"Do you want something for nothing?"
Gu Yuan turned around and smiled at everyone, simply extending his hand to them. "If you want to follow me, then show some sincerity."
"You only need to follow behind me; at least until we reach the exit, I can protect you."
"What do you mean... before we encounter the exit?"
"It's simple. If we find an exit, I will naturally be the first to leave. But don't worry, once I'm out, I'll call for help from the Academy. As long as you Senior Brothers can hold on, everyone will be rescued."
Seeing Gu Yuan's cheerful demeanor, everyone couldn't help but swallow.
This guy... he couldn't be worse than Lin Tian, could he?
"Then... we'd like to think about it some more."
"Of course, but I must remind everyone, I am a very vigilant person. If I find any unfamiliar, ill-intentioned individuals following me, I might accidentally make a mistake..."
With that, Gu Yuan was about to leave. The few cannon fodder hesitated, but only one person quickly caught up with Gu Yuan.
"Wait, A Yuan!"
It was Xiao Mei. One had to admit, this woman truly had foresight and was decisive enough.
Upon realizing that the three of Lin Tian combined were not as good as Gu Yuan, she decisively abandoned the three and turned to Gu Yuan's side.
As for the "protection fee," Xiao Mei understood the principle that one must give something to gain something.
She actually handed a storage ring to Gu Yuan!
"A Yuan, congratulations on becoming the top of the literary ranking list. This storage ring was originally a celebratory gift prepared in advance. I couldn't give it to you immediately before, but it seems it's not too late now."
Gu Yuan was also not polite; after taking the ring, he immediately checked its contents.
This was the most common storage ring, with about one square meter of storage space inside. Its market price was roughly 10 Spirit Stones, and these Spirit Stones were not something Mortals could access.
Only after becoming a Cultivator would one have the opportunity to receive them from their Family or from the Academy's Salary.
Of course, if one was lucky enough to encounter a Spirit Stone mine, they could experience what it was like to be wealthy. It was just a pity that such mines were rare and hard to come by.
In his previous life, Gu Yuan at this time, let alone a storage ring, couldn't even dream of a single Spirit Stone.
Even if he got one, he would probably think of selling it on the black market to buy some furniture for his home and improve his life... And within this ring, there was a small amount of money, as well as three first-order lightning Dao Materials.
Lightning Orb Fruit, Purple Pine Branch, Electric Centipede Foot... These three Materials were considered scraps among first-order Materials, but for those who had not yet become Cultivators, these things could be said to be rare Materials.
It seemed these things were what Xiao Mei had prepared in advance to give to Lin Ao.
After all, Lin Ao and Lin Tian both possessed top-grade Lightning Spiritual Roots. If Lin Ao could gain an early advantage, he would surely be able to suppress Lin Tian in the future.
However, this Xiao Mei indeed had courage; she dared to give these things to him first, and she did so even after seeing Lin Tian being utterly crushed.
One had to admit, Gu Yuan was somewhat admiring Xiao Mei at this moment.
At least her mind was very clear; she knew how to assess the situation and temporarily attach herself to him.
Gu Yuan did not reject such people.
"Hmm, not bad. I'll hold onto these things for you, Mei'er. Some of the items inside were probably meant for Senior Brother Lin Ao; if I meet him, I'll give them to him."
"Hehehe, then thank you, A Yuan."
Hearing Gu Yuan's words, Xiao Mei was clearly relieved.
The smile on her face also brightened a bit, but when Xiao Mei tried to take Gu Yuan's arm, Gu Yuan dodged, then looked at the others not far away.
With Xiao Mei's example, everyone's faces showed fluctuating expressions.
That storage ring could be said to have set a very bad precedent. Gu Yuan hadn't specified how much he would collect earlier, but Xiao Mei directly took out a storage ring!
Aside from children of aristocratic Families, ordinary Students had never even touched such a thing.
If Gu Yuan was stubborn and insisted on such valuable items, then it could be said that, apart from the three people in the distance, no one else could produce them.
However, Gu Yuan's next words made everyone's furrowed brows relax.
"I think everyone must have been startled by my previous actions. Please rest assured, I, Gu Yuan, am never a greedy person."
"I also have no intention of making enemies with anyone. You only need to pay the silver you have on hand, and you can rest assured that putting your money with me guarantees fair dealing and excellent value."
"Only... only silver is needed?"
"Of course."
Some people were still hesitating, while a Student, lying on the ground, covered in dirt, clumsily took out some silver from his waistband.
"I... I only have this much!"
"Uh huh~"
Gu Yuan took the silver, casually counting it. It was about dozens of bills.
According to the current prices in the Mortal world, one silver note could buy about a catty of beef or mutton. An ordinary Student's annual expenses were usually around two hundred silver notes.
