Chapter 49: An Unexpected Find, the Evil Cultivator’s Lair

After Qin Xiao stopped her, Yun Man seemed to hear the noise as well.

The two examined the stone wall carefully, but found nothing unusual.

“Master, could there be some formation or illusion technique?”

After thinking for a moment, Yun Man asked.

“Even if there is, we have no way to deal with it. Your master knows nothing about formations. The only formation I have is the one your grandmaster left in the courtyard, and even that relies on a token to operate.”

Qin Xiao sounded rather helpless.

“Master, I have a way. Last time, Sister Ling gave us items worth four million Spirit Stones, remember? Among them is something that can break formations.”

Yun Man spoke quickly. She had already moved everything into her own Storage Bag and had some idea of what each item was.

“What is it?”

Qin Xiao knew nothing about these odds and ends. He had given the Storage Bag straight to Yun Man without even handling its contents.

“Master, it’s called a Formation-Breaking Flag. It can break ordinary formations. The only drawback is that it’s single-use.”

Yun Man pulled a flag-like object from her Storage Bag and explained.

“Oh? There’s such a thing? We should buy more next time.”

Qin Xiao liked the sound of that. With a whole pile of these, any formation master would be a pushover.

“Master, it’s not that powerful. It only works on ordinary formations. Against anything stronger, it’s useless.”

Yun Man guessed what Qin Xiao was thinking and quickly tempered his expectations.

“Ah, I thought it could beat anything. So it only works on ordinary formations. Can this Formation Flag break this one?”

Hearing it could only break ordinary formations, Qin Xiao lost much of his interest.

“We’ll find out if we try.”

Yun Man channeled Spiritual Qi into the Formation Flag and threw it toward the stone wall.

Before long, the wall began to change. Its lower part faded away, revealing a huge opening.

“I’ll be damned, it actually worked.”

Qin Xiao watched the opening appear, surprised it had truly broken through.

“Master, there’s a Demon Beast aura inside this cave. The noise is coming from within.”

After sensing for a moment, Yun Man told Qin Xiao.

“It’s fine. Even if there are Demon Beasts, they probably aren’t that strong. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need to hide. Come on, let’s take a look. If there’s real danger, we can run.”

Qin Xiao thought for a moment and decided to investigate. What if there was something good inside? Without anything valuable, why hide the place behind a formation?

The two walked toward the opening. The source of this chapter is novеlping.com.

Elsewhere on the secret realm’s second layer, the giant ape was digesting the corpses it had just eaten. Fan Hongfei, resting with his eyes closed on its shoulder, suddenly opened them.

“Not good. My formation has been broken. We need to return immediately.”

Fan Hongfei sensed that he had lost contact with the formation he had set up. He frowned. There was only one explanation: someone had broken it.

Qin Xiao and Yun Man walked deeper for a long time before reaching another space. Beyond the passage lay a small forest, surrounded on all sides by stone walls.

There was a limit to how high cultivators and Demon Beasts could fly on the second layer. That was why this little forest had remained intact and undiscovered.

As they emerged from the passage, a group of small apes came out from one side and stared curiously at them.

“Hm? What’s going on? Why are there so many apes? Did we stumble into a monkey den?”

Qin Xiao was a little baffled. Why were there so many apes?

The small apes were about the size of ordinary humans. They had cultivation, but were only Qi Condensation stage Demon Beasts.

“Oh, I get it now. No wonder that giant ape didn’t dare attack me earlier. It was afraid the fight would damage the formation. This is their lair, and these little apes are their descendants.”

Thinking back carefully, Qin Xiao felt he suddenly understood.

“Their lair?”

Yun Man was still confused. She did not know what he meant: by the time she arrived, Qin Xiao and the ape were already fighting. She had not seen it trap him without attacking.

“Disciple, tie up all these little monkeys. We broke the formation and came in, so that man must know. He’ll be here soon. These monkeys are our only chance of staying alive.”

