Compromise and Crisis
Yang Muquan glanced at the batch of Floating Life Painting members and apprentices they each controlled, his voice as cold as frost:
"Are you threatening us?"
"That's right, I am threatening you!" Nine of Hearts laughed arrogantly. "I know what you want to say. If you can kill this group of Dusk Society members of ours, sacrificing a few Floating Life Painting members or apprentices isn't unacceptable... But, is that really the case?"
"The Wuji Domain is about to hit our doorstep. At this critical juncture, can you really bear such heavy casualties??"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Yang Muquan and the several Sixth Stage Floating Life Painting members behind him instantly changed!
With the Realm War imminent, any Divine Path Possessor, regardless of their Rank, was crucial Combat Power. Since the Wuji Domain dared to attack, they naturally had the confidence to suppress them with Combat Power. And only Divine Path Possessors could contend against Divine Path Possessors... Once the difference in numbers between the two sides was too great, they would inevitably face situations where one had to fight many, or a large number of Divine Path Possessors would slaughter civilians wantonly with no one to stop them.
The Wuji Domain's goal was already to slaughter civilians to refine Philosopher's Stones. A Fourth Order Divine Path Possessor could easily slaughter thousands of people. And now the Dusk Society had kidnapped over a dozen Floating Life Painting members in their hands, ranging from Third Tier to Fifth-Tier, as well as dozens of Second-Tier and below apprentices. Once the Dusk Society really went mad and killed them all, the already insufficient manpower of the Floating Life Painting would suffer heavy losses again!
The loss of these dozens of personnel might mean that dozens of Path of the Witch God practitioners would go unhindered, causing civilian casualties numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
Just as Yang Muquan was wavering, in the void at the end of the corridor, the abstract geometric Domain was gradually torn open, and countless messy lines danced wildly inside like a storm. Faintly, two figures could be seen standing within.
Deep within the Domain, a massive geometric face was suspended in front of the Grand Relief Gate, its eyes staring at the scene outside the Domain. The surrounding abstract figures also trembled in rage.
"The situation is exactly like this," Bai Ye spoke leisurely.
"I know that even if all of us add up, we are not your match alone... But sometimes, strength doesn't represent everything."
"Our Dusk Society has never interfered with matters between Realms. Whether you or the Wuji Domain lives or dies makes no difference to us... But since you kidnapped our members, we have to come demand an explanation."
The laziness and casualness on Bai Ye's face gradually retracted, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness and coldness.
He slowly stretched out two fingers:
"Now, I will give you two choices."
"Either release Six of Hearts and Eight of Clubs, and let us leave the Red Dust Base... Or, we fight until the fish dies or the net breaks. Regardless, we will make you suffer severe damage, ensuring that the Wuji Domain ultimately flattens Red Dust, and let your millions of civilians be buried with us."
As Bai Ye's voice fell, the entire Red Dust Base fell into dead silence.
Jack of Clubs gently pulled down a corner of the brim of his Magic Hat, sparks seemingly flashing at his fingertips; 10 of Diamonds stood among over a dozen Living Coffins, motionless like dead wood; Nine of Hearts chuckled, the skin on his back opening to both sides like steel, revealing hundreds of gunpowder gun barrels; Chu Muyun glanced at the gradually recovering bloody stump on the ground, unconsciously gripping his bloodstained Giant Spiked Hammer tighter; Jian Changsheng solemnly bit his fingertip, letting drops of fresh blood slowly fall to the ground...
All members of the Dusk Society were already poised and ready to strike;
This was a naked threat, and also the most unreasonable and overbearing Overt Plot... Without a doubt, once the Second Hall refused, this group of lunatics would definitely risk their lives to turn this place upside down!
All the Floating Life Painting members present, as well as Eighth Hall Master Yang Muquan, all looked towards the Second Hall deep within the Domain, nervously awaiting his decision.
The Second Hall stared fixedly at Bai Ye and the others, light flashing in his abstract eyes.
Not knowing how long had passed, he finally spoke word by word:
"Very well... You win."
"The people, you can take away. Leave 'Guernica' behind."
Hearing the Second Hall's answer, the Dusk Society members still didn't relax in the slightest. After all, no one knew if this group of guys would go back on their word and launch a surprise attack when they were unprepared... Bai Ye's brows rose slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he still took out the real "Guernica" from his embrace and forcefully unrolled it!
The moment the rolled-up scroll was opened, a red shadow rapidly leaped out from it. Chen Ling was carrying the unconscious Eight of Clubs on his back, landing steadily on the ground.
Chen Ling's gaze swept over the surroundings, and seeing Bai Ye beside him, he knew he had guessed right...
Ever since he saw that familiar white light in the scroll, Chen Ling had roughly guessed that Bai Ye and the others had made a move. Thus, he had been waiting for an opportunity inside the scroll. The moment the scroll was unrolled, he jumped out, holding a Bone-Stripping Knife in his hand, ready for battle at any time.
Bai Ye and Chen Ling exchanged a glance, the corners of their mouths under the baseball cap rising slightly. Then he rolled up "Guernica" again and tossed it back to the Second Hall.
"Open the door for us," he said faintly.
"And the Dao Base Shard that was originally in the scroll."
Bai Ye was startled, looking at Chen Ling in confusion, completely unaware of the existence of the Dao Base Shard.
Chen Ling looked deeply at Jack of Clubs. After a second of silence between the two, Chen Ling still opened his palm and gently tossed a swaying Small Flower towards the Second Hall.
"Now, you can open the door, right?"
The Second Hall snorted coldly, and an illusory door was slowly outlined among the crowd. This door temporarily opened up a connection between the green leaf where the Red Dust Base was located and the flower where the Red Dust Domain was located, almost no different from the Staff Passage Yang Muquan took Chen Ling through previously.
Jack of Clubs stepped forward. After confirming there was no problem with the door, he nodded slightly to the others.
"Let's go."
Jack of Clubs took off his Magic Hat and gave it a light wave at Nine of Hearts and the others, storing them all inside. Then he rushed into the door without hesitation, not giving the Second Hall and the others the slightest time to react!
As Jack of Clubs' figure disappeared behind the door, the oppressive and tense atmosphere of the Red Dust Base finally relaxed a bit. The figures sealed in the Living Coffins by 10 of Diamonds dropped down one after another. Even the Floating Life Painting member whose leg was smashed by Chu Muyun stood up completely unharmed, his gaze towards his knee full of shock!
"Are we really just letting them leave like this??" Yang Muquan got angrier the more he thought about it, unable to resist asking the Second Hall.
The Second Hall opened his mouth, his gaze suddenly falling on the Small Flower in front of him...
That swaying Small Flower, along with the departure of Chen Ling and the others, gradually faded in color, and eventually turned into a Paper Dove, falling to the ground with a poof.
In the Second Hall's triangular eyes, the flames of anger burned fiercely. He slowly turned his head, his gaze locked onto the Grand Relief Gate that had already been opened a crack, and spoke grimly:
"I only promised they could leave the base... but I didn't say, let them leave the Red Dust Domain alive."
"It's also time for the Chief to awaken."
The next moment,
A massive amount of red threads, as if possessing a life of their own, slowly flowed out from the crack in the Grand Relief Gate...