Chapter 120: Bluffing Them Away

How could this deadlock be broken?

Qin Feiyang racked his brains, deep in thought.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He turned to Feng Ling'er beside him and asked, "Do you have an image crystal?"

Feng Ling'er was also lost in thought. Upon hearing this, she shook her head and said, "No. If I had one, I would have called for help long ago."

"You don't?" Qin Feiyang frowned, puzzled. "Your status in the Martial King Hall is not low; how is it that you don't even have an image crystal?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Do you have any idea how expensive an image crystal is?" Feng Ling'er retorted angrily. "The Treasure Pavilion in Yan City auctions only one every month, and the closing price is at least five million gold coins or more. Even if I sold everything I owned, I couldn't scrape together that much! Besides, if I really had five million gold coins, I’d rather spend them on medicinal pills to strengthen my own cultivation."

"Long hair, short insight," Qin Feiyang remarked with disdain.

The benefits brought by an image crystal were astonishing. For instance, right now, if they had one, they could call for help from the outside and wouldn't be trapped here to die.

"Your hair isn't much shorter than mine," Feng Ling'er scoffed.

"But surely some parts of you are larger than mine?" Qin Feiyang teased with a wicked smile.

"You lecherous scoundrel, take this!" Feng Ling'er froze for a moment, but as soon as she saw the look in Qin Feiyang’s eyes, she understood. Humiliated and furious, she bared her claws and lunged at him.

Qin Feiyang retreated quickly. "A gentleman uses his words, not his fists."

Feng Ling'er chuckled craftily. "I am no gentleman; I am a lady. That trick won't work on me."

Qin Feiyang hurriedly said, "Haven't you heard that one should avoid physical conflict if words can suffice?"

Feng Ling'er giggled, "Then haven't you heard that if you can use your fists, you should avoid using your words?"

Qin Feiyang felt both helpless and bitter. This woman was more troublesome than he had ever imagined. Seeing her about to pounce, his eyes glinted, and he shouted, "Wait! I've thought of a plan!"

"Don't try to change the subject!" Feng Ling'er snapped.

Qin Feiyang grabbed her wrists and said in a low, serious voice, "Stop messing around. I really have a plan."

Seeing his grave expression, Feng Ling'er frowned. "What plan?"

Qin Feiyang leaned into her ear and whispered a few words.

"Will this work?" Feng Ling'er asked, looking skeptical after hearing him.

"Whether it works or not, we have to try, because it's the only way to escape," Qin Feiyang replied.

"Fine," Feng Ling'er nodded.

"I'm going out first," Qin Feiyang said, and vanished instantly.

Outside, Zuo An had not killed Ling Yunfei and the others. Seeing Qin Feiyang appear, he sneered, "Have you thought it through? Hand over the Netherworld Demon Flame!"

"You're overthinking it," Qin Feiyang said dismissively. "I just came out to tell you: if you've got guts, don't run!"

"Hahaha..." Zuo An roared with laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Was this little brat losing his mind? Would he, a dignified eight-star Battle Emperor, ever run? It was absolutely ridiculous.

"Keep laughing. We'll see how long you can keep that up," Qin Feiyang sneered.

Seeing his serious demeanor, Zuo An raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing special," Qin Feiyang shrugged. "Just remember not to run."

"If you won't talk, I'll kill this fatty!" Zuo An reached out, pointing his finger at the fatty's head, battle energy gathering at his fingertip.

Qin Feiyang said coldly, "Kill him, and I still won't tell you."

The fatty cried out, "Boss Jiang, you can't be this heartless! Think of the wild night we had; save me!"

"A wild night?" Zuo An’s face twitched, his expression turning incredibly strange.

"Hahaha..." Lin Chen suddenly clutched his stomach, laughing wildly. He pointed at Qin Feiyang with disdain. "So that's your preference? And you picked such a fat pig? Your twisted taste is truly terrifying..."

Qin Feiyang’s face turned black. The "wild night" the fatty referred to was just drinking at the Spring Breeze Pavilion last night. However, the way the fatty phrased it was so suggestive that both men mistakenly assumed there was a romantic entanglement between Qin and the fatty. Even Qin found the thought disgusting.

"Boss Jiang..." the fatty started again.

"Shut up!" Qin Feiyang bellowed. Anything coming out of that bastard's mouth would surely sound wrong. He didn't want this misunderstanding to deepen.

"Ahem!" Zuo An coughed and barked, "Speak!"

"Don't try to scare me," Qin Feiyang said with contempt. "I will never tell you that we have already notified the King of Yan and the others through an image crystal."

"You idiot, you just said it!" Lin Chen mocked.

However, Zuo An’s face had turned incredibly grim.

"Did I say it?" Qin Feiyang paused. Upon realization, his face changed instantly, and he hurriedly shouted, "I was lying! It's not true, because we don't have an image crystal at all!"

