Run!

"What! How could this be?" The last Protector still entangled with Tang Xiong was aghast.

After killing their guard Liang Yong, the three Protectors had faced three Silver Moon Knights. One of them, Si Borong, was comparatively weak, so the Protectors had been quite confident.

But the moment the young man in black thrust out his spear, the situation changed completely!

"Die!" Tang Xiong roared. The Protector had already been outmatched in experience and skill by Tang Xiong, who was over a hundred and sixty years old. Now, caught off guard, he immediately left an opening. Shhk! A flash of short sword, and a red dot appeared between the Protector's brows. His eyes widened as he crashed to the ground.

"Brother Xue Ying, what incredible spearwork!" Tang Xiong laughed. "It's been a long time since I've seen such clean, decisive spearwork."

Yu Jingqiu, too, looked at the young man in black before her in surprise.

"Too bad Liang Yong was defeated so quickly. I didn't have time to save him." Dongbo Xueying shook his head.

"Hmph."

Si Borong stood at the back of the group, his expression dark. His guard had died, and he had just come within a hair's breadth of death himself. Meanwhile, Dongbo Xueying, the man he'd taken such a dislike to from the remote backwater of Yi Water City, was astonishingly capable.

Then Si Borong remembered something. He went forward and directly removed the arm ring from Liang Yong's severed arm.

Dongbo Xueying, Yu Jingqiu, and Tang Xiong all looked at him.

"Old Liang was my guard. Of course I have to bring his belongings back to his family," Si Borong said. "As for his body, we still have to continue exploring... We'll leave it here for now. Someone from Dragon Mountain Tower will come take care of it."

Sigh. Who knows if Si Borong will return any of the items from the storage treasure to Liang Yong's family? Tang Xiong sighed to himself.

He'd seen too much of this sort of thing.

The Si Family was a great clan with a history stretching back hundreds of years. It had plenty of direct descendants, and they varied greatly in character. Si Borong might have had a gift for cultivating Battle Qi, but his character was clearly mediocre. Still, Tang Xiong had no desire to offend or argue with him. A petty man can be the most difficult and dangerous kind of person to deal with.

"Crack, crack, crack." Yu Jingqiu walked forward, and a chill spread beneath her feet. The cold instantly raced outward, freezing Liang Qiu's entire body beneath a layer of ice.

"Strange. Not one of the three had a storage treasure." Tang Xiong deftly searched the three Protectors' bodies. "Silver Moon Knights usually have storage treasures. And they weren't carrying much in gold notes, either. Lord Borong, do you want these?"

Si Borong glanced at the gold notes. He hadn't contributed anything just now, so he still had some pride. "I didn't kill any of them."

"Then you and Dongbo Xueying can split them," Yu Jingqiu said.

"Haha, one part for me, two for you." Tang Xiong handed Dongbo Xueying more than fifty thousand gold notes. Dongbo Xueying accepted them without hesitation.

"Let's go," Yu Jingqiu said.

"Let's continue."

Naturally, Dongbo Xueying now took the lead. Tang Xiong followed Yu Jingqiu, while Si Borong brought up the rear. He was clearly frightened now, especially since he no longer had any guards.

The rest of the search went smoothly. They encountered no more dangerous traps, and after checking all eight sections, Dongbo Xueying's group headed underground. The Inner Castle clearly had another level below.

They followed the stairs and corridors, soon coming upon a huge hall entrance.

"Everyone, be careful. I can sense a trace of demonic energy," Yu Jingqiu said gravely, holding her staff.

"Mm." Dongbo Xueying grew cautious, too. After all, this was the branch altar of an Evil God and Demon God in Qinghe Prefecture.

The hall's doors stood open.

The two Ice Serpents, now much smaller than before, slithered into the hall one after the other. Dongbo Xueying and the others followed.

"Such a huge place." They were all astonished.

The hall was enormous. The walls were carved with the image of an evil Demon God, and the carvings radiated a sinister aura... Even though they were only carvings, they made Dongbo Xueying and the others feel uncomfortable.

A throne stood in the hall.

A monstrous, burly man sat on it casually. Standing respectfully beside the throne was a smiling man whom Dongbo Xueying and the others recognized at once... Their target, Lu Huairu.

"I didn't expect the three Protectors to be so useless. With the traps helping them, they only managed to kill one of you," Lu Huairu said with a smile. "Normally, I'd have realized things were going badly and escaped through the secret passage. With Dragon Mountain Tower watching and hunting me, my chances of getting away would have been very slim. But now, I have no need to run."

Yu Jingqiu held her staff, while Si Borong and Tang Xiong stared at the monstrous man on the throne.

They could all sense the powerful threat emanating from him.

