Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (28 page)

Having burnt the corpses, Hui Yue and the group once more followed the road leading towards the capital. Everything which happened gave everyone a new sense of vigilance and they expected more attacks to follow. While they did not observing every single stone on the road, they viewed any group they met along the way with hostility for they could possibly be enemies.

Walking down the dusty road the group, step by step, inched towards the capital and after six days of travels, as the sun was setting at the west end of the cave, the city finally came into view in the distance.

Seeing the capital, energy sprouted within every member of the group. The capital city had inns, places where they could sleep in a proper bed and bathe in warm water, and although the food was decent on their travels it could not compare to a good stew cooked by a proper chef.

“Tomorrow,” Xu Piao said, the longing evident within his voice as his eyes looked towards the city walls with excitement, “Tomorrow we will be in a proper city once again!”

Hearing those words said at dusk, everyone felt a joy that they had not felt for a long time, and conversation rose together with laughter as the group once more started moving, heading towards the distant city.

As dusk turned to night and when the moon was high in the sky, the group finally stopped and like clockwork everyone performed their tasks and helped set up camp and cook dinner. The atmosphere was no longer heavy and vigilant, but cheerful and light.

“It seems that we over thought the situation,” Xu Piao said with a smile on his face as he looked at Hui Yue who was seated next to him eating Horned Snake soup which Sha Yun cooked for them.

Having finish the food and done the dishes, snoring sounds soon filled the campsite as Hui Yue was seated atop of a boulder, his head resting in his palms while his legs were crossed. Thoughts of the battle against the mercenaries floated into his head. Although he had been deep in meditation throughout the entire battle, he managed to see the final moments of their leader and the power unleashed by Xu Piao that had deeply surprised him.

He currently knew very well that he was weak. The experts which managed to unlock the upper dantian were rare, but even still one King ranked expert was all it would take to make Hui Yue and his friends nothing but ash, much like what happened to the group they ran into earlier.

Deng Wu and himself were the strongest of their group, yet neither of them were even close the King rank. Hui Yue was thinking about how it would be possible for him to increase his power, an increase which would make him capable of protecting the ones he loved.

He was seated contemplating like that from dusk to dawn, not even moving a muscle throughout the entire night, instead, his mind constantly thinking about the options available to him. Sadly though, none of them seemed viable. The only thing which Hui Yue truly had to increase his strength was to either borrow Wu Wei from the merged soul with Lan Feng, or allow for the phoenix to take over his body and defeating his opponents.

“Have you been seated like this all night?” A sweet voice came from behind and the thoughtful young man spun around only to see Wang Ju Long watching him with a smile on her face.

Her long hair was hanging loose and it shone beautifully in the early rays the sun. Her skin was no longer pale like it had been when she lived a sheltered life as the young master of the Wang family, instead now it had a warm color which showed that she spent every day outside in the sun. One of her rare smiles was adorning her beautiful face and Hui Yue was completely taken aback by her stunning beauty.

Shaking his head dumbstruck, he vaguely remembered the question he was asked moments before and a small smile appeared on his face as he jumped from the boulder.

“I had to do some thinking,” The answer was all he gave before he moved towards the pretty girl and without realizing what he was doing, his hand gently removed a wayward lock of hair which was hanging down in front of her beautiful face.

Wang Ju Long flushed beet red as he touched her and she unconsciously backed away a few steps, her mouth opening and closing speechless, unable to say anything for a moment.

“Sorry.” Hui Yue was feeling somewhat guilty when he saw the flustered expression on the beautiful girl’s face, and an apologetic smile appeared on his face. Somehow he suddenly felt an urge to tease her as her red face was incredibly appealing, “I could not help it, it’s your own fault for being so cute early in the morning,” He said with a cheeky smile. Wang Ju Long’s eyes widened in surprise her petite mouth stuttering, “I… I… I need too… Uhm…” unable to finish her sentence, the young woman turned around and rushed back to her tent leaving behind a young man with a sly smile on his face.

The rest of the camp slowly woke up and both beast and humans were surprised as they saw Hui Yue’s cheerful smile, wondering what he could have possibly experienced that night that would make him look so happy.

As the morning proceeded everyone packed up their tents apart from one tent which had no activity all morning. Wang Ju Long did not even seemed to be awake yet oddly.

