"Well, we'll definitely listen to you now. But could you help us dispel this poison? That way we can respond if anything happens," Luo Juntao said with a smile.

"Alright, this is indeed a problem—better safe than sorry. Come one by one, don't make big movements, and don't let anyone suspect," Xiaoyao didn't insist too much. This was originally a matter with pros and cons on both sides—dispelling or not dispelling made little difference.

Soon, Xiaoyao had dispelled the drug from the Luo family members. After recovering their internal energy, their expressions immediately improved greatly, and their hearts felt much more at ease.

"Alright, let me remind you—if there's a chance to escape, I'll call you, but definitely don't cause trouble. The Saint Level people outside aren't to be trifled with," Xiaoyao said.

"We know. With Saint Level people around, we couldn't escape even if we tried. Let's wait—the Luo family will soon know about this and send people over. We also have Saint Level experts. When the Saint Level people are held up, we'll escape in the confusion," Luo Juntao said.

"Right, take the chance when it comes," Xiaoyao nodded. He said not to make pointless moves, but if a real opportunity appeared before them, of course he'd escape. Why sit and wait for others to decide their fate?

"Everyone get some good rest," Luo Juntao said. Now that they had internal energy, they felt much more at ease.

...

...

"Good night!"

The next day...

"Hey, we've finished all the food. You're not planning to starve us to death, are you?"

Xiaoyao shouted outside. Only he had this kind of mood, but there was no choice—the people here had eaten all the previous vegetarian dishes. They now seemed to understand that not eating would only weaken their physical strength.

"Wait, we'll give you food. You won't die from being hungry for a bit," the guard said irritably. How could this kid really treat the current situation like playing and still demand food service?

"You can't abuse prisoners! This is immoral and inhumane," Xiaoyao protested seriously.

"..."

"Give them food. Don't let them go hungry," a voice came over—it seemed to be that same person.

"So reasonable. This basically confirms they shouldn't harm these young masters and ladies. Probably these people aren't even in their eyes," after getting this result, Xiaoyao was even more certain of this point. As long as they behaved, there wouldn't be any problems.

But what was the purpose of these people being here?

"Xiaoyao, what are you thinking about?" Luo Baochai saw Xiaoyao with his brow slightly furrowed and knew he was thinking about something.

"I'm wondering what kind of people these are. They don't seem to be monks—probably not from Yanhua Temple. The few monks I saw before seemed to have very deep Buddhist knowledge, and they don't seem to be from this Yanhua Temple. You've been here several times—have you seen anyone you recognize?" Xiaoyao frowned.

"Doesn't seem like it. Those from before weren't them—maybe they changed people. We haven't been here for a long time. It's not strange for them to have deep Buddhist knowledge—it would be strange if they had no Buddhist knowledge at all," Luo Baochai said. Yanhua Temple's monks did include quite a few eminent monks.

"How could ordinary monks have such profound Buddhist knowledge? They're definitely not ordinary people. Also, if they had no Buddhist knowledge, that would be somewhat better, but if even the impersonators have profound Buddhist knowledge, it shows these people's organization is very powerful," Xiaoyao shook his head.

"This..." The Luo family members fell silent, while also thinking more highly of Xiaoyao. Not only had they not paid attention to these details, they wouldn't have noticed anything even if they had.

"I observed and found there are at least two Saint Level martial artists, thirteen Emperor Level Peak martial artists, twenty-one late Emperor Level, and fifty-two King Level Peak people. Even if placed in the entire world, this group would be terrifying. What do they want?" Xiaoyao said.

"What? They have so many experts?" Luo Juntao and the others could hardly believe it. Until now, they thought this group only had a few experts in charge—they hadn't expected them all to be experts, with even the laborers at King Level Peak.

"Yes, with just this many Emperor Level martial artists, they could easily capture you people. Their use of Bone-Softening Powder isn't because they fear conflict with you, but because they're afraid of hurting you. They want to achieve their goals through more peaceful means," Xiaoyao nodded, looking outside.

"What exactly do you have here that requires such an organization to make such a big move? I'm very curious," Xiaoyao continued.

"Why do you keep saying 'you'? Aren't you among us?" Luo Baochai said.

"I'm just innocently caught up in this. If I'd known it would be like this, I wouldn't have come on this spring outing. Really unlucky," Xiaoyao said very innocently. He was somewhat cursing Third Master now.

