111: Survivor

Underground Dark River, temporary camp.

After two hours of arduous trekking, Zhou Wannian finally led the group through the most dangerous collapsed section and arrived at a relatively spacious and dry underground cavern.

Although it was still dark here, with wet stalactites hanging down like a monster's fangs, at least there was no longer the fear of being buried alive at any moment.

"Count the numbers."

Zhou Wannian put down the night-luminescent pearl, his voice hoarse.

"Old Man Han, Tingfeng Tower lost three brothers, and seven are lightly injured." Li Feiyu's face was covered in dust, and his dharma robe was slashed to tatters, but his gaze remained resolute.

"One of the Ling Family guards died, Steward Liu is injured, and the Young Lord is just a bit exhausted." The guard beside him supported the drowsy Young Master Ling, a look of lingering fear on his face.

"Not bad, better than expected."

Zhou Wannian nodded. To be able to save this many people under such an apocalyptic natural disaster was already a miracle.

He walked to the corner, where a blood-covered figure lay bound hand and foot.

It was the Deputy Commander of the First Defense Zone, who hadn't been killed in the explosion or swallowed by the corpse qi, but had instead fallen through a crack and been picked up by Li Feiyu.

By now, his former arrogance had long vanished. One leg was completely gone, half of his face was a bloody mess from corpse qi corrosion, and the true essence in his body had been suppressed by Zhou Wannian's unique meridian-severing Restriction, preventing him from even self-destructing.

"Wake up."

Zhou Wannian gave him a kick.

The Deputy Commander struggled to open his eyes. Seeing Zhou Wannian's old face, which looked somewhat eerie under the light of the night-luminescent pearl, his eyes were filled with terror.

"You... what do you want to do..."

"Nothing much, just a chat."

Zhou Wannian squatted down, playing with the copper tube that still held the residual warmth of thunder in his hand, his tone as gentle as if he were catching up with an old friend.

"You've seen the situation outside. Zhenhai City is gone, and everyone has become a stray dog. There's no point in shouting about killing at a time like this."

He paused, his gaze suddenly turning cold.

"I only want to know one thing. What kind of benefits did that Golden Core Elder promise you that made you disregard your own life just to be buried with us?"

The Deputy Commander gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering as he remained silent.

"Not talking? You've got backbone."

Zhou Wannian didn't get angry, but simply waved his hand dismissively toward Li Feiyu.

"Fei Yu, this Commander's wound might be a bit painful. I recall you still have the Thunder Whale's poison sac? Sprinkle a bit on his wound to fight poison with poison."

"You got it!"

Li Feiyu gave a sinister grin, pulled a small bottle with a skull label from his robe, and poured it directly onto the Deputy Commander's mangled leg.

"Aaah—!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the cavern, hair-raisingly gruesome. The Thunder Whale poison sac was not only extremely toxic but also carried a numbing thunder force that went deep into the bone, feeling as if countless ants were gnawing at his marrow.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

After holding out for only three breaths, the Deputy Commander's psychological defenses completely collapsed. Cultivators were also human; without spiritual power to protect them, they were more fragile than Mortals.

"It was the Elder... he said that as long as everyone in the Third Defense Zone was killed, the responsibility for the corpse qi outbreak could be pinned on Ling Yunxiao, claiming his improper operation blew up the Formation nodes!"

"And... the Elder has already reached an agreement with that transformed great demon! As long as Zhenhai City is sacrificed, the great demon will help him achieve a Nascent Soul Breakthrough!"

"Beast!"

Young Master Ling, who had been drowsy, suddenly jumped up upon hearing this, trembling with rage. "To achieve his own Breakthrough, he would drag the entire city to their graves?! Is he even human?!"

"In the eyes of some, human life is merely a consumable for cultivation."

Zhou Wannian patted Young Master Ling's shoulder, signaling him to calm down, then pulled out a shadow recording stone and aimed it at the Deputy Commander.

"Repeat what you just said. Including that Elder's name, the time and place of the deal, and... where the evidence is."

A stick of incense later.

After recording the confession, Zhou Wannian put away the shadow recording stone and fished out a blood-red Jade Slip from the Deputy Commander's Storage Pouch.

"A blood-contract document... irrefutable evidence."

Zhou Wannian nodded with satisfaction.

"Old Man Han, kill him?" Li Feiyu made a throat-slitting gesture.

The Deputy Commander looked at Zhou Wannian in terror. "Don't kill me! I've told you everything! I'm a witness! You need me to return to the Star Palace!"

"Kill him?"

Zhou Wannian shook his head, a meaningful curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Bring a living person back to the Star Palace? You must think we aren't dying fast enough. Since that Golden Core Elder dared to collude with the enemy, there must be someone inside the Star Palace helping him. If we bring him, we'll be silenced before we even reach the shore."

The hope that had just risen in the Deputy Commander's eyes instantly vanished.

"However, he indeed cannot be killed right now."

Zhou Wannian stood up and looked toward the Dark River deep within the cavern.

"The road ahead is still long. A place like the Mermaid Royal Court is full of traps. We need someone responsible for scouting the way."

He glanced again at the Deputy Commander's still relatively abundant lifeblood.

"Furthermore, some ancient Restrictions might require... a living sacrifice."

Upon hearing the words "living sacrifice," the Deputy Commander's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from sheer terror.

"Liu Quan, feed him some healing medicine to keep him alive. Put him in a spirit beast pouch and make sure he doesn't make a sound."

Having dealt with this "consumable."

Zhou Wannian walked to the cavern's exit. It connected to an even deeper underground Dark River, where the water appeared an eerie deep blue and was bone-chillingly cold.

"Rest for half an hour. Then, we go into the water."

"Where are we going?" Young Master Ling asked.

Zhou Wannian took out the mermaid skin and pointed to an extremely well-hidden marker on it.

"To a place that even that transformed great demon cannot find for the time being."

"That place was once the Royal Court of the ancient Mermaid Race, and it is also the endpoint of this underground Dark River. According to the map, there is an ancient teleportation formation there leading to the depths of the Outer Sea."

Hearing this, hope was rekindled in everyone's dim eyes.

Zhou Wannian, however, was not so optimistic.

He gently stroked the rough surface of the mermaid skin with his fingers, a faint trace of unease in his heart.

If there was a teleportation Formation, why did the first city lord choose to suppress the demon corpse with his own body instead of using it to escape?

Unless that place was even more dangerous than the demon corpse.

But he didn't say it. In this desperate situation, even a false hope was the motivation that kept everyone going.

"Let's go."

Half an hour later.

The group jumped into the cold Dark River once again.

The light of the water repelling tokens flickered in the darkness like a candle in the wind, leading this group of outlaws as they swam toward the unknown abyss.

And behind them.

Above the ruins of Zhenhai City, the resurrected demon whale seemed to sense the escape of those ants and let out a roar of fury. Its massive tail slammed violently against the ground, completely collapsing the already sealed entrance to the cave.

The path was cut off.

From then on, they could only move forward; there was no turning back.