This was the mandatory path to escape the Shackling Prison—a stone bridge suspended over the abyss.
Below the stone bridge lay the depths. If one fell from here, it would only take a mere ten seconds or so to plummet straight down to Hoolay's cell.
"Hanya, Xueyi, are you two ready?" Sushang took a deep breath and asked.
Xueyi nodded expressionlessly, enunciating each word: "Rea, dy, to, go."
Hanya: "..."
Having received the expected responses, Sushang drew the sword from her waist and shouted loudly: "Ten thousand swords, descend from the heavens!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The sword in Sushang's hand instantly split into countless blades. They dove down like swift raptors, piercing toward the first wave of prisoners charging at the forefront.
"Graaah—!"
A large batch of prisoners were struck and fell, but even more prisoners trampled over their bodies and surged forward. For them, being locked in this sunless hellhole for centuries was worse than risking it all against these three girls who looked soft and weak!
As long as they took them down, they could regain their freedom!
After all, some birds were born to be uncaged, because their feathers were just too flashy!
Seeing this, Xueyi stiffly stepped forward and said: "Han, ya, fol, low, me, to, block, the, bridge."
Hanya: "..."
Xueyi spread her arms wide. Unlike ordinary people, her original flesh body had long been destroyed; only her consciousness remained preserved in the Jade Abacus database. The body she used now was merely a mass-producible puppet.
So, modifying a puppet a bit shouldn't be a problem, right?
Click clack—
The components on Xueyi's body deformed in a series of shifts. In just a few breaths, dozens of gun barrels and cannon ports extended out, and she began an indiscriminate bombardment against the horde of prisoners!
This thing was way more useful than swords!
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
In any case, for the prisoners to escape the Shackling Prison, they had to cross the stone bridge underfoot. So Xueyi had no intention of conserving ammo at all—her mind held only one basic logic: I dare to pour bullets like water; do you dare to catch them like water?
"Graaah—!"
Another large batch of prisoners fell. This time, under the dual firepower blockade, the advancing speed of the subsequent prisoners clearly slowed by a notch, but they still pressed forward steadily thanks to their numerical advantage.
Hanya stiffly turned her head toward Sushang, opened her mouth, and spoke for the first time: "...I'm ready."
With that, she slowly drew a brush from her bosom and pointed it at the prisoners before her. In an instant, the prisoners' souls seemed to be sucked out from their bodies by the brush, firmly bound to it.
At the same time, those prisoners seemed to see these words floating above their own heads: Please destroy the brush as soon as possible to reduce the enemy leader's ultimate damage.
The prisoners: ???
The brush in Hanya's hand swelled and grew at a visible speed, nearly piercing through the entire Shackling Prison. It was at this moment that Hanya swung it down in a single stroke, and a terrifying power instantly ravaged through the pile of prisoners.
Rumble rumble—
...
Below, Qingque watched contentedly as prisoners plummeted one by one from above and said: "How about it? My three subordinates are pretty decent, right? They're all 'carefully selected' seedlings by me—exceptional talents."
Huaiyan gazed up at the three and nodded slightly: "They do have abilities, it's just a shame they lack a bit of that muscular aesthetic. Out in the Zhuming, even the little girls..."
Jing Yuan hurriedly interrupted him: "Lord Huaiyan, let's head up first and check on the juniors' situation. Holding the Shackling Prison with just three people will definitely wear them out—come on, let's go..."
The four entered the central elevator one after another. But in some unknown shadowy corner, Mok Tok's sinister gaze watched them leave, then leaped down, heading straight for Hoolay's cell.
"Lord Hoolay, Lord Hoolay!"
Mok Tok cautiously called into the cell, hoping for Hoolay's response—and sure enough, that was exactly what happened. Hoolay crawled to the ventilation bars, tail wagging, tongue lolling as he panted.
"Lord Hoolay, how did you end up like this?"
Seeing this sight, Mok Tok felt heartbroken beyond measure. "Who conditioned you into this?"
Hoolay said nothing, merely panting with his tongue out nonstop.
"Oh come on, why are you wasting words on it? Its brain's already been played to pieces."
At that moment, Cirrus suddenly sneered, detaching from Mok Tok and possessing Hoolay instead. In the next second, the daze in Hoolay's eyes vanished rapidly, replaced by Cirrus's own surprise and ecstasy.
Seeing this, Mok Tok flew into a rage at once: "Cirrus, even you want to humiliate Lord Hoolay?"
Cirrus rolled his eyes and clenched a fist: "Are you an idiot? In Hoolay's current state, how could we break out? Don't I still have to carry you? What's wrong—unwilling?"
Mok Tok was momentarily speechless. Though some strange thing had inexplicably burrowed into Lord Hoolay's body, he had to admit this was the only way at a time like this.
He could only wait until they returned to the tribe to figure out how to restore Lord Hoolay's sanity.
Mok Tok took a deep breath and asked: "So how do we get out now? The Xianzhou people are despicable but not stupid. For a powerhouse like Lord Hoolay, opening the cell must be extremely difficult."
Cirrus thought for a moment and said: "Right, I see you're a Borisin too—how did you shrink to about cat-sized? Give me one too; that way we can escape through the vent."
Mok Tok had a sudden realization and pulled a blue pill from his pocket. "Here, eat this and we'll run."
"Naturally."
Cirrus swallowed the pill in one gulp. In just a few seconds, his massive body began shrinking at a visible speed, ultimately becoming a "mini Borisin" about the same size as Mok Tok.
He leaped up and effortlessly escaped the cell.
...
"Huu—"
At the sacred sentry post, Bailu's body stood as straight as a javelin, eyes closed, breathing steady.
Just earlier, when the prisoners had broken out in droves, the Ten-Lords Commission soldiers around her had been fighting merrily with them, but Bailu hadn't moved, sleeping soundly.
Later, when the Ten-Lords Commission soldiers realized the enemy outnumbered them and collectively retreated, Bailu still hadn't moved, sleeping soundly.
Around her, laser eyes, fire sprays, mountain-crushing blows, superpowers... basically everything had grazed past Bailu's body, but by some stroke of luck, nothing could wake her up.
Even the surrounding old walls had collapsed by half, yet the small patch of ground where Bailu stood remained perfectly intact.
"Hmm—such a good sleep!"
After who knows how long, Bailu's thick, brush-like eyelashes trembled slightly. She puzzledly opened her eyes, and after a full ten seconds of processing, she froze in place on the spot.
"Eh? What did they do to my place? Is this still the Shackling Prison?"
Bailu wiped her drool, eyes dazed: She remembered it didn't look like this around her before she fell asleep...?
No, the question was, why had she fallen asleep in the first place? Falling asleep would dock her pay!
Tap tap tap...
At that moment, two small figures darted through the ruins—they were the disguised Mok Tok and Cirrus, who by coincidence passed right in front of Bailu.
These two little ones were overjoyed inside at this point: This little Shackling Prison—cleared in one life, easy peasy!
But just then, Mok Tok and Cirrus suddenly felt the ground give way beneath them. In the next second, Bailu scooped up both "mini Borisin" and warned them solemnly: "Little guys, it's very dangerous here right now—you absolutely mustn't run around!"