He Lan Tianxia

Meanwhile, the old pine tree spirit, drenched in sweat, was frantically searching, finally finding a sliver of hope in the crevice. It stretched out its tentacles, desperately pushing its roots into the crack. Ouch! The rocks inside were so sharp! It was probably not just riddled with holes, but a bloody mess, causing excruciating pain. But there was no other way. As long as it could rescue the prince and princess, it would brave fire and water; what did these injuries matter?

The old pine tree spirit exhausted all its strength and finally, an hour later, poof, extended a small section of its root outside the cave.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!" the old pine tree spirit cried out in great joy.

"What are you doing?" Murong Junlan was annoyed at being woken up from a sweet dream.

"Your Highness, my legs can now stretch out of the cave," the old pine spirit said, eagerly enjoying the cool air outside.

"So what?" Murong Junlan's thoughts were still lingering in his beautiful dream.

"Ouch!" the old pine tree spirit suddenly cried out, then burst into laughter, changing his expression unpredictably.

"Lost your mind?" Murong Junlan finally reluctantly raised his head from his dream, looking at the old pine tree spirit with suspicion in his eyes.

"Your Highness, hee hee hee hee..."

"Your Highness, hahahaha..."

Murong Junlan walked over and squatted down, looking with great interest at the old pine tree spirit's ever-changing and deeply wrinkled face, and patted it with his hand. The old pine tree spirit would grit its teeth one moment and frown the next.

"Pfft." Suddenly, a mouthful of blood spurted out. Murong Junlan couldn't dodge in time, and the blood splattered onto his clothes, stinging his eyes. Murong Junlan quickly reached out and pressed an acupoint on the old pine tree spirit's neck, wondering what was wrong with the old man tonight.

"Are you alright, old man?" Murong Junlan patted the old pine tree spirit's face again.

"Pfft." Another mouthful of blood spurted out, and the old pine tree spirit cried out, its head lolling to the side as it fainted.

Murong Junlan touched the old pine tree spirit's forehead and felt it was still trembling. What was going on? Murong Junlan couldn't figure it out. Suddenly, he thought of something, stood up, and with a burst of strength, slammed his hands against the stone door.

The old pine tree spirit stopped trembling. Murong Junlan pounded on the stone door several more times, but the old pine tree spirit remained motionless. Murong Junlan reached out to try to pull the old pine tree spirit in, but the old pine tree spirit, now only a small head, had its entire body embedded in the crack in the stone, and he couldn't pull it in no matter what he did.

Murong Junlan dared not delay any longer. He turned around and walked to the pale-faced scholar, banging on the stone door repeatedly. He knew that only the pale-faced scholar could open the stone door and save the old pine tree spirit.

Under the influence of the elixir, the pale-faced scholar slowly awoke. He opened his tired eyes, glanced at Murong Junlan, and then closed them again. After a moment, he opened them again, weakly shook his head, and suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned to look in the direction of the woman, and then showed a relieved smile.

"Open the stone door." Murong Junlan kept patting the pale-faced scholar's face, afraid that he would fall asleep again.

The pale-faced scholar stared blankly at Murong Junlan, not intending to pay him any attention. Murong Junlan grew impatient, grabbed the pale-faced scholar, strode over to the old pine tree spirit, and threw the scholar to the ground.

"Open the stone door and save it."

The pale-faced scholar leaned there like a limp rag. He glanced expressionlessly at Murong Junlan, then at the old pine spirit trapped between his legs, and gave a weak smile.

"Hurry up. Open the stone door." Murong Junlan grabbed the pale-faced scholar by the throat.

"Brother King, if you're so capable, come and try it yourself." The pale-faced scholar's face turned red, but he still spoke defiantly, "Let everyone die here today."

Murong Junlan loosened his grip, and the pale-faced scholar fell to the ground with a thud. Not wanting to get into any unnecessary frustration, he took out his short knife and began searching for a weakness in the cave entrance; he refused to believe the door was without flaws.

Murong Junlan picked up his short knife and began carving around the cave entrance, but found nothing different. He also couldn't discern any difference in the thickness of the stone walls. Could the mechanism be in Murong Dubai's hands? Just as Murong Junlan was about to search, he heard two powerful thuds from the cave entrance, followed by the sounds of fighting.

With a "snap," an icicle shot in from the very center of the stone door.

"The Annihilation Cold Yin Palm?" Murong Junlan touched the ice pillar. "So the mechanism for the cave entrance was here."

