Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (44 page)

Looking inside the carriage, relief appeared in his heart as he saw Wang Ju Long along with his two good friends.

Although the they were shackled they did not seem to have suffered any injustice and Hui Yue felt as though a heavy stone was lifted from his shoulders. He did not even seem to notice the ten Dragon Corps soldiers who were standing between him and his friends.

Seeing that his friends were fine, a loud roar suddenly escaped his lips causing every person in the carriage to tremble in fear. The red mist started escaping his body like steam enveloping everyone in a few meters.

Looking at Hui Yue, everyone in the carriage was shocked. His friends more than anyone. Hui Yue no longer looked the way he usually did. His hair was still long and white, however, it had somehow managed to break free and was now hanging down framing his face which had changed thoroughly.

His blue eyes were no longer blue but instead red. Three long stripes  appeared on his cheeks and fangs appeared in his mouth.

His hands were no longer normal, but rather paw-like with long claws. He grew slightly and his legs were bulging with muscles much stronger than before.

The creature which Hui Yue was turning into was sneering, exposing his fangs as he took step after step into the carriage. He pressed the soldiers further and further into the carriage as they sought to avoid him.

As Hui Yue reached the end of the carriage everyone was pushed against each other, none of them daring to breathe as they waited to see what the monster planned to do next.

Suddenly, a claw swiped down and cut through the cuffs with ease, releasing the three prisoners. Seeing this, two of the soldiers gritted their teeth as they lifted their spears and charged at Hui Yue.

Their weapons were large and impractical for a fight within the carriage and Hui Yue easily blocked the two spears which came his way. He crossed his arms above his head before his legs swung out and kicked the first of the assailants in his stomach. Currently the physical strength of Hui Yue was far greater than it had ever been before and the man who was kicked backwards was incapable of standing up afterwards.

The other man instantly retreated, returning to the group of people who were guarding the prisoners. Just as Hui Yue was about to attack the remaining men, he heard a loud crashing sound from outside. Turning around he saw that the four King ranked experts were trapped battling against Xie Lan and Xu Piao.

Seeing this, Hui Yue knew that they were pressed for time. He instantly turned around, gesturing for his friends to follow him and he rushed away from the fighting. No one followed behind him, instead, they quickly reached the battlefield where  the higher ranked experts were fighting.

His initial hope was that they could escape with the kids as well, however, seeing how fiercely the King ranked experts protected the carriage, Hui Yue quickly gave up on the notion. The most important thing for him was to save his friends and apart from that nothing else mattered.

Just as he had came to that conclusion another big explosion could be heard from the side where the King ranked experts were fighting each other. Looking over, Hui Yue saw both Xie Lan and Xu Piao were injured. Blood was flowing from the corners of their mouths along with injuries on their bodies.

“Fall back!” Hui Yue yelled out. His voice cutting through the noise of the battle and as soon as the voice was heard relief could be seen in the eyes of the two King ranked experts as they merged with the shadows once more.

Fortunately, the four opponents had no interest in chasing the retreating assailants. They too felt they were at a disadvantage because they needed to constantly keep an eye on the burning carriage in case their important cargo, the children, tried to escape.

Those who were interested in fighting were the lower ranked experts. As soon as Hui Yue had called for a retreat, hope was seen in their eyes and they started rushing towards Hui Yue and his friends rather than trying to flee.

Seeing them pursue, Hui Yue stopped while pushing his three friends in front of him. Turning around, the red mist which he fought so hard to keep under his control was suddenly let free, as the remaining experts charged towards him. The young man let go completely allowing the red mist to billow out causing his body to undergo slight changes. The young man no longer looked human. The three lines on his face protruded while his fangs grew and his eyes no longer contained any hint of their icy blue colour, instead, they were a hellish red.

His white hair slowly turned red along with his skin. The young man grew in size as his legs got stronger and longer, no longer looking like human legs but rather the legs of a wolf. His hands grew in size and his claws got bigger and stronger.

Facing the cultivators who were rushing towards him, Hui Yue let out a long and agonizing howl before he swiped his hand, cutting through the first person who rushed towards him.

Before the cultivator had time to stop his life was already gone as he slumped to the ground. Only then did the remaining cultivators pause, shivers running down their spines as they saw this creature in front of them.

The person who had previously been human now looked like a red fiery wolf. He was standing on his hind legs and on his paws were the sharpest largest claws they had ever seen. His legs seemed to be filled with explosive power and his fangs ready to bite through their slim necks.

