Holding Grudges Too Much

“Are your eyes all right? Your daughter is obviously hanging behind me.”

The woman in black spoke calmly. “If you want me to release your daughter, you’ll need to show me your sincerity.”

“What kind of sincerity?” Xiao Gui asked.

“Each of you three will cut off one arm. Otherwise, I’ll cut off your daughter’s arm right now.”

As the woman in black spoke, she wore a sinister smile, like some old witch.

Zhong Ci clenched her teeth. She had never experienced anything like this before. Everything was because of Xiao Gui. If he hadn’t offended so many factions, her daughter would never have been placed in danger.

“If you dare cut off even one of my daughter’s arms, I’ll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs.”

Xiao Gui spoke toward the distant figure, then began walking toward the woman in black step by step. “Don’t try playing tricks like this in front of me. The shadow behind you isn’t my daughter at all.”

Just as Zhong Ci was about to follow, another woman beside her grabbed her arm.

“Don’t worry. Xiao Gui can take care of everything. We just need to stand here and watch.”

The woman spoke with a smile.

Zhong Ci merely cast a brief glance at the woman beside her before turning her attention back to the scene ahead.

“Heh, what a bold claim. I’d like to see just how strong you really are!”

The woman in black crouched in the distance, placing both hands on the ground.

Rumble!

The yellow smoke surrounding them grew denser and denser, spreading toward Xiao Gui.

Crack!

In the next instant, countless bolts of lightning came crashing down on Xiao Gui. Each arc of electricity was as thick as a human body.

The woman in black let out a wild laugh. “You’re only at the fourth stage of the World-Breaking Realm. Let’s see how you’ll deal with a ninth-grade formation!”

At that moment, Xiao Gui suddenly raised his hand. A Boundary Flame appeared in his palm.

Within a two-meter radius around Xiao Gui, space suddenly began to warp.

The countless bolts of lightning struck that distorted area, only to bend and change direction, scattering toward the surroundings.

Boom, boom, boom…

The earth trembled violently, yet Xiao Gui remained completely unharmed.

“The flame in your hand… is it actually a high-grade Boundary Flame?”

A trace of fanaticism appeared in the woman in black’s eyes. She transformed into a streak of light and shot toward Xiao Gui.

“You’re nothing but an ant, yet you dare covet my treasure? Do you even have the life to take it?”

Boom!

Golden light suddenly erupted from Xiao Gui’s body, forming a pillar that shot straight into the yellow smoke in the sky.

Whoosh!

He charged toward the woman in black as well.

The two sides’ powers collided in an instant. Green and golden light rapidly expanded, stirring up a hurricane around them.

The storm swept up the yellow sand, turning it into enormous waves that surged toward Zhong Ci and the others.

Zhong Ci stared at the scene before her, her expression somewhat dazed.

This was the first time she had witnessed Xiao Gui wield such overwhelming power.

The woman beside her released her own qi. Blue light transformed into ice, encasing both her and Zhong Ci.

Xiao Gui had deliberately brought her along this time precisely so she could protect Zhong Ci.

…

Xu Mu and the others had already arrived a dozen or so kilometers outside Black Sand City.

Using his perception, he discovered more than a dozen stone houses built into the mountainside ahead, resembling a small mountain village.

Those people entered one of the stone houses, then used the formation inside to travel to the ruins.

Xu Mu immediately activated an illusion formation, altering the appearances of the two people beside him. Then, they swaggered toward the building.

The guards at the other buildings noticed how naturally Xu Mu and the others acted, and that they clearly knew where the entrance to the ruins was. As a result, none of them came over to question them.

After all, with the Sect Master personally present this time, it was only natural that he would bring along a few unfamiliar faces.

Moreover, with a ninth-level Sect Master here, no one would be foolish enough to cause trouble at a time like this.

As soon as they stepped into the ruins entrance at the branch, Xu Mu immediately spread out his perception.

He discovered that this branch wasn’t very large. In fact, it was even smaller than Black Sand City.

Even while standing at the exit, his perception—which covered four kilometers—could still see most of the area.

Xiao Qiao’s figure also fell within the edge of Xu Mu’s perception.

Sure enough, things were exactly as he had guessed. How could Yue Menglong, who had become the Fifth Seat within an organization like Everlasting, possibly be a fool?

An eighth-level Deputy Sect Master definitely wasn’t her opponent.

However, Xu Mu still had no idea what their objective was this time. Perhaps they intended to use the eighth-level expert to wear down their opponent before the Sect Master here went over to kill him.

Of course, there could be other methods as well. Xu Mu certainly couldn’t guess them all.

“Follow me!”

Xu Mu needed to continue deeper inside until he had covered the entire branch ruins with his perception.

He had already spotted an ideal location.

After walking forward for nearly five hundred meters, he immediately headed toward the mountain on the side.

Within the range of his perception, it was a barren mountain with no sign of human habitation.

Once they arrived there, Xu Mu and the others began to accelerate, continuing deeper inside.

After advancing nearly another kilometer, he came to a stop.

“All right. We’ll wait here.”

Through his perception, Xu Mu could now see the entire layout of the ruins.

He first examined the deepest part of the ruins. When he saw who was there, Xu Mu was completely stunned.

Damn!

He had still underestimated just how vengeful Yue Menglong was. This time, it wasn’t merely the Skin-Painting Sect Master—Yue Menglong herself had come as well.

He had only escaped from her last time. Was it really worth someone of her stature personally taking action against two Transcendent-realm experts?

In the deepest part of the ruins…

She still looked as young as ever, around twenty-five years old, with a small oval face and her hair tied into a bun. She wore a very simple dress.

Judging solely from her outfit, she looked just like a recent university graduate.

However, she was slightly different from before.

Previously, the color of her skin had been uneven, consisting of the deathly pallor of the Netherworld Clan, wheat-colored skin, brown skin, and other shades.

She had looked like a doll sewn together from scraps of cloth in different colors.

But now, she was completely different. Her skin had become a uniform jade-white, smooth and delicate as polished fat.

The stitching marks on her body still remained, however. With Xu Mu’s current perception, he could peel back the layers one by one.

He could clearly see her entire body, covered almost everywhere by centipede-like scars.

Her eyes had not changed either. Her left eye possessed the cross-shaped pupil of the Holy Light Clan, while her right eye had the black sclera and red iris of the Sky Demon Clan.

They were exactly like Fu Jinyu’s eyes.

Yue Menglong was sitting in a chair, tilting her head as she looked at her phone.

Another woman stood beside her, wearing a white mask.

Xu Mu carefully examined the woman’s figure and realized that she was the same woman who had recorded the video earlier.

By peeling away the mask with his perception, he discovered that the woman was still quite young, around thirty years old.

Could she be the Skin-Painting Sect Master?

At that moment, the two women weren’t speaking, and Xu Mu couldn’t hear any useful information.

He once again swept his perception toward Xiao Qiao.

She was still wearing her princess dress, but her face was swollen like a steamed bun, with dark blood staining the corner of her mouth.

Her eyes were red and swollen, clearly showing that she had cried bitterly.

At this moment, she had completely lost the arrogant and willful air she had displayed while staying beside Xiao Gui.

“Brother Mu, hiding here the whole time isn’t a solution. Why don’t I sneak into the depths and take a look?”

Chen Xuan whispered from the side.

“Wait!”

Xu Mu immediately raised his hand.

Yue Menglong had begun to speak.