"Who is he?" Dongbo Xueying, too, felt the monstrous man's threat. "Wasn't Lu Huairu supposed to be the leader of this branch altar? Why is he standing respectfully to the side while this man, even more muscular than Uncle Tong, sits on the throne? Who is he?"

"A Silver Moon Mage."

The monstrous man suddenly spoke, his voice echoing in his chest. He stroked his bristly beard and gazed at Yu Jingqiu with shining eyes. "And such a young, beautiful woman. A mage, too. What a prize! Haha, I love beautiful female mages. The younger they are, the more I like them. They say female mages are exceptionally intelligent. The thought of dominating beautiful, intelligent female mages like you excites me."

"You are—" The white-haired old man Tang Xiong had been watching with a furrowed brow. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

He'd remembered someone.

A vicious figure who had disappeared more than eighty years ago.

"Run!" Tang Xiong turned without hesitation and shot toward the exit in a streak of light. At the same time, he shouted urgently, "Run! Hurry!"

"What?" Si Borong and Yu Jingqiu were both startled. They hadn't even fought yet, so why was he running? They couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Trying to run?"

The deep, resonant voice echoed through the hall. In an instant, the entire space grew dark. An invisible force enveloped every corner, like a huge unseen hand pressing down! Tang Xiong, who had been racing away at high speed, shuddered under the pressure. His speed plummeted, and the air around him twisted until the scene itself seemed distorted.

"Unity of Heaven and Man!" Si Borong's face turned deathly pale. He was so frightened he nearly wet himself.

Yu Jingqiu looked terrified as well.

The monstrous man on the throne casually broke off a piece of metal from the armrest and threw it.

Whoosh!

The metal fragment became a streak of light, fast as lightning. Tang Xiong, fleeing toward the exit, never saw it coming. It flew faster than sound, leaving him no chance to sense it. With a puff, the metal fragment pierced his head. Tang Xiong's eyes widened. He ran another dozen steps from sheer momentum before crashing to the ground.

"Fall." Lu Huairu, standing beside the throne, lightly pulled a mechanism.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Outside the hall, three massive gates slammed down one after another, sealing off the way out.

"A Title-level expert? How could there be a Title-level expert here?" Si Borong's face was deathly pale, his mind in chaos. "How could a branch altar of an evil god have a Title-level expert?"

"This..." Even Yu Jingqiu, usually so composed, couldn't hide her alarm. A Title-level expert? His control over the power of Heaven and Earth could prevent her from drawing on even a trace of power from outside herself. She wouldn't be able to cast any powerful spells! Spells fueled only by her own magic would be a thousand times weaker at least—barely enough to tickle a Title-level expert. A spell was only powerful when it drew on the power of Heaven and Earth.

"Beautiful female mage, stop struggling. I never expected to find a Silver Moon Rank female mage here before I left this branch altar, especially one so young. Tsk, tsk, tsk... I'm really lucky. Just come with me, and I'll treat you well," the monstrous man said. "I'm sure someone as intelligent as you knows what to choose."

"As for these two men, they're completely useless. I might as well kill them." As he spoke, the monstrous man picked up another piece of metal.

"Spare me!"

Si Borong, drenched in cold sweat, dropped to his knees with a thud and pleaded, "Please spare my life, sir! This mage, Yu Jingqiu, is only twenty-five. She's the pride of Qinghe Prefecture. She'll surely obey you. I'm Si Borong of the Si Family. Please spare my life!"

Then he turned to Yu Jingqiu and shouted anxiously, "Jingqiu, you know what you should choose. Being with a Title-level expert wouldn't be beneath you! If you resist, you'll die, and so will we! As long as we survive, there's still hope. Once we're dead, there's nothing left."

"Hmph."

Yu Jingqiu shot Si Borong a cold look, then raised her head to look at the monstrous man on the distant throne.

"Anyone who accepts a mission from Dragon Mountain Tower knows there's a risk of death. I was prepared for it long ago. If I was unlucky enough to encounter an unexpected Title-level expert, I don't blame anyone. I was simply out of luck. But if you think I'll serve you, keep dreaming," Yu Jingqiu said. Once she'd prepared herself for death, she could face it calmly.

But Yu Jingqiu was truly unwilling to accept it.

She had worked her way to where she was step by step. She had studied and analyzed Heaven and Earth, and she'd been confident she would reach the Title-level one day. Now, it was all over.

"You really disappoint me. Still, the corpse of a female mage will make a fine addition to my collection," the monstrous man said.

Si Borong knelt there. Yu Jingqiu held her staff and stared at the man, but despair filled her heart.

"I never expected this. I took a Black Iron-level mission just to gain some experience, yet I've run into a Title-level expert."