Escape

As soon as the Cold Iron Mother disappeared, the frozen air around them instantly warmed up.

Before Xu Hao could catch his breath, a series of footsteps and the crisp sound of a mechanism being cocked came from the passageway above.

With the threat of the Cold Iron Mother gone, Luo Meng carried Luo Ying and scrambled out of the passage, running to the edge of the Cold Pool in a flash.

With a swift step, Xu Hao leaped back to the shore, landing steadily beside Luo Meng.

"Boss, people from above are here!" Luo Meng was sweating profusely, his hand gripping the hilt of his knife tightly.

Before he could finish speaking, a great fire broke out at the end of the passageway.

A burly man with an eerie, bluish-gray hand strode out, followed by a dense horde of fully armed Black Iron Guards, each carrying a heavy crossbow with arrowheads gleaming coldly.

Chairman of the Salt and Iron Association, Salt Iron Hand.

Salty Iron Hand's gaze swept over the mangled limbs of the mine corpses scattered on the ground, following the mess all the way forward, finally fixing on the empty island in the middle of the lake.

The Frost Iron Mother, which originally occupied the island and exuded a bone-chilling cold, is gone.

Not even a trace was left.

"Where's the Cold Iron Mother?" Salty Iron Hand's voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, his bluish-green hands clenched so tightly they cracked. "You bunch of bastards, where did you put my stuff?!"

Hundreds of heavy crossbows were simultaneously aimed at the three people on the shore.

Luo Meng subconsciously pulled Luo Ying behind him, the sound of him swallowing was particularly clear in the quiet cave.

Xu Hao stood still, hoisted the Black Blade Devouring Sea onto his shoulder, and innocently spread out his empty left hand.

"Old man, can't you be reasonable?" Xu Hao looked Xian Tieshou up and down, his tone full of disdain. "This hole is full of rocks and dried corpses. I'm only wearing this one short-sleeved shirt, not even a big pocket. Where's the stuff you're talking about?"

Salty Iron Hand choked for a moment.

Indeed, the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron Mother weighs ten thousand jin and is extremely cold.

Let alone taking it away, even an ordinary person would be frozen into an ice sculpture if they touched it.

How could these three people possibly make it disappear in such a short time?

But in the center of this pool, apart from these three living people, there wasn't a single ghost in sight!

"Shut the hell up!" Salty Iron Hand roared, his iron-blue hand slamming down. "Take them down! Torture them mercilessly, dig this cavern three feet deep, find Cold Iron Mother!"

The moment Xian Tieshou gave the order, Xu Hao quietly took out two dark red essence blood beads from the Sumeru Warehouse.

Using the sideways movement, he shoved the bead into Luo Meng's sweaty hand.

Whisper, "Keep it in your mouth."

"You old man are quite interesting." Xu Hao not only didn't back down, but instead took a step forward, blocking Luo Meng's path, pointing at Xian Tieshou's nose and cursing, "You lost your things and come asking me for them? What 'female cold iron'? How am I supposed to know what your male and female are? If you really can't find them, go out and find a blacksmith shop and see if they can breed your male cold iron and have another one?"

Using Xu Hao as cover, Luo Meng quickly fed the pills to his sister and himself.

"Shoot him dead!" Xian Tieshou was so angry he almost vomited blood. His roar shook the cave ceiling, causing rocks to fall in a flurry.

Click click click.

With a bead of semen in his mouth, Luo Meng shielded Luo Ying behind him and muttered, "Boss, this time we've really confessed."

Xu Hao, however, remained completely calm.

The moment he took away the Cold Iron Mother, Fudi's senses spread downwards along the unsuppressed pool water. He clearly perceived that the bottom of this seemingly lifeless cold pool was actually connected to an extremely powerful living water vein, leading directly to the reef area on the back side of the island.

This is a way out.

"Explain your ass!" Xu Hao turned around and kicked Luo Meng. "Swallow it and protect your heart!"

Luo Meng didn't even have time to react before he uncontrollably plunged into the water.

"Follow me!"

Two thuds.

Luo Meng carried Luo Ying and plunged straight into the deep blue pool.

The sound of heavy crossbows piercing the air rang out simultaneously.

hum!

