Pang Qing woke up after a long while, only to find his body riddled with holes, blood gushing out like a torrent. Grief overwhelmed him, "Heavens, if I am to die, let me die completely. Why must you torment me?"
The four continued onward.
After an unknown duration, their eyes brightened. A fresh sea breeze swept over them, bringing a sense of exhilaration.
Gazing out, they saw a vast blue ocean, with unknown seabirds soaring above.
Looking down, there was a sheer cliff of ten thousand feet!
The other exit to this forbidden land hung over the sea.
Xiao Bai looked at the boundless sea, feeling as though she had essentially reached home. She turned to Mo Qi and said, "Thank you for saving my life, and thank you for sending me home. I must leave now. I hope we meet again by fate."
As she turned, a tear unexpectedly welled up in her eye. She gently wiped it away.
Mo Qi nodded, "We shall meet again by fate."
Linghu Xiaoxian said, "I hope letting you go is not a wrong decision."
Xiao Bai smiled, "I am merely an ignorant child and will not bring you any trouble."
With that, she leaped, transforming into a giant dragon in mid-air. She circled a few times, cast a deep glance at Mo Qi, and then plunged into the sea, creating a thousand waves. She then vanished.
Mo Qi sighed, "I don't know why, but I feel a sense of loss."
At this moment, Pang Qing stepped forward, and his body began to emit smoke, as if melting upon contact with the air.
He quickly retreated.
Mo Qi chuckled, "I didn't expect your curse to be so effective. Perhaps you shouldn't leave after all. Staying here might be quite good."
Linghu Xiaoxian turned to Pang Qing, "Figure it out yourself. I have shown you all the kindness I can. Whether you break the curse or not is your own affair. From now on, we shall have no dealings with each other. Do not seek me out, and I will not acknowledge you."
She then turned to Mo Qi, "Let's go."
Pang Qing suddenly lunged forward, a dagger appearing in his hand. He stabbed Linghu Xiaoxian in the back.
Linghu Xiaoxian let out a pained grunt and looked back at Pang Qing, her eyes filled with disbelief, "You want to kill me?"
Pang Qing's eyes blazed with ferocity. He pulled out the dagger and prepared to stab again, but Mo Qi kicked him away.
To be so cruel to a woman.
Mo Qi's fury burned intensely.
While Pang Qing rolled on the ground, Mo Qi unleashed several streams of qi, making Pang Qing scramble and yelp in pain.
"She risked her life to save you, and you repay her with treachery. You ungrateful wretch!" Mo Qi cursed Pang Qing and took out a healing pill from his storage bag for Linghu Xiaoxian.
Linghu Xiaoxian sat on the ground, her face deathly pale. Tears streamed down her face like broken pearls, falling onto the ground.
"If you had pleaded with me patiently, I might have reconsidered. But how could you bring yourself to do it..." Linghu Xiaoxian murmured to herself.
Pang Qing also sat on the ground and began to weep, "The method to break the curse is to kill you. Using your heart as a sacrifice to perform the ritual will break the curse. I cast such a vicious curse precisely because I wished to never break it."
Mo Qi and Linghu Xiaoxian were stunned.
A moment later, Mo Qi suddenly smiled, "But after countless nights of deep contemplation, you no longer wished to die, so you would kill her, betraying your original wish?"
Pang Qing's eyes revealed a venomous glint, "I want to live. That is only one reason for killing her. What ultimately made me decide was your appearance. You two openly flirted in front of me. Did you think I didn't exist?"
Mo Qi and Linghu Xiaoxian exchanged glances, feeling bewildered. When had they been flirting?
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it seems lovers also see rivals in the eyes of others!
Pang Qing burst into laughter again, "In the end, you are nothing but a scavenger who picks up other people's cast-offs. Take her if you want her, I'm done with her."
Mo Qi felt utterly speechless.
Linghu Xiaoxian, however, was so enraged her lungs felt like they would explode. She stood up with a whoosh, summoning her golden staff, and smashed it towards Pang Qing.
Pang Qing turned ashen, wanting to dodge, but his body was covered in wounds, and the blinding light was overwhelming. He had nowhere to escape.
Just then, a dull, booming sound echoed, as if the heavens and earth were splitting apart. A ring-shaped light emerged, meeting the golden staff's radiance and preventing it from descending.
It was Mo Qi who had unleashed the Qiankun Circle!
Linghu Xiaoxian looked at Mo Qi in disbelief, "Why did you stop me?"
Mo Qi coldly snorted, "Letting him die would be too easy for him. I think it's better to let him live, to live in pain. Shall we send him back to his prison?"
Linghu Xiaoxian retracted her golden staff, her expression earnest, "Don't listen to his nonsense. Nothing ever happened between him and me... I am still a maiden."
Mo Qi withdrew the Qiankun Circle and smiled, "Why are you telling me this?"
"He is slandering my reputation. I am clearing my name," Linghu Xiaoxian stated righteously.
"Scoundrels!" Pang Qing cursed.
Linghu Xiaoxian was about to retort, but Mo Qi waved her to stop, "Let me handle this."
As he spoke, Mo Qi unleashed several streams of qi, striking Pang Qing's legs and hands, making him writhe on the ground and cry out in agony.
