657: Chapter 657 Wake up, you guys!

Shui Shui's smile was intoxicating, making hearts flutter and pulses race.

But at this moment, Botadono Nyuyie felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water, a chill running from his scalp all the way down to his soles.

Because in that smile, there wasn't a trace of innocent naivety—only undisguised mockery.

It was like a cat watching a mouse struggle in its death throes beneath its paws!

A boom exploded in Botadono Nyuyie's mind as everything connected in an instant.

The defense line was completely deserted.

A devastatingly beautiful woman appeared in the middle of the desolate mountains.

The seven bronze keys.

Every time she spoke, she sowed discord.

Every expression she made disintegrated people's resolve.

This wasn't some lost tourist; this was a setup by the Dragon Country???

And they, an elite force of over two thousand people, had all charged in like fools!

In the split second his attention wavered, a Tachi thrust in from the side, its tip aiming straight for his lower back.

*Puchi!*

The blade sank three inches into his flesh.

Botadono Nyuyie let out a muffled groan and sent the attacker flying with a palm strike. Looking down, blood had already stained the hem of his kimono red.

If not for his powerful physical body, that strike would have been enough to pierce through his energy center.

He snapped his head up to look at Shui Shui, the fury in his eyes almost burning through the sky.

"baka!"

"You aren't some 'Shui Shui'! Who on earth are you???"

Shui Shui tilted her head, her peach-blossom eyes curving into crescents as she looked at him with a beaming smile. "But I am Shui Shui."

Botadono Nyuyie's heart sank violently.

He understood that smile now.

It wasn't innocence, it wasn't naivety, and it wasn't weakness.

It was the smile a hunter shows only when watching prey walk into their own trap.

"Bakayaro!"

Botadono Nyuyie let out a sky-shaking roar. His body lunged upward as he charged toward Shui Shui once again with explosive speed.

He wanted to tear this enchantress apart with his own hands!

He wanted to hack her into ten thousand pieces!

Only then could everyone snap out of that bizarre state!!!

However...

Before Botadono Nyuyie could cover even thirty feet, seven or eight figures lunged from all directions, firmly blocking his path.

"Sect Master! You can't keep the keys for yourself!"

"You want to kill her and take the treasure alone? You bakayaro!"

"Attack! Everyone, attack together! No matter how strong he is, he can't beat our numbers! Take him down, and we can split the keys!"

...

There were people everywhere!

There were blades everywhere!

So much so that...

Botadono Nyuyie was forced back once again.

His face was terrifyingly livid. He sent three disciples in front of him flying with a palm strike, but even more figures lunged forward.

They were like madmen, completely disregarding life and death.

No, they *were* mad.

Driven completely insane by that enchantress!

A deep chill welled up in Botadono Nyuyie's heart.

He was a Nascent Soul Stage expert, an existence at the top of the pyramid even in the entire Kunlun Ruins.

But right now, he wasn't facing an enemy; he was facing his own people.

His sect's elders!

His sect's disciples!

Each and every one of them was swinging their blades at him as if possessed!

Should he kill them?

They were the elites he had spent decades cultivating!

Should he not kill them?

They were trying to kill him!

What was even more critical was the stab wound in his lower back. He had no time to tend to it, and blood was flowing down incessantly.

Though not fatal, the pain slowed his reactions slightly, and the circulation of his True Qi became somewhat sluggish.

If this continued, even a Nascent Soul Stage expert would be worn down to death here.

More importantly...

The Emperors Gate was going to be finished!

Not destroyed by an enemy, but destroyed by its own people!

No!

This couldn't go on!

He had to snap everyone out of that state first!!!

Botadono Nyuyie took a deep breath. Massive True Qi erupted from his body, blasting away the dozen or so disciples lunging at him.

Then.

Seizing this brief opening, his body became like a bolt of black lightning as he fled frantically into the distance.

"Shui Shui, just you wait!"

"I will definitely come back and hack you into ten thousand pieces!!!"

His voice echoed in the wind, carrying endless rage and humiliation.

A dignified Nascent Soul Stage expert, forced to flee in such a pathetic state by his own people—who the hell would believe this if it got out?

Behind him.

The thousands of deluded disciples and elders let out a sky-shaking roar and chased after Botadono Nyuyie like a swarm of locusts.

"Don't run!"

"Leave the keys!"

"Kill him! The keys will be ours!"

...

The shouts and sounds of battle gradually faded into the distance. Silence finally returned to the rocky beach, leaving behind a ground littered with corpses.

Blood soaked the gravel and stained the withered weeds red.

Shui Shui stood atop a pile of rocks, watching the direction Botadono Nyuyie had fled, the corners of her mouth curling upward.

In that smile, there was no longer any trace of innocent naivety.

She then raised her hand and lightly brushed it across her face.

The next second.

That devastatingly beautiful face vanished as if by magic.

