Trigger warning: Blood, child abuse, torture
When Feng Yongrui, Hou Renshu, and Ma Bo arrived at the fourth floor of the pagoda, they were stunned by what they saw.
Blood covered the entire floor like a thick layer of red mud, and four children were lying on the ground, their blood seeping into the stone cold floor.
Feng Yongrui also noticed the presence of a strong cultivator inside the room. This person was probably a Nascent Soul Cultivator already.
Thankfully, Feng Yongrui's cultivation level was higher, which meant the Nascent Soul Cultivator would not be able to see the three of them.
Hou Renshu was clenching his fists in anger, and Ma Bo's face was as pale as paper.
"Master... this person is too cruel... Let's hurry and save the children," Ma Bo said.
Feng Yongrui edged closer to the center of the room and looked at the children closely. Most of their blood had been drawn out of their body, and they were already unconscious. When he examined their heads, he saw the Gu worm squirming inside their brains and shuddered.
Feng Yongrui restrained his disciples, who were filled with rage and disgust. "Let me see who that person is first. He's a Nascent Soul Cultivator, so you both are no match for him. You both shouldn't be rash and alert him of our presence. He might be the master-mind of this incident, and we need to know his purpose."
Hou Renshu and Ma Bo reluctantly agreed. If they were a little bit stronger and their Master hadn't restrained them, they wouldn't care about the consequences and rush to free the children.
On one end of the room there was a bed, and the Nascent Soul Cultivator was sitting on the edge and muttering something. Feng Yongrui floated to the edge of the bed, and at that moment, the cultivator turned his head.
Feng Yongrui was stunned. He was sure he had seen that face before. But where...?
"Master," Hou Renshu was frowning beside him. "Isn't that... the brat we saved from the robbers last time?"
Ma Bo's eyes widened. "Yeah... Xiang... something... I forgot..."
"Ah! It's Xiang Si!" The System's voice rang inside Feng Yongrui's head.
"Xiang Si?" Feng Yongrui muttered out loud.
"Oh, that's right..." Ma Bo said. "But wait, why is he here?"
"I don't know, but he's a Nascent Soul Cultivator. We have to be --" Feng Yongrui did not have time to finish his sentence because a sharp wave of energy erupted, blasting them away.
The three of them were thrown backwards, flying through the air and crashing into the ground. Feng Yongrui managed to stop his fall and land on his two feet, but his disciples were not so fortunate.
"Urgh!" The two of them groaned and looked at the source of the attack.
It was Xiang Si. He had drawn his blade out of nowhere and was pointing in their direction.
"Don't think I don't know you're here. Come out!" Xiang Si roared, his face filled with wariness.
Feng Yongrui was panicked, and when he looked down, he saw that his invisibility spell was gone. They were completely exposed!
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Xiang Si pointed his blade at Feng Yongrui's neck and eyed Hou Renshu and Ma Bo warily.
"Well, we're here to complete the side quest from the System..." Feng Yongrui spat out the first thing that came to mind.
"What? Well, I don't care who you are or what your purpose is. Since you dare come here, you should be prepared to give me your lives," Xiang Si charged at Feng Yongrui.
Feng Yongrui was quick to react. He unsheathed his sword and parried the blows while talking.
"Actually, you should ignore that nonsense about the side quest. We're here because of the missing children..."
Feng Yongrui dodged a blow and turned his waist, moving his sword upwards. Xiang Si blocked his sword and thrust his own blade.
"What are you doing with the children here? Are you the person behind all this?" Feng Yongrui asked.
"Hmph! You sure talk a lot for someone who's going to die soon," Xiang Si scoffed. The two exchanged blows for a long time. Surprisingly, Xiang Si, who was supposed to be weaker than Feng Yongrui, was actually on par with him.
"Isn't he a Nascent Soul Cultivator?" Feng Yongrui grumbled in his head. He was at the Soul Formation Stage, but he couldn't overpower Xiang Si!
"Host, I told you that your aptitude and talent is poor. Look how you're getting beaten up by a mere Nascent Soul Cultivator." The System grumbled. Feng Yongrui could only grit his teeth and continued fighting.
