“If you’ve got balls, kill me!”
“From a decent, reputable sect? Hahaha, phooey!”
“Go ahead. If you can get me to slip out one word, I’ll adopt your last name.”
“You hatchet men!”
In the grotto prison on the top of the peak, the imprisoned experts of the Devil Cult, when seeing Li Mu and Ding Yi coming in, all began to swear. They stared at them as if they were going to eat them off.
The prison was located in the middle of the mountain and had a special ventilation hole. That place was devoid of sunlight all day long.
On the stone walls lay newly placed tactical deployments, which were used to prevent a breakout or a jail delivery. Those who were imprisoned on the first floor were all ordinary Devil Cult experts below the Natural Realm. In the middle of the floor stretched a corridor. On the two sides of the corridor were stone rooms dug straight from the stone walls. The rooms all had refined iron bars blocking the doorway. The experts behind bars had had their cultivation sealed, which meant they were basically ordinary people for the moment.
Ding Yi was rather frightened by these experts of the Devil Cult. His legs gave way and his countenance changed drastically.
But he still steeled himself to walk ahead of Li Mu, pulling forward the iron cart carrying food and muttering, “Xiao Duan, don’t be afraid. These people are just hopelessly stiff-necked. They can’t get out anyway…”
Li Mu nodded but did not speak.
He was secretly observing the captured experts of the Devil Cult.
Of the imprisoned, there were men and women, the old and the young, and even monks in Taoist and Buddhist robes. All of them were somewhat injured. Some of them were injured in the battle. Some were sporting scars left during the torture and interrogation conducted by the West Sea Sword Sect. Some were covered in blood, lying on the ground almost lifelessly. Some were sitting silently in the cell, while some were shouting and screaming quite restively and glowering at Li Mu and Ding Yi.
They were fed once three days.
This was the rule set by the West Sea Sword Sect.
The so-called meal, however, was nothing more than brown rice mixed with gravel, which was just enough to prevent the captives from starving to death.
Li Mu and Ding Yi threw the brown rice into the manger that very much resembled the one in a pigsty in the cell with spades. Then, the meal delivery was considered done.
The whole process was supervised by disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect from the side.
On the second floor were 20 water cells, all of which were half-filled with water. Those who were imprisoned there were either Natural Experts or Celestial Beings. Not only were their natural qi sealed, but also their meridians and joints were punctuated with Spirit-sealing Spikes. The prisoners were also tied to the stone pillars with black iron chains. The cells were more heavily guarded. Obviously, the West Sea Sword Sect was worried that these people would escape.
These people were locked in separated cells. Practically each of them had scars all over their bodies. They had been interrogated and received all kinds of cruel torture, but there were still some people who were very much alive, pulling the iron chains noisily. When they saw Li Mu and Ding Yi come in, they dashed toward them dragging the iron chains in their wake, looking as fierce as if they were going to devour them at once!
“When I get out one day, I’ll definitely kill all the scumbags following the Decent Alliance like you!”
“Bah, you tricked me. What kind of ability is this? If you do have guts, let me out and battle me face-to-face!”
Some prisoners bellowed.
After delivering the food on the second floor, the two pushed the iron cart toward the third floor but were stopped by a Natural Realm disciple of the West Sea Sword Sect named Zheng Qiang.
“Those locked up on the third floor are felonies. There’s no need to send them food. You two can go back,” Zheng Qiang said in an indisputable tone as he sized the two up warily.
Ding Yi was taken aback and said, “But Senior Fellow Apprentice Qi said…”
“Qi Zhen’s words carry no weight here. Get lost now,” Zheng Qiang said incontestably.
Ding Yi hesitated for a moment and said, “Well, well, well, I’ll go now.”
The two of them headed back. When they went down to the first floor, they saw a few disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect came to the prison to fetch some prisoners. They directly yanked a young couple out of a cell and took them to the torture room for interrogation.
There was a little girl in the cell, crying at the young couple, “Dad, mom, no…”
“Bring their daughter along as well. Well, she might be useful when we interrogate the couple in a moment.” When the disciple who led the group spotted the crying girl, he swiveled his eyes as if he suddenly thought of something and ordered with a wicked smile.