Everyone was puzzled about what was happening. Wang Ju Long was usually very diligent, waking up before everyone else and always the first to pack up her tent. Seeing that the young woman still was stuck within her tent, everyone apart from Hui Yue, were worried about whether or not their serious friend had turned sick. After waiting for her for the majority of the early morning, Xie Lan finally climbed into the tent to see what was wrong.

After a few moments, Xie Lan came out her face slightly red and she glared towards Hui Yue, causing the young man to raise an eyebrow while the cheeky smile stayed on his face, making Xie Lan exhale deeply and shake her head.

Her actions caused everyone to be extra puzzled. Wang Ju Long’s peculiar actions were perhaps done because of Hui Yue? But if so, what happened between them?

Deng Wu was the first to reach a conclusion as his handsome face quickly twisted into an expression of disbelief, after which a lascivious expression spread on his face. His voice was somewhat hoarse as he opened his mouth, “Yue! To think that you would do that to poor Ju Long!” He exclaimed, disbelief filling his face.

“Do what?” A sharp voice replied as Wang Ju Long left her tent, her face once more beet red as she remembered how close Hui Yue had been earlier, how his hand grazed her forehead combined with the gentle smile she saw on his face.

Seeing how Wang Ju Long blushed deeply, Deng Wu was certain in his belief that something had transpired and his arm reached up and patted Hui Yue on his shoulder, a proud smile on his face. “Young friend,” He started the ceremony once more, never letting go of any chance to be dramatic, “Now that you have become a man, I need to make you understand and take responsibility!”

Having said those words, Deng Wu managed to say nothing else as he was knocked out by Wang Ju Long, wielding her red staff and not holding back on her power in the least smacking into his head.

Looking at the unconscious Deng Wu, the young white-haired man was simply unable to hold back his laughter, as he picked up a storage stone in which he deposited Deng Wu’s items before he lifted up the heavy young man and carried him on his back.

“Nothing happened,” He said through his laughter as he looked around, his eyes serene and honest. “We had a small conversation this morning and I accidentally touched upon an embarrassing subject, let’s leave it at that.”

Having heard an excuse from Hui Yue, Xie Lan and Xu Piao looked at each other as neither believed the honest looking young man in front of them. Shrugging, as though he did not mind, Hui Yue started traveling towards the city eager to make it in time before they closed the gates for the night.

Seeing that Hui Yue said all he would on the subject, the group slowly made their way towards the city. Based on their speed, as long as Deng Wu woke up at some point they were likely to reach the city in the late afternoon. If Deng Wu stayed unconscious it was debatable whether they would make it in time before the gates close or not.

On the way to the city not much was said, instead everyone was busy thinking. Wang Ju Long was still somewhat embarrassed, while Xu Piao and Xie Lan were conversing without using words. The two had been together for such a long time that sometimes, words were not needed.

Hui Yue could not help but remember the sight from the morning where Wang Ju Long’s beauty stunned him and while he was not aware of this he could not help but feel a longing to see her like that once more.

By his side was Sha Yun following closely her eyes turned dark and her mouth closed. Unlike the others of the party, she was neither entertained nor curious about what happened between her master and the other girl. If anything, she already thought it was nothing as Hui Yue said, but what annoyed her was Wang Ju Long’s blushing face. The intimacy the two shared. Sha Yun felt sick to her stomach as she thought about it.

The silent travel was for some uncomfortable, while others it was filled with longing. For some they passed it in unconsciousness, yet others were filled with bile.

Finally, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, Deng Wu woke up and the previous silence was quickly broken as the young man started an argument with Wang Ju Long about her decision to knock him out, on top of the fact she did not even heal him afterwards!

The broken silence quickly resulted in everyone talking once again, Hui Yue with Sha Yun about various theories, new discoveries, or breakthroughs they experienced recently, Wang Ju Long and Xie Lan about healing as the older woman took the young girl as an apprentice.

Deng Wu and Xu Piao were busy talking about god knows what, both laughing out loud most of the time making Hui Yue imagine that they were comparing certain life experiences.

The further the group travelled the more urbanized the areas became. Small villages were visible here and there and the road also became much more trafficked.

Small carts were seen on the road stocked full with vegetables, meats, skins, and other wares which were going to be sold in the capital’s marketplaces. Groups of mercenaries were returning to the city from their various missions, chatting loudly as they looked forward to picking up their hard earned salary.

The speed with which the group was travelling at previously was no longer possible, instead they were slowed down following the stream of people who were making their way to the city. As they made their way towards the capital smiles were evident on everyone’s faces, even Xu Piao and Xie Lan the two cultivators who had been to the capital many times before.

