Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Seeing the human and beast leave the courtyard, the hairs on the back of the young man did not lay down, nor did he feel any comfort in knowing that it was not a group which was following them but only the one man. A man who clearly was not easy to deal with.

  As soon as the man vanished out of sight, Hui Yue picked up a memory stone and used the stone to fill all memories and knowledge he had about the scarred man, before he rushed to the room where his friends were sleeping.

  Rushing into the room, he finally settled down seeing that they all were asleep. He decided not to show them anything until morning. The man had already left for the night and it was somewhat obvious that he had no intentions of returning, allowing the party to have a whole night’s rest.

  Seated on his bed Hui Yue entered meditation quickly, before he allowed for his body to turn light. He felt how his cultivation technique was working to its highest capacity, his body sucking in all the essence of the heavens and the earth and it was slowly being refined into Qi, which was in turn was being refined into spiritual energy.

  He kept seated in this position for the rest of the night and did not open his eyes before the sunshine shone through the windows, reminding him that they needed to move as soon as possible. Opening his eyes, Hui Yue found that the others were already awake all of them working efficiently and getting ready to travel once again.

  Breakfast was enjoyed at the restaurant which belonged to the inn and only after consuming a large quantity of food did they once more set out on the street, rushing towards the tunnels.

  As soon as they were on the road, the memory stone which was filled the previous morning was passed along to the six mercenaries. As they saw it their faces turned grim.

  “I know him,” Xu Piao said with a low voice, not wishing to inform the rest of the team about their follower of which, even now, Hui Yue could feel those eyes following them.

  “He is a member of the Dragon Corps’ eradication section. Their official name is the Black Dragon Corps. This man has been within Demon Dwelling Cave for a very long time. There is no doubt that he has been sent after us by Zhou Long.” Having said the last sentence, an ugly expression was evident on Xu Piao’s face.

  “The man is a King ranked expert. I don’t know if you will be able to deal with him because he is by far stronger than the last King ranked expert you met.”

  “I won’t be able to deal with him,” Hui Yue said, an ugly expression flashing on his face, “The strength I can pull is limited, it does not work more than once every few years.”

  Hearing that, Xu Piao looked stunned at the young man. “Every few years?” He asked as though something was blocking his ear, changing the words from what Hui Yue had originally said. Nodding his head, a black cloud was visible on the face of the white-haired boy and he almost regretted using the strength Lan Feng had painstakingly cultivated earlier. Currently he was stuck in a situation where he could see no exit.

  Xu Piao was quiet for some time, however, after a few moments his eyes went cold. A sneer was visible on his face as he looked behind them, trying to locate scarface only to see nothing apart from normal citizens going about their everyday lives.

  Nodding his head, he turned towards Hui Yue and patted the younger boy on the shoulders, “in situations like these, be happy that you have elders such as me and Xie Lan with you. If we join forces then we should be able to take him out.”

  Hearing the older man saying those words, the young man felt eternal gratitude from within and he was truly unable to express how he felt. He knew that Zhou Long was here for his sake, and it was also for the sake of Hui Yue that one after another assassin appeared with their group. But no matter what, his friends were there to help him out, to deal with the trouble he brought along.

  Returning the memory stone to his pocket, Hui Yue was grumbling for a short time while he wondered the possibilities he had. Although he no longer could draw on Lan Feng’s strength, Hui Yue was not the person to give up and his eyes gleamed a certain light, the light of persistence.

  As the caravan made its way down the road, a cloaked figure stood in the shadows of two houses, his eyes radiating killing intent and by his side was a gigantic demon beast who was growling slightly. Looking at the caravan a smile appeared on the disfigured face and with a flick of his sleeves he vanish into the shadows, moving the same direction the caravan just drove.

  Chapter 165 - New Route

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  Chapter 165: New Route

  The next couple of days nothing happened, and were it not for the killing intent which was coming their way, Hui Yue would have believed that they were all alone on their trip, that things were going according to plan.

  Unfortunately, he was still unsure about what he could do against the man. Even more so about which actions he should take as soon as they entered the tunnels because it was obvious that the man from the Black Dragon Corps would be following them into the tunnels as well. His hope of being able to escape in the tunnels was no longer possible.

  But the trip waited for no one and every day they were getting closer to the tunnels. The fourth day they were able to see the cave wall in the horizon. The cave wall had massive doors leading towards the tunnels which headed to the next cave. While the guards felt excitement as none of them had ever left their cave, Hui Yue felt dread because he knew about the man who was following them.

  Thinking back, it seemed as if the man was aware that he could not take them head on, as such they knew their only option was to be together all the time, not giving scarface a chance to hunt them down one by one.

