What to do if you receive the wrong package?

Chapter 144 Is he friend or foe?

In an instant, flames soared into the sky, and smoke filled the air. A series of piercing screams echoed from the swarm of snakes. Some were struck by the fireballs and instantly exploded into a bloody mist. However, this did not deter the snakes; instead, it enraged them even more. Countless snakes writhed wildly, lunging towards the group. Venom and blood splattered everywhere, and a suffocating stench filled the air.

"Ah! A swarm of snakes is attacking!"

"Quick, back off!"

Some disciples were bitten by snakes and collapsed to the ground, while others wildly brandished their swords. Amidst the smoke, the disciples were in complete chaos.

Yun Hailong shouted, "Don't panic, hold your ground!"

But the situation became increasingly out of control, with the snakes growing denser and seemingly endless.

Su Huaiqi covered her mouth and nose, looking at the flames shooting into the sky around her, and suddenly realized that this was a good opportunity to escape. While everyone was busy fighting the snakes and had no time to pay attention to her, she quietly moved to the side.

However, she had only taken a few steps when a hand gripped her arm tightly. Su Huaiqi's heart tightened, and when she turned around, she saw that it was one of her direct disciples.

I'm so annoyed, I just praised you guys for nothing.

Su Huaiqi gritted her teeth, trying to break free from her disciple's grasp, but the hand held her tightly like an iron clamp. Just as Su Huaiqi was about to release Xiao Hei to "help," she saw the familiar man in black swiftly cleave the two leaping snakes in two with a single sword stroke, also killing the disciple who was holding her in the process.

The rescue came so quickly that I didn't have time to react.

Su Huaiqi's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the man in black before him with some confusion. This was...

Accidentally killed someone?

The man in black kept waving his long sword in his left hand to fend off the swarm of snakes, while his other hand appeared on Su Huaiqi's back. Instead of grabbing her, he pushed her.

The push instantly woke Su Huaiqi. She glanced at the man in black with a complicated look in her eyes, but she didn't have time to think too much. She turned around and continued running towards the stone door on the other side.

As the heavy stone gate drew ever closer, Su Huaiqi was filled with joy. However, at this critical moment, she suddenly heard a sharp whooshing sound behind her. Immediately afterward, she felt a piercing pain in her left shoulder. A sharp arrow had pierced straight into her left shoulder, the arrowhead deeply embedded in her flesh. Blood gushed out instantly, staining her clothes red.

"Damn it! Who has time to care about me at a time like this!" Su Huaiqi couldn't help but curse. She winced in pain and quickly looked back. She saw the man in black who had just pushed her holding a bow and arrow, about to shoot a second arrow at her.

No way! This guy's crazy!

Is he friend or foe? What are he up to?

Su Huaiqi roared inwardly, but dared not relax for a moment. He endured the pain and pushed the door open with all his might. Just as he pushed the door open a crack, the man in black's second arrow came and pierced through Su Huaiqi's right calf again. Su Huaiqi's legs went weak, but fortunately the gap was big enough that he fell directly into the door.

"Hiss..." Su Huaiqi looked at the arrow stuck in her leg, gritted her teeth, and pulled the arrow out. Blood immediately stained her shoes and socks.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Su Huaiqi muttered softly as she deftly tore another strip of cloth from the hem of her skirt and quickly wrapped it around the wound.

But now is not the time to rest. She is only one door away from the Yun family father and son, and with the troublesome men in black, Su Huaiqi took a deep breath and touched her wildly beating heart. However, this touch aggravated the wound on her back.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Su Huaiqi couldn't help but groan again. Perhaps the smell of blood on his body was too strong, because the little black snake on his wrist kept hissing at Su Huaiqi.

After Su Huaiqi stood up using the stone door, she tapped the little black snake's cold head, a faint smile appearing on her pale face. Then she limped towards the ruins, hoping to see Uncle Chen and the others before Yun Hailong and his son.

The two arrows from the man in black also served as a reminder to the Yun father and son, who were struggling against the snakes. Yun Xiaohan noticed Su Huaiqi disappear behind the door and immediately shouted to Yun Hailong, "Father, the one who led the way has escaped! What do we do now?"

Yun Hailong frowned deeply, forming a deep "川" shape. He looked solemnly at the disheveled disciples around him, then at the stone gate that was so close at hand. He gritted his teeth and said decisively, "Retreat! As long as we're alive, we can always rebuild."

Upon hearing this, everyone fought and retreated, heading towards the other side of the stone gate. When they had all retreated to the other side of the stone pillar, the snakes that had been attacking frantically gradually calmed down and slowly retreated to the edge of the open space. All that could be seen were pairs of green eyes and hissing cries.

Yun Xiaohan looked at the scene before him with some surprise. "Father, this..."

"Being protected by the snakes like this, the stone gate is most likely the great formation we're looking for. However, we'll need to figure out how to get in." Yun Hailong narrowed his eyes, looking at the dark stone gate not far away.

"Hmph, this defeat is all the fault of that woman in charge. If she had warned us first, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state. In my opinion, she deliberately led us into the snake swarm," Yun Xiaohan said angrily.

Yun Hailong stood aside, his face grim. "Hmph, trying to run? I'll see where she can run to. My men are everywhere outside; I'll make her pay the price."

