The old village chief's face suddenly turned somewhat grim, a mix of hatred and fear evident.
It looked rather complex.
"Old village chief?"
The old village chief took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then began, "Brother Li, it seems we must cooperate again this time."
Before Li Chonglou could speak, the old village chief continued, "Now that the secret passage is sealed, even if I wanted to let you leave, I couldn't. Of course, I could have someone send you back to the island."
"There's no need for that."
Li Chonglou shook his head without hesitation.
What a joke. The island was sealed, and according to the old village chief's earlier intentions, there would likely be a massacre on Lightning Magnetic Island. If he left now, he'd be like a寿星公 (a figure celebrating his birthday, implying he's already courting death) hanging himself – seeking death.
The old village chief said, "So, Brother Li, you only have one choice now."
As he spoke, a burning light flashed in the old village chief's eyes.
For some reason, seeing this anomaly, Li Chonglou suddenly felt a surge of heat, as if a stimulating hormone had been triggered.
"Help me go in and guard the forbidden area!"
Li Chonglou's eyebrows rose: "Old village chief, aren't you asking me to walk to my death?"
The old village chief said firmly, "No. As long as you follow my arrangements, I guarantee you won't have any trouble!"
Li Chonglou still shook his head.
He directly stated his greatest concern: "Old village chief, I understand some things. Once I touch them, once I see them, there's no turning back."
"You valued the forbidden area so highly before. Now you're willing to let an outsider like me guard it?"
This logic made no sense. The only explanation was that the old village chief had ulterior motives, and while those motives might not involve him directly, the cost would definitely be his involvement.
Perhaps this time, he'd say nicely that guarding it was enough, and as long as he followed arrangements, nothing would happen. Then, after he helped, the old village chief would turn around and say that matters of the forbidden area could not be disclosed, and then kill him.
Or maybe he would just be soft-detained here!
Li Chonglou stared at the old village chief with a cold smile.
The latter remained silent for a long time.
"Brother Li, you misunderstand."
"Misunderstand? Then why the long silence?"
"Misunderstanding."
Li Chonglou rolled his eyes directly: "Say something I can understand."
The old village chief said sternly, "We genuinely need your help."
Seeing that the old village chief's tone did not seem like a joke, Li Chonglou became curious for a moment.
He couldn't leave now, and staying here… well, hadn't they already issued a farewell?
This meant that besides agreeing to the old village chief's cooperation, his only other option was to return to Lightning Magnetic Island.
After considering, Li Chonglou said, "Tell me about it first?"
"No, you must promise me first before I can speak."
What a bully's condition!
Li Chonglou was speechless, but his curiosity grew.
Although curiosity killed the cat, he was human, so he shouldn't be afraid, right?
"Alright, I promise."
The old village chief's eyes lit up. Although it was just a verbal promise, at this moment, he could only try to comfort himself as much as possible.
However, the old village chief did not explain immediately. Instead, he thought for a while, as if organizing his words.
Then he said, "To be frank, we are actually inside the forbidden area now, but in a place similar to a safe room."
It was indeed like this!
Li Chonglou thought he had guessed correctly. These constant mysterious comings and goings, on Lightning Magnetic Island, perhaps only the forbidden area he mentioned had such privileges.
But Li Chonglou did not interrupt him.
"There is another secret. The original inhabitants of our Lightning Magnetic Island are not ordinary people. From birth to death, we basically stay on the island. The reason why I am so sure that the Divine Lightning Source exists is partly because we are also influenced by it."
Li Chonglou's eyes narrowed.
"The seeds of the petrifying rope are cultivated with our diluted blood."
"What do you mean?"
"We are all sealed bodies!"
Li Chonglou shot up to his feet.
"Lightning power?"
The old village chief looked surprised but nodded, "Yes, lightning power. If the seal is broken, we can all use lightning power to fight."
Li Chonglou felt a little shocked.
Could there really be such mystical things in this world? Could humans truly master abilities beyond the five elements?
Amidst his shock, Li Chonglou also asked, "How is the strength?"
"Invincible below the seventh layer."
Damn it, didn't you say before that you didn't know the division of cultivation realms? How are you so clear about being invincible below the seventh layer now?
While silently complaining, Li Chonglou suddenly realized and exclaimed in shock, "Wait, what you said earlier, about those experts who would always stay here, you killed them, didn't you?"
The old village chief no longer hid anything and nodded calmly.
"This doesn't make sense either!"
Li Chonglou frowned.
"Since you've handled such matters yourselves before, why do you need an outsider like me to help this time? Or did you always have to find an outsider before?"
The old village chief said sternly, "This time it's different. Brother Li, didn't I tell you that only our own people knew about the secret passage?"
Li Chonglou nodded; he had also heard the villagers mention it.
"This time, it is very likely the work of a traitor from our Lightning Magnetic Island!"
A traitor from Lightning Magnetic Island?
The old village chief continued to explain, "If it were just outsiders, they wouldn't be familiar with our layout here. Even if we all unsealed ourselves, we wouldn't be afraid at all."
Li Chonglou directly asked, "What impact would it have if you all unsealed yourselves?"
The old village chief hesitated slightly.
Li Chonglou chuckled, "It's fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
If you're not saying it now, who would dare cooperate with you?
The old village chief clearly realized this and finally sighed.
"At this point, without Brother Li's help, we might not be able to stop him."
The old village chief's expression became extremely serious.
"On Lightning Magnetic Island, there is an array. No one knows if this array was artificially constructed or naturally formed, but because of its existence, the Divine Lightning Source is preserved."
"Or to put it another way, as long as the array is intact, the Divine Lightning Source will not emerge, and no one will be able to seize it."
"And this array must be guarded. As long as someone is inside, they can control the power of the array to fight enemies. Even if you are just an ordinary person, once you master the power of the array, you can easily contend with experts of higher realms. It has the effect of amplifying strength."
Li Chonglou nodded, understanding the old village chief's meaning.
"In other words, if you unseal yourselves, you won't be able to assign someone to guard inside, so you want me to do this."
The old village chief also nodded, "Brother Li is indeed an intelligent person. That's right. That's why I said earlier that you don't need to worry about safety, and it's because of this. Inside the array, even if you are only at the third layer of cultivation, you can easily deal with experts at the sixth layer."