Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

The next second, Qin Lie felt a light tap on his head.

In that instant, he felt the surging murderous intent in his mind subside.

The sound of war drums disappeared, and the battle cries of the Broken Wind Camp could no longer be heard.

Only Li Tiezhu's final shout still echoed in his mind.

Qin Lie suddenly opened his eyes, and Xu Qinghe came into view.

At that moment, she covered her chest with one hand, took half a step back, and spoke in a soft and delicate voice.

"Respected Lord of the Demon Suppression Division."

"Are you going to lay a hand on me, this delicate young lady?"

After saying this, her eyes reddened slightly, and she even put on a look that seemed about to cry.

He looked as if Qin Lie had just committed some heinous crime.

Xu Qinghe was instantly startled awake upon seeing this scene.

To attack Xu Qinghe?

This is no joke!

Even Xu Qinghe in her normal state is someone you can't afford to mess with, let alone her in this red-eyed state.

"Is this still Duanfeng Pass?"

"Where is Wugu Luo? Did he escape?"

"Where is Pei Jinghan? Is Pei Jinghan still at Duanfeng Pass?"

As Qin Lie spoke, he kept looking around. He could clearly sense that this was no longer the Duanfeng Pass where he had stayed before.

Upon hearing the name "Wugu Luo," Xu Qinghe immediately dropped her act.

Her tearful expression vanished instantly.

Her red eyes fixed on Qin Lie, and her tone became more serious.

"How do you know about Uguro?"

"Never mind all that for now, can you tell me what happened?"

Xu Qinghe did not answer Qin Lie's question immediately. Instead, she took two steps forward, almost pressing herself against him.

The next moment, she gently rested her head on Qin Lie's shoulder, her voice becoming soft and aggrieved.

"What else could it be?"

"A gust of wind blew by just now, and everyone got separated."

"It scared me to death."

"I've been searching everywhere for you, and I only just found you."

As she said this, she slightly raised her head, biting her lip with her pearly teeth, looking mournful.

"As soon as I saw you, you started yelling and threatening to kill me."

"You heartless bastard."

After hearing Xu Qinghe's words, Qin Lie was filled with doubts.

After a strong gust of wind, everyone got separated. How could this have happened?

Did I just stand still the whole time?

What were those things I experienced?

Is it an illusion?

Qin Lie subconsciously glanced down, then his pupils suddenly contracted.

He held a long sword in his hand, its blade slender and its cold gleam concealed.

Snowflakes!

The snowflakes that Pei Jinghan gave him.

wrong!

If it were just an illusion, then this knife could never have appeared in his hands.

He closed his eyes again to sense his own qi and blood, which was at the peak of the seventh rank.

A genuine peak seventh rank!

If all these things exist, then what just happened could not possibly have been an illusion.

A thought suddenly popped into Qin Lie's mind.

Could it be that I really did follow some kind of force, going against the flow of time, and returned to Duanfeng Pass a hundred years ago?

This is outrageous!

But he couldn't think of any other possibility besides this explanation.

At this moment, Xu Qinghe seemed to realize something.

She had been leaning on Qin Lie's shoulder, but suddenly looked up and stared at him.

"wrong."

"No, no, no."

As soon as she finished speaking, she wrapped her arms around Qin Lie's neck and moved right up to him.

The two were face to face, their noses almost touching.

Qin Lie froze instantly.

Xu Qinghe narrowed her red eyes, staring at his face, or perhaps at the aura within him.

"How did your cultivation level increase so quickly?"

The last time I saw you was when you had just started working.

"How come everyone's at the peak of the seventh rank now?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of seduction.

"Do you have some kind of secret technique?"

"If you ask me, one shouldn't be so petty."

"If there are any secret techniques, we must share them with everyone."

Xu Qinghe, in this state of red-eyed excitement, spoke and acted with extreme audacity.

This is not the same Xu Qinghe who was cold and indifferent before, taking notes in a booklet.

Qin Lie felt a little uncomfortable with her presence; his heart raced, and his ears felt slightly hot.

The last time I saw myself was when I had just joined the ranks?

If that's the case, then Xu Qinghe in her red-eyed state and Xu Qinghe in her normal state don't completely share memories.

Qin Lie awkwardly raised his hand and pushed Xu Qinghe away slightly.

"What secret technique do I have?"

"Besides, now is not the time to discuss this."

"Let's find out where Lord Lu and Brother Li went first."

"We're still inside Duanfeng Pass."

"The most important thing is to take care of things in the main hall first."

After being pushed away, Xu Qinghe was not angry. She turned around gently and stood next to Qin Lie.

Then she put her hands behind her back and looked at him with a smile.

"Okay, your reasoning convinces me."

"Then let's find someone first."

After Xu Qinghe finished speaking, she turned around and headed deeper into Duanfeng Pass.

Qin Lie was holding the broken snow and was about to follow when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"So you two were here! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"I thought something had happened to you two!"

Qin Lie paused and turned to look.

Li Huzheng emerged from behind a section of broken city wall.

He was covered in dust, and there was a shallow bloodstain on his shoulder, but judging from his voice, it shouldn't be anything serious.

