Chapter 114: Kill Them

A pale purple light shone on Su Che. At first, he felt nothing unusual; instead, it brought a warm, comfortable sensation. Su Che knew well that without the protection of Hei Shi Qing Liu, such light would be deadly to him.
No matter how nervous he was, he had to appear pious on the surface, as he faintly sensed that the statue was observing him.
After a few moments, suddenly, a mental force pierced into Su Che’s mind, as if some mental image was being transmitted to him.
Lao He immediately received this mental image. For him, even if it was harmful, it didn’t matter if he became an idiot—as long as his master’s mind remained unharmed.
After that, the purple light faded, and the female statue slowly closed her eyes before raising her head again, resuming her posture of praying to the heavens.
Su Che was filled with astonishment, but he had no time to think further. His hands were still on the sacred box. So, he gently picked it up. When he looked at the statue again, it showed no reaction at all.
“Thank goodness!”
Holding the box, Su Che stepped back carefully. Seeing that the statue still showed no reaction, he grew bolder. He wandered around, picked up the seven Qi Kun bags left by the ten deceased explorers, and stored them in Xian Yu. Only then did he, still anxious, rush into the stone forest, eager to get as far away from the statue as possible…
Actually, Su Che knew this thought was just self-deception. The statue was clearly inanimate, with only some kind of trap set up. What truly controlled everything was the protective force of the Xiao Mi Immortal Realm, this sacred land of the witch tribe. Perhaps, as Lao He had said before, the protective force here had developed a sense of intelligence, though limited and easily deceived, thinking Su Che to be a true witch.
Also, the ten explorers should have left at least ten Qi Kun bags. But since a few of them were swallowed by giants, their bags turned into black smoke, leaving nothing behind. Finding seven was already quite good.
It wasn’t until they safely left the stone forest that Su Che dared to store the sacred box in Xian Yu. By then, Lao He had already sorted out the mental image transmitted by the female statue.
“It’s a map!”
Lao He explained, “The message it sent to you is a map.”
As he spoke, Lao He transmitted the map to Su Che.

Su Che closed his eyes and carefully examined the map in his mind. This was also a capability of cultivators to visualize mentally—something ordinary people could never do.
The map clearly marked the high mountain and stone forest they were in, with a curved arrow pointing to a palace at the foot of the mountain, seemingly a shrine of the Witch Clan.
Lao He deduced, “It seems this map indicates that you need to go to that shrine.”
“Yes, the meaning is quite clear,” Su Che nodded inwardly. “Whether it’s the intention of that statue or the guardianship force of the sacred place, the goal is for me to go to that shrine.”
“Should we go?” Lao He asked.
“How dare I not! It has made its intentions clear. As a fake witch, I must act according to its will.”
As he spoke, Su Che quickened his pace and rushed downhill. With the map’s guidance, he could at least follow the marked route and run at full speed without hesitation.
During the journey, Lao He selected an area in the Immortal Prison and, using the power of the prison’s ruler, dug hundreds of large holes in the ground. He then transplanted all the fruit trees from the Spirit Treasure Box there.
It was a waste to use such a precious item just for growing fruit trees. Only the Witch Clan would do such a thing.
These were ordinary trees that could grow without spiritual energy, thriving perfectly in the Immortal Prison and providing food for the prisoners.
In fact, these fruits were highly spiritual. In the mortal world, they would be excellent for prolonging life and strengthening the body for ordinary people. Of course, for cultivators, their effects were minimal—eating a basket of them wouldn’t be as effective as a single Bone-Purifying Pill.
At the foot of the mountain, there was an open area, and from afar, one could see a simple-looking temple-like building standing there.
Given how prominent this building was, Su Che guessed that many treasure hunters must have come here.
Sure enough, on the steps outside the temple’s main door, he saw the corpse of a treasure hunter. Judging from the wounds on his body, he had died from the attack of magical artifacts and spells, not from the punishment of the sacred place’s guardianship force.
It seemed this guy had been foolish enough to do something stupid, provoking everyone’s anger, and was killed by a group of people working together.
The temple’s wooden doors had long rotted away, leaving only empty doorframes. However, enough light shone inside—clearly, many people had used lighting crystals there…