These bills were roughly the Student's savings from years of frugality.
Seeing this, Gu Yuan took the silver notes, then showed a business-like smile.
"Of course, no problem, Junior Student. I have seen your sincerity. Now, you can follow at the back of the team. As for your leg..."
"No, don't worry, I'll wrap it up; I can manage!"
"That's certainly for the best."
With that, Gu Yuan looked at the others behind him. Now everyone had a rough idea.
They all chose to hand over the silver they had, planning to follow Gu Yuan for now.
Even if following Gu Yuan meant death, there was nothing they could do. These riches would be useless if they died anyway, so they might as well take a gamble.
Some women, however, stood still, silent.
For them, Lin Tian was also a choice.
Gu Yuan wouldn't say much to them either. Anyway, he was just collecting this money for fun; he was truly too poor, probably only having two or three silver notes on him, and that was only after receiving a subsidy...
Seeing fifteen Students already following behind him, Gu Yuan nodded. This was already half the people in the entire Death Prison.
He truly hadn't expected to find so many people... However, since he had taken the money, Gu Yuan would not break his word.
Rather than letting these guys behind him test the Evil Creature's methods, it would be faster for him to act.
Anyway, Gu Yuan knew exactly which Evil Creatures were in this Death Prison. The current scene was something Gu Yuan had imagined countless times in his mind.
Since he had returned, he naturally couldn't miss it... After an unknown amount of time, Lin Tian slowly woke up.
Lin Tian touched his swollen and painful nose. As soon as he opened his mouth, he felt a slight lisp. That punch to his face seemed to have knocked out several of his front teeth.
He seemed to have blacked out. The last thing he remembered... "Where's that damn bastard!"
"Brother Lin Tian, you're awake."
Beside him sat Wu Ze, Li Shubo, and several other female Academy Students.
Lin Tian struggled to get up, took out a bottle of good healing medicine from his storage ring, and applied it to his face. In a short while, although his face was still a bit swollen, at least it no longer affected his speech and vision.
"Cough, cough, cough, where is he?"
After such a long time, Lin Tian had gradually calmed down.
After hearing about Gu Yuan's incredible protection fee collection and his act of taking away a large group of people, Lin Tian also clicked his tongue in wonder.
"What a bunch of pigs!" Lin Tian said indignantly.
In Lin Tian's opinion, Gu Yuan was most likely the same as himself, just using a different approach, but in reality, he still intended to use this group of people as cannon fodder.
Furthermore, being defeated by Gu Yuan in public and suffering such a great humiliation, how could Lin Tian accept such a thing?
But... Lin Tian took out an ordinary long sword again, but after two glances, he sighed deeply.
"No, I am absolutely no match for him now. That thing in his hand... although it's not a Magic Treasure, it's better than a Magic Treasure!"
Lin Tian clenched his fist. As a direct descendant of the Lin Family, how could he not have a Magic Treasure in his hand!
It was just that his cultivation was not yet sufficient, so he couldn't use it.
"This Gu Yuan just got lucky. There are many people in the world with talent but no virtue. This person has neither virtue nor talent; he will surely not go far!"
Lin Tian thought for a moment before speaking.
Wu Ze, however, was a bit anxious. "What if he really finds an exit and escapes?"
"What does it matter? He has the ability to find it, do I not? If he abandons everyone and escapes first, then when we leave together, what awaits him will be fierce criticism!"
Lin Tian sneered, "I already have an idea. We just need to wait."
This Gu Yuan, relying on the strange weapon in his hand, acted domineeringly, and his Physical Body strength also seemed quite high.
But trying to act like a big shot in the Death Prison by himself was absolutely impossible.
And Lin Tian disdained petty tricks like sneak attacks. Instead of playing such games, he would rather see how far this Gu Yuan could go. If Gu Yuan was seriously injured by an Evil Creature and that weapon was destroyed, then Lin Tian could take the opportunity to take over the entire team and restore his reputation!
"Hmph, if Senior Brother Lin Ao were here, how could this little beast be so arrogant!"
"Never mind, let's not talk about these unlucky things."
Lin Tian pulled the two along and walked forward, wanting to see where Gu Yuan and his group, who had a nearly half-hour head start, had gone.
The terrain of this Academy Death Prison was divided into two levels, upper and lower.
The upper level resembled a mountain cave, with no light on all sides, a pitch-black expanse, where one could only rely on the glowing moss plants on the walls to discern the surroundings.
The lower level, however, was a cliff. No one knew how deep the ground was, and no one dared to explore downwards casually.
At this moment, everyone was in a straight path that continuously moved forward. After walking through several more rooms, they found a fork in the road. Following the fork with more footprints, Lin Tian felt his whole body itching with jealousy as he saw the scenes before him.
"Damn it, they got ahead of us!"