Chapter 23

After listening to Jia Lie Bi, Yun Xi slowly rose to his feet and said, "Patriarch, time is pressing. We should act quickly!"

Jia Lie Bi slowly nodded at his words and said, "Good! Then we move now! I'll go open the cell door first."

Seeing Jia Lie Bi move, Yun Xi hurriedly followed after him.

The moment Jia Lie Bi's hands approached the iron cell door, countless dazzling restrictive formations appeared across what had seemed like an ordinary door.

Rather than showing any surprise at this sight, Jia Lie Bi revealed a look of relief.

Although they had long inferred from the Xiao Clan guards' words and behavior over the past few days that the Xiao Clan was preparing to flee, Jia Lie Bi had no way of knowing whether they would eliminate him before leaving Wu Tan City.

After all, judging by the terrifying strength Xiao Ming had displayed that day, killing him and Ao Bapa before departing would have been all too easy. At first, Jia Lie Bi had worried that this might be a trap deliberately laid by the Xiao Clan to lure him and Ao Bapa out of their cells.

That way, the Xiao Clan could easily find an excuse to kill him and Ao Bapa, then secretly send Yun Xi back to the Misty Cloud Sect.

But upon seeing the restrictions on the iron door, Jia Lie Bi knew that the Xiao Clan was fully occupied with relocating and no longer had the energy to concern themselves with them.

With that thought, Jia Lie Bi immediately mobilized all the Dou Qi in his body and began forcefully breaking the restrictions before him.

What Jia Lie Bi did not know was that Xiao Ming and Seven Baleful Intents were currently lying in wait outside the prison gates.

The reason all the guards within the prison had vanished was not because everyone from the Xiao Clan had left Wu Tan City.

It was merely because Xiao Ming feared that Jia Lie Bi and the others might make a desperate last stand and accidentally injure the guards here.

As for Jia Lie Bi's other guesses, they were nothing more than his own fantasies.

Since a clash with the Misty Cloud Sect was inevitable sooner or later, Xiao Ming would not show mercy merely because he was wary of Yun Xi's identity.

Rather than releasing a tiger back into the mountains today, it was better to strike with thunderous force and bury all three of them in this prison.

That way, even if Yun Ling sensed that something was wrong, by the time he found Wu Tan City, the Xiao Clan would already be long gone.

Completely unaware of all this, Jia Lie Bi and the others were still struggling against the restrictions on the iron door.

Heaven did not disappoint those who persevered. After Jia Lie Bi expended one-third of his total Dou Qi, the iron door imprisoning the three of them finally opened with a bang.

Without pausing to rest, the three immediately rushed out of the prison the instant the door opened.

But just as they were about to burst out of the prison, Jia Lie Bi, who was running at the front, suddenly sensed several extremely powerful auras at the prison entrance. Then, a cold corpse fell directly in front of them.

When Jia Lie Bi looked closely, he discovered that the corpse belonged to a member of his own clan.

After escaping, Jia Lie Bi's group went to the formation core of the prison's restrictive array and immediately shut down every formation within the prison.

Thus, not only Jia Lie Bi's group, but also the cultivators from the other two clans imprisoned there rushed out of their cells at once and ran toward the gates.

Though the situation was exceedingly urgent, Jia Lie Bi and the others knew that even if they escaped, it would be impossible to restore their strength in Wu Tan City in a short time by relying on themselves alone. They would have to run themselves ragged.

Since they had this opportunity, Jia Lie Bi and the others naturally had to find a way to rescue every cultivator from their clans.

Yet throughout it all, Jia Lie Bi and the others were too busy dealing with the matters at hand to notice that, at some unknown moment, the once-noisy prison had abruptly sunk back into its original silence.

It was as though no one had ever escaped from the prison at all.

The moment they noticed the change in their surroundings, their expressions immediately darkened.

Jia Lie Bi roared furiously, "Damn it! What is going on? How did these people die?"

"Brother Jia Lie, don't get angry yet." Ao Bapa had also noticed that something was amiss and immediately said, "Isn't it obvious? It must be the Xiao Clan's doing."

Hearing this, Jia Lie Bi turned and looked at Ao Bapa.

"Then tell me, what should we do now?" Looking at the corpses of his clan's cultivators, Jia Lie Bi immediately imagined the Xiao Clan massacring them. The usually calculating Jia Lie Bi gradually began to lose his calm and ability to think.

Ao Bapa, however, was unusually calm. Although he was normally not as skilled at plotting as Jia Lie Bi, he had often been used as Jia Lie Bi's weapon in the conflict between the two clans and the Xiao Clan. His mental fortitude had long become as steady as a rock.

On the other hand, Jia Lie Bi had repeatedly been suppressed in the very field he excelled at, making it difficult for him to accept for the moment.

Ao Bapa understood Jia Lie Bi's current state very well.

But after hearing Jia Lie Bi's words, Ao Bapa fell silent for a moment before finally saying, "All we can do now is pray that the people the Xiao Clan left behind are not too strong, so we can break out. Otherwise... this time, we truly won't be able to get out of this unscathed."

Though Jia Lie Bi was still filled with resentment, he understood in his heart that Ao Bapa's blunt words made sense.

The only thing they could hope for now was to fight their way out. As for everything else, they could only make long-term plans later.

Otherwise, they would truly be unable to escape blame. Their clans, passed down for centuries, would be destroyed in their hands.

Jia Lie Bi knew that even though their chances of breaking out were slim, they could not simply sit around and wait to die.

At that thought, a fierce glint flashed across Jia Lie Bi's face. He said to Ao Bapa beside him, "All we can do is hope that man does not arrive too soon. Otherwise, this time, we are truly doomed."

After saying that, a resolute look flashed across Jia Lie Bi's face.

The reason was simple: the pressure Xiao Ming had given Jia Lie Bi that day had been far too overwhelming. Even now, Jia Lie Bi had developed a fear of him that he could not overcome.