Of course, her gaze also fell on the insect on Yu Qing’s shoulder. Amid the hatred in her eyes, there was added grievance.
Her ability to appear and meet Yu Qing had a great deal to do with this insect, even an indescribable feeling — perhaps fear that this insect, together with others, would pose a threat to her or something.
As a result, after meeting Yu Qing, it was as if she had taken the wrong medicine. One wrong step led to another, and inexplicably she had walked into a pit. Grievance!
Perhaps due to anger, her face suddenly twisted.
The crowd thought they had seen wrongly, for after twisting once, it returned to normal.
However, the twisting repeatedly reoccurred, giving the impression that at times she became the ghost foetus, and at times she became Yun Xi, half one and half the other.
The crowd did not know what was wrong with her, but it was extremely strange.
She suddenly let out a strange laugh, pointing at Yu Qing and saying, “I said I would make you wish you could live but cannot, wish you could die but cannot. We will meet again, we certainly will meet again, I certainly…” Her voice became chaotic, and her entire person suddenly instantly transformed back into the ghost foetus.
Seemingly having lost control, the ghost foetus immediately revealed its true nature, opening its fanged great mouth and pouncing toward the group to bite.
Swish! Mu Aotie stepped forward with a sword, cleaving it into two pieces on the spot.
Looking at the sticky corpse that fell with a thud, Liu Piaopiao pondered, “It seems the underground Yun Xi’s main body has also become unable to sustain the burden.”
Everyone understood her meaning — crushed to death by the collapse.
“Who knows.” Yu Qing was noncommittal. In his mind was Yun Xi’s words that they would meet again. He sighed, turned back to face that pile of collapsed rubble, and waved his hand, “Start digging. The blocked distance is probably not short.”
Nothing more to be said. Since there was a way out, they naturally had to do their utmost. Several people immediately got to work. At Yu Qing’s indication, they threw rocks in the direction Yun Xi had come from, first blocking off that area, lest she come to cause trouble again.
After digging out a distance of one or two zhang, it could be seen that there had indeed originally been a formed cave passage.
After digging more than ten zhang deep, to save effort and conserve stamina, they no longer cared whether the retreat would be blocked. The rocks dug out from the front were simply thrown four or five zhang behind…
The sunlight came out, but the surging dust had not yet completely settled. The area around the stone mountain gave a grey, hazy feeling.
It was truly because when the great mountain sank down, the dust that surged up was too immense, with a gushing momentum shooting toward the sky. The leaves of the surrounding mountain forest were covered with a layer of grey.
Despite the dust, the Third Cave Master of Qianliu Mountain had come.
With such a major incident occurring, the Third Cave Master could not sit still. He finally stepped from behind the scenes to the front stage and revealed himself.
Standing with hands behind his back, silently facing that great mountain, his face gloomy, watching the demon cultivators examining the area all around the mountain.
Mountain King Hong Teng quietly accompanied him at his side.
The mountain had already cracked open with several large gaps in several directions. Some areas looked like they could collapse at any moment. A large area of subsidence already encircled it all around.
Shortly after, the Great Commander came to report, “Third Master, according to estimates, the entire mountain has sunk approximately twenty zhang. Currently, it is unknown whether there is any hope of survival for those below.”
The Third Cave Master visually estimated the volume of the mountain and knew in his heart that survivors were unlikely. He snorted, “It sank twenty zhang. Is there that much subsidence space below?”
With the facts laid bare before one’s eyes, how could one answer? Hong Teng hesitated, “The cause is unknown.”
Just at this moment, a group of people flew over. They were none other than the personnel from the Sinan Office led by Meng Po.
Having received the report and learned of such a major incident, they could no longer hide and had personally come to show their faces.
“What happened?” Meng Po demanded.
The Third Cave Master glanced at him, “Meng Po, what did you come here for?”
Meng Po struck first, “I heard that personnel from my Sinan Office were lured into the Guanfengyang Ancient Tomb by you and were killed in an ambush by you. Since Meng passed through this place, how could I not come to see?”
Third Cave Master: “Passed through? How did I not know you were passing through? If you’re passing through, you should at least change out of your night-travelling clothes. Shameless, you truly dare to turn the tables. How did your Sinan Office people secretly come here? Don’t you have any idea? When it comes to shamelessness, truly no one can compare to you humans.”
Meng Po: “Stop beating around the bush. Speak — what exactly did you do to our people?”
Third Cave Master: “Your people came to steal things. They stole one billion taels of silver notes from my Qianliu Mountain and fled in guilt. If your Sinan Office does not hand over the thieving bandits, my Qianliu Mountain will not rest!”
Meng Po: “Nonsense, sheer nonsense!”
Not far away, You Lingluo of the Blue Sea Shipping Line occasionally glanced this way, while Meng Wei reported the situation beside her.
After hearing the report, You Lingluo asked, “Are you certain no survivors came out?”
Meng Wei: “Saw it clearly. Absolutely no survivors. The incident was too sudden. The people inside probably had no time to come out.”
You Lingluo looked up at such an immense mountain body and sighed, “In other words, it is impossible for there to be any survivors below. That Tanhua Lang famed throughout the world is dead?”
Meng Wei hesitated, “There should be no possibility of survival.”
You Lingluo shook her head with a sigh, “How could he just die like that? He dared to go in, so he should have had something to rely on.”
Meng Wei: “Such a sudden incident occurred. No matter what one had to rely on, one couldn’t withstand it!”
You Lingluo sighed repeatedly, “Heaven is jealous of talent. Now this is fine. After returning to the country, I won’t even know how to explain to that princess who insisted on marrying the world’s number one talented scholar. This perfectly fine mountain, how could it suddenly collapse?”
