Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) Page 4

  Seeing how the children finally released Deng Wu the friends laughed, but within a short while everyone was eating their stew while chatting with each other. Hui Yue had intentionally placed himself next to Xingye.

  “Can you tell me about when your mother was taken?” Hui Yue asked gently, as he ensured to fill the boy’s plate with plenty of meat. The boy’s face only showed a trace of depression before it became excited from seeing the glistening tender meat on his plate. Coercing a child was something Hui Yue felt capable of doing. Even if that child was thousands of years old.

  “She had just come out from meditation,” Xingye said while stuffing his face with stew, expertly avoiding the vegetables and only eating the meat. “Mother says that we are not allowed to fight with the close villages unless they do something very bad. Mother had absorbed the energy from heavens and earth then they took her away.”

  “Why would they take her?” Hui Yue asked quietly, while trying to get as much information as possible from this small friend next to him.

  He had already learned that Sun had been taken away as soon as she exited her isolated cultivation and that she had followed without putting up too much of a fight.

  “They want mum for the sake of increasing their harvest,” Xingye said with a sad expression on his face, but as soon as the eyes fell onto the pot which had been used to cook stew his smile resurfaced.

  ‘Don’t be so shocked,’ Lan Feng commented when he felt how Hui Yue was truly astonished. Their mother has disappeared yet the children did nothing about it for all this time.

  ‘They are not children,’ Lan Feng continued. ‘They are the laws which this world is built upon. They are the laws which the four divine beasts created at the same time they created the continent itself. We will meet many of these laws on our travel. They are laws created by the gods and to be created by a god makes it impossible to go against. To go against a law is the same as going against this world. Imagine what would happen, should the sun die and fall from the sky. Should the moon never again raise the waters, should the seasons never change.’

  ‘These laws are far older than us. They are as old as the first rock in this world. The laws are all around us. It is the law that binds the world together, allowing for it to exist. When you become an upper dantian user I will tell you far more about them as you will begin to sense them.’

  Hui Yue nodded his head. Right now he did not need to know more about the laws, what he did need to know about was what the ones who had kidnapped Sun were like.

  ‘They should be from the closest village so we are going there after a few days of rest. Make sure that you train properly during these next few days, as we cannot waste too much time on this. Getting her back here is of utmost importance before the four of them can move on to the next dungeon.

  Looking at the surroundings, Hui Yue could not help but wonder why these were called dungeons. It was obviously an entire world which was spreading itself throughout the entire continent but it did not look dead, it was filled with living beings, trees and plants. Even a sun and a moon were present within the underworld kingdom they now travelled through.

  Having made all the kids go to bed, Hui Yue was seated with his friends in front of the bonfire where they warmed themselves. Being beneath the earth, inside a cave, the stone walls which surrounded them sucked in all the warmth which the sun had produced during the day.

  The moment the sun had vanished and the warmth slowly got absorbed by the cave walls the previous comfortable temperature was changed, and a chilled humid air filled the cave, much like the weather felt on an autumn night on the surface.

  “We need to rescue her, or if she is really not captured then at least bring her back here,” Hui Yue said, as he finished passing on Lan Feng’s words from earlier.

  Seated at the back, Hui Yue was contemplating about the laws which had been mentioned earlier. Truthfully, Hui Yue understood that it was something which he would not encounter before he reached the upper dantian. He felt as though it was impossible to comprehend before the upper dantian was opened, yet at the same time there was these thoughts just out of reach, Making Hui Yue feel as though he would understand some of it at least, if he was to think just a little more.

  But no matter how much time Hui Yue spent thinking, that feeling remained and he never caught hold of what exactly the laws were. With a sigh he stood up and decided to think about it when he had more time.

  “Let’s go,” Hui Yue said with a low voice before he turned around and gestured for the friends to follow him. Silent as a shadow, the four young cultivators made their way through the forest and moved towards the village which had taken Sun.

  Following the path set down by Lan Feng, Hui Yue quickly passed on information which he was being given on the way.

  The village was not a big one, approximately a hundred people lived in it. They all earned their living through agriculture, and Lan Feng assumed that Sun had been caught for the sake of increasing their harvest by a noticeable margin.

  Having gained every bit of information Hui Yue and the others nodded their heads, as they felt like they were much more prepared now than they had been before. Rushing towards the village, they hoped to get into contact with Sun without anyone noticing them and then convince her to return to the cabin to once more look after the seasons.

  The forest had been dense, allowing one to only see a few meters in front of them, yet suddenly all the trees vanished, clearly removed for the sake of agriculture.

  As soon as Hui Yue saw this he raised his hand and gestured to the others so that they stopped, slowly sneaking closer and closer, as they expected, a small village appeared outside the forest.