Murong Junlan channeled his energy into his hands, and a powerful pressure surged towards the stone gate mechanism.

"Rumble, rumble..." The stone door rose up. The pale-faced scholar looked at it, reached out and touched a hidden knob on the side, and with a "boom," the stone door pressed down again.

Murong Junlan dared not slack off and continued to exert force on the ice pillar, while the pale-faced scholar also pressed down incessantly, causing the stone gate to rise and fall repeatedly.

Just as the stone gate was rising and falling, the old pine tree spirit, who was barely clinging to life under the weight of the pressure, was grabbed by a hairy hand and thrown against the stone wall behind him. But what was wrapped around his leg?

"Hey, hey, hey, it looks like there's a rope!" the old pine tree shouted.

The pale-faced scholar was terrified. He dropped the hidden twist in his hand and hurriedly lunged at the woman beside him, trying to protect his beloved Yan sister at the last moment. But a hand was faster than him and suddenly grabbed the woman, leaving him empty-handed.

Suddenly, a person fell through the breach in the mercury cave, and immediately the mercury river burst forth like a dam breaking, instantly annihilating the entire cave. In a flash, Murong Junlan turned and threw five restrictive spells behind him.

The stone gate continued to rise with a creaking sound, the muffled sound like the sound of hell, sending chills down one's spine.

Murong Junlan turned around and unleashed five more restrictive spells before looking down at the woman in his arms. At that moment, he felt a surge of panic in his heart.

"What happened?" The woman finally woke up. She found Murong Junlan holding her and casually slapped him.

Murong Junlan neither dodged nor let go, but looked at the mercury outside the barrier with concern and said, "Don't move. It's dangerous."

"The winery manager?" The woman looked at the corpse floating in the mercury liquid.

"He's dead." Murong Junlan turned to look at Murong Dubai, who was slumped on the ground, and asked, "Is there any other way out?"

"No." Murong Dubai also sensed danger at this moment.

"This is your territory. If you don't want to die here, you'd better tell me all the possible ways out. This restriction won't last long."

There was silence within the confinement.

As soon as the woman straightened up after shaking off Murong Junlan's embrace, the old pine tree spirit's faint voice came from outside the cave entrance: "Prince Murong, Prince Murong."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the old pine tree spirit poking its small head out of the mercury liquid, waving frantically in their direction.

With a "thud," the little head that hadn't fully emerged was suddenly kicked away by someone.

"Beast." That was the broken monkey's voice, followed by the white-haired woman's shrill voice:

"They're all here. Today they'll all die in Gongdong. Retribution, retribution indeed."

That crazy woman appeared out of nowhere and used her water-walking skills to chase Broken Monkey on the mercury surface. Broken Monkey tried to escape by hanging from the wall, but he almost fell into the mercury liquid.

The mischievous monkey looked up and saw several people inside the barrier. It was delighted and pounced on the barrier without thinking.

"Bang." Five layers of the barrier broke, and the remaining ones were in imminent danger. Amidst the shaking, Murong Junlan desperately tried to repair it, but to no avail; the barrier was on the verge of collapse.

The moment the white-haired woman turned her head, a vicious and eerie glint flashed in her eyes. A chilling smile flickered across her face, a smile that could pierce through any barrier. She floated across the mercury with ghostly steps, and just inches away, she suddenly roared:

"Go to hell." He then unleashed a burst of magical power from both hands.

"Boom." The white-haired woman's magic collided with Murong Junlan's palm strike, colliding at the point of the restriction.

"Boom!" Distracted by the barrier, Murong Junlan took a step back. He couldn't imagine the overwhelming destruction that would ensue once the barrier broke and he was submerged in the mercury cave. He reached back to grab her; at that moment, he had no choice but to embrace the woman and face the devastation together. However, his outstretched hand grasped nothing. Where was she? Murong Junlan was startled, but dared not look back. The madwoman's second Annihilation Cold Yin Palm had already struck. Murong Junlan had no choice but to quickly retaliate and parry the white-haired woman's attack.

"Boom boom boom..." The madwoman slashed wildly, the mercury splashing from her feet like waves crashing against rocks, a terrifying sight that gave those inside the barrier a fleeting moment of despair. The white-haired woman kicked away the old pine tree spirit clinging to the cave wall, sending it hurtling straight towards her.

"Silver Ring Dream Shadow." The woman suddenly flicked a thin rope from behind Murong Junlan.

