Rihanna stopped, her head jerking towards the wall she had crossed over a short time back. Little Purple would never call her back unless something was up! Had the group of people from Moon-grave Sect and Su Maihiya managed to come after them?! She turned instantly and rushed over to the wall at the back of the mountain, forcing herself to move as quickly as her energy could assimilate and shift through the solid wall.
'I am here. What is wrong?'
She came to a stop almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, her eyes opening in shock as she stared.....at the man leaning forward, looking closely at her body lying motionless on the ground! Who was this?! She looked around and saw no one. She turned to look at the man, and was startled out of her spirit sense to find him staring at her spiritual self! He could see her?!
The man was tall. Surprisingly he was way more muscular and sturdy than the men of this world in general. Perhaps the effects of spiritual cultivation, but Rihanna found most of the men on the leaner side, with a hint of the effeminate in their fair, clear skinned gorgeously handsome looks. Each and every one of them looked like the models of immortality sold by all the Wuxia troupes!
Compared to them, this man looked more solid, and also way more threatening! Hidden behind a solid metal mask, the only part of his face visible were the dazzling golden eyes, with flecks of red floating in them. It looked a few drops of blood had splattered into his eyes! Scary....but also mesmerizing!
But right now those eyes looked cold and eerie, colder than the ice energy she had absorbed, cold enough to kill all around him without a single ripple in his eyes! Even in her spiritual self, she felt as if sweat was pouring through all her pores.
In fact as soon as she had entered the tunnel, she could feel an oppressive heaviness bearing down on her spirit. Her spiritual consciousness turned heavy and lethargic, and she could feel her energy seeping out at an alarming rate. Even the eyes themselves kept her frozen to her spot, unable to move.
"He-he-he-he! I would never have thought that the thief who stole three of those precious flowers our leader was nurturing so painstakingly, would turn out to be you!"
Rihanna almost jumped in her spot, then slowly turned to look at the man swaggering his way through the tunnel behind them. Even though he had changed his face, and it was also covered by a half mask - the eyes, physique, gait, and even the aura, everything was screaming 'Fake-Chen-Clan-Leader'! How was it that he was there wherever she went! No wonder she had been unable to contact with Little Purple ever since she rushed in!
One of these men were already too heavy to handle for her...and now there were two. She looked at them warily, feeling every little hair on her body standing up, ready to retaliate. These people could even see her in her spiritual self! Was there anything she could do.....or should she simply accept her fate? But what kind of a fate would it be?
And what did he mean 'nurturing them'? As far as she knew, any of those flowers were a few thousand years old. Just how old were these ancient devils, to be 'nurturing' those flowers?!
The golden eyes man turned on his heels, and walked off towards the wall-door without another glance at her. Spreading out his hands over the rough wall, he muttered a few unintelligible words.....and the door dissipated into a water like barrier! And then he disappeared through it!!
Rihanna was staring at the fellow who actually knew how to open the hidden door, and for a moment completely forgot about the second devil standing behind her. It wasn't until she felt the warmth of his breath sending chills down her shoulder that she came back to her senses.
"Planning on spending some more time appreciating the beauty of our leader? Wouldn't it be better for you to do the appreciating while being inside your own body? For a spiritual consciousness to keep wandering around for too long....didn't you know that your body might suffer?"
Rihanna shivered without even looking at him. Truthfully she was too scared to look. She still hadn't forgotten the meeting with this fellow in the room of the Chen Clan Leader! Turning swiftly, she walked back to her physical body, and slowly went back into her mind space. A short while later, her body sat up, blinking rapidly to come back into her full senses, then stood up, wondering what this guy, who still seemed to be waiting for something, wanted from her!
"Ummm....Clan Leader....ah, no...I mean, my Lord....could you possibly return my spiritual connection with my contract beasts? They must be feeling worried!"
The man looked at her his eyes shining in evil mirth through the mask, as he waved his fingers in a set of gestures. The heaviness dragging her spirit like gravity towards the ground abruptly eased, and she almost stumbled and fell from this sudden freedom. Heaving a sigh, she tried to connect to Little Purple once more and got through.
'Just follow whatever he is asking and don't argue or try to retaliate. Even I can't push against the boundary he keeps setting up to block off your spiritual connections. He is far too strong for you. Oh....and the other fellow...he is even more stronger.'
Pushing his long hair to the back in an elegant, almost seductive move, the man gave her a deep, meaningful look, then turned and walked out of the door. Rihanna hesitated a bit, wondering what that look meant, then decided to follow him. Anyway, there was no path for her escape. The world belonged to the powerful, they were the ones who made the rules and decided what was right and wrong...And unfortunately she wasn't one of its board members.
Lacking information about the man's identity, or how she was supposed to address him, she decided to call him 'My Lord' to his face, and Fake Clan Leader behind him. And so, 'Fake Clan Leader' was waiting for her in the middle of the bridge, standing with the elegance and laziness of a young prince overlooking his territory. The ornate bone hand-fan tapped lightly on the stone carved railing of the bridge, making a light melodic sound, like someone was touching the strings of a musical instrument as the sounds reverberated and dissolved in the surrounding air.
If the Lord looked like a prince.....then the other one, standing in the air, with his robes lightly billowing around, and ice aura emanating from his being with a tinge of ruthlessness hidden deep within.....was definitely the Emperor of these lands. Rihanna gasped inwardly at this sudden premonition. Could these people really be a part of the unknown and hidden group behind this vast and grand setup called the 'Underworld Abyss'? this realization was enough to send shivers down her spine!