  However as soon as the four of them broke through to the open clearing, they expected to see a village, but what they saw caused them all to stop in their tracks. They stood there, staring agape at fields which went on as far as the eye could see, and far off in the distance a city rose with pagodas reaching towards the dungeon’s ceiling.

  “Well,” Hui Yue looked at the city in the distance and he sighed deeply, “It seems that even things within this closed off area have managed to evolve quite a bit in four thousand years.”

  Hearing this the three others solemnly nodded their heads, a blank look in their eyes as all the plans they had prepared before had become completely useless.

  “We won’t get anything done by standing here,” Hui Yue said after a short while, and he started walking towards the city. “Let us change our plans slightly. Our first goal is to be able to locate where Sun is.” Having said that, Hui Yue walked with steady steps towards the city in the distance, his friends quickly catching up to him as they walked on in silence.

  Chapter 6 – Village

  Leaving the forest, Hui Yue was no longer speaking. His blue eyes narrowed slightly as they were observing everything was happening around him, shining vigilantly in the dim light which the moon cascaded down on them.

  The fields were empty, tools stacked up in the corner of the fields, as the farmers had left them there before they retreated back into the city.

  The city was shining with light that was visible even from far away. No wall surrounded the city, instead farmhouses dotted the outskirts where animals were resting inside barns.

  The silence would occasionally be interrupted by the sounds of demon beasts growling or howling in the air, in response to Hui Yue and his friends who were making their way through the dusty streets.

  The houses all seemed to be of good quality and well looked after, none of them were worn down nor were they destroyed by attacks of demon beasts. By the look of the houses alone, this city seemed to be very safe.

  Walking through the streets, Hui Yue noticed that although light was streaming out of people’s windows no one was on the streets, leaving them completely deserted. Happy voices could be heard from within the houses, causing Hui Yue to frown. Everyone seemed happy, but, strangely, no one left their house. The white-haired young man g
rew increasingly alert.

  A tense atmosphere appeared as the four friends slowly made their way past the farm houses and towards the urban areas of the city, aiming to find an inn. Walking further into town caused them to become even more vigilant in their observation of their surroundings. Even here, no one was walking through the streets, only light and laughter from within houses was streaming into the empty world where Hui Yue and his friends quickly passed.

  Making a swift decision, Hui Yue made a gesture with his hand and all four turned around. None of the four said a word, while moving as quiet as shadows as they retreated out of the city once more.

  The sun was rising by the time the four once more made it back to the forest where they gathered behind the trees. Hiding so that no citizens could see them waiting.

  As the sun rose in the sky, Hui Yue observed the workers under the rising sun, which allowed a few rays of light to shine down on them. The weather was just like a usual autumn day, confusing Hui Yue.

  From what he was told, Sun should have been taken to this city, and he had expected that this would result in the city being filled with sunshine, radiating immense heat. Yet looking at the city and fields, one would not be able to tell this place apart from any other.

  Having observed for a couple of hours, Hui Yue finally rose to his feet after having cultivated and stretched his body before a splendid smile appeared on his face.

  “Let us see how they welcome outsiders.” He said, as he turned around and with steady confident steps walked towards the fields and the farmers.

  Walking out of the forest, not many of the farmers noticed them initially, yet with each step they took more and more farmers would stop in their tracks as they stared at Hui Yue and the others, their mouths agape as if they had seen a ghost.

  Seeing that they had such a reaction but did nothing to stop them, Hui Yue just kept smiling in a carefree way and nodded every now and then to the pretty girls who were walking in the fields.

  The calm and carefree expression which Hui Yue showed was not possible to be mirrored by any of the others. The farmers seeing Hui Yue walk in front of the three others, especially with someone as exotic as Sha Yun, instantly took Hui Yue to be someone they should not mess with. The girls whom he nodded to got red cheeks and felt their hearts flutter, as this esteemed person had shown them favour.

  Great curiosity as to whom this person was, and as to why his entourage appeared from within the forest caused many of the farmers to follow them, as they made their way to the city at a leisurely pace. While Hui Yue attentively showed interest in everything around him.

  In the beginning only a few farmers saw them, but when they made it to the farmhouses they had an entourage of over two hundred following them. Yet even under pressure , Hui Yue still walked at a leisurely pace as though he was used to having that many followers.

  Respect grew within the three friends which were traveling with him as his demeanour had changed completely into that of a young master. Even the aloof Wang Ju Long had to admit that she was slightly uncomfortable with this many followers, and some strains of displeasure were visible on her face. This, in turn, caused the farmers to even more so think Hui Yue was a young master who was travelling with his magical beast and two retainers.

  Although Hui Yue was moving slowly, acting like a young master who feared nothing, he was also walking slowly to observe everything around them in the daylight.

  These farmers clearly lived in the farmhouses and the people from within the houses quickly gathered along with their families, whispering to one another, causing the many voices to group together into the loudest murmurs Hui Yue had ever heard before.