Meanwhile, Hou Renshu had gotten up and rushed to the unconscious children lying on the ground. He used a spell to seal their wounds and put a finger under their noses. They were still alive.
"Bo'er, hurry and help me carry these children away. It seems like they're lying on some sort of array. We've got to bring them away. This array seems to be sucking their life force..." Hou Renshu said.
Hou Renshu carried two children and walked away. Ma Bo went closer to the children as well, but before he could pick them up, he felt a pang in his chest, and pain resonated in every cell of his body.
Ma Bo fell to his knees, eyes wide open in shock and pain. Another burst of pain hit him, this time striking his abdomen, where his spirit root lay.
"Argh!" Ma Bo clutched his stomach in pain. He tried to get up, but he had no strength in his limbs. A wave of dizziness hit him like a tidal wave, and Ma Bo began to feel queasy.
He had to move... Ma Bo instinctively felt that he needed to run away. However, his body refused to cooperate. As if his entire being was glued to the ground, he couldn't muster the strength to get up.
"Bo'er! What's wrong?" Hou Renshu cried, noticing Ma Bo's abnormality. Hou Renshu took a step forward, his shoes stepping on the blood that soaked the ground. He rushed to Ma Bo's side and tried to pull him up.
"You... are you okay? Come on, there's something wrong..." Hou Renshu had not finished his sentence when Ma Bo gave a loud cough.
"Huhk, huhk..." Ma Bo spat out a lump of blood, staining his robes with a glaring red color.
Hou Renshu turned pale, and a thousand thoughts ran through his head. What was wrong? Was Ma Bo injured?
Ma Bo held Hou Renshu's arms and tried to stand up. He managed to rise from the ground, but a burst of pain made him turn pale and collapse unto the ground once again.
Ma Bo was kneeling on the ground, his clothes stained with blood, and a trail of bright red streaked the edge of his lips.
He was so weak that his hands had to support his body -- one hand clutched Hou Renshu, and the other was on the blood-stained ground.
Ma Bo felt like his stomach was on fire. His entire body, on the other hand, alternated between hot and cold. One moment he felt like he was facing the blazing inferno of hell, and the next moment he felt as if he was trapped inside a block of ice.
Panting, Ma Bo raised his head and looked at his Master, who was busy fighting Xiang Si.
Master... it hurts...
Ma Bo couldn't stand the pain and finally screamed, his loud voice echoing throughout the entire room.
Feng Yongrui finally noticed the abnormality and turned his head to look at his disciples. Xiang Si saw that he was distracted and managed to land a palm strike on Feng Yongrui's shoulder. Feng Yongrui was pushed backwards and landed a few steps in front of his disciples.
Feng Yongrui turned around, ignoring the slight pain on his shoulder, and hurried over to Ma Bo.
"Bo'er, what's wrong with you?" He asked, panicked.
Feng Yongrui was busy calling the System in his head, asking what had happened to his disciple. The System quickly explained what had happened, but it was also puzzled. Why did this happen to Ma Bo?
"M-ma Bo won't die, right?" Feng Yongrui felt himself growing pale. "I mean, he is the protagonist, so he shouldn't die here..."
The System was also panicking inwardly. It had lost the files regarding this world and did not remember whether this world's protagonist was supposed to live happily ever after or die tragically... It didn't even remember this scene!
Feng Yongrui reached out to hold Ma Bo's wrist, intending to give him internal energy. However, at that moment, large amounts of energy burst out of Ma Bo's body, sending Hou Renshu and Feng Yongrui flying away. Xiang Si, who was standing a few meters away, was also pushed back by the aggressive force.
Feng Yongrui struggled to get up and supported Hou Renshu, who was slightly injured.
"Master, I'm okay... I'm worried about Bo'er," Hou Renshu said.
Feng Yongrui turned to face Ma Bo, but what he saw shocked him to the core.
***
*Feng Yongrui and Xiang Si fights fiercely upstairs*
The other guards downstairs: Did we hear something? No... Maybe it's just a mouse...