After the Fairy Maidens Fell to Darkness, They Captured Me to Ruthlessly 'Repay' Their Gratitude-Chapter 144 - "Great Performance, Big Reward at Home!"

The shortcut chosen by Jue Wuqing wasn’t particularly long. With proper coordination, it could lead straight to the Abyssal Ancient Hall at the secret realm’s end in about an hour.

Unfortunately,

He Ange had blown up the dragon pool island with a single sword, dragging everyone into the sword dragon’s wrath. The unluckiest, Duan Zixuan, was severely injured, needing others to carry him, and his ribs, broken by Xia Ranyue, wouldn’t heal quickly.

After passing the Cherry Wood Dragon Pool,

The group arrived at a mechanism tunnel.

Here, they faced the final obstacle on this mandatory path. Once cleared, they could bypass other checkpoints and head straight to the secret realm’s end, according to Jue Wuqing’s memory.

This was the most extreme speedrun path Jue Wuqing could think of.

Normally, they’d have to pass five more checkpoints, slow and dangerous.

But Jue Wuqing remembered the trick to this mechanism tunnel, having been here several times in his past life.

If he remembered correctly…

The mechanism tunnel was simple, divided into three main sections.

The front and rear cliff edges, and the floating stone bridge in between.

Upon entering, challengers would gather at the front cliff edge, waiting to be assigned. At this point, countless stones would float in the air, forming a bridge connecting the two cliff edges.

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The floating stones were complex and interwoven. Each step forward risked the stones collapsing.

Moreover, a wrong step on a mechanism stone could trigger deadly attacks, extremely dangerous.

With so many floating stones, Jue Wuqing couldn’t remember which were safe.

However,

He remembered the mechanisms on the rear cliff!

So,

If someone braved the floating stone bridge first,

They could input a code on the rear section to activate the bridge’s stabilization system, allowing those on the front section to cross safely and proceed together.

That’s the basic rule.

Not difficult, as long as the technique was mastered, it could be cleared without harm.

Of course, the first one up was at high risk.

Not to mention the dangers of crossing the floating stone bridge, potentially triggering mechanisms and falling to their death.

Even if they crossed successfully, the rear section’s walls had hundreds of strange buttons and levers.

Each button and lever corresponded to a mechanism in the tunnel.

Pressing the wrong one could mean instant death.

Finding the right button to activate the bridge’s stabilization system was even harder.

Luckily…

Jue Wuqing remembered the code!

This was Jue Wuqing’s authority. Once someone crossed, Jue Wuqing could tell them the correct button sequence to easily activate the bridge’s stabilization system, allowing others to cross safely.

Once everyone reached the rear section, Jue Wuqing would input the correct code to open the tunnel’s final exit.

That way,

He could clear it without harm again!

“All things considered, Brother Ange, the job of inputting the code on the rear section is yours~”

Standing by the floating stone bridge, Jue Wuqing smiled maliciously, patting He Ange’s shoulder.

Though the bridge was dangerous, there were plenty of pawns to try it. Eventually, someone would reach the rear section.

At that point, Jue Wuqing didn’t care who opened the door, as long as he held the correct secret.

Of course,

By vote, He Ange was still the first unlucky one to go.

Remembering how An Luo Yi had intimidated him with Dragon Might, Jue Wuqing was resentful, patting He Ange’s shoulder with a cold smile, ready to watch the show.

Meanwhile,

Duan Zixuan stepped forward, pointing at He Ange, angrily scolding—

“He Ange, I warn you, don’t try any tricks this time!”

“The code is in Jue Wuqing’s head. If you don’t activate the bridge’s stabilization system, none of us can cross, and you can’t clear it alone. We’re all in this together!”

Duan Zixuan had learned his lesson.

Seeing He Ange made him nervous, wondering what tricks the brat might have.

At the front of the crowd, He Ange remained calm, as if he never got angry. No matter how Duan Zixuan and Jue Wuqing used him, he was indifferent, maintaining a basic smile for everyone.