  “Don’t worry too much about him,” Xu Piao said as he noticed the frown on the young man’s face, clearly busy thinking out things on his own. “You are not alone,” The Guild Master continued, “Just leave that man for me and Xie Lan to deal with.”

  Hearing the words, Hui Yue felt gratitude, but he was not used to leaning on stronger people, and although he felt lots of gratitude for the kindness shown him he also wished to do his best, as the one person he trusted the most was he himself.

  The rest of the trip exiting the cave was done smoothly. No one was hunted down and the killing intent was something the more sensitive members of the group had grown used to. Scarface did absolutely nothing to the group, but follow behind which in a way was even more daunting than if they knew what his plans were.

  Thinking it through again, Hui Yue was somewhat certain the reason he did nothing was because he was waiting for them to enter the tunnels, but even though he knew this there was nothing he could do. Their destination was on the other side of the tunnel system and stopping was not an option.

  Hui Yue considered leaving the entourage with his friends as he knew that the man was after him; however, now that he had come into contact with young master Yang Bai, Hui Yue had no doubt that Scarface would kill anyone associated with him.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue kept on going forward and after another seven days they arrived at the tunnel. The butler left the carriage and showed the mission information to the guards, after which the doors were opened allowing for the entourage to pass through and enter into the world of darkness.

  Or that was what they had expected. But, unlike the tunnels between Cave’s End and Demon Dwelling Cave, there was one road within the tunnels which was illuminated. Despite this sounds of demon beasts could be heard nearby and also there were many paths leading into complete and utter darkness.

  The illuminated road was the one Hui Yue and the entourage followed, but even though it was illuminated, and somewhat safe, demon beasts were likely to attack at anytime. Therefore all the friends took up positions around the convoy in a circle to keep it protected from unseen attacks.

  Hui Yue himself took the position at the back, behind the guards and he was ready to move should unwanted men or beasts suddenly show up. In front of him was Xie Lan and Xu Piao on each side of the convoy and in front of them were the eight Yang guards, four on each site. The mercenary guards wer
e split into pairs on each side of the convoy. Deng Wu and Sha Yun were one the sides and in front was Wang Ju Long.

  As soon as the group entered the tunnels, and even though the guards were filled with excitement as their mouths were agape staring at the massive tunnel, they were rushed forward by Hui Yue at the back. The speed of the group picked up to their maximum, as the group of mercenaries wished to get through the tunnel as soon as absolutely possible.

  There was, unfortunately, one person who disagreed with Hui Yue’s idea and the door to his carriage opened up. The young master left the safe interior as he wished to see the very dangerous surroundings.

  Seeing the young master move away like that, the white-haired young man could not help but sigh deeply and feeling an annoyance he had never felt before within this world. It was clear that the young master had already forgotten everything about the murders which occurred when they just set out on their journey.

  “Please return to the carriage young master,” Hui Yue said with a sigh as he moved to the side of Yang Bai swiftly and silently, something which shocked the young master; however, instead of showing any signs of doing what he had been told to do, Yang Bai pursed his lips as he completely ignored his words and he started moving around on his own.

  Since they had entered the tunnels the feeling of killing intent slowly vanished, and Hui Yue knew that it was due to scarface waiting outside the tunnels, allowing the entourage a head start. Much like how you hunt down rabbits letting them run away, only to catch them when they least expected it.

  Hui Yue was quiet for a long time when finally a smile appeared on his face. Seeing the smile, Xu Piao suddenly felt a shiver and his eyes widened. Now was not a time for one to smile.

  “Young Master,” Hui Yue called out, “What do you say to us following an uncharted route to the next cave?” He asked, and as soon as the words were spoken excitement shone within the eyes of not only the young master but also the guards. They had long since heard about how some lived from hunting Demon Beasts within the tunnels. To try it themselves would be amazing.

  Hui Yue obviously chose to enter the dark tunnels for two reasons. Firstly, by having Sha Yun it would be possible to find a way through the maze of tunnels, and if that turned out to be impossible they could always simply smashing their way through. Sha Yun had previously proved that this was a viable solution to being caught in a maze.

  Secondly, by entering the black tunnels, Hui Yue and the entourage would be far more difficult to find, meaning it would be much harder to kill them.

  Locating them was not the only problem, Scarface would be stuck having to kill many beasts and by doing so, it would no longer be possible to sneak up on them. This was something which Hui Yue prefered. As the beasts within the tunnels, although strong, were going against a strong force of both guards and mercenaries. None of the beasts within the tunnel should be able to threaten them.

  Hearing the suggestion, everyone in the group was filled with excitement, at least all the guards and the ones sent from the Yang family. Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long looked at one another. Although the two of them were not great friends, both of them were traumatized remembering the long days they had spent within those black tunnels back whlie waiting for the Dragon Corps.

