Unable to devise a plan, Zhang Ergou was at a loss.
Now that he had collected the icy snowy mountain, the formation would not hold for much longer.
He could currently see the people outside, and the elders outside would naturally be able to discover him soon.
He had to quickly find a way to leave here, otherwise, if he was cornered, the gains would not be worth the losses.
"Hey, old man, come out, stop playing dead!"
Zhang Ergou knew that the Snow Mountain Elder must have known about the situation outside long ago, but had not revealed anything to him.
It was clearly another attempt to trick him.
But now, they were in this together, sharing both honor and disgrace. There was no such thing as self-preservation.
"What is it, little one?"
A puff of white smoke drifted by, and the Snow Mountain Elder reappeared before Zhang Ergou.
"You don't know the situation outside, do you, old man!" Zhang Ergou stared intently at the Snow Mountain Elder.
The elder looked embarrassed and coughed twice to cover his awkwardness.
"Heh, old man, I only just discovered so many experts gathered outside. I was just about to tell you when you put me into your storage ring."
The Snow Mountain Elder said innocently.
Zhang Ergou was furious. This old man was too much! Those people were clearly outside the icy snowy mountain, and this old man must have known about it long ago.
Seeing the Snow Mountain Elder lie through his teeth, Zhang Ergou could only sigh in resignation.
He couldn't defeat him, nor could he vent his anger by scolding him. Alas, he could only accept his misfortune.
"Old man, let's not dwell on this. With so many experts gathered outside, how can I leave without arousing suspicion?"
Zhang Ergou frowned. This was an extremely important matter. If the elders discovered something was amiss, they would skin him alive.
Outside stood dozens of elders at the peak of the Golden Core stage, and several Nascent Soul stage mighty figures were hovering in the sky.
Zhang Ergou did not believe he had the ability to evade their detection.
The Snow Mountain Elder pondered for a moment, then whispered something into Zhang Ergou's ear.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ergou rejoiced, realizing that this old man was truly on his side, coming up with such a brilliant idea.
...
Rumble, rumble...
The mountains adjacent to the icy snowy mountain outside began to collapse one after another, the commotion echoing throughout the Misty Sect.
"What is this?"
Elder Tian Dao and several Nascent Soul stage elders in the sky looked grave. The commotion of the mountain collapse was now much greater than before.
If the initial mountain collapse was equivalent to an attack from a peak Golden Core cultivator, then this series of collapses would astonish even a mighty Nascent Soul figure.
All of this was, of course, caused by the Snow Mountain Elder. Having stayed here for tens of thousands of years, he was intimately familiar with the surrounding area.
To conceal Zhang Ergou's safe exit from the formation, the Snow Mountain Elder could only resort to this desperate measure, as he could think of no better solution.
...
"Ah~ ah~ ah... Help me... Ah!"
Suddenly, a figure tumbled out of the formation. The crowd fixed their gaze and saw it was none other than Zhang Ergou.
Chi Yu was overjoyed and flashed forward, catching Zhang Ergou who had been "flung" out.
"Brat, are you alright?"
After placing Zhang Ergou on the ground, Chi Yu and the others' expressions eased slightly.
"Ah, Master, it's you! You scared me to death!" Zhang Ergou patted his chest, still lingering in fear.
Chunyang Sanren quickly asked, "What happened?"
"Master Chunyang, Master Qiao, you're here too?"
Zhang Ergou seemed to have just noticed Chunyang Sanren and Qiao Yanyun, greeting them.
"Brat, enough with the nonsense, what exactly happened inside?" Su Dan Novel Network.
Everyone began to converge towards them. Since Zhang Ergou was the only one inside, some people were inwardly displeased that he had survived.
However, they dared not show it.
Zhang Ergou was the one who knew best what had transpired inside. These elders naturally wanted to investigate.
As fate would have it, Zhang Ergou looked up and saw Jin Yuan in the crowd.
"Old man Jin, what grievance do I have against you that you would harm me like this? Not only did you trap me in the secret chamber of the cold ice cave, but you also made this snowy mountain shake after you left."
Zhang Ergou unleashed a torrent of abuse at Jin Yuan, who became extremely embarrassed.
He too had his own troubles, unable to speak of them. It was true that he had locked the boy in the secret chamber of the cold ice cave, but what did the shaking snowy mountain have to do with him?
However, he knew that whether Jin Yuan's explanations would be believed was uncertain, but looking at the murderous gazes of the elders beside Zhang Ergou, he knew any explanation would be futile.
"Brat, don't change the subject. We're asking you what happened inside!"
Zhang Ergou wanted to use Jin Yuan to divert the topic, but someone was not going to let him. Chi Yu patted his head and asked again.
Zhang Ergou felt conflicted. How could he explain? Should he say he had collected the icy snowy mountain and caused such a huge commotion?
He knew he absolutely could not say that, or these old fellows would surely devour him alive.
His eyes darted around for a moment, and an idea struck Zhang Ergou.
He immediately put on a mournful face and said, "Master, I don't know either. After Martial Uncle Jin locked me in the secret chamber of the cold ice cave, he disappeared."
"Disciples called out to heaven and earth, but no one answered. Helpless, I could only sit on the high platform in the secret chamber to rest for a while."
"But after I sat down, I discovered that this secret chamber was actually full of hidden mechanisms. Martial Uncle Jin didn't even tell me about such an important matter."
As he spoke, Zhang Ergou subtly glanced at Jin Yuan, causing several elders who doted on Zhang Ergou to glare at Jin Yuan.
Jin Yuan could only offer a wry smile. Zhang Ergou continued.
"The platform had a force that prevented me from standing up. That was not all; an bone-chilling cold emanated from the platform, and I could only resist desperately."
"But no matter how hard I resisted, the cold air poured into my body as if it were free."
"After an unknown amount of time, I couldn't bear it any longer and was on the verge of falling asleep. I knew I was close to freezing to death."
Zhang Ergou's face showed a trace of lingering fear as he spoke.
"My heart was filled with unwillingness. I wanted to resist desperately, but my body had no strength at all. I could only let the cold air drill into my body."
Hearing Zhang Ergou's words, the onlookers also felt the danger. The expressions of Chi Yu and the others became less pleasant.
If Zhang Ergou had truly frozen to death, Jin Yuan would have been greatly responsible.
"In my dazed state, I felt the earth shake violently, and the entire cold ice cave began to tremble. Rocks rained down, and the secret chamber where I was located collapsed."
Zhang Ergou continued, patting his chest.
"Then, I felt a strong force, and I was flung out!"
...
Uh! Is that all? Why did everyone feel a sense of unreality?