The Fake Clan Leader gave her a subtle glance before leaping into the air gracefully, his clothes fluttering with the momentum as he swirled around in an arc, then dropped down the huge chasm like a feather floating on the waves of the breeze. The 'Emperor' preferred walking down the invisible air-steps, his steps as graceful as a ferocious beast restraining its strength and power.
Rihanna, on the other hand, suddenly found herself fumbling and trying to keep her balance, as her body rose into the air against her own volition, and then she stumbled and dropped down from the great heights like a sack of stones, plunging down at terrifying speed and scaring the living daylights out of her. Even as she stopped and floated like a shabby disheveled sack of potatoes about three feet off the ground, her mind remained blurred from the crazy fear of free-falling, and she finally slumped onto the floor, laying there like a blob of splattered ink.
This was like bungee jumping without a rope! Or falling off a plane without a parachute! Terrifying!! What was wrong with this stupid evil person's brain! Stupid evil pervert!!!
She looked up. All the pins in her hair had come off at some point, and the scruffy hair fell all over her face like an ugly birds nest. And through the strands of messy hair, she saw the sadistic man give a charming laugh, as if highly entertained, and strutting off behind the Emperor! She couldn't....and didn't want to restrain cussing him to her heart's content....of course only inside her mind!
Picking up her sorry ass, she scrambled to follow them, as they disappeared down a broad set of carved stone stairs going below the ground. Wait....were they going to the underground Arena....where the fights were being held? Rihanna held her breath and followed. She had never even watched WWE fights on television! She found them to be too bloody and meaningless, with the fighters high on hormone injections, and most of the fights were scripted anyways.
But this was a real live fight, and blood would surely splatter everywhere! Moreover this was anything was anything but scripted, and both the cultivators and beasts of this world were far more stronger and ruthless in their attacks! She wasn't sure if she really wanted to watch it!
Instead of entering the main audience hall, they walked along the passage at the back of the hall, going up another set of stairs, and then another narrower passage. There were doors on this passage, probably leading to private rooms for higher ups of the underworld and special guests to sit and enjoy the fights?! The 'Emperor' walked on till he reached the end, then turned a corner, and entered a large double door. The 'Lord' followed, with Rihanna right behind.
There were three more people inside, each equally as obnoxious, arrogant and powerful looking as the 'Lord'. However, they all gave way to the first man. She was right.....this was definitely the 'Emperor'. They all glanced at Rihanna in curiosity, disdain or disregard, and then shifted back their sights.
"Are you expecting us to give you a separate invitation? A commoner should know her place and work. Come in and serve your new masters.....or do I need to teach you how?"
Rihanna was still hesitating at the doorway when the deep voice of the evil sadist washed all over her senses, sending goose bumps up her spine. When did this fellow come so close to her? How come she did not notice?! She jerked away and almost stumbled inside, catching the looks of all present once again. Cursing the sadist in her mind, she looked around, noticing a table laden with fruits, snacks and drinks.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the table and gently lifted it up. With her enhanced strength this was a piece of cake. And before the startled and curious eyes of the people gathered, she brought it to the center and placed it back gently in the middle of the group. Then she carried on with filling the cups with drinks and placing them before each person. No need to mention that the drinks were all alcoholic. This was truly a place where people not only came to watch a fight, but also enjoy their time. What a fun entertainment!
Keeping her eyes glued to the ground, she moved back carefully and silently moved to one corner, standing still like an obedient maid.
Of the three new people, two were women, and they were looking her up and down, as if appraising a novel piece of art. Even as they stared blatantly, they joked and chuckled amongst themselves. Rihanna didn't need to look up and confirm that she was the butt of all their jokes. But other than the sadist, none of the others seemed to hold any malicious intent.
"You don't need to stand so far off. Since the food and drinks have already been served, there is no pint in holding back this dear little thing! Why don't we let her go?"
"Be careful with what you say Xiaxia! This girl is my exclusive little entertainment. Are you trying to derive me of my joys of life?"
"Little Wenwen.....are you trying to answer back to your older sister? Ah! When the younger brother grows up, he forgets all the teachings of his master and elders and goes against his older sister! Then how is the older sister supposed to punish the younger brother?"
"Well....you could always whip him....or how about I use him to try my newest poison?!"
Little Wenwen....aka, sadistic Clan Leader...brought both his legs up onto his chair, cowering like a little boy being bullied by his monstrous sisters, and shrieked as loud as a young girl. Rihanna couldn't help glancing at him in shock. What?!....Where is your elegant and vicious and noble aura?!.....What happened to the lordly temperament?...Where did you hide the evil sadistic pervert?! Who was this three year old child screaming his lungs out?!
"Tsk! Silence!!"
Ah...no.....The Emperor still didn't speak, probably thinking everything and everyone around him was air. It was the third fellow who finally snapped in irritation. He turned to give a disregarding glance at Rihanna.
"You.....little girl.....you can leave now. Go and watch the fight from the lower audience hall. We'll call you back if we need you again. Here."
The third man threw something at Rihanna, who caught it out of instinct. Opening her fingers, she noticed a red token and was instantly stumped at this fellow's generosity. Keeping her eyes glued to the ground so no one would catch the flicker of relief and joy in her eyes, she bowed low and silently exited the room. Only after both the doors closed did she stand up again, pursing her lips to contain the smile trying to break through. Her luck really seemed to be off the charts!