Before leaving, Xu Xin and Xia Ranyue were worried, but couldn’t sway He Ange.

He Ange stepped forward.

Meanwhile, the little yellow bird Jin Nian on his shoulder chirped something.

“I see…”

The youth’s eyes brightened, smiling slightly, already knowing the answer to the floating stone bridge.

He leaped lightly, jumping three times.

But moments later, the three floating stones remained solid, neither breaking nor triggering mechanisms, safe and reliable.

“Brat… such luck?”

At the cliff’s edge, Jue Wuqing gasped, finding the scene suspicious.

Meanwhile, others watched He Ange leap from stone to stone, tension rising, hearts in their throats.

Next,

He Ange found his rhythm, almost jumping continuously.

Without hesitation or pause, though some stones broke, He Ange’s speed allowed him to reach the rear section of the mechanism tunnel in minutes.

Witnessing this,

Jue Wuqing finally lost his composure.

“Impossible, there’s something wrong with him! His previous foolishness must be an act. Who is he?!”

Gritting his teeth, Jue Wuqing muttered, eyes blazing with anger.

He was experienced.

Such coincidences might seem like luck to Duan Zixuan, but Jue Wuqing didn’t believe in such luck.

Jue Wuqing no longer trusted He Ange.

He was sure He Ange knew the answers to every secret realm checkpoint! He was faking it!

Don’t ask how he knew.

Call it a reborn’s intuition!

Jue Wuqing wasn’t as foolish as Duan Zixuan. He was cunning and didn’t believe the floating stone bridge could be crossed so easily.

Now, looking at He Ange, Jue Wuqing’s gaze, though angry, held a hint of flattery.

Jue Wuqing had no choice.

Now, He Ange was at the rear section, with hundreds of buttons and levers within reach. The challengers’ lives were in his hands, and He Ange likely knew the answers!

This was a huge miscalculation for Jue Wuqing.

“Lucky bastard!”

As cold sweat dripped from Jue Wuqing’s forehead, Duan Zixuan added fuel to the fire with a mocking remark.

Jue Wuqing wanted to kick the clueless fool.

If He Ange knew the answer and opened the tunnel exit, leaving them behind, what would happen to the challengers still on the front section?

He Ange crossed the floating stone bridge unharmed.

Jue Wuqing couldn’t guarantee he could do the same. He needed He Ange to activate the bridge’s stabilization system!

Angering He Ange now would only cause trouble.

But,

Before Jue Wuqing could silence Duan Zixuan, the white-robed youth across the cliff spoke:

“Senior Zixuan, what did you say… oh, you said to press this button, right?”

The youth nodded thoughtfully.

He reached for a button on the wall.

The cliffs were far apart, and Jue Wuqing wasn’t sure if he misheard or if He Ange was pretending, but he knew the button He Ange pressed wasn’t the right one.

“No, Brother Ange, don’t press—!”

Before Jue Wuqing finished,

Across the cliff, He Ange casually pressed a button.

Immediately, the ground shook, and a strange alarm echoed through the tunnel.

Next, Jue Wuqing, who was trying to stop him, was suddenly struck by a stone pillar from the side—

Thud!!

After the stone pillar’s mechanism activated, it retracted into the wall.

But Jue Wuqing lay on the ground, unrecognizable, spitting black blood.

“Brother Wuqing! Are you okay?!”

Duan Zixuan turned pale.

He had been behind Jue Wuqing, witnessing the man being struck by the stone pillar, like someone hit by a truck.

The scene was terrifying!

Duan Zixuan tried to help Jue Wuqing, but the latter glared at him like an enemy.

Jue Wuqing pushed Duan Zixuan away, not wanting to see the fool.

Cough, cough—

The hawk-eyed youth spat black blood.

He struggled to stand.

“Senior Wuqing, I’m really sorry, Senior Zixuan told me to press the button! I didn’t know it would trigger a mechanism!”

Across the cliff, He Ange shouted innocently.

Immediately, Duan Zixuan was enraged by his words. Jue Wuqing blaming him was one thing, but He Ange also shifting the blame onto him.

