Chapter 25 I came from Heaven and Earth, and I will return to Heaven and Earth. The Fruit of Spiritual Connection... Huh...
The Fruit of Spiritual Communication exclaimed, "What is this?"
Tie Xiao grinned maliciously, "This is a spirit-locking array."
"A spirit-locking array?" The Spirit Fruit scoffed. "Turning me into liquid gold isn't enough, what more do you want?"
Tie Xiao revealed his true colors, saying, "Since you are already dead, you should be as quiet as if you were dead."
The Fruit of Spiritual Communication couldn't help but laugh at itself, "How could I have been so blind back then to throw myself into the furnace for the Iron Age? But since you're not acting anymore, let's get to know each other as soon as possible."
Tie Xiao pressed his palm to the ground, and the entire cave began to tremble slightly, with broken stones constantly falling from the cave ceiling.
Wu Chen turned around and glanced at Yu Jitang, indicating that there was another person behind him.
Yu Jitang rolled his eyes at him and said in a low voice, "I'll take him back. You guys be careful."
Wu Chen nodded.
After Yu Jitang crouched down and left, Wu Shen looked back down and saw that the entire cave floor was now illuminated by a red array of light. The scarlet liquid in the Bilin Pool surged like a raging wolf, yet it was restrained within the pool by an invisible force, unable to leave.
Tie Xiao sneered, "Our ancestors anticipated this move long ago. This Spirit-Locking Array can bind anything with sentience and prevent it from leaving. What can this pile of rotten bones do to me?"
Tie Xiao's mother's skeleton let out a sharp cry and stabbed towards Tie Xiao. Tie Xiao pulled out the dagger hidden in his sleeve and slashed at the skeleton.
Tie Zhilan stared at Tie Xiao in disbelief, "Father~"
Tie Xiao ignored him completely, and with a slash of the dagger in his palm, blood gushed out. The invisible power within the cave surged, even shrinking the size of the Spirit Fruit.
Tie Xiao shouted at Tie Zhilan, "What are you standing there for? Why aren't you bleeding him out? Do you want to watch your father die here?"
Tie Zhilan was completely stunned, but instinctively he shook his head desperately, "No, no." This spirit-locking array would definitely do something to these skeletons, but his birth mother was among them, as were the innocent women who had been killed by the Tie family. He couldn't do that.
Tie Xiao was furious. "Are you even my son? If I die, do you think they'll let you go?"
Tie Zhilan trembled and cowered, but held Du Xiaoyu tightly in his arms. "Since I am of the Tie family bloodline, if they come to collect their debt, I will accept it." He didn't have his father's ambition, nor his cold heart. He was useless, but if they wanted him dead, he would repay this blood debt for the Tie family.
Tie Zhilan's birth mother glanced back at him, finally showing a look of relief. Then, she held Tie Xiao tightly, intending to push him into the Bilin Pond.
"You madman!" Tie Xiao cursed, thrusting his dagger at his wife, but missed. What was happening? Why could she push him, but he couldn't hurt her?
The voice of the Spirit Fruit was full of sarcasm, "You men of the Iron family call yourselves the Hand of God, yet you have never understood what a spirit weapon is. To you, spirit weapons are nothing more than the souls of foolish women, no different from iron in the mud or rubble in a cave."
Tie Xiao struggled to resist his wife's strength, roaring, "If I die, all the secrets of Bilin Pond will be lost to everyone. You will never be able to be reborn. As long as the fire beneath Bilin Pond burns, you will suffer every day."
The Fruit of Spirits spoke indifferently, "As long as we can let you taste the suffering we've endured, whether we can leave or not is irrelevant."
Tie Xiao turned to the group of skeletons and said, "She's gone mad, have you all gone mad too?"
His birth mother angrily grabbed his collar and pulled him toward Bilin Pond.
The remaining skeletons hovered coldly in mid-air, watching the scene unfold before them.
Soon, Tie Xiao was dragged to Bilin Pond. He stared in horror at the scarlet water, "No, no, if you let me go, I will tell you how to leave Bilin Pond."
"Haha..." The Spirit Fruit laughed loudly, looking down at him condescendingly, "Is this a deal?"
“Yes.” Tie Xiao nodded repeatedly. The mist rising from Bilin Pond was both scalding hot and chilling. His bare arms were almost scalded with blisters, yet the cool air desperately tried to penetrate his body through every pore.
The Fruit of Psychic Power tilted its head, looking at him mockingly, "I don't believe a single word you say. The men of your Iron family are habitual liars, harboring thoughts of killing women, spouting sweet words and moving expressions of affection. If you want me to tell you a solution, all I need to do is turn you into one of us."
"No!" Tie Xiao screamed in agony.
But his wife firmly and slowly pushed him into the pool.
The boiling water gradually submerged Tie Xiao's body, and Tie Xiao's heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the cave, the echoes overlapping and sending chills down Lu Qing's spine.
The echoes didn't stop until the iron flute disappeared from the roof.