Immediately, two disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect rushed into the cell.
The other experts of the Devil Cult strove to stop him from taking the girl away.
However, since their cultivation was sealed, they were just a little stronger than ordinary people. So, how could they resist the two ferocious disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect? After taking a few punches in the face, they were knocked to the ground. The seemingly seven or eight-year-old girl was caught and brought out of the cell as if she were a puppy.
The young couple’s faces were full of despair.
They were not afraid of being tortured, but now their young daughter was… How they regretted bringing their daughter along with them to Mount Shu!
Li Mu frowned slightly and made to say something.
Ding Yi, by his side, quickly pulled him back and said, “Xiao Duan, don’t be impulsive. You can’t save them.”
Li Mu nodded and said no more.
Indeed, taking actions here would get Ding Yi into trouble as well. Moreover, as there were so many people imprisoned, he couldn’t save all of them in such a haste. And even if he managed to get them out, where could he take them to?
Li Mu had not fully recovered his natural qi yet, and he was not so arrogant as to believe that he could defeat the Four-city Alliance, the Three Grand Sword Sects, and the two well-known families on his own. What was more, there might also be extraterrestrial cultivators lurking in the dark.
Driving the food cart, the two got out of the grotto and went back to the accommodation area.
“Xiao Duan, try to take it easy. This is the Jianghu…” Ding Yi comforted Li Mu.
“I am a little tired. I think I’ll go back to rest first.” Li Mu excused himself and went back to his stone room to rest.
Gazing at Li Mu’s back, Ding Yi shook his head.
“Jianghu has always sounded picturesque, but when you really taste it, your mouth will be full of blood.”
When Li Mu returned to his stone room, he at once changed into another set of clothes and put his mask on. Then, he quietly sneaked out and made his way in the direction of the torture chamber.
“No matter what, I have to save them first.”
Now that the Devil Cult might have been built by Li Bai, it certainly had a lot to do with Earth, so Li Mu could not stand sitting at the back and doing nothing.
Li Mu activated the Taoist magic arts with the “primitive natural qi”, which almost made him invisible. Soon, he went near the torture chamber.
Yet, just at this moment, something unexpected happened.
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Before Li Mu could take action, the torture chamber was already in chaos.
A fire was set around the chamber.
Shouts of “kill!” could be heard.
A strange figure wrapped in silver light rapidly rescued the couple and the little girl from the torture chamber. Taking advantage of the chaos, they headed down the Desktop Peak.
“Someone just made a move before me?”
Li Mu was surprised.
“Who is it? How dare you rescue the captive under the noses of our West Sea Sword Sect? Humph, you really don’t know what’s good for you. I order you to stay!”
A streak of sword light tore through the void at an extremely fast speed, chasing after the mysterious man in silver light.
A top-level expert of the West Sea Sword Sect stationed in the torture chamber had taken action.
The sword light was quick like lightning. He was at least in the Celestial Being Realm.
A fierce and terrifying force of oppression swept over.
“Quick, run!”
That silver figure shouted in a low voice. He turned around to ask the young couple to flee with the little girl. And he was going to stay behind to defend against the expert after them.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
Bang!
Before the West Sea Sword Sect’s Celestial Being going after them could land on the ground, he was suddenly hit by something in the air. Then, as if he were a watermelon shot by an arrow, he abruptly blew up. A rain of his blood and bones fell on the ground, and he was completely dead.
The silver figure was stunned for a while, then he wheeled around and left speedily.
On the other side, Li Mu, who was hiding in the dark, continued to kill the four or five experts of the West Sea Sword Sect who were hunting them with his Broadsword-commanding Skill before he took off.
After losing six experts above the Natural Realm, the disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect all turned pale. They did not dare to chase after them anymore, hesitating to move forward.
By the time the Sages and Great Sages of the sect hurried over, both the silver figure and the couple and their girl had all gone without a trace.
“Chase after them. Find them even if it means digging three feet deep into the ground!”
Lin Yuhan, the elder of the West Sea Sword Sect, roared repeatedly.
The entire area of Mount Shu was basically under the control of the Decent Alliance. And a dragnet had been spread there, from which there was no escape. Therefore, the elder did not believe that the prisoners who broke out could really escape.