Lin Chen, who was about to continue his mockery, suddenly turned deathly pale. He, too, realized the gravity of the situation. If they had notified the King of Yan, it meant the King and his forces were already on their way.

"Lin Chen," Zuo An asked, "do they have an image crystal?"

Lin Chen pondered for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Jiang Haotian definitely doesn't, and Feng Ling'er didn't have one before. But it's possible the Hall Master of the Martial King Hall gave her one before she left Yan City for the sake of communication."

Zuo An stared fixedly at Qin Feiyang, his eyes flickering. He couldn't tell if this was real or if Qin Feiyang was just trying to scare him.

Qin Feiyang gave an internal cold smile and, with a thought, made Feng Ling'er appear out of thin air.

Immediately, Feng Ling'er pointed at Qin Feiyang’s nose and launched into a furious tirade. "What is wrong with you? How could you let something so important slip? If they run away, our plan to capture them all will be ruined! Why are you so unreliable?"

While scolding him, Feng Ling'er gave Qin Feiyang frantic winks, occasionally glancing at Zuo An and Lin Chen, as if telling him to keep his voice down.

After finishing her rant, Feng Ling'er glanced at the two men and yelled at Qin Feiyang, "What are you doing? Is something wrong with your eyes? Do you want me to gouge them out?"

"My dear lady!" Qin Feiyang sounded desperate. "I know I let it slip, but I already told them we didn't have an image crystal, and they were almost convinced. But now that you've yelled like this, it's impossible to hide it anymore!"

"Oh..." Feng Ling'er exclaimed, turning to Zuo An and Lin Chen, waving her hands. "I was just talking nonsense earlier! We really don't have an image crystal, please don't worry."

"Right, right, we were just babbling," Qin Feiyang nodded frantically, then grabbed Feng Ling'er and pulled her into the ancient castle.

Once inside, both burst into mischievous laughter.

"I didn't realize you were such a good actor," Qin Feiyang said.

Feng Ling'er acted like a proud princess. "Of course. I am a master of all trades."

Qin Feiyang rolled his eyes. This person couldn't handle a compliment; once praised, her tail would shoot straight up.

"Do you think they'll fall for it?" Feng Ling'er asked.

"They should. Our performance didn't have a single flaw," Qin Feiyang replied, listening carefully to the movements outside.

Outside, Lin Chen was trembling, his face pale with terror. He looked at Zuo An and asked, "Master, what should we do? If the King of Yan and the others arrive, we're done for!"

"What are you panicking about?" Zuo An scolded, though he was just as anxious. Although he had reached the eight-star Battle Emperor level, he lacked confidence against the major powers of Yan City. Unless he broke through to the nine-star level, which was impossible in such a short time.

"Master," Lin Chen urged, "Feng Ling'er must have an image crystal. We should leave!"

"Let me think," Zuo An muttered, falling into deep contemplation. The boy had been so confident, not like he was lying. Later, he had let it slip and then tried desperately to deny it. Finally, Feng Ling'er had appeared and scolded him with such genuine-looking anger. It seemed to be true!

No! Before reaching the nine-star Battle Emperor level, he could not afford to fight the four old dogs of Yan City. He looked at Lin Chen and said in a deep voice, "As long as the green hills remain, there will be firewood to burn. We are retreating!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Chen nodded repeatedly, overjoyed. This was the moment he had been waiting for. But suddenly, he frowned. "What about the Netherworld Demon Flame?"

Zuo An sneered, "Let him keep it for now. Sooner or later, I will take it back!"

"What about those three?" Lin Chen asked, looking at Ling Yunfei and the others.

Zuo An glanced at the trio. "I was planning to recruit some followers. Their aptitude is decent; I'll keep them as my servants."

With that, he grabbed Lin Chen with one hand and the iron chain with the other, soaring into the air.

At that moment, Qin Feiyang appeared again. Wielding the Cangxue, he kicked off the ground, using the momentum to leap ten meters high to the iron chain. He swung the Cangxue with all his might, and with a resounding metallic clang, the chain snapped!

He immediately grabbed the loose end of the chain and vanished again.

The sudden turn of events left Zuo An and Lin Chen stunned.

"How is this possible?" Zuo An muttered, looking at the chain in his hand. "This was forged from black meteorite iron. Even I would need to use my full strength to break it. He snapped it with one strike of that blade! Am I dreaming?"

He realized the dagger must be a divine weapon.

"Jiang Haotian, wait for me. I will definitely find you in Yan City!" he whispered to himself before flying away with Lin Chen, quickly exiting the inner space.

Boom!

Moments later, a thunderous explosion shook the mountaintop. Eagle Claw Peak began to tremble violently. Cracks spread across the entire mountain like a spiderweb. It was clearly the precursor to a mountain collapse.