"......"

Xu Gou, Peng Gu, and Yu Mo all subtly retreated several steps.

The looks they gave Tao Sheng were indescribably complex.

It had to be said, children with fathers were truly fortunate.

They didn't even need to grow brains, just outsourced everything to dad...

Unlike them, fatherless ones had it too tough, growing cunning schemes one after another, almost unbearable!

Ah, fatherless children mature early, can't compare, can't compare...

Tao Sheng himself didn't feel anything unusual.

Then the old woman glanced at his originally mangled hand and said coolly:

"Recovered quite well, huh →_→"

"......" Tao Sheng shuddered all over, retreating half a step.

Stumbling, he felt a tremendous force lifting him up.

He instinctively wanted to struggle, but quickly realizing it was his dad lifting him, he instantly quieted down.

The giant shadow phantom's body remained standing near the chubby guy, merely extending an elongated hand to lift Tao Sheng over before speaking to the old woman:

"Sorry, proceed at your own pace."

The old woman gave an ambiguous snort of laughter, then turned her gaze to the group of mutant Defenders.

Although these Defenders lacked powerful backgrounds, surviving until now meant they weren't fools.

They had vaguely sensed earlier that this old woman following Yuan Qiu like a bodyguard might not be just a simple guard.

Not only was this person remarkably powerful, her status was probably not low either.

That equally formidable "Chubby Senior," and that mysterious shadow phantom, all seemed to show this old woman considerable respect.

They, these Defenders comparable to lab rats, naturally dared not offend such a big shot, their gazes toward the old woman now only containing caution, respect, and obedient compliance.

The old woman nodded slightly, raised both hands, and iron wires shot out from between her fingers.

These were the same wires used earlier to trap the Ghost Valley Soul Shepherd Formation.

So the Defenders were quite familiar with them.

Seeing the wires stop before each of them, the old woman spoke again:

"For the next part of the journey, you'll need to take the vanguard."

"And these wires... first, prevent you from being forcibly dragged away by unclean things;

second, prevent you from entertaining thoughts of desertion."

"Of course, when you encounter truly life-threatening danger and desperately pull on the wires, I'll sense it."

"At that time, I'll consider whether to rescue you based on circumstances."

"Now, wrap the wires around your left wrists, then you can proceed forward."

As she spoke, the originally straight, sharp wires actively formed loops.

As someone raised their left hand slightly, the loop slipped onto their wrist.

Soon, the wire attached to the person disappeared from sight.

That Defender withdrew their hand and moved it around, finding no sensation at all, completely unimpeded, and breathed a sigh of relief.

With the first example, other Defenders followed suit, quickly attaching the wires, then being urged forward by the old woman.

Jiang Ye was thinking about whether his mutated clone wrapped in the shadow phantom counted as a "complete version" mutation like Xu Gou and Tao Sheng, or a "semi-finished" mutation like the Defenders.

Then he saw the old woman turn toward the shadow phantom's direction.

That glance made Tao Sheng shudder again, his whole body retreating behind the shadow phantom.

Fortunately, the old woman was looking at the entire giant shadow phantom.

She asked somewhat impolitely: "This useless son of yours is destined to miss the opportunity. But you..."

The old woman's gaze fixed on the black figure within the shadow phantom.

Pausing briefly, she continued: "Want to go in and try too?"

"......"

Actually, ever since having his Glyph Pattern Ability extracted by the little old man, having all his Mist Monsters drained for Jiang Ye's mutation...

Now even losing personal freedom, becoming a cage trapping the mutated Jiang Ye...

These changes had left the entire shadow phantom in a state of utter despair.

Hearing these words now, his mind became active again.

After all, he could see—

That so-called "restricted zone opportunity," this little old woman and chubby guy weren't planning to touch it.

The first to enter the restricted zone to "catch the opportunity" were just those useless Defenders.

If the shadow phantom also entered, that meant separating from the little old woman and chubby guy.

Although there were risks, at least he was stronger than those Defenders.

And...

If he left these two people's sight, he had plenty of methods to ditch the blackened Jiang Ye and escape alone.

Of course, if he really escaped, this unlucky son of his...

This unlucky son would obviously remain here as a hostage to prevent his escape.

But...

Once truly out of these two big shots' sight.

Whether to keep this unlucky son or not would be entirely his decision?

