Chapter 27

Of course, there was another way to get the key, which was to move the cage to the body.

This required the cooperation of everyone in the cage. They could flip the cage over or lift it by stepping through the cage holes, but the cage was too heavy, and he was with a group of "pigs." It was too difficult to work together with these people to move the cage. He estimated that before he could get the key, the second wave of lethal attacks would have already begun.

So he didn't count on these scholars and decided to act alone.

He quietly drew his sword behind the others, slowly extending it outside, then squatted down to observe their reactions. When no one was paying attention, he suddenly reached out and grabbed a large rock, flicking his wrist to throw it out.

Bang! Another rock hit the cage, and the people inside were instantly frightened into silence, covering their ears and staring at the sky.

Ying Qing took this opportunity to reach out and grab the sword he had placed outside, then threw it out.

Swish! The sword cut the guard's waist belt, and the key hidden inside indeed fell out.

"Was it just one rock?"

"This rock is too small, and the impact seems weak."

They were all experienced people.

The scholars stared at the sky and started chattering, with some even poking the rock with their hands, trying to move it, as it had not shattered upon impact.

Ying Qing looked back at their reactions, then touched the broken stones outside, flicking one to hit the key on the body, making it jump to the ground.

Hearing the crisp sound, someone glanced over, but the fog obscured their view, and no one noticed anything unusual.

Ying Qing waited until their attention had passed, then picked up a large rock and threw it in front of the key. He then pretended to be picking up pebbles, carefully selecting the right one. After finding a suitable one, he glanced back at the others and suddenly flicked the carefully chosen small rock.

The small rock hit the large rock, deflecting and bouncing to hit the key, immediately sending it flying toward him and landing nearby.

Ying Qing acted as if nothing had happened, feeling relieved. The key was now within reach, and he could grab it and run if the situation turned bad.

However, before he could relax, his eyes widened at the swirling fog around him. Without a word, he extended his arm with the scabbard, reaching out to grab the key on the ground.

At such a close distance, with his cultivation, he could use his powers to attract the key, but he needed to explain why the key was there.

Someone in the cage immediately noticed and asked, "Brother Shiheng, what are you doing?"

Ying Qing simply replied, "It looks like the key to the carriage door fell on the ground."

"Ahh?" The group immediately crowded over to look.

The carriage was low, and they couldn't stand up straight. Squatting, Ying Qing rolled his eyes, his body pressed against the cage bars. He wanted to curse but held back, as he couldn't be sure if they would all die here. He politely smiled and said, "Gentlemen, how can I pick it up with all of you crowding around?"

The people in front realized something was wrong and shouted, "Don't crowd, don't crowd."

After the crowd moved back, Ying Qing managed to grab the key and immediately reached out to unlock the door. It took some effort because the cage was deformed.

As soon as the door loosened, Ying Qing pushed it open and was the first to step out. The cage was on the ground, so he had to climb a step to get out.

The others followed, cheering. Ying Qing picked up his sword and sheathed it, hearing the sounds of battle from the mountains. He didn't dare stay and quickly disappeared into the fog.

The others continued to cheer, even finding nearby cages to celebrate, seemingly boasting to the people inside, "Look, we're out!"

But their joy was short-lived. The commotion attracted several gray-robed men, one of whom pointed at them and shouted, "Who let you out? Get back in!"

The group was stunned. If they were soldiers, they might have argued, but with the people from the Sounan Mansion, they could only feel resentful and helpless.

They were forced back into the cage, and a gray-robed man locked the door and took the key away.

"Ah!" The seven people who were locked back in sighed.

As they moved around in the cage, they realized something was wrong. One of them counted the people in the cage and exclaimed, "Brother Shiheng didn't come back in?"

"Hmm, that's right, where did he go?"

The seven people looked at each other, speechless. How could this happen? They all turned to look out through the bars.

Where could Ying Qing have gone? Naturally, he was thinking of escaping. As the head of Linglong Temple, he couldn't die here. He needed to find a safe place to hide and ensure his survival to take the exam.

Of course, before he could run, he had to do one thing: take his twenty pounds of spirit rice.

That was over two thousand taels of silver, his own, and he couldn't abandon it.

He didn't know which carriage contained the spirit rice, but Chong'er should know. However, Chong'er's fate was unknown, so he had to search each carriage.