"I truly want to kill you with a single blow, yet I feel that would be too lenient."
Some people, after spending a lifetime with you, always appear to be in perfect harmony. It is only after experiencing certain events that their true nature is revealed.
Pang Qing was such a person. If not faced with desperation, he would appear generous, unrestrained, and transcendent, as if radiating light.
But a paper lantern cannot withstand the test of wind; it will ignite itself.
At this moment, ripples appeared on the sea's surface, forming a vortex. Two figures flew out from the vortex, soaring upwards, and stopped in mid-air at a level parallel to Mo Qi's cave.
Both figures were clad in white robes, their bodies and hair perfectly straight, exuding an air of freedom.
Linghu Xiaoxian whispered, "I have dealt with them before. They are Gui Wu and Gui Si from Divine Turtle Island."
Mo Qi rolled his eyes, "How many turtle sons are there in this world?"
Gui Wu and Gui Si overheard their hushed whispers and were furious.
However, they considered themselves to have excellent composure and did not get angry, maintaining a pleasant demeanor.
Gui Si said, "We are not enemies with you two young ones. We merely wish to kill that person. If you hand him over, you can leave unharmed. We can also see that you two don't seem to like him very much."
Mo Qi smiled, "This person deserves to die. I even want to kill him myself."
Pang Qing curled his lips.
Mo Qi continued, "But you cannot kill him. I can accept anyone else killing him, but I absolutely cannot accept you killing him."
Gui Wu flew into a rage, flexing his fists. Gui Si, however, remained calm and said, "Then we will not interfere. We will watch you two do the killing."
What a beautiful thought! Mo Qi couldn't help but sigh. What kind of mind would have such a dream?
Mo Qi took a deep breath, "How about this, you go back and wait, alright? Go back and wait patiently, and you will surely receive the good news of his death."
"You refuse a toast and insist on a penalty!" Gui Si finally lost his patience, his temper erupting on a large scale. "What is your cultivation level that you dare to play games with me? You're tired of living. The last person who played games with me is still queuing in the underworld waiting to be reincarnated."
"The last person who boasted in front of me is still enduring the eighteen levels of torture in hell," Mo Qi replied calmly.
"The cultivation of these two is already at the Demon Emperor level. We might not be their match. Judging by the situation, we should make a run for it," Linghu Xiaoxian whispered into Mo Qi's ear.
The cultivation ranks of demons, from low to high, are Demon Spirit, Demon Essence, Demon, Demon King, Demon Emperor, Demon Immortal, Demon Venerable, and Demon Saint. A Demon Emperor is equivalent to a Human Immortal to Heavenly Immortal in the human realm, with a wider span, and specific cultivation varies from person to person.
Mo Qi preliminarily assessed the current strength of both sides. If it were three against two, they might still stand a chance. The problem was that Pang Qing could not be exposed to light, or he would die.
Therefore, if they fought outside, it would be two against two.
If the three of them returned to the cave, it would be three against two.
However, after finally escaping that hellish prison, they really didn't want to go back.
Moreover, the formations inside changed constantly. Even if there were a path back, it would be fraught with extreme danger. Forget it, they would move forward.
He had no time to hesitate, as Gui Si and Gui Wu had already formed seals and were attacking them.
In a flash, Mo Qi unleashed the Five-Colored Pagoda to collect Pang Qing, then called out to Linghu Xiaoxian, "Let's go!"
The two flew out of the cave and ascended further, traveling several hundred zhang before landing on the ground.
The divine abilities and techniques unleashed by Gui Si and Gui Wu all landed within the cave. With a thunderous roar, rocks from the cave ceiling collapsed, quickly burying the entrance.
When Mo Qi and Linghu Xiaoxian looked back, they saw a ten-thousand-zhang cliff outside, with crashing waves below, creating a deafening roar.
Gui Si and Gui Wu also soared up from below, pursuing them.
Mo Qi directly threw several Thunderclap Pills down.
A series of booming explosions followed, like thunder.
Black smoke filled the air.
Gui Si and Gui Wu emerged from the black smoke, covered in soot, their hair disheveled and still emitting smoke. Their faces were smeared with charcoal-like ash, as black as the bottom of a pot.
Linghu Xiaoxian couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh uncontrollably.
Mo Qi, however, shook his head, "These Thunderclap Pills aren't good enough. They need further improvement."
Gui Si and Gui Wu were furious, roaring like thunder.
Mo Qi asked Linghu Xiaoxian, "Between these two, who can you deal with?"
"I can barely handle Gui Wu," Linghu Xiaoxian replied.
"Good, you deal with Gui Wu, and I'll deal with Gui Si," Mo Qi said.
At this moment, Gui Si formed a seal, "Dandelion!"
Shadows shaped like flowers appeared on his chest. The flower shadows rapidly expanded against the wind, making popping sounds in the air as they exploded into countless tiny objects the size of gnats and flies. They swarmed densely, like black snow falling from the sky, sweeping towards the two.
Mo Qi stepped forward to meet them, "Ice and Snow Divine Ability!" He first erected a thick ice wall in front of him. Then, he placed his hand on the ice wall, and streams of ice swords shot out, striking towards Gui Si.