Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “I don’t think he followed us here.” Xu Piao said as he looked at the guards who were cleaning their weapons after battling against a group of Savage Blood Rats. Although they were called rats, they did not have much to do with their names. Unlike normal rats they were a meter long and half a meter tall, their teeth were pointy and razor sharp which made ripping apart anything which came into contact with them very easy. Their fur was black and smooth making them impossible to see in the black tunnels and their two meters long tail was often used to hold their target still.

  Although the guards managed to defeat the whole pack, a few injuries were sustained and the caravan decided to make a stop to rest. By now everyone had completely lost all their bearing with which time of day it was and their rest was never more than a few hours at a time before they once more started moving forward in the black tunnels.

  “Should I open up a pathway back to the lit roads?” Sha Yun asked curiously, as she looked at the guards who were busy wrapping their injuries and Wang Ju Long who was healing the ones with more than a few scratches.

  Sha Yun knew Hui Yue. Not only had he chosen the road they were on now for the sake of not being found by Scarface, he picked this path for the sake of tempering the guards. Looking at the guards right now, no one would believe that they were the same people who had entered the tunnels with them, everything about them had changed. As such, Hui Yue’s goal had been achieved.

  Hearing the question the young white-haired man shook his head. Although one of his goals was achieved, he still had found no way of dealing with Scarface. Due to this, he did not feel like he wanted to enter the lit tunnels. It was still too dangerous.

  Hui Yue knew that if Scarface was traveling through the tunnels it was highly likely that he just took the easy way through and instead waited for them in the next cave. That was still better than meeting the cold-blooded murderer within this cave. It was far better.

  What Hui Yue did not know was that the tunnel system between the caves was being guarded by the Dragon Corps. Just as they set up tables requesting an entrance fee from everyone who wished to enter and exit the tunnels, they also had guards patrolling the lit tunnel, ensuring peace, and killing the demon beasts who entered the lit up areas from time to time.

  Unaware of the guards on the other side of the thick stone walls, Hui Yue kept leading his party towards the entrance, when suddenly an arrow darted through the air and buried itself in the head of one of the guards who had been laughing loudly only moments before.

  Without as much as an order, silvery and golden light gushed out from every single member of the group. Protective barriers were formed around their bodies made from their spiritual energy, and as the rain of arrows descended from the air a metallic clicking sound could be heard as they landed upon the shields. A few of the arrows landing on the carriage, sinking into the wood.

  Although the arrows sunk into the wood, the carriage walls were so thick that they could not go all the way through, and the young master was safe within his carriage.

  “ATTACK!” Someone yelled from in front and Hui Yue sneered as he saw a large body of cultivators flood towards them, weapons raised high and faces filled with killing intent.

  “Leave none alive!” Hui Yue replied, his blue eyes shining dangerously in the low light from their own light stones. While stomping heavily on the ground, the young man launched himself straight into the midst of the enemies, Black Blood in one hand and a red flame in the other. The flames flew from his hand, setting one man after another on fire and causing havoc as anyone close by had their throats slashed or hearts stabbed by the dagger.

  The guards were all pale as they Hui Yue who had jumped in head first, their bodies refusing to respond as they stood back, shivering in fear.

  Seeing Hui Yue jump into the battle, Wang Ju Long quickly followed in her hands the beautiful red staff appeared and with skilled movements she bashed her enemies heads, crushing their ribs, and blowing away anyone who got close to her. The staff seemed as though it was glowing and as soon as Wang Ju Long used her spiritual energy on it an overpowering aura drifted out, spreading to everyone close by. While the young woman was having some problems with the insane amount of enemies surrounding her, the aura took the shape of a red weasel.

  The red weasel twisted itself around Wang Ju Long’s body and as soon as it touched her skin immeasurable strength filled her body. The staff in her hand danced around, beating one enemy after another, but that strength did not last for long as her spiritual energy quickly running out.

  Having seen the strength Wang Ju Long used, everyone was deeply shocked, but also amazed by what seemed to be a hidden martial attack which existed within the staff.

  Although Hui Yue was stunned he quickly regained his composure and with a loud voice he called out, “Wu, get Ju Long away. Yun stop standing there and start beating some of these idiots!”

  Having called out, Hui Yue once more focused on the battle in front of him. At first he had assumed that the horde in front of him consisted of twenty men, at most thirty; however, now he single-handedly managed to take care of at least fifty, and Wang Ju Long had taken care of as many.

  While the group at first attacked for the sake of stealing the valuables, it changed as all the men were heading towards Hui Yue their eyes red with anger from losing so many brothers, their voices booming into the air as they screamed out their emotional agony.

  Sha Yun, having heard his words harrumphed before she merged with Earth, her body partly turning to stone. With closed eyes a massive array of Earthen Spears shot out from the ground, followed by blood-curdling screams as many men were skewered.

