There was no turning back. He could only continue to forge forward.Ye Xiuwen released his divine sense and followed the only path forward. As he walked along that path, he realized that his surroundings were completely desolate, and there was not even a single strand of gra.s.s around.The further along he went on that path, the narrower it got. At the same time, he began to start seeing traces of bones appearing on the sides of the path. When he took a closer examination of these bones, he noticed that while they mostly comprised of beast bones, there were some human bones strewn together with the mix as well.Ye Xiuwen immediately unsheathed his sword and held it in his hands, and his lips grimaced tightly.Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept across his surroundings, and he could smell the undeniably nauseating stench of blood wafting through the air. Ye Xiuwen squinted his eyes, and his spirits tensed up even more.As he walked on, the stench of blood only grew stronger and stronger. Then, as the path suddenly broadened into a large plaza, it became apparent to Ye Xiuwen where the stench of blood came from – that plaza contained an entire pool of bubbling blood, as though it was being boiled. There even seemed to be some living creatures moving about within the pool of blood, agitating it from time to time.What in the world is this?! Ye Xiuwen gripped his spirit sword tightly, and misgivings began to arise in his heart about the secrets hidden within the depths of the forbidden grounds.-------------------------------------------Jun Xiaomo was unaware of the fact that Ye Xiuwen had followed her into the whirlpool earlier. As she got washed into the whirlpool, there was even a brief moment of time when she thought that she had come to the end of her road.How regrettable. She had just been reunited with her martial brother Ye, and she had not even had the opportunity to reveal to him the fact that she was his little martial sister. Did she have to leave this world now? What about her nemeses who were all living and well? They had not yet suffered any form of retribution for the deeds they had done!Fortunately, she was not fated to yield up her life in this very place. Just as her despondence and reluctance came to a head, she discovered that the whirlpool s.h.i.+fted her about and spat her out elsewhere into a place which appeared foreign to her. At the very least, it was a place that was completely different from the place she was just at moments ago.Here, there was no red sky; there was no red grounds; and there was no red river. There was only a single, dark corridor that seemed to stretch on and on into the distance.There was what looked like a prison located just beside the corridor. This prison was filled with blood stains, and each and every cell seemed empty. The only traces of its usage in the past were the stains from the blood and gore that was splattered all over the walls and the floor.It was an incredibly unsettling place, and Jun Xiaomo couldn"t help but think about where she was at the end of her previous life.I wonder what this used to hold, and what the prisoners had experienced within… As she looked at the sight of what remained of the prison cells, Jun Xiaomo had an inkling that the people who used to be held here would undoubtedly have perished. In fact, from the looks of things, they must have suffered an incredible amount of torment and pain before they were even allowed to yield up their lives.Wait a minute. Prison?!Jun Xiaomo"s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately picked up her pace and walked forward – why didn"t she connect two and two together earlier? If this were a prison, wouldn"t her martial brothers from the Heavenly Peak naturally be held here?Thus, she moved hastily through the prison as she made her way towards the largest prison cell. There, she finally noticed tens of familiar figures within the cell, all of whom were shackled by two ma.s.sive hooks that had pierced their bodies.“Martial brother Chen! Martial brother Huo!” The rims of Jun Xiaomo"s eyes reddened as she sprinted towards her martial brother. However, the Heavenly Peak disciples had been tormented so badly that they were already on their final breaths, and they were completely oblivious to Jun Xiaomo"s cries.As Jun Xiaomo rushed closer and placed her hand onto the door, and ma.s.sive surge of energy suddenly welled up from an invisible barrier and repelled her back, shooting her far from where the door was.“Ungh!” Jun Xiaomo slammed onto the ground a distance away with a loud groan. In the next moment, a dribble of blood seeped out of the corner of her lips.Some of the Heavenly Peak disciples finally woke up as a result of this commotion, and they struggled to open their eyes as they looked outside of their prison cell.Layers upon layers of crusty blood stains had blurred their vision, and they could barely make out who it was who had come calling upon them. All they could see was a blur figure.“You are…?” Chen Feiyu"s voice sounded like it had been shattered by his captors. It sounded incredibly hoa.r.s.e, almost akin to the sound of sandpaper grating against each other. It was harsh to the ears.