  Back then they had spent quite a large amount of time within the dangerous and black world, something which made them hunger to see the sun once more. It had indeed been beneficial to their cultivation bases, but the world was so grim that none of them would have chosen that option, if they had a choice.

  But, sadly, they did not. Young master Yang Bai was completely taken aback by the offer and his eyes glittered with excitement, as he thought the black tunnels would be one of the most incredible things he would ever experience. During his studies he would have to enter the tunnels for practice, but to enter the inner tunnels now would give him a head start and something to brag about when he reached the academy. Especially if he managed to subdue a demon beast on the way.

  Yang Bai was dreaming as he thought about subduing a demon beast when it came down to it though, he was not likely to partake in any of the actual battles, but for such a young boy dreaming was all he could do.

  Seeing that the young master gave his agreement, the convoy picked a random path and slowly made their way. Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long both took out light stones. Having bought a large portion in town, they gave a light stone to each of the members of their team before they ever so slowly started making their way through the black tunnel system.

  The first many hours went past quickly as the group made their way through the tunnels, no demon beasts obscured their way. The only thing they found was the humid walls and the marks of demon beasts here and there.

  Finally, after moving through the black tunnels for a longer period of time, they found a small cave within the tunnels, a cave which was currently occupied by a large furry white monkey-like beast with red eyes and large fangs.

  The beast was anything but happy about the humans who were ready to take over the cave which belonged to it, and the battle lasted for almost an entire hour as Hui Yue ordered the guards to deal with it. He and his friends needed to reserve their energy should Scarface, unlike Hui Yue’s expectations, still manage to follow them. If he did follow they would need their full energy to defeat him.

  Of the twelve guards, two had gotten injured, yet none were serious injuries. As soon as the monkey-beast died, Hui Yue started dissecting it, cooking some of the meat while drying other parts. The hide was cured and cleaned and the bones all somehow ending up inside Hui Yue’s own storage stones.

  Seeing the expertise with which Hui Yue took apart such a large animal all the guards and the Yang family members were deeply shocked. They finally started to understand just how much a difference there was between a mercenary and a family guard.

  Spending the evening in the cave, Hui Yue and Xu Piao both took the night watch, neither of them needing sleep as both had opened specific meridians, but nothing came close to the campsite and the bonfire they had erected.

  Feeling that they were somewhat safe, the white-haired boy could not help but wonder whether or not he was truly safe. If the lack of killing intent was intentional from Scarface who was following them, or if he still had not managed to catch up.

  In the dark tunnels there was nothing like day or night, everything was as dark, and one would rest whenever one got the chance to do so. After a few hours, Hui Yue woke up the entire group.

  Sha Yun sat down and merged with the Earth, her tail turned to stone, the stone continuing to take over her body until it reached her bosom, after which it settled seemingly content with only merging with two third of her body.

  After what seemed like a short while, Sha Yun opened her eyes and her body once more became that of flesh and blood, her eyes shining as she relayed her findings to Hui Yue.

  “Okay guys, if we continue walking this way we will be moving parallel with the road that is lit by the light stones. Let us start moving.”

  Chapter 166 - Attack in the Tunnels

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  Chapter 166: Attack in the Tunnels

  Moving within the dark tunnels, it did not take long before the party encountered demon beasts. Sometimes they would stumble upon the territory belonging to some beast hordes while other times it would be a wayward demon beast who stumbled upon them.

  The way they dealt with these demon beasts was simple, Hui Yue ordered all his friends to stay back and he told all guards to go fight them.

  He did this for multiple reasons, however, the main reason was for the sake of tempering the guards. These guards had never killed anything before not a human let alone a demon beast. Everything they learned was from training within the caves and, therefore, their abilities were all suited to training rather than real life fighting.

  As one day took another within the dark tunnels, the guards started to reek of blood their previous naïve thoughts about the tunnels changed and now they understood just how mu
ch hard work was needed to actually move through the unlit parts of the tunnels.

  Had they chosen the lit parts, then it would obviously have been possible for the party to make it through the tunnel system much swifter, but by staying in the dark area everyone, even the young master, and his two servants, came to understand just how serious the world was. The strong survived while the weak did not.

  While it was the guards who killed the demon beasts and they were also the ones splitting the demonic beast cores between each other, but everything else went to Hui Yue as he was the one providing them all with warm food once a day and as much dried meat as they could want.

  By the time they entered the tunnels, their group consisted of twelve guards and six mercenaries along with one noble young master and his two servants. By the time they were halfway through the tunnels, those guards had become fully fledged mercenaries, no longer hesitating to deal the final blow and no longer feeling nauseous at the sight of blood.