Chapter 402 - A Place Worser Than Hell (2/2)
Not even Xiao Chen could see this coming. A mage of the Nascent Soul Realm disgracing another mage of the Nirvana Realm with a slap to the face in the presence of his three colleagues? This woman must either be recklessly stupid or she must be extremely powerful here.
“Do you know the reason behind me doing this?”
Elder Song’s face reddened, although Xiao Chen could not tell which was more unbearable, the pain or the shame. The old man nodded copiously, blubbering under his breath, “Of course, My Lady. I do. I understand full well the extent of my transgressions and I vow to never repeat them ever again…” He sounded relatively relieved; the slap to his cheek, however embarrassing it might be, meant that he would not have to pay for his mistakes with his life. However, the same could not be said for his three colleagues still disquiet with fear.
“And you’d do well to remember this lesson today,” the woman in red hissed like a snake, “Find the man. Go to the Human World if you find no trace of him here in the Violet Manor. Find him or suffer the consequences! Understand!”
“Yes, My Lady! We do! Perfectly, My Lady!” The three old men stammered and muttered hurriedly, realizing that their lives were being spared too.
“Hmph!” The woman snorted and flailed her voluminous sleeves, “Bring your heads back to me on the seventh day of the seventh month this year should you fail again!”
A surprised Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue outside among the brushes yelped softly with shock. But this did not escape the notice of the woman in red. “WHO GOES THERE!” Her voice thundered.
With hardly a moment of hesitation, Xiao Chen yanked at Su Lianiyue’s arm and escaped into the dark with his Immortal-override Steps. He managed to put a distance of several hundred yards in the blink of an eye and finally stopped when he was satisfied that they were not pursued. But it was not safe to loiter around and they returned quickly as they could back to their temporary quarters.
They reached just in time to meet a returning Shen Qing. The latter was about to push past the doors of his room when he heard footfalls behind him. He turned and he saw the faces of the Han Brothers staring back at him. “Why are you still out here at this hour?” He frowned.
Xiao Chen bowed and put on a silly smile, “It’s the first time we’re here, Senior Brother and we got lost looking for the washroom. Heh heh heh. I’m sorry for the trouble…”
Fortunately, Shen Qing noticed nothing suspicious. “This is the Internal Sect, not the Chang Yin Cavity. Stay indoors after dark.” He was about to walk in when he swiveled back again, “Ah, yes. Both of you will return with the two other orderlies that came with you first thing in the morning. I still have some business here.”
“Understood…”
Xiao Chen breathed more easily. But it was strange. Shen Qing was not present when the Elders were convening. Yet he returned so late in the night. Where had he been for so long?
…
Xiao Chen made sure the doors and windows were closed once he got in and cast a sound barrier spell for good measure. He tore off his mask, revealing his face now glistening with sweat. The mask was ruined and Su Lianyue had returned to her true appearance, panting for breath.
They shared a long, deep look when they finally regained themselves. So it was true, the disappearances that occurred annually on the seventh day of the seventh month was the doing of the Corpse Refinery Sect. But who was this woman in red and whom was she serving? She seemed to be looking for someone.
Something is terribly amiss, Xiao Chen thought, a strange foreboding building in his gut, Weiyang… She was born also on the seventh day of the seventh month so many autumns ago… And these people are scouring the lands for people born on that very same date…
“What should we do now?” Su Lianyue asked softly.
Xiao Chen’s eyes looked at her in the dark. He was here to investigate the strange disappearances. Is she also here for the same reason? And he had heard Elder Song mentioning the Empress… Despite growing more familiar with each other in recent days, Xiao Chen felt it inappropriate to ask especially a question about business. Fences make good neighbors and it was essential to maintaining a good cooperative relationship.
“I don’t think it’s safe to venture out again tonight. Tomorrow morning, perhaps. We can come back here again after leaving here. Then we’ll need to get to Yu Yangzi. I assume he knows a great deal.”
Xiao Chen sighed when he was finished. The foreboding dread in his gut merely grew instead of subsiding. Everything about this mystery seemed to relate more to Weiyang the more he brooded about it and he was dreading a devastating conclusion if the end should come. Oh, the fair Weiyang I once loved… Would he be able to face it if somebody were to really resurrect her as a powerful and abominable undead, he wondered.
He would rather she was dead. Or a mere vessel devoid of her soul. But definitely not a reanimated undead monster reeking of death, decay, and grudge…
“Master Xiao?”
“Hmm?” Xiao Chen dispelled his thoughts and found Su Lianyue staring at him oddly. He must have drifted off due to fatigue and weariness. Impossible, he told himself, No one would turn the fair and graceful Weiyang into a horror of unspoken terror and monstrosity.
“You’re tired, aren’t you?” Su Lianyue asked gently.
“I guess I am.” Xiao Chen ruffled his hair. The pangs of tiredness were getting more and more overwhelming by the second. “Are you not tired?”
Su Lianyue nodded. Their gaze moved in unison to the little lone bed sitting at the corner of the room. There was indeed only one bed this time.