Chapter 240: Exit

Chapter 240 Exit

Dragged relentlessly across the ground until his clothes were shredded, Li Huowang cast a fleeting glance toward the lion dancers pursuing them.

Through the white light emanating from their bodies, he vaguely discerned something far larger lurking behind the pack of lion dancers.

Li Huowang did not know what sect the Palace of Lion Dancers belonged to, but one thing was certain: their strength varied greatly, and the two he had faced earlier were likely merely minor minions.

"Er Shen! Run faster! Those lion dancers are just the young ones! There are elders behind them!"

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao ran even more frantically; she did not flee blindly but directed herself as much as possible toward the sound of the drums.

Suddenly Li Huowang spotted something, slapped Bai Lingmiao on the back, and shouted, "East!! Listen to me, go East!"

Bai Lingmiao pushed off the ground with all four limbs, vaulted quickly onto the left wall, changed direction mid-air, and surged toward the side Li Huowang indicated.

They hadn't run far when, amidst the darkness, they arrived at a "forest"—a grove formed by corpses strung up by ropes around their necks—and this was what Li Huowang had seen.

Stared down by that peculiar gaze, Li Huowang instantly felt his thoughts slowing. This was the Rope Son's territory; the Rope Son was lying atop the ceiling right now, watching him!

The creature was watching him, but Li Huowang didn't care, for he knew that compared to the two weaklings they were, the massive swarm of white-light-emitting lion dancers would naturally draw its attention far more.

As Li Huowang predicted, sensing the tremendous commotion, the hanging corpses completely ignored them and instead began to slowly turn, drifting toward the lion dancers.

With the Rope Son blocking the way, the white lights and the dense footsteps behind Li Huowang finally faded away.

Without pursuers, Li Huowang and his companion followed the drumbeats and regrouped with the rest beside a rocky cliff.

The others, trembling with fear, finally found a backbone to lean on; they hurried forward, surrounding Li Huowang and bombarding him with questions.

"Don't panic! That kid Han Fu is nothing! In a head-on clash, he can't beat us; we just need to guard against ambushes!" Li Huowang encouraged them with confidence.

"But... Senior Brother Li, which way do we go next? We don't even know where we are," Chun Xiaoman said, struggling to voice their predicament while staring at the vague darkness surrounding them.

Although they had just defeated Han Fu and escaped the lion dancers, this wretched place seemed to possess disorienting powers; even without confusion, with no landmarks and every location identical, they couldn't escape, and if they stayed, they would inevitably encounter those two things again sooner or later.

Glancing left and right, Li Huowang looked down at the bell at Chun Xiaoman's waist. "Give me the bell. Will a living person really die of holding their urine? Perhaps Master You can help us find a way out!"

Only then did Chun Xiaoman realize Master You could actually do such things; she started to hand over the bell but pulled it back.

"Senior Brother Li, I am young and have plenty of life force left; let me use the bell for you." Without waiting for Li Huowang's reply, Chun Xiaoman shook the bell rapidly.

As several Masters You flew out, Li Huowang noticed, whether by illusion or not, that their figures seemed to grow taller.

In this oppressive environment, fifteen minutes passed, then thirty, yet the Masters You never returned.

This situation caused the hearts of the others, who had just regained confidence, to sink lower and lower.

"Won't those Masters You be eaten as snacks by the evil spirits in the darkness?" Dogwa asked, trembling with fear, voicing a terrible guess.

Seeing their current plight, Li Huowang furrowed his brows tightly together.

Not counting the threat of Han Fu hidden in the darkness, if the lion dancers dealt with the Rope Son and came after them again, everything would be over; they had to get out of this wretched place immediately.

He began recalling the various rituals from the Record of the Great Thousand, which he had memorized thoroughly. Yet after quickly running through them in his mind, it ultimately proved futile.

The Record of the Great Thousand, essential for followers of the Aojing Sect, only recorded methods to inflict pain upon oneself or others; in this situation, it was of no help whatsoever.

Just as Li Huowang turned to ask Bai Lingmiao if jumping the big rope could help in this regard, he saw the big fool Gao Zhijian holding his thumb straight up in the air, his expression extremely solemn.

Clutching his wounds, Li Huowang looked up at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

Rarely failing to answer directly, Gao Zhijian solemnly put his thumb back in his mouth, sucked on it, and raised it high again.

A flash of insight struck Li Huowang's mind, bringing joy; he understood what the other was doing. "Using your finger to sense the wind's direction? There's wind? You found the exit?"

Gao Zhijian quickly withdrew his finger, nodded at Li Huowang, and pointed west. "Here... h-here..."

"Gao Zhijian! Good job!" Delighted, Li Huowang walked over, slapped him heavily on the shoulder, and led the others charging toward where he pointed.

The direction guided by the wind was not a straight line; they constantly passed through limestone caves and rock hollows, rising and falling.

While hurrying along, Li Huowang studied the tall figure before him anew.

To think of a way to find an exit under such circumstances, Li Huowang couldn't help but look at Gao Zhijian with new respect. This was not a method a normal fool would conceive; he must have many stories from his past.

However, at this critical moment, there was no time to inquire about his background.

"Bend low, the rock ceiling ahead is pressing down." Everyone bent their waists and continued moving forward.

The cave opening grew narrower; just as the tallest Gao Zhijian was about to be unable to squeeze through, the passage widened, and a sound resembling ghostly wailing drifted from afar.

Hearing this sound, Li Huowang felt instant joy; it was not real ghosts crying, but the whistling caused by wind blowing through narrow limestone caves.

Gao Zhijian had not chosen the wrong place! There was an exit here!!

The others realized this too; although they had been running and terrified for so long in this place, everyone was exhausted, yet they squeezed out their last bit of energy and rushed forward.

After passing through another winding limestone cave, the outside suddenly brightened; a slanted opening appeared in the cave ceiling, from where the wind blew in.

The light spilling from within was not the brightness of the Palace of Lion Dancers before, but pale silver moonlight. Unknowingly, night had fallen outside.

They walked under that silver light, gazing at the specks of stars above like frogs at the bottom of a well.

Clearly this was not the entrance they had come from, but at least it was undeniably an exit.

(End of Chapter)