Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, and said, “I didn’t want to do anything.”

Hua Cheng said: "Then what are you doing with the sword?"

Xie Lian asked, “I… for self-defense?”

Hua Cheng's face was terribly gloomy, and he held on tighter, saying, "How do you want to defend yourself? Put down the sword!"

This was the first time Hua Cheng spoke to Xie Lian in this manner, and Xie Lian was completely stunned. Feng Xin said warily, "Why do you want him to put down his sword? Put him down first!"

A battle axe flew towards him, but Xie Lian quickly raised his sword and chopped it away, saying, “How do I defend myself… Just like this!”

Hua Cheng's expression and tone softened slightly, but he still didn't let him go. He said, "You don't need to defend yourself. Just stand behind me. Put down your sword."

Feng Xin kicked his bow off the ground, picked it up, held it with both hands, raised the bow like a sword, and knocked away a meteor hammer. He became more suspicious: "What do you want to do by holding him like this? Are you really him? Your Highness, besides you, is there anyone else who knows the spiritual password of Xueyu Tanhua? You can't be the only one who knows his password, right?"

After he reminded him, Xie Lian suddenly remembered that Hua Cheng's spiritual password was not only known by the two of them. There was also a third person who had heard it.

Junwu!

In Xianle Palace, he asked Xie Lian to communicate with Hua Cheng in front of him, and he heard it clearly!

However, Xie Lian still felt that the person in front of him must be Hua Cheng himself, but... he seemed to have suddenly thought of something very bad, which was why he had this attitude.

After thinking for a moment, Xie Lian said, “Okay,” and put away his affection.

The next moment, silver light flashed and the scimitar was unsheathed!

As soon as the evil spirit came out, the whole armory was suddenly filled with silver light, sparks continued, and the sound of metal and stone breaking was endless. Xie Lian and Feng Xin were surrounded by the flashing cold light and murderous aura, and they were motionless. After ten sounds, Hua Cheng turned around and sheathed his scimitar. Xie Lian's eyes moved from him to the ground.

All the hundreds of weapons were smashed into powder by E Ming...

Xie Lian squatted on the ground and picked up the two pieces of the sword. He felt a little sad: “These are rare and good swords…”

At this time, Feng Xin said: "Your Highness, the door, it seems there is an extra door!"

Xie Lian put down the fragments, stood up, and said, “So that’s how it is. We need to get rid of these weapons before we can get out.”

Originally, the door could only be opened by killing someone, but Hua Cheng opened it directly with violence. Just as he thought of this, Hua Cheng pulled him out. Seeing his murderous intent, Feng Xin said, "What are you going to do next?"

Xie Lian said, “Of course I’ll go find the Imperial Master and Mu Qing.”

Hua Cheng said calmly: "If Mu Qing really surrenders to Jun Wu, then we will kill him first."

“…”

The three of them left the armory and walked for a while. Xie Lian hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Sanlang, did you think I was going to stab myself with the sword just now?”

Hua Cheng didn't answer, his expression still very bad. Xie Lian said, "I won't."

Hua Cheng glanced at him and said, "Really?"

Xie Lian felt uneasy when he looked at him.

To be honest, in the past, the critical situation might have been resolved like this, but now, it will never happen again.

Xie Lian said, “Yes! I promised you. Besides, there are so many swords and spears, if each of them stabs me, won’t I be stabbed into meat paste? Hahahaha…” After laughing to this point, he couldn’t laugh anymore.

Because, after he said the word "stab", Hua Cheng suddenly stared at him. Xie Lian couldn't describe the look in his eyes, and he couldn't say a word.

After a while, Hua Cheng suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled him into his arms.

Feng Xin was walking at the end, and was shocked: "What the hell? I'm still here???"

Xie Lian blinked, patted Hua Cheng on the back, and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Hua Cheng whispered, "Your Highness, please don't laugh like that."

He hugged Xie Lian tightly and said, “It’s not funny. Really… It’s not funny at all.”

“…”

Thinking back to when he picked up the poisonous skull from the ground and Hua Cheng looked so unhappy, Xie Lian felt sorry and said, “I’m sorry, I won’t joke with you like this again. I just wanted you not to worry, but I didn’t expect it to have the opposite effect.”

Feng Xin seemed to be frightened by this atmosphere. After a moment of confusion, he said, "I... also think it's not necessary? Since he is so serious..."

