Chapter 1794

Ren Tianqing could not free himself from Quan De'an's corpse; he could only retreat backward while carrying the corpse, his movement technique severely hampered. Hu Xiaotian raised his hand and brought down his sword—this strike severed Ren Tianqing's right arm, which fell off with a sound. Without a word, he wrenched himself free from Quan De'an's corpse and fled swiftly into the distance.

Hu Xiaotian was about to give chase when he heard Meizhuang's shrill scream from behind: "Hu Xiaotian, are you really not going to save her life?"

Hu Xiaotian's heart jolted—he never expected Meizhuang to return so quickly. He forced himself to stop, only to see a trail of blue bloodstains on the ground. Ren Tianqing had fled in such haste that he didn't even bother to pick up his severed arm.

Qin Yutong was stripped bare, her eyes shut tight, her alluring delicate form fully exposed. Meizhuang hadn't left her even a scrap to cover herself. Hu Xiaotian feasted his eyes, then inwardly sighed: Meizhuang is far too wicked—she stole Qin Yutong's phoenix armor; at least she could have left an undergarment, but this actually works to my advantage. Fortunately Qin Yutong is unconscious now; otherwise, if she faced me like this, she'd die of shame.

Meizhuang's gaze fell on the severed arm on the ground, then on Quan De'an's smashed head with brain matter spilling everywhere. She instantly understood: she and Ren Tianqing had been set up by Hu Xiaotian. This fellow's talk of mutual benefit was merely a ploy to distract her while joining forces with the feigned-dead Quan De'an to deal with Ren Tianqing.

Even in this situation, Hu Xiaotian remained calm, smiling faintly: "If you kill her, I'll kill you. Rather than both lose, let's make peace—release Miss Qin, and I'll hand over the key, how about that?"

Meizhuang sneered: "Kid, you wounded my senior brother—do you really think I'd believe your nonsense?" She had never trusted Hu Xiaotian to begin with.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Actually, his injury does you no harm; even I can see he's merely using you."

"Silence, stop sowing discord!" Meizhuang drew a jet-black curved blade and pressed it against Qin Yutong's snow‑white, lovely chest, ready at any moment to carve out her heart.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Believe it or not, I'll first take out the skull; we can discuss the trade afterward." Ignoring Meizhuang's actions, he turned to the altar ahead, pushed the square cauldron on it, moved the cauldron aside, lifted the stone slab, and revealed a hole beneath.

Meizhuang could no longer restrain her curiosity; she placed the curved blade horizontally across Qin Yutong's neck, ready to sever her head at the slightest move by Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian took a jade box from the hole, opened it, and indeed found a blue skull inside. He dared to assert that this skull must be the one originally stored in Long Ling Shengjing; evidently Qiqi has already grasped all its secrets, so she stored it here as well. The skull Ren Tianqing sent must still be in her hands.

Upon seeing the blue skull, Meizhuang's eyes lit up; her wariness gave way to greed. She shouted sternly: "Throw the skull over!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "If I give you the skull, how can I know you'll let Qin Yutong go? If you renege, I'll end up with nothing—neither person nor object."

Meizhuang snorted coldly: "Do you really think you still have a choice?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Of course I have a choice—I know exactly what kind of person you are. So it's either no rabbit, no hawk, or we part ways after a blow; you kill Qin Yutong, I'll kill you to avenge her, and at least the skull remains in my hand."

Seeing his firm resolve, Meizhuang inwardly mused that this kid was also ruthless, and moreover the skull was far more precious than Qin Yutong's life. Although Meizhuang was exceptionally wise, she inevitably projected her own values onto others, deeming the skull important and assuming others felt the same. After consideration, she told Hu Xiaotian: "Let's exchange goods for person—one hand delivers the skull, the other hands over the girl."

Hu Xiaotian beamed: "That's exactly right."

Meizhuang sheathed her blade, then lifted Qin Yutong's body with both hands; Hu Xiaotian also raised the skull. Meizhuang said: "I'll count to three, then we begin the exchange—if you dare to cheat, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Just rest assured!"

Meizhuang called out: "One! Two! Three…" As she reached three, both simultaneously hurled their exchange items toward each other. Qin Yutong, unconscious, was thrown by Meizhuang—not straight at Hu Xiaotian but toward the stone wall to his right. If Hu Xiaotian didn't intervene in time, he feared that under Meizhuang's force Qin Yutong would be dashed to death.

This time Hu Xiaotian did not cheat; he indeed threw the skull toward Meizhuang. He gauged Qin Yutong's direction, tapped his toes, lunged forward, and securely caught her delicate form in a full embrace.