Meng Wei could understand his difficulty. If the person was gone, being able to handle the matter well would also suffice, giving an explanation to those above. Everything else would be easy to manage. If nothing was handled well anywhere, then it would be hard to explain.
He could only comfort, “The incident was sudden. No one could do anything about it.”
What else could You Lingluo do besides bitter laughter?
On the other side, there was also a large group of people drawn by the commotion, mostly guests who had come to offer congratulations. Qin Jue and Cui You also stood in a corner observing.
Seeing the Jian Yuan Mountain demon cultivators also running around like headless flies, Cui You sighed, “Great Shopkeeper, that Tanhua Lang is probably gone. You said he had boundless prospects in the capital. Why resign from his official post for no good reason? He wouldn’t walk the proper, upright path and insisted on burrowing into holes. Now he’s completely ruined it.”
Qin Jue slightly shook his head, also feeling somewhat emotional about the impermanence of life, “Perhaps this is fate! Death is also good. It saves us a worry as well. Otherwise, if he caused trouble, it would still implicate our Jian Yuan Zhai. But then again, for a great talent rarely seen in a century to die just like this is truly a pity.”
Cui You hmmed and nodded, but had misgivings in his heart.
In his view, they should never have agreed to that Tanhua Lang’s excessive demands. How could the identity of a shop assistant at Youjiao Bu be given to an uncontrollable person? This one was purely acting on impulse for that woman…
Light suddenly appeared through the stone crevice. Liu Piaopiao, digging at the front, turned back with joy, “I see light! We’ve reached the end!”
The three behind were instantly overjoyed. They had dug at least two li of road. They were indeed somewhat tired.
Seeing Liu Piaopiao raise her palms in a stance, about to forcibly blast it open, Yu Qing immediately went over and pressed down on her forearm, “Slow down, slow down. Gently, it’s better to be gentle. Don’t let people discover us.”
Liu Piaopiao: “There’s no need to be sneaky.”
Yu Qing smiled bitterly, “That’s you. You’re in your own home, so of course you don’t need to be sneaky. Can the three of us be the same? You’ve worked hard. Rest on the side. I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” He politely invited her to the side and hurriedly began throwing rocks behind him.
When they dug to the end, the rocks in hand were covered in moss.
After fully digging it open, the cave opening was very small. One couldn’t even walk out crouching.
They crawled out one by one. After escaping, they got up and breathed the fresh air to their hearts’ content, all filthy like beggars.
The exit was at the bottom of a mountain stream with a large drop. Everywhere were gaunt, moss-covered rocks pointing toward the sky. At their feet was also a thin stream of water gurgling, flowing to who-knows-where.
Liu Piaopiao looked around, examined the mountain terrain outside the stream, and roughly knew her position within Jian Yuan Mountain territory. She was too familiar with this place.
Swish! Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, she suddenly drew her sword. The blade suddenly pressed against Yu Qing’s neck.
Yu Qing was stunned. The three senior brothers simultaneously froze. They had been fine just now. She turned hostile in the blink of an eye?
The problem was, if she truly made a move, the three of them combined would not be her match.
Liu Piaopiao asked, “Why did you not want people to discover us? Why did you want to secretly leave?”
Yu Qing laughed drily, “Staying behind would be far too troublesome. Actually, you also saw that we suffered for nothing with no gains whatsoever. But others may not believe it. I’m afraid we would be interrogated endlessly.”
Liu Piaopiao: “I have no way to let you leave. If it were only a matter of Jian Yuan Mountain, even if I made the decision on my own, the King would give me some face. But people from Qianliu Mountain have also come. Once Qianliu Mountain learns that I privately allowed you to leave, I cannot bear the guilt.”
Yu Qing: “Actually, you are very clear that whether or not you capture us has no impact whatsoever on Qianliu Mountain and Jian Yuan Mountain. This doesn’t count as favouritism on your part either.”
Liu Piaopiao: “You should know that after I escaped, I might act against you. When trapped by the evil aura earlier, I even had the three of you go to your deaths. Why did you still help me escape?”
Yu Qing: “Nothing else. You saved my life, so the matter of wanting to kill me is past. Additionally, I should count as having saved you three times. Once from Yun Xi’s hands, once when Zhu Mingchi and the others perished — it was I who carried you to avoid that calamity, and I led you to escape here, which should also count as saving your life again. Excluding the time you saved me, you still owe me two lives.”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie’s gazes met.
Liu Piaopiao flipped her hand, withdrew her sword, and directly sheathed it on her back, “Don’t rush to leave just yet. Large numbers of hidden sentries are deployed all around. Leaving at this time would be hard to avoid detection. I’ll take you to a nearby hiding place to lay low. Once the commotion has passed, I’ll arrange for you to leave. Saving the three of your lives once — that clears the debt with interest.”
“Good, good, good.” Yu Qing nodded repeatedly. With this person’s status in Jian Yuan Mountain, if she could help them escape, then there would absolutely be no problem. Truly, it could not be better.
Liu Piaopiao had them wait a moment. She went ahead to scout the path.
After getting a feel for the nearby situation and making arrangements, she returned and brought the three to a concealed cave to settle them, telling them to wait for her word before leaving.
At parting, Yu Qing called out to her, “Yun Xi may not be dead. It would be best if Qianliu Mountain ensures that if she is alive, they see the person; if dead, they see the corpse. Evil must be thoroughly eradicated!”
Yun Xi’s words that they would certainly meet again had cast a shadow in his heart.
Liu Piaopiao: “No need for you to say this. Once Qianliu Mountain learns that Yun Xi has lived for three thousand years and still hasn’t died, they will inevitably dig to the very bottom.”
Yu Qing: “Also, among those who came to offer congratulations this time, there is one called Qin Jue. Could you conveniently or think of some way to…” He raised a finger and made a throat-slitting motion.