145: Chapter 145 Um, this black mist... I can eliminate it.

At the entrance of the dungeon, time passed minute by minute.

The black mist continued to churn, but the attacks from within it were slow to descend.

This oppressive waiting was more of a torture on the nerves than an actual life-and-death struggle with real blades.

"What on earth is this damn thing? Why hasn't it made a move yet?"

Murong Yun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gripped the sword in his hand with extreme irritability.

Just then, one of the guards brought by Shen Lingfu suddenly took a step forward, staring vigilantly at the surrounding black mist as he proposed in a low voice:

"Instead of sitting here waiting for death, why don't we concentrate all our strength and rush to the edge of the village together to try and break this Formation barrier!"

The guard glanced at the tightly closed iron door of the dungeon, his tone becoming cold and pragmatic:

"If we stay together, the probability of breaking the Formation is extremely high. As for those refugees in the dungeon..."

"They are just a bunch of lowly commoners whose lives are as cheap as grass. Life and death are fated; there's no need for us to throw our own lives away for them!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings instantly fell into a dead silence.

Leaning against the base of the wall, Murong Yun's legs, which had been weak with fear, straightened slightly.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to echo the sentiment, but after seeing everyone's expressions, he swallowed his words back down.

Who among those present wasn't a prominent young master or Young Miss from the capital?

If it really came down to the value of a life, the hundred-plus refugees inside combined couldn't compare to a single one of them.

Ouyang Wanqing was in no hurry to state her position.

Her beautiful, autumn-water eyes shifted, and she naturally moved two steps closer to Chen Shanzhi.

An elegant scent of orchids instantly drifted into Chen Shanzhi's nose.

Ouyang Wanqing reached out a slender, jade-like hand and familiarly tugged at Chen Shanzhi's sleeve.

Then, leaning her body slightly until she was almost touching his shoulder, she asked softly in a voice as pleasant as an oriole's:

"Chen Shanzhi, you've always been clever. What do you think of this plan?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Feiyu, who was trembling while still stuffing buns into her mouth, suddenly stopped her movements.

Beside them, Murong Yun also immediately turned his head.

The gazes of both individuals fell simultaneously upon Chen Shanzhi.

Clearly, without realizing it, they had already come to see Chen Shanzhi as their backbone.

Shen Lingfu felt a bit puzzled seeing this scene.

She couldn't quite understand why Ouyang Wanqing, the dignified daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion and someone who was usually extremely independent, would do this.

How could she actually go and ask for the opinion of a profligate at such a life-or-death moment?

But seeing everyone looking at Chen Shanzhi, though she was confused, her body made a decision.

She couldn't lose to a woman like Ouyang Wanqing.

Lifting her skirt, she walked quickly to Chen Shanzhi's other side and leaned in, her body appearing as soft as if she had no bones.

"Captain Chen..." Shen Lingfu called out delicately.

"Fu'er doesn't understand all this fighting and killing; Fu'er will listen to Captain Chen as well.

Whatever you say we should do, we'll do."

Chen Shanzhi was sandwiched between the two great beauties, with two distinctly different delicate fragrances lingering at the tip of his nose.

But he didn't notice at all, keeping his head down with his sword-like brows furrowed, lost in deep thought for a long time.

Suddenly, Chen Shanzhi looked up and shook his head decisively.

He pointed his finger at the female guard on the ground who had been sucked into a dried corpse:

"I don't think this method will work."

Chen Shanzhi analyzed the situation with a calm tone and clear logic:

"Look at this corpse. After she died, the Qi and blood in her body were instantly drained dry.

This means that the monster hidden in the black mist relies on consuming Qi and blood to increase its strength!"

Chen Shanzhi pointed behind him at the tightly closed iron door of the dungeon.

"There are over a hundred refugees inside. By the time it finishes draining their Qi and blood, there's no telling how much its strength will explode.

When that time comes, what will we use to fight it?"

Chen Shanzhi's words were extremely blunt.

The guard who had suggested escaping argued back:

"Heir Chen, you can't put it like that.

What we want is exactly that window of time while it's eating those refugees!

While it's busy slaughtering inside, we use that time to break the Formation at the edge!

We're so close to the capital; as long as we can break the Formation and escape, even if we just tear a small hole...

Everyone here surely has secret treasures for seeking help. As long as we can send out a signal,

the Gold Medal Constabless of the capital's Jiantian Division can arrive within dozens of breaths!

When that happens, not only will we survive, but we can also have the Jiantian Division kill this monster while they're at it!

Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

Hearing this, Shen Lingfu's small hand, hidden within her wide sleeves,

suddenly tightened around the jade pendant that was already half-shattered.

In fact, the moment that guard died earlier, she hadn't hesitated to crush the jade pendant to call for help.

But this damned black mist was like an insulating shield, directly cutting off the distress signal.

So, the guard's words spoke directly to Shen Lingfu's heart.

As long as they could get out!

Even if they just stepped half a pace out of this black mist, once the distress signal was sent, the top experts of her Treasure Pavilion could immediately come to the rescue.

Shen Lingfu bit her red lip, and a trace of anticipation appeared in her eyes as she looked at Chen Shanzhi; she was clearly tempted.

Chen Shanzhi looked at the wavering eyes of the crowd and curled his lip in disdain.

He, Chen Shanzhi, was no damn saint; he wouldn't throw his life away to save people he didn't know.

If only one side could truly live, he would absolutely be the first to lead the way in running away.

But right now, the situation clearly hadn't reached that dire point yet.

"Your plan does indeed sound extremely perfect."

Chen Shanzhi took a deep breath, staring sharply at the guard as he threw out a fatal counter-question:

"But... have you considered one problem?"

Chen Shanzhi said word by word: "If we abandon the refugees and run to the edge of the Formation,

after that monster comfortably devours the Qi and blood of over a hundred people..."

"And we... still haven't managed to break this godforsaken Formation?"

"At that time, what will we use to contend with a monster that has consumed the Qi and blood of a hundred people?

Will we just wait for death?"

As soon as these words came out, the area before the dungeon door fell once again into a deathly silence.

Everyone's faces became extremely unsightly.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought of this possibility before, but everyone had been deliberately avoiding the question in their hearts.

Now that Chen Shanzhi had torn it open in front of them, a shadow was cast over everyone's hearts.

"Furthermore, I have another deduction."

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Chen Shanzhi continued:

"The fact that this monster has been hiding in the black mist and hasn't dared to launch a frontal attack on us means it is wary of our group!"

"Shi Village is so close to the capital. If this monster's strength truly exceeded the Profound Gate Realm and reached the Life Fire Realm,

even with the Formation's isolation, as long as it dared to act, the immortal stele in the capital would definitely be able to capture the anomaly instantly!"

"But the Jiantian Division has had no reaction until now. What does that mean?"

Chen Shanzhi gave a confident, cold laugh: "It means the monster's strength is definitely still within the scope of the Profound Gate Realm!

As long as we don't scatter and don't give it the chance to pick us off one by one, it can't do anything to us!

We are actually in an invincible position!"

"Then how do you explain Sister Wanqing's guard just now? She was killed instantly!" Shen Lingfu asked in confusion.

Chen Shanzhi answered after some thought: "That kind of attack, I imagine it must come at a great cost.

Otherwise, it would have sucked us all dry long ago; why would it need to play hide-and-seek with us here?"

After listening to Chen Shanzhi's thorough analysis, Ouyang Wanqing also nodded in agreement.

"Chen Shanzhi is right; we cannot let ourselves be thrown into disarray."

But as Ouyang Wanqing looked at the churning black mist around them, her elegant brows remained tightly knit:

"But what should we do now? We can't just keep wearing ourselves out here waiting, can we?"

Chen Shanzhi also rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

This black mist was the most disgusting thing; it blocked vision and jammed distress signals, acting as the perfect protective umbrella for that monster.

Right now, they were in the light while the monster was in the dark, leaving them in a completely passive position.

"If only this bothersome black mist wasn't here..." Chen Shanzhi muttered somewhat helplessly.

As long as their vision was clear, no matter what kind of ghosts or monsters were out there, everyone could just swarm them.

They could have a direct final battle—either you die, or I live.

Hearing Chen Shanzhi's mutterings, the others also frowned in unison, looking at the thick, impenetrable black mist with faces full of helplessness.

Just as everyone was at their wits' end and the atmosphere had fallen into a stalemate again,

Jiang Feiyu, who had been squatting to the side without saying much, suddenly swallowed the last bite of food in her mouth.

She took a corner of Chen Shanzhi's clothes to wipe her greasy hands and then raised her left hand.

"Um..."

Jiang Feiyu let out a burp and, braving everyone's puzzled gazes, blinked her clear, large eyes.

Her tone was extremely casual, as if she were talking about a trivial matter:

"Well... about that."

"If it's just this black mist... I should be able to eliminate it."