Walking under the gate, Xu Piao was entertained to see how astonished the rest of the group was. Mercenary City had previously been large enough to be compared to Riluo City, however, this capital was much larger. The tall black brick walls were taller than anything they had seen before and the gate was made from black iron, making it almost impossible to penetrate once closed.

The wall was five meters thick and the top was filled with guards who kept a vigilant eye on everything that was happening constantly observing their surroundings, watching new arrivals to see if they were making trouble.

Looking around, Hui Yue furrowed his brows as he stopped and waited for Xu Piao to catch up to him.

“I was under the impression that you don’t have demon beast attacks on cities here,” He said with surprise, as they made their way through the thick city gate, “What is the purpose of building such a heavy fortress in this cave?”

Hearing the question, the older Guild Master nodded his head approvingly. For someone who did not grown up within the Dungeons of the Divine most of the things they did were likely to be confusing or curious.

“Long ago, according to legend a great war occurred. Men whose origins were unknown appeared from the, at that time, uninhabited Cave’s End. Many strongholds were made since then, but we have never seen any of these unknown men from Cave’s End again, that was not before you arrived.”

Hearing this made Hui Yue’s mind buzz with information. “Do you know how long ago?” He asked with bated breath, but unfortunately the Guild Master shook his head, “Can’t say I remember it off the top of my head.” He said disappointing the white-haired young man, “But, if we have the time you could go and read something about it at the library later on.”

Hearing that hope returned to his ice-blue eyes and he was once more energized. The reason he cared was because this certainly had something to do with The Great Sin or perhaps even the Dark Age.

Learning about the Dark Age and The Great Sin was something which Hui Yue needed to put on hold while he had been living on the surface and while in the Dungeons of the Divine he had never expected that he might come across clues to these events.

Although he was filled with excitement he reminded himself that it was not certain he would find anything and he once more focused on his surroundings.

The group was swept along with the horde of new arrivals who all moved towards the markets, moving in the stream of people making it almost impossible to break free from the crowd.

Instead of trying to fight the stream, Hui Yue and the others followed along their eyes flickering from one side to another as they took in everything which happened around them.

The first thing which caught the eyes of the young boy was multiple tall houses with more than one level. The houses were all connected to each other and only had a few alleyways hidden between the dirty walls.

Following the stream of people they quickly reached the markets, and much like Riluo City’s markets, these were placed at different locations and managed by different families.

Walking through the marketplaces, the roads suddenly became much easier to travel on. There were no longer a massive amount of people pushing their way forward, instead, a few well dressed people were seen walking back and forth, children and youngsters were seen running about.

Now that they no longer were being led forwards by the mass of people, everyone followed behind Xu Piao as he was the one with most experience within this city and he walked with steady steps towards a house not far from their current location.

Unlike the houses near the entrance to the city, these buildings all had their own courtyards and some of them were up to five stories high; the Guild Master moved straight towards one of these courtyards, one where guards were posted at the front.

Upon seeing Xu Piao, these guards all straightened their backs as they saluted him, none of them saying a word, but it was clear that they recognized him.

Entering the courtyard, Xu Piao continued towards the massive four story building at the back, his steps steady and determined, his expression casual and bored as though he had been to this place often in the past.

Xie Lan and Xu Piao felt comfortable walking into the house, Hui Yue and his friends were more curious about why they were entering this kind of building  as it looked nothing like an inn.

“Li Shao greets Guild Master Xu!” A voice suddenly boomed out from the entrance and a large man became visible. The man was as round as he was large, he was built like a big hog and the young group of friends all had eyes widening from shock as the large man, double the size of even Deng Wu, was looking at Xu Piao with reverence in his eyes.

“I’m back,” Xu Piao sighed heavily as he moved into the room, “Li Shao, I need you to prepare a room for each of us in the mercenary quarters. All of the rooms need to be first class and close to each other. I’ll be bringing my guests with me to the meeting room, pick us up when you have accomplished the task.”

Hearing Xu Piao’s order, Hui Yue guessed where they were and what was happening. The giant man did not wait for any other orders, instead, he quickly bowed to the Guild Master and turned around barking orders to the men around him.

Xu Piao smiled at the efficiency with which his men worked and without waiting any longer he brought Hui Yue and the others towards a room which seemed to have been closed.

