125. Escape

Lingyu took out a spirit stone, crushed it into powder, and sprinkled it into the soil, then sent Renshen and Yiwu to trade it for food.

The guard in charge was terrified that his companions would find out and demand a share, so he kept the matter strictly under wraps and refrained from searching the cells. A few days later, the other cells followed suit, occasionally offering spirit stone fragments in exchange for food.

To prevent the guard from becoming suspicious, Lingyu kept the portions small, using only a few stones and crushing them finely, trading only a tiny pinch at a time. To encourage the prisoners to continue digging, the guard provided increasingly more food. Their tunneling activities now had a convenient cover, with the guard himself acting as their shield.

It must be said that the saying "everything is easier with connections" is the absolute truth! By simply hoodwinking one guard, their tunneling efforts became far easier; any slip-ups were smoothed over by him.

As the tunnel took shape, Lingyu's status within the prison underwent constant changes. At first, she was just the "crazy girl," then she became "Sister Chending," and now, she was "Miss Chending."

Because the tunnel was her idea, the spirit stones were her contribution, and the food-trading scheme was her strategy—plus, she didn't need to eat, her clothes remained perpetually clean, and she occasionally produced strange, miraculous items—she looked nothing like a mortal. A sense of awe grew among the prisoners, and before they knew it, they had made Lingyu the leader of the prison. The scholar Yiwu served as her strategist, the martial expert Renshen and the loudmouthed Gengxin acted as her right and left hands, and the Daoist Xinji became her aide. The group of over a hundred was now well-organized.

Every day, Lingyu would provide the spirit stone powder to trade for food, which was then distributed according to the amount of labor each person contributed.

With this steady supply of meat, the tunnel progressed rapidly. Channels from various cells merged into a dense network leading to a basement, where Yiwu would then calculate and direct the excavation of the final escape route.

The excavated soil was spread evenly throughout the prison. Of the two guards, one had been bought off and, believing they were digging for spirit stones, paid no mind. The other was a drunkard who spent every day in a stupor.

The prison break proceeded with methodical precision.

Three months later, Lingyu sat cross-legged in her cell. Since she had mobilized the other prisoners to dig, she no longer needed to do the heavy lifting herself. These days, her true energy felt sluggish, and her Kanli Sword was too conspicuous; it was better to remain on the sidelines.

It was strange. Why was her true energy restricted here? Could these bars really be enchanted? She was a Foundation Establishment cultivator; for something to trap her, it had to be an array. The guards weren't even at the Qi Refining level. Even Xinji, a man of the Daoist tradition, knew only the most basic breathing techniques and had not truly entered the path. How could such a world contain such powerful methods?

As she pondered this, her sluggish true energy suddenly stirred. The spirit energy from the stone in her palm surged, flowing without obstruction.

What was happening? Lingyu stopped her meditation, just about to investigate, when Gengxin’s head popped up from beneath the straw. His voice was cracked with excitement: "Miss Chending, the tunnel is finished!"

Lingyu was overjoyed. "Truly?"

"Of course! Would you like to see?"

Lingyu glanced at the guards. One remained in his usual drunken stupor, while the other was mesmerized by a piece of spirit stone. It was still long before the next patrol; there was nothing to worry about. She lifted the straw and crawled into the tunnel.

The tunnel was not long. It ended in a basement large enough to hold a dozen people, and on the right side of the basement was a passage wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, leading to the outside.

Lingyu crawled through and caught the scent of fresh air mingled with earth. Following the passage, her divine sense was finally able to expand. She could clearly feel that the end of the passage opened onto an uninhabited mound, with no members of the Blood-Cloth Sect in the vicinity.

Excellent. It was time to leave!

Lingyu felt a sense of relief. Beyond the tunnel being complete, the restoration of her powers brought her even greater joy. For a cultivator, the inability to use their true energy was deeply unsettling.

This prison had indeed been reinforced with an array, but now that they had tunneled through it, the formation was broken. To establish a formation capable of restricting a Foundation Establishment cultivator, there had to be a master of that level within the Blood-Cloth Sect. It seemed that this mass escape had to happen sooner rather than later; if they waited too long, the breach of the formation would surely be discovered.

Lingyu stopped the restless prisoners and said, "The Blood-Cloth Sect is incredibly powerful; simply running away is not enough. After we escape, how will we evade capture and find a place to settle? These are problems we must solve. Otherwise, the moment we flee, the Blood-Cloth Sect will follow the tunnel and catch us immediately. Our escape would be in vain."

"Miss Chending is right," the scholar Yiwu echoed. "We all know the extent of the Blood-Cloth Sect's power. Merely running away does not solve the root of the problem."

"Exactly! Without Miss Chending, we never would have dug this tunnel. We will listen to her," the expert Renshen shouted.

As for Gengxin, he had originally thought Lingyu was crazy, but now that the tunnel was finished, he was fully convinced. Furthermore, they had all witnessed her miraculous abilities; she could conjure a sword out of thin air and trade for food with the guards—things they never would have dared to dream of before.

"Miss Chending’s techniques are divine, comparable to those of an immortal!" added the Daoist Xinji. To a mortal who hadn't even entered the path, even the minor tricks of a Qi Refining cultivator were like the work of gods.

