The old ghost frowned upon hearing Su Xi's words, asking in surprise, "What sword cave?" He had lived here for so long, yet he had never heard of any sword cave, nor did he know what it was.
Hearing the old ghost's words, Su Xi showed a look of surprise. "Senior, you don't know about the sword cave?" The sword cave was clearly right below them, so why was the old ghost now saying he didn't know? Was this real, or just a coincidence?
"I don't know," the old ghost nodded and said with certainty. This wasn't a big deal, so he didn't need to lie to a young girl like Su Xi. His reputation was important, after all.
Upon hearing the old ghost's affirmative reply, Su Xi's expression grew more solemn. She was now on the same boat as the old ghost, so he had no reason to deceive her. However, it was precisely because she knew the old ghost wasn't lying that Su Xi found it even more incredible. A possibility occurred to her: this place might not have originally existed here, but was deliberately moved here to deal with her. The first suspect that came to mind was Daoist Master Mengxu. As the leader of Shushan, he undoubtedly had the greatest motive and the ability to do such a thing. However, even though Su Xi suspected Daoist Master Mengxu, she was helpless. The incident had already happened, and she couldn't ignore what needed to be done. Moreover, even if she knew Daoist Master Mengxu was responsible, she couldn't find any proof.
Seeing Su Xi's troubled expression, the old ghost beckoned to her and said honestly, "Time is very urgent now. Don't delay, otherwise, even if I can solve the problem with your body, there might not be enough time." He couldn't give Su Xi unlimited time; there had to be a deadline. Otherwise, if Su Xi dragged her feet, he wouldn't know how long he'd have to wait. Having been trapped in this place for so many years, he had had enough.
Hearing the old ghost's words, Su Xi's expression instantly stiffened, her smile freezing on her face. This was pushing her into a corner. Even if she wanted to refuse now, she knew she had no other choice. Since the old ghost had made arrangements, she couldn't pretend to be ignorant any longer. Otherwise, she would surely suffer in the end.
Having made up her mind, Su Xi looked at the old ghost beside her, spread her hands, and asked helplessly, "Senior, I also want to help, but the biggest problem for me right now is how to leave this place." Su Xi spread her hands, indicating her helplessness. She wanted to help, but the circumstances didn't allow it. If she couldn't act, then things couldn't be done.
Looking at Su Xi, the old ghost chuckled, "These are minor issues. There's no need to worry." After speaking, the old ghost waved his hand at Su Xi. Before Su Xi could understand what the old ghost was doing, she felt a strange fluctuation in the air pulling at her body. Instantly, a strong attractive force emanated from her. With this force, Su Xi was pulled in uncontrollably, followed by a series of oppressive sensations that squeezed her body. In an instant, the immense pressure made Su Xi's vision go black. When she next reacted, she found herself completely bewildered. The scenery before her had already changed to the outside, and she had unknowingly left the sword cave.
Upon realizing this, Su Xi didn't bother to ponder why she had gotten out so quickly. Instead, she tidied her clothes and headed towards Penglai Mountain. After all, the old ghost had given her very little time, and she absolutely couldn't delay. Otherwise, she would truly be stuck in this godforsaken place. Not only would her grievances be unavenged, but her life would be lost.
As soon as she returned to Penglai Mountain, Su Xi saw a group of people surrounding Ouyang Chu. These people were speaking all sorts of harsh words to Ouyang Chu and making humiliating gestures. They knew Su Xi had been in the sword cave for a month, exceeding the seven-day rule for exiting. Therefore, everyone assumed Su Xi was dead, and they no longer had any reservations. Penglai Mountain was destined to have a change of leadership. After all, if Penglai Mountain lost its sect leader, no one would care about an outsider like Ouyang Chu.
Ouyang Chu heard the murmuring from the surrounding crowd without blinking an eye. Instead, he lay on the ground and began to snore loudly. He knew clearly that his ability to survive here was not because of Su Xi, but because he was valuable. Therefore, Daoist Master Mengxu would never let anything happen to him, nor would he dare to. With this understanding, Ouyang Chu was naturally not worried. These people were merely clowns who could not cause him any harm. If they wanted to play, let them play.