  Looking around, Hui Yue frowned as he quickly exited the areas where animals were held, and his speed once more slowed down as he entered a paved road with smaller, yet clearly better, houses.

  They had now come as far as they had the night before, yet everything was the complete opposite of what it had been, making Hui Yue to chuckle slightly. The chuckle, however, quickly changed to a frown as he looked around but could not locate an inn..

  Walking further the houses became mansions and eventually Hui Yue and the entourage were in the middle of town, looking at an astonishing pagoda yet no expression of astonishment could be seen on Hui Yue’s face. Instead a look of annoyance could be seen, as if the beautiful pagoda was not even worthy of his attention.

  Mustering all his courage, a young man stepped forward, clearing his throat. Hui Yue intentionally ignored him a few times before he finally turned around and looked at the youth with a noble but gentle expression on his face.

  “Can I help you?” Hui Yue’s voice broke through the air like a sharp sword through one’s body, cutting right through the bone.

  Swallowing a few times the youngster opened his mouth and stuttered, “M.. milord, is there anything I can do for you?”

  Looking at the young man, Hui Yue noticed how he cowered in front of what he thought was a young master, and the white-haired young man almost pitied him. But in this world the ones who mattered to him were only his friends and himself. He had already learned that within this world mercy was a luxury he could not afford.

  “I am looking for an inn,” Hui Yue said, his voice floating over every peasant who had followed him so far, yet the square no longer only contained farmers. It contained many different citizens within the small city, but as soon as they heard the word inn, a collective gasp sounded out followed by loud murmurs.

  Hui Yue frowned as he saw their reaction, and the man he had spoken with earlier was looking at Hui Yue with veneration equal to that of a dog to its master. From within the crowd sentences such as “He is from a city with inns,” “He is used to resting at an inn,” could be heard.

  Deep inside, Hui Yue could not help but be fairly shocked when he saw such a strong reaction to something as small as an inn, but outside he showed none of his surprise on his face. Instead he looked around impatiently, as multiple citizens gained the courage to appear in front of him.

  “Perhaps your lordship would consider staying at my humble abode?” A man asked very politely, yet before Hui Yue had the time to answer another person pushed his way to the front and asked the same question.

  Within a few moments, a fight broke out causing even guards to force their way into the middle of the horde trying to break them up, but it did little. Hui Yue looked at the Disciple ranked guards and sighed.

  “Take care of it,” Hui Yue said, his voice seemingly arrogant and ordering but as soon as they heard the order, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, and Sha Yun all moved forward ready to do just that.

  It was not that Hui Yue usually spoke to his friends in such an arrogant way, but the fact that all three had fallen into the roles which the audience had assumed for them.

  Walking towards the people fighting, the surrounding audience quickly retreated as they saw the three arriving.

  Sha Yun let out a low hiss in displeasure as she had to work, and with a sweep of her tail three men were instantly blown out of the group of fighting men. One of the three was thrown so far back that he landed on top of two other citizens who were watching the fight. All three of them crashing to the ground, blood spraying everywhere, and the white from broken bones were visible in the cluster of flesh and clothes the poor peasants had turned into.

  The two others were not as lucky, but the audience was relieved as soon as they landed against the pagoda, blood spraying from their mouths and both slumping down, collapsing on the ground with no signs of life.

  The smell of blood caused the fight to still and shock was plastered on their faces, as they saw the unfortunate people who had been knocked flying by Sha Yun. They were even more shocked when they saw the menacing expression on her beautiful face. It was obvious that she was strongly opposed to the fighting that was occurring.

  The guards stood still, limbs frozen by fear, as they contemplated what they should do with the young master who had appeared with such a strong force.
They all knew that if they were to go against him, they were not his match.

  It was not before now that Hui Yue noticed that the citizens all were around the Student rank while the guards were Practitioners. In the entire area around the pagoda no one seemed to have even unlocked the middle dantian.

  Everyone were completely quiet and shocked. From the distance, Hui Yue noticed a ruckus as someone tried to make their way to the center. His attention was on them from the very start and an interesting gleam appeared in his eyes, a smile never once leaving his lips.

  The ones who were coming were all Practitioner ranked experts, and Hui Yue guessed that within this city that was considered a rather high cultivation base, yet the group would be nothing more than an appetizer for Deng Wu’s soul shadows.

  Breaking through the horde of humans, a group of twenty men made it to the square where Hui Yue was currently standing leisurely while his friends were by his side, ready to attack should Hui Yue wish for it.

  The twenty new arrivals were clearly all of a different rank than the guards which had appeared so far. Their uniforms were a bright red colour with golden outlines, and their faces were very arrogant, but as soon as they had laid eyes upon Hui Yue, shock was evident in their expressions, and the man in front took a few steps forward.