Chapter 404 - The Heist (2/2)

He had never known anyone else other than this infernal Sect who would guard their valuables and secrets with so much jealousy and mystery. But Xiao Chen was skilled in using the Divine Sense, the one skill that all thieves and graverobbers would have died to learn. With it, Xiao Chen carefully examined every crevice, every chink, and every slit in the loose tile to make sure he was doing it right. But time was of the essence; he has less than 10 minutes left and Elder Long could be returning any moment.

But the structure and design of the devices now putting his patience and deftness to the test was beyond his expectation. Not even his Divine Sense could prevent him from breaking cold sweat. Time inched closely by, further draining his confidence and composure. Yet still, Xiao Chen remained as careful as ever, examining and removing every bit meticulously.

Just then, the patters of footfalls echoed off the stone walls of the cavern outside. Elder Long is returning, a voice screamed within him. But he was only half-way. The panic nearly robbed his breath and cold sweat began pouring down his back so profusely that his shirt was clinging to his skin.

The footsteps drew nearer and nearer before a silence came suddenly. The Elder must have reached the door, the voice in his mind warned again. As if on a cue, the portcullis slab rumbled as it was raised slowly. Xiao Chen’s consciousness was hanging on a bare thread as his fingers never stopped tinkering on the mechanisms. Finally, he managed it. The trap has been defeated!

Without so much as a look, Xiao Chen swiped at whatever it was lying inside and shut the tile. With a gentle kick with the front of his foot on the cold, solid floor of the hall, he took flight and shrink again, passing out of the oculus and made it to the roof.

But he did not dare move again. He stood at the edge of the hole, watching Elder Long drifting back to where he was sitting. Then the unexpected happened. A bead of sweat rolled off his chin and fell through the hole! And it was falling down right on the head of Elder Long below!

The staggering weight of dismay and despair made his face curdle with fear. There was only one thing to do: his telekinesis magic. With every fiber of his determination, he willed the bead of sweat to stop in mid-air. And there it hovered, just a few yards from Elder Long’s head.

“Ah?” Elder Long felt his spiritual senses tingled suddenly. He looked around and found nothing. Xiao Chen was holding his breath, desperately clinging to his magically-levitated bead of sweat now hovering in mid-air.

Elder Long turned on his heels and looked around strangely. But he quickly concluded that nothing was amiss and he walked to his place and sat down. The eight balls of green fire sprouted from him again and began floating lazily around him as soon as his eyes are shut and he resumed his meditating.

Inch by inch, the drop of sweat rose very slowly. Xiao Chen could not risk moving it too quickly lest he became discovered. Then he allowed it to drop outside before he leaped off the roof and slipped towards the passage of the cave. But he had to stop before he reached the tunnel; he had lost his chance to escape unnoticed when the guards’ attention was on the returning Elder Long. There was no way he would be able to make it out without alerting the guards now.

But he has barely a half hour’s time and he needed to rendezvous with Su Lianyue as soon as possible. He could not risk being discovered by any of the sentries lest he endangered both their lives.

With his mind set to regrouping with his companion, Xiao Chen crouched to the ground to pick up another pebble. He used it to create a diversion and he sped down the stone passage.

He repeated the same trick again on the eight guards watching the cave entrance and fled, melting into the darkness.

It was only when he reached the deep of the forest when Xiao Chen could finally breathe easy. He fished out the pass from his pocket and looked at the ebony-black medallion bedecked with engravings of dragon scale all around it. He flipped it over and saw the inscription detailing the spell used to activate the mechanisms of the Rock and its socket.

There should be no more delay, he realized and he sped past the Ridge to another area indicated on the map as the Lair of the Fallen Drake with his Immortal-override Steps.

He arrived at the mouth of the Lair before long. The Lair of the Fallen Drake was the final gauntlet leading to the upper levels of the Summit. The only way leading up, in fact, and it was guarded by a contrivance powered by both magic and mechanisms called the Rock of the Fallen Drake. No humans, not even a mage of the Apotheosis Realm, could destroy the Rock. Only the pass activates and deactivates the mechanism of the Rock that acted as a gateway. But that was also the reason that there were only a handful of guards here. Still, that did little to dissuade Xiao Chen from practicing extreme caution as he approached the Rock.

The air was cold with the night’s breeze whistling incessantly by Xiao Chen’s ears as he waited anxiously. There was no sign of Su Lianyue and he could feel nothing of her aura. They had promised to meet each other and no one was to proceed without the other. Had something gone wrong?

“My lady?” Xiao Chen waded through the thick undergrowth and squeaked softly, hoping to hear her voice but none came. He crawled through the thick jungle, looking for her but to no avail.

Trepidation and dread began churning in him. She was never known to be tardy nor reckless. And her absence now could only spell something was wrong. But why was the alarm not yet raised if something grave has happened to her?

“My lady?” Xiao Chen risked another soft cry. Even his Divine Sense could find nothing amidst the nocturnal chaos of the jungle.

Suddenly, the cool voice of a man intoned over his shoulders, “Are you looking for her?”