Chapter 94: Master Wumu’s Scheme, If You Can’t Beat Them, Run
The battle had been raging for a while.
The destructive power of Core Formation cultivators at full strength was enough to destroy half of Ghost Demon Pass, and that was only because of the restrictions placed throughout the city.
However, due to the Zither Witch’s presence, the Core Formation cultivators present were subtly holding back.
Even so, half of the Youxiang Restaurant had already collapsed, but not a single ripple of the battle reached the pavilion in the center.
The Zither Witch played on, her eyes closed, her fingers gently plucking the strings, not even looking up.
Luo Xue glanced at the Zither Witch with some apprehension. She knew that just now, the Zither Witch had protected her.
But why she intervened, and why she protected her, were unknown.
Luo Xue didn’t want to get involved with these famous figures any further. Just a single encounter with Master Wumu had caused so much trouble.
If she encountered a few more, she might even run into that terrifying and bloodthirsty Holy Maiden of the Temple.
The three-way battle had intensified, and with the Youxiang Restaurant as the epicenter, the shockwaves had already flattened the surrounding buildings.
As far as the eye could see, there were only ruins.
“Let’s find a chance to escape.”
Luo Xue whispered. She could sense that the battle had reached a point where Elder Wu and Elder Li of the Tianhai Gang could no longer maintain the power of their small worlds, and the omnipresent pressure had disappeared.
In other words, no one was paying attention to them anymore.
The Sha sisters had already fainted. Although their cultivation was similar to Luo Xue’s, their mental fortitude was far inferior.
Fainting was a form of protection in this situation.
“Oh,” Nangong Mengxiang was still confused. “So… what exactly happened?”
“Maybe these factions had some grudges against each other.”
Luo Xue nodded seriously. That was the only possibility.
It had nothing to do with her anyway.
So said the culprit.
“Little Martial Aunt, are you done with what you came here to do?” Nangong Mengxiang asked again.
Luo Xue hesitated. Although she didn’t quite understand how the current situation had come about… at least, she had learned what she needed to know.
It just added more questions.
“…I’m done.”
Luo Xue’s eyes flickered, and she said softly.
Forget it, it had nothing to do with her.
The most urgent matter was to quickly pass through Ghost Demon Pass, cross the Nether Spirit forbidden area, and reach the nameless swamp.
Also, she should have accumulated quite a few survival points during this time. With one event after another, Luo Xue hadn’t had the time to check.
“Okay,” Nangong Mengxiang nodded, carrying the Sha sisters on her back. “It’s fine, let’s leave this place first.”
Luo Xue glanced at the Zither Witch again, but she still didn’t pay them any attention.
“Let’s go.”
Luo Xue took Nangong Mengxiang’s arm.
She was quite petite, and Nangong Mengxiang could easily carry her with one arm.
Nangong Mengxiang leaned down slightly and used her physical strength to escape, just like when she had fled from Wu Hai’s pursuit.
Because she didn’t use any spiritual power, her “escape technique” was difficult to track.
Only after they were far away did the Zither Witch finally stop playing, the music abruptly ceasing.
Instantly, the spiritual power of the three factions fighting in the ruins of the Youxiang Restaurant was suppressed by some force.
The two prodigies of the Demonic Ghost City, who had been overexerting themselves to maintain their secret techniques, vomited blood, their bodies swaying, their auras weak.
The three Core Formation cultivators of the Medicine Gang were all injured, and Wu Hai and Li Zhanglao of the Tianhai Gang were no better off, both suffering soul injuries.
The battle was instantly quelled, but none of the three factions dared to complain. They all looked at the Zither Witch, who was sitting on the pavilion with her eyes closed.
The Zither Witch didn’t speak immediately. She meticulously packed her zither, carefully loosening and removing the strings, then placing the body and the strings separately into the zither case.
While she was packing, no one dared to make a sound.
Finally, the Zither Witch picked up the zither case, turned around, and left, leaving only a faint sentence behind.
“Go back.”
Go back… what did that mean?
Did it mean that they should stop fighting?
The Tianhai Gang and the Medicine Gang were already enraged, not to mention that the two high-ranking prodigies of the Demonic Ghost City were now within their grasp.
Putting aside the conspiracy and the mastermind behind it, these two prodigies from the Demon Abyss were valuable assets to the Immortal Domain cultivators.
Bringing them back to the sect would definitely earn them a generous reward.
“We finally caught the source of the conspiracy…”
Wu Hai was unwilling to give up, his gaze towards Sima Ye and Shangguan Lengyan dark.
Should he take a gamble?
The Zither Witch had already left, and she hadn’t said anything about letting the Demonic Ghost City prodigies go. She hadn’t even intervened during the fight.
