Another difficulty was with Zia's status. She was the disciple of the Sword sect and had to follow them even though she really didn't want to.
"Damn it! If not for that stupid bet I could've went with you two!" Zia cursed and stomped her feet so hard others felt it was almost another earthquake.
"What did you actually bet on? What do you have to do to be able to leave?" Nick was confused. She made this bet years ago and conditions shouldn't be too drastic for a small girl, right?
"Argh! I can't leave on my own until I can defeat in a sword fight one of the elders or the sect master!" Zia was angry, this time at herself, "Why was I so arrogant back then and agreed to this?"
The other disciples sent her few gazes full of pity. Indeed, she made a rash decision and it became a good lesson for everyone in the sect.
But Nick looked at her in confusion and remembered his fights in Olava's arena. It's not like the elders will try to kill her, she is a princess after all! Then …?
"When was the last time you tried to challenge an elder?" Nick asked.
"Sigh, couple of months ago. Why?" Zia looked at him in confusion.
'This girl still hasn't figured out the trick to this bet?'
Nick found it amusing how she didn't even try to find a shortcut, but went at the difficulty head on.
"Hahaha!" He started to laugh while Zia got upset at him, "Isn't is easy? You just …"
Before he managed to finish the sentence, elder Jerold shouted, "Master Nick, please, no!"
It was obvious this bet was the only way for elders to keep the old palace's 'nightmare' in check and only god knows what will happen if she 'got out of her cage'.
Nick looked at the old man and quickly understood why he reacted this way, but it was already too late. Zia realized there was some sort of a trick and, when Nick smilingly refused to share it, she even got all fired up and tried to think of it herself.
Other disciples around them got confused as well, but then one of them suddenly started to laugh with words "Who would've thought it was so easy?", but refused to reveal his epiphany to others, just like Nick.
Until the group departed, another one managed to figure out the trick, or at least that was what he said and Zia almost kicked him because of that. Still, even while saying goodbyes, she concentrated hard on her new 'main task' and promised to join Nick after they finished the evacuation.
Nick wrote a letter to Andrew and entrusted elder Jerold to pass it on. Then he and YunYun parted ways with the Sword sect's disciples and rushed directly to the spot where the steam fissures were formed. If anywhere, this was the place where the Holy Order's psychopaths should gather.
This was quite mountainous region with piles of dark colored rocks filling gaps between rare trees and thirty to forty meters high cliffs obstructing direct passages from one spot to another. In addition, all these rocks, cliffs and valleys made it harder to look for someone making Nick's and YunYun's job annoying. Despite that the two still managed to fool around, leisurely jumping from one rock to another like a couple of mongooses on a stroll.
Underground tremors were getting more and more frequent, and now there was one almost once every hour. Earlier they both discussed their plan in case of a potential eruption and came to conclusion that the only reasonable choice was to run in the opposite direction at full speed. Nick also prepared a couple of simple masks to help against volcanic dust and now all that they wanted was to enjoy the scenery for a few more days while looking for signs of the Holy Order's people.
For them to feel more relaxed and not to feel obligated to hide in the shadows all the time, they altered their appearances so they could present themselves as the disciples of the Sword sect if needed, for example, currently both were carrying nice looking swords at their sides. While looking for their targets during the past days, the Sword sect's disciples ran through this region all over and, if there were any Holy Order's people hiding around, they obviously had noticed these youths. Therefore for Nick and YunYun playing disciples of the Sword sect was an obvious choice.
On the second day they actually found a group of three people, but unfortunately got noticed themselves as well. The three were dressed like local hunters with simple bows and large machetes at their sides and at the first glance it seemed they were looking for some animal tracks.
Nick and YunYun exchanged glances and, without words, understood that these definitely were people they were looking for – they haven't seen any animals for more that three days, therefore there was no reason for hunters to be around as well. They noticed a cheeky light in each other's eyes and, without any discussion, unanimously agreed to approach the three 'locals'.
"Haven't you guys heard? His highness ordered full evacuation in this region!" Nick said with a tad of Nola kingdom's dialect some tribes from the jungle used.
"This has been land of our forefathers and we have hunted here all our lives!" The eldest hunter who was around age of fifty angrily replied. The answer sounded gracious and proud, but Nick could tell that the man had prepared it in advance and the weird 'jungle' accent was too forced.
"It's your skin you are risking with." Nick shrugged, "Anyway, your village should be evacuating at this moment, I suggest you join your people."
The hunter arrogantly snorted and Nick waved in return passing them as if he was hurrying on his way to warn and save more people.
"How come that when you act the way they just did, for some reason it always works?" YunYun was confused and asked when both of them hid behind rocks and waited for the fake hunters to resume their normal behavior, "But now even I could tell these people were fake."
"You have a lot of experience on being undercover and you have a high Qi sensitivity as well. If you add your woman's intuition, it all results to amazing perceptiveness." Nick smiled back.
