The group re-entered the village.
Elder Wei had been waiting at the crossroads and was overjoyed to see them return. He felt a slight reservation about the extra person but quickly dismissed it.
He looked at Mo Qi and smiled, "How was it? Couldn't find your way out, could you? I told you, without a guide, no one can leave. Sir, why not concede and save our tribesmen, and then we'll let you leave."
Mo Qi snorted, "If I wanted to leave, I'd have a hundred ways to do so. But I don't want to leave now. I want to save people first. Please move aside."
Elder Wei's expression changed slightly, "Save people? Save what people?"
"The ones you've locked up, the people who accidentally stumbled in here," Mo Qi said.
Elder Wei repeatedly shook his head, "No, no, you can't do as you please."
Mo Qi also shook his head, "You can't do as you please either. And I'll tell you, I won't save your tribesmen, not a single one. Because you are a bunch of ungrateful wretches, not worth saving." With that, Mo Qi walked past Elder Wei and headed straight ahead.
Murong Yanran and Zhu Yizhao also bypassed Elder Wei, with Zhu Yizhao hurrying ahead to lead the way.
Elder Wei watched their retreating backs, his brow furrowed. "This way, it's a dead end!"
What to do? Which is more important, the lives of the entire tribe, or the mission?
Just then, Shen Qiansi arrived with a large contingent of people, blocking the trio's path, all with stern faces and murderous intent.
Zhu Yizhao trembled in fear and quickly hid behind Mo Qi.
Shen Qiansi stared at Mo Qi, "Sir, where are you going?"
Mo Qi stared back, "I have some friends whom you have imprisoned. I'd like to ask, on what grounds did you imprison them?"
"Th-they," even with Shen Qiansi's experience, he was somewhat overwhelmed by Mo Qi's imposing aura, "They trespassed into our territory..."
"An accidental intrusion, they should be allowed to leave," Mo Qi said coldly.
"This is a secluded paradise. Who can guarantee that after they leave, they won't reveal our whereabouts to others?" Shen Qiansi suddenly felt his reasoning was sound and spoke righteously.
Mo Qi snorted, "Then you can move somewhere else. Didn't you know to relocate when Mei controlled you before?"
"Where would we find such a space?"
"It's not that you can't find it, it's that you don't want to find it, nor do you want to move, because compared to controlling them, you think moving is too costly. But when facing Mei, under the threat of death, you left without regard for cost. What is this? This is the survival of the fittest." Mo Qi said.
Shen Qiansi was speechless.
Mo Qi looked at Shen Qiansi, "Are you going to let us pass? If not, we'll fight our way through." As he spoke, Mo Qi released the little blood man, the fire demon, the golden dragon scissors, and the little one, all surrounding him, looking fierce.
Zhu Yizhao broke out in a sweat!
With so many people against them, wouldn't charging forward be suicidal?
However, Shen Qiansi and the others had witnessed the power of Mo Qi and his pets. They could even eliminate Mei completely, let alone ordinary people!
Though their numbers seemed large, they were simply no match.
After a brief assessment, Shen Qiansi waved his hand, and the people behind him moved to the sides, clearing a path in the middle.
Mo Qi then led Murong Yanran and Zhu Yizhao forward with their heads held high.
Zhu Yizhao, still fearful of them playing dirty tricks, kept looking back as they walked, appearing extremely nervous. Only when they had safely passed did he let out a sigh of relief.
After Mo Qi and his group had passed, Shen Qiansi also let out a heavy sigh, gritting his teeth, "Too arrogant."
Elder Wei also walked up and sighed softly.
Shen Qiansi's eyes flickered with killing intent, "We can't let them run rampant like this. We must find a way to stop them."
Elder Wei hesitated, "Patriarch, what about the restriction placed upon our tribe?"
"How can we not care about it?" Shen Qiansi glared at him, "As long as we control them, we won't be afraid of them not doing as we wish."
Elder Wei said hesitantly, "This doesn't seem right, does it?"
"A ruthless man is not a husband, and a petty man is not a gentleman. You and I both know that he has been kind to our tribe, and we shouldn't repay kindness with enmity. But this is a dead end, and it's just their bad luck," Shen Qiansi said slowly.
"But how can we control them?"
"Don't you forget, we've set a surprise for them in the place where we're holding those people. Furthermore, the transformations of Han Tong'er and Yang Gongting have given us a deeper understanding of that thing. They actually have their own consciousness. If that's the case, they can also be used by us. Why must they commit suicide? We can find some obedient people in the tribe to proactively interfere, causing them to transform prematurely. And Yang Gongting's transformation has also shown us a way to transform early. This is simply a stroke of genius!" the Patriarch said excitedly.
However, Elder Wei looked troubled, "I always feel that doing this is taking a risk. What if those people, who seem obedient normally, reveal their true nature once they transform? How would we control them then? It would be like chickens flying and eggs being smashed, with injuries compounding injuries, and the situation worsening."
