[July 4, 2019]
...
Hu Lu led the way to the cave. The idea of pa.s.sing through the waterfall made Shen Li's scalp p.r.i.c.kle with discomfort, but she swallowed any complaints and followed behind Hu Lu. She was expecting to get wet but not a drop of water landed on her. She looked up to find a golden barrier above their heads. She turned to Xing Zhi, but he was staring intently ahead into the darkness.
He stepped inside and she followed behind like nothing had happened.
They continued down the dark path until they reached a vermilion door. Earlier Hu Lu had told them about the monster that lived in the area. Because of its easy temper, it easily co-existed with the other immortals in the area. Both sides minded their own business, so there were no problems. No one expected the cave would become a prison for the immortals.
Shen Li's group didn't stand in front of the door long before it opened a slit and a voice from within asked. "Pa.s.sword?" It was a cold and unwelcoming voice.
The three of them had come disguised in the right clothes but they didn't know the pa.s.sword. Xing Zhi could tell Shen Li wanted to kick the door down, so he immediately gripped her hand and shook his head.
Xing Zhi was disguised as the leader of the group and he had brought his stick with him. He limped closer to the door making the person guarding it on the other side nervous.
The guard cautiously asked, "What?"
"Gate guard…" Xing Zhi imitated the dead man's voice perfectly.
The one behind the door visibly relaxed and opened the door for them.
Xing Zhi looked to Shen Li and said, "Now," letting her do what she had been itching to do all along.
She s.h.i.+fted inside and knocked out the guard and his companion with a swift chop to the neck.
Xing Zhi turned to Hu Lu and said, "Return to the woods. We will release the other immortals imprisoned here."
Hu Lu wasn't so sure about that plan. "They're really powerful…will you guys really be OK? I can stay with you and help…"
The offer made Xing Zhi smiled but Shen Li was openly disdainful of it. "Huh? You should just worry about yourself."
Xing Zhi placed the stick in Hu Lu's hand. "It's alright. We'll be fine. Take this stick for protection." You're welcome.
Hu Lu stared at the stick in his hand. "How am I supposed to defend myself with this tiny stick?"
Shen Li stared at it. "For an ancient G.o.d, he sure is stingy with his gifts."
Xing Zhi overheard this and his smile faded. What? Where are my thanks for finding the clues and rus.h.i.+ng over to help? Even if I haven't succeeded yet… I still came… "As long as he doesn't lose it, no one within a hundred miles will be able to touch him."
They left Hu Lu behind and continued onwards. Eventually they reached the end of the pa.s.sageway and entered a cavern. It was a huge s.p.a.ce with ten floors embedded into the walls. The water on the floor cast a green light that lit the entire cavern up.
Immortals were held in individual iron cages all along the wall straight down in a line. Light, like the one that imprisoned Hu Lu when they found him, encased each cage.
A guard was patrolling the area unaware of their presence.
Shen Li wrinkled her brows. "How do we save them?"
Xing Zhi laughed. "Like you said, I'll handle the magic. You handle the brute force." He waved his hand as he said this and a golden light snaked forward to the cages weaving in between the restricting white light.
"Break," he said in a low voice that still somehow resounded throughout the cavern. The light responded to his voice and the spell binding the cages broke.
Taking that as her cue, Shen Li formed her spear and flew to the cages, destroying each lock quickly and easily, releasing the immortals inside.
Alerted, the guards rushed over to attack, but they were no match for Shen Li and she dispatched them in no time.
The immortals all bowed their heads in grat.i.tude.
"It's not safe to stay here. "Xing Zhi said. "Let's leave first and talk later."
Upon reaching the outside and seeing the light again, many immortals wept in joy. They thanked Xing Zhi again for rescuing them.
Strangely enough no one approached or thanked Shen Li, not that she noticed.
They would have continued to ignore her had she not asked, "Do you know where the first immortals were caught?"
This question made them turn to her. No one answered for the longest time. Finally a young man pointed at her and heatedly said, "You demon! You dare have the audacity to ask?!"
The person next to him immediately grabbed the hem of his robe and tried to pull him away. "She also saved us! Come on, don't act that way!"
Shen Li frowned. "I will only say this once. The matter with immortals being kidnapped has nothing to do with my people. I only incidentally learned about it today."
"Like h.e.l.l you did!" Now that the joy of being freed wore off, he gave vent to his anger at being kidnapped and imprisoned. "You demon people are barbaric, evil villains! This time you captured us in the Mortal realm. What next? Do you plan to go to heaven and kidnap those immortals too?! Every single one of you are disgusting criminals! And that includes your stinking Demon Emperor-"
Shen Li lifted him up by the collar before he got through his sentence. "Such impudence! I, the Azure Sky King will cut you to pieces!"