The shadow phantom weighed the pros and cons internally.

Before he could answer, he saw the little old woman send a wire flying toward his direction too.

Only then did the shadow phantom finally speak:

"I have no physical body, such physical objects are useless against me."

The old woman raised her eyebrows indifferently: "Useless against you, try whether it works on Jiang Ye."

"......"

The shadow phantom fell silent.

Then he allowed the wire to pass through his ethereal form and wrap around the blackened mutated Jiang Ye's hand.

Jiang Ye's entire mutated clone only had some sensation left in his left hand.

He felt the wire wrapping around his left hand.

Then the sensation quickly disappeared, the wire connecting his left hand to the old woman becoming invisible.

The old woman urged the shadow phantom again: "Alright, you go in too."

The shadow phantom didn't speak, preparing to flash toward the direction the Defenders had advanced.

But before moving, an anxious, panicked shout came from behind: "Dad—!!"

This shout made Tao Sheng notice the old woman giving him an extremely unfriendly look.

As if she could devour him whole the next second!

Tao Sheng shrank back in fear, speaking rapidly to the shadow phantom: "Dad! I, I'll go with you!"

"You're coming with me." The old woman's dry, hoarse voice was direct, giving him another cool glance, then "comforting" him ominously:

"Don't worry, as long as your dad doesn't cause trouble, you'll naturally be fine."

"......"

Tao Sheng now understood—he was being taken hostage!

Regardless of whether the restricted zone posed risks to completed mutants like him.

He probably couldn't enter.

Seeing that his dad indeed had no intention of taking him along, Tao Sheng had no choice but to settle down...

The shadow phantom didn't even bother with parting words before flashing forward.

Those Defenders currently served as the vanguard, originally walking slowly and dragging their feet, as if afraid the next step would plunge them into an abyss.

But now, seeing the shadow phantom fearlessly flashing forward...

Their enthusiasm was somewhat stirred.

Originally walking as if speed meant certain death.

Now they suddenly rushed forward one after another, as if being slow meant missing the opportunity.

The Abyss Restricted Zone was an utterly lightless, extremely dark environment.

Even though all explorers were equipped with [Owl's Eyes], their visual range remained very limited.

Soon, those Defenders advancing forward completely disappeared into the darkness.

Jiang Ye felt somewhat uneasy inside.

Previously he hadn't cared much about that blackened mutated clone.

But when a clone returned from the Court of Disorder and synchronized information from there.

He began valuing that mutated clone with extra importance.

Simultaneously he knew that shadow phantom wasn't someone to rest easy about.

Previously the shadow phantom willingly wrapped his mutated clone only under threat from the Card Grandmaster and Guiwen Grandmaster.

Especially the Guiwen Grandmaster, who completely countered him!

But now, with the Guiwen Grandmaster gone, and if they further left the chubby guy and little old woman's sight...

Who knew if the shadow phantom would still care about Tao Sheng, this useless hostage.

What if he abandoned Jiang Ye's mutated clone and escaped alone?

The key was that truly stepping into the restricted zone would mean losing contact with the outside!

Jiang Ye's mutated clone couldn't even move, its consciousness blurred!

Such a clone, if abandoned by the shadow phantom, probably couldn't survive!

He had no other clones entering that restricted zone to help either!

Just as he considered asking Xiao Bai for help to follow the vanguard into the restricted zone...

He suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.

Yes, it was Xiao Hei parasitizing in Xiao Bai's hair who actually felt a chill!

That instant, Jiang Ye almost thought the little old woman and chubby guy had discovered him and planned to pull him out.

But very soon he discovered—

It wasn't just him feeling the chill.

The remaining mutants like Xu Gou and Tao Sheng, plus the chubby guy and little old woman, all changed expressions.

The chubby guy and little old woman, when discussing "entering the restricted zone," had shed their previous relaxed attitude, becoming extremely serious.

And after the shadow phantom and Defenders advanced to explore, their serious expressions hadn't relaxed.

Now with this sudden chill, both tensed up completely, staring intently at the impenetrable darkness ahead.

Xu Gou and others knew how to read situations, quickly retreating behind the two big shots.

Yu Mo, slightly weaker, couldn't help rubbing his arms and muttering: "So cold..."

But speaking made him feel a Yin coldness rushing into his mouth!

