Wu Zai turned around and let out an ear-piercing shriek that shook the cave. Or, at least, I thought his scream was shaking the cave. That is, until it continued, and a moment later the entrance to the underground lake cave was blocked up with a horde of furry, racing creatures squeaking and clawing crazily.

"Eat the statue!" Wu Zai cackled, pointing at the creepy obsidian statue. "Yummy statue! Eat, eat!"

Xu Yun and Li Cheng gasped behind me as the statue was swarmed with little rat bodies until it couldn't even be seen anymore! It was still eating up my qi, but I felt the flow ease up.

"Are those — rats?" Xu Yun gasped.

"Did that rat statue — talk?" Li Cheng stammered.

Crack!

Already, the rabid horde of rats — which was super nasty to look at, to tell you the truth — had eaten enough through the statue somehow with those hard rat teeth, that it actually cracked at the waist.

It seemed to emit a horrible scream of rage and pain, the sound of the suffering of all the souls Zhao Yaoyao had killed being released. The scream shook the cave even further, causing more chunks of purple stone to fall from the ceiling.

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Crash!

The torso of the creepy obsidian statue fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. My qi was no longer being sucked away, so I shakily cast a Divine Shield technique to block the shards from hitting me or my students.

When the statue fell, it also messed up the complicated blood array, smearing it. With a lurch, we were all free.

At the same time we were freed, a ball of pure immortal qi was released from the shattered heart of the statue, and it shot back into my lower stomach like a bullet.

I gasped and fell to my knees. Then I coughed up one mouthful of blood.

"Laoshi! Immortal Laoshi Xia!" Xu Yun ran to my side, supporting me. "You are bleeding! Internally!"

"Yeah, no shit," I mumbled, wiping my chin. "Don't worry about it, student-kid. In worlds like these, one mouthful of blood just means minor internal bleeding. If it was another few, I'd be screwed. This is fine. Rat demon Wu Zai! Stop the rats now. They're just making a mess and being an eyesore. The demonic altar's destroyed."

Looking disappointed, Wu Zai called off his rats, who all scurried off in a pack like a furry wave. With a wave of my hand, I re-sealed him completely, and he turned into a still jade rat figurine again.

"Now..." I glanced darkly at the cave entrance, where Zhao Yaoyao had disappeared not long ago.

"It's time to take care of a vengeful spirit."