The Patriarch stared at him intently, "That's why we need to find some very reliable people, like you."
"Me?" Elder Wei was startled and almost fell to the ground.
Led by Zhu Yizhao, Mo Qi quickly found the forbidden area in the back mountain.
There were guards at the entrance. Seeing them approach, they attacked without a word, but Mo Qi easily killed them in return.
The three strode in, and there was still a barrier inside.
However, for Mo Qi, this was a piece of cake!
If it were before, he could have used the Heavenly Bow and Earth Arrows to slowly chip away at it. With enough effort, he would have broken through, but it would have taken some time.
But now he had the Pangu Banner. The Pangu Banner could destroy formations, open restrictions, and shatter space. It didn't take these not-so-clever barriers and restrictions seriously at all.
Mo Qi couldn't help but consider whether he needed to use the Pangu Banner to shatter this entire space and walk out. After all, many people outside were waiting for him to rescue them. If they remained trapped here, the chances of those affected by the restriction outside turning into Mei would only increase.
But he was still patiently observing Shen Qiansi's actions. If Shen Qiansi continued to be aggressive, he would no longer hold back.
In fact, upon careful consideration, breaking through this space was to save these residents of the hidden world, even if they didn't realize it now.
At this moment, Mo Qi unfurled the Pangu Banner in the air. Dense black energy surged out and permeated the air. A light screen suddenly rose in front of them, but upon contact with the black energy, it quickly melted away. In an instant, the entire light screen turned into specks of dust and dissipated.
Mo Qi was the first to eagerly enter.
At this moment, his heart became anxious. He couldn't help but wonder what expression he should have when he met Lu Xiaoyue later.
This was a cave. There was light inside, shining down from the cave ceiling, illuminating the entire dwelling clearly.
Around the stone walls were small compartments, each with a stone pillar. Some stone pillars were empty, while others had people chained to them. Everyone looked listless, slumped against the stone pillars.
Mo Qi anxiously scanned the surroundings, searching for Lu Xiaoyue.
Just then, a weak voice suddenly called out, "Don't come closer! There's a trap!"
Mo Qi instinctively stopped, but it seemed too late. Suddenly, he felt a sense of emptiness, almost losing his balance and swaying precariously.
At this moment, Murong Yanran went to support him, but in an instant, she also felt emptied, her body went soft, and she fell to the ground.
Zhu Yizhao, who was behind them, managed to stop in time and then retreated a few steps, looking at Mo Qi nervously, "Wh-what's wrong?"
Mo Qi's body was still shaking, but he managed not to fall, "It must be something that drained our spiritual energy."
At this moment, he finally saw Lu Xiaoyue. She was in a compartment on the left, her face pale, her eyes vacant, and she said helplessly, "I, I already warned you!"
However, she was still immensely happy that Mo Qi had managed to find this place. This place was called "Heaven and Earth do not answer, Earth and Man do not respond," a place even ghosts didn't know existed, and yet he had found it.
But after the joy came despair. If she had known that finding this place meant certain death, she would have preferred not to come.
"Hahaha, we were afraid you wouldn't come, and you actually came to die. We let you pass so readily earlier, we were even afraid we wouldn't trick you, but it turns out we really did trick you," Shen Qiansi said, laughing heartily as he walked in.
Behind him followed Elder Wei and a group of tribesmen.
Zhu Yizhao raised his palm and grabbed towards Shen Qiansi, "I'll fight you to the death." A white light emanated from his hand, and a palm thunderbolt struck towards Shen Qiansi.
Shen Qiansi sneered, "With you?"
He also formed his hand into a claw and pushed it forward, directly piercing through the palm thunderbolt, his palm piercing Zhu Yizhao's chest.
Zhu Yizhao spat blood, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
Shen Qiansi withdrew his hand, and Zhu Yizhao fell to the ground, dead.
Mo Qi swayed, trying to lean closer to Lu Xiaoyue, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he looked at Shen Qiansi, "I saved your tribesmen, and you killed my people. You heartless wretches."
Elder Wei showed shame on his face, while Shen Qiansi smiled broadly, "Curse all you want. Anyway, as long as you enter our Spirit Energy Absorption Moon space, your spiritual energy will be drained, and soon you'll be at our mercy."
"Of course, this is a reciprocal space, and your spiritual energy can be restored. As long as you remove the restriction on our tribesmen, we can restore your spiritual energy."
Reciprocal space?
Mo Qi's heart skipped a beat. This meant that spiritual energy could be drained and also drawn back!
Where was the spiritual energy drained from people stored in this space?
It must have been integrated into the spiritual veins of the mountain range!
I am an expert at extracting spiritual veins!
I read in some scroll before that there is a type of mountain range called the Nine Yin True Profound Veins. If a space is opened at its White Tiger position, it can absorb spiritual energy and nourish the mountain range. If my guess is correct, the trees throughout the entire mountain range will grow exceptionally lush.