"She has fallen down this hole! What are you all waiting for? Chase her before she runs off again!"
"But we can't see the end of the pit.....we don't know what is at the end of the pit or how deep it is! We cannot enter and risk our lives just because you ask us!"
"Are you going against the orders of the Sect Leader? Do you think the Sect Leader will let you go if you let her escape once again?!"
"Miss Su, please control your words! What do you mean let her go again? The first time was your own fault for not keeping a close watch on her! You are the one who offered her to the Sect Leader to gain your own purpose. Don't make it sound like you are sacrificing for the Sect!"
".....Fine! But this is not the time for this debate. Are you really going to let her go? The Sect Leader had specifically sent you to catch her alive and bring her back!"
"Fine. It's just a hole. She is like a rat caught in this hole. No need for all of us to go down. You seven will come with me. Miss Su, since this is your mission, you will also come down with us. The five of you return back the way we have come and check where the others of her group have gone. Catch everyone alive. We will punish them according to the laws of the Sect for making us run around in circles for so long!"
Rihanna blinked her eyes hazily, feeling battered and broken even as she listened to every word coming from the opening far above from where she lay. She was once again inside a pit.....but this time there didn't seem to be a way out. The hole was surrounded by fallen rocks and boulders and wild grass and shrubs growing through the cracks. She had hit her head somewhere during the long fall, and could feel something wet and sticky slowly trickling down her head. Even so her fingers refused to move, her body as heavy and motionless as a corpse, laying sprawled over the rocky floor of the pit.
'Stupid girl! Why do you always try to be such a hero! Now you are caught like a rat.....don't worry....there are only eight of them coming down. I will try to hold them down, you escape when you get the chance! Don't try to stay back for me! Once you have escaped, I'll just use our soul connection and rush to your side. Don't stop!'
Rihanna's eyes flickered, and she tried to speak only to cough out a thick lump of sticky blood. Not a single word came out even as she looked on helplessly at Fluffy...the little fox cub had never looked as big and domineering and protective as right now. Tears trickled down the corners of her eyes, expressing her helplessness and frustration and anger and grief.
Through the haziness she watched the row of legs slowly entering her sight, dropping down one at a time into the hole. Then they moved towards her...in very slow motion.
Was this her end? She didn't even have any energy to kill herself...a life simply handed over to be humiliated and used and trampled without even a chance of retaliation! Then what was the meaning of her being snatched away from her own world and getting another chance to be born in a different world?! Why could people dare to crush her underneath their ugliness and greed and desires just because they had more power? How could she dare to give up on herself and live a life being a puppet to someone else's evil desire's....why could she not retaliate?! All she wanted was to burn these filthy hands reaching out to her in a sea of fire! Why could she not crush these dirty, evil, filthy mongrels in this pit forever, crushing out their lives and detestable greed which made them see other lives as inconsequential!! How dare they think they can decide the fates and destinies of people's lives simply because they are stronger!!
"Hmph!....Ha-ha-ha-ha!...."
Rihanna could feel something strange churning inside her stomach, something blazing hot and icy cold at the same time. It was like a gushing volcano as it engulfed her entire dantian, then rushed out screamingly through every vein, meridian, bone, muscle, making her body shudder with the sudden sensation of pressure and energy.
Ahh!....Ahhhhhhhh!!"
Rihanna raised her head and screamed at the people who were about to pick her up. Her eyes turned bloodshot, and a wild, uncontrollable wind swirled around the pit, picking up speed to turn into a hurricane.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!"
She screamed again. Her fingers twitched, then straightened out on the floor, as she pushed herself off and slowly stood up. The whirlwind turned faster and faster, turning into a raging hurricane, as stones and pebbles and dust and bits of boulders rose into the air, merging in with the raging wind.
"I have never believed in a God before. But if you really exist....then give me the power today! Give me the power to crush these evil vermins into dust.....give me the power to show them how it feels to be powerless and helpless and weak and watch their death approaching with their eyes wide open! Ahhhhhhhh!!"
The Raging wind picked up more and more speed, and tremors ran through the walls and floor of the entire pit. Large and small cracks started breaking out all over the floor and the walls. The people who had been merely startled in the beginning, turned shocked at this sudden tremendous pressure emanating from a commoner's body. What devilry was this?! How could a commoner create such a terrifying tornado? Why was the ground shaking so much?!
