Chapter 66 - 64: The Ambush

"Run!"

"The Majiang Ferry is just ahead."

"Liuyang River Market is currently safe; there’s a Foundation Establishment master guarding it and a Tier Two array for protection. Once we get there, we’ll be safe!"

The next day, many who had fled from various places began to gather at the Majiang Ferry.

As Li An had predicted, in the catastrophe of the Profound Yang Sect’s collapse, some who managed to escape might be shrewd enough to seek their own path and head elsewhere, but most were accustomed to life within the sect. When the sect fell, they huddled together for warmth and safety, led by inertia, and so they headed towards the Liuyang River Market.

"Where’s the boat? Come quickly..."

"Boatman, come quickly, we need to get to the market!"

But what worried those from the Profound Yang Sect was that the boats originally docked at the ferry had all moved to the center of the river today, several hundred meters from the shore.

The Liuyang River Market was built along the river, and its entrance was the river itself, so one had to take a boat.

Moreover, the market was too far from the Profound Yang Main Sect. To protect the market and prevent intrusion from underwater, the Profound Yang Sect had set up many barriers and deadly traps in the river segments near the market.

Not to mention, the river had rapid currents, many terrifying spiritual qi whirlpools, and was home to ferocious spirit beasts. Only spiritual boats with special runes could safely cross.

That’s why the Liuyang River Market was so impenetrable.

Yet in the middle of the river, the boats remained motionless!

"Husband, what should we do?!"

In the crowd, a beautiful woman with injuries was anxiously speaking up.

She held a sword, her body was already wounded, a young girl with a scared expression closely followed her, and beside her was an elderly-looking man!

This family of three was Mu Qingwan, Chen Cheng, and their daughter, Chen Qingling.

"The pursuing troops of the Demon Sect will soon catch up..."

Chen Cheng was also extremely worried and anxious: "If there’s no boat, we can’t enter the Liuyang River Market; we’ll have to run elsewhere."

They couldn’t stay!

But at that moment, one boat in the river began slowly moving towards the shore, and suddenly, many who were about to leave rushed forward.

"Ferry fee: twenty spirit stones per person, those willing to board, come forth."

The boatman on the boat called out.

On regular days, it would cost only two spirit stones at most, but today these boatmen had raised their prices exorbitantly.

Nearly a hundred fleeing Profound Yang Sect members had crowded the ferry, and more kept arriving, so when everyone heard the price, they didn’t care about the twenty spirit stones and jostled to board the boat.

A small boat could only carry five or six people, and after much shoving, Mu Qingwan’s family couldn’t get on. Watching the boat head upstream, they were filled with resentment.

Yet seeing hope with the ferry, those who were about to leave and flee elsewhere stopped and kept looking towards the river heart, shouting pleas, offering fortunes. After the first small boat left, the second small boat slowly approached.

The boatman haggled again, directly raising the fee to forty spirit stones.

And this time the struggle was even fiercer; some even fought each other to board.

Progress was very slow; a small boat only reached the shore occasionally.

The number of people on the shore grew, exceeding a hundred!

"Why are you still here? The demon cultivators have already arrived, run quickly!"

Just then a few urgently fleeing cultivators rushed to the spot, and seeing the situation, were immediately horrified.

"What? The demon cultivators are coming?"

"Oh no... Boatmen, hurry, I’ll give you a hundred spirit stones!"

"Help us! You damned boatmen, you’re killing us!"

The people at the ferry were utterly panicked.

And those boats in the river, seemingly moved by the pleas and anxiety, unexpectedly all began speeding towards the shore.

"Great!"

"Hurry!"

Everyone was extremely excited.

But in the crowd, Mu Qingwan frowned, "Husband, I have a bad feeling..."

Chen Cheng also secretly gripped a precious treasure, "The spiritual boat has been hit, it won’t fly far... If something goes wrong, you and Qingling run first!"

"No, we leave together!" Mu Qingwan tightly held Chen Cheng’s hand.

