Angry Ye Chen

"That's right, we... Since things have come to this, I might as well tell you the truth."

Gu Yongming shook his head slightly and explained, "My mission this time was to kill two people. One was Xu Mu, and the other was Fang Chu over there."

Hearing this, Meng Wanyue's eyes gradually turned cold. This Ye Chen was truly ruthless.

He had clearly called Fang Chu here to deal with Xu Mu, yet Fang Chu still couldn't escape his vicious plot in the end.

"So, in this incident, Ye Chen, the dead Li Jiao over there, and I are the ones actually working together."

Gu Yongming continued, "After I accepted this mission, Ye Chen brought me here to familiarize myself with the formations."

Hearing this, Xu Mu frowned and asked, "Does that mean you've already taken the treasures here?"

"I'm not sure about that. Anyway, I heard Li Jiao say that he spent a long time trying to break the central formation deep within the ruins but failed. There might be treasures inside."

Gu Yongming shook his head.

"In that case, there might still be treasures left."

Fu Jinyu glanced at Xu Mu, deciding to let the kid off for now. If they didn't get any treasures in the end, it wouldn't be too late to beat him up then.

She looked at Gu Yongming. "How do we get over there?"

"First, we need to leave this formation and enter the Gate of Life here."

Gu Yongming said, pointing at the floor beneath them.

"I'll break it!"

Fu Jinyu raised her hand and walked over.

"There's no need. This formation is very simple. It's just a bit hard to find because the area is so large."

After Xu Mu approached, he realized that this hidden door formation was only at the fifth level.

He crouched on the ground, pressed his hand against it, observed the formation's runic lines, and unraveled it in an instant.

Buzz!

The floor glowed, projecting a circular formation outwards.

"Alright, let's stand on it."

As Xu Mu spoke, he stepped onto the formation.

The others also stepped onto it. The surrounding space shifted, and they reappeared in a mountain forest.

Gu Yongming looked around and explained, "This is the Gate of Life. After entering, people are randomly teleported to a location. But since we were originally together, we're still in the same place."

Hearing this, Xu Mu nodded to himself. No wonder he was separated from the others right after stepping in.

Fu Jinyu glanced at Meng Wanyue. After arriving here, she had also been searching constantly and eventually found her.

"The terrain here is very simple. Look over there. It's a massive mountain, right?"

Gu Yongming asked, pointing forward.

Xu Mu and the others nodded in succession.

"That massive mountain is the path leading deep into the core. The ring at the foot of the mountain is where we randomly appear."

Gu Yongming paused before continuing, "As long as we face the mountain and keep walking backward without turning, we can leave through the Gate of Life."

"Must we face the mountain?" Fu Jinyu asked.

"That's right. If you turn your back to the mountain, you won't be able to get out at all. You'll only end up walking in circles around it."

Gu Yongming explained.

"I see."

Xu Mu stroked his chin in thought. "This should be a formation of the seventh level or higher. It seems there really might be some good stuff."

"I'll be heading back. I've sustained quite a few injuries and don't have the energy to continue exploring the ruins with you."

Gu Yongming was merely making an excuse.

After all, they had let him go. If he continued exploring the ruins with them and they actually found treasures, how would they divide them?

Even if they offered him a share, he would be too embarrassed to accept it.

It was better to leave early and keep out of sight and out of mind.

Xu Mu also roughly guessed Gu Yongming's intentions, so he nodded gently. "Senior, until we meet again."

"Alright."

As he spoke, Gu Yongming started walking away. He then looked at Xu Mu and the others, or more accurately, he looked at the massive mountain in front of him, and kept walking backward.

Before long, he disappeared from their sight.

"I didn't expect you to be such a decent person. He clearly intended to kill you, yet you still let him go."

Fu Jinyu pushed up her sunglasses and cast a faint glance at Xu Mu. "If it were me, he definitely wouldn't have survived."

"I have my own ways of judging. I know who can be let go and who cannot."

Xu Mu smiled and shrugged, then asked, "What's next? Do we head straight into the depths?"

"It's best to find Hongyu first."

Fu Jinyu said, "It's just that I don't know how to look for her."

"Simple. We turn our backs to the mountain and walk outward. We'll keep walking in circles here, and as long as she's still within this range, we're bound to run into her."

As Xu Mu spoke, he led the two people beside him, turned his back to the mountain, and ran outward.

They could clearly feel the surrounding trees constantly changing. Looking back, the massive mountain was still there.

...

Meanwhile.

Gu Yongming had already left the ruins, jumping out of the dry well.

He had only taken a few steps when he heard an electronic voice from a speaker, "Senior, I'm at the usual place."

He looked up and noticed a pinhole camera high up in a large tree outside the courtyard.

He didn't expect that this tiny device could be used for communication in addition to recording.

Thus, he quickly left the area and hurried toward a distant mountain peak.

Previously, the few of them had gathered over there.

Upon arriving, Ye Chen emerged from behind a large tree.

He put on a puzzled expression. "Where is Old Li?"

"Dead. Killed by Xu Mu. Xu Mu isn't in the Divine Ability Realm at all; he's a Grandmaster."

Gu Yongming stood with his hands behind his back and spoke indifferently.

Ye Chen was just about to speak when he saw the bloodstains on Gu Yongming's body. "Senior, the two of them..."

"Fang Chu is dead."

Gu Yongming said calmly.

Ye Chen secretly rejoiced in his heart; this could be considered avenging Xiao Ran. "What about Xu Mu?"

"Not dead. There's a woman by Xu Mu's side. She's his senior sister, and her strength is above mine."

As Gu Yongming spoke, he took off his shirt.

It was covered in piercing wounds. The reason they hadn't caused massive bleeding was that he had frozen all the wounds.

Seeing this, Ye Chen's eyes nearly split open in rage. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning pale white. "This Xu Mu..."

This time, he had left nothing to chance.

But who would have thought that the sect behind Xu Mu was so powerful that even a senior sister possessed the cultivation of the Mortal Shedding Realm.

From Gu Yongming's injuries, it was evident that he wasn't lying.

"Senior, although you didn't complete the mission, you still killed Fang Chu. As for Xu Mu, my intelligence was flawed. I won't short you on the things I promised to give you this time."

Ye Chen was no fool. No matter what, the man in front of him was in the Mortal Shedding Realm and had many powerful assassins under his command.

Currently, he didn't have a roof over his head, meaning he lacked a powerful background.

He definitely wouldn't want to make things too tense with Gu Yongming.

"No need. I am a man of my word. Since only one died, I'll only take half from you. I won't ask for more."

Gu Yongming had truly taken a blow this time. He couldn't even kill Xu Mu, who was merely in the Grandmaster Realm.

This was enough to show Xu Mu's talent and the formidable power of the faction behind him.

He wouldn't accept Ye Chen's benefits for no reason. On the contrary, he wanted to distance himself from Ye Chen to avoid being dragged down later.

As for his granddaughter, he planned to find time to let her meet with Xu Mu.

If the two of them could get married, it would certainly be a good thing for him.

His granddaughter would undoubtedly be thrilled and would probably want to consummate the marriage right away, but whether Xu Mu would agree was anyone's guess.

"Senior..."

Just as Ye Chen was speaking, he suddenly glanced at his phone and noticed several more black-robed figures appearing on the camera feed and jumping into the well.