“Martial brother Chen, it"s me!” Jun Xiaomo gritted her teeth as she clambered to her feet. At the beginning, her feet were still slightly unsteady as a result of the earlier impact. However, she still managed to steady herself.She had been far too careless. She should have known better. She should have expected He Zhang to set up a formation array at the door to this prison cell, waiting for her father and mother to fall into his trap.Jun Xiaomo retrieved a few talismans, pasted them on the door and she began to recite a mnemonic in an attempt to disable the formation array.This was a process that took some time.She knew that He Zhang and the others would already have discovered that Qin Shanshan"s room was empty, and there was a high likelihood that all of them should be rus.h.i.+ng over to the innermost parts of the forbidden grounds right this moment. Thus, every second mattered.Just as Jun Xiaomo continued to recite the mnemonics in an attempt to disable the formation array sequestering the prison cell door, Chen Feiyu did his best to open his eyes a little bit more as he looked at the unexpected visitor.From her voice, he knew that this person was a lady. However, that lady"s voice was foreign to him, and he was unable to tell just who it was.Gradually, his vision became clearer and clearer, and he managed to focus his attention on the visitor that was standing at the door –“Qin Shanshan? Why are you here…” Chen Feiyu struggled hard to speak, and each word that he spoke seemed to consume substantial amounts of energy from his body.Yet, his query was met with silence. Jun Xiaomo had remained wholeheartedly focused on disabling the formation array.The other Heavenly Peak disciples had heard Chen Feiyu"s words as well, and each and every one of them began to reveal a contemptuous smile on their faces as they decided no longer to care about the person standing at the door to their prison cell.Qin Shanshan was Qin Lingyu"s sister to begin with. If Qin Shanshan would really come to this disgusting place, she would most certainly only possess the same intention as He Zhang, and that was to continue tormenting them. How could she possibly possess any good intentions for calling upon them?“It"s done!” A smile crept up the corner of Jun Xiaomo"s lips. As the talismans burnt up and vanished, the formation array at the door of the prison cell had similarly been disabled and ceased working as well.“Seems like He Zhang had never expected father and the rest to be able to enter the deepest parts of the forbidden grounds to begin with. That"s probably why the formation array on the door to the prison cell wasn"t complex, and I was able to disable it in less than half an incense stick of time.” Jun Xiaomo muttered to herself as she thought aloud. Her face finally revealed a relaxed smile as she heaved a sigh of relief.That said, her face appeared rather pale at this moment as a result of expending too much true energy earlier.The door to the prison cell opened, and Jun Xiaomo walked in with great strides. Then, as soon as she looked more closely at the Heavenly Peak disciples, all of whom were shackled and restrained by the hooks, her eyes reddened once more, and she couldn"t help but begin to shed tears of pain for them.Her martial brothers had suffered more in this life than they had in her previous life. In her previous life, her martial brothers had perished as they sought to protect her, and they were barely tormented before they perished. But now, seeing the sight of her martial brothers within the prison cells, she could tell just how much torment and pain they had suffered over since they had been captured.She hated it! As fury washed across her heart, the resolve in her heart hardened and became completely set in stone – she was going to see to it that He Zhang and the rest of his lackeys were going to be put through the same kind of misery and pain as her martial brothers! Then, Jun Xiaomo"s eyes began to grow bloodshot. At this point in time, it was no longer clear whether it was the precursor to a demonic outburst, or whether it was simply the manifestation of immense rage.“Qin Shanshan, why are you here? Are you here to watch us suffer?” Chen Feiyu asked with a cold, frigid voice. Even though his voice was weak, there was no mistaking the hatred and indignation that filled his voice.Jun Xiaomo wiped off her tears and began to mutter another mnemonic. Within moments, a talisman began to appear on the surface of her skin.She tore off the Masquerade Talisman immediately. As soon as it was torn off, her appearances began to s.h.i.+ft and change once more – her skin turned slightly more pale and supple; her lips looked like it was just dyed red with blood, and it looked even more stark in contrast with her pale, jade-like skin; her original round, pearly eyes elongated slightly and lifted slightly at the ends. Apart from how her lips were still locked in a tight grimace, there was hard any other expressions on her face at this moment. Yet, even then, her entire appearance was incredibly cold and mesmerizing.“Little…little martial sister?!” Chen Feiyu was completely taken aback. For that singly instance, it was as though the pain on his body had been overcome by the overwhelming shock to his mind.With some measure of heartache flickering in the depths of her eyes, Jun Xiaomo looked at them with damp eyes as she responded, “It"s me. Sorry about that. I"ve been tardy.”