After Old Ghost left, Chen Miao made no move.
At this point, Paper Effigy Man and Elder Bamboo were probably at their most vigilant. The slightest disturbance could lead to an irreversible outcome.
Most importantly, Chen Miao no longer mattered.
Whether they killed him depended entirely on their whim.
Once he had calmed himself, Chen Miao sensed his connection with Three-Tail while considering his next steps.
When the Bowel-Extraction Prison ended, the connection between Three-Tail and Chen Miao stopped growing stronger.
It seemed Zhong Cai and Three-Tail had run into trouble.
Chen Miao did not rush to send Three-Tail an order to return through that faint connection.
Perhaps Zhong Cai needed Three-Tail's help too.
Calling Three-Tail back rashly might put Zhong Cai in danger.
Besides, Chen Miao should be safe until the five prisons were complete.
Chen Miao continued waiting.
The eighteen minutes of the Heart-Excavation Prison passed, but Three-Tail still had not come any closer.
With Chen Miao's heart weighing heavily in his chest, the final prison, Tongue-Pulling Hell, began.
With every minute that passed, Chen Miao's heart sank further.
Yet there was still no sign of Three-Tail returning.
Chen Miao could not help wondering whether Old Ghost and a single Paper Effigy Woman could really hold off all the Investigators.
What rank of Investigators had the Administration sent? And how many?
But whatever their rank, the situation was already settled.
And so, when Tongue-Pulling Hell reached its final five minutes, Chen Miao finally ordered Three-Tail to return.
Giving that order meant that, of all the possible plans he had devised, only the last one remained.
Chen Miao's heart suddenly grew still.
Even the anxiety that Iceheart had failed to suppress disappeared.
Five minutes later.
As Three-Tail entered the cavern, the last of the five prisons came to an