Neither Feng Qingping nor Qiu Ben expected the Old Witch to play a trick in the dark, hiding Chu Jingtang and his two companions sent from Bai's Rice Shop on the Divine Mountain, right under their noses.

"Old Chu, is this the Earth Escape Technique?"

As the group slowly dug into the ground, Xiao Sheng asked Chu Jingtang.

Chu Jingtang was also bewildered and asked Wu Jinliang, "Boss Wu, when did you learn this spell?"

Wu Jinliang snorted, "You all are too superficial to see the vast knowledge and talent of mine."

The other three pulled their lips into a smirk simultaneously.

Lao Changtai: "Enough with the sly talk, if we're going to run, we should run faster. Your slow creeping is like waiting to die."

Holding Sandal Gold Flame Energy in one hand and pushing the earth layers forward with the other, Wu Jinliang spat, "You don't know squat. This Divine Mountain is crucial to the Phoenix Clan. Just look at this small region; there are a bunch of Earth Immortal Realm experts stationed here. Did you not see the encirclement formation just now? There's no way they'd easily let someone escape underground. A big commotion would get us noticed, so it's best to go slow and steady."

That's true, but reality is harsh. Chu Jingtang looked at the slow progress and smiled bitterly, "Can we really escape like this?"

Wu Jinliang: "It depends on who the Divine Mountain troops are after. If they're here for us, we're definitely not going to escape. Once they realize we're gone, they'll thoroughly search and quickly drag us out from underground. If they're here for the Bai Family, then knowing the Bai Family's numbers here might give us an opportunity to slip away. If the Bai Family finds we're missing, they wouldn't dare make a fuss. Master's message just came in, saying the City Guard is also capturing members of the Bai Family."

Upon hearing this, the three men's eyes lit up in understanding.

Xiao Sheng quickly advised, "Boss Wu, slower, even slower."

Chu Jingtang also advised, "Indeed, Boss Wu, you're wise and heroic, take it easy."

Wu Jinliang chuckled and handed the Sandal Gold Flame Energy to Chu Jingtang to hold, then took out the Mother-child Talisman to inform Shi Chun of the current situation, in case they got caught, Shi Chun would be the only one who could save them.

While they were hiding underground and chattering away, among the Bai Family's facing personnel, Granny Qi's trusted clansman quietly withdrew and opened a side window to enter the hiding place of Wu Jinliang and the others, avoiding the eyes of the encircling troops.

The result was an empty house, and after casting spells unsuccessfully to search, they immediately ran to the cultivation quiet room, which was also empty.

The quiet room was deserted, making hiding impossible. A hurried spell scan revealed nothing on the walls or underground.

Things went even smoother than Wu Jinliang imagined. The Bai Family's searching members weren't afraid to make a fuss; they simply had no time for a thorough examination given the urgent situation and didn't even consider the possibility of digging tunnels. Those four people were closely monitored; any noise of tunneling would have been detected.

He hastily exited and quietly traversed adjacent rooms searching, thinking Wu Jinliang and the others had fled to other rooms.

The outcome was predictable; they had vanished into thin air, untraceable.

There was no time for slow searching now; the pressure from the Divine Mountain troops was increasing, and he couldn't gather manpower for an exhaustive sweep without raising suspicion to the Divine Mountain.

This matter definitely needed to be reported to Granny Qi for a decision.

Granny Qi was bewildered upon receiving the news, having been monitored by clan members constantly. Due to the Divine Mountain troops' siege momentarily distracting them, people had disappeared into thin air. How could this be possible? The Divine Mountain troops were still encircling them; escape seemed impossible.

Under Qiu Ben's pressure, Feng Qingping couldn't let her stall indefinitely; with a gesture, Feng Jue was sent to handle the situation firsthand.

In the end, Granny Qi still ordered the clan members to lay down their weapons and surrender.

Naturally, she had to show it was a hard-won persuasion over her clan.

She truly hoped Wu Jinliang and the others had escaped; otherwise, if they were found by the Divine Mountain troops during a search, she'd have countless unexplainable scenarios.

Feng Jue, on the scene, watched as the Bai Family members surrendered their weapons and gathered, felt a surge of emotions. He was familiar with some of them, never expecting it to come to this.

His subordinate reported to him, "Thirty-five people, not one missing, all accounted for."

The orders from above were clear: capture everyone, not a single one missing.

Feng Jue nodded, then added, "Gather their belongings, store them, and return them intact when things settle."

His subordinate replied, "The houses, inside and out, have been searched thoroughly. Their belongings are all gathered, not a single item missing."

"Take them away." Feng Jue said as he walked off.

Below ground, Wu Jinliang's group continued slowly and stealthily, realizing after a while of calmness that they might have temporarily escaped.

Then they continued forward cautiously, finally breaking through the tunnel wall to see daylight, but they dared not exit.

Wu Jinliang poked his head out first to survey the surroundings, though surrounded by thorny bushes, he found they were still not far from the place of confinement, halfway up the mountain.

He retracted his head, cast a spell to shrink the hole to the size of a head, and again used the Mother-child Talisman to inform Shi Chun of their temporary escape.

Shi Chun's message urged them to stay put unless necessary, promising to find a way to meet them at night.

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