On the other side, Su Huaiqi, who had entered the stone gate earlier, knew that Yun Hailong would not let him go, so he endured the pain and returned to the ruins where he had started.

After entering the ruins, although there were far fewer disciples than before, there were still groups of three or five disciples from Weiyu Tower patrolling and guarding the area.

"Wait, why are you back? What happened?" A sharp-eyed disciple spotted Su Huaiqi immediately, but seeing Su Huaiqi covered in blood, he stopped him and asked.

Su Huaiqi stumbled and fell to the side of the patrolling disciples, pretending to cry out, "Help! Someone, please save your Lord Yun and Young Master! They... are surrounded by snakes!"

Upon hearing this, the disciple was immediately shocked and quickly supported Su Huaiqi. "What did you say? The sect leader and the young sect leader are surrounded by snakes? How is that possible!"

With tears streaming down her face, Su Huaiqi secretly touched the blood on her leg and then imprinted her bloody handprint on her disciple's clothes. "It's true! Hurry up! If it weren't for Master Yun and the others working so hard to hold back the snakes so I could risk my life to run back and report, how could a weak woman like me have escaped? Hurry up and save them, or it will be too late!"

At this moment, the surrounding disciples gathered around, and upon hearing the news, everyone looked panicked.

"Quickly, gather everyone, come with me to rescue the Lord!" The disciple being held by Su Huaiqi shouted to those around him, straining his neck.

"Wait a minute, you're not a disciple of Weiyu Tower, so why would the tower master send you to deliver a message?" One of the more senior disciples looked at Su Huaiqi with some suspicion, as if trying to find a flaw in her face.

"Because there are too many snakes! Everyone except me went to kill the snakes. Besides, if I wanted to escape, why would I run to your doorstep?" Su Huaiqi cried, tears streaming down her face, seemingly trying to gain some sympathy with her weakness. "If you still don't believe me, you can send two people here to watch me, and then send two more to investigate. I'm afraid that if you go back and forth like that, the lives of Master Yun and the young master will be in imminent danger."

The older disciples dared not gamble with the lives of Yun Hailong and his son, so they had no choice but to follow Su Huaiqi's instructions, leaving two disciples to watch over her while the others quickly formed a group and hurriedly set off towards the tunnel.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Su Huaiqi shrank back, a sly glint in his eyes. Then, after cautiously looking around, he discovered that Uncle Chen and the others were no longer in the ruins; they had been moved somewhere by Yun Hailong's disciples.

Su Huaiqi mentally assessed the time and felt that she didn't have much time left. As most of the disciples' figures along the passageway gradually became blurry, Su Huaiqi swiftly drew the feathered arrow from her left shoulder and pierced the throat of the disciple guarding her.

The blood of the guarding disciple splattered all over Su Huaiqi's face, but she didn't care at all. Her eyes were full of indifference. She quickly picked up the sword on the ground and stabbed at another guarding disciple. After a few rounds, she barely managed to kill the other disciple with her sword.

Su Huaiqi dared not linger for a moment. Carrying his sword, he limped toward the center of the ruins, where Uncle Chen had pulled open the copper ring.

It was only a few steps, but it was extremely difficult for Su Huaiqi, who had lost too much blood and was only able to hold on by sheer willpower. When he finally reached the destination, Su Huaiqi's legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground. He shook his dizzy head, raised his hand to wipe his blood-covered face, and then wiped his dirty hands on his body before taking the jade pendant out of his pocket.

The thin jade pendant felt slightly cold in his hand. Su Huaiqi tremblingly held the jade pendant and inserted it along the mechanism when he heard Yun Xiaohan's angry curses behind him.

"You filthy bitch, how dare you play tricks on our Weiyu Tower! I'll kill you!"

She came back quite quickly; it seems she needs to speed things up as well.

Ignoring the Yun family father and son who were angrily walking towards her from behind, Su Huaiqi focused on the mechanism in front of her. After inserting the jade pendant, Su Huaiqi tried to turn it, but the entire mechanism did not move at all.

Could it be that this mechanism wasn't solved using the jade pendant?

Huh? Then why are the jade pendant and the mechanism so perfectly aligned?

The more he thought, the dizzier he became. Su Huaiqi could no longer hold on, so he lay down on his side next to the mechanism, his mind racing with random thoughts. "It's over," he thought, "I'm probably going to die here this time."

Unseen by Su Huaiqi, blood slowly seeped from the wound on his left shoulder, flowing gently and eventually seeping into the mechanism.

“It seems we don’t need Shao Lou to take action.” The man in black who had been quietly following behind him glanced at Su Huaiqi, who was lying motionless beside the ruins, and spoke up, a rare occurrence for him. His voice was deep and cold, as if carrying a chill.

"Hmph, serves her right, let her escape." Yun Xiaohan paused, stopped walking, and casually waved to the disciple behind him, his tone full of indifference, "Go and see if he's dead."

"Why go through all this trouble?" The man in black shook his head slightly, a ruthless glint in his eyes. Without another word, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming steadily at Su Huaiqi. Then, he released his grip, and the arrow, like a black lightning bolt, pierced the air and hurtled towards Su Huaiqi.