Xu Mu's Method to Break the Deadlock

Of course, Yue Menglong was not the one who had spoken first. The people Xu Mu had released earlier had already made their way to the deepest part of the ruins.

“Sect Master!”

The red-eyed old man leading the group respectfully knelt outside the palace.

Inside, Yue Menglong heard him and rose from her chair. Turning to the woman beside her, she said, “Go take a look.”

“Yes.”

The woman wearing the white mask nodded respectfully and walked outside.

Yue Menglong did not follow. She merely stood beside the palace doors and listened.

“Sect Master! The people have been sent into the ruins.”

“Who’s with them? Did that Xu Mu go?”

The masked woman’s voice was calm.

“We’re not sure. Two of them were wearing black robes, and only one revealed his face. This is the photo we took.”

The red-eyed old man pulled out his phone.

With a casual grab, the masked woman made the phone fly straight into her hand.

The photo was rather blurry, but Xiao Gui’s figure was still fairly clear. In particular, he was wearing a black coat, exactly like the one in the photograph they had mentioned earlier.

“Good. Go wait for now. Once this is over, I’ll suppress your marks for a year.”

After speaking, the masked woman returned to the palace.

She handed the phone to Yue Menglong. “My lady, please take a look. Is this one of them?”

Yue Menglong took the phone and examined the blurry photo. The distance had been considerable, and it had been taken with an old-fashioned phone, so the image quality was poor.

“I can’t tell, but something feels off. Xu Mu is very tall—at least a hundred and eighty-five centimeters. Neither of these two men in black robes matches his height.”

“Could it be some kind of disguise formation? After all, he’s famous now. Countless people want to kill him in exchange for a Heaven-grade cultivation technique from the Black Moon Clan.”

The masked woman offered her guess.

“It’s possible. Regardless, these people are not to be underestimated. Let’s wear them down a little more before we go there ourselves.”

Yue Menglong stretched lazily. “Last time, I was still recovering from my injuries, which allowed them to escape. This time, they absolutely won’t get away.”

Xu Mu listened carefully from where he was hiding. That old woman Yue Menglong was actually planning to go there herself.

That would be dangerous.

The woman was intelligent. If she went to Xiao Gui, the first thing she would ask about would certainly be Xu Mu’s whereabouts.

If their answers did not match, she might even stop pursuing Xiao Gui and join forces with him instead.

Zhong Ci would also follow Xiao Gui even more wholeheartedly. Xu Mu absolutely could not allow that to happen.

He racked his brain, trying to figure out how to throw the situation into chaos.

The next moment, he heard the sound of an opportunity presenting itself.

“The time is about right. Hua Ming, you go ahead first. I’ll follow shortly.”

Yue Menglong smiled. “I’ll bring his daughter with me when I come.”

“Yes!”

The woman wearing the white mask walked out of the palace.

After leaving the palace, she headed toward an unoccupied area on the left.

Not far from there, she crouched down and pressed her hand against the ground. Formation light suddenly flashed beneath her feet, and then she vanished.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Xu Mu’s face. He had found a way.

“Old Chen, if my senses are right, Yue Menglong is here this time too,” Xu Mu said solemnly.

“What? Then this won’t be easy. Last time, she was still in a weakened state, which was why we managed to escape. Her body must have recovered by now.”

Chen Xuan’s expression grew grim.

“So leave this to me. You two retreat.”

Xu Mu smiled as he stood. He already had a way to deal with the situation.

“Xu Mu! Are you underestimating me?”

Fu Jinyu folded his arms, his tone cold. “I’m telling you, even if we run into a ninth-rank expert now, I can still hold my own.”

“That’s right, Brother Mu. What are you afraid of? It’s not like we haven’t fought one before.”

Chen Xuan grinned.

Xu Mu hesitated briefly before nodding. After all, the space could accommodate two people now. If anything went wrong, he could simply put them inside.

“Good. Since that’s the case, let’s begin!”

Xu Mu grabbed both their hands and inscribed voice transmission formations onto the backs of their hands.

He then handed the teleportation token in his possession to Fu Jinyu.

Afterward, he rose and headed toward Xiao Qiao’s location. The three of them descended from the barren mountain and arrived on the stone-paved road.

Several stone pillars stood in the distance. Xiao Qiao had been tied to one of them.

Xu Mu quickened his pace and finally reached the center.

Several guards surrounding the area saw Xu Mu and the others approaching and hurried over to stop them.

The Sect Master had given strict orders: no one was allowed to approach this place.

“Who are you people?”

Boom!

With a single strike, Xu Mu sent all the guards flying.

He quickly arrived in front of Xiao Qiao and stared at her bound figure. The spoiled, willful girl she had once been now looked utterly pitiful.

“Who… who are you? Please don’t hit me anymore! I know I was wrong! Don’t hit me!”

Tears streamed down Xiao Qiao’s face, which was filled with terror.

At the end of the day, she was still just a child. After being taught a lesson, she was naturally terrified.

Xu Mu said nothing. He merely dispelled the illusion formation covering him, revealing his true appearance.

“It’s you? Old Geezer… No, Uncle Xu Mu! Did you come to save me, or are you here to kill me?”

Tears poured down Xiao Qiao’s face.

“Of course I came to—”

Xu Mu drew his black sword and swung it down with force.

Xiao Qiao instinctively closed her eyes, but instead of feeling the blade, she heard the sound of chains snapping.

When she opened her eyes, she discovered that the chains binding her had been severed. Xu Mu had caught her in his arms.

[Favorability +3]

Xiao Qiao looked incredulous. She had never expected that after being captured, the person who would ultimately save her would be the Old Geezer she hated most.

“What a coincidence, huh? We came here to carry out a mission and happened to run into you.”

Xu Mu smiled as he looked at Xiao Qiao in his arms. “Do you think I should kill you? No one would ever know.”

“No! Uncle Xu Mu, I was wrong! Little Qiao was blind before. If you’re really angry, you can spank me to vent your anger, but please don’t kill me!”

Xiao Qiao begged for mercy through her tears.

Using his senses, Xu Mu looked toward the depths of the ruins. He immediately sent a transmission to Chen Xuan and Fu Jinyu, ordering them to head around the side and make their way to the palace entrance.

The two immediately took action. But just as they left, the space in the distance suddenly erupted with a booming sound. A violent storm swept across the area.

Yue Menglong had appeared.

“Xu Mu! I never expected you to come here. You’ve truly exceeded my expectations!”

Whoosh!

The space compressed, and Yue Menglong shot toward Xu Mu in an instant.

Xu Mu immediately pulled out a black robe, covered Xiao Qiao’s head with it, and stored her inside his personal space.

Just as Yue Menglong was about to reach him, he activated the teleportation formation and appeared in front of Fu Jinyu. He then immediately pulled Xiao Qiao back out of his space.

She was still clutching the black robe over her head and had not taken it off.

Xu Mu had done this deliberately. Given his relationship with Xiao Qiao, he could not let her know about his personal space.

But without using it, Xu Mu had no way to get Xiao Qiao away from Yue Menglong.

“Come with me!”

Xu Mu quickly ran toward the formation on the side.

He crouched down and activated the formation. Chen Xuan and Fu Jinyu beside him, along with Xiao Qiao in his arms, all vanished from the spot.

This was Xu Mu’s way of breaking the deadlock.