The speed of the wind was tearing through all their clothes, burning deep gashes all over their body. The stones and rocks hit them relentlessly, and they could barely see their surrounding through the dizzying circling of air. The ground shook, the tremors growing larger and larger, till they could no longer stand, and one by one all tumbled to the ground.
The rocks and stones were still relentless, hitting them sharper and harder, till blood spread all over the ground, soaking into the ground like an offering of death. As more and more stones and rocks broke out of the walls, the larger boulders resting on them shook free, and huge rocks came crashing down, pulverizing the bodies struggling beneath their sharp slopes.
'Ummm....Ugh....Ahhh!....'
Rihanna trembled, her body shaking like a leaf, blackness closing in all around her. The last vestiges of senses crumbled as the strange power holding her up rapidly dissipated. She tottered on her shuddering legs, then stumbled to the ground, her face crashing into the dust and stones. The wind raging in the little pit abruptly dispersed, and all the rocks and stones and dust dropped down over the ground like a heavy shower.
As the dust settled, Fluffy came out of a corner, shaking its body to removed the layers of gravel coating it. It blinked about, trying to see through the still flying dust. There were bodies lying everywhere. Eight people and Su Maihiya lay sprawled all over the small pit floor, their bodies distorted and pulverized to various degrees. Of all, Su Maihiya was in a more or less intact form as she had been right at the back of the team. Blood flowed through the cracks on the rocky floor, and pools of blood soaked through the dust and gravel covering the ground. Not a single body was moving....though it did not look as if anyone was dead.
Fluffy ran to Rihanna. She looked deader than dead, barely breathing. As he tried to shake her to check if she would come back to consciousness, a deep purple light broke through her body and slowly cloaked her completely.
'What are you pawing at her for? She is not going to become conscious anytime soon. She has used too much of her energy and body's vitality. We need to take this chance and escape before the ones outside realize something is wrong and come in. Look to your top left. The whirlwind has loosened the surrounding rocks on the wall, and there is now a hole through which we can pass. There is a long tunnel beyond that hole, and we can escape using that. But....you will need to change.'
Fluffy blinked in surprise. This was the first time Little Purple had directly addressed him, and he felt the huge pressure coming from deep within Rihanna. Shaking his head to remove the pressure, Fluffy closed his eyes and started chanting some unintelligible words, and slowly his body started growing in size.
Within moments he reached the size of a young tiger. Only.....he still looked like an ugly hairless black hog! Using his scraggly tail, he twisted it around Rihanna's waist, and gently nudged her onto his back. Then leapt off from one boulder to another till he reached the hole. Turning back to glance at the people still lying prone on the floor of the pit, he crawled out through the small hole and disappeared. As soon as he reached the other side, a purple light shot out at the top of the hole with great force, making the wall tremble and large bits of rocks and gravel came pouring down. Within moments, the entire hole disappeared and the mountain wall looked as if nothing like a hole had ever existed.
A short while later, sounds of scraping and sliding could be heard, and a few people dropped down onto the ground, staring around in shock, overwhelmed by the sight of so many injured bodies. Going around from one body to another, they checked on their breathing and pulse, trying to ascertain who was still alive, whose injuries were graver and required immediate attention. The place turned chaotic, and the five members who had left earlier were also called back.
Some were providing medical aid, some were trying to decide whether to amputate the badly crushed limbs or not, some were checking to see where the girl might have disappeared.
In all the confusion and disorder, one least injured person sat in a corner, eyes stuck to the ground, mind lost in deep thoughts.
Su Maihiya had witnessed it all.....and she could not believe it. What kind of devils trick and tool did that girl find? How could she call on the elements without any spiritual root and any way to cultivate?! She had never heard of such a method of cultivation! Then she must be in possession of some very powerful artifact which helped her gather energy and attack! Or perhaps this was some Devilry magic tool?!
Her eyes were blazing in wrath! Time and time again, this little insignificant common trash had crushed her path to greater achievements! How dare a mere commoner stand in her path and believe that she could become her greatest obstacle?! Well.....Su Matsao.....you have successfully provoked my anger! I will find you even if you run to the ends of the world....and then I will make you watch your own crushing death!...No....death was too easy for such a damned piece of trash! I will make you wish you could die....wish you had agreed to my demands readily.....I will make you live a life of living hell!!