  “Oi you damned snake-woman, watch out!” Hui Yue’s voice suddenly rang through the ground and the words caused both Deng Wu and the exhausted Wang Ju Long to look for the young man. It was very rare that he would talk to Sha Yun in such a way, however, as soon as their eyes landed on him, they instantly understood why.

  Hui Yue was standing on the ground in front of the carriage. The ground was littered with corpses and body parts, but looking at him, he was not uninjured. His robe was utterly destroyed, it seemed as if someone had slashed his chest, a small shallow cut visible. His arm was the same, however, the wound on the arm was far more serious as white bone was visible within the red bleeding flesh.

  Looking at him, Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long felt somewhat sorry for him since these injuries had not occurred due to the men he was fighting but rather caused by the Earthen Spear ability which Sha Yun used.

  Seeing that their opponent got injured, the bandits were cheering and all of them rushing towards Hui Yue, only to be stopped by one Fire Orb after another.

  Sighing, Deng Wu stepped forward and slowly made his way to Hui Yue, spending the time walking on finding the specific scrolls he had been looking for and by the time he reached the side of the white-haired young man, seven Black Wolves Beastly Soul Shadows were by his side. All of them roared, but oddly no sounds were heard, it sending tremors through the ground and walls and the force they expressed was enough to cause the bandits to pale in worry. They turned around, trying their best to flee as one after another fell to the corrosion coming from these dreadful wolves.

  Deng Wu was a lazy person and he felt no need to hunt down the bandit group which had appeared, instead, he resealed his beastly soul shadows within the scrolls and supported Hui Yue back to Wang Ju Long.

  Sha Yun had long since left her merger with Earth and had an incredibly guilty expression on her face, tears leaking from her eyes. Seeing that, there was no way that Hue Yue could be mad at her, nor blame her as he knew she was aiming for the enemies and not him. He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Hui Yue patted her head before he sunk down to the ground, leaning against the tunnel wall. Using his hand he managed to find a medicinal pill from within one of his storage stones and he threw it towards Wang Ju Long.

  As she caught it, she saw that it was a pill for replen
ishing energy and she gratefully ate it after which she sat down and started meditating.

  While Wang Ju Long was meditating, Xie Lan went towards Hui Yue and with a gentle hand, green energy flooded out from her warm hands, quickly numbing the pain. Slowly the wound on his arm started to heal itself, the muscles and tendons reattached themselves before eventually even the skin healed, leaving behind no signs of the injury.

  Smiling happily, Hui Yue nodded towards Xie Lan. He was very grateful for her help with the wound and he was also very happy that she took on the job as Wang Ju Long’s teacher. Sighing, Hui Yue realized that he had a lot to be grateful about.

  Chapter 167 - Golden Lion’s Cave

  * * *

  Chapter 167: Golden Lion’s Cave

  Seated on the ground and leaning against the cave, Hui Yue popped a medicinal pill into his mouth much like the one he gave Wang Ju Long and after only few moments he was standing up once more.

  Just as he rose the door to the carriage opened, but the young white-haired man rushed towards them and closed it, “I’m sorry young master this is not a sight you want to see,” He said with a genuinely apologetic voice.

  The view really was not one for the young master. Corpses were littered all over the ground some were whole while others weren’t. A few of the bandits were still alive, holding on by sheer willpower while wailing in agony.

  The ground was no longer dry and dusty, instead, small streams of blood flowed from the corpses, and the stench was really overwhelming.

  “You guys can deal with cleaning up,” He said as he spoke to the guards and pointed at the corpses. “You need to get used to corpses eventually anyway.” He continued before he stretched his body, enjoying the feeling of his strength returning to him.

  “Stack the corpses on one side of the road. Leave the people who are still alive amongst the corpses. The other bandits will return for them later.”

  Hearing the order the majority of their faces instantly paled while one even puked, his face more green than pale.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue showed that he was somewhat disappointed. He then went to start stacking the corpses to make space for the carriage to travel through the blood soaked ground, so they could move on to their destination.

  He was not the only one who was working to moving the corpses his friends helped out as well, and quickly each of them was covered in blood. The only positive thoughts they had was meeting so many humans like this meant they were likely to be near the exit of the tunnels.

  Being able to leave the tunnels meant that they would be able to find somewhere to wash, something which everyone was dreaming about while stacking corpses.

  When they finally finished, all of them had to change their clothes and with some bottled water they finally manage to clean themselves a little and remove the red coagulated blood on their skin; however, the stench was impossible to get rid of before they could take a bath.

  Leaving behind the bloodbath, they quickly made their way back to the main lit up path as Hui Yue pointed out that they had hunted for long enough. Also after slaughtering the bandits, none of the guards wanted to stay within the black tunnels for much longer. Even though the young master was feeling somewhat cheated by being protected within his carriage the whole time during the attack, and then later was not allowed to exit and see the corpses. But the two servants quickly managed to make him understand that it was not all fun and excitement.