Duan Zixuan hadn’t told He Ange to press the button!

He Ange must have misheard!

“Brat… you’re good at this…”

Jue Wuqing glared at He Ange.

At this moment, the chosen one was filled with anger, but even so, Jue Wuqing didn’t dare provoke He Ange, swallowing his pride.

Jue Wuqing sat up.

He took deep breaths, then laughed self-deprecatingly, speaking kindly to He Ange:

“Ha, haha, it’s just a small injury, Brother Ange, no need to blame yourself. Next, you must listen to me, press the bottom left—”

‘YOU!!!!’

“He Ange—!!!”

“Are you deaf?! Can’t you wait for instructions before pressing?!”

Before Jue Wuqing finished, Duan Zixuan exploded in anger.

His loud, angry voice drowned out Jue Wuqing’s instructions.

As a result, He Ange pulled another lever without hesitation—

Boom, boom, boom!!!

The mechanism tunnel echoed with noise.

“Duan Zixuan, you idiot!”

In the crisis, Jue Wuqing cursed Duan Zixuan’s ancestors.

The next second, as the mechanism activated, Jue Wuqing quickly raised a shield, nervously looking around, witnessing a swinging hammer descend, striking Duan Zixuan at the cliff’s edge.

The dignified Heavenly Sword Sect Saint Son was flung out of Jue Wuqing’s sight like a ragdoll.

A moment ago, he was alive, but now he vanished…

Boom!!!

Jue Wuqing followed the hammer’s path, seeing Duan Zixuan embedded in the wall.

Duan Zixuan was stuck in a “大” shape, bloodied and pitiful.

Gulp…

Jue Wuqing turned back, seeing the white-robed youth across the cliff, still innocent, smiling coldly, standing with his hands behind his back, indifferent to everything.

At that moment,

In Jue Wuqing’s eyes, the white-robed youth was no longer foolish. Though he seemed innocent, to Jue Wuqing, he was a smiling demon, terrifying and sinister!

In a casual moment, He Ange held the power of life and death over them.

What terrified Jue Wuqing more was that none of the sect cultivators realized it. They didn’t see that He Ange controlled their fate, even thinking he was foolish, watching Duan Zixuan’s plight with schadenfreude.

Didn’t they see He Ange was already playing?

That was what filled Jue Wuqing with despair!

“Strange, wasn’t it Senior Wuqing who told me to pull this lever?”

The youth spoke innocently, curiously.

“You brat… you’re doing this on purpose… keep pretending…”

Jue Wuqing whispered, voice trembling.

He didn’t dare shout like Duan Zixuan.

If He Ange pressed another button, they’d all be doomed.

Endure!

Endure!

Once past this stage, Jue Wuqing would reach the Abyssal Ancient Hall. Once he subdued the guardian deity Xuanque, he’d control the Cherry Sea Secret Realm…

Then,

He Ange, you’ll only be smug for a little longer!

Jue Wuqing vowed to kill He Ange.

He’d have Xuanque brainwash He Ange, cover him in explosive talismans, and send him to embrace his beloved senior sister An Luo Yi, blowing them both up!

Otherwise, his anger wouldn’t be quelled!

“He Ange…”

“Just wait!”

…

Outside the secret realm, in the classical pavilion,

Prestigious elders sat in the front row, faces grim, while behind them, minor sect elders laughed heartily.

They watched the secret realm broadcast, amused by He Ange’s antics with the prestigious sects’ elite disciples.

“He Ange…”

“Just wait, when you leave the secret realm, let’s see if you can walk out of the Fox Clan alive!”

The prestigious elders growled in unison, filled with murderous intent.

On the balcony beside them, the silver-haired fairy in the golden dragon robe crossed her arms.

She chuckled, watching the furious prestigious elders, feeling satisfied and relieved.

Meanwhile,

The fairy’s slightly curled lips showed appreciation and approval.

“Little Ange, you did well this time~”

“If you make it out alive, I’ll safely bring you home and give you a big reward.”

…