Tailed

Crack! The ebony sword easily pared away a thin flake of stone; it truly was far sharper than Kong Xin's Blue Light Sword. Watching the ebony sword display such great prowess, Kong Xin marveled endlessly. "What a fine sword! Every single magic tool Fellow Daoist possesses is extraordinary. Truly, I am in awe!" Qin Sang said impassively, "This poor daoist was merely fortunate to obtain a few handy magic tools, hardly worthy of your praise. If we have to endure a few more perilous places like this, I fear no amount of magic tools will save my life. Wouldn't you agree, Fellow Daoist?" Qin Sang's words were laced with barbs, concealing a subtle warning. Kong Xin gave an embarrassed chuckle, raising his hand to swear an oath to the heavens. "Fellow Daoists, you inspected it earlier—the cave not far ahead is indeed the exit, and you will see proof of it shortly! I harbor no ill intentions whatsoever. I only resorted to this poor tactic out of caution, terrified that word might leak beforehand. If there is a single false word in what I say, I will gladly submit to whatever punishment you see fit! I swear, this is a one-time exception, never to be repeated!" *** The ebony sword danced, slicing away flake after flake of stone. Gradually, specks of light began to gleam on the rock wall. They were chunks of Cold Metal Ore Matrix embedded in orderly disarray, striking and lovely to behold. Qin Sang worked without pause, knocking loose these pieces of Cold Metal Ore Matrix one by one and piling them on the open ground before the group. Thanks to the sharpness of the ebony sword, Qin Sang made swift progress. In less than a quarter of an hour, he had scraped that entire layer of the stone wall clean. By this time, the evil ghosts had only just gathered in force. Although the others had nearly been forced to reveal their trump cards, the situation was still far from critical. Having strength to spare, they urged Qin Sang to keep digging. To their dismay, when Qin Sang went to dig deeper, he discovered that there was only ordinary stone inside—not a single piece of Cold Metal Ore Matrix remained. Reluctant to give up, Qin Sang selected more than a dozen different spots, plunging the ebony sword several fathoms into the rock, only to confirm that there truly was no more Cold Metal Ore Matrix within. This mineral vein had only a single layer! Disappointment washed over the crowd. It was not that they looked down on the harvest; after all, the quantity of Cold Metal Ore Matrix from this single layer was already quite respectable. Divided evenly among everyone present, each person would receive a head-sized portion. Once refined into cold metal, it would fetch a handsome price. It was just that compared to their grand expectations, this amount was far too small, leaving them hard-pressed to feel satisfied. Naturally, the most disappointed was Kong Xin. The others had simply stumbled upon this by chance, so obtaining any Cold Metal Ore Matrix was an unexpected windfall, and their disappointment soon subsided. "Men die for wealth just as birds perish for food. Having only a single layer is for the best, lest everyone be reluctant to leave and end up trapped and exhausted by the evil ghosts. Let's divide these and be on our way..." The cultivator surnamed Bao spoke with a cheerful chuckle. He glanced at the pile of Cold Metal Ore Matrix on the ground, then turned to Kong Xin. "Fellow Daoist, you said earlier that all who saw it would share in it equally. You won't go back on your word, will you?" Pulling himself together, Kong Xin forced a smile and said, "Of course not. However, I didn't exert much effort here; these chunks of Cold Metal Ore Matrix were dug out by Daoist Qingfeng using his treasured sword. We should ask for Daoist Qingfeng's opinion." Qin Sang chuckled. "Without all of you holding off the evil ghosts, no matter how sharp my flying sword is, things would never have gone so smoothly. Let us split it evenly." However, when it came time to divide the spoils, the master-and-disciple pair spoke up, explaining that the disciple's cultivation was low and they lacked the gall to claim two full shares. Seeing how tactful the pair were, the others naturally had no objections. Since the chunks of Cold Metal Ore Matrix were of nearly uniform quality, the group quickly divided them equally and charged toward the cave mouth. By now, evil ghosts swarmed in dense layers outside the cave, turning the entire subterranean cavern into what seemed like a realm of the dead. Uniting their strength, the group fought their way through the encirclement and reached the mouth of the other cave without any fatal mishaps. This time, Kong Xin had not lied. This cave was indeed not a dead end. As for whether it was the true exit, that remained to be seen. Setting up various restrictions to impede the evil ghosts' pursuit while striking down those that caught up, they fought as they retreated. After fleeing for a considerable distance, they finally broke free. "Whew!" The cultivators panted heavily, lingering fear still gripping their hearts. Individually, these evil ghosts were not particularly powerful, but their sheer numbers were staggering—an endless, inexhaustible tide. Fortunately, by taking advantage of the terrain, the party had avoided becoming completely surrounded. It was hard to imagine just how terrifying it must have been when tens of thousands of ghosts had congregated above ground, holding sway over several mountain ranges. Thinking back, the cultivator surnamed Bao had been entirely right. If the mineral vein had been any larger and they had hesitated to leave, delaying until they bordered on exhaustion, someone very well might have perished if a truly formidable evil ghost had suddenly appeared. "Fellow Daoist Kong, keep leading the way! I hope you aren't lying this time!" the woman in red said coldly, glaring at Kong Xin. The others also deliberately positioned themselves around Kong Xin, hemming him in. Kong Xin gave a dry laugh and repeatedly said, "How could I dare! How could I dare! Whether it's true or false, you will all find out shortly..." Kong Xin took the lead, while Qin Sang and Yunyouzi remained at the rear. Before they had traveled far, Qin Sang's figure suddenly paused slightly. An intrigued expression flickered across his face. His gaze swept over the backs of Kong Xin and the others, and after a brief hesitation, he followed along. *** Back in the subterranean cavern. Having lost their quarry, the evil ghosts gradually settled down. Returning to the depths of the cavern, some began tearing into one another, while others resumed wandering aimlessly. Right at that moment, a figure appeared out of thin air. He glanced at the thoroughly excavated cave and let out a cold snort. Employing unknown means, he managed not to disturb the wandering evil ghosts, yet his movements were exceedingly cautious. Hugging the rock wall, he pursued the path the group had taken. What this person did not notice was that within the blood miasma, a zombie lurked among the throng of specters. It seemed slightly unusual, its pitch-black eyes watching him depart the entire time. Like evil ghosts, zombies were inanimate dead things. Blending among these mindless specters, as long as it did not attack, it would not provoke any aggression. Qin Sang had released this zombie amid the chaos when the evil ghosts first attacked, intending to use it as an early warning system in case a specter far beyond their ability to handle appeared from the cavern's depths, giving him a chance to flee. Later, before leaving, he had found no opportunity to retrieve it, so he had simply left it behind. It was only an ordinary zombie, after all, nowhere near as difficult to refine as a baleful corpse. Its greatest utility was serving as cannon fodder to scout ahead; discarding it brought no heartache. Qin Sang had not anticipated that it would yield an unexpected harvest. At this point, he was already quite far from the zombie, and the mental connection had grown extremely faint. Through the zombie, he could only vaguely sense that an uninvited guest was trailing them, unable to discern the person's cultivation level or identity. However, since this person did not dare reveal himself openly and instead resorted to such underhanded tricks, his cultivation was likely not exceedingly high. Was he an accomplice of someone in the group? Or was he a stranger who happened to be taking the same path? Bringing up the rear, Qin Sang silently observed the movements of those ahead, but could not tell who might be suspect. Finding an opportunity, Qin Sang relayed the news of their pursuer to Yunyouzi. Yunyouzi was also rather surprised. Frowning, he scrutinized Kong Xin and the others, unable to make head or tail of the situation.