Upon reaching the doorway, Su Che first coughed softly as a greeting to those inside, signaling that it was a person coming and urging them not to attack.
Swish!
Dozens of pairs of eyes in the hall turned toward Su Che. Immediately, some recognized him as the one who hadn’t needed rest at the summit and had the courage to be the first to descend the mountain.
“The first person to descend is still alive—this person is no ordinary individual!” Thus, everyone shared the same opinion about Su Che.
There were fifteen people in the hall, divided into two distinct factions. Judging by their clothing, seven were disciples of Lingyao Mountain, and the other eight were disciples of Xuansha Sect.
Both Lingyao Mountain and Xuansha Sect were top sects in the cultivation world. This time, each could send ten disciples. However, after facing the dangers of the Heavenly Ladder and various perils during the descent, both factions must have suffered losses.
Soon, someone sneered, “Hmph, a member of Tianxuan Sect.”
The person who sneered was dressed in a black-and-red robe, the standard attire for inner disciples of Xuansha Sect. Due to their ancient rivals, Xuansha Sect and Tianxuan Sect had remained bitter enemies ever since, only ceasing their conflicts during the period when the Xiaomi Immortal Realm was open. But since Su Che was alone and had encountered a squad from Xuansha Sect, it was certain they wouldn’t treat him kindly.
“A fellow cultivator, come this way,” said another disciple from Lingyao Mountain, waving at Su Che.
Lingyao Mountain had one fewer person than Xuansha Sect. As both were legitimate sects, Su Che’s arrival perfectly compensated for Lingyao Mountain’s weakness.
Su Che nodded and immediately joined Lingyao Mountain’s camp. Of course, everyone knew that any apparent friendship was temporary. With treasures at stake, even fellow sect members might turn on each other and kill without hesitation at critical moments.
Once inside the Xiaomi Immortal Realm, the concept of “morality” could no longer be invoked. Talking about morality there would only lead to being killed in return.
The only thing that mattered was one phrase: Get out alive!
On the wall opposite the main door in the hall were intricately carved strange totems. Below the wall stood a stone platform with three items on it: an axe, a knife, and a bow.
All three items were small and delicate, and it was obvious to anyone that they were magic artifacts capable of changing size.
It was these three artifacts that caused endless disputes and stalemates between the disciples of Lingyao Mountain and Xuansha Sect. If there had been only two or just one more, things might have been different—under equal strength, they could have simply divided them equally.

But with three items, it’s hard to divide them—no one wants to be at a loss, and everyone wants two of them… Plus, they can’t stay in one place for long. In a moment of urgency, just as the Xuansha Sect planned to attack the disciples of Lingyao Mountain, Su Che appeared. Naturally, Su Che became a “variable” in everyone’s eyes.

“Master, there’s no need to look. Those are also three worthless pieces.”

Lao He sensed carefully and immediately came up with an answer. The three magical artifacts on the stone platform were all decaying objects devoid of any spiritual energy; a slight touch would turn them into piles of powder. Only a special spirit like Lao He could accurately detect their lack of spiritual energy.

Su Che nodded inwardly and pondered further, “That statue passed me a map that led me here. There must be a reason for that, but it certainly isn’t for these decaying things. So, what exactly is the purpose?”

As he was guessing, one of the totems on the wall glowed faintly, and Su Che immediately received a mental message. Its content was simple—just repeating four words over and over:

“Kill them!”

“Kill them!”

“Kill them!”

Su Che was shocked. “So they want me to kill these treasure-hunting disciples?”

“What a joke?” Lao He immediately became upset and shouted, “There are fifteen of them! With a combined attack, they could turn you into scraps, Master. You’re alone—how can you kill so many opponents?”

“Kill them… kill them… kill them…”

The mental message kept repeating incessantly, as if it would keep nagging like this unless Su Che agreed.

It would have been fine if it were just nagging, but Su Che knew that if he refused, it was hard to say what other tactics the guardians of the sacred land might use against him.

What puzzled Su Che the most was that, logically, it should be very easy for the guardians of the sacred land to destroy those treasure-hunting disciples. Was it really necessary to use him as a tool?

“Master, it’s possible the guardians of the sacred land see you as an immature sorcerer. They want you to kill humans to temper you and spur your growth,” Lao He snapped. “That guy must be limited in wisdom, always doing foolish things he thinks are right!”

Although Lao He’s guess was somewhat bizarre, Su Che found it quite plausible. Perhaps it was precisely because of a special being like Lao He that he could more easily understand the thoughts of other special beings.

It’s possible that the guardians of the sacred land treat him kindly, but their wisdom is limited, and the trials they assign are too difficult to complete. Lao Hei is right—once he takes action, he won’t be able to withstand even a single attack from those fifteen cultivators at the peak of their skills. “Kill them… kill them… kill them…” The mental impulse kept urging him on. “How could I possibly kill them? It would be more like suicide!” Su Che was extremely troubled and began to worry—what punishment would it impose if he failed to meet its demands?