It seemed… there was no connection between them.
If so, this was an opportunity.
A chance to return to the Iron Sea Sect.
If not for the mistake he made in the sect, with Wu Hai’s talent, he wouldn’t have been exiled to Ghost Demon Pass, becoming an elder of the Tianhai Gang.
The same went for Yu Haoqiang, the Gang Leader of the Tianhai Gang, and even the elders of the Medicine Gang. They were all exiled here because of their past mistakes.
“Returning to the sect, my cultivation, which has been stuck at the mid-stage of Core Formation for many years, can finally advance further, and I might even… have the chance to reach Nascent Soul!”
Wu Hai gritted his teeth. This opportunity was right before him. If he missed it, there wouldn’t be another.
He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to attack the weakened Sima Ye and Shangguan Lengyan.
Just then, another hand was placed on Wu Hai’s scabbard, slightly pressing it down.
“Didn’t you hear her? She told us to go back.”
Wu Hai looked up in shock and saw Yu Haoqiang’s cold and serious expression.
Yu Haoqiang rarely showed such an expression. Whenever it appeared, it meant that he was truly angry.
“…Yes, Gang Leader.”
Wu Hai lowered his head and sheathed his sword.
Yu Haoqiang glanced at the Demonic Ghost City prodigies, then at the enraged Medicine Gang members, and said faintly,
“Don’t overthink things. With your weak strength, even ten more Core Formation elders wouldn’t be enough for me to handle alone.”
“Yu Haoqiang, you…”
Rao Weiyi shouted in a low voice, his voice filled with anger, but his heart was pounding.
The Tianhai Gang’s combat power was indeed very strong. Wu Hai alone was enough to suppress the other two Core Formation elders besides him, and he was even a match for Rao Weiyi himself.
Wu Hai was only at the mid-stage of Core Formation, while he was already at the late stage!
The Everspring Pavilion’s techniques were indeed not suited for combat…
If a conflict arose here, Rao Weiyi wasn’t confident that he could defeat the Tianhai Gang.
“By the way, the thief who robbed our alchemy shop, is she that girl in the pink dress who just appeared in the private room?”
Yu Haoqiang crossed his arms and asked indifferently.
But for some reason, Wu Hai felt a hint of inexplicable emotion in the Gang Leader’s words.
“Yes… where did she go?”
Wu Hai looked around, but Nangong Mengxiang was already gone.
His heart instantly panicked, and he quickly lowered his head, preparing to apologize to Yu Haoqiang.
But then he heard Yu Haoqiang say,
“Then forget it.”
“Forget it?” Wu Hai was stunned. “Gang Leader, what… do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said, forget it, let it go, let bygones be bygones, no further investigation,” Yu Haoqiang glanced at Wu Hai. “Is that clear enough?”
“Yes, yes… but this subordinate still doesn’t understand…”
“If you understood everything, you would be the Gang Leader, wouldn’t you?”
“…This subordinate knows his mistake.”
Yu Haoqiang turned to the manager of the Youxiang Restaurant, who had come out to settle the situation, and said loudly,
“The bill for today’s drinks will be split between the Medicine Gang and the Tianhai Gang.”
“Of course, Gang Leader, of course.”
The manager said with a smile, his expression like a mask.
Finally, Yu Haoqiang turned his gaze to Sima Ye and Shangguan Lengyan, who were looking at him warily, a strange smile appearing on his lips.
“As for you two… for the Zither Witch’s sake, let’s pretend today’s incident never happened. How about it?”
Although the Zither Witch hadn’t directly intervened, the words she left behind were implicitly protecting Sima Ye and Shangguan Lengyan.
This was normal. Regardless of the relationship between the Temple of the Nether Spirit and the Demonic Ghost City, they both belonged to the four domains of the Demon Abyss.
The Zither Witch, as a protector, wasn’t influenced by the stances of the various lineages within the Temple of the Nether Spirit. She was only responsible to the Holy Son, the Holy Maiden, and the Holy Master.
From this perspective, she naturally didn’t want the prodigies of the Demon Abyss to fall into the hands of the Immortal Domain.
Yu Haoqiang was also willing to give the Zither Witch face and temporarily let these two prodigies of the Evil Ghost lineage go.
Sima Ye’s expression was one of stunned disbelief, suddenly at a loss.
“Or do you two… want me to personally escort you back?”
Yu Haoqiang’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, only adding to the chilling aura around him.
Hearing this, Sima Ye could only suppress his doubts, endure his injuries, pull up the almost unconscious Shangguan Lengyan, and flee.
It seemed that they could no longer stay in Ghost Demon Pass…
Despair welled up in Sima Ye’s heart.