Murong Junlan was shocked. Even his Silver Ring Illusion didn't dare attack, yet the Silver Ring Dream Shadow dared to come? Oh dear, wouldn't the restriction break even faster once the thin rope was released? This was suicidal! Murong Junlan spun around and scooped up the woman in his arms, but unbeknownst to him, the woman couldn't retract the thin rope in time, and it got caught on Murong Junlan's left foot. Murong Junlan lost his balance and fell forward with the woman in his arms, accidentally kicking Murong Dubai away. Poor Murong Dubai crashed into the cave wall like a broken pendulum, a thick fog spewing out from it. At that moment, the white-haired woman's deadly annihilation palm strike arrived.

With a "bang," the last barrier was broken!

The moment he landed, Murong Junlan stretched out his other hand to brace himself against the ground, relieving the pressure he was putting on the woman beneath him, but his mouth uncontrollably collided directly with the woman's lips.

Murong Junlan suddenly felt an impulse: rather than letting mercury seep into those delicate lips, sealing them would be the most perfect salvation. Ah, those lips seemed vaguely familiar, even alluring. For a long, long time, Murong Junlan felt as if the cave had suddenly frozen in a blissful stillness.

There was no overwhelming influx; the mercury seemed to freeze as if it were still!

"Slap." Murong Junlan received a loud slap across the face.

"Impossible!" came the terrified scream of the white-haired woman.

A hole full of mercury had solidified? The moment Murong Junlan opened his eyes, he was also stunned. Leaving aside the dazzling brilliance of the solidified mercury, what was even more eerie was that a vibrant, colorful flower was slowly sprouting. The pale-faced scholar's eyes first flashed with surprise, then terror, because the flower's stem and leaves were constantly growing larger and longer, with droplets of mercury being attracted to the flower, gradually thickening into a pillar-like shape, showing no signs of stopping. At the same time, the shopkeeper's corpse visibly returned to its original color, and suddenly his eyes snapped open, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

Murong Junlan was the first to recover from the sudden turn of events. He sensed the unexpected danger here, and scooped up the person in his arms, dashing towards the cave entrance. Then, surprisingly, the innkeeper also stood up and walked over to the pale-faced scholar, urging him to leave. The broken monkey and the old pine tree spirit also made a hasty retreat. The white-haired woman stood there quietly, seemingly quite interested in this unexpected turn of events. She even moved closer to the strange flower that continued to grow wildly…

Standing helplessly before the frozen cave entrance, Jiang He suddenly heard the sound of something forcefully splitting the cave door open. Overjoyed, he shouted:

"Your Highness, is that you?"

There was no response from inside, followed by sounds of fighting, and then silence again. Jiang He anxiously pounded on the stone door, but to no avail. However, the sound he heard eased his anxiety slightly, proving that the person inside was still alive.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..." Jiang He continued to call out.

Half a cup of tea later, the stone door suddenly rumbled open. Jiang He rushed forward with great joy, only to see the innkeeper carrying a disheveled scholar on his back. Before they could even stand up, someone kicked them from behind, and the innkeeper and the scholar were thrown forward. Jiang He raised his hand to block them, hoping they would help him, but something came hurtling towards him. Jiang He had to dodge, and the thing flew past his face. Then, a hairy hand grabbed the scholar on the innkeeper's back and sprinted forward. The monkey seemed to be just itching for a fight; after only a couple of steps, it threw the scholar forward, and the poor scholar landed face-first in the dirt.

Jiang He didn't see Murong Junlan, and he didn't care. He went straight inside to find the prince. He walked around but didn't see anyone. Some doors seemed inaccessible to him. He shouted a few times but received no response. He decided to go out and ask the gorilla for an explanation. As Jiang He stepped off the threshold of the stone door, the door suddenly slammed shut again. Jiang He turned around and pushed it, but it wouldn't budge.

The others had just left, and Jiang He went back as well. He saw the gorilla sitting on a bench in the inn drinking and walked over to him.

Jiang He asked, "Where is the Prince?"

The gorilla ignored Jiang He completely and continued drinking. Suddenly, Jiang He grabbed the gorilla's right arm, anxiously...

"Where is the prince?"

The man tossed the wine jug aside with disdain, slapped Jiang He across the face, and suddenly launched an attack. Just as Jiang He was about to retaliate, a loud bang came from the other side of the cave, followed by a cloud of flying sand and stones. Jiang He had no choice but to turn and dodge. Just as he turned to go forward, the other side suddenly fell silent.

Jiang He went closer to examine it and saw that the stone door seemed to have broken down and fallen to the ground. Jiang He quickly slipped back into the cave.