64: Chapter 64 You bunch of amateurs!

"It's looking at you." Tu Ziguan's voice was pressed extremely low, his hand already resting on his waist.

Xie Feng clearly perceived that attention, like a flame without temperature slowly falling onto his body.

"Elder Qin." Xie Feng slowly moved close to Elder Qin's side. "Can I withdraw first?"

Although being cowardly accounted for a part of it, this truly wasn't Xie Feng's main reason for wanting to withdraw.

Although Elder Wen told him to follow along, it was merely to serve the role of providing intelligence. The main thing was that Xie Feng currently had all five poisons complete on him—the God of Toads, the Black Goat, Nyarlathotep, Lord Cthulhu and his whole family. If any of them messed up and blew up the thing in front of them, even Elder Qin would be sent flying with him.

Therefore, it was better to withdraw first. Anyway, he had already identified it; if anything else failed, they could just use jade talismans to communicate from the outside.

"These damned scum of the Tianque Sect, hiding it to this extent—it looks like the Seal has long since ceased to be effective, and this thing could rush out at any time."

Qin Tianzong's fingers stopped on the rune detection board.

He raised his head, his gaze crossing the ball of fire in the center of the dome and landing on Xie Feng's face. "Xie Feng, Elder Wen told me that you have a connection with these things. You need to tell me now, do you recognize this gadget?"

"I can't easily say what it is," Xie Feng said truthfully, "but perhaps it's recognizing me as family."

The flame in the center of the dome slowly expanded for a moment. Deep within the blue-white core, those extremely fine light patterns began to accelerate their circulation. The Fire Vampires grew restless around it, and dozens of plasma light clusters drifted simultaneously toward the thinnest section of the rune barrier.

"Recognizing you as family?" Qin Tianzong stood up, shoved the rune detection board to Qiao Song, and walked in front of Xie Feng, his brows knitted extremely tightly. "Can you 'talk' to it?"

"Me?"

Xie Feng pointed at his own nose. Elder Qin really thought too highly of him. Last time in the meeting, he reported that he could communicate with weird entities; could he chat it up with this one right in front of him this time? Besides, didn't you not believe it last time? You change your expression pretty fast.

"Not really. This thing is most likely a weird entity affected by Cthulhu-like forces, or not a weird entity at all. If it truly has a relationship with Cthugha, or with Fthagua, its true body is definitely not here. What's here is just fragments, a projection, or a small portion of energy stripped from the true body and suppressed deep underground. It can recognize kin, but that doesn't mean it can communicate."

This was the experience Xie Feng gave based on the appearance of the God of Toads. If they were truly those two irritable fireballs, they definitely wouldn't tolerate being locked up here and would have already erupted into conflict with them. Would they still be able to be sealed here for hundreds of years?

"Fthagua and Cthugha?" Qin Tianzong repeated the names. When Xie Feng heard this Tier 7 Cultivator pronounce these two syllables, a trace of a crack appeared in his steady voice for the first time.

A trace of tremor appeared in the air. When these names were spoken from Elder Qin's mouth, the Third Princess and Elder Han cast their gazes over at the same time.

It seemed that this name could not be easily chanted.

Xie Feng thought to himself, it seems Lord Cthulhu's temper is not very good; even chanting it isn't very tolerated.

Elder Qin glanced at the flame in the center of the dome, then glanced at Xie Feng, the corners of his mouth twitching fiercely. "How come everything you provoke is of this caliber?"

"I'd like to know too," Xie Feng said sincerely.

Beside him, Tu Ziguan's voice suppressed a trace of extremely faint amusement: "Solemn declaration: our Brother Xie doesn't provoke trouble; trouble has locked onto him. Starting from Cangyun City, which time wasn't it things seeking him out on their own? He's already used to it."

His tone was casual, but his hand kept pressing against his waist, showing that he wasn't truly relaxed. Gu Jian did not participate in the banter; his fingers rested on the hilt of his sword, his gaze moving from a slowly extinguishing rune on the inner wall of the dome to the Fire Vampires.

The Third Princess's voice chimed in from the side and rear. "Why is it only looking at you?"

Can this even be about jealousy? Xie Feng glanced at the Third Princess as if looking at a mental patient. On second thought, she probably had some goods inside her body too. As for the reason why the fireball didn't pay attention to her, uh... it should be because Xie Feng had more goods on his own body.

"I don't know, Your Highness. Do you think it is watching you?"

"It isn't looking at this palace at all." The Third Princess's tone was flat, making it impossible to tell whether she felt disappointed or relieved.

