Fantasy: I Am the Villain.

Chapter 173 Escape

Chapter 173 Escape

However, there was only one button on the remote control. No matter how many times Bai Ke pressed it or studied it, he couldn't stop the fact that this place was about to collapse.

Seeing that the building was about to collapse, and that if they didn't run now, they wouldn't be able to escape, Bai Ke felt a wave of helplessness and wanted to curse.

"Senior brother, it's all my fault. I didn't know it would turn out like this... I'm so sorry everyone. Even if I die, it won't solve anything!"

Seeing the serious consequences he had caused, the disciple cried out in remorse to Bai Ke.

Bai Ke was already feeling irritable, and hearing the person next to him crying and sobbing only made him more impatient.

He wanted to beat the other person up, but the last shred of reason told him that now was not the time to care about such things, at least not now, so he didn't do anything.

"No, we can't just sit here and wait to die. There must be a way, there must be!"

"Senior Brother, what should we do now? How about we hide in that secret room? Maybe it's safer there?"

"A secret chamber...that's it, a secret chamber!" How could he not have thought of that? Since that senior could use an illusion to hide the passage over the tree hole, perhaps there would also be a secret passage in the real cultivation chamber!

Now that things have come to this, there's no better way than to take a gamble.

Thinking of this, Bai Ke led the disciple back into the secret chamber and knocked on the four walls.

Suddenly, a "thump-thump" sound, different from the other walls, rang out, clearly indicating that this side was hollow.

Upon seeing this, Bai Ke was overjoyed. He stood up, channeled his inner energy towards the wall, and swung it with all his might at the hollow wall.

With a loud crash, the wall collapsed to the ground. Sunlight streamed in, falling on their faces—the morning sun, full of life and hope.

"Great! We're saved! We can get out of here!" the disciple exclaimed excitedly.

"I'll go tell the other disciples to evacuate from this side. You go out first and meet up with the disciples following behind you."

"Yes, Senior Brother!" the disciple replied with a cupped hand, and then walked out first.

Seeing that he had left safely, Bai Ke quickly ran into the hall and shouted to the remaining people, "Come over here quickly, there's an exit here!"

Upon hearing that there was an exit, everyone rushed towards the secret chamber. However, more and more rubble and beams were falling from the palace, and it was about to collapse.

Seeing this, Bai Ke shouted at the group again, "Hurry up, hurry up! Don't push in the secret room, get out one by one!"

Bai Ke then stood guard at the exit of the secret room, waiting for them to leave one by one. Once he was all alone, he followed the others and ran out the exit.

"Phew!" The disciples who had run out breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, Bai Ke instructed, "Quickly count the number of people, see if anyone is missing, and once everyone is accounted for, we'll leave immediately!"

“One, two, three…Reporting to Senior Brother, we’re all here,” one of the disciples said.

"Senior Brother, we're missing one! Xiao Lei isn't here, he should... not have come out yet..." The man lowered his head, his voice growing softer and softer until it was completely inaudible.

Silence fell over the crowd.

"Xiao Lei? I don't quite remember him?" Bai Ke asked a disciple beside him, sweating profusely and panting.

"Replying to Senior Brother, Xiao Lei is from Senior Brother Lin Xiu's team..." Upon hearing this, no one spoke. Bai Ke looked as if he had suddenly realized something.

At this moment, Bai Ke walked up to Lin Xiu and looked at him, saying, "Xiao Lei is a disciple in your team. What are your plans?"

Lin Xiu replied with an uneasy expression, "I know that Xiao Lei is a disciple in my team. However, I think it's too risky to go in again just to save him!"

Perhaps... perhaps Xiao Lei is already buried in that palace. Even if we risk our lives to find him, it will be of no use.

We finally escaped, and going back to look for him wouldn't be a wise move, Senior Brother, what do you think?

Upon hearing this, the disciples behind him began to murmur amongst themselves. Although Senior Brother Lin Xiu's words were reasonable, they were still a bit too cold-hearted; to put it bluntly, he was still afraid of death.

Those were his disciples, and now they were giving up so easily, which chilled the hearts of the other disciples.

Meanwhile, Bai Ke was also weighing his options: to save them or not. Clearly, this was a good opportunity to win people over, but it was also too dangerous; he might end up dying along with them instead of saving them.

But if they leave like this, how will they explain it when they go back? Will they say that they didn't save that disciple in order to preserve their strength? This is related to the outcome of the Holy Son Election.

If he goes back and saves that person this time, the selection of the Heavenly Strategy Saint Son will be basically finalized. But we've finally made it this far...

Having considered this, Bai Ke decided that he would go back to find Xiao Lei. So he addressed the crowd:

"Quiet down, everyone! Listen to me. Since we came here together for training, we should go back together!"

Regardless of whether you are in my team or not, I have an obligation to bring you back safely, simply because you are all disciples of Tian Ce Palace, and I am the chief disciple of Tian Ce Palace, your senior brother.

"You all stay here with your Senior Brother Lin Xiu and wait for me. I'll go in and find someone. If... I haven't come out in a quarter of an hour, then don't wait anymore. Go back to Tian Ce Palace and report."

Having said that, Bai Ke turned and ran back towards the secret chamber. The remaining disciples were all shocked by Bai Ke's words and actions, especially by that last sentence.

Some of the more sentimental disciples couldn't help but burst into tears and sob.

Here, Bai Ke had just returned to the palace when he saw that the palace was collapsing more and more severely, and smoke and dust filled the air, making it impossible to see anything at all.

The pillars of the main hall were already teetering on the brink of collapse, about to crumble completely. Bai Ke used his divine sense to quickly locate Xiao Lei's position.

Before long, they discovered that Xiao Lei's leg had been pinned down by a beam that had collapsed from the roof. Because of the severity of his injury and excessive blood loss, his tendons and bones were also damaged, so he was too weak to use magic to move it.

Bai Ke quickly ran towards Xiao Lei's location and found that Xiao Lei had already fainted. He immediately used magic to wake him up and also helped stop the bleeding.

When Xiao Lei regained consciousness and saw that the person who came to save him was Bai Ke, he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and said, "Senior Brother, you came to save me? I thought I was going to be buried here!"

At this moment, Bai Ke moved the crossbeam off Xiao Lei's legs, squatted down with his back to him, and said, "Don't talk yet, save your energy. Hurry up and get on, I'll carry you out. Otherwise, it'll be too late, hurry!"