Meizhuang also caught the skull at the same time; after securing it, she did not attack Hu Xiaotian but turned and fled. She was no fool—seeing that even Ren Tianqing had lost an arm to Hu Xiaotian, she knew she stood no chance against him, so seizing this opportunity to escape quickly was the proper course.

As soon as Hu Xiaotian caught Qin Yutong, the ground shuddered violently; he barely kept his footing, steadied himself, and saw the entrance ahead collapse, a massive boulder sealing it shut. Meizhuang had just fled to the vicinity; had she been a step quicker, she would likely have been crushed by the boulder, her face turning ashen from fright.

Holding Qin Yutong, Hu Xiaotian's heart was likewise shaken—could a sudden quake have occurred? On second thought, that seemed impossible; perhaps someone among them had triggered a mechanism.

Meizhuang bit her lip and sprinted toward the right.

Hu Xiaotian lifted Qin Yutong and followed closely, taking a few steps when he saw the Lone Moon Sever still embedded in the stone wall; he reached out and pulled it free, then trailed Meizhuang's steps into the right‑hand passageway. The ground was dotted with specks of blue bloodstains—the very path Ren Tianqing had taken after losing his arm. Hu Xiaotian reflected that, aside from the channel he opened using the Seven‑Star Chain, there must be another secret passage leading to this stone chamber, through which Ren Tianqing and Meizhuang had entered.

The tremors grew stronger, gravel raining down from above; another violent shock came from ahead, dust swirling, and a disheveled figure burst out—it was Meizhuang returning, clearly the road they had entered had also been sealed.

Seeing Hu Xiaotian, Meizhuang was on full alert, yet the danger she faced appeared even greater than his.

After the shock subsided, things seemed suddenly calm again. Hu Xiaotian quietly increased the distance between himself and Meizhuang, needing to guard against her as an enemy until the situation cleared. He carefully searched the surroundings and found every possible exit blocked by boulders; Meizhuang, too, was scouting for a way out but found nothing, so she returned to stand beside the square cauldron.

Seeing Meizhuang's dazed, listless state, Hu Xiaotian almost concluded that their predicament was almost certainly due to Ren Tianqing, who had just escaped, activating a mechanism; he suddenly chuckled.

Meizhuang glared at him and snapped: "What are you laughing at?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I never imagined our contest would end like this."

Meizhuang gave a cold snort, rose to her feet, and called out loudly: "Senior brother! Senior brother! Are you there?" Her voice echoed in the empty stone chamber, but no one answered.

Hu Xiaotian replied: "He's naturally here!" His gaze fell to the ground, where he noticed that the arm Ren Tianqing had lost to his sword was gone. Aside from the five of them inside Long Ling Shengjing, Quan De'an is now dead, leaving the three of us present; therefore, the one who took that arm must be Ren Tianqing.

Meizhuang snapped: "What else do you know?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "He activated the mechanism to draw our attention, stole the arm while we were unprepared, and, worried he wasn't my match, sealed every exit here, intending to trap me alive inside."

Meizhuang found his analysis spot‑on, a chill running through her. Yet deep down she still harbored a sliver of hope that Ren Tianqing's move was aimed solely at Hu Xiaotian, certainly not at her.

A gloomy laugh suddenly rang from above; after it faded, a resentful voice said: "Not bad, Hu Xiaotian, you're indeed clever—I'm the one who set the mechanism. Don't think your light sword makes you invincible; even if you exhaust its energy, you won't escape from here."

Hearing Ren Tianqing's voice, Meizhuang felt as if she had seized a lifeline, and exclaimed joyfully: "Senior brother! Senior brother! I've obtained the skull!"

Ren Tianqing, however, gave no response at all.

Meizhuang shrieked: "Senior brother, I'm here!" Yet inside she began to feel afraid.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Even if you shout till your throat is raw, it's useless—he's lost an arm and dropped the Lone Moon Sever, so he's no match for me. Do you really think he'll come running to die? The best plan is to keep us all trapped here; there's not a drop of water, let alone food, and barely any air left. With enough patience, we three won't die of thirst but will suffocate, and when we're dead, everything will still be his."

Meizhuang shook her head firmly: "My senior brother wouldn't do that?"

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "What wouldn't he do? He even went after Qin Se, whom he likes—so what's a woman he never cared for?"

Meizhuang screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Shut up!"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Whether I speak or not, it doesn't change the fact."

Meizhuang felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, and she cried out loudly: "Senior brother!"

In the darkness came Ren Tianqing's sigh: "Junior sister, don't be afraid—I will naturally rescue you."

Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing: "Ren Tianqing, are you even a man? Having done it, why won't you own up? Unless Meizhuang can kill me, or we all starve to death in here, you will never activate the mechanism to let her out."

Second update uploaded, today is Monday, please vote for recommendation tickets! (To be continued~^~)