You Lied That We'd Be Safe

His figure instantly became a streak of light as he shot straight into the cave. He had never expected that a simple inspection mission would cause such a huge commotion.

What if this turned into a repeat of the Zhang Lexuan incident...

At that thought, Xuan Zi's heart sank, and his expression grew even uglier. That incident would forever remain a pain in his heart.

Before long, Xuan Zi arrived inside the cave. The ground was littered with shattered chunks of flesh and sticky blood, looking like a scene from hell. He instinctively looked around and discovered Wang Yan and several others lying in pools of blood.

Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were pale-faced and appeared unconscious, both pinned beneath large rocks.

Ling Luochen lay in a pool of blood, struggling to crawl forward as she spat out blood from time to time.

As for Gongyang Mo, Yao Haoxuan, and Xi Xi, only their heads remained. Chen Zifeng had only half a body left. Seeing this, Xuan Zi was struck as though by lightning. His body trembled slightly, and overwhelming grief surged through his heart.

Xuan Zi muttered, "Again... Again... It's all my fault. I've let you down."

Bei Bei, Wang Dong, Jiang Nannan, Xu Sanshi, and He Caitou were in much better condition. They were merely lying on the ground with pale faces, seemingly having suffered only minor injuries.

Wang Dong was still shaken. Just moments ago, she had suddenly felt an extreme sense of danger, so she immediately led the other reserve team members outside.

Of course, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were not among them. In order to kill more bandits, Dai Huabin had taken Zhu Lu deeper into the cave. No one knew how they were doing.

Deep within the cave, Dai Huabin struggled to open his eyes. When he saw Xuan Zi in the distance, pain filled his face. "Elder Xuan, it hurts... It hurts so much."

Hearing this, Xuan Zi immediately rushed to Dai Huabin's side. After examining him, he realized that only Dai Huabin's upper body remained; the lower half had vanished entirely. Blood was gushing wildly from his wound.

It was over. Such an injury was undoubtedly fatal!

He was not skilled in healing. If the Medicine Immortal Douluo were present, Dai Huabin might still have had a chance to survive. But the Medicine Immortal Douluo was not here!

"Elder Xuan, am I going to die? Can you save me?" Dai Huabin asked weakly. His eyelids felt unbearably heavy, becoming harder and harder to keep open.

Elder Xuan sighed, grief appearing on his face. Even his voice had become hoarse. "Huabin, I can't save you. Do you have any last words?"

He was not particularly familiar with Dai Huabin, but he knew that he was the White Tiger Duke's son. Later, he would have to arrange for someone to deliver his final words to the White Tiger Duke.

"Last words? I... I won't accept this. Elder Xuan, I don't want to die. I haven't defeated my elder brother yet, and I haven't become the White Tiger..." Before Dai Huabin could finish, his breathing suddenly stopped. The light of life vanished from his eyes as well.

"Huabin!" Zhu Lu, who lay beside Dai Huabin, burst into bitter sobs. Dai Huabin had suffered such severe injuries in order to protect her. Dai Yueheng, being closer, had also instinctively protected her, his younger brother's fiancée, which was why she had suffered only minor injuries.

The Dai Clan and the Zhu Clan had intermarried for generations. Barring any surprises, she would have become Dai Huabin's wife in the future.

But now Dai Huabin was dead. To her, who deeply loved him, she had become a widow.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared viciously at Elder Xuan. "Elder Xuan, didn't Teacher Wang Yan say that you would act at critical moments and guarantee everyone's safety? What about now? Is this your fucking promise?

What Rank 98 Super Douluo? If you can't protect the students, then don't make promises! You're nothing but trash! Why don't you just die?"

Zhu Lu was consumed by the enormous grief of losing her "spouse," so she had completely lost her reason and crazily cursed Xuan Zi.

Xuan Zi fell silent for a while and did not argue back. He was thinking about how he should explain this to Dai Hao.

His figure seemed to hunch over even more. That feeling of helplessness once again reminded him of what had happened all those years ago—those students torn apart by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and when he arrived, all he saw were corpses strewn across the ground.

At that moment, an emotion known as brutality began spreading through his heart.

"Bastard!" He thrust a hand toward the depths of the cave. The power of a Rank 98 Super Douluo was fully unleashed in his fury.

A terrifying suction force erupted from Xuan Zi's palm. The next instant, a black-robed figure with five soul rings was instantly dragged out by Xuan Zi, rapidly closing the distance between them.

"A mere Soul King dares to harm them?"

Blood slowly surfaced in Xuan Zi's eyes. He was furious. These students were all elites of Shrek Academy—how many resources and how much effort had gone into nurturing them?

Yet they had actually been lost here. How was he supposed to explain this to Mu En? How was he supposed to explain it to the other Sea God Pavilion Elders? How was he supposed to explain it to these students' families?

"So it's a Titled Douluo. What an honor!" The Death God Envoy was also somewhat shocked. Then, struggling desperately against the suction force and finding it useless, he said sinisterly, "Hehehe, so what if you're a Titled Douluo? My Corpse Explosion may not be unable to fight you!"

"Elder Xuan, it's going to explode! Those corpses are going to explode again!" Wang Yan's terrified voice rang out.

Xuan Zi could only halt his actions unwillingly. Then he abruptly raised both hands, and a great deal of white light appeared around him, enveloping all the nearby corpses. If those corpses exploded, even the survivors might die.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Death God Envoy broke free of Xuan Zi's control. He immediately locked onto Wang Dong, swept her up, and took her away.

"I'll use you to replenish the corpse slaves I lost!"

Then he carried Wang Dong and swiftly disappeared from the cave.

Wang Dong did indeed have a seal, but the seal set by God King Tang San had one particular trait: it protected only her chastity. That was why Huo Gua had been tormented by the seal in the original story. Wind could touch her, rain could touch her, but Huo Gua could not!

"Wang Dong!" Xuan Zi was shocked. He had only just realized that Wang Dong had been taken away.

This was truly an extremely troublesome matter.

After all, the Sea God Pavilion Elders of Shrek all knew that Wang Dong was the Young Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect, with an extraordinarily high status.

If anything happened to Wang Dong, the Clear Sky Sect would certainly demand an explanation. Even though Shrek Academy and the Clear Sky Sect had a good relationship, an irreparable rift would emerge because of this matter.

Looking at the nearby students—some dead, some injured, and one even taken away—Wang Yan felt rage rise in his heart, his face twisting with fury as he rebuked, "Elder Xuan! Why? Didn't you tell me that as long as we encountered danger, you would act at the critical moment, and we would be safe?

I even solemnly guaranteed this to the students! And what happened? Was being safe your lie?

Why didn't you come earlier? Why didn't you act earlier? Under the protection of a Rank 98 Super Douluo like you, were we really safe?"

Hearing Wang Yan's questioning, Xuan Zi noticed that he had not addressed him respectfully, but had used "you" instead. Clearly, Wang Yan's attitude toward him had changed somewhat.

He sighed. "Wang Yan, I cannot shirk responsibility for this matter. Once we return to the academy, I will resign from my position as a Sea God Pavilion Elder and arrange for people to console the families of the deceased. But for now, I need to deal with that damned Evil Soul Master first, to prevent him from harming Wang Dong."