“Li Shao is my second in command of the Mercenary Guild,” Xu Piao said on the way, “Since we have a whole city filled with mercenaries it is common for the leader of the Mercenary Guild within the Demon Dwelling Cave to have a main office in Mercenary City, and sometimes I need to travel to the capital for business, as even in the capital mercenaries can be found. So the vice-president has to do the job here.”

The explanation was not needed, as everyone already guessed what was happening, but even so they valued the fact that Xu Piao was open about everything. The six of them needed to be able to trust one another when it came to the trip they were about to embark on.

“I suggest we stay here for a few days,” Hui Yue said while he looked at the elaborate carvings and beautiful surroundings of the Mercenary Guild. “I have an idea,” He continued, his words instantly making everyone curious.

“Currently we are on a mission and if anyone is to check our emblems they’ll show that we are on a mission for the Dragon Corps and that the mission is delivering information.”

“My suggestion is that we see if we can find another mission here in the capital, a mission where we protect someone travelling to the next few caves, or perhaps transport some items.”

“If we have another mission like that, someone seeing our emblems will not leak the information about the Dragon Corps mission since the newest mission is the one shown.”

“Moving with other people will also limit the possibility of having someone attack us. In every way I think an escort mission would be the best, but let us spend a couple of days to relax and reenergize ourselves before we find a mission like that.”

Hearing Hui Yue’s suggestion everyone slowly nodded their heads. They remembered looking at the billboards earlier and there was an immense amount of escort missions, but at that time none of them wished to travel with others, back then they were certain that they could move on their own.

Now the situation was somewhat different and an escort mission was exactly what they were in need of. After thinking it through a smile appeared on everyone’s faces.

“While you are in the capital, you ought to spend some time shopping,” Xu Piao continued, “The capital has every delicacy you can imagine. We get items imported from the other caves. Be it food or precious materials, even medicinal herbs, everything can be bought as long as you have enough coins or cores.”

Hearing this smiles were evident on all the youngsters’ faces, but there was one thing they wanted far more than to go shopping. Having been on the road for a long time, stuck within an illusion for even longer, with no warm water where they could wash themselves and clean off the dirt from their travel, not to mention warming their taut muscles which had been on constant alert fearing a second attack sent by Zhou Long this was something they longed for.

Seeing their faces, Xu Piao was instantly able to tell what they were thinking and laughter escaped his lips, spreading throughout the conference room in which they were seated. Just as Hui Yue was about to retort, knocking could be heard from the door and Li Shao entered inside his large frame humbly bowing down to the seated Xu Piao.

“The rooms have been prepared,” He said with a gentle voice, “Let me take Guild Master and his esteemed friends towards their rooms, warm baths have already been prepared for everyone.”

Hearing the words warm baths was enough to release a collective sigh of longing and swiftly everyone stood up, none of them interested in waiting longer than needed. Even Xu Piao, himself, felt as though his tired body became light and they all moved quickly as though floating towards the way Li Shao led them.

The giant was shocked to see how everyone was desperate for a warm bath. He was aware that they came from Mercenary City and although the trip was a week long, it was not something so draining that the Guild Master and his friends would be exhausted to this extent.

Of course Li Shao was unaware of the challenges they faced on the way, instead he imagined that they finished a mission. The gentle giant admired Xu Paio and he could not believe that his Guild Master would be tired from nothing more than a simple trip to the capital.

Li Shao stepped forward and led the group of people through the main hall once more, and as they entered the hall they left the big house through the back walking to another building close by.

This  building was much larger than the one they had just left. He entered and took the staircase to the top floor, still followed by Hui Yue’s group of cultivators.

“These rooms are only available to Gold ranked mercenaries,” Li Shao said with an serious voice and he gestured to the ten doors in front of him, which lead to their respective rooms. “Chose a room you like, they all have adjourned bathrooms where a heated bath is awaiting you.”

Hearing this, everyone quickly thanked Li Shao before they rushed into the rooms, none of them caring much for which rooms they took, as all that mattered to them was the warm bath. Rushing into their rooms they all quickly stripped their clothes off before they collapsed in the warm water, enjoying how their muscles were screaming in delight.

The bath took long and no one was willing to leave the soothing waters, yet after an hour Hui Yue was the first to leave the bathroom. He was now dressed in some of his finest garments and looked out of the window in his room observing the many men who were walking down the street.

A smile appeared on his face as he quietly exited the room and made his way down to the bustling streets.