The skeletons gathered around the Fruit of Spiritual Communication. Although they had no eyes, Tie Zhilan could clearly sense that they were looking at him.
He was terrified, but he carefully placed Du Xiaoyu behind him and then knelt down before Bi Linchi. “Seniors, the Tie family owes you all what you owe, so please come to me for settlement. I will have no complaints. However, my wife and children are just as innocent as you are, so please do not harm them.”
The Spirit Fruit looked at him, then at Du Xiaoyu lying on the ground, and said, "You should leave. Never come back. After tonight, everything here will cease to exist."
Tie Zhilan looked at them in disbelief, unable to believe his luck. But after he came to his senses, he kowtowed three times, picked up Du Xiaoyu, and quickly left through the path.
The skeletons silently watched the direction they left in, and then all of them fell into the Azure Pool.
As for the Spirit Fruit, it remained suspended in mid-air, still in the form of a half-woman. "Come out."
Lu Qing instinctively felt she was being called. She walked forward. There was no path leading down from the cave entrance. Wu Chen put his arm around her waist and used his sword-controlling technique to carry them both to the ground.
The woman looked at the two of them, knowing that Lu Qing had come to her. She raised an eyebrow and asked Lu Qing, "Does he know who you are?"
Lu Qing was taken aback. "I'm Lu Qing?"
The woman was genuinely surprised. She looked at Wu Chen, but Wu Chen shook his head slightly at her.
The woman's original plans all fell through, and she was speechless for a moment.
Lu Qing asked her, "How can I rescue you? Do I need to destroy this formation?"
The woman's expression suddenly softened, and she shook her head. "There's no need. None of these men can be trusted."
Lu Qing nodded repeatedly, "You're right."
Wu Chen looked helplessly at the cave ceiling and sighed silently.
The woman laughed.
Lu Qing looked at the surface of Bilin Pond, which had returned to its vibrant green color. "Since you're so powerful, why were you trapped here for so long?"
The woman laughed. "The men of the Tie family didn't just deceive people and set up a spirit-locking array. The reason they chose to settle on Wanlian Peak wasn't just because of this cave, but also because there's a mineral vein beneath it. The stones there burn more efficiently than firewood, producing a more intense flame, making them an excellent choice for refining gold. However, the men of the Tie family feared that the Furnace Maiden's spirit would harbor resentment towards them. So they found a peculiar tree and planted it on this mineral vein. This tree has a unique fragrance and exudes a sap that corrodes the ore year after year. As a result, when the ore burns, the heat gradually dissipates our consciousness, and all our resentment, unwillingness, and emotions are transferred to the slag and carried away from here."
Upon hearing this, Wu Chen understood. The disciples had dumped the slag into the valley, which was why the gray mist had gathered there. That gray mist must be the accumulated resentment of these women over the years; it wasn't surprising that they had rashly harmed people.
The woman laughed and said, "If you hadn't come in and brought back some of our senses, this tragedy would probably have continued forever."
"Do you have a way to get out of here?" Lu Qing asked her. "Hasn't Master Tie already told you?"
The woman exclaimed, "He probably knows less than I do."
"That's good. What do you need me to do?" Lu Qing asked.
The woman laughed, "You don't need to do anything. However, you were accidentally injured by us, which ended this endless cycle of tragedy. Before I leave, I have to make it up to you. What kind of weapon do you want?"
Lu Qing scratched his head. "I don't know either. I've seen the weapons they've made, all sorts of different designs, but none of them quite meet my expectations."
The woman nodded. "Weapons are just tools. As long as one is strong enough, even grass and flying flowers can hurt people. These people are putting the cart before the horse, yet they are still smug about it. Fine, since you don't know your own preferences, then I will decide for you."
Lu Qing nodded.
The woman then asked Wu Chen, "Do you have something to ask of me?"
Wu Chen shook his head.
The woman nodded. "After I leave, you must take good care of her."
Wu Chen simply said, "Don't worry."
The woman gave a self-deprecating smile. "I don't trust any of the men in the world. But many things can only be understood by experiencing them firsthand. If you have the ability, I hope you can help more people."
Lu Qing quickly asked, "Where are you going?"
The woman said in a melodious voice, "I came from between heaven and earth, and I will return to between heaven and earth..."
"What is this?" Lu Qing exclaimed in surprise, "You..."
The woman's figure suddenly dispersed, transforming into a wisp of green mist that swirled above the pool. Meanwhile, the scarlet liquid in the pool surged up like a raging tide. It fought fiercely and relentlessly against the invisible barrier in the air, a desperate and suicidal attack.
Lu Qing's expression changed drastically. "Wu Chen, what's going on?"
Wu Chen frowned slightly. "They probably want to break the Tie family's spirit-locking array."
"Then what do we do?"
Wu Chen wasn't entirely confident either, so he looked down at the array pattern on the ground. "I'll give it a try..."
Before he could finish speaking, a violent shockwave struck, and the spirit-locking array shattered. The surging crimson light vanished completely…
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