Elder Han walked back quickly from the direction of the inner wall of the dome. His expression was more than a layer gloomier than before he came down, and his cuffs were stained with more stone powder. When he spoke, his voice was pressed extremely low, every word tightly strung: "Three places of the innermost Seal runes are completely extinguished. The Tianque Sect's repairing carving knives cannot hold out for half an hour at the current temperature. Elder Han will speak bluntly: since you can recognize that this thing is not a weird entity, can you judge whether it wants to come out right now, or doesn't want to come out?"

Obviously, Elder Han saw Qin Tianzong overriding all objections to insist on bringing Xie Feng along, taking Xie Feng as some kind of technical personnel of the Artifact Hall's Prodigy.

Are you people out of your minds? I'm Tier 1! Why are you all asking me? I don't even recognize runes! And you Tianque Sect as well—you only wipe your asses when you can't cover it anymore, right? So basically, this thing isn't sealed right now; it's just staying here because it doesn't want to leave, is that it?! Are you kidding me? Several great Cultivators are scared to death here, but I'm actually going to die for real!

Xie Feng swore in his heart. His Qi perception spread once again toward the ball of fire in the center of the dome. The Fire Vampires were still moving toward the thinnest direction of the rune barrier, but they did not directly impact it.

"It's not sure who I am," Xie Feng said. "It recognized a bunch of things on my body, but doesn't recognize 'me' as a person. It should be hesitating, unable to determine which family I actually belong to."

Qin Tianzong nodded. "Then take advantage of its hesitation and quickly repair the runes."

Mo Tang raised her hand from behind the detection board. "Elder Qin! The rate of rune decay suddenly dropped by a notch just now. The core actively reduced its energy output."

She turned it over for everyone to see. A curve was drawn on the paper with charcoal, and there was an obvious downward turning point on the curve. The position of the turning point exactly coincided with the time point when the fire core turned its attention to Xie Feng.

"It lowering the output isn't because it's afraid of us repairing the runes; it's testing us." Xie Feng paused. "It recognized the things on my body and perhaps regarded me as its kind too."

The Third Princess jumped down from the rock, walked in front of Xie Feng, and looked up at him. "Blind man. Can you make it continue to lower its energy output during its period of hesitation?"

Didn't they say that when the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up? You giants actually make a Wu Dalang like me hold it up?

This world truly is a giant ragtag amateur troupe.

Xie Feng shook his head like a rattle-drum. Stop joking around—go up and attract this thing's attention? This princess really doesn't treat her own life as life. Is there any difference between this and a mosquito buzzing by someone's ear?

If he and the others withdrew and left Elder Qin and their fellow Disciples thrown here, it wouldn't be very good either. Xie Feng suddenly had a flash of inspiration and smiled crookedly.

Beside him, Tu Ziguan trembled slightly. Whenever Xie Feng looked like this, he was up to no good.

"I really do have a way to stall for a moment, but don't expect it to last too long."

"A moment will do!" Elder Han replied eagerly. It seemed that after his confirmation, it truly couldn't be delayed any longer.

Xie Feng immediately reached into his sleeve, and Tsathoggua's statue was directly placed on the ground. The undulating breath of the God of Toads radiated unhindered through this statue of his.

The flame and dozens of Fire Vampires stopped at the same time as well. They hovered in front of the rune barrier, the fluctuation of the light patterns slowing down. The blue-white core flickered silently in the shadows of the dome, its attention constantly switching back and forth between the statue and Xie Feng.

It was still hesitating, still judging whether this "Mortal" hanging several brands could step across its family threshold.

Qin Tianzong walked behind him, his voice pressed extremely low: "How long can you hold out?"

"How would I know how long those two neighbors can visit and chat? Elder Qin, hurry up the subordinates of the Tianque Sect!"

"Enough." The Third Princess turned to Elder Han. "Elder Han, rune repair. Start now. Elder Qin, the Qingyun Sect will assist. Imperial Guards guard all entrances. Xie Feng, you continue to maintain it."

Her voice was unleashed inside the dome. This dome was too tall and wide; the voice couldn't reach the top, and could only fall layer by layer onto everyone present.

Elder Han did not say another word, turning and walking toward the inner wall of the dome. The Disciples of the Tianque Sect had already taken the rune carving knives back into their hands, the blade tips glowing slightly red in the high-temperature air.

Qin Tianzong flicked his chin at Qiao Song and Mo Tang. The two of them picked up the rune detection board and followed him toward the darkest section of the inner wall. Gu Jian stopped lightly a few steps behind Xie Feng, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Tu Ziguan squatted on the side of the stone steps, placing the thing wrapped in oilcloth on his knees.

The flame was still looking at him. Blue-white light patterns spread outward layer by layer from deep within the core, stopping every time they reached a distance of about ten paces in front of Xie Feng, as if blocked by an invisible boundary.

That was the boundary of Xie Feng's spiritual power, mixed with threads of mana, weaving an extremely faint silver-white warning circle around him.

It did not cross that line, at least not for now.