“If master and his wife know you"re alive…No! Xiaomo, you shouldn"t be here!” Chen Feiyu barked intently as he struggled against his shackles, “Xiaomo, hurry up and leave this place! I don"t know how you made it in with Qin Shanshan"s ident.i.ty, but He Zhang isn"t someone you can deal with. It"ll be dangerous as soon as he discovers you here!”Chen Feiyu was initially overjoyed by the discovery that Jun Xiaomo was not dead. Yet, in the very next moment, he realized his present predicament and the place they were in right now.Jun Xiaomo should never have come in here! If his little martial sister meets with a misfortune or some life-threatening danger, they would never be able to account for this to their master and his wife!“Don"t tell me what I should or shouldn"t do! Since I"m able to enter, I"ll naturally be able to leave this place with you!” Jun Xiaomo gritted her teeth as she spoke. As she finished speaking, she walked over to Chen Feiyu"s side and began to dismantle the metal shackles on his body, together with the two ma.s.sive hooks that had punctured their bodies.“Little martial sister, don"t bother. These hooks can"t be removed. They"re all inscribed with a formation array, and their purpose is to constantly drain our spiritual energy. You"ll only be able to release the formation arrays if you can obtain the formation diagram from He Zhang"s hands. Naturally, he"s not going to hand that over to you.” Chen Feiyu chuckled bitterly as he spoke.The other disciples had roused from their dazed states as well. Their cultivation level was not as high as Chen Feiyu"s cultivation level, so their injuries had been far worse than that which Chen Feiyu suffered as well. At this moment, none of them could speak, and they could only hold their tears back as they watched their little martial sister"s futile efforts at dismantling the shackles restraining them.There was a mult.i.tude of emotions culminating in their tears, including grat.i.tude, agitation, and worry.If they could open their mouths and speak right now, they would all unanimously persuade their martial sister to leave this place and not bother with such futile efforts. How could they allow their precious martial sister to risk getting captured by He Zhang and be tormented by his sick and twisted mind.Jun Xiaomo grimaced and grew taciturn. Time pa.s.sed slowly, and several beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.Click. A small sound rang out from the shackles on her martial brother. Jun Xiaomo released the tension on her heart, and she looked back at Chen Feiyu and the rest as she smiled and remarked, “Martial brother, it"s open.”Chen Feiyu was thoroughly taken aback. After all, they could still recall the day when He Zhang paraded in front of them, bragging that these shackles can never be opened unless they possessed the key that was in his hands. Furthermore, they had witnessed with their very own eyes how He Zhang had expended quite some time in order to release the shackles, even with aid of the formation diagram!Who could"ve imagined that little martial sister could open the shackles just like that?! How did she manage to do it?Jun Xiaomo held onto the hooks in Chen Feiyu"s back as she addressed Chen Feiyu once more, “Martial brother Chen, this might be a little bit painful. You"ve got to hang in there.”As she finished speaking, she began to operate her true energy and sent it straight to her palm. Then, with one powerful tug, she pulled out the entire hook that had penetrated Chen Feiyu"s body.“Ungh…” Chen Feiyu groaned, and he nearly pa.s.sed out.His body was already incredibly weak to begin with. Thus, when faced with such excruciating pain all of a sudden, he was nearly unable to hang in there.That said, this little bit of pain could hardly be compared with the freedom that he obtained in exchange for it. He immediately grabbed hold of Jun Xiaomo"s hands and sincerely thanked her, “Xiaomo…thank you.”“Don"t stand on ceremony with me. I"m not here to save my martial brothers just so that I could elicit a word of thanks from you guys. We"re family.”“That"s right. We"re family.” Chen Feiyu smiled as he added, “Xiaomo, you"d best quickly rescue the others as well. Otherwise, when He Zhang discovers something is up, we all won"t be able to leave this place anymore.”“That"s true. Here – this is a medicine for the replenishment of your body"s vitality and strength. Take one for yourself, and then help me distribute it to the other martial brother later on.”Jun Xiaomo stuffed the entire bag of medicinal pills to Chen Feiyu, before motioning towards the rest of her martials brothers.Practice makes perfect. Jun Xiaomo managed to rescue all of the remaining martial brothers in less than an hour. However, she could tell that all of them had been captured and tormented for far too long, and some of her weaker martial brothers found themselves unable to adjust to their new circ.u.mstances and operate the spiritual energies within their bodies. Furthermore, the debilitating injuries on their bodies were an issue as well. Even though Jun Xiaomo had given them some recovery pills, these were insufficient to restore them to full health.With Jun Xiaomo"s current abilities, she would never be able to bring them very far.What do I do now? Jun Xiaomo bit down on her lower lips, and she began to grow frustrated at herself for her own inability and inept.i.tude.
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