"You need something from me, so naturally you won't make a move on me." Yang Kai snorted lightly.
"If that weren't the case, did you think I'd show you any mercy?" The Ghost Ancestor smiled sinisterly. "Enough talk. I didn't know before that you were proficient in the Laws of Space, but it's not too late to find out now. You cooperate with me obediently — how about we find a way out of here?"
"How do we cooperate?" Yang Kai frowned.
"I'll give you freedom — whatever you want, I'll give it to you. I guarantee you'll be satisfied! You find a way to leave this place, but when the time comes, you have to take me with you." The Ghost Ancestor chuckled darkly. "The spatial formation I spent so much effort developing probably won't be of any use anymore, but since you've also studied the Laws of Space, perhaps there's some way!"
"I don't trust you!" Yang Kai shook his head. Dealing with this kind of ancient monster, one wrong move meant eternal damnation.
"Then what would it take for you to trust me?"
"Swear an oath!"
The Ghost Ancestor's expression turned strange, and he smiled hideously. "You'd trust my oath? I can go back on it whenever I please!"
"Swear on the names of your dead wife and child, and I'll believe you!" Yang Kai said earnestly.
"Don't push your luck, boy!" The Ghost Ancestor's expression turned violent, as though Yang Kai's words had struck a nerve. He barked, "There's nothing to gain by angering me. I can kill you right now and extract your understanding of the Laws of Space through the Soul Searching technique!"
"The chances of success are slim. Maybe you'll get my research on the Laws of Space, maybe you'll get nothing at all. And even if you do get it, you might not be able to comprehend it — this kind of thing depends on talent. That's exactly why you spent a thousand years studying it with nothing to show for it. Your spatial comprehension is terrible!" Yang Kai spoke bluntly, not afraid at all of truly provoking the Ghost Ancestor.
He stared the Ghost Ancestor down. "Want to take that gamble?"
The Ghost Ancestor's expression shifted between dark and light as he stared at Yang Kai with a look that could eat him alive, as though he wished nothing more than to strike him down and search his memories. But his flickering eyes were full of hesitation.
Yang Kai's words had hit the nail on the head, leaving him wavering.
"If you don't swear on your dead wife and child, I'll crawl into that spatial rift right now and never come out. I'd rather die in there than cooperate with you. And once I'm dead, you can take your time tinkering with that spatial formation of yours — see if it does you any good." Saying this, Yang Kai didn't intend to give the Ghost Ancestor any more time to think. He moved as if to crawl into the spatial rift.
"Wait!" the Ghost Ancestor shouted harshly, his face twitching, his sinister aura surging around him.
Then suddenly, he laughed and nodded. "Boy, you've got guts — daring to negotiate with me like this."
Yang Kai shrugged. "Cooperating with you is like asking a tiger for its skin. I have to be careful."
"Fine, you win! I'll swear on my wife and child. As long as you cooperate obediently, I won't lay a hand on you. If I break this oath, may lightning strike me down — may I die a wretched death!"
Yang Kai shook his head.
"What more do you want, boy?" the Ghost Ancestor barked.
"Lightning striking you down and a wretched death — that kind of oath is meaningless. You know how to properly swear an oath, I trust? No need for me to teach you."
The Ghost Ancestor stared at him coldly, a bone-deep chill rising in his sunken eyes, killing intent surging like a tide.
He slowly closed his eyes, no longer playing tricks with words, and honestly swore a venomous oath on his dead wife and child.
Only then did Yang Kai step out of the spatial rift and say flatly, "Wouldn't it have been better to say that from the start?"
"I want to kill you right now, boy. Crush your bones to dust and scatter your ashes, destroy your soul so I can vent my hatred." The Ghost Ancestor glared at him icily.
"I believe you're someone who truly cared about his wife and child. Otherwise, you wouldn't still be thinking about avenging them after two thousand years." Yang Kai smiled faintly. "You're a man of deep devotion, Senior."
The Ghost Ancestor's violent expression melted away like snow under a blazing sun, and a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes, as though he had caught a glimpse of his wife and child's silhouettes.
"The past is past. Come back with me first — we'll put our heads together and find a way out of here." His tone suddenly turned calm, as though that one sentence had extinguished any desire to take his anger out on Yang Kai.
With that, he waved his sleeve, enveloped Yang Kai, and headed back the way they'd come.
On that plateau halfway up the mountain, everyone waited with bated breath, the atmosphere heavy with silence.
Though the Ghost Ancestor had been gone for an hour, none of them dared to flee.
This continent was the Ghost Ancestor's domain — there was nowhere they could escape to.
Everyone was filled with dread, secretly hoping the Ghost Ancestor would simply never return — that he'd die somewhere out there.
Just as their anxiety was at its peak, Yue Xi's expression suddenly changed and she cried out, "He seems to be coming back."
As she spoke, she turned her head to look in one direction.
Following her gaze, everyone saw a mass of dark clouds rapidly approaching from that direction. From within came the Ghost Ancestor's chilling aura, sending chills through their entire bodies.
Despair once again settled over their hearts.
"Huh?" Shen Tu exclaimed in surprise, peering into the dark clouds in confusion. He seemed to catch a glimpse of Yang Kai's figure flickering within, and froze on the spot.