In its place was a face with sharp contours and bright, piercing eyes.

Ye Chen.

That's right!

All of this was a game he had set up!

The girl Shui Shui, the lost tourist—it was all a drama directed by him.

He had used the indistinguishable Super Disguise Technique from the [Houtu Inheritance] to transform into a woman beautiful enough to make men lose their reason.

Then.

He used Mental Power to silently control those people, magnifying the deepest greed and desire in their hearts, causing them to slaughter one another.

An elite force of over two thousand people had taken themselves out without even touching a single hair on his head.

Ye Chen smiled as he looked in the direction Botadono Nyuyie had disappeared.

"Do you think escaping will do any good?"

"Under the Mental Enslavement of the [Houtu Inheritance]..."

"Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, they will chase you to the ends of the earth."

"And... the more you run, the more they'll think you have the keys."

"The more you explain, the more they'll think you're covering it up."

"That's human nature, Sect Master Botadono."

Within the [Houtu Inheritance], there was a terrifying method called [Sea of Consciousness].

It was a mental technique capable of enslaving hearts, but it required a long 'wind-up' time.

Simply put, it required progressive control, making the enemies sink deeper and deeper.

That was why.

He had disguised himself as a girl to make the enemies fall for it step by step...

And the whole process had gone much smoother than expected.

Even though the Emperors Gate Sect Master had finally noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.

Ye Chen shook his head and gave a long stretch.

Then.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Xuanyuan Huo's number.

The phone rang twice before being picked up.

"Old man, tell the withdrawn army to come back. By the way, have them clean up the battlefield."

Xuanyuan Huo's voice carried a hint of astonishment: "So fast? What did you do?"

Ye Chen smiled, a trace of cunning in his expression.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"But one thing must be agreed upon first..."

"Don't expose me."

Xuanyuan Huo was even more confused: "Why?"

Ye Chen looked up at the rolling snow-capped mountains in the distance and said calmly, "Because a legend about a girl named Shui Shui will soon be circulating in the martial world."

Xuanyuan Huo: "???"

There was silence on the other end for several seconds.

Then.

Old Master Xuanyuan Huo let out a faint sigh: "You kid... you must have pulled some kind of stunt again."

"Hehe!"

Ye Chen chuckled and then hung up the phone.

Then.

With his hands in his pockets, he turned and walked down the mountain.

Well...

Right now, he only wanted to find a place to have a good meal.

After all...

Acting as a little girl was quite exhausting.

He had to reward himself properly!

...

In the distance, the snow-capped mountains stretched on as the cold wind howled.

Botadono Nyuyie's figure fled frantically through the rocks, his speed so fast he was almost a blur.

But as fast as he was, the deluded Emperors Gate disciples behind him were even faster.

No.

It wasn't that they were fast.

It was that they were reckless.

Burning blood essence!

Burning True Qi!

Burning everything that could be burned!

All just to catch up to him and snatch those seven keys that weren't even on him!!!

"Bakayaro!"

Botadono Nyuyie roared, sending three disciples who had caught up flying with a backhand palm strike. Using the momentum to accelerate again, he charged toward the mountain hollow ahead.

But no matter how fast a person was, they couldn't outrun the suicidal pursuit of a pack of madmen.

Especially...

When that pack of madmen knew all the paths and could take shortcuts!

Before he had even covered a hundred yards, people were already flanking him via shortcuts, their Tachis thrusting straight for his throat.

Botadono Nyuyie tilted his head to dodge, the blade grazing his neck.

Enraged, he raised a palm and crushed the person's skull.

Blood and brains splattered.

But this delay allowed a dozen more people to catch up from behind.

Blade light was everywhere, and roars filled the air.

"Sect Master! Hand over the keys!"

"You aren't fit to be the Sect Master of the Emperors Gate! Give the keys to me!"

"Bastard! Only my Tianyi Sect is worthy of holding the keys, hand them over quickly!"

...

Botadono Nyuyie's eyes turned bloodshot.

Fury!

He was beyond furious!

But more than that, he felt despair!

At this moment, he was like a fierce tiger surrounded by a pack of wolves.

The wolves feared neither life nor death, only seeking to bite a piece of meat off him.

And he...

With every wolf he killed, his heart sank further into the abyss.

Because those wolves were his subordinates, the very foundation of the Emperor's Palace!

Now, they were about to be destroyed by his own hands!

"Wake up, all of you!"

He roared hoarsely, his voice vibrating with True Qi as it echoed through the empty valley.

"The keys aren't on me! That Shui Shui is a fraud! It's a trap by the Dragon Group!"

Still, no one listened.

And no one stopped.

The disciples' eyes were all red—so red they looked like they were about to drip blood.

*Puchi!*

Another Tachi stabbed in from behind. The tip pierced through Botadono Nyuyie's left shoulder, half of the cold, glinting blade emerging from the front...