Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

"The Night Watch? Heh heh heh..."

Bao Bingqing placed his two hands together elegantly on his cane and said casually, "Recently, the Empire has indeed sent quite a few Night Watchmen to my territory to cause trouble, but unfortunately most of them came to their deaths. Now they are all crippled and lying in my dungeon."

"You!" Nangong Qiuyue, who was practically a night watchman, was so angry that her eyes widened.

Cang Feng calmly observed the surrounding situation.

The enemy now has a large and powerful force; so many Wilderness Corruptors with Dark Blood are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

To make matters worse, their car broke down...

No one knew the exact strength of this Bao Bingqing in front of them, but to be able to rise to the top of a rebellious force in such a chaotic place as the wilderness, he must be a very extraordinary person.

The current situation is undoubtedly very unfavorable to them.

"What do you want to do?" Cang Feng asked after thinking for a while.

“I didn’t intend to do anything. In fact, I had no ill intentions from the beginning.” Bao Bingqing smiled, his dark gray eyes slowly turning to Ye Ge: “I just wanted to invite the young master of the Ye family, as well as the others who are traveling with me, to come to my territory as guests.”

Cang Feng asked in confusion, "To be a guest at your place?"

Bao Bingqing: "Yes."

"Hey, do you think we're fools?" Nangong Qiuyue said at this moment, "How dare you! No malicious intent? If you had no malicious intent, why would you have sent so many men to besiege us?"

"If it weren't for this, would you still be willing to come?"

"Of course not! We're on a mission! Who has time to visit you!"

“That solves it.” Bao Bingqing said unhurriedly, “I know my guests won’t be happy to come, so I have no choice but to invite them this way.”

Ye Ge looked at him: "So if we still refuse now, you're going to resort to force?"

“Yes.” Bao Bingqing smiled. “If I can’t invite you, I’ll have to take you back in a rather impolite way.”

"..." Everyone was speechless.

Cang Feng looked at Ye Ge, then at Bao Bingqing, and asked, "What do you want to invite Ye Ge to your place for?"

Bao Bingqing said calmly, "It's nothing, just a chat. As long as you come with me obediently, I won't hurt a single hair on your head. I can guarantee that."

Nangong Qiuyue sneered: "Is a guarantee from a gang leader like you in the wilderness really trustworthy?"

“If I wanted to hurt you, I could do it now,” Bao Bingqing said. “This is my territory. Even if you students from the War Academy are all prodigies, you are still just a bunch of prodigies who haven’t fully matured yet. Plus, there’s a teacher whose strength is suppressed to the peak of the Hundred Soul Realm. Do you really think you have a chance of winning if you fight me here?”

Ye Ge hesitated for a moment, just about to say something.

However, at this moment, a transparent system panel suddenly popped up in front of Ye Ge's eyes!

[System notification: Hidden quest triggered!]

[Entering a story branch!]

This choice could potentially alter the entire course of the story; please make your decision carefully!

[Option 1: Refuse Bao Bingqing's invitation, choose to fight, eliminate all of Bao Bingqing's subordinates, capture Bao Bingqing, the leader of the wilderness forces, and hand him over to the Empire. You will gain +300 favorability with righteous human beings, +1000 favorability with the general public, and a 15% chance to obtain a random red-quality item. You will also receive the title [Wilderness Enemy]—from now on, when you encounter scavengers, adventurers, wanderers, or other wilderness forces, their hatred towards you will permanently increase by +1000.]

[Option 2: Refuse Bao Bingqing's invitation. If you can break through the encirclement with your teammates and the escorted iron box and successfully escape, you will continue your mission, and the original world's storyline will remain unchanged.]

[Option 3: Accept Bao Bingqing's invitation to go to Dark City, and you will unlock hidden story content.]

[Note! This choice is crucial and will significantly impact the world's storyline. Players are advised to consider it carefully!]

Ye Ge was taken aback.

It even triggered a hidden storyline?!

Ye Ge pondered for a moment, carefully reviewed the three options, and thoughtfully considered them.

Option 1 simply means to start fighting and eliminate all the people surrounding them.

Bao Bingqing is the Empire's number one wanted criminal. The royal family has been racking their brains over these wild forces that smuggle and sell Dark Blood. If they could capture him, it would definitely be a great achievement.

However... the difficulty is definitely not ordinary.

They are now surrounded by at least a hundred Wilderness Polluters who have consumed the Dark Blood, each of whom is as powerful as an ordinary Heavenly Realm cultivator. Killing them all will definitely not be an easy task.

Moreover, Ye Ge knew absolutely nothing about this Bao Bingqing, and had no idea what other tricks he might have up his sleeve...

Next is the second option.

It should be a bit easier than option 1, but their transport truck is now destroyed, and they'll have to carry a huge metal box to break through the encirclement... Even if it's a bit easier, it certainly won't be that easy...

If this option is chosen, the original storyline will remain unchanged... So, Bao Bingqing should die? After all, he wasn't a character in the original Dark Blood storyline.

So he must be a character who was originally supposed to die.

Finally, the third one...

This choice is described very little, only that it will unlock hidden story content later.

"Hmm..." Ye Ge closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and considered it seriously.

"Hey, teacher, you absolutely can't fall for that guy's tricks!" Nangong Qiuyue whispered, "We can't trust him. This guy is definitely trying to lure us back. Who knows what he'll do to us then!"

Cang Feng replied in a low voice, "Nonsense, of course I know..."

"I accept your invitation." Ye Ge opened her eyes, looked at Bao Bingqing, and finally made her decision.

Others: "???!"