43 An Ancient City Maze (1/2)
\”Brother Bai, I have found that Lan Hui boy. He is with me now, we are close to the mountain range between the second and third ring. He is good now.\”
The message came from Bai Xuengen and had been sent right as Shin Sumi had escaped the ice prison where the Vein of Hell Fire was located.
Shin Sumi heaved a sigh of relief. Lan Hui was safe. It did not matter now what trouble had befallen him as long as he was sound and taken good care of.
Amused, Shin Sumi thought about how her intuition was right. She had instantly thought of Lan Hui when she found the Affairs Pavilion insignia even though it could have been someone else's, and she had been right.
She didn't know for certain but Bai Xuengen wouldn't have said \”he is good now\” if the red robed disciple had always been fine.
Shin Sumi was about to reply something along the lines of \”I am on my way, thank you brother Bai, consider your debt fulfilled\”, and was already circulating a bit of her newfound Shinsoo from the Vein when another vibration interrupted her.
The second message also came from Bai Xuengen, which made Shin Sumi furrow her eyebrows. Another message so fast?
\”Brother! They are still after him, I can't protect him here. We have to cross to the next ring and hopefully lose them in the mountain pass! My divine sense won't project from there. Shit, here they come!\”
And just like that the message ended. Shin Sumi tried to answer, holding the jade so tight that her knuckles turned white but to no avail.
\”Who are 'they' and what do 'they' want?! Beasts? Disciples? Bai Xuengen is yellow talented and has the sword from the golems, what is it that can make him flee in this tournament?\”
A certain image flitted through her mind. She remembered the huge crocodile, and the blur faster than lightning that had severed its claw.
She had heard the cry of the thing and she remembered perfectly the strength that had crushed her in an instant.
It had been enough to make her lose consciousness, a power akin to to the weight of a thousand mountains compared to her puny cultivation level.
\”No that can't be it. Bai Xuengen wouldn't last a single breath before that thing.\”
Shin Sumi sent her divine sense to the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword, sending it to her bag of holding with a thought. The sword was too visible and recognizable.
She had to find Bai Xuengen and Lan Hui and couldn't waste any time, but it didn't matter what was after them, she still had to exert caution.
\”Little Copper Bell, it's time for me to become Bai Fulong once more\” she said as she activated the bell's powers. Trying to intensely forget the images of her male body in the clear river water that one time, she wasn't too happy about using Yang type Shinsoo to hide her identity, but Bai Xuengen knew only her face as a red robed boy.
Once the Confusion Pill dissolved into her mouth, Shin Sumi was ready.
Arching her legs a little bit, the ground cracked in a circular pattern beneath her feet before she lept in the direction of the yellow pillar of light.
Her entire body had undergone refining from the very source of Shinsoo of the entire ice environment, and it showed.
Impressing even herself, Shin Sumi traveled more than thirty meters with each burst of power. The cold wasn't as bothering as before, and even the beautiful snowlake dancing above her head could not sap away her energy like before.
If before she felt like she was on par with yellow robes, now Shin Sumi knew that she owned them!
***
Bai Xuengen turned away quickly as soon as the boy sitting on the rock a few meters away noticed his staring.
Lan Hui sighed while clutching his left wrist.
\”I'm fine, Senior Brother Bai. Your pill is working. I just need to rest for a bit and we can continue.\”
Bai Xuengen held his fist tightly. They couldn't rest for too long, they had to keep moving, but the red robed boy wasn't in condition yet.
The light of divination flashed briefly in Bai Xuengen's eyes before he put away his magical compass.
\”They are closing in on us again. Do you have another speed talisman?\”
\”I only have two left\” answered Lan Hui straight away.
Bai Xuengen sighed once more. His forehead was wrinkled with concern. Tearing a piece of cloth with his teeth, he turned to face the young man.
