Liu Bao Ru wasn’t happy either when she heard Zhi Guan’s words. Of course, she thought that he was likely right but she really hoped that he wasn’t. But anyway, they couldn’t change it. For now, they could only do whatever was possible on their side. For now, that meant hopefully catching up with Mu Qing and maybe getting rid of a few more of their pursuers.

The two of them had continued moving forward while talking quietly and already reached the passage between this cave and the next. Being closer, they were able to get a better grasp of the situation: Whoever was on the other side should still be alive as there was the faint sound of breathing. It was subtle though so the person was likely in hiding. Whether it was Mu Qing or Lu Wei though … that was tough to say.

The two of them exchanged a glance. The situation might be dangerous and Zhi Guan was still carrying Yun Bei Fen so Liu Bao Ru took the lead, stepping out from the passage and into the next cave with her weapon drawn.

As soon as she did, she felt someone’s line of sight but couldn’t determine where it came from at first. Using her spiritual sense, she felt remnants of spiritual energy everywhere around. Clearly, the fight between Mu Qing and Lu Wei hadn’t ended all that long ago.

Liu Bao Ru lightened her steps and walked in further, her gaze brushing over the entrances to the rest of the cave system, as well as the stone columns that had grown between the ground and the ceiling. Each of these places was a potential hiding spot and in case Lu Wei was the one who had won the previous fight … she had to be prepared.

After another three steps, a rustling sound came from the right side and Liu Bao Ru turned around, immediately conjuring up an energy shield while raising her weapons.

At the same time, an attack flew toward her, hitting the ground and making dust and stone fly up into the air.

She evaded all of it and crouched down, trying to see through the dust. When she did … she lowered her weapon at once. “Senior martial brother Mu?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Mu Qing relaxed at once and stepped out of his hiding place. “So it was you. I thought Song Yu Zheng and Wen Xiang had caught up.” He sighed and looked behind Liu Bao Ru, figuring that Zhi Guan shouldn’t be far.

Zhi Guan indeed stepped into the cave at this point. He had heard their voices right after the attack hit the ground so he picked up his little junior whom he had just put down to join the fight and walked into the cave as well.

Seeing the person on Zhi Guan’s shoulder, Mu Qing heaved a sigh of relief. “You managed to get him out of there. That’s good.”

Zhi Guan nodded and came over, adjusting his grip on Yun Bei Fen’s body. “What happened?”

Mu Qing gave a pensive hum, not sure where to even start. In fact … “Did you manage to get away completely or are they following?”

Zhi Guan looked over his shoulder and furrowed his brows. “They should still be after us but we destroyed the array we came through so no idea where they will actually appear.”

Mu Qing hesitated but then waved them along. “Follow me then. I know my way around here. Before, I barely managed to run away from Lu Wei as well and set a few traps around the arrays I thought he might come through. If the others follow you through any of those, we can gain more time to get away. None of them will be able to kill them though.”

Yes, the traps he had set were only to catch the other person off-guard and delay them a little so he had more time to heal and a better chance to attack first and do some decent damage. It had worked fine for him and maybe it could also help them a little in terms of dealing with the others.

Liu Bao Ru hastened her steps to walk next to him and also took the opportunity to take a glance at him to see if he was injured. “Did you get him?”

Mu Qing inclined his head. “Yes, I’ve dealt with him. The ones after you are Song Yu Zheng and Wen Xiang?”

Liu Bao Ru nodded but then gave a wry smile. “Them and about ten additional demonic practitioners. We barely made it out of there.” In fact, she still didn’t know how Zhi Guan had done it but there was no time to talk now. “I’m afraid all twelve will make their way here so we won’t be able to win even with the three of us combined.”

Mu Qing gave a hum, his brows furrowing. Naturally, he also hoped to take out as many people from the demonic faction as possible. Anyway, things had already come to this point. What other way forward did he have than to stand completely on the side of the Teng Yong Sect from now on?

Since this was the case, dealing with the people from the underground palace would be one way to at least get their people a little advantage even if it wouldn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. But with three against twelve, the odds of winning were even worse than they had been in his fight against Song Yu Zheng and the other two. He had barely managed to escape that one and had only been able to kill Lu Wei because they were alone and he was freshly healed up. He definitely wouldn’t be able to do the same thing again though.

In that case, what could they do?

Mu Qing tried to think of something but no answer wanted to come to mind. It seemed like … apart from running away, they were really out of options this time.