His eyes which previously had some sanity left turned ferocious, they look as if they only wanted to attack, bite, and kill everyone. The previous intellect was gone completely, replaced by anger and hate which fueled the young man.

Having completely lost control of the red mist, Hui Yue entered a trance. He noticed nothing as his consciousness was within the dantian cave and was unable to see or hear what was happening.

The red mist completely took control over his body and one howl after another was released as if the beast had finally been given the freedom it yearned for.

Relying on his strong legs, Hui Yue shot towards the cultivators who had tried to attack moments before. His palms swiped at the cultivators, wounding some while missing others, his mouth constantly sneering as he grabbed an enemy by the throat and bit down, crunching his vertebrae killing him instantly.

With blood running down his lips and dripping from his paws, the already savage young man looked even more savage than before, he was terrifying. The more he killed the stronger he grew. It seemed as though blood and killing invigorated the beast.

Had Hui Yue’s consciousness been awake he would have noticed that within his dantian cave where the red mist usually resided there was now a small black gemlike stone which was constantly growing in size. The more killings he committed the bigger the stone became.

Gritting their teeth, the four King ranked experts all stayed by the carriage, constantly observing from the shadows. They fearing an ambush by the King ranked experts they had fought earlier; however, at the same time they all wanted to go attack Hui Yue.

He was running wild. His strength was constantly increasing as he injured one after another. The many Dragon Corps soldiers which had thought that the enemies retreat would give them a chance to avenge their dead friends discovered that they were now terrified and fleeing in every direction. They were trying their best to no longer have anything to do with the frenzied beast Hui Yue turned into.

Looking around, the sharp red eyes no longer saw anyone he could attack, no one other than the four King ranked experts.

Looking at the four, Lan Feng sighed deeply as the soul of the phoenix stood up and went towards Hui Yue’s consciousness which was still deep in a trance. With no ceremony nor any regret the phoenix kicked Hui Yue’s consciousness  causing him to fall down and wake up, shock evident in his eyes.

As soon as Hui Yue woke up, a loud howl far louder than the others could be heard. A noise which sounded as though the beast was wounded. Hui Yue quickly maneuvered the blue cloud, taking over the red mist and moments after a calming and soothing atmosphere appeared.

The four King ranked experts were dumbfounded when they saw the changes as the wolf-like beast turned back into the white-haired young man. They were completely unable to see what had happened. They were even more so astonished when they felt the blue cloud surrounding them bringing forth a dense cloud of essence from the heavens and the earth.

The captain felt sour as his eyes locked on the young man. Although he had decided long ago that the most important mission was to bring the cargo to the capital, he still had intended to bring the prisoners as well. Losing his men on a mission which was successful was far different to losing them when the prisoners escaped.

Swearing slightly he could not help but curse at the Dragon Corp’s office back in the Thousand River’s Cave for giving his team this mission with these prisoners. But even while doing so, he did not move towards the young white-haired man who vanished in the direction where his friends had previously gone..

Clenching his fists, the captain looked around at the suddenly quiet place only to see that there were no corpses left on the ground. All of them had vanished together with the beastly young man.

“They were the ones we met back at the restaurant,” One of the Kings said, his voice trembling from anger as he looked at the destroyed carriage behind them.

“I know.” The captain said with an angry voice, “Take those Laws into the carriage where we had the prisoners previously and lock the door. The four of us will have to protect this carriage for the rest of the trip.”

“Well now all those weaklings are gone we can travel through the night,” Another King said as he tried to be positive, “Not to mention they are unlikely to attack us again. They know nothing about our cargo and even if they knew, they have no use of a few Laws. No one besides us can use them.”

“Be quiet!” The captain growled, “Don’t jinx our cargo. Let’s move.”

“What about the surviving soldiers?” Another King asked as he looked into the darkness surrounding them. It was truly hard to tell how many survived considering all the corpses were gone.

“They fled,” The captain said with disdain in his voice. Although he knew that they were unable to do anything against the human turned beast, he felt that after they fled they were no longer any of his concern. If they managed to reach the capital on their own then they would be able to get another mission, however, if they did not then they were not worth his time.

Hui Yue had not withdrawn very far, his blue eyes keeping an eye on the Kings and his eyes narrowed as he heard the mention of  Laws.

The  caravan no longer contained three carriages and a numerous amount of soldiers, instead, now it contained one carriage being guarded by four Kings.