Seeing that Ouyang Chu showed no reaction, the others' expressions instantly turned ugly. They were bullying someone, and he wasn't reacting? They had never been so ignored, and by a demon at that. Although they had been warned by the sect leader not to kill Ouyang Chu, they were not forbidden from teaching him a lesson. Today, they were determined to make Ouyang Chu learn his lesson and vent their anger over the deaths of so many fellow disciples at the hands of demons.
Seeing this scene, Ouyang Chu remained expressionless and chose not to act. Ouyang Chu knew very well what the consequences of acting now would be. If he were to retaliate, who knew what he would have to go through. Therefore, the easiest course of action was to remain still. Just as the others were preparing to severely humiliate Ouyang Chu, Su Xi suddenly emerged. "What are you doing?" On her territory, how could she allow these people to act out?
When the others heard Su Xi's words and saw her figure, they were incredulous. How did this person get out? Looking at Su Xi, everyone stared at each other, unsure of what to do next. Should they continue their actions, or should they leave? While they were contemplating, Su Xi didn't give them time to react. Her tone instantly turned cold as she said, "If you want to leave safely, each of you must pay one hundred thousand taels of gold. Otherwise, you should know the rules of the Five Great Immortal Mountains."
"???" The crowd looked bewildered upon hearing Su Xi's words. Was she robbing them? But if they didn't pay, according to the sect rules, they would be expelled from the Five Great Immortal Mountains. Despite understanding the seriousness of the situation, someone in the crowd couldn't help but ask, "Why should we give you anything? We haven't done anything?"
Hearing their words, Su Xi didn't say much. She made a sudden move with her hand, and the rest of them were instantly pinned to the ground, unable to move. Her strength was already far superior to theirs, and coupled with the sword intent she had just absorbed, how could these people possibly be her match? It was better to crush them with brute force than to reason with them. In just a moment, she had subdued them, pinning them to the ground. Before their eyes, Su Xi was no longer the same person; it was as if they were facing existences like Daoist Master Xu, whom they couldn't contend with, nor could they even muster the thought of resisting.
Ouyang Chu sensed the change in Su Xi and couldn't help but look at her more closely. In such a short period, he saw that Su Xi's strength had increased again. Indeed, he was now certain that Su Xi was someone who had encountered great fortune, which was why she had such opportunities. Otherwise, Su Xi couldn't have improved her strength so quickly.
Hearing Su Xi's demand, the others looked utterly confused. They possessed many other possessions, even some high-grade treasures. But they truly had no gold. After all, worldly possessions had no effect on cultivation, so they didn't collect them. Su Xi's actions were simply asking for the impossible. Seeing the lack of reaction from the crowd, Su Xi rubbed her nose helplessly and said with a troubled expression, "Since you don't have gold, take out any spiritual artifact you have on you, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, you'll stay on my Penglai Mountain."
Hearing Su Xi's words, and still feeling the oppressive force, the crowd realized that they couldn't refuse, let alone a treasure, even their lives. One by one, they nodded their heads like pecking chicks, indicating their obedience. At this point, if Su Xi had asked them to eat feces, they would have readily agreed without hesitation. Faced with their unanimous agreement, Su Xi could only accept. It was because she was in such good spirits that she allowed them to agree. Lining up, Su Xi began to collect the spiritual artifacts from them. Although they didn't have many valuable items, they were sufficient for mortals. Later, she could just work harder herself to sell some things to cover the expenses. After obtaining what she wanted from them, Su Xi let them go. While she was in the right, these were disciples of other sects. If she had truly kept them here, it would have caused significant trouble. Therefore, within the bounds of what was possible, keeping them was the best arrangement.
Once everyone had left, Ouyang Chu got up from the ground and laughed, asking, "Why do you need so much gold?" The others hadn't noticed, but he had observed Su Xi's subtle actions and knew that she wasn't trying to extort them, but had another purpose. However, this purpose was something he couldn't understand for the time being.