Chapter 0493: Hunter or Hunted?

"What a united team. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Jing Taixu said with a sardonic smile. He had no intention of lingering here. His anima dew membrane was being worn down as well.

"Time to go. Follow me. No missteps," Jing Taixu said to his team.

He took careful, precise steps along the water's surface, following the method of escape that Lu Ming had told him before.

His squad followed him closely. In this illusion formation, one wrong step, and they would be in the same flaming sea as the Astral Sage College was.

And then they would be the ones crying for help.

Li Luo and the others had no energy left to stop Jing Taixu's group from leaving. He would love to cut Jing Taixu down right now, but the most important thing was to get out of the Dragon's Belly.

All of them fought against the fire tornado, wearing it down bit by bit.

The tornado was stubborn. Even with its creator no longer feeding it energy, it was at a massive size already, and an uncontrollable force.

The Astral Sage students did not give up. They knew that this was their final, desperate bid. There was nothing else to fall back on.

The illusion formation was starting to fray from the tornado. If they could just hold on for a while more, they would be free.

"Left three... back one..."

Within the illusion formation, Jing Taixu led his group along a precarious route out of the illusion formation. With each step, the illusion faded a little more around them, indicating that they were slowly but surely getting out.

A few minutes later, Jing Taixu suddenly stopped.

He was at the last step now, and his foot was already midair when he paused.

According to Lu Ming, the final instruction was a step to the left, which would take them out.

The instructions up till now had been correct. Jing Taixu had no reason to doubt them... but if he were Lu Ming, would he really have given them the correct instructions to leave the illusion formation?

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He, Jing Taixu, was going to be Lu Ming's greatest threat.

Now that she had managed to get him into her formation, it was the perfect chance to trap him for good. Would Lu Ming pass up on this chance?

And if he wanted to trap his strongest opponent, where would he lead them wrong?

Undoubtedly on the last step.

Give them correct instructions to lure them into a false sense of security, and then trip them up on the last step with a nasty surprise.

That was why the smooth process up till now had Jing Taixu suspicious about the last step.

There were two choices available to him.

Left or right?

While he was hesitating, a voice came at him. "Jing Taixu, what are you hesitating about?"

Jing Taixu's head snapped up as he looked around him. "Lu Ming? The last step... it really is left, isn't it?"

"Oh? You think I gave you the wrong instructions?" Lu Ming demanded coldly.

"Wouldn't you?" Jing Taixu replied coolly.

"Believe it. Or not. Your choice," Lu Ming sneered. And then her voice was gone.

"Too hasty," Jing Taixu mumbled to himself triumphantly. "Lu Ming, if only you had been a bit more patient, if only you hadn't said anything. Are you that anxious to control the process, to get me to take the step?"

Silence greeted him.

Jing Taixu smiled widely. He was not a trusting person, and now he had reason to doubt Lu Ming. Of course he would not follow her instructions.

He stepped to the right without hesitation.

BOOM!

A vicious arc of lightning jolted up his leg, and he felt his body jerk and travel through space. His ears were ringing from the impact.

A ball of fire greeted his wild eyes.

Jing Taixu paled.

A fire tornado howled before him.

A very familiar fire tornado...

The very one that he had made himself.

Jing Taixu whirled around to see Li Luo and the others staring at him in surprise.

The rest of the Enlightened Sage College students were behind him.

All of them paled when they saw the fire tornado. They knew what it meant.

"Lu Ming!"

Jing Taixu screamed to the skies in frustration. He had chosen wrong!

Lu Ming had given him the correct instructions after all!

The cunning woman!

"Keh. Oh, Jing Taixu, what a clever boy you are. The clever ones are always done in by their hubris. I threw you a rope, and you saw a hangman's noose. You deserve your own ending." Lu Ming's voice echoed around him tauntingly.

"You were acting!" Jing Taixu snarled. She had faked the anxiety to stoke the paranoia within him.

This woman... perhaps he had been trapped from the moment he had gone to her.

He wanted to finish off Li Luo. Why wouldn't Lu Ming finish off both him and Li Luo?

But Jing Taixu curbed his anger swiftly. It was not useful in this situation. And he was not completely helpless even after being trapped by Lu Ming.

However...

Jing Taixu turned around. "Li Luo, I have a way to leave her illusion formation. Truce?"

Li Luo looked at him oddly. "Jing Taixu, I swear, you... just what is it you spend your days and nights doing?"

Jing Taixu grimaced. He knew how foolish, how desperate he looked at this moment. But there was no choice. Lu Ming's trap had put him in a dangerous situation.

"You go first," Li Luo said tersely. He wanted to leave the illusion formation too. Otherwise, they would sit here and be cooked.

Get out first. Settle the score with Jing Taixu later.

Jing Taixu felt relief rush through him. He knew that Li Luo was smart enough not to fight him now as well. Get out first. Settle the score with Lu Ming later.

Jing Taixu waved to his teammates.

They nodded and then all put their palms together. Each created a condensed ball of energy, pulsing with light.

Boom!

They flew out, streaking forth like a flight of birds, and then they punched a hole in the side of the illusion formation.

They continued to weave in and out of the wall of the illusion formation, tearing a rift wider and wider.

"Looks like you didn't trust me much from the start, Jing Taixu." Lu Ming's voice again.

"Oh, I'm sure the sentiment goes both ways, my dear," Jing Taixu replied coolly. With this gap, he could escape, but so could Li Luo.

"Hmph," Lu Ming replied. "Jing Taixu, since you came to find me, how could I let you leave empty-handed?"

Boom!

A sizzling, crackling sphere of lightning flew through the gap, flashing past both Jing Taixu and Li Luo. It was aimed straight at the fire tornado.

"GET OUT!" Jing Taixu screamed. "SHE'S GONNA BLOW IT ALL!"

Li Luo and his team fled for their lives.

Boom!

The lightning was too quick. With a terrible explosion, the fire tornado exploded, and fire rained down on them thick and heavy.

All of them were blanketed underneath it.