Seeing them walking away into the distance, Hui Yue could not help but frown slightly as he turned around and walked in the direction his friends had went in.

Hiding in the shadows, Hui Yue waited for the four Kings to vanish into the distance before he heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

He never expected that the captain would be willing to let so many soldiers under his command die and then not avenging them. But  after hearing the word ‘Law’, Hui Yue understood that their so-called cargo was definitely a higher priority. As he watched them vanish into the distance mixed emotions washed over him.

Saving his friends was the main aim of his attack which succeeded; however, he was well aware that something had happened to him during the attack and he needed to spend some time to inspect his body and investigate the changes that occurred. Although he knew this, Hui Yue would do nothing until he was together with his friends again. With a final glance towards the dark tunnels where the King ranked experts vanished, Hui Yue turned around and started running towards his friends.

Hui Yue and Xu Piao previously agreed on meeting up at a predetermined side-tunnel, and while rushing towards this place, he came across other soldiers who were fleeing from the battle. None of them noticed the black cloaked man as they slowly inched closer to the battle zone, hoping to regroup with their allies.

Rushing past them, Hui Yue knew that the King ranked experts had already left and that these soldiers only had themselves to rely on. As such he paid them no heed as they no longer posed a threat towards him or his friends.

Traveling through the shadows Hui Yue managed to quickly single out the side tunnel where  his friends should be waiting for him. The closer he came to his destination the more thrilled he became. His heartbeat rapidly increased and an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face.

The side tunnel was completely dark and stale air filled the surroundings. Walking into the tunnel, Hui Yue quickly picked up a light stone and after walking a couple of kilometers he finally saw his friends; everyone looked cheerful and excited as soon as they saw the white-haired boy advancing towards them.

Hui Yue too felt the same kind of excitement. His face was unable to control the smile which formed on his lips, his eyes were gleaming with happiness. He increased his speed as soon as he saw his friends in front of him.

Seeing all three of them, Hui Yue’s eyes landed on Wang Ju Long and the moment he saw her it felt as though a giant stone was lifted from his shoulders. His speed increased as he rushed towards the young woman and embraced her warmly. His ice blue eyes turned slightly moist, his heart was unable to settle down, and his hug was filled with emotions.

From the moment, he found the caravan and Hui Yue managed to locate both Sha Yun and Deng Wu through the window but not Wang Ju Long he started feeling restless. Although he kept telling himself that she was safe, deep within doubt was slowly gnawing away his soul. Now that she was in front of him, safe and sound with no signs of being mistreated, his emotions overflowed;  he could no longer restrain his happiness.

Seeing Hui Yue act this way caused the four observers to be surprised. Eyebrows were raised and snickers were seen as they saw how relieved the young white-haired boy was from his behavior.

Sha Yun too observed the hug which sank her heart. Her mood turned sour, but she did nothing to destroy the moment, instead she patiently waited to hear how much Hui Yue missed them all.

Wang Ju Long, who was currently being held in a firm embrace, was completely frozen, her mind went blank and her face was slowly turning beet red. She did not attempt to escape, but just stood there allowing for Hui Yue to release his feelings.

Only after a long time could a sigh be heard before Hui Yue released her, his face beaming happily to all his friends present. His next move was to give both Deng Wu and Sha Yun a hug as well. He was truly worried for the three of them, worried about e things they were going through, and only now did he feel that things would be okay.

“We need to go deeper into the tunnels,” Xu Piao said nervously. Although he was a King ranked expert and quite emotionally affected by the reunion, he was still clear headed and constantly looking towards the way they had come.

“The Dragon Corps has been ordered to bring these three to the capital. I am quite certain that they won't just leave them behind.” He continued, constantly worried that suddenly the four King ranked experts would appear behind them. Although they managed to stall them for a short while, that was only due to the four Kings focus on protecting the carriage and their ‘cargo’. Even so, both Xu Piao and Xie Lan ended up with wounds, although not fatal they definitely caused the two some pain.

“Don’t worry,” Hui Yue said with a big smile on his face. “The four King ranked experts left with one of the carriages earlier,” He explained. “It seems that their initial mission was far more important than escorting my friends.” He continued. Being quiet and contemplating for a moment, he finally added, “Their important ‘cargo’ is a few Laws.”

