215: The sinister patriarch

As the aged voice resounded again, the people from Xu Family Stronghold began to surround Qin Shi Lei.

"Qin Dage, what should we do? Should we kill them?" Kong Qingshu asked, taking out her silver whip.

"Something's off with these people. Let's observe first," Qin Shi Lei said, feeling as if the people around him had suddenly transformed.

As he spoke, he turned into a phantom, moving through the crowd.

Bang, bang, bang!

As Qin Shi Lei moved, those people were kicked and sent flying, falling to the ground.

However, they didn't even groan, immediately getting back up and lunging at Qin Shi Lei and Kong Qingshu again, waving their arms.

"They must be controlled by someone. Let's knock them out first."

Qin Shi Lei finally understood what was wrong with those people.

"It seems you have some strength. Then go to your death!"

The voice from before resounded again, and instantly, the surrounding people took out their weapons, rushing at Qin Shi Lei with fierce expressions.

The strongest of those people was only Bronze Six-star, so whether they had weapons or not made little difference to Qin Shi Lei.

Qin Shi Lei was about to step forward and knock them out when a sudden tremor ran through him.

At the same time, his ankle stung, as if bitten by a mosquito.

He pulled up his pant leg and looked down, only to see a black insect, the size of a mung bean, biting his ankle, as if trying to burrow into his blood vessel.

With a thought, a bolt of lightning shot up from Qin Shi Lei's ankle, instantly blasting the insect away.

At the same time, he warned, "Qing Shu, be careful, there are Gu worms."

Upon hearing this, a layer of blue flowing light shimmered around Kong Qingshu, tightly protecting her.

The small black insect that had been struck by lightning earlier was not dead; it flapped its wings and flew towards Qin Shi Lei again.

Qin Shi Lei increased the power of the lightning and blasted the small insect again.

Lightning flashed, and the insect was instantly engulfed and vanished without a trace.

"How dare you kill my Child Gu!"

The man's voice was filled with anger. "I originally wanted you to become my subordinate, but now, go to your death!"

By this time, Qin Shi Lei and Kong Qingshu had already knocked out most of the people in the Cave.

And at this moment, a rustling sound echoed in their ears.

Qin Shi Lei turned his head to look, and countless venomous snakes suddenly poured in from outside the cave.

Wind Sweeps Fallen Leaves!

Kong Qingshu swept her silver whip, sending out a tornado that blew the venomous snakes away.

"Qin Dage, I'll hold off the snakes; you find the patriarch."

"Alright." Qin Shi Lei quickly knocked out the remaining dozen or so Xu Family Stronghold villagers, then carefully observed the Cave.

The right side of the Cave was about the size of a basketball court, with an underground current about two meters wide on the right, and four excavated rooms on the left.

He found no place where anyone could hide.

The grand elder had mentioned that their patriarch was in the secret chamber, and the voice came from nearby.

The secret chamber should be inside this Cave.

Qin Shi Lei gently tapped the surrounding walls with his Blood Soul while listening intently.

Boom, boom, boom!

Qin Shi Lei tapped all around but found no trace of the secret chamber.

"Haha, you won't find me! Just obediently go and feed the snakes!"

Xu Feng seemed to know that Qin Shi Lei was powerful and showed no intention of revealing himself.

"Where exactly is it?"

Qin Shi Lei activated his Eye of Illusion Breaking Purple, carefully searching for any anomalies in the Cave.

Unfortunately, the secret chamber was not an illusion, so the Eye of Illusion Breaking Purple had very limited effect, only making his vision sharper.

"Qin Dage, why don't we retreat for now?"

Kong Qingshu, guarding the cave entrance, had consumed a lot of her vital energy; in just twenty minutes, two-thirds of her vital energy was gone.

"No, there's one more place I haven't searched yet. Qing Shu, just hold on a little longer."

Qin Shi Lei's gaze swept over the dark river on the right and landed on the stone wall beside it.

He picked up some stones from the ground and threw them at that stone wall.

Dong!

Several dull thuds were mixed with a hollow echo.

Qin Shi Lei raised his sword and unleashed a sharp sword qi towards the echoing spot.

Boom!

The stone wall exploded, revealing a secret chamber of over ten square meters.

An old man with a face full of wrinkles looked at Qin Shi Lei in surprise.

Qin Shi Lei instantly teleported to the old man's side, about to restrain him.

Suddenly, a cloud of black shadows rose from the old man's body and lunged at him.

Looking closely, they were clearly countless tiny flying insects.

Qin Shi Lei dodged the flying insects, simultaneously unleashing bolts of lightning at them.

Sizzle, sizzle!

Lightning flashed, and a smell of something burning filled the air.

Countless flying insects were charred by the lightning and fell to the ground.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Xu Feng asked, retreating to a corner.

"I just need you to use the Holy Spirit Gu to wake up my pet," Qin Shi Lei said indifferently.

"Alright," Xu Feng readily agreed.

However, as soon as he met Qin Shi Lei's eyes, he found that the other party's pupils had turned a mesmerizing purple.

He was about to control Xu Feng.

Suddenly, a black insect the size of a thumb crawled out of the other's mouth.

As soon as the insect appeared, it flew towards Qin Shi Lei, and Xu Feng also regained consciousness.

Qin Shi Lei raised his sword and struck at the small insect.

The Blood Soul swept across the insect, but the insect was like a phantom, completely unharmed, and continued to fly forward.

"Oh!" Qin Shi Lei's sword sparked with electricity as he struck the insect again.

Facing the divine lightning with its evil-dispelling properties, the insect failed to turn into a phantom again and was split in half by Qin Shi Lei's sword.

"Pfft!"

With the Mother Gu among the three great divine Gu killed, Xu Feng spat out a mouthful of fresh blood due to the backlash.

At the same time, the unconscious people outside the secret chamber also opened their mouths and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, mixed with a small black insect.

"You forced my hand."

Xu Feng suddenly pressed a crystal ball in front of him.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

"Is this guy going to destroy this place and bury us all here?"

A tremor ran through Qin Shi Lei's heart. He quickly grabbed Xu Feng, whom he had just controlled with his Eye of Illusion Breaking Purple, and was about to escape when he realized the earthquake had stopped.

At this moment, a two-meter-wide light door appeared in the secret chamber.

Other World passage?

Or an entrance/exit to a Small World?

Qin Shi Lei asked Xu Feng, "What is this thing you've created?"

Xu Feng mechanically replied, "I don't know either. It's just that our Xu Family Stronghold has passed down orally through generations that this crystal ball must never be pressed unless the Xu Family Stronghold is facing a life-or-death crisis. Once pressed, it means mutual destruction with the enemy."

Qin Shi Lei frowned and asked again, "Then do you have the Holy Spirit Gu?"

Xu Feng shook his head. "Of the three great divine Gu, I've only cultivated the Mother-Child Gu. No one in our entire Xu Family Stronghold has cultivated the Holy Spirit Gu."

"You treacherous old man, you said you could help me treat my pet, but you're just a big liar!"

Qin Shi Lei really wanted to split him in half with his sword.

After a pause, he commanded again, "Hand over the Gu Worm Compendium."

Xu Feng took out an ancient-looking book from his embrace and handed it to Qin Shi Lei.