As Li Hu walked, he looked Qin Lie and Xu Qinghe up and down.

"When that gust of wind came just now, it swept me all the way to the back, and no one answered me no matter how much I called out."

"I was so worried, I looked for you everywhere, but you two were hiding here whispering to each other."

"What are you whispering about? We were just about to come find you."

Qin Lie quickly began to explain.

What was originally a pure and innocent relationship between a man and a woman was immediately distorted by Li Hu's words.

"Alright, you two, stop arguing."

Lu Chen walked out from behind Li Hu.

Although he also had some dust on him, he looked much better than Li Hu.

Lu Chen glanced at Qin Lie, then at Xu Qinghe and Li Hu.

He only spoke after confirming that all three of them were alright.

"Since everyone is alright, let's continue with our previous task and go into the main hall to investigate."

Neither Xu Qinghe nor Li Hu spoke, and Qin Lie did not object.

He now also wants to know what Pei Jinghan's situation will be a hundred years from now.

The group of four walked back towards the main hall.

However, this time, the situation is different from before.

The closer they got to the main hall, the greater the pressure they felt.

In the end, I couldn't even move my feet.

Now that resistance has disappeared, it's easy to move forward.

However, Qin Lie felt even more uneasy at this moment.

The previous resistance indicated that the wind-breaking formation was still functioning. Now that it's so easy, does it mean there's a major problem with the wind-breaking formation?

Otherwise, with Pei Jinghan as the core of the formation, it would be impossible for them to get close so easily.

When they reached the vicinity of the main hall, the group passed by the drum platform not far from the entrance of the main hall.

Qin Lie suddenly stopped.

Li Hu turned around and glanced at him.

"What happened? Why did it suddenly stop?"

Qin Lie did not answer him, but instead turned his gaze to the dilapidated drum platform.

A hundred years ago, this was the location of the war drum in the main hall of the Broken Wind Camp, and also the place where he personally drove in the ninth nail.

Li Tiezhu died here.

The last pride of the Broken Wind Camp has been buried here.

The thought of Li Tiezhu's self-destruction made Qin Lie feel as if his chest was blocked.

Qin Lie walked towards the drum platform.

Lu Chen noticed his unusual behavior and asked, "What did you discover?"

"Nothing unusual has been found yet, but I want to check one place first. If Pei Jinghan really wakes up, the problem is very likely here."

Li Hu was somewhat confused.

"Didn't you not even know about the Broken Wind Pass? How come you now know that Pei Jinghan's awakening is related to this thing?"

"Isn't this just a broken drum platform?"

Qin Lie did not explain, but walked to the bottom of the drum platform and quickly found the location of the formation's core from back then.

The moment Qin Lie saw the core of the formation, his expression changed drastically.

The places that should have been nailed are now empty!

Qin Lie stared at the empty seat, his heart pounding with shock.

No wonder!

No wonder Pei Jinghan, who had been dormant for a hundred years, has awakened again.

The ninth nail has disappeared, and the most crucial link in the Wind-Breaking Formation is gone.

Qin Lie suddenly thought of the worst-case scenario.

If the ninth nail really disappears, does that mean the Wind-Breaking Formation has failed?

Even if the Wind-Breaking Formation hadn't failed, it wouldn't be complete.

But the problem is, how do we repair the ninth nail now?

A hundred years ago, this nail was created by Shen Shuyan using the Demon-Suppressing Seal, drawing upon the last drops of flesh and soul from all the soldiers of the Broken Wind Camp.

Now that all the members of the Broken Wind Camp have sacrificed themselves, even if Shen Shuyan were still alive, he could not conjure this nail out of thin air.

The more Qin Lie thought about it, the uglier his expression became.

Li Hu walked to his side, saw him staring at the ground without moving, and also looked down at him.

But he didn't see anything.

"This place is empty, what's there to see? I've been staring at it for ages."

"There used to be a nail in this spot, but now that nail is gone!"

As Qin Lie spoke, he pointed to the location of the array's core.

"A nail? How do you know there's a nail here?"

"Because I drove that nail in myself, I suspect that Pei Jinghan's awakening this time is related to the disappearance of that nail."

Qin Lie did not choose to hide what he knew.

"Don't be ridiculous! You actually drove it in yourself! Your grandfather might not even have been born a hundred years ago!"

Li Hu curled his lip after hearing this, thinking Qin Lie had gone mad.

At this moment, Lu Chen and Xu Qinghe also came over.

Lu Chen ignored Li Hu and instead looked at Qin Lie, who had a serious expression on his face.

"are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely certain. Also, we shouldn't go to the main hall anymore. We should report directly to the Demon Suppression Division and have the city lord come and handle it."

"Is it that serious? We should just send the city lord over, but we haven't investigated this thoroughly yet."

"There's no time to hesitate; the current mission is beyond our scope."

Lu Chen and the others didn't know, but Qin Lie knew exactly what kind of monster was locked up in the main hall.

Even without the blessing of the Wind-Breaking Formation, Pei Jinghan's original strength was still beyond what the few of them could suppress.

Now we can only pray that Pei Jinghan hasn't fully woken up yet.

That way, if they retreat now, they might still have a chance to survive.