After working it out, Qin Xiao instructed Yun Man to bind all the monkeys.

“Ah? All of them?”

Yun Man didn’t quite understand what Qin Xiao intended, but she could only comply.

Qin Xiao was taking a gamble. The man had protected this place with a formation either because he cared about the small apes or because he wanted to keep the place hidden. If it was the first, Qin Xiao could live. If it was the second, he could only blame his bad luck.

Still, his luck had been bad for so long. Surely he could win a bet for once? No child cried every day. No gambler lost every time.

After their work was done, they had captured fifty to sixty Qi Condensation stage apes and more than ten Foundation Establishment stage ones. Beyond that, they found a cave dwelling. Qin Xiao emptied everything inside.

There were all sorts of odds and ends: Spirit Weapons, Pills, armor, none of a high grade. These seemed to be the belongings of disciples who had disappeared during the second round over the years.

There were quite a few Spirit Stones, though. Even though Qin Xiao didn’t lack them, he took them all.

“Master, I’ve caught them all. Seventy total.”

Just as Qin Xiao emerged from the cave dwelling, Yun Man walked over, leading a group of bound apes.

“There should be quite a few spiritual herbs here as well. Forget it, we’re out of time. If fate permits, we’ll return for them later. We should leave now.”

Qin Xiao estimated that the evil cultivator and giant ape would be returning soon, so he abandoned any thought of continuing the search.

The two slowly walked out of the opening, pulling seventy apes behind them.

Sure enough, Fan Hongfei and the giant ape had already surrounded the opening with all their Demon Beast subordinates.

“Hey, we meet again.” This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.

Qin Xiao greeted Fan Hongfei with a bitter smile.

“Young man, how did you discover this place? In three hundred years, you’re the first to find it.”

Though Fan Hongfei wanted to strike, he had questions on his mind and decided to ask them first.

“Uh, it was an accident. Could you let me go, Senior?”

Qin Xiao pointed at the group of apes behind him.

“And what if I refuse?”

Fan Hongfei’s expression remained unchanged as he spoke coldly.

“Then I’ll have to take these little monkeys with me.”

Qin Xiao could see no change in Fan Hongfei’s expression. All he could do was stake everything on his gamble.

“Boy, if I attack, do you think you’ll have time to kill them?”

Fan Hongfei couldn’t gauge the situation either, but he maintained his indifferent demeanor.

“You think this is ordinary rope? With one thought, I can make it tighten. In an instant, all seventy monkeys will be cut in half at the waist. Try it if you don’t believe me.”

Qin Xiao gripped the rope and spoke with confidence.

“Bring them up.”

Fan Hongfei did not answer Qin Xiao. Instead, he ordered his Demon Beasts to bring over three dying humans.

“You know these three, don’t you? Release my monkeys and their young, or I’ll kill all three right now.”

The three people Fan Hongfei brought forward were none other than Ling Wushuang of the Immortal Dao Merchant Association, Cang Xing of the Pure Yang Sect, and Su Lin of the Mysterious Yin Sect.

Fan Hongfei had kept them alive because they were the three strongest cultivators. He could ask them about the outside world and torture them slowly to satisfy his hatred.

“Ah, don’t know them. First time seeing them today. Kill them if you want.”

Qin Xiao spoke as though he did not care.

He did want to save them, but he could barely keep himself alive. The monkeys were his only bargaining chips. If he exchanged hostages, he and Yun Man would still die. Why the hell would he do that?

“So there’s nothing to discuss?”

Fan Hongfei ordered a Demon Beast to tear off one of Cang Xing’s arms. The pain jolted Cang Xing out of unconsciousness. He did not cry out, but sweat kept pouring down his forehead.

“Oh, so you want to play rough? Disciple, kill one.”

Since Fan Hongfei had acted, Qin Xiao had to show he meant business too.

Yun Man raised her sword and brought it down. The little ape at the end of the line lost its head.

Seeing the young ape killed, the Soul Formation stage giant ape roared in fury.