"But why can you always pull it off?"
"You know I had to play a role of a demon during my time in the Holy Order just to survive until we fled. Probably that experience taught me some innate skill … or maybe those are some sociopath tendencies ... or maybe not – look, it's possible they didn't buy our act." Nick pointed at the three hunters who were throwing careful glances around.
"No, I think they're just terrible." YunYun disagreed, "I bet their combat prowess is also very low. Should we just clean them up?"
"No way. This is our first encounter with the Holy Order's forces and we finally can perform a real investigation." Nick immediately rejected her idea, "They probably have seen several teams of Sword sect's disciples before and managed to fool them. It's even possible these guys will make a camp and try to throw off invisible enemies 'just in case'."
Soon Nick's guess proved to be correct and the three fake hunters really made a small campfire and began to prepare a meal. It was only afternoon and there was still lot of time till the nightfall, but they definitely wouldn't stay here for the night.
Nick and YunYun sat back in the shadows, and also had a meal – drank water and ate nuts with honey.
"I still don't understand – how can they be this bad?" YunYun said with a frown.
"It's easy to deduct. Remember I told you about the structure in the Holy Order? What are the non combat departments? And disciples in which department have the lowest requirements in Qi application?"
"You didn't tell me which department has what requirements." YunYun argued.
"You can think of it yourself." Nick smiled back.
YunYun sighed and started to ponder out loud, "So we can directly rule out elder Sonor's department since they all should be skillful Qi sword masters. Jun's alchemy and Dinnar's rune formation department's disciples have to be skilled in Qi manipulation as well. The new treasurer's disciples might not be skilled, but there is no reason for them to be here and that leaves us with two – Agnes or Silvio!"
"Exactly." Nick nodded, "And even if we ignore that people under Agnes with her perverted experiments or in her new dual cultivation department should have good Qi skills, there is no reason for her to be here either. In addition, these people are looking for some entrance – the next part you can deduct as well, right?"
"Since it's most likely Silvio who specializes in demonic lore, they are probably looking for something related to demons." YunYun held her chin while still thinking out loud, "And these earthquakes … and steam from the ground … are those idiots looking for the entrance to Hell?"
"I have always said you're extremely smart." Nick smiled, "You are most likely correct."
"But how … could someone be so stupid …" YunYun gazed in disbelief at the three fake hunters still sitting around heir campfire in distance.
"Their sect is founded on some religion-like beliefs and every single action they take is with subconscious intention to justify those beliefs. If not, for the nonsense I told them during those times they would've killed me thousand times over." Nick couldn't help but to remember his encounters while being captive.
"What do you think these guys will do next?" YunYun changed the subject.
"Hmm." Nick scratched his head, "It depends. If there are no abnormalities, they will continue to search. But if, let's say, a big earthquake happens again and more steam comes from the ground, they might run to their base to report. In addition, I hope they have some way to contact the other groups as well. Our guys killed fifteen of them and there shouldn't be too many left even if the Holy Order did wide recruitment during the previous years – Qi masters are not some mushrooms you can pick up in the forest randomly."
"Then shall we hope for a larger earthquake?"
YunYun barely managed to say it when a huge tremor shook surroundings. Several trees directly fell over and the nearby cliff wall cracked in multiple spots, creating few new caves. The second and third tremors followed right after the first with increased strength and caused more chaos in the surroundings, but the three Holy Order's people, despite falling to the ground from the earth shaking, got increasingly excited.
Suddenly a fourth tremor shook mountains and one of the nearby cliffs got directly split in halves. The two meter wide opening with thundering cracking sounds continued to split the cliff deeper into the ground and soon formed a long fissure stretching over hundred meters through the rocky jungle and multiple streams of steam several meters high shot in the air from it.
Nick and YunYun watched this unbelievable natural spectacle with wide eyes, but the three 'hunters' forgot their cautiousness and cheered in joy. Then they quickly discussed something and ran off towards the north-east.
Nick got up and sighed, "YunYun, do you still have any of your magical wishes left?"
But YunYun giggled in response and they went after the three men who were obviously rushing to their base. During the next four hours these men were relentlessly climbing cliffs and battling their way through the thick jungle while Nick and YunYun leisurely watched their efforts from the treetops. Fortunately the camp wasn't that far and right after the dusk they joined another two groups of three.
Nine people hysterically discussed their experiences until half an hour later two more came out from the dark jungle. Even though all of them were dressed like local hunters, Nick immediately recognized one of the latecomers as elder Silvio. Unfortunately both youths had to become serious when they saw the other person. The only difference between him and the rest was the plain longsword at his side, but the bearing immediately indicated at a seasoned Qi sword master.
Nick wanted to curse out loud. Just a few minutes ago they could've jumped in and slaughtered those nine like a flock of chicken, but this new variable turned it into a difficult endeavor. YunYun had the same opinion, but soon they calmed down and closed the distance to be able to overhear their conversations.