"Huff huff..." Hu Qing was exhausted and could barely manage to breathe steadily. His vision blurred, but his ego could never let him back down even when he was barely dodging swift counterattacks. He was just too determined.
Wan Juo would glance at him now and then but his gaze would always wander back to the dancing women who were swathed with luxurious clothing. Thin silky gold fabric covered their lower faces only leaving a little of their appearances exposed and even with that, one can abstract that they were gorgeous.
Hu Qing gritted his teeth, such a disgraceful man was married to his eldest daughter. But he was too angry to notice Wan Juo's facial expressions which could've been seen like his mind was somewhere else. He was in deep thought.
Ke Quan snickered and slashed his sword directly through Hu Qing's left shoulder, "Don't you wish I was dead? Well if I was dead I wouldn't have such an amusing time as this. Master only has himself to blame now."
The sword barely missed Hu Qing's heart but it did hit a vital point. He choked back the burning blood that was clenched down from his throat and swallowed it. Grabbing onto the sword he glared at Ke Quan in fury. "You..."
He was in so much anger that it felt like his own blood was boiling. Ke Quan betrayed him not once but twice and this time there was no way he was gonna believe any more bullsh*t that came from someone so foul. "..you need to go die already. Go. And. Burn."
When Ke Quan heard him his eyebrows rose and he let out a puff of laughter, "Master bringing me to the Sect was your only sin.
You're disappointed in me and I acknowledge that." No, Hu Qing just purely hated him.
"Boom!"
Hu Qing thrust out his injured palm which blasted Ke Quan four stone walls in, each thicker than the other. "I have no disciples such as you." He said coldly. He pulled out the sword that was sticking from his shoulder and winced in pain.
He was covered in bruises and open wounds so he staggered while walking toward Wan Juo who sat calmly in his seat. Once he got over he grabbed him tightly by the collar, "Where are my children?!" He yelled at him. Wan Juo ignored him and smiled, "Father-in-law it hasn't even been that long since you arrived but you have already knocked out all your comrades. What manners-"
Before he could finish Hu Qing shook him madly asking again, "Stop spewing nonsense! Where are my children?!"
"What nonsense? Remember your manners, this isn't a place to be yelling around like a lunatic."
"And as for you kids, shouldn't you know where they are? Isn't that the reason you came here?"
Hu Qing drove his fist through Wan Juo's chest. He knew Wan Juo had no intention of answering the question but it was far too late and the man he held faded away causing Hu Qing to flare up in the madness.
I'LL KILL HIM FOR SURE
He flung his arm to the side and threw everything that was on the table beside him. The women who didn't pay any mind to him before screeched and ran far from him hollering, "Where did Sect Leader Wan go?"
Being left in the central hall alone, he slumped down onto the spot where Wan Juo was. Everything was a disaster.... he just wanted to retire already.
A moment later the sound of fallen rocks could be heard nearby and suddenly a black figure appeared. He had dripping blood flowing down from his head but didn't seem bothered by the pain. Ke Quan raised his head and glanced at Hu Qing quietly.
"You look pleasant." Hu Qing said. Ke Quan just stood quietly with no response.
"What? Did that attack deprive you of your ability to speak now?"
"The girls- I didn't know that The Sect Leader took them." Hu Qing scoffed, "Of course not. Do you think he'll think of you as anything other than a pawn to use as he fits? You're even more disposable than any other person in this sect."
"Of course, YOU would say that, but it doesn't matter to me much if I'm being used or not, that business is my own. But I do think I know where your daughters are."
Ke Quan walked closer showing a hesitant face. "The Sect Leader found an Underground Prison long ago and it seemed to belong to our Halo Sect considering that our first Leader Statue was carved in the entrance and many other areas"
"Maybe they're there. It's the only proper place that I could think of."
Hu Qing got up and walked toward Ke Quan gripping the top of his shoulder. "If you're lying I'll hunt you down and tear out your spine. I could do it right now but as you can see you're not worth my time."
"It's from the South..." Ke Quan replied. The strong grip vanished from his shoulder and he knew his Master left. Ke Quan smiled, 'He dislocated my shoulder.' He couldn't leave without paying back the vital wound he got from him earlier, though the vital wound should slow down Hu Qing's cultivation.
'Thump- crackle crackle crackle!'
A hole in the wall fell tumbling from one kick and out came Hu Qing. Underground it was so cold and dark that Hu Qing needed to concentrate spiritual energy onto his eyes to barely see properly.
Out on display lay two narrow paths leading in directions that curved away from one another. It wasn't long since he cut ties from The Halo Sect and even then as the right pillar he never heard of an underground prison. 'This place is unusual.' Around there was a heavy stench of blood coming from all sides. He was gonna gamble and enter a path but a dark aura reached out, which made him unconsciously step back.
'There's no prison without a guard.' Hu Qing thought so he entered the latter.