The gruesome scene along the way made him frown.

Not far ahead, a large iron cage blocked the road. Just as he was about to go around it, he heard a familiar voice call out, "Brother Shiheng!"

Ying Qing turned and saw Xu Fei, along with a few others he recognized, all in the same cage. Su Yingtao had a bloody head, wrapped in a cloth, and his face was covered in blood, clearly injured by flying debris.

Most importantly, he noticed a gray-robed man in the cage. Ying Qing's eyes lit up. This was smart; the man had locked himself in the cage to avoid the attack. Compared to those who died, this man was clever.

Xu Fei called out happily, "Brother Shiheng, how did you get out?"

This question immediately caused a problem. The gray-robed man pointed at Ying Qing and said, "Who let you out? Get back in!"

Ying Qing knew it was bad. He pointed randomly and said, "Someone over there let me out." Then he disappeared into the fog.

The gray-robed man immediately took out the key, unlocked the door, and quickly chased after Ying Qing.

He didn't chase far when the gray-robed man suddenly stopped, trembling and looking down at himself.

A sharp blade had pierced through his chest from his ribcage.

The attacker was none other than Ying Qing, who had crouched behind the broken carriage boards.

Without hesitation, he decisively killed the man from the Sounan Mansion!

The gray-robed man's eyes were full of disbelief. It didn't matter if Ying Qing had the skills to attack; what mattered was that he couldn't believe a scholar would dare to kill him. They had no grudges, and the man had shown no intention of killing him. Why?

"You..." The gray-robed man managed to gurgle before Ying Qing pulled out his sword and slashed his throat, shaking off the blood and sheathing the sword, watching the man fall to the ground.

Ying Qing hadn't intended to kill him, but the man shouldn't have chased him or tried to lock him back in the cage, which was as good as killing him.

The attack clearly showed that the killer was well-prepared and had planned thoroughly.

Given the bloody and tragic scene along the way, he couldn't risk going back to the cage. His cultivation wasn't high, and he couldn't sit and wait to die. He had no choice but to kill and quietly dispose of the man, which was the best solution.

Footsteps approached, and Ying Qing gripped his sword. Xu Fei's voice called out, "Brother Shiheng? Brother Shiheng, where are you?"

Ying Qing immediately flipped the carriage boards to cover the gray-robed man's body and jumped over to intercept Xu Fei, who was walking through the fog. He whispered, "What are you shouting for?"

Xu Fei, holding a knife, was taken aback and looked around. "Did the guard on my carriage give you any trouble?"

Ying Qing had thought about silencing him but felt embarrassed when he heard this. It turned out Xu Fei was worried about him. He lied, "I didn't see anything."

Xu Fei was puzzled but didn't think much of it, assuming they had been separated in the fog. He asked, "Where are you going?"

Ying Qing couldn't say he was looking for the spirit rice. "I'm worried about Chong'er, I'm going to check on him." He immediately regretted saying this.

Xu Fei's expression turned serious, and he immediately ran forward.

Ying Qing wanted to slap himself for choosing this reason. He quickly caught up to Xu Fei, pulling him in a circle to avoid the gray-robed man's body and hiding it in a ditch by the road, avoiding several passing soldiers.

"Learn from this. If we keep wandering around, the guards will lock us back in the cage." Ying Qing said, holding the knife that had almost hit his face. "You, a scholar, carrying such a large knife in the carriage?"

Xu Fei whispered, "To be honest, I've been worried about trouble on the road, so I never let the knife leave my side."

Ying Qing raised an eyebrow. He also never let his sword leave his side! It turned out Xu Fei had known about the chaos and hadn't mentioned it. He felt a bit annoyed but then realized he hadn't told Xu Fei anything either, so he let it go.

Since Xu Fei was aware, things would be easier. Without a word, he took off his scholar's robe, found a soldier's body, and quickly put on the soldier's clothes.

Xu Fei understood immediately. The demons targeted scholars, not soldiers. He followed suit and whispered, "Clever, we can pretend to be dead if necessary."

Pretend to be dead? Ying Qing was speechless. He had changed clothes not to pretend to be dead but to avoid being pursued by the demons and to find the spirit rice without drawing attention.