Chapter Ninety-One: Grudge-Bearing

Father! Countless memories flooded into Qin Feng’s mind. He remembered many things, and he remembered why he was here.

The image was being broadcast for all to see. Yun Qing caught sight of the young man in it, with thick brows and bright eyes, brimming with vitality.

At that moment, the room door was closing, and one of Qin Feng’s legs was still stuck in the doorway.

His aura changed in an instant. The leg about to be caught turned into a blade, gathering spiritual power to strike at the closing door.

When the door had first refused to open, Qin Feng had been unable to move this room at all. Now that he was wedged in the doorway, he could finally damage it.

Yun Qing, standing nearest his leg, sensed the change in his aura most keenly. She retreated again and again until she had withdrawn beyond the range of his body; only then did that suffocating pressure ease somewhat.

Qin Feng’s movements were brutally violent, yet the name above his head remained the white one: Qin Feng.

Through the gap in his body, Yun Qing could see that the door was no match for Qin Feng at level seventy-one. Even the wall around it had begun to crack. It would probably not be long before this room, like the others, was reduced to a gaping hole of more than ten meters across.

Yun Qing had just seen the projection and heard the name Father from Qin Feng’s mouth, which meant that Qin Yan was very likely his descendant, and they had both been trapped in the outer demon laboratory.

As Yun Qing imagined the outer demons wiping out Qin Feng’s entire family, Qin Feng had already carved out a huge opening and stepped fully into the room.

Carefully, he put away the memory stone and jade slip he had already inspected. Then several of his legs hooked up the metal fragments that had been smashed loose, and he stuffed them into his mouth one piece after another in orderly fashion. He needed to replenish his strength.

The memory stone contained Yan’er’s information; the jade slip contained his secret records.

Those secrets seemed to be Yan’er’s understanding of him, and a bad feeling rose in his heart.

It was also this jade slip that brought back many long-forgotten things.

The outer demons possessed such a jade slip; no wonder that when he came to save Yan’er, he had been captured so easily.

In the world of cultivators, once one was captured, unless one blew out one’s own soul on the spot, there were no secrets that could remain hidden. Although Yan’er had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage and had not formed a soul, cultivators could still use soul-searching to uncover the secrets buried deepest in his memory.

Those below Foundation Establishment would die from soul-searching. Those above it, having formed a sea of consciousness and a soul, would have their souls damaged and be driven mad.

Thinking that Yan’er might be soul-searched to death, Qin Feng’s will to survive grew even stronger. The thought that he must remain rational at all times now overwhelmed the soul already gnawed by Soul Devouring Insects. Even the soul of the Crimson Iron Spirit Insect, with which he had fused, was at an absolute disadvantage at this moment.

In the past, he had deeply resisted the fact that he was no longer human. Whenever he had to swallow the food of those inhuman creatures, his body’s instincts would take over, devouring it to sustain itself and keep him alive.

Now, he wanted nothing more than to leave this place alive, to avenge Yan’er. He was willing to do anything.

Qin Feng glanced at Yun Qing not far away. If only she had Foundation Establishment cultivation, he might try to risk everything and escape this body by seizing her.

Alas, Yun Qing was merely an acquired martial artist, no different from a mortal.

The exhausted Foundation Establishment cultivator Xiao Haoran, trapped at the peak of exhaustion: thank you, Eight Desolations Immortal-Trapping Array.

After a clatter of banging and crashing, Qin Feng came out of the room and said to Yun Qing, "Let's go."

Yun Qing looked back. The room that had once been neat and intact was now, like the others, covered everywhere in slash marks, with nothing left but splinters of the wooden cabinet and a few fallen glow stones.

She, who had nearly burned through all the firewood, entered the room, put all the fragments and glow stones into the system backpack, and followed behind Qin Feng.

Of course, the mud bricks at the doorway that she had used as a stepping stool, and that Qin Feng had ground into rubble, could not be taken back.

All the way, Yun Qing did not dare ask who Qin Yan was. Qin Feng had not even told her his own name.

The two of them came once more to the end of a passage. As before, a wall that Qin Feng could not break blocked their way.

"Miss Yun Qing, please take a look and see whether you can open it." Unlike his earlier brusque manner, Qin Feng’s tone this time was exceedingly polite.

Yun Qing, relying entirely on the system prompt, stepped forward and said, "This junior will try."

System prompt: password lock.

She guessed another calculation would be needed, so Yun Qing said, "Please wait, Senior. This junior will first inspect it."

Qin Feng extended one limb and sent a courteous message: "Miss Yun Qing, there is no need to hurry. Please proceed."

System prompt: six-digit password lock.

Six empty slots appeared on the wall. She did not know what encryption method had been used, so Yun Qing waited quietly for the system to decipher it.

System prompt: the password is in another room. Checking the other rooms.

Very quickly, a 1 appeared in the third slot, and a 2 in the sixth. Then the digits appeared one by one in an irregular fashion, completing the six-digit code: 141592.

Seeing this password, Yun Qing could not help complaining silently to Liuliu in her mind: "Liuliu, isn’t this just 3.1415926535... Couldn’t it be done without all this trouble?"

Liuliu said, "If you ask, I won’t calculate next time."

"Sorry to disturb you, System Lord. Please do calculate next time as well."

System prompt: enter the password according to the hints.

The numerals here were not the modern Arabic digits; 1 was represented by one dot, 4 by four dots, and so on. Yun Qing quickly tapped out 1415926 in the prompt box.

With a thunderous rumble, the wall rose from bottom to top like a rolling shutter. What opened was not a door-sized entrance, but the entire wall lifting upward.

"Qin Feng’s favorability toward you has increased by 20."

As soon as the wall moved, Qin Feng’s voice transmission sounded: "Miss Yun Qing, you truly are a genius of formations. May I ask under whose tutelage you studied?"

Qin Feng was not some ancient monster imprisoned for countless years. With such a high level, he must surely be famous throughout the cultivation world. Deceiving him would not do. Yun Qing said, "This was all by chance. This junior does not know what kind of formation this is either; I only felt, in some inscrutable way, that I should do it."

Qin Feng praised her, "Miss Yun Qing truly is gifted beyond measure."

"Qin Feng’s hatred toward you has increased by 10."

Yun Qing rolled her eyes inwardly. He did not believe her, and after praising her, he still had to suspect her. Truly, those who speak well of others may not be sincere at all.

She could only complain to the system spirit: "Liuliu, if his favorability rises a little more, and he stops generating hatred toward me, then he and I could actually play together quite happily."

"Yes. Without hatred value, once favorability rises to friendly, you can team up and farm this instance together."

Cultivators were suspicious and inexplicably volatile in their emotions. Since she would encounter this kind of situation again in the future, Yun Qing asked, "As long as hatred value exists, you cannot team up?"

"Yes. Once hatred value is generated, teaming up becomes impossible."

Yun Qing clicked her tongue silently. The system was really petty; even apologies could not earn forgiveness. Those it had come to hate could never again play happily together, no matter how well they later behaved.

The wall had already opened halfway. This time, beyond it was no longer a room, but a vast expanse of empty land. There were no plants on the ground. Glow stones had been placed every few meters, bringing light to the barren earth. Above, darkness stretched away to an unseen height.

In front of the land stood a wooden sign bearing a special symbol. The system translated the text: No. 3 Herb Field.