I was screwed.
Cai Kun was completely screwed.
He wanted to find Zhu Ping'an and have him explain the situation, to prove his innocence.
But when he looked around, he remembered that Zhu Ping'an had just been sent flying by that monster's roar.
It was over. Now there really was no one to corroborate his story. How had things turned out like this?
Seeing the way everyone around him looked like they wanted him dead, Cai Kun felt a chill run down his back.
Although the Cai Family was powerful, after offending so many factions, even if he survived, he would lose a layer of skin.
Cai Kun's mind was a complete muddle. He had no idea what had happened.
Beside him, Yao Xu nearly burst out laughing. He finally understood: Zhu Ping'an had planned from the very beginning to make Cai Kun take the fall.
He hadn't understood it before. Why had Zhu Ping'an been so respectful toward Cai Kun? Even if Cai Kun had broken through to the late First-Rank stage, there was no reason to treat him like that.
An idol was an idol! Even his schemes were so refreshingly unconventional!
Thinking of this, Yao Xu quickly came up with a brilliant plan for Cai Kun.
"Cai Kun, if you want everyone to believe you meant no harm and only misjudged that monster's strength, then what you should do now is stay behind and hold it off, buying us time to retreat."
"Stay behind?"
Cai Kun glanced back at the enraged monster and immediately abandoned the idea.
"Yao Xu! Quit spouting bullshit! I was clearly framed. Once we find Zhu Ping'an, the truth will come out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Cai Kun didn't care about anything else. He led the Cai Family members and ran, because the monster was already closing in.
The monster slapped down, and a gigantic palm print appeared in the ground at once. The earth shook, and one unlucky fellow was too slow to escape. He was squashed into a pool of blood like a mosquito.
At that moment, no one had time to care about anything else. They wished their parents had given them two more legs, and fled for their lives.
The enraged monster chased them for several kilometers before snorting and turning back. Along the way, it carefully picked up the humans it had squashed and placed them in its palm. Then, like a handful of shelled sunflower seeds, it swallowed them whole.
Only after the monster had disappeared into the distance did the people who had been hiding in every direction dare to show themselves.
They looked around, their faces turning grim. Only about seventy people had made it out, which meant at least a quarter of them had died beneath that monster's palm.
"Cai Kun, even if you're the Cai Family's young master, you owe us an explanation!"
"Exactly! We trusted you, so we went with you, and you clearly led us straight to our deaths!"
"If you can't give us a satisfactory explanation, we'll take this all the way to the mayor!"
Everyone glared furiously at Cai Kun. They had all suffered heavy losses. If he hadn't been the Cai Family's young master, they would have swarmed him and killed him already, instead of standing here arguing with him.
They had more than a hundred First-Rank Warriors, while the monster was only at the peak of the Second Rank. First Rank tempered the blood and qi; Second Rank refined True Essence.
Once someone entered the Second Rank, they gained True Essence within their body, which greatly increased their combat strength.
A peak Second-Rank monster could easily slaughter them all.
"I told you! I was framed! Once we find Zhu Ping'an, the truth will come out!"
Cai Kun was so aggrieved he could have spat blood. He really had been framed. Why wouldn't anyone believe him?
"Where's Zhu Ping'an? Zhu Ping'an, get out here!"
Cai Kun bellowed, his eyes sweeping through the crowd like blades as he searched for that familiar figure.
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find Zhu Ping'an.
"Could he not have made it out?"
A sharp glint flashed in Cai Kun's eyes. That monster was so vicious; if Zhu Ping'an really hadn't escaped, he was surely dead.
"Wait!" Cai Kun belatedly realized the truth, his breath catching. He swept his gaze around and discovered that not only was Zhu Ping'an gone, but the Leng Family's warriors and Leng Tianjiao had disappeared too.
"That bastard Zhu Ping'an! He used us as cannon fodder to draw that monster away!"
"We need to get back quickly. That group won't hold it off for long. We don't want the monster to block our way back."
By now, Zhu Ping'an's group had ventured deep into the building. The area around them twisted and turned like a maze.
But with Ye Qingxian, the Human-shaped Treasure-seeking Mouse, there, Zhu Ping'an wasn't worried in the slightest about taking a wrong turn.
The passage grew narrower and narrower. At the end of the building, a massive, seemingly sturdy Metal Door stood before them.
The Metal Door had already been damaged, torn open to form a gap four or five meters wide.
If Zhu Ping'an's guess was right, that monster had made the opening. The fact it could tear open such a thick Metal Door was truly terrifying.
"I can sense it. The thing calling to me is right behind this door!" Ye Qingxian grew excited.
"Then you go first. I'll cover the rear." Zhu Ping'an pushed a hand against Ye Qingxian and shoved him straight through the Metal Door.
He had no idea what was inside, and had no intention of being the first to scout it out.
Only after Ye Qingxian entered did Zhu Ping'an and the others follow. The moment they crossed the Metal Door, an intensely oppressive sensation crashed down upon them.
Zhu Ping'an felt as if a shackle had been fastened around him. It was deeply uncomfortable.
"What kind of place is this? This feeling... why does it seem so much like the Martial Pressure of a powerful expert?" Zhu Ping'an furrowed his brow.
When he had once faced Mr. Cheng, Mr. Cheng had used his presence to pressure him, and it had felt just like this.
Zhu Ping'an raised his eyes and looked ahead. Beyond the Metal Door was an incomparably vast hall, with eight deep, shadowy passages inside, their destinations unknown.
Zhu Ping'an turned his gaze to Ye Qingxian. It was only right to let him choose where to go.
Ye Qingxian stepped forward. He inspected each passage, then pointed straight at the Fourth Passage.
"This passage gives me the strongest feeling. I bet there's something good at the end!"
Zhu Ping'an and the others said nothing and followed Ye Qingxian into it.
There weren't any lights in the passage, yet it wasn't dark at all. It was like a country lane beneath the moon on a cloudless night; they could see the person ahead of them clearly.
As they walked, Ye Qingxian, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Zhu Ping'an asked.
"Ye Qingxian?" Zhu Ping'an frowned. When Ye Qingxian still didn't respond, he reached out, gripped Ye Qingxian's shoulder, and pulled him back. Ye Qingxian turned around completely.
"Holy shit!"
Zhu Ping'an was so startled that he nearly swung his sword.
Ye Qingxian's face and body were covered in densely packed little holes, as if someone had stabbed him all over with a bundle of steel needles. Warm, red blood was still streaming from the holes!
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