"Father, mother, we must stay together..." Chen Qingling, with tears in her eyes, pleaded.

At this moment, many boats reached the shore.

"Great..."

The Profound Yang Sect disciples in the front hurried onto the boat.

But as soon as one boarded, a disciple suddenly let out a sorrowful scream—

The boatman had actually crushed the disciple’s throat!

From that boatman, a faint demonic qi emanated.

The other boatmen acted instantly, catching the Profound Yang Sect disciples off guard as they boarded, hacking them down!

"No... Demon cultivators?!"

"It’s a trap, it’s a trap, run—"

"A Foundation Establishment demon cultivator, there’s a Foundation Establishment demon cultivator here!"

The crowd descended into chaos!

Everyone fled in panic, in total disarray.

But it was at this moment—

Boom!

Suddenly, a great array erupted, and under its force, all the disciples spurted blood and fell to the ground, unable to stand.

"We’re trapped..."

"It’s over, we’re completely done for!"

Screams and cries of anguish filled the air.

"Leave the women for cauldrons, kill all the men—"

The leading "boatman" coldly ordered.

The dozen or so boatmen he led speedily went after the hundred or so Profound Yang Sect disciples—

Although these disciples were not directly killed by the array, they were all seriously injured. Seeing the situation, they were horrified and grabbed their weapons to resist, but were no match for these demon cultivators who were lying in wait. Screams of agony echoed endlessly!

"Run—"

But suddenly, in the crowd, Chen Cheng cried out. He stood up abruptly, eyes bloodshot, and hurled two spirit talismans—

One Tier Two Bursting Talisman, blasting towards the Foundation Establishment demon cultivator.

One Tier Two Breaking Charm, tearing a corner of the array apart!

"Father—"

Chen Qingling, her eyes filled with tears, was already being tightly pulled by Mu Qingwan, who deployed a spiritual boat, activated it instantly, and swiftly flew away—

The others saw and quickly followed, escaping the array.

Boom!

The Tier Two Bursting Talisman exploded, destroying four or five Qi Refining Stage demon cultivators, causing the Foundation Establishment demon cultivator’s face to change as he swiftly activated a magical treasure to shield against its power.

"Kill, leave no one alive!"

Blocking the Bursting Talisman, the Foundation Establishment demon cultivator roared!

He hadn’t expected there to be a "big fish" among the fugitives, with two Tier Two talismans to spare.

The scene was filled with cries of agony, recurring nonstop as the enraged demon cultivators struck with their weapons, unfolding a bloody massacre!

During this process, some of the demon cultivators responsible for driving away others on the periphery also arrived, joining in the slaughter.

Half an hour later.

The ferry was stained red!

Corpses lay everywhere, and the demon cultivators were rummaging through them.

"Commander, we’ve hit the jackpot! The various items on these cultivators add up to worth twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones..."

The Foundation Establishment demon cultivator nodded, "Take half and divide it among the brothers, I’ll bring the other half to our master."

Immediately, the Foundation Establishment demon cultivator collected a pile of storage bags and other items, then said, "Get someone to clean up this area and continue to stake it out, you might still gain more... I’ll head back first."

Having delegated the upcoming tasks, the Foundation Establishment demon cultivator left immediately.

After he left, the group of demon cultivators at the scene busied themselves with destroying the evidence and cleaning up the battle traces, working until dusk, before finally relaxing.

"We’ve hit it big, each of us thirteen brothers can get over a thousand spirit stones!"

"It’s a pity, all because of that bastard tearing a corner of the array, otherwise we could each have gotten at least one cauldron too!"

"We’ll torture him well later... Let’s split the loot first!"

A group of demon cultivators gathered by the ferry, cheerfully dividing the profits.

But just then—

Boom!

The surrounding space suddenly vibrated, and the array’s force burst out instantly.

"What the hell?!"

The dozen or so demon cultivators’ faces changed drastically, shocked to the core.

There was still an array around here?!

...