The farther in he advances the more the chilling temperature seemed to increase. The path itself was quite long but it didn't take him long to reach the near end. Streaks of light came from the other end and Hu Qing took this chance to glance back from where he proceeded.
"...."
Fist clenched, he cursed, "What could do something so monstrous..." Had he known about the terror he had walked through he would have taken the other path. Bodies after bodies were ripped apart and blood was splattered along the walls. The gruesome stench that made Hu Qing want to gag was covered as decoration for someone's weird hobby.
The corpses were all pushed against the walls and some hung onto the ceiling with their limbs dug deeply into the soil.
Hu Qing's one weakness was the stench of blood. It wasn't that he had a sensitive nose but because that particular scent smelt so rotting and gruel.
The ground started to shake and some of the corpses from above broke off from their flesh and fell. The shaking only lasted for a moment but Hu Qing couldn't take it anymore and exited the tunnel without looking at what was ahead. His fingers had run cold and his face was even frostier as his anger rose higher. He swore loyalty to a righteous man but the person that the righteous man entrusted the Halo Sect, Wan Juo, was a two-faced bastard.
'I'll stop at nothing just to grab him by the throat and slice my sword across that demonic smile of his. It pisses me off.'
The place Hu Qing came to was a white hall of cells where each was rowed up to a pretty heavy number that would probably hurt someone's head from counting. The stone marble on the floor was piled on from dust and the lighting that brightened up the room as if it was above ground came from the pillars holding up the space. If it wasn't for the cracks and bold dust this prison would appear extremely holy-looking.
Thoughts of his hatred quickly dispatched and his main focus was now to search for his beloved daughters. Every cell was empty except for one that had a bundle of flesh hanging from chains. This place was trying to make him retch. The blood from the tunnel still reached out and the corpses that remained in the cells made it impossible to focus. But It wasn't until he heard a few weak coughs that he had an exact idea of the location since he was searching aimlessly.
"Cough." The noise came again but this time nearby.
In a small cell trembled three people, who huddled together. A small one that looked to be a child raised her head and when she saw Hu Qing she said, "Papa.." Her voice was hoarse and cracked. The other heard her sister and glanced up as well. Both girls look frail and dirty but Hu Qing could see that they were his daughters.
'Thank god they aren't hurt." Hu Qing clenched the bars and felt relief come over him.
"Don't worry Papa is here and he's gonna get you out, alright? Don't be scared." As soon as he said that the bars he had gasped onto broke, he kicked down the remaining bars which shattered as if they were glass. The girls ran and practically jumped onto Hu Qing.
"Papa, it was so scary!"
Hu Qing grasped both of them tightly in an embrace and hugged them. He felt anxious since they were taken hostage and even though he tried not to think negatively, he had doubts about their survival.
There was another person with his daughters so he glanced at them. They were wearing shredded clothing but that was mostly all Hu Qing could catch a glimpse of.
The person made eye contact with him and soon realized that Hu Qing was observing them. They walked forward and to Hu Qing's surprise, it wasn't a beggar or an old prison hostage. "Hu Baozhai." His face went a deadly pale. His eldest daughter stood right in front of him.
She had a clothed sling around her but she looked the same as when he last saw her. She came closer and stared at him. Hu Qing's hands trembled but he managed to cup her face with his hands.
"No, you can't be... y-you can't. No, you're not." Suddenly everything that Hu Qing wanted to say couldn't come out and it felt as if he would choke on his own words. Streams of tears slid down his face.
He was in disbelief.
"Eldest sister stayed with us the whole time. She held our hands!" The girls were excited to have seen their older sister for a long time.
"She appeared out of nowhere and said she'll protect us until you arrived. I always knew my eldest sister didn't abandon us!"
Hu Baozhai smiled but before she could say anything back Hu Qing replied, "You're dead..."
The girls stopped babbling and became hushed.
"When did this happen? Why?"
"Nothing can get past Father." Hu Baozhai said. "Yes, I am no longer alive."
The ground began shaking once more but Hu Qing hardly noticed nor did he care. "There's not much time before 'He' arrives. You must all go now. Hurry and go straight from here to the point where a Statue is. You must push it to the side and use the hidden stairs from behind it."
With no response, she continued "Leave behind everything. The Cultivation World and everything you must leave it, the world would soon be put into chaos."
She then pulled the clothed sling over her head and placed it on Hu Qing's shoulders. The sling was positioned in front of him so he glanced down. A soundless newborn that looked like a corpse was in it.
"Please wait! What is-" Hu Baozhai rushed him, "Father. Please go now. This is someone you mustn't encounter! I beg of you to leave right at this moment!" She stared at the sling and then at Hu Qing only motioning him to go. A concern could be seen in her eyes.
The ground rumbled more chaotically and soon the place was crackling and pieces of stone fell like hail. Hu Qing looked at the girls who were shocked then at Hu Baozhai and gritted his teeth and grabbed them each on one arm and ran. He turn to look back and could see Hu Baozhai mouth out a few words.
'His name is Hu QuenQui'