Hua Cheng finally let go of Xie Lian and said in a deep voice, “Let’s go.”

Without the imperial teacher to lead the way, the three men had no choice but to continue deeper into the palace.

But not long after coming out, Xie Lian noticed something strange in the air.

He said, "Do you feel...it's getting hotter?"

When they first entered the underground palace, it was chilly and cold. But after walking for a while, the air around them seemed to suddenly expand and become much hotter. Feng Xin seemed to feel the same way, but he turned his head, was slightly startled, raised his finger and said, "Your Highness, look behind! There seems to be light."

Just as he said, there was light behind us, slowly approaching.

An unknown light source appeared in the dark underground. This situation was quite strange. Was someone coming?

When the light showed its true colors, Xie Lian finally realized that the air underground had become warmer. It was not his illusion. The suffocating heat was caused by the light.

The red-gold flames and the gurgling bubbles crawled down the slope towards the three people.

The magma outside flowed into the underground palace along the river!

Xie Lian was just thinking that something was wrong when he suddenly felt someone running past him at high speed. He pulled out a silk ribbon with his backhand and said, “Wait a minute! Ask for directions!”

The man narrowly avoided it, and his body paused. Everyone turned around and saw his face clearly with the help of the firelight brought by the flames not far away. Feng Xin shouted, "Mu Qing! You kid, stop!"

Mu Qing would never stand still, and without saying a word, he ran away. As the three were about to chase him, the ground shook violently.

The red-gold magma suddenly came with great force, overflowing the river in the imperial city, and its speed increased greatly, rushing towards the few people!

The three of them were about to be forced to have nowhere to stand, but Xie Lian had encountered this problem before he came in, and now it was just a little more difficult. He said: "Feng Xin, there are many hollow monsters in the magma. They can float up. Step on them to prevent them from sinking!"

After saying that, he spotted a hollow man who was paddling his arms hard in the flames, and jumped up!

As soon as he landed, Xie Lian was delighted. These hollow men seemed to be particularly large. When he stepped on them, they only sank slightly, but they were still able to float on the surface of the flames without falling. As long as they didn't do anything weird, they could be used as light boats!

Feng Xin also spotted one and jumped up, raised his bow and said to the hollow man: "Swim well, don't sink!" The hollow man was threatened by the weapon, so he didn't dare to slack off and worked harder. Hua Cheng just crossed his arms and looked down at his feet. The hollow man then behaved himself and didn't dare to make trouble. He swam at full speed and swam the fastest. Xie Lian put his hands together and negotiated with the hollow man sincerely: "Give me a ride, please give me a ride! I'll burn incense for you later! You don't want incense, right? Just tell me what offerings you want!" The hollow man was obviously very dissatisfied, and waved his arms from time to time to try to drive him off, but Xie Lian was like sticky candy, and he couldn't get rid of him even if he rolled over. Needless to say, the most difficult one to deal with was picked by Xie Lian again!

The three of them rode the monster downstream, as if they were surfing against the wind. The further they went downstream, the steeper the current became, and the faster they went. They also had to avoid obstacles that popped up in the fire stream from time to time. It was a thrilling journey. After a while, they finally caught up with Mu Qing in front of them. Feng Xin said, "Mu Qing! Why are you running!"

Mu Qing also used a hollow man as a floating board and turned around to ask, "Aren't you going to run and wait for you to attack me?"

Feng Xin had a bow but no arrows, so he could only shout, "No siege! First explain why you suddenly disappeared from the armory!"

Mu Qing turned around and sneered: "You guys..."

Before he finished speaking, Xie Lian saw the scene in front of him clearly. His pupils shrank sharply and he shouted, “In front of you!!”

Mu Qing turned around and found that the road ahead had come to an abrupt end.

There should have been an underground fault here, with a huge drop of at least a hundred feet, like a huge cliff.

He didn't expect that this kind of terrain would appear suddenly. In addition, the lava flowed faster and faster as he went down. By the time he reacted, he was caught off guard and flew out!

Mu Qing's figure and the hollow man under his feet disappeared in an instant, and the three people here were about to rush to the edge of the cliff at an unstoppable speed!

At the critical moment, Ruo Xie flew backwards and entangled several times on the flying corner of a palace in the distance, forming a knot. Xie Lian grabbed Ruo Xie with one hand and Hua Cheng with the other, then threw the other end of Ruo Xie to Feng Xin and said, "Catch it!"

