Qin Mu never expected to be so lucky. Just by entering a random cell, he ran into Xu Lin’s father.
“How is Lin’er doing now?”
Xu Shan asked urgently.
Ever since he was locked up, he had never seen his daughter again.
Qin Mu told Xu Shan about Xu Lin’s situation and also informed him of his plan.
After hearing that his daughter was doing well, Xu Shan breathed a sigh of relief.
But upon hearing Qin Mu’s plan, he shook his head.
“Young friend, it’s difficult. Your plan sounds good on the surface, but implementing it won’t be easy.”
Xu Shan pointed deeper into the prison.
“We’re only in the outermost layer now. The place where Elder Luoye is imprisoned is the deepest part of the entire prison. Unless you have the identity of a guard, it’ll be very hard to get in.”
The identity of a guard? That was a convenient coincidence.
“Uncle Xu Shan, what do you think of this armor?”
Qin Mu pulled a set of armor from his storage pouch—the very set he had stripped from the guard he knocked out earlier.
When Xu Shan saw the armor in Qin Mu’s hand, he couldn’t help but be startled.
“I didn’t expect you, young friend, to actually get your hands on this armor.”
He picked up the armor, examined it carefully, then shook his head.
“No good. This is still lacking a bit.”
“Lacking a bit?”
Qin Mu thought he hadn’t forgotten anything. Was it the Gu insects?
“Uncle Xu Shan, are you talking about the Gu insects?”
Xu Shan immediately denied it.
“Not the Gu insects. It’s that the grade of this armor is too low. To enter the innermost part of the prison, you need a higher-grade armor.”
Then Qin Mu patted his chest.
“That’s simple. Leave it to me. Just tell me what the armor looks like, Uncle Xu Shan.”
Ambushing someone from behind? That was something Qin Mu was good at.
Sneak in quietly. Don’t make a sound.
***
Elder Fan Gu had trapped the Qin Family sisters. To prevent them from escaping, he was personally guarding them.
“Elder Fan Gu.”
A voice came from behind.
A figure respectfully handed a jade slip to Elder Fan Gu.
Just a moment ago, Elder Fan Gu had ordered an investigation into the identities of the two trapped women.
The subordinate grimaced upon hearing the order.
There were so many Nascent Soul cultivators in the world—how were they supposed to check?!
But once they checked, they were shocked.
They found the information almost immediately, and it was very detailed. The only problem was that their identities were too big—it seemed they had caught two major figures.
Elder Fan Gu took the jade slip, pressed it to his forehead, and the information flooded into his mind.
Qin Ruoshan—Holy Maiden of the Sword Sect of the Eastern Region’s Seven Stars Sect. Born into the Qin Family.
Qin Mengyu—Holy Maiden of the Alchemy Sect of the Eastern Region’s Seven Stars Sect. Born into the Qin Family.
Moreover, both had a close relationship with Lu Qian, the Head of the Seven Stars Sect.
According to rumors, they were also connected to Wang Yan’er, the Mistress of the Star-Plucking Tower.
Elder Fan Gu: “…”
He had thought these two girls might be somewhat known, but not nobodies. He never expected their backgrounds to be this big!
With identities like that, if anything happened to them here, the miasma on the periphery of the Barbaric Wasteland wouldn’t be enough to block a Tribulation Stage Great Power.
And Elder Kumu was only at the Heavenly Unity Stage. There was a hundred percent chance he couldn’t beat such a power—he’d be the one getting pounded into the ground.
“Elder Fan Gu, what do we do now?”
The figure who delivered the message was also startled after learning the identities of the two women and had rushed over immediately to inform him.
“What do we do? What do I know what to do?!”
Elder Fan Gu said angrily.
You’re the Holy Maiden of the Seven Stars Sect—why didn’t you reveal your identity earlier? That way no one would be embarrassed, and everyone would be happy.
Now it’s too late. He had suppressed the Holy Maidens of the Seven Stars Sect. If they got out and spread the news, it would be their side that lost face.
Killing them was definitely not an option. They were Holy Maidens of the Seven Stars Sect—they surely had tracking Fabao on them.
If they died, the sect would definitely know. Not to mention whether the Seven Stars Sect would fight them to the death, but even the High Priest might fly into a rage and finish them all off.
Now Elder Fan Gu was between a rock and a hard place, not knowing what to do.
“Does Elder Kumu know about this?”
When Elder Fan Gu said this, a flicker of regret passed through his eyes.
If only he hadn’t accepted this errand from Elder Kumu! He had said it was a nice assignment.
Bah! He had been blind!
“Someone has already gone to inform Elder Kumu.”
***
Inside an underground chamber, an old man with long hair and a white beard sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, apparently regulating his breathing.
Suddenly, his tightly shut eyes opened.
Elder Kumu looked at the figure standing before him.
“Didn’t I say not to disturb me unless it was important? Has the High Priest’s personal disciple been captured?”
The figure shook his head.
“Elder Kumu, this is another urgent matter. Please take a look.”
With that, the figure handed over a jade slip.
Elder Kumu raised his hand, and the jade slip flew to him.
He tapped it with his finger, and the information from within surged into his mind.
A moment later, Elder Kumu wore a look of shock.
“The Holy Maiden of the Seven Stars Sect… This is trouble.”
Although the Gu Clan rarely left the Barbaric Wasteland, Elder Kumu knew a little about what happened outside.
The Seven Stars Sect was a major sect in the Eastern Region.
Not long ago, they had even been jointly elected as the leader of the Righteous Path by the major sects of the Eastern Region. Such weight could only be resisted if the entire Gu Clan united—and even then, barely.
But uniting the entire Gu Clan was easier said than done.
Nominally, the Six Great Elders obeyed the High Priest. In reality, they were six separate villages, each running its own affairs.
If the current High Priest weren’t so overwhelmingly powerful, the Six Great Elders wouldn’t bother with him at all.
Previous High Priests had only been at the Heavenly Unity Stage, weaker than some of the Six Great Elders, so most of the time the title “High Priest” was just that—a title.
But this generation’s High Priest was not only a Tribulation Stage Great Power but also forcibly unified the Gu Clan through strength and skill.
At least on the surface, all Six Great Elders acknowledged him as their leader, and no one opposed him.
If the Holy Maidens of the Seven Stars Sect got into trouble here, the Seven Stars Sect was far away in the Eastern Region, a long distance from the Barbaric Wasteland at the southernmost end of the Southern Region.
But the current Head of the Seven Stars Sect was a woman who did things her own way.
With her Tribulation Stage strength, charging into the Barbaric Wasteland wouldn’t be much of a problem.
At that moment, the other villages probably wouldn’t easily lend a hand.
The High Priest would most likely watch from the sidelines, since he was always butting heads with him anyway.
The High Priest would definitely not miss this perfect chance to get rid of him.
At that point, it would truly be a case of crying out to heaven and earth, but no one would answer.
Thinking this far, Elder Kumu leaned on his walking stick and stood up.
“Pass my order: ensure the safety of these two people. Tell Fan Gu to guard them properly—don’t let them escape, and don’t hurt them. If even a single hair on their heads is harmed, I’ll make an example of him!”