The current situation remains clear, and it is quite obvious who the remaining two people are.

Moreover, the miserable appearances of Feng Heyun and Wen Xuan did not seem like those who were manipulating the illusion behind the scenes.

Lu Shiqing and Luo Chu are truly incredibly foolish.

Thinking this, Lin Qianyin sensed the location of another landing point.

She searched the area around the landing point, but strangely, there was only that one landing point.

They decided to first dispel the illusion surrounding the landing point.

But seeing that her face was also a little pale, Ye Huai and the others did not leave first, but stayed to help her.

Moreover, the giant hand that was about to break through the illusion was also a threat, and they were afraid that Lin Qianyin would be in danger if she was left alone here.

Lin Qianyin nodded, no longer refusing, and continued to pluck the strings of the guzheng to destroy the illusion.

Lu Shiqing and Luo Chu had been running in the illusion for an unknown amount of time, and their consciousness was already somewhat scattered.

Suddenly, I saw a crack appear not far ahead and thought I was hallucinating.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a passage leading to the outside of the illusion!

The two, who had been feeling utterly hopeless, suddenly felt a renewed sense of hope. Ignoring everything else, they mustered their last bit of spiritual power and strength and ran desperately toward the crevice.

"There's hope! There's hope!"

The moment Luo Chu escaped the illusion, she almost cried with excitement, and Lu Shiqing also looked relieved.

Seeing so many people waiting outside the illusion, a feeling of shame and guilt spread through Luo Chu's heart.

But the joy of being saved outweighed the sorrow in my heart.

They finally escaped!

"You, you're all still alive! That's wonderful! We're all alive!" Luo Chu looked at the group of people standing in front of him, overjoyed, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Thankfully, they didn't cause a major disaster!

Lu Shiqing's expression wasn't as obvious as his, but a huge weight had been lifted from his heart.

They were also being hunted by the strangulation formation, so they probably wouldn't guess that the illusion was manipulated by them, which cleared them of suspicion.

For some reason, the two men felt that the way the people in front of them were looking at them seemed a little off.

Perhaps it was their imagination? After all, judging from the appearance of the others, they should have just come out of the illusion as well, so it's normal for them to lose control of their expressions.

In any case, they were saved!

However, before the two could rejoice for long, the strangulation formation behind them transformed into the same giant hand as before, gripping the disappearing crack tightly!

Fingers squeezed out of the gap, as if they had their own suction force, and Lu Shiqing, who was closest to the gap, was instantly sucked onto the fingers.

Luo Chu, who was standing nearby, was so frightened by this sudden turn of events that her body reacted faster than her brain. She quickly ran to the side of the crowd and distanced herself from her fingers.

"Third, Third Senior Brother! How did this formation manage to follow us out?!" Luo Chu exclaimed in shock, "Quickly, save him!"

Direct contact with the formation like this would have an effect many times stronger than before.

The moment they made contact, Lu Shiqing's face turned as if it had been drained of all its color.

His life force was draining away at an extremely rapid pace. He struggled violently, but the more he struggled, the faster it drained away.

The piercing screams echoed through the palace, a testament to the agony Lu Shiqing was in.

"Save him, save him!" Feng Heyun and Wen Xuan, who were slightly more conscious, kept pleading.

Lin Qianyin and Ye Huai had considered that the strangulation formation in this illusion might be more troublesome, but they did not expect that the formation would directly block the gap and even suck Lu Shiqing in.

As for Lu Shiqing, they only felt that he deserved his punishment.

The fact that the strangulation formation emerged from the illusion was definitely not a good thing; they couldn't guarantee that the strangulation formation wouldn't attack them.

The group immediately took action, working together to force the strangulation formation back into the illusion.

Fortunately, the crack wasn't too big. Even though the giant hand formed by the strangulation formation passed through the crack, only a few fingers reached outside the illusion.

It's not difficult to drive it back into the illusion.

With his fingers gone, Lu Shiqing collapsed to the ground like a limp corpse.

Wen Xuan's fingers trembled as he checked Lu Shiqing's breath, tentatively calling his name, "...Third Junior Brother?"

The faint breaths on his fingers indicated that Lu Shiqing was still alive. "Still alive! Still alive!"

However, his life force had been severely depleted, and his body had become dehydrated, leaving him with only a breath left.

Wen Xuan hurriedly fed Lu Shiqing various medicines and pills to keep him alive.

"You brought this on yourself." Lin Qianyin glanced coldly at Lu Shiqing.

The voice was very low, and Luo Chu could only hear it vaguely, but her heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed tightly, and she became extremely nervous.

What did she mean by that? Or did he mishear her?

If they were discovered... Luo Chu didn't even dare to think about it.

Anyone could tell from Luo Chu's expression that he was guilty.

Lin Qianyin noticed it too, and with a cold smile, said in an extremely unpleasant tone:

"I'm quite curious, why are we all alone in the illusionary space, while you two are together?"

Luo Chu froze, sensing that Lin Qianyin's words had a hidden meaning. His heart pounded, and his gaze darted around, unable to meet Lin Qianyin's eyes.

But the other party didn't explain, so he could only suppress his panic and comfort himself that she might have just asked casually.

"We...we don't know either. We were suddenly pulled into that illusion and made to make a choice. After we chose Shen Sangruo, we were chased and killed by the strangulation formation."

"We're probably all in this situation, right?"

Fortunately, he knows what happened in their illusion, so he should be able to get away with it.

"Everyone has been rescued. Let's go find Junior Sister and the others," Ye Huai said in a deep voice.

“That illusion might not be able to hold the strangulation formation for too long. We need to hurry.” Lin Qianyin’s attention was drawn back from Luo Chu and the other person to their current predicament.

"Has Sister Sang Ruo contacted you?" Fang Yu asked.

The dodder flower fairy answered him, "I told her about the situation here, and she said we don't need to go to her, but only to find the array's core in the palace."

"And the key point of the formation must be found as soon as possible."

"Can you sense where she is?" Su Xiyu asked.

"Her exact location is unclear, but she is still within the formation's range."

Ji Zicang continued, "That's how contracted beasts work. Don't worry, if something happens to Sang Ruo, the dodder flower will be able to sense it."

“Yes, there are no problems on her end.” The dodder flower fairy swayed her vines.

“Alright, then let’s go find the array’s core directly. Anyway, Junior Sister and Jiang Chu are also looking for the array’s core, so we have the same goal.” Song Weiyan took a step forward, “This way we won’t have to make another trip and we can save more time.”

Perhaps I'll run into Shen Sangruo while searching for the array's core.

After discussing their plan, the group immediately began searching for the array's core within the palace.

Second update! Thank you all for your support! *tweets*

(End of this chapter)