Chapter 967: They Still Have a Trick up Their Sleeves?

　　Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

　　Caw!

　　Following the clear and resounding bird cry, two crimson fireballs shot out as Tuan Zi glided across the air.

　　Rumble!

　　As the people from the Taiyu Dynasty were already huddled together, it made things easier for Tuan Zi to deal with them.

　　After a series of shocking explosions, strong flames lit up around them again and formed a huge semicircular barrier, trapping them inside.

　　Yu Zefeng and the rest panicked when they realized that they were in danger of being burned to death. “Shangguan Yue, I dare you to kill us!”

　　“Can’t you tell if I dare to do it or not?” Chu Liuyue raised her eyebrows slightly. What’s with the pointless shouting when the fire is already right in front of them? As expected, that’s all the Taiyu Dynasty’s people are capable of.

　　Actually, Chu Liuyue had no intention of killing anyone, but her mind changed when she noticed how serious the injuries on Wu Ming, Yuwen Jinghong, and Mu Hongyu were. If I came any later, the three of them would’ve died right here. The Taiyu Dynasty’s people besieged them and drove them into a corner, yet they don’t allow us to fight back? Hah, the world doesn’t work this way!

　　Yu Zefeng was rendered speechless.

　　“Argh!” Dantai Ruoli groaned in pain and agony once more as the wounds on her face and body began rotting quickly, much to everyone’s horror.

　　“O-our medicine isn’t working!” The guy next to her shrieked in a fluster. He didn’t expect her injuries to worsen after he fed her the medicine.

　　Yu Zefeng clenched his fists, the veins on his forehead bulging. Looks like Shangguan Yue wasn’t lying. The injuries caused by a red-tailed phoenix really can’t be treated with any medicine!

　　Currently, Dantai Ruoli was all curled up on the ground. She was in so much pain that she was on the verge of passing out, much less having the energy to even glare at Chu Liuyue. After all, not many people could withstand such a legendary fiend’s deadly strike.

　　Meanwhile, a few sparks landed on a guy next to her and quickly grew bigger into flames. Flustered, he hurriedly tried to put out the flames on his body, but he soon realized in horror that the ordinary fire-extinguishing methods were useless against these flames.

　　Time flew past, and the few people trapped inside the flaming cage had no way of escaping from this inferno hell.

　　“Zefeng, what do we do now?”

　　As Dantai Ruoli was seriously injured now, they could only listen to Yu Zefeng’s orders. However, the latter was at a loss himself. Threats and coercions are useless since Shangguan Yue is bent on taking our lives. If we beg for mercy, I’m afraid we’ll only die sooner!

　　…

　　It was actually rare that Chu Liuyue would go on a killing rampage. But then again, there was no reason for her to hold back anymore when her people had been bullied to this extent. On top of that, there was no better place than an enclosed environment like Ancient Phoenix Mountain to beat people up.

　　“Cough… Cough…” Wu Ming—who had been unconscious for a long time—suddenly started coughing.

　　“Wu Ming, you’re awake?!” cried Yuwen Jinghong in surprise and delight.

　　Wu Ming slowly opened his eyes, only to shut them again because of the blinding sunlight. It was only after he slowly adjusted to his surroundings that he gradually took in the scene in front of him. “J-Jinghong…”

　　Before he could understand what was going on, he noticed with a start that Yuwen Jinghong was looking all haggard and bloodied. “Quick… Run…”

　　Yuwen Jinghong hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. Her Majesty has come to save us!”

　　Shocked, Wu Ming turned his head with much difficulty and saw a familiar female figure standing a short distance away from them. Not only that, but he also saw a blazing fire further in front of her that seemed to have trapped several people within. He could vaguely hear the hysterical screams. Aren’t those…

　　“Those are the Taiyu Dynasty’s people,” explained Yuwen Jinghong.

　　Wu Ming was all the more confused. What exactly… is going on?

　　Just then, Chu Liuyue turned around and flashed Wu Ming a small smile. “Your internal organs are injured, and your vitality has suffered a huge blow. You need to recuperate properly. Don’t worry about these matters. I’ll deal with them.”

　　Wu Ming had no time to find out how Chu Liuyue managed to enter Ancient Phoenix Mountain as he said with much difficulty, “Your Majesty… T-they have something… on them…”

　　Chu Liuyue raised her eyebrows slightly. “What is it?”

　　Wu Ming shook his head, his face even paler than before. “I-I think… it’s something… that allows them to communicate… with each other and the o-outside world…”

　　Even though his words were stuttered out softly, Chu Liuyue immediately understood what he meant. “Are you saying that they have some sort of device that lets them communicate with each other and Dantai Chen?”

　　Wu Ming gave a firm nod of his head.

　　“I see! So that was how they managed to gather so quickly!” said Mu Hongyu in hindsight. I thought we had gathered up pretty quickly with the help of the golden bells, but I didn’t expect the Taiyu Dynasty’s people to be even faster! Something is fishy about this!

　　“Your Majesty, if that’s true, won’t the people outside find out about their deaths right away?” A jolt ran through Yuwen Jinghong as he looked at Chu Liuyue in shock. It’ll look strange if all of the Taiyu Dynasty’s people are killed right after Her Majesty entered the mountain.

　　Chu Liuyue blinked. That’s nothing, actually. Everything is based on evidence. Even if Dantai Chen accuses me of killing his people, there’s nothing he can do about it if he has no evidence. The important thing now… is that I don’t know what method they are using and whether or not it’ll leave behind any clues.

　　As Chu Liuyue turned around, Tuan Zi—who had a telepathic connection with her—immediately stopped what it was doing, though it didn’t remove the barrier of fire.

　　Meanwhile, the group trapped inside the fire had fallen deep into despair. “Zefeng, Her Highness has fainted! What should we do now?”

　　“The fire is very strong. There’s no way for us to run through the fire…”

　　“Are we really going to die here?”

　　“Even if we die, we can’t make things easy for Shangguan Yue! We have to make her responsible for our deaths!” said Yu Zefeng through clenched teeth. With firm determination, he then added, “We have to inform His Majesty about this no matter what!” As long as the people outside know that it was all Shangguan Yue’s doing, they won’t let her off once she leaves the mountain!

　　The rest of the people exchanged looks with each other before nodding their heads.

　　Thereafter, Yu Zefeng closed his eyes and stretched out his hand, palm up. A strange rune appeared on his palm moments later.

　　His companions did the same. Apart from Dantai Ruoli and a young man—who had fainted and been burned to death respectively—there were only two other people still alive. Black runes appeared on their hands as well.

　　Soon, the runes on their hands floated up and gathered together in the middle, forming a new palm-sized rune. However, it looked incomplete as it had two missing parts.

　　“So that’s what you guys are relying on…”

　　Just as the trio wanted to activate the rune, they heard Chu Liuyue’s lazy voice. They looked up with a start, only to realize that the flames surrounding them had parted and that Chu Liuyue was looking in from a short distance away from them with a smirk on her face.

　　Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she took a glance at the incomplete rune.. Why does this thing look so familiar?