With the support of these few, the others were quickly persuaded. Everyone returned to the cells to quietly spread the word. Soon, the news traveled through the entire prison, and everyone was filled with joy. Gengxin quietly gathered the leaders of each cell and gave them instructions.

Lingyu had long since planned how to escape once the tunnel was open, and Yiwu had even drafted a comprehensive strategy. She trusted him; a man who could secretly map out the terrain and oversee a safe tunnel excavation possessed a meticulous mind, so she accepted his plan in full.

She had stored plenty of food in her Qiankun bag over the past few days and planned to procure a bit more today to maintain their strength for the flight. Renshen, the physically strongest among them, would go out first to scout the terrain and map out their escape route. This had to be done quickly. After the night patrol, the guards would relax their guard, which was when they would all make their exit, giving them an entire night before the escape was discovered at dawn.

Renshen returned two hours later. The situation was not ideal; the prison was located right next to the altar, and the surrounding terrain was simple—nothing but flat, open plains, making it hard to hide. The group had been mistreated in the prison for years and were in poor health; they could not sustain a long flight.

However, the escape was imperative. The tunnel was open, and the breach of the array could not be hidden for long. The sooner they left, the safer they would be.

Therefore, Lingyu said nothing more. Once the night patrol passed and the two guards were sound asleep, the prisoners exited the prison one by one, tense yet orderly, crawling out through the tunnel.

Lingyu poked her head out of the tunnel. In the darkness, the air, fragrant with grass and earth, washed over her. She took a deep breath. Having been trapped in the prison for months, she had almost forgotten the taste of freedom.

Renshen pulled her up and whispered, "Miss Chending, the altar is right behind us. We must head straight ahead; there is a large mountain with dense forests where we can hide."

Lingyu gave no immediate answer. She first circulated her true energy, feeling it flow abundantly without a hint of obstruction, and let out a sigh of relief.

Having left the prison, her strength was fully restored. With her Foundation Establishment cultivation, why couldn't she protect these fellow prisoners?

Before long, all the prisoners had emerged from the tunnel, huddling together in a dense mass, all awaiting Lingyu's instructions.

"Follow me." Yiwu finished the headcount, and Lingyu waved at the crowd. "Be careful. No talking, and keep your footsteps light."

Having finally escaped the prison, everyone knew the consequences of being caught. The Blood-Cloth Sect never showed mercy to prisoners; being killed on the spot would be a mercy.

Over a hundred people moved across the wilderness, only the rustling of their footsteps audible. Lingyu’s divine sense covered a radius of ten miles, and within a mile, aided by the spirit net, any disturbance could not escape her notice.

They hadn't gone far—perhaps a mile—when she stopped.

"Miss Chending, what is it?" Yiwu asked.

Lingyu made a gesture for silence. She stood before a mound of earth and drew her Kanli Sword. In the night, the pale purple light of the blade was exceptionally dazzling. She focused, gathered her energy, and with a gentle flick, the blade's light surged outward. A perfectly square patch of turf, complete with wild grass, flew into the air.

The prisoners were horrified, not daring to draw a breath, while the Daoist Xinji’s eyes lit up.

After setting the turf aside, Lingyu flicked her blade again, and in no time, a pit had been excavated.

"Everyone go in. Gengxin and Renshen, stay here."

"Miss Chending..." Yiwu hesitated. "What are you doing?"

"Hiding, of course," Lingyu said. "With our group of the elderly, weak, sick, and injured, how could we possibly evade the Blood-Cloth Sect's search?" She couldn't very well use a flying artifact to carry a hundred people; she didn't possess such a large vessel.

"But... isn't this too close to the altar?"

"It is precisely because it is close that it is safe. They will assume we have fled far away and will not search the immediate area carefully."

Yiwu thought about it and realized it made perfect sense. He asked no more questions and followed the others into the pit.

Hiding a hundred people in a pit produced a massive amount of earth. Lingyu cleared out a Qiankun bag specifically to hold the soil, then worked with Gengxin and Renshen to create a series of camouflages. They left air vents at various points, and finally, the three of them entered the pit and pulled the cut-out turf back over the top.

The patch of turf looked normal, but it could not bear the weight of a person. Lingyu took a spirit talisman from her bag and placed it on top.

The hundred-plus prisoners watched in amazement as the talisman glowed with a faint golden light, causing the surrounding earth to rapidly knit together until the turf was seamlessly sealed.

"Done." Lingyu jumped into the pit and clapped her hands. "Everyone hide here for a while. We'll leave once the heat dies down. We’ve endured so much; waiting a little longer is nothing. Only by successfully evading the pursuit will we be truly free."

"Miss Chending is right!" After witnessing her sword and spirit talisman, Gengxin was thoroughly convinced and expressed his support without hesitation.

"Miss Chending really is an immortal!" The Daoist Xinji’s eyes shone. "It must be that the Dao Ancestor could not bear our suffering and sent you to save us!"

"Yes, yes!" This explanation was quickly accepted. Over a hundred prisoners chanted in unison, "Miss Chending is an immortal."