Flaming Bison village,
Outside of the Dual Mystic close to the small Stream outside the Flaming Bison village stood an old tavern. A group of people, who couldn't possibly blend in the tavern's atmosphere by Their temperament and luxurious clothes could be seen eating and drinking one night.
There were five of them, a girl and four youths wearing expensive looking dresses and blue cloaks, even their sabers seemed made in similar styles talking amongst themselves in low excited voices.
" I'm telling you what I'm saying is real I can vouch for that" a dull looking Stocky youth seems telling them something interesting to the youths simi to his age.
" But Senior brother, who would dare to attack an organization from the Hundred Sea Alliance. I heard they are an exceptionally trained elite group who in the world are capable of defeating them...i don't think anyone Daring enough to mess with them " a scholarly looking young man question his senior with some doubts.
" Fufu, Junior brother I can assure You, what the older brother said was true. Though he may be little off about the exact place and time... such an incident Did indeed happen" the dark skinned girl interjected she had a folding fan on her hand as she gently waved them in front of her with a smile.
" Thank you junior sister, I know junior sister could understand the truth in my words" the dull young man foolishly smiled, his eyes roamed on her pretty face a little longer.
"Well... If you say so senior sister, I know senior sister is wise and all knowing" the scholarly looking youth bit out looking annoyed. The remaining two who were silent till now giggled in a teasing way.
The girl smiled politely and waved to her fan a little more exaggeratedly replied " Hmm! How Could I be worthy of such a flattery? Hehehe, Junior brother sure does know your stuff Well, I've also learned a lot from you" she chuckled and the smug look on her face was clear to everyone.
The tavern was almost full but the usual noisy atmosphere was absent. The local patrons present in the tavern acted like Nothing wrong with the Situation but attentively listened to what the newcomers were talking while staying Wary of their presence.
None of them dare to disturb them, talking in whispers about what they heard. An unexpected situation unfolds in front of them. A commotion broke out At the entrance people dressed in similar fashion walked in and went straight to Table the group seated.
The five scrambled to their feet "We Pay respect to Honorable elders and Supreme elders" they Bowed and chorused in unison as they greeted the Two old men and woman.
"Hmm" A towering man in the front waved his hand and gestured to the youths to take Their seats. The three newcomers also took their seats on that table.
The amicable looking middle aged woman cleared her throat, gaining the juniors attention " Little guys we are going to alter our plan a little. It's decided we have to take a detour Instead of our planned route so we are departing now. We have some business in We will likely stay there about a week or two "
"Two weeks? "
"What...but elder shouldn't we rush to the thunder burial valley?"
" Whoa..."
" Elders may I ask, Was there any reason For our stay There? Could you willing to share with us Your juniors "
The woman smiled at the girl " Of course- "
The Supreme elder interjected indifferently " Brat All you had to know was, we have some matter to attend to, we are in a hurry and will talk everything else on our way quietly following us we have to cross the river" He simply finished the conversation just like that and got up.
"Yes sir!" Everyone hurriedly nodded, a few of them casually glanced around, the locals who seated close to them felt a chilly And sharp sensation In their neck only after they left the tavern did the locals let out a breath and immediately Burst Into commotion.
" Extreme Saber Sect was as tyrannical as ever. I didn't expect they would have planned to visit the Longevity sect on their whim " one of the patrons exclaimed.
"Did I hear correctly that a tall man was the supreme elder of the extreme saber sect? What's his name? He looks powerful " another asked with wide eyes.
" Don't you notice the scar on his Left eye, he was the Infamous Saber King Valli"
" Sh*t, I kept thinking something unusual about the youngsters...I think they are the five rising tides of their sect Wasn't it? "
" Oh! Look at those *#&#* Who is that Hot chick? " a man with a drool and red face asked in a daze.
His trembling friend slapped him on the head Looking appalled by the comment " Do you want to die? Get your head out of the gutter "
" Did you hear that, they are hurrying over to the thunder burial valley. Now that I think about it I heard from my friend down in the river. He mentioned Similar things to me....According to him priests from Heartless Monastery Also going there as well" A Drunkard in straw hat informed this to his friend while Throwing suspicious glances at the far corner of the tavern where two people wearing black clothes talking amongst themselves in whisper.
" What do you think? Do you think it's worth the risk? " one of the black cloaked men whispered.
His companion pondered something for a while and shaked His head. Commented " No, reaching the thunder burial valley In time is more important than this. We have to make some arrangements beforehand it's better not wasting our time on anything else "
He then stared intently at his companion then narrowed his eyes. " But I think I get it, why they were going to stop by the longevity sect"
" What do you mean you figured it out? How in the eighteen levels of hell did you deduce that? "His companion was so shocked he forgot to lower his voice and his eyebrow-less face was quite comical.