“Is this Master Wumu’s scheme… nowhere to escape…”
After slightly tidying up the mess, Yu Haoqiang returned to his usual lazy demeanor.
He cracked his neck, turned, and walked towards the Tianhai Gang’s headquarters, saying casually,
“Wu Hai, Li Heli, the rest is up to you and the Medicine Gang to clean up.”
“…As you command, Gang Leader.”
…
“This is far enough, Nangong. Put me down.” Luo Xue said.
Nangong Mengxiang’s movement technique was truly astonishing. Just relying on the explosive power of her physical body, her speed was already comparable to ordinary Foundation Establishment escape techniques.
This was an escape method that didn’t use any spiritual power, making it difficult to track, and the physical strength of a body cultivator was endless, making it almost costless to use.
There was just one drawback.
Motion sickness…
Luo Xue suppressed the urge to vomit, taking a while to recover.
The Sha sisters on Nangong Mengxiang’s back were even worse off. After this “escape technique,” they were rolling their eyes.
It seemed their consciousness had entered a dreamlike state, and Sha Keke was even muttering about things that didn’t exist…
If they continued for a bit longer, the Sha sisters would be joining their deceased parents in the underworld.
“Little Martial Aunt, your body is really weak. Why don’t you learn the Introduction to Body Tempering with me?” Nangong Mengxiang gently patted Luo Xue’s back. “I even have Master’s handwritten copy.”
“No, thanks. I have a feeling that the reason you’re so brainless is because you practiced this thing…”
Luo Xue exhaled and briefly checked herself internally. There didn’t seem to be any major problems.
She hadn’t sustained many injuries in the previous fight, but Nangong Mengxiang had taken two soul-targeting attacks.
But seeing her lively appearance now, it was hard to say how effective those attacks were.
“I wonder how Sha Yiyi and Sha Keke are doing…”
Luo Xue found a secluded corner and helped the Sha sisters lean against the wall, but they were still unconscious.
They didn’t seem to have any external injuries, so they were probably affected by the previous battle’s impact on their souls, or perhaps just from the motion sickness…
“Little Martial Aunt, do you want them to wake up?” Nangong Mengxiang saw that Luo Xue seemed lost in thought and asked, “I have some folk remedies for unconsciousness, do you want to try them?”
“Folk remedies?”
Luo Xue paused.
“Yes, yes,” Nangong Mengxiang took out a waterskin from somewhere. “Just splash water on their faces. I’ve always done this to wake up people I’ve knocked out. It’s very effective.”
“…What a simple and effective folk remedy.”
Luo Xue almost couldn’t hold back her laughter, but she still stopped Nangong Mengxiang. Doing that seemed a bit disrespectful.
They weren’t in a hurry, and they still had to avoid being pursued by the Tianhai Gang and the Medicine Gang.
If the sisters were fine, they would wake up soon.
Luo Xue’s judgment was correct. The Sha sisters weren’t injured; they had just fainted from fright during the previous battle.
Coupled with Nangong Mengxiang’s rough escape method, they had remained unconscious until now.
While waiting for the Sha sisters to wake up, Luo Xue took a moment to check the panel.
Quite a few things had happened since she arrived at Ghost Demon Pass, and she hadn’t had the time to sort out her survival points.
[Escaped a Core Formation Sword Cultivator’s Pursuit +50]
This should be from the encounter with Elder Wu at the alchemy shop. Perhaps because Nangong Mengxiang did most of the work, the survival points awarded were fewer.
[Escaped a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Pursuit +40]
She had been cornered by the two prodigies of the Demonic Ghost City, but thankfully, the Zither Witch intervened at the critical moment, and Nangong Mengxiang arrived.
But it could also be seen that as Luo Xue’s cultivation increased, the threat from Foundation Establishment cultivators decreased, and the survival points awarded were also fewer.
[Escaped a Three-Way Melee +20]
…This wasn’t very difficult. The other parties weren’t really paying attention to Luo Xue and the others.
As long as she found the right opportunity and wasn’t noticed, she could escape.
[Current Survival Points: 350]
[Poison Resistance: 100]
[Strength: 100]
[Cultivation Aptitude: Barely There]
[Divine Ability Aptitude: Almost None]
She still needed 650 points to upgrade her cultivation aptitude to the next level, so it was better to allocate the survival points to her divine ability aptitude first.
And also…
Luo Xue looked at her basic attributes, opened the detailed panel, and found the attribute she needed.
[Soul: 0]
These recent near-death experiences had made Luo Xue realize that she had almost no means of resisting direct soul attacks.
If she cultivated the Peerless Summit Sect’s techniques to a high level, her powerful sword intent could also sever such attacks.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time now.
Luo Xue could only… add points.
[Soul: 0 => 100]
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