Chapter 40

Ning Ning held her breath and surveyed the surroundings.

A hazy white mist gradually grew from all directions, resembling ethereal undead entities without a definite form, clinging faintly to the walls and crevices in the ground. The shadows of houses and trees were pitch-black, merging and intertwining with the mist, creating an eerie and somewhat terrifying atmosphere.

An unidentified fragrance lingered in the air, and she dared not inhale too deeply, focusing entirely on observing the various changes around her.

“What… what is this?”

Meng Jiaqi trembled and called out, clutching He Zhizhou’s arm beside her.

Unexpectedly, he turned out to be incredibly timid, thinking he was entangled by female ghosts. His eyes widened, freezing in place, emitting a cry even more terrifying than hers. Then he suddenly raised his arm, giving her a forceful push to the side.

Meng Jiaqi fell to the ground like a ping pong ball with a thud.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

He Zhizhou blushed, taking a few steps forward to pull her up with her right hand. Unexpectedly, he heard another scream from Meng Jiaqi: “Don’t! Dislocated, dislocated! Ahh!”

He dared not move anymore.

Meng Jiaqi was shaking with anger, wishing she could tear these two bastards apart on the spot. But considering the plan, she could only force a smile and endure the pain. “It’s okay.”

Okay my foot! It hurts so much!

The theater in her mind had already shifted from “Undercover Self-cultivation” to “Grilling and Baking Guide,” and she even began seriously thinking about how to marinate these scumbags for the best flavor.

Now that they were in the formation, she knew which path led to certain death. As long as she could deceive these two into entering, everything would be a success.

Suppressing her anger, Meng Jiaqi was about to speak when she saw Ning Ning’s eyes light up, and she softly exclaimed, “Pei Ji!”

…Pei Ji? Who is Pei Ji?

She awkwardly lifted her head, meeting a pair of cold, pitch-black eyes.

Compared to Ning Ning and the others, Pei Ji’s situation was a bit worse.

The long sword in his hand had already been unsheathed, and crimson blood gathered along the edge, slowly dripping onto the ground. His face and the back of his hand were stained with blood and dried into dark red splatters, highlighting his pale and slender face and giving off a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

He looked like a wind carrying the scent of blood or a lone wolf just experienced battle.

In any case, he didn’t look like a righteous disciple, with a clear sky and a bright moon. He seemed to exude a heavy killing intent.

Upon seeing Meng Jiaqi, the young man referred to as “Pei Ji” froze for a moment, and the long sword in his hand emitted a buzzing sound.

Subconsciously, she felt a hint of killing intent.

“No, no, no! Don’t get agitated!”

Ning Ning understood that he had sensed something unusual about Meng Jiaqi and hurriedly poked him with a secret transmission, roughly summarizing the woman’s identity and purpose. Finally, she told him concisely, “Now only she knows the exit of the formation. If we want to get out, we have to leave Meng Jiaqi behind.”

After the secret transmission, she coughed lightly and pulled Meng Jiaqi’s sleeve. “Miss Meng, this is my junior brother Pei Ji. Miss Meng, who lives in the nearby city, accidentally fell into this place. If we can help, we will. What happened to the bloodstains on you?”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but wonder: How did she meet Pei Ji here? Did the original describe this place? Moreover, Pei Ji’s current appearance is completely different from what was supposed to happen in the original. Ning Ning remembered that he should have passed through without any injuries, not covered in blood.

“This is the Ten Directions Killing Formation.”

Pei Ji’s killing intent in his eyes quietly dimmed, and he said in a low voice, “All directions are filled with killing intent; almost every path is set with hidden weapons, puppets, illusions, and the lingering remnants of fierce beasts. To leave, aside from breaking the formation, there is another way.”

No way.

Meng Jiaqi’s heart skipped a beat.

—No one would want to try the second way, right?

She looked at Pei Ji with a complex expression.

He was dressed in black, and it was unclear how much blood had stained him, but the wounds on his cheeks and arms clearly indicated that he must have gone through several hardships.

At the same time, the clear voice of the young man entered her ears, making her spine tingle. “Simply put. You only need to kill to stop the killing, to break the formation with killing, and to kill all the murderous intentions in all directions, and then you can successfully escape.”

Simply put?

So many life-threatening stages, and you just glossed over them with these two words?

Yet he did just that.

Meng Jiaqi cursed silently in her heart.

Great, the Xuanxu Sword Sect—she had encountered a total of three people so far.

One fool, one liar, and now a completely mad one.

What are “kill to stop the killing to break the formation” and “break the formation by killing”? — Even a demonic cultivator wouldn’t put it that way! Do you understand the concept of the Ten Directions Killing Formation? Every step is a dead end, and deadly things are all around.

Yet this guy wanted to tell those lurking killing intents, “Sorry, you’re all surrounded by me alone”?

Indeed, they were sword cultivators, always showing her with their actions that life is full of surprises.

Meng Jiaqi listened in shock, while Ning Ning frowned and approached him, handing a handkerchief to Pei Ji. “Quickly wipe away the blood. Want to take on ten opponents by yourself? How are you so capable? What if something unexpected happens? In such a vast place without someone to look out for you—”

Pausing for a moment, she added with a stern face, “I’m not worried about you; it’s just that if something happens to you, Master will definitely scold me.”

Pei Ji, without looking at her, reached out to take it, but sensed that his fingertips were damp.

—He had fought desperately to break free, and his palm was already covered in blood.

With his straightforward nature, he could make decisive judgments, whether drawing his sword or exterminating demons. However, somehow, at this moment, a hint of hesitation emerged. His fingertips moved slightly and fell heavily on his thin black clothes.

Ning Ning, seeing him make no move, subconsciously looked down at Pei Ji’s left hand, which was now free. She happened to witness him calmly wiping his fingers, unable to hold back a chuckle.

“This was originally meant for you to wipe away blood. Where did you get so many meticulous thoughts?”

She hadn’t expected this person to have so many small considerations. Grabbing the handkerchief, she lifted his arm and casually wiped away a streak of blood on the side of his face.

The snow-white handkerchief was now soaked with a rich red hue. The young man’s breath paused, and his long lashes trembled slightly.

“Look, now it’s stained with blood too.”

Watching the bloodstains on Pei Ji’s face spread further due to her actions, like a cat with a painted face, Ning Ning grabbed his left hand with one hand and handed him the handkerchief with the other, saying, “Wipe it yourself.”

Meng Jiaqi, full of anxiety, listened to them finish and finally spoke in a low voice, “No, there’s no need to break the formation so dramatically.”

This newcomer was like a mad dog. If he were allowed to run wild, he might accidentally stumble upon the correct exit. Therefore, she decided to take the initiative and directly tell them about the path that would lead to certain death after entering: “I once learned divination and Eight Trigram Feng Shui from my grandfather, and I can barely decipher some formations… I observed it; this formation has only one exit.”

She pointed to an inconspicuous alley in the street with a confident tone and said, “It’s right here.”

He Zhizhou was half-believing. “Are you sure?”

“If not, we can follow Mr. Pei’s suggestion and fight through it, defeating whatever comes our way, and we can still escape the formation, right?”

Meng Jiaqi responded without hesitation, “All three of you are elite disciples of your sects. With you present, you shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the mechanisms and demons in the formation.”

Now, it was time to wait for them to fall into the trap.

Righteous disciples always held themselves in high regard. Once they were provoked, they couldn’t help but act recklessly, according to her words. Moreover, they currently had no other way, so they could only believe her lies.

When the time came, she would quietly leave while following at the end of the group, and these people would undoubtedly meet their end.

“It seems there’s no other way.”