After that, Lin Yuhan carefully examined the injuries of the Natural Experts and Celestial Beings who had been killed and sensed the fluctuations in the air. Then, his face became serious.
“The person who has secretly rescued the fugitives and launched a sneak attack is at least a Great Sage.”
“Now this is terrifying.”
A Great Sage was considered an absolute lord on the Bitter Star who was second only to the Seven Supreme Beings in the Void-breaking Realm. Such a man was not easy to deal with. Moreover, since the Great Sage had actually managed to sneak into the Desktop Peak and hidden in the dark, things had become more frightening.
Li Mu went back to his stone room.
After throwing off the pursuers of the West Sea Sword Sect, Li Mu followed the trace of the silver figure in the hope to find out who this person was. And he wished that the figure had something to do with those in White Emperor City. But to his surprise, despite at an incredibly fast speed, he still failed to catch up with the figure and lost his traces.
After doing an unfruitful searching for a while, Li Mu had no choice but to go back for now.
The silver figure’s strength was probably at the early stage of the Celestial Being Realm. Besides, at the time he also had three burdens on his shoulder, so logically speaking, he could not have run away so fast. But it turned out that… Well, this made Li Mu a little embarrassed. Even though he had done a good deed, the other party might not even know about it.
Moments later, he heard Ding Yi knock the door.
“Xiao Duan, are you still sleeping? Wake up, something big has happened.” Ding Yi banged on the door noisily.
Li Mu acted like he was just awakened and opened the door, asking, “What’s the matter?”
“A certain expert from the Devil Cult has broken into the jail and rescued the prisoners! And the Desktop Peak is now in a state of turmoil!” Ding Yi said in a mystifying tone, “Do you remember the young couple and the little girl?”
“Ah, what happened?”
“They’ve been rescued. An expert of the Devil Cult sneaked into the jail. Not only did he take them away, but he also killed an elder of the West Sea Sword Sect and five key elite disciples. Now, the West Sea Sword Sect is driven crazy by this,” Ding Yi disclosed.
“Really?” Li Mu pretended that he was hearing it for the first time.
Ding Yi continued, “Now, under the request of the West Sea Sword Sect, every subordinate force on Desktop Peak is searching for moles who may have sneaked in. The situation is grave. If someone comes to check in a while, just tell them that you have been with me all the time. Don’t say anything without thinking, understand?”
Li Mu hastily nodded.
Ding Yi sighed and said, “Alas, if I had known this, I wouldn’t have brought you here. Now, I’m causing you trouble.”
After a while, some disciples of the Wind and Cloud Sect did come for investigation under the surveillance of the experts of the West Sea Sword Sect. Li Mu and Ding Yi testified for each other’s alibi. Since the disciples did not spot any flaws or detect anything fishy, the two passed the questioning smoothly.
After all, Ding Yi was just a Great Master, while Li Mu was a guy who did not seem to have even cultivated internal qi. Thus, no one suspected them.
“Ding Yi is actually a quite good guy,” Li Mu sighed with emotion.
In the next few weeks, more and more prisoners in the grotto prison were rescued one after another, which made every member of the West Sea Sword Sect very angry.
That silver figure appeared and disappeared elusively. No matter how the West Sea Sword Sect put up the defense and set traps in the dark, they could not catch the silver figure. Every time, the number of people he rescued was not large, but the mission always succeeded. And once the silver figure left the peak, he seemed to melt in the air and could no longer be found.
This also took Li Mu by astonishment.
And every time, he helped the silver figure “clean up” by getting rid of a few pursuers. But in the blink of an eye, he would lose track of him. There was just no way for Li Mu to trace him down.
As time flew, a month soon passed.
There were several large-scale battles between the Devil Cult and the Decent Alliance, but none of them was pivotal. Members of the Devil Cult were curled up in White Emperor City. Even though the seven forces of the Decent Alliance had joined hands, for a while, they were unable to break into the city. So, the situation became a stalemate.
Yet, in the past month, the “primitive natural qi” inside Li Mu was constantly growing, and he had once again cultivated to the Celestial Being Realm.
With that, he was more confident in his next plan.