Long Shi had been dwelling on this matter.
If Li Zhonglou had not clearly explained to him that he had won first place, then in Long Shi's view, all these subsequent events would not have happened!
After all, if that were the case, he would never have let Li Zhonglou travel back on this kind of plane; it would have been at least a special charter!
However, what happened had already happened, and there was no point in dwelling on it now. Therefore, Li Zhonglou directly changed the subject and asked, "When are we leaving?"
Long Shi rolled his eyes and no longer pursued the matter. He replied, "We're leaving now. This place has reopened, and other countries will likely get involved soon."
"Alright, but before that, I need to go somewhere. Wait for me."
Li Zhonglou said and was about to leave. Long Shi quickly called out, "Shall I accompany you?"
He was truly afraid of another accident!
"No need, just wait here for me."
This time, he was going back to retrieve the souls of the figures. It would not be convenient for Long Shi to accompany him, so Li Zhonglou directly refused.
In the core area, he not only obtained the Soul Returning Grass but also the Soul Bottle in his possession. This item could not only bring out Shi Tou's soul but also contain the souls of everyone. His opportunity to unseal them was no longer limited to the Lost Land.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Although the terrifying aura was still present when Li Zhonglou returned to the Lost Land, it seemed it did not detect him again, and the feeling of being constantly watched did not reappear.
Therefore, when he followed the secret passage back to the fighting arena, he directly collected the soul bodies of all the figures into the Soul Bottle. Although he still couldn't see Old Lin and the others, he could clearly feel the grateful emotions conveyed by the bottle.
Li Zhonglou then discovered that after the souls entered the Soul Bottle, he could actually communicate with the souls inside through the bottle!
He could even make them briefly appear!
Realizing this, Li Zhonglou immediately discussed with Old Lin and the others whether they could reserve this unsealing opportunity for a more urgent time.
"Of course, that's no problem. We've been trapped for so many years; we don't mind waiting a little longer. Ten years, we'll give you another ten years. If there's no emergency after ten years..."
"No need for that long, perhaps not even a year."
Li Zhonglou directly interrupted Old An's words. Upon hearing this, the latter expressed that it was fine, and the matter was settled.
This entire process took no more than half an hour. When Li Zhonglou returned to the location of Long Shi's helicopter, Long Shi was greatly relieved.
"Can we leave now?"
"Let's go."
Having handled everything, Li Zhonglou naturally wanted to return to China as soon as possible. The four of them then boarded the helicopter, and shortly thereafter, with a roar, they moved away from the island.
This time, they had truly left safely and smoothly.
Li Zhonglou looked back, his mood slightly complex. Although he had left, the curse on him remained, and his current strength was less than one-tenth of what it was. This trip had been a significant loss.
If it weren't for this accident, he estimated he would have already returned to China and resolved everything. Even his two objectives in Shangjing would have been settled in a short period.
However, that was no longer possible. Although his status remained, if his strength did not match, he would still have to choose to act low-key, and perhaps even more so than before!
After all, a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. If the secret of his weakened strength were discovered by others, it would undoubtedly bring even greater trouble!
"Alas, let's rescue Zhou Tong first."
Li Zhonglou sighed silently in his heart, then cast these worries aside. Since thinking about them wouldn't solve anything, he might as well not think at all and take things one step at a time.
In a prison cell in Shangjing.
Zhou Tong sat on the bed with a troubled expression, feeling extremely dejected. He thought and thought but couldn't understand who he had offended to make the authorities dig up events from ten years ago!
Moreover, he had no news of Li Zhonglou. Logically, the evidence he had prepared for his fallback plan shouldn't have been difficult to find. Once the evidence was submitted, he should have been released a few days ago. However, in reality, a week had passed, and he was still locked up here...
"What exactly did Brother Li do? Did something happen to him?"
At this moment, besides being dejected about not knowing who he had offended, he was even more worried about Li Zhonglou's situation, as things shouldn't have been delayed this long under normal circumstances.
Therefore, he was worried that Li Zhonglou might have encountered other troubles.
Unfortunately, he had lost his freedom and couldn't even gather any information. This state, so contrary to his usual self, made him feel melancholic.
On the other side, Zhang Yu and Feng Zheng suddenly found that the company's troubles had decreased. Not only had they decreased, but the situation also seemed to have improved all at once.
This feeling was like someone walking on the street, suddenly being beaten up by four or five people, and then suddenly everyone linking arms and going to eat and drink together, in perfect harmony.
Although the outcome was good, the process was truly astonishing!
In fact, it wasn't just them. Everyone who had been implicated because of Li Zhonglou at that time suddenly found that their dire situations had improved, as if they had encountered a period of bad luck in their lives, which came and disappeared as suddenly.
At the police station of Yian Company, Lin Qianqian and her senior brother He Wei were also sitting in the office.
"Did Master really say that?"
He Wei looked at Lin Qianqian with disbelief. He couldn't fathom that someone he had casually suppressed a week ago would now be standing over him!
Although it wasn't the other party actively stepping forward, the warning from his own master was enough for him to realize the seriousness of the matter!
Lin Qianqian was also full of shock. She hadn't expected that in just a week, Li Zhonglou would have 'conquered' her senior brother!
With her master's warning, Lin Qianqian believed that even if He Wei were given three more guts, he wouldn't dare to move against Li Zhonglou again!
"What exactly happened to him?"
Lin Qianqian felt that no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure it out. She just suddenly regretted not preventing her senior brother earlier, although she had never succeeded in stopping him before.
"I wonder if there's still a chance to meet..."
...
Li Zhonglou had finally returned.
Although he hadn't been gone for long, only a little over a week, the events that transpired during this week were enough to change his future destiny.
Li Wen and Fang Qian had also parted ways with him.