Wake Up Quick

Therefore, although the neighboring countries were not afraid of it, they would not easily come into conflict with it.

Because of this, Li Zhouxuan was infuriated the moment he heard the news, knowing this must be the result of the Huanyou imperial court's tacit approval.

It was impossible for the sects of the Huanyou Kingdom to do something so detrimental to the harmony between the two nations without their court's permission.

Moreover, after hearing Mo Yuanjiao's description of the uniforms worn by the cultivators who had kidnapped the people, he even recognized that these cultivators belonged to the Golden Crow Sect, one of the four major sects in the Huanyou Kingdom.

There was no helping it; whenever his spies planted in the Huanyou Kingdom had nothing to do during peaceful periods, they would send back many strange anecdotes and all sorts of miscellaneous information.

For example, the local sect uniforms they had seen.

At the same time, Li Zhouxuan also realized that since the Huanyou Kingdom dared to act so suddenly, it meant there were benefits worth the risk of offending his country.

Furthermore, it was highly likely that they had gained some extra backing, making them believe they could bear the consequences of offending the Pusi Kingdom.

Thinking of this, Li Zhouxuan said to Mo Yuanjiao:

"I entrust the heavy responsibility of rescuing those villagers to your noble sect. I heard that the Patriarch is currently staying in Xiushui Village. If needed, your sect can seek the Patriarch's help. As long as it is for the citizens, the Patriarch of my Li family will certainly not stand idly by."

Then he fell silent, his brows tightly furrowed in deep thought.

On Lin Xiao's side, after listening to the live broadcast, he continued to focus on his journey.

The border between the Pusi Kingdom and the Huanyou Kingdom was quite long, but most of it consisted of treacherous mountains and natural chasms that were extremely difficult to cross. Therefore, the two countries only set up border passes and stationed troops at accessible routes.

The route through which these villagers were kidnapped was precisely an undefended, uninhabited no-man's-land between the two countries.

Upon arriving at the border zone, Lin Xiao took the lead and crossed directly over.

Not long after they entered the territory of the Huanyou Kingdom, Li Zhanying also arrived.

Thus, the task of carrying Han Weishu was handed over from Liu Yunan to Li Zhanying.

With Han Weishu as their guide, the group sped straight ahead.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace of the Huanyou Kingdom.

A guard was reporting to the monarch.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the mining of the ore indicated by the State Preceptor has already begun."

The monarch of the Huanyou Kingdom was pale and plump, with a handlebar mustache, sitting lazily in the seat of honor.

Hearing this, he lazily opened his eyes, looking at nowhere in particular, and chuckled lightly, saying:

"I didn't expect the Golden Crow Sect to act so quickly."

Saying this, he asked again:

"Have we alarmed the Pusi Kingdom?"

The guard kneeling below immediately replied:

"We have not yet received any intelligence indicating that the Pusi Kingdom has discovered it."

"Hmm, very good. Keep an eye on them. If there is any sign of disturbance, report back immediately."

The monarch of the Huanyou Kingdom nodded in satisfaction. Then, as if thinking of something, he snorted and laughed, saying:

"After some time, as long as we mine enough Ji stones according to the State Preceptor's requirements, it won't matter even if they find out. When that time comes, even if they don't look for trouble with me, I will go look for trouble with them."

The guard below flattered:

"Now that we have the assistance of the State Preceptor, dealing with the Pusi Kingdom in the future will be as easy as crushing an ant. This humble subject congratulates Your Majesty in advance for a reign of thousands of generations, with all nations coming to pay tribute!"

Comforted by this flattery, the monarch of the Huanyou Kingdom glanced at the guard below with a smile.

"Well said. Give him a reward."

The eunuch to the side agreed with a beaming smile.

Ever since Tong Jialiang was brought here a few days ago, he had felt a constant sense of unreality.

He didn't know that there were actually flying ships in this world.

He didn't know that those who looked like ordinary people were actually not human.

Let alone knowing that digging stones could kill people.

Watching another familiar villager not far away bleeding from his seven orifices and being carried away lifeless, he felt himself falling into a very strange state.

This is a dream, right?

Otherwise, how could such terrifying things exist in this world?

He watched the people who were kidnapped alongside him enter this bottomless mine, only to die one after another, bleeding from their seven orifices. After death, their bodies turned grey, their facial features twisted, looking like evil spirits.

He looked at the ferocious-looking people outside supervising them.

Those supervisors didn't enter the mine, but the whips in their hands seemed to have eyes and could extend and retract freely, always landing accurately on anyone they wanted to warn.

"Do you still want to get out? Dig faster!"

"Smack!"

"Slacking off, are you? Hurry up and dig for me!"

"Smack!" "Smack!"

"Did you see those dead people? If you don't want to die like them, dig faster!"

"Dig! Hurry up and dig!"

Even though they were clearly not in the cave, their harsh shouts of urging echoed everywhere around them.

Wave after wave, mixed with the heavy cracking of whips, it sounded like demonic voices constantly echoing in this deep, bottomless mine.

At first, these supervisors said that once they had dug enough of the required amount, they would be let go.

So, the people in the mine worked very hard at the beginning.

Facing these powerful people, they had no ability to resist.

But they wanted to get out, wanted to go home quickly, so they had to comply.

But what happened?

Before they could even dig enough to get out, someone collapsed.

One after another.

Every person who fell had the exact same state of death.

Is this hell?

It must be hell.

These stones must be stones of hell.

Those supervisors must be life-claiming evil ghosts.

But why, when he hadn't done anything wrong, did he end up in hell?

Tong Jialiang was in a deep daze.

All the scenes before his eyes gradually became double-visioned.

Was he still in a dream, not yet awake? Were all the events of the past few days actually illusions?

While numbly raising the tool in his hand to dig these bright and terrifying stones, he silently bit down hard on his own tongue.

Wake up, wake up, wake up...

Over and over again.

His mouth was already filled with the metallic taste of blood.

He had long become numb to the pain, yet no matter how hard he bit or how much it hurt, he still didn't wake up.

It seemed that no matter what, there was no way to escape this terrifying nightmare.

What should he do?

He didn't know.

Tong Jialiang, lost in his hallucinations, failed to notice that the ghost-like urging voices surrounding him had suddenly disappeared.

The relentless cracking of the whips had also ceased at some unknown point.

"Ah Liang!"

Seeming to hear a familiar voice calling him, Tong Jialiang stiffly turned his head. His numb, empty eyes took a long while to barely focus. Seeing the silhouette against the light above, he felt it was somewhat familiar.

Looking at the scene below, Han Weishu felt deeply shaken.

The always gentle and obedient Ah Liang was currently standing in the dim cave, his entire body covered in grey-black dust. With one hand resting on the stone wall and the other holding a pickaxe, his face looked up at her—his eyes, nose, and mouth silently oozing fresh blood, turning his face into a blurry mess.

And mixed with that blood were the bewildered tears streaming down his face.