282: Fish die, net break

Yin Feng Valley,

At this moment, the atmosphere was tense.

As Feng Ming expected, over the course of three days, Jiang Shuwan's relentless pursuit had indeed forced Huangfu Yunyan and Huangfu Rui to the edge of Yin Feng Valley.

However, even Jiang Shuwan herself didn't expect that two more groups were following behind her.

Clearly, these people were coming for her.

These two groups were none other than Li Cheng's and Zhao Peng's people.

Moreover, besides these two groups, there was a third group.

This group consisted of the people whose Heaven Ranking Trial tickets had been snatched by Feng Ming back at Fishbone Mountain Ridge.

This meant that there were a full four to five hundred people behind Jiang Shuwan, all gathered outside Yin Feng Valley, waiting to watch the spectacle.

Meanwhile, Huangfu Yunyan and Huangfu Rui, who were being relentlessly pursued by Jiang Shuwan, now had nowhere left to run.

Behind them was the thousands-of-meters-deep cliff of Yin Feng Valley. Beneath the cliff, gusts of sinister wind blew, and the sounds of ghostly wailing and wolf-like howling were incessant; just listening to it was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Once they jumped, they would completely enter the domain of Yin Feng Valley. As one of the Three Great Perilous Lands, it was fraught with danger, and anyone who entered would surely face a slim chance of survival.

What they faced in front of them, however, was the steadily approaching Jiang Shuwan.

She was dressed in white as pure as snow, surrounded by swirling Cold Qi, her gaze as icy as frost. She looked like a snow Fairy from the Nine Nether Hell, inspiring awe and fear.

Now, only two paths lay before the Huangfu siblings: either jump off the cliff and enter Yin Feng Valley to gamble on a chance at survival, or find a way to circumvent Yin Feng Valley and continue their desperate flight.

But could they really escape their fate?

Huangfu Rui leaned against a massive boulder, his appearance a mess and his clothes in tatters. His exposed skin was covered in wounds of varying depths; his face was pale, and his aura was erratic. He was clearly at his wits' end.

"What do we do now? Are we still running? If we don't leave now, that crazy woman Jiang Shuwan will catch up."

The three days of pursuit had already left him exhausted. Combined with the two previous direct confrontations with Jiang Shuwan, which had left him severely injured, he could barely even stand now.

Hearing this, Huangfu Yunyan stood her ground without moving. Huangfu Rui grew anxious; clutching the wound on his chest, he couldn't help but urge her, "Hey, what are you just standing there for? Let's go! Have you given up? Are you going to wait here for death?"

Huangfu Yunyan slowly shook her head, her gaze calmly fixed on the steadily approaching Jiang Shuwan. Her voice was cold as she asked, "In such a desperate situation, where else can we go?"

"We can go around Yin Feng Valley..."

"Go around? You're dreaming." Before Huangfu Rui could finish, he was interrupted by Huangfu Yunyan. With a wave of her hand, a map of the Trial Grounds appeared out of thin air before them.

She pointed to several red dots on the map and sneered, "Look where Feng Mian and Guan Rong are. I'm afraid they anticipated we would reach this point and set up an ambush in advance, waiting for us to take the bait."

Enduring the sharp pain, Huangfu Rui looked up at the map. It would have been better if he hadn't; upon seeing it, he gasped, his expression turning even more unsightly.

On the map, the two red dots representing Feng Mian and Guan Rong were on either side of Yin Feng Valley, forming a pincer movement.

Although they were still two days' journey from Yin Feng Valley, with a death god like Jiang Shuwan relentlessly pursuing them from behind, they had no time to detour. Before long, they would be completely surrounded, and by then, even with wings, they wouldn't be able to escape!

"Dammit, they've teamed up against us and want to trap us like rats. What do we do now?"

Huangfu Rui's voice carried a hint of despair. "That crazy woman Jiang Shuwan is powerful and has the Ice Body. We're no match for her at all. We can't run, so are we really just going to wait for her to kill us?"

"If that's the case, why the Hell did we run? After all this trouble, we might as well have just waited to be killed by her from the start."

Huangfu Yunyan turned her head to look at Huangfu Rui, her eyes calm and undisturbed. "Actually, there is a way. It just depends on whether you're willing."

Huangfu Rui looked completely speechless and gave a bitter smile. "I say, Big Sis, look what time it is. I know you're smart, so if you have a plan, just say it."

Hearing this, Huangfu Yunyan gave a sinister laugh. "Then we'll have a desperate struggle with her."

Huangfu Rui was completely bewildered, not understanding what she meant. "Big Sis, what kind of plan is this? Hurry up and explain."

Huangfu Yunyan's gaze swept over the map, her voice cold. "You see the situation now. Whether we face her head-on or try to escape around Yin Feng Valley, there's only one outcome: death."

Huangfu Rui rolled his eyes; he knew this without Huangfu Yunyan having to say it.

Jiang Shuwan's strength was clear. Fighting her to the death would be like throwing an egg against a rock, and taking a detour would lead them right into Feng Mian and Guan Rong's encirclement.

By then, the two of them facing an onslaught from four top experts would only result in a faster death. How could he not understand this logic?

Seeing Huangfu Rui's dejected look, Huangfu Yunyan continued, "Since death is certain either way, what are we afraid of? We might as well enter Yin Feng Valley directly."

Hearing this, Huangfu Rui felt as if he were listening to a Fairy tale and couldn't help but cry out in shock, "Wait, you haven't gone crazy, have you? Aside from the fact that we might not come out alive, you're a contestant on the Earth Ranking. The Three Great Perilous Lands have restrictions; you can't enter at all."

"So what? I can't enter directly, but can't you bring me in? I'll just hide inside the storage ring and follow you."

Huangfu Yunyan said dismissively.

"Although I'll be suppressed by the Formation and unable to leave, as long as I can communicate with you, help you strategize, and analyze the situation, it'll be enough. While entering Yin Feng Valley is dangerous—a slim chance of survival—there is still a sliver of hope. If we face Jiang Shuwan or Feng Mian and the others, it's a guaranteed death sentence."

"It's already come to this critical juncture; if you don't take a gamble now, when will you?"

Huangfu Rui fell silent. He had to admit that Huangfu Yunyan's words made sense. Most importantly, even though she would be hiding in the storage ring, she would still be entering Yin Feng Valley with him.

If anything happened to him inside, Huangfu Yunyan wouldn't be able to get out alive either. Therefore, her suggestion couldn't possibly be intended to harm him; after all, she was counting on him to bring her back out.

Having understood this, Huangfu Rui no longer hesitated. He gritted his teeth and nodded. "Fine, let's try it. I'll take this gamble with you."

After speaking, Huangfu Rui was about to step toward Yin Feng Valley, but unexpectedly, Huangfu Yunyan grabbed him.

"Don't be in such a hurry. We'll go in sooner or later, but before we do, we need to do something. Jiang Shuwan forced us into such a desperate corner; I'm not willing to just go in like this."

As she spoke, a ruthless light flashed in Huangfu Yunyan's eyes, and a cold smile curled on her lips. "Today, no matter what, I'm going to make Jiang Shuwan pay a heavy price."