Having come this far, there was no turning back now!

Mingtian had led them here, but he had no idea what lay below. Ziqing told him to head back down to wait at the Flame Mountains.

“Beiyue, Baili Weisheng, and I will go down to search for them. The rest of you wait here. If the volcano erupts and we haven’t come back up within a quarter hour, leave immediately. Understood?”

Ziqing spoke earnestly, making the agreement with everyone.

Though, of course, everyone wanted to answer — not understood?

But everyone understood perfectly well that they could only accompany them this far. Going any further down would surely turn them into a burden for Ziqing and the others.

Seeing everyone’s hesitation, Ziqing smiled. “We’re not preparing to die here — we’re preparing to live. Waiting here isn’t necessarily any safer than going down.”

At this, everyone suddenly understood.

Wanyan Lie and Xuanyuan Lige had abducted these two and lured them here — there was surely an ambush waiting!

“Don’t worry, Mommy, everything here is in my hands!” Xiong Xiaobao declared confidently, thumping his chest.

This little guy truly was formidable in his own right — the poison beasts and wild creatures under his command could wipe out an entire group of skilled fighters on their own!

With him here, both Ziqing and Jun Beiyue felt reassured!

“Son, don’t worry, we’ll guard this place — we guarantee not a single bird will fly in!” Lady Jinjiao said earnestly.

Baili Weisheng nodded, and together with Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, leapt down into the crater.

Sure enough, the moment they entered the crater, it was like falling straight into a pit of fire — the temperature here was on an entirely different level from outside!

Fortunately, thanks to those two needles from Jue Mingzi, Baili Weisheng would have already fainted from the heat otherwise!

The rocky terrain extended downward, sometimes steep, sometimes level. They soon touched down, landing steadily on a large boulder.

“Situ Haonan! Yelu Qianqian! Where are you!”

Ziqing called out loudly. Though the crater was deep, it wasn’t wide, and her voice was more than enough to fill the entire space — if Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian were here, they would surely hear it.

Ziqing wasn’t foolish enough to expect an actual response — she just wanted Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan to know they’d come!

Yet, unexpectedly, someone did answer her — though it wasn’t Situ Haonan and his wife, but that same familiar voice.

“Prince Yao, Princess Consort, you two move quite fast indeed!”

This voice was impossible to pinpoint — it seemed to come from all directions at once.

“It’s that old man!” Ziqing said in a low voice.

Both Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng fell silent, listening intently.

“What, you had the nerve to lure us here, but not the nerve to come out and face us?” Ziqing called out in loud provocation.

“Heh heh, Princess Consort, if you’re brave enough, keep searching further down!” the old man’s voice sneered, showing no anger at all.

Yet no sooner had the words faded than Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng struck almost simultaneously — one shooting off toward the lower left, the other toward the lower right!

A blade of wind streaked out like a volley of arrows; a short blade thrust forward.

Almost at the same instant, two fiery-red figures shot out from among the rocks!

So it turned out — two old men had spoken at once, no wonder they’d been unable to pinpoint the direction immediately!

Meeting them head-on, the two old men were clearly no match at all for Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng, dodging the wind blade and short sword before fleeing straight downward!

These two — did they have no regard for their own lives at all?

“If you’re capable, chase us down!” the burned old man taunted, still provoking them even now!

“You’re not even worthy of threatening this prince!”

Jun Beiyue’s eyes narrowed coldly, and he drew his sword in one motion. He hadn’t even properly struck yet — the mere act of drawing his blade sent out a fierce, wind-sharp blade that shot straight toward the old man’s waist with such force that it sliced clean through!

“Ahh…”

The old man cried out in shock as his lower body plummeted straight down into the magma, vanishing in an instant.

A man cut clean in half — could he possibly survive that?

Soon after, his upper body followed, tumbling down as well, leaving behind a miserable, echoing scream that reverberated through the great fire crater.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Baili Weisheng had already seized the other old man, one skeletal black hand — like a sloth’s — hovering right beside the man’s face, clearly preparing to peel off his skin.

Unlike Jun Beiyue’s cold ruthlessness, Baili Weisheng carried more of a wicked playfulness, smiling as he threatened, “Where are they? I’ll only give you one chance — get it wrong, and you’ll bear the consequences yourself!”

The old man went pale with fear and quickly stammered, “Down below — the spot closest to the magma!”

“Very good!” Baili Weisheng smiled, looking utterly harmless, then hurled the old man down with all his might, straight into the magma!

The three of them exchanged a knowing glance. Baili Weisheng stayed put where he was, while Ziqing and Jun Beiyue joined hands and continued on downward.

Sure enough, just as they’d silently anticipated, the moment Ziqing and Jun Beiyue descended, the entire three-zhang-deep rocky zone began sprouting one red-clad figure after another, emerging in droves.

All of them were death-defying warriors unafraid of fire — so many that they could only be described as swarming, densely packed.

This was clearly a case of being unable to win by force, resorting instead to stalling for time, trying to trap Jun Beiyue and Ziqing here until the volcano erupted.

Despicable!

Yet what infuriated Baili Weisheng most of all was that this dense swarm of death-defying warriors, scattered everywhere, all surged downward at once, without a single one of them sparing him so much as a glance!

“This is too much! What exactly did Wanyan Lie teach you people!”

Baili Weisheng roared furiously, his voice sweeping ahead, blocking everyone’s path. “Whoever wants to go down there, come duel me one-on-one first!”

Ha — you foolish scholar, do you really think they’ll come at you one at a time? Wishful thinking!

Nearly a thousand death-defying warriors charged at him all at once. Baili Weisheng blinked in shock for a moment, then formed his hands into venomous claws, and soon his figure was swallowed up in a swirling mass of fiery red and bloody crimson.

Meanwhile, an equally chaotic battle was unfolding up at the summit!

Not long after Ziqing and the others had descended, several thousand death-defying warriors came swarming in from every direction, one wave after another. Xiong Xiaobao, dragging along his remaining massive twin-bladed saber and sword, positioned his small body protectively in front of the group.

The ones truly engaged in the fierce battle were the four great poison beasts!

The four great poison beasts were tied to the world of poison beasts and to the Nanzhao royal family — deploying them was an extremely risky move, so under normal circumstances, they were never used carelessly!

Once deployed, it meant anyone who witnessed them had to be silenced by death, without exception!

Xiong Xiaobao gripped his twin blades tightly while scanning the surroundings. The moment he spotted anyone trying to flee, he immediately commanded the Miser Beast to strike them down.

The commanding presence he exuded was every bit that of a general leading troops into battle!

Watching from behind, everyone found it utterly unbelievable, yet also felt considerably reassured, all hoping fervently that Ziqing and the others would return soon.

Meanwhile, deep within the crater, near the point closest to the magma, Ziqing and Jun Beiyue finally spotted Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian.

But the two of them were bound tightly and pinned at the very edge of the precipice. Though no visible wounds could be seen, both had fallen unconscious, and no amount of calling could wake them!

There was no telling exactly when they’d lost consciousness — but once unconscious, the turtle-breathing technique would fail, and if they’d inhaled too much of the toxic gas, they’d be in grave danger!

Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were both burning with anxiety, yet the red-clad assassin before them showed not the slightest urgency, saying coldly, “Jun Beiyue, take one more step closer, and I guarantee you won’t even recover their corpses.”