Xu Hao took a sudden step with his feet, leaving a blur in his wake, and plunged into the bottom of the pool.

Boom boom boom!

The crossbow bolt slammed into the spot where Xu Hao had just stood, shattering the hard rock like tofu, sending stone chips flying everywhere.

Several crossbow bolts shot into the water kicked up a string of bubbles, grazed the soles of Xu Hao's feet, and sank to the bottom of the lake.

On the water's surface, only a trail of churning white foam remained.

The underwater currents were turbulent and the water was icy cold.

The medicinal power of the essence blood bead dissolved in Luo Meng and his sister's bodies, protecting their heart meridians.

Xu Hao led the way.

Without the suppression of the Cold Iron Mother, several mutated sea beasts lurking underwater approached, drawn by the scent of living people.

Xu Hao didn't even draw his knife; he unleashed both palms simultaneously.

The power of the surging force is amplified underwater, and the spiraling, hidden force explodes with a roar along the water flow.

Before the sea monsters could even get close, they were shredded into mangled flesh and swept away by the undercurrent, their white bellies turned inside out.

We swam swiftly along the watercourse.

Before long, a faint light appeared ahead.

Behind Hantie Island, a blind spot and reef area.

Whoosh!

Three figures emerged from the water, panting heavily.

"Hoo—cough cough cough!" As soon as Luo Meng poked his head out, he gulped down air into his lungs, swallowing two mouthfuls of salty and bitter seawater, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Although Luo Ying on his back had consumed the essence blood bead to protect her heart meridian, the icy seawater made her already pale face turn even blue from the cold, and she was so exhausted that she couldn't even breathe properly while lying on Luo Meng's back.

"Boss... I can't go on... my legs are cramping." Luo Meng thrashed about in the water. After carrying someone and swimming in the undercurrent for so long, his Bone Forging Realm foundation was almost completely drained.

"You're hopeless." Xu Hao reached out and grabbed Luo Meng by the back of his collar, pulling him up to prevent him from sinking down with Luo Ying.

He looked up at the sea shrouded in thick fog and whistled sharply.

A few breaths later, a colossal creature emerged from the grayish-white mist—it was Zhenyuan, who had activated its illusionary mist properties.

"Second brother! Lower the rope!" Xu Hao shouted in a low voice toward the bow of the boat.

A head popped out from the edge of the deck; it was Chen Yuanzhi, who was pacing anxiously.

"Boss!" Chen Yuanzhi saw the three people on the sea and quickly threw the thick hemp rope off the ship, calling for the sailors to pull them onto the deck.

Luo Meng collapsed on the deck, panting heavily: "Damn it, I almost suffocated."

Xu Hao shook the water droplets off his hair and looked back towards the direction of Cold Iron Island.

Inside the underground cave, Xian Tieshou looked at the bottomless cold pool and, in anger, smashed the rock wall next to him with a palm strike.

"Seal off the island! Turn this area of ​​sea upside down! I want to see them alive or dead!" Xian Tieshou's roar echoed in the cave, but it was destined to be in vain.

With the Zhenyuan's "Phantom Mist" ability fully activated, the massive ship was completely enveloped in a thick, grayish-white mist, silently sailing away from the reef area.

They hadn't gone far when an extremely oppressive and menacing aura swept over them.

The thick fog churned violently.

A warship several times larger than the Zhenyuan came crashing through the waves, with a red flag with animal teeth flying high at its bow.

"The Blood Corpse Alliance's warships!" Luo Meng had just caught his breath when he saw the flag and was so shocked he almost jumped up.

At the bow of the warship stood a man as thin as a bamboo pole with sinister eyes.

Between his withered fingers, two blue-spotted sea snakes were flicking their red tongues.

Sun, the Sea Patrol Chief of the Blood Corpse Alliance.

The two ships passed each other on the sea.

The Zhenyuan remained hidden in the illusory mist, making no sound whatsoever.

Electric Snake Sun seemed to sense something amiss in the fog. His triangular eyes swept over like those of a venomous snake, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the thick fog.

On deck, the sailors dared not even breathe.

Xu Hao stood on the ship's railing, gazing at him through the thick fog.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.