This was the first time he had bitten someone, but he had no choice. If he wanted to find out who exactly wanted to kill him, this was the only way.
His corpse poison not only possessed strong lethal toxicity, but it could also turn other living beings into his puppets.
The little black sparrow from before was exactly like that, though it was only a relatively low-level corpse puppet.
Although he had no experience biting people, he possessed the memories of the previous generation of zombies. After turning the other party into a zombie, due to the suppression of bloodline rank, as long as the opponent's strength wasn't much higher than his own, he still had a chance to control them.
His sharp fangs pierced the boy's skin and severed the artery. At that moment, Jiang Chen's soul trembled, as if something had awakened inside him.
In the past, when he secretly tasted the forbidden fruit and drank the blood of poultry, he already found it extremely delicious. But now, the large amount of fresh blood gushing from the boy's neck felt like an adrenaline shot to him.
The taste of that blood, in his perception, was like immortal nectar and jade elixir, filled with supreme temptation.
He couldn't help himself and greedily sucked in large gulps, swallowing the blood into his stomach. As the blood entered his body, it felt as if he had consumed an immortal pill—his entire blood seemed to boil and cheer, giving him an ecstatic, floating sensation.
Suddenly, while immersed in this blood frenzy, Jiang Chen froze. He felt a huge amount of memory information suddenly appear in his mind, all of it belonging to this boy.
From childhood to the present, all the boy's memories were transmitted to Jiang Chen's mind through the blood.
Jiang Chen gradually regained some clarity. He realized he had been sucking for a very long time.
At this moment, the boy's eyes were wide open in terror, his face pale as paper, and the vitality in his body was rapidly fading. Jiang Chen quickly released his mouth.
That was close, very close. If he had bitten the boy to death directly, the resulting zombie would only be a mindless walking corpse. That wasn't the kind of zombie he needed.
Fortunately, the boy hadn't completely died yet. As long as his corpse poison corroded the boy's soul, he would fully become a zombie, a wise zombie like Jiang Chen himself.
If this boy's strength didn't greatly surpass Jiang Chen's, then he would be completely controlled by Jiang Chen. This control would become deeper and deeper in his soul, almost impossible to break free from.
Having already received the boy's memories, Jiang Chen knew that the boy hadn't lied earlier; he truly didn't know who the employer was.
Jiang Chen could only place his hopes on the boy becoming a zombie under his complete control. Only then could he rely on this boy to investigate who the mastermind was.
Having figured everything out, Jiang Chen released his zombie state and stood up.
"Hm?" Jiang Chen suddenly sensed something and turned his head toward the direction of Holy Soul Village. About a hundred meters away, behind a large tree, a small head was peeking out.
When the little head realized Jiang Chen had spotted him, it immediately shrank back and hid behind the tree.
Because the distance was too great, Jiang Chen couldn't clearly see who it was. Just as he took a few steps forward, intending to go take a look, a small figure dashed out from behind the tree and ran desperately toward Holy Soul Village.
Jiang Chen was stunned. That small figure was extremely familiar—it was Tang San.
Immediately afterward, he gave a wry smile. Now there was a huge misunderstanding. Having been personally witnessed by Tang San sucking blood, Tang San would surely treat him like a fierce tiger from now on and avoid any contact with him.
He shook his head, turned around, walked back to the boy's side, and quietly waited.
The heart that had been pierced earlier had already recovered. Zombies were very difficult to kill unless one possessed special items that countered them.
While waiting, Jiang Chen carefully went through the boy's memories in his mind and discovered that this boy was actually somewhat pitiful.
The boy's name was Jing Wuming. He had once been the young master of a small sect, but unfortunately, when he was three years old, his sect was exterminated. He was saved by a man named Jing Wuchang, who raised and trained him to become an assassin.
From the age of six, Jing Wuming had followed his adoptive father Jing Wuchang to learn the art of killing. Now only ten years old, his spirit power had already reached level nineteen—a considerable genius.