  Rejoining the lit up tunnel, one could see that they were close to the next cave because the road was filled with people and guards. At first they all stared at the convoy of mercenaries and guards who appeared from a sidepath, but after few meters no one paid attention to them anymore and they kept moving forward.

  Travelling into this new cave, Hui Yue was constantly on alert even more so than when he had been in the tunnels they just left. Within the tunnels he knew that he was capable of defeating his opponent, however, it was completely different here. If Scarface were to show up, Hui Yue was uncertain about what he could do to him. That caused him to be focused and vigilant. For him the more crowded the area was, the more dangerous.

  However, right now he did not feel like anything was amiss, nor could he feel the killing intent they had felt for so long previously and soon he became less paranoid. As long as the entire group stayed together, then there should be no problems. Especially not in a place with this many guards.

  Calming himself down, Hui Yue nodded his head as if agreeing with himself, and just as he reached the conclusion that they should be fine, he saw that they arrived at another gate.

  Just like the gate leading into the Demon Dwelling Cave, this one had Dragon Corpse soldiers posted as they accepted entrance fees, allowing the mercenaries, travelers, and other people into the cave.

  Stopping at the gate, the butler left the carriage and paid the entrance fee for the entire party before they entered through open gates and stepping into the third cave.

  “This is the Golden Lion’s Cave.” Xu Piao whispered by the side of Hui Yue, introducing the area they were walking into. “This place, unlike most other places, has a royal family leading it. Although they work alongside the Dragon Corps, the corps is the second highest authority here.”

  Walking a bit further in, the group was suddenly caught up into a stream of people making their way into the cave. Xu Piao quickly stopped talking and without resisting they allowed for the flood of humans to move them further and further into the cave, until eventually the road was somewhat clear of people. This made it possible for the group to start looking for an inn.

  The sun was setting by the time they entered the new cave and after a short while the butler managed to locate an inn where rooms were available and they all followed him inside.

  This time all of them had personal rooms with baths attached, something especially the mercenaries enjoyed as they all still reeked of blood, their aura savage. Just walking around the inn everyone would divert their eyes and quiet down looking somewhat frightened at the group.

  After taking a bath, the mercenaries all gathered within Hui Yue’s room, an ugly expression on his face.

  “I thought,” He started, his face turning uglier by the minute, “I didn’t think we would have needed to worry about Scarface for now.”

  “Scarface is definitely on this mission because of Zhou Long. So he knows that we are going to the capital. Why would he wait for us in a place like this? He is definitely going to be waiting for us at the capital and he will spending all his time preparing for our arrival.”

  Hearing his words, the others nodded slowly. It definitely made much more sense compared to always being uncertain about which way the group would be travelling.

  The faces of the others also turned quite ugly, but after some time Xie Lan steeled herself as she slammed her fist into the table.

  “It is fine!” She assured them, “When we reach the capital we will be far stronger than we are now. And if we know he is waiting for us, no one can say we cannot prepare to meet him!”

  Seeing that Xie Lan was the one who pulled them back from their depression was something which Hui Yue did not expect. A small smile was evident on his face as he nodded in agreement. What she said did indeed make sense.

  “Tell us about this place,” Hui Yue asked as he looked towards Xu Piao.

  “This is the Golden Lion’s Cave and it is about the same size as the Demon Dwelling Cave. These two caves are both ranked as middle ranked caves meaning that the majority of the cultivators here rely on the middle dantian.”

  “Unlike the other caves, this cave is under the control of the Golden Lion Royal Family, a family who is working together with the Dragon Corps, yet the Dragon Corps can not do anything in this cave if they do not have the permission of the royal family.”

  “It makes one wonder why exactly the Dragon Corps allows for a royal family to be ranked higher than them.” Xu Piao continued his voice lowered somewhat, “The Dragon Corps would easily be able to remo
ve the royal family if they wished, but they leave them be allowing them to pay only a miniscule tax every year.”

  “But the people living here still pay quite a bit of their produce in taxes to the crown. It is something the Dragon Corps should view as a revolt.”

  “There is a possibility that they have some sort of deal which the rest of the world does not know anything about,” Hui Yue guessed, his brows furrowing as he wondered what exactly would be worth such treatment.

  “It is also possible that they traded something that the Dragon Corps really wanted for the sake of this cave,” Deng Wu said while wondering if there was anything at all which the Dragon Corps wanted badly enough to give up a cave for.

  “A Law,” Hui Yue answered his voice low, his eyes as cold as new fallen snow. A frown appearing on his face. “They could have traded a Primal Law.”

  Hearing what Hui Yue said, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, and Sha Yun’s demeanors changed completely, their faces turned serious and their hands clenched tightly as they remembered how Cave’s End tried to trade Sun for the sake of not paying taxes.