After receiving a glare from his Friend he shut up But didn't stop staring at his Friend with the same intensity.
" Well I did overheard an interesting price news a few days ago...if I'm not mistaken the old coots are trying to exploit the longevity sect in their usual means. Heh! you know how this bunch of f******* were like usual? "
"I don't understand-"
"Tch, you are really dimwitted Aren't you ? "
" You little-" " Shh! Be quiet, lower your voice you idiot."
" I was going to tell you what's the rush "The friend looked at his companion teasingly "Did you hear 'The Unwavering Sword' has a daughter don't you? Recently there are Some exaggerated rumors about her Going around the empire. Some Say she reached the peak of the martial artist stage and is just a hair breath away from entering master level. Another rumor was that she is a Terrifying sword genius Who managed beat her father in their Spar not long ago "
" F*UK NOOO!, I don't believe it, are you pulling my leg or something?" his companion Reflexively stood up from his seat slammed his hand on the table in shock. With a smirk his friend got a hold of his finger and pressed "Hisss... Bas****! What the-"
"If you keep standing I might really crush it, sit down" his friend hissed back at him.
" Ahem, anyway believe it or not, the news comes from a very reliable source " He looked at his companion meaning fully " Well even if you find That little hard to believe it. At least you should be Aware, she was born with a special physique right?"
"Oh, No wonder.... A fifteen year old martial arts master" he dully said but There is a fiery glint Somehow appeared in hIs eyes.
His friend wasn't least bothered by this look, " You Know I heard from our headquarters Yesterday. The young saint of Extreme Saber Sect and That Old Demon 'One Slash' left their sect just two days ago isn't that interesting? "
The man had a slack jawed expression "You mean.... Damn bas***** as overbearing as The ever Could be. But Let me tell you something, they are underestimating The Longevity Sect they aren't as pacifists as they look "
His friend shrugged his shoulders and didn't seem to care too much about the whole issue. Which caused the other party to fume in frustration. "Hey Choa how about- "
"Nope!" The reply came even before he could ask the question in the first place.
"Hey that's not...Listen, what I'm saying is... You know about the great lout-" He once again began to say something but it was cut off just that instantly by his Smirking friend Once again.
"NOPE!" this time the smirk Prominent on his face " I'm telling you, this mission wasn't something that could be done by me alone My dear friend I'm extremely sorry "
"Sigh, forget it..."
"Ahem, just thought, you would like to know. There is a rumor saying that certain little Missy ran away from her sect Three days ago " he Face morphed into a devilish smirk on his face.
" F**k you, i'm not assigned to assisting you in the first place so, I'm Leaving I have some matter to take care "
*Chuckle*
" I have another Piece of information. Why don't you hear it as well? " *chuckle* His friend stopped in his tracks and had an unreadable expression on his face.
___ ___ ___
About seventy miles away from the Longevity City. In the deepest part of a dark forest, A cave entrance glowed in a golden hue before disappearing from sight altogether. Of course the cave didn't disappear from sight in reality.
If one had a high attainment in constructing formation and the way of arrays they should by some means could sense this cave or even might have seen the mysterious golden glow slightly covering the cave entrance.
" Damn it! It's Already the third one. It's not easy to smuggle this ores out From grandfather's storage, he was going to Hang me in the ceiling like a bat for sure." a complaint echoed in the cave.
Inside the cave was really messy and had an unpleasant odor lingering there. Amidst the scattered pebbles, clay, coals and some bones of a small animal two figures lying down. Near the center of the cave a fire Still Burning slightly.
Megha was wide awake as she had been propping Herself up with the help of the boulder there; they had been hiding in this Cave for three days. A short distance away from her was a sorry figure lying down on A long cloak fully naked twitching in pain. Vaani's skin had a sickly blue tint in them and Her facial Expression said she was suffering from something.
' Those bas***** How dare they set up a nasty trap? I Underestimated them. I should have Killed those filth for good when I sensed their malicious intentions ' Megha fumed in uncontrollable anger.
« Tut, tut, didn't I often say this? You are far too arrogant for your own good. When you find yourself in a precarious situation you should at least know that, one should be do everything after careful consideration »
« Don't you know they have some evil ideas about you two? You should have just listened to my advice… at least nothing like this should have happened. I still couldn't believe it, you actually ate that damn thing carelessly. How dumb! at least you should have had more concern about your little friend over there because of you she had life and death struggle»
'Just Shut Up! I perfectly know what I did was dumb thank you very much. No need to Continuously rub that fact on my face,be quiet, ' Megha screamed in her head, quite annoyed by Nithya's continuous Mocking. 'Why don't you make yourself a little more useful? Do you know any other way to Remove the poison from her body? I don't think I can control if there is a sudden eruption ' tear welled up in her eyes after seeing Vaani struggling for her life.