What surprised Jiang Chen was that Jing Wuming actually possessed twin martial souls. His first martial soul was Shadow, and his second was Sword.
In the original story, twin martial souls only appeared in three people. He never expected there would be another one here. However, according to Jing Wuming's memories, he had never gone to the Spirit Hall for certification, so it was normal that the Grandmaster didn't know about him.
Even if he had gone for certification, Grandmaster still wouldn't have known. After all, most of Grandmaster's theories were formed back when he was in Spirit Hall, relying on the convenience of Spirit Hall's vast statistics on spirit masters. He had been away from Spirit Hall for so many years; even if new twin martial souls appeared, he wouldn't receive the information.
Earlier, Jing Wuming had used the first soul skill of his Shadow martial soul to hide within the tree's shadow.
"So that's how it was, he was actually hiding inside the shadow. No wonder I couldn't find him," Jiang Chen finally understood.
"This martial soul is truly strange. As long as there is shadow, he can hide in it."
Jing Wuming's current spirit power level was nineteen, with innate full soul power of level eight when he awakened, already considered genius level compared to most people.
After understanding Jing Wuming's situation, Jiang Chen's heart stirred. Innate level-eight soul power was already extremely talented, and combined with twin martial souls, he was only slightly inferior to Tang San.
If he could control such a genius, he would gain a very capable subordinate in the future. Moreover, Jing Wuming's adoptive father was the leader of the assassin organization in Notting City, which meant Jiang Chen might have a very good chance to take control of that organization later on.
In Jing Wuming's mind, this assassin organization was a colossal entity, but exactly how colossal it was, he had no concrete concept.
After about ten more minutes, Jiang Chen suddenly felt an inexplicable connection appear in his heart. A strange feeling came from Jing Wuming, linking the two of them mysteriously.
Jiang Chen was delighted, realizing things were developing in a favorable direction.
In his view, the wound on Jing Wuming's abdomen and the bite marks on his neck began to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared completely, leaving smooth skin behind.
Jing Wuming's eyes were somewhat dazed at first, but moments later, they regained clarity, and he stood up.
He looked at Jiang Chen in front of him, his expression rather complicated, but in the end, he still respectfully dropped to one knee.
"Master!"
Only at this moment was Jing Wuming completely under Jiang Chen's control. This obedience came from the depths of his soul; even if Jiang Chen ordered him to die right now, he probably wouldn't resist in the slightest.
"Wuming previously offended Master. I beg Master to punish me," Jing Wuming said with utmost respect.
"Get up. Now that we're on the same side, how could I blame you?" Jiang Chen smiled and helped Jing Wuming to his feet.
Jing Wuming stood up, but his expression remained respectful as he waited for Jiang Chen's instructions.
He still possessed his own thoughts, but deep within his soul had been planted an obedience toward Jiang Chen, an obedience that felt as natural as if it had always been there.
Jiang Chen sensed it once more to make sure there were no flaws, then spoke:
"I give you your first mission: as quickly as possible, find out who exactly wants me dead."
"Understood!" Jing Wuming respectfully lowered his head.
"Also, from your memories, I know you were planning to attach a soul ring to your second martial soul?"
Jing Wuming wasn't surprised that Jiang Chen knew his memories and nodded. "Yes."
"Don't be in a hurry to attach any soul ring to your second martial soul," Jiang Chen said.
Jing Wuming was startled. "Please enlighten me, Master."
Jiang Chen continued: "Your Shadow martial soul is enough for you to keep cultivating. Wait until you reach the Soul Douluo rank, or even the Titled Douluo rank, before attaching a soul ring to your Sword. At that time, the soul rings you can withstand will be ten-thousand-year rings, or even hundred-thousand-year rings."
Jing Wuming's eyes suddenly burst with brilliant light. He immediately dropped to both knees and respectfully said:
"Thank you, Master, for your guidance."
"But Master, my attack power mainly relies on the Sword martial soul. Without attaching a soul ring, my strength will be greatly reduced."
Jiang Chen seemed to have anticipated this question and smiled. "Carefully sense your body right now."