Next second, bone-chilling cold seemed to invade his lungs!

Yu Mo panicked, suddenly feeling a damp chill on the back of his hand.

Looking closely, he froze completely:

"This... snow? It's snowing?!"

This exclamation seemed to act as a trigger!

The two big shots' expressions grew even more tense.

And the sky around them, within visible range, actually suddenly began snowing!

Initially just light flurries, in the blink of an eye turning into heavy snowflakes, with fierce cold winds whipping up!

Yu Mo and others were both terrified and astonished.

Then they heard the "Chubby Senior's" voice, completely devoid of previous simple, honest, friendly kindness, instead carrying undisguised sharpness:

"This method won't work! Pull them back quickly!"

The old woman's expression was equally grim, saying "It's too late to pull them back," yet still raising her arms, wires dancing between her ten fingers.

Jiang Ye even heard "whoosh whoosh" sounds.

Though visibility was affected by heavy snow, he could still sense—

This old woman was indeed pulling back on the wires.

But very soon, she emitted a hoarse, shocked, angry voice: "No good! Can't pull them back! My wires feel frozen solid!"

Jiang Ye vaguely sensed the old woman seemed to regret it and wanted to withdraw the wires.

But now, she couldn't retrieve them.

The chubby guy nearby, after shouting to pull people back when snow started, hadn't been idle either, vigorously manipulating the vibrating Ghost Valley Soul Shepherd Formation Array Disk in his hand.

However, as snow continued falling...

The disobedient array disk stopped vibrating.

But when the chubby guy tried to manipulate it, he couldn't move it either.

Now the chubby guy lost all previous elegance, actually cursing angrily: "Fuck! That bastard deceived me!"

Saying this, he seemed ready to throw the array disk away.

But ultimately, he didn't throw it, instead storing it away with a flip of his hand.

Next second, the chubby guy snapped his fingers again.

But whereas his previous snaps during the chess game were crisp and loud.

In this snowy, Yin-cold environment, the snap produced no sound.

But no matter, snap or no snap, cards still materialized before him.

However, those cards hadn't even been used before completely freezing solid!

The chubby guy performed various operations on the cards, but nothing happened!

Only now did Jiang Ye vaguely realize the severity of the situation.

But also now, he noticed something eerie—

When everyone's expressions changed earlier, Xiao Bai's reaction was half a beat slower.

Although Xiao Bai now rubbed her arms as if very cold.

Jiang Ye, relying on his Oscar-winning level superb acting skills, vaguely felt—

Xiao Bai's behavior seemed fake!

Could it be she wasn't cold at all?

Thinking this, he saw the little old woman, still connected by wires between her fingers, suddenly actively severed both hands!

Of course, she quickly grew new hands.

But the two hands that shot the wires, the moment severed, completely froze solid.

Next second, the little old woman flashed over to Xiao Bai, grabbed her hair and scolded:

"What the hell are you pretending for! Quickly release your Black Snakes!"

"......"

Xiao Bai, exposed and having her hair grabbed, naturally dared not pretend further.

Afraid this damned old woman might cruelly tear out all her hair...

She quickly released numerous Black Snakes.

Numerous Black Snakes danced above her head, seemingly unfazed by the current wind and snow.

The old woman ordered sharply: "Quickly use these Black Snakes to create a space to isolate the heavy snow!"

Turning toward Xu Gou, Yu Mo and others, she shouted: "You few, if you don't want to die, hide in here too!"

As for the chubby guy, without being told, he proactively approached Xiao Bai's side.

Xiao Bai obeyed, quickly using numerous Black Snakes to form a rather small enclosed space.

The entire enclosed space used Black Snake bodies as walls, actually effectively resisting the outside heavy snow and cold wind.

The chubby guy snapped his fingers again now.

Still no sound, but cards still materialized.

Yet this card also froze solid, unresponsive to any operation...

At this point, everyone within the snake-body enclosed space looked extremely grim.

Xiao Bai, now somewhat the "meritorious contributor," remembering Jiang Ye's earlier request for information, proactively asked:

"Chubby Senior said you were deceived when operating the array disk earlier? So were you deceived by the Formation Master who created that array disk?"

"And you just shouted 'this method won't work'... referring to the method of having Defenders enter the restricted zone first while we wait outside?"

"Could both seniors reveal what exactly is happening now?"