« Hmm, obviously there are a handful of ways. Treatment methods even you could use with your current strength but unfortunately you couldn't do that right now could you? How about trying to take the poison from her body directly?»
Megha tried her best not to scream out loud besides she was so tired of screaming that if she wasted her energy unnecessarily she couldn't stop the poison from harming Vaani.
' What the hell is wrong with you today? You think I'm capable of such a thing? You know how important she is in my life. I beg you please help me or keep quiet.' Megha became a little agitated as she remembered the memory of Vaani dying in her lap.
Megha deliberated something as the more the time passed the less hesitated she became. Because she instinctively knew there was a method to save Vaani and eventually she had resorted to this method.
It's not that she was unwilling but afraid of the consequences because of her ignorant actions. She was hesitant to use such a method because she will be powerless after the treatment. Not to mention the formation would break in another thirty hours and a lunatic after their trail.
And might have some side effects whether the method worked or not. Megha knows she has already messed up Vaani mentality in the past. Probably messed up Vaani's head even more now if she used this method she might....
' Alright I have to do it no matter what? I was the one at fault here. I should have expected something like this from those nasty thugs but my negligence almost cost Vaani's life so I'll gladly take the responsibility for whatever happens I will not fail you this time I promise.
« I'm glad you at least had a strong sense of conscience, well what are you planning to do? If you do 'that' You have to understand your actions might have strong consequences, should I assume you already thought everything? Well… It's not like you have never done it before hehehe, I'm looking forward to it. »
Megha could sense the tinge of amusement In Nithya's voice her anger surged to even higher level but Megha was able to reel it in. Besides Megha couldn't refute what Nithya said, she did indeed selfishly use Vaani for her own twisted needs and Might have possibly addled her mind because of that.
Yeah she was ignorant and far too curious to have a deeper understanding of what she was doing. And her narrow minded thoughts immaturity is the biggest cause of it.
Megha took a deep breath and took in the sight of Vaani, who was writing in pain and a strong sense of guilt appeared in Megha's heart. Megha regretted bringing Vaani her and regret that she underestimated those thugs.
She naturally knew they weren't really a good sort of people and instinctively felt those thugs might have had some Design for them and might make a move after eating the dinner.
Megha didn't consider them a threat from the beginning, Megha alone enough to end their life all. Due to their urgent situation. She tolerated them, not willing to confront them then and there.
Instead gave priority to escaping from the grandmaster after her trial. They both devised a plan to smuggle their belongings in the guise of fetching water from the stream and even managed to snatch the body of hens that were allocated to them.
She wasn't suspicious of the meat at first Megha was busy with laying down illusion formation and sealing formation at the cave entrance. Had she been there when Vaani Grilled the meat she might have noticed the drugs injected on them.
Those bastards mixed some sort of strong aphrodisiac In the meat. When the both of them are off their sight, whoever eats This meat will enter a state of deranged wanting. Arousal is strong enough to forget about the morals and other emotions Like pain, grief, anger and it even numbs one's personality.
It was used to lower mentality and senses of the target. It was only after she ate the meat did Megha figure out the anomaly in her body she figured this must be something to do with those thugs. She simply used her own poison qi to refine the drug.
It was then Megha finally noticed Vanni also might have been poisoned with this as well. Since then she was suppressing Vaani's poison from spreading to the rest of the world.
' I wish I had brought up some antidotes or herbs as we planned our escape. This wouldn't do. If I want to bring her with me and protect her well then I have to prepare thoroughly and take many things into consideration ' Megha's mind reeled as she made up her mind.
' If I want to refine the poison I have to make sure nothing wrong happens but now that I have no vital qi like a martial arts master I have to tap into qi from my physique but this will weaken me for at least two more days.'
' Could Vaani recover in that time, our rations were almost finished in these three days…should I hunt animals? Perhaps fruits ' Megha pondered little.
She doesn't think she could have the leisure to hunt for suitable animals. Megha only went out two times in the three days which was for fetching water and firewood and disposing of their waste. If it wasn't for the formation she would never dare to do that as well.
«Hoho, Alright I'll help you. Tch, I would feel very bad if I didn't help you even after you begged me then it would be a real shame hmm.»
'Really!? You mean…did you find some rare herb or something?' Megha jolted up hearing Nithya hurriedly asked.
«Are you dumb? If something like that was out there I would have already told you. Unlike you I'm not heartless…what I mean by help is… »