With the silk as a tie, the three of them managed to stay still. At this point, the farthest of them was only two feet away from the "cliff". If they were a step later, they would have fallen down. It was like stopping at the edge of a cliff. However, the magma was still rolling down from above. Xie Lian said again: "Hold!"

Ruo Xie quickly shortened the distance and led the three people to the palace. Soon, the three jumped to the top of the palace. This palace is relatively large, so the roof is quite spacious. It is based on stone and is not afraid of lava erosion. Once here, they can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

After calming down a little, Feng Xin stared at the empty "cliff" for a moment, then asked in disbelief: "Mu Qing...did he fall down?"

Xie Lian managed to calm his pounding heart, took a breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, “No!”

Standing at the outermost corner of the palace roof and leaning out, you can see a long knife nailed into the rock on the edge of the cliff.

A pair of hands were tightly grasping the long handle of the long sword. Under those hands was a face that was gritting its teeth and with blood boiling.

At this moment, Mu Qing was in such a terrible position parallel to the magma pouring down like a waterfall.

The fire beads were flying in front of him, and he was really in a critical situation. If he hadn't had a layer of protective spiritual light covering his body to block most of the burning energy, he would have been burned beyond recognition with his head on fire.

But this protective aura will not last long. If he falls into the magma pool, his bones will still turn into gas!

This scene was terrifying. Feng Xin said, "What should we do? Your Highness, can your white silk reach him?"

Xie Lian had already tried, and he took back Ruo Xie, patted off the flames on it, and said, “No! This distance is too far! Ruo Xie is on fire in mid-air!”

Many tiny flames also ignited on Mu Qing's clothes, and the handle of the knife was burning hot, but he still held it tightly, not daring to let go or look down.

As soon as he let go, there was a blazing pool of fire waiting for him below, and the cries of countless hungry and thirsty undead echoed faintly, as if calling the person hanging in the air above, struggling to death, to go down and accompany them.

Mu Qing tightly grasped the hilt of the knife, sweat pouring down his pale forehead. Seeing the three people in the distance, he moved his lips as if he wanted to call for help. However, due to his personality, it was difficult for him to say "help" or "save me".

Furthermore, no matter whether Hua Cheng is capable or not, he probably won’t save him. It’s hard to say about Feng Xin either. The only person left who has hope and the ability to save him, and who can influence the other two, is Xie Lian.

Finally, he struggled to pull himself up, veins popping out of his forehead, and shouted to Xie Lian, “Your Highness!”

Xie Lian was observing his surroundings quickly, and looked at him when he heard this. Mu Qing held his breath for a long time, and shouted with a red face: "...Believe me! Your Highness, you know I am not lying, right? You know I won't really hurt you, right?!"

“…”

He asked Xie Lian this hopefully, as if he had grasped the last straw, but Xie Lian suddenly remembered another picture.

Many years ago at dusk, he also asked Mu Qing in the same hopeful way:

"You know I'm not lying, right?"

How did Mu Qing answer him at that time?

He hadn't thought about these things for hundreds of years, but Mu Qing's question suddenly brought them out of the long-sealed corner.

Once it was turned on its head, countless images and sounds flashed by, and Xie Lian realized that these memories were so clear, it turned out that he had never forgotten them!

Mu Qing didn't wait for his answer. In Xie Lian's unusual silence, he seemed to slowly recall the same scene, and his face gradually changed. It seemed that he also realized that he had said the wrong thing just now, and inadvertently reminded Xie Lian of something that he shouldn't have reminded at this moment.

At this time, Hua Cheng said quietly from behind Xie Lian: "Brother, before you make a decision, I want to remind you of a few things."

Xie Lian finally came back to his senses and asked, “What?”

Hua Cheng said: "First, unless the lava stops flowing, you will risk your life if you go to save him."

But who knows when the lava will stop flowing? The handle of the knife has been burned red, and Mu Qing's hands can't hold it for long, how can he hold it until then?

Xie Lian was silent. Hua Cheng continued, "Secondly, if Mu Qing has already surrendered to Jun Wu, Jun Wu will definitely find a way to remove him from here. But you will be in danger. And this possibility is very high. Think about his actions along the way."

He knocked Feng Xin unconscious, led them into the armory, refused to admit that he had knocked Feng Xin unconscious and even bit back, suddenly disappeared after the riot in the armory, and the lava backflow at the right time led them all the way here.

Now, is he deliberately leading Xie Lian to a dead end?