Hearing this, Deng Wu, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long all looked at Hui Yue and the shock in their eyes quickly turned to regret. They all remembered the time they had spent at Cave’s End and how they managed to protect a few Laws. Unfortunately, it seemed that many others were in danger and they were unable to help them.

“No need to worry too much about it now,” Hui Yue said soothingly as he started flipping his hand, withdrawing corpses from his storage stone and placing them one after another on the ground.

Looking at them, he felt somewhat nauseous as there were some who died a clean death, but the majority were either missing half their body or smelling of burnt flesh while others had their heads caved in. All this damage was inflicted by Hui Yue under the influence of the red mist.

Seeing all the corpses, his friends felt uncomfortable unable to tell why he saved them and for what purpose he was lining them up in front of them.

Having laid them all out, Hui Yue did a quick count and found that he managed to kill and store twenty-seven men. Looking at them for a moment, he heaved a heavy breath before he picked up one corpse and started to roam through their pockets looking for jewelry and items. He took every single storage stone he came across.

Seeing Hui Yue acting the way he did, it suddenly dawned on the three friends that their storage stones were held and kept by some of the Dragon Corps members who were in the same carriage as them. If they had escaped then their storage stones would be lost forever.

None of the friends wished for this to happen and without thinking all three quickly joined Hui Yue, picking up one storage stone after another.

Although many corpses were laid out, it did not take the four friends long before they managed to pick up every single storage stone.. The burnt flesh along with the scent of blood spread throughout the unlit tunnel calling forth one monster after another who wanted that delicious smelling meat.

While they were searching, Xu Piao and Xie Lan were waiting by their sides pushing back every beast who came too close, however, they still turned into a horde and the six friends quickly decided to withdraw. Finding  all their storage stones they truly did not need to keep looking.

Retreating back to the part of the tunnels which were lit, Hui Yue and his friends quickly found another tunnel that headed downwards.

The side tunnels contained many small caves which were carved into the ground. These caves were either bandit lairs or home to hordes of magical beasts. Currently, Hui Yue wished to take over one of these lairs so that he could sit down and look through their spoils. Not to mention seeing if they were capable of finding anything of interest from the Dragon Corps’ items they obtained.

The tunnel they chose to enter was filled with magical beasts, a sign that no bandits were around. This was because usually they made sure to clear out the beasts near their turf, however, one could never be too careful. Thus, the six friends moved forward slowly killing one beast after another and storing the beast corpses within their storage stones.

Finally, after what felt like days of searching, the group managed to find a place where they could rest. As they entered the cave a loud howl could be heard, but when the beast got close enough to sense the aura of Xu Piao and Xie Lan, it wisely chose to escape; not betting its life for the sake of a simple cave.

Having set up a campfire within the cave, Hui Yue sat down and tossed some of the storage stones to Xu Piao and Xie Lan. All of them quickly bound the stones with Qi strand before they opened them and looked into them.

“Oh, this one contains a thousand demon cores.” Xu Piao said surprised, “There is quite a lot of food as well, but he had no interesting weapons or scrolls.”

“This one has almost no money only about seventy demon cores.” Sha Yun said while wrinkling her nose, “Oh wait!” She suddenly said as she waved her hands and three memory stones appeared out of nowhere. Placing the memory stones to her forehead a bright blue light shone within the cave. After a moment, the snake-woman removed the first of the stones before she tried the second and third memory stone.

“Don’t mind them,” She sighed, “They are just maps of the cave system. We already saw some similar to them back in Demon Dwelling Cave.”

Hearing this, everyone who held their breath, hoping for interesting news, all sighed as they shook their heads. Mocking smiles could be seen before they continued to search through the stones.

“It is here! I found it!” Deng Wu said excitedly as he found a storage stone containing multiple other storage stones. The ones on the ground were the stones which belonged to Deng Wu, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long.

Giving the stones to their original owners, Hui Yue and the rest combined all the loot they gained. There were only around two hundred and twenty thousand demon cores, however, that was plenty for the group to continue their travels.

Apart from demon coins they found lots of food and wine, clearly these Dragon Corps members brought them along for their mission. Along with food and wine, Hui Yue found quite a few materials which were already refined, not to mention a large array of inscriptions. These were for their metal affinity cultivators to use.

Some of the bags contained weapons while others contained jewelry. After looking all the things over, Hui Yue evenly split all the items between the six of them. All the inscription patterns went to Deng Wu who was thoroughly excited as he sat down. He looked through each and every one of the inscription patterns trying to determine which ability each of them activated.