\”Wrap your hand in this. Put a spirit stone against the wound to keep your energy levels as close to maximum as possible.\”
\”Mn\” approved Lan Hui. He clenched his teeth to do what he was told. The contact between the spirit stone and his open flesh burned painfully for a second before the pain started being alleviated.
He took one last look at the place where his fingers had been before wrapping his hand in the cloth. That was only a makeshift bandage but it would be enough for a while.
\”You know, Senior Brother Bai, you would have no problem escaping alone. I mean you wouldn't have to...\”
\”Stop spewing nonsense\” Bai Xuengen cut him off before he could finish his thought. \”Someone I owe a debt to trusted me with finding you and keeping you safe, and I intend to do just that.\”
He looked back towards the entrance to the tunnel and continued, \”Before he gets here, you stay with me, I'm not leaving you behind, no matter what you say.\”
Lan Hui didn't know Bai Xuengen very well. Obviously, being one of the few individuals of the lower valley of the Dark Sky Starry Sect, he knew his name, but hadn't interracted much with him before.
The Affairs Pavilion boy was a good judge of character, being in charge of solving conflicts between disciples on a daily basis, but he knew his first impressions of the yellow young man were mistaken.
Instead of the aloof personality and proud nature to be expected from a talented individual, he had found Bai Xuengen to be rather... simple.
Bai Xuengen had showed him an incredible sense of duty and commitment that was unexpected for someone he didn't know.
Whereas he probably should have focused on his cultivation and progress, as it was the goal of the Rising Star Tournament, Bai Xuengen had instead stayed with him and protected him from the repeated assaults by his aggressors.
The two camarades resumed moving as soon as Lan Hui had finished tending to his wounds.
The boy kept thinking about the person Bai Xuengen was referring to when he said he was asked to protect him.
\”Bai Fulong... I know nobody of that name. Whoever that is, it's obviously not their real name. Bai Xuengen should know that too.\”
The yellow robed young man did know. He had suspected from the start that 'Bai Fulong' had been a made up name that coincidentally matched his own.
He also was willing to bet that the face of the boy dressed in red yet displaying an unusual strength was not his real face.
He would uncover that mystery soon. He knew that his last message to Bai Fulong had been received, right as they had left the second ring a few days before. Now it was only a matter of time before he could find and meet them.
Hopefully the mysterious boy in red robes would offer them an explanation. And hopefully Chu Erlong and her group wouldn't catch them beforehand.
On his own, Bai Xuengen would have been fine. He could beat the orange robed Chu Erlong with his eyes closed, but with the crew she had gathered and the already injured Lan Hui, every fight could be the last for the latter.
***
Shin Sumi was at a loss.
\”What is this place?\” she asked in disbelief.
No voice answered. There was no one around to answer but that wasn't the reason for her confusion. Advancing as fast as she could, she had just finished crossing the mountain range separating the second ring from the third.
The air had suddenly gotten warmer and the snowflakes had disappeared silently. The icy landscape was behind her.
From what she had seen so far, Shin Sumi expected to find a third special terrain after the mountains. The third ring, location of the third Vein of Hell Fire that she needed to temper her Gold Tyrant Flying Sword with.
But instead, she was in front of a dead end.
Due to the circles becoming smaller and smaller, the mountain range between the ice ring and the next one was way smaller than the one before that. In fact not many entrances could be found to trace a path between the high stormy peaks.
Shin Sumi was sure to have taken one of them, but after a few hours of walking in between the rocky cliffs and the jagged stones leading the way, she found herself in front of a wall.
The wall was a dark grey color, much darker than the mountains itself and was incredibly flat.
Rising vertically, she couldn't even see where the wall ended and where the dark rumbling clouds started.
Had it been a normal exploration, Shin Sumi probably would have turned back and tried to find another path between the rings, but she didn't have that luxury.
\”Lan Hui is with Bai Xuengen but his message sounded almost panicked. Something is after them, I can't delay much longer.\”
It was then that Shin Sumi saw the hole.