"Actually, you don't need to worry. Although this combat power is frightening, our Luo family still has the ability to handle these forces. Don't underestimate our own family," Luo Juntao said calmly, seeming very confident in the family, or rather, he knew some of the Luo family's trump cards.

The strength the Luo family displayed should be far more than what appeared on the surface, and even what was apparent would be enough to deal with the people here. It's just that fighting would result in heavier casualties, so the Luo family probably wouldn't deploy too much force.

"Someone's coming," Xiaoyao suddenly looked outside.

People coming was normal—what was strange about that? There was already a group of people outside, with who knows how many coming and going.

Soon, everyone seemed to understand that the "someone" Xiaoyao mentioned wasn't these people, but people from their own side—someone had already come to negotiate.

"Who goes there?" A voice that didn't sound loud but spread throughout Yanhua Temple.

"I am Luo Yunyi of the Luo family," Third Master's voice rang out. That he could be the first to arrive wasn't hard to imagine, because he cared about Xiaoyao and was also one of the few Saint Level experts in the Luo family.

"So it's Third Master Luo. Since it's you, you're qualified to negotiate. I am Bai Da," the person seemed to know Third Master's status and strength, didn't waste time on formalities, and directly began dialogue and negotiation with Third Master.

This person's name was a bit strange—Bai Da, similar to the previously mentioned Bai Qi. Were they brothers?

Bai Da? Why had no one ever heard of such an expert? He also seemed to be Saint Level, and compared to himself, seemed no weaker at all—possibly even slightly superior.

"What are you doing capturing our juniors?" Third Master asked.

"Nothing much, just asking you for something—something that's not very important to you," Bai Da said with a smile.

"Release the children first, then we can discuss other matters," Third Master didn't care what the other party wanted—the most important thing was rescuing Xiaoyao and the others.

Bai Da shook his head and said: "These children are my bargaining chips to exchange for your things. Actually, this thing is very simple—as long as you hand it over, we'll leave immediately. Your children are all safe and won't be harmed at all. Of course, yesterday's incident was his own fault—I had no choice. You can just have another one."

"What? You killed someone?" Third Master immediately burst with an aura that made the Emperor Level martial artists retreat several steps. Only Bai Da and Bai Qi remained standing steadily.

Seeing this situation, Third Master understood he was facing two Saint Level opponents. At least there were two here currently, and with his own strength, dealing with one would be difficult—two would be impossible.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that one wasn't your child. Your child is still alive and kicking, and lively enough to give people headaches," Bai Da said with a frown. He could see that Xiaoyao resembled Third Master somewhat, easily connecting Xiaoyao as Third Master's son.

"Let him come out first. I want to see him," Third Master looked at Bai Da coldly.

"No problem. Someone, bring that kid out—the most troublesome one," Bai Da said. This made it very easy for his subordinates to identify the target. The only one here who gave people headaches was Xiaoyao—the others all seemed well-behaved or directly caused trouble.

For them, causing trouble wasn't troublesome, but someone like Xiaoyao who treated this situation like a game was indeed troublesome.

"Third Master, don't call me for things like this next time," Xiaoyao's first words upon coming out were complaining to Third Master. What kind of situation did you get me into?

"Hehe, how could I have known it would be like this? As long as you're fine. Mr. Bai, you don't mind if I take him away, right? After all, you still have so many people inside—you have enough bargaining chips for negotiation," Third Master said to Bai Da.

"That won't do. If I set a precedent, everyone will ask me for people later. Let's wait until you bring the item. He's eating well and sleeping well inside—no different from being at home," Bai Da said.

He couldn't guarantee this for others, but this kid was the most comfortable and at ease inside—not at all like a captured prisoner. He didn't know whether to call this kid stupid or composed.

"You can't say that. If you want something, you should at least show some sincerity. Releasing me would be your sincerity," Xiaoyao said seriously. After hearing this, the group of young masters and ladies inside were all cursing wildly—this kid was too shameless, only thinking of escaping himself.

Especially the Luo family members felt Xiaoyao was shameless—clearly telling others not to try escaping, but now he was the first to try to escape.

Nonsense! If there was a chance to leave, who would want to stay? This wasn't a safe place.

(End of Chapter)