"Have all of you finished it?" The fully refreshed disciple asked as he looked upon the group of wretched and exhausted youth, as an evil smile appeared on his lips.
The youths lowered their heads, unable to make a sound.
"What a bunch of losers! Since you can't even complete such a simple task, you can forget about breakfast! Now, go and get the water from the urns and water the herb beds!" Without allowing the ravaged youths any chance to rest, more torment was being heaped upon them.
Howls of protests sounded from those youths then.
"Senior, we are dying from exhaustion, and did not sleep a wink last night….. Can we sleep just a little before we go?" A braver youth among them pleaded for them.
The next moment, as soon as those words had left his mouth, the Hidden Cloud Peak disciple rushed at him and kicked him hard in the stomach, making the weakened youth double over and fell onto the floor, howling in pain.
"What a lazy bunch! These rules in the Hidden Cloud Peak are meant to be followed once you are admitted! Anyone who refuses to follow them can pack up and leave!" The Hidden Cloud Peak disciple looked at every single one of them in disdain and gave a cold laugh, the cruel look in his eyes did not even see those new recruits as humans anymore.
Under threat and fear….. made these totally exhausted youths huddle together, unable to argue further. They dragged themselves to their feet and straggled outside.
The Hidden Cloud Peak did not allow any outsiders to enter, and hence, no one knew what went on behind their firmly closed doors.
There was no one to come save these sacrificial lambs about to be sent to slaughter.
"Say, if these guys knew they would be tortured to death by the Hidden Cloud Peak, would they still cling on so desperately to be admitted into the Hidden Cloud Peak?" Qiao Chu walked slowly out of the quarters and looked at the figures before him walking unsteadily, his eyes inquisitive.
Ke Cang Ju was a bad egg, but these scoundrels were no angels as well. When they had just come to the Hidden Cloud Peak, they had sneered and jeered at him and Jun Wu Xie. He doubted they had the energy to do that anymore.
Jun Wu Xie did not say anything. She lowered her eyes and looked at the ground before her feet.
A place like this, totally disgusted her every moment she was here.
And since it disgusted her that much, she would totally wipe the place out!
Qiao Chu waited for Jun Wu Xie to reply but she did not say a word. He then turned his head and suddenly saw that Jun Wu Xie's pink cheeks had lost all colour, and her lips were deathly white!
"Jun Xie! You….." Qiao Chu had just opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly felt the world spin around him. Before he could react, he involuntarily feel flat on his face onto the ground.
Two loud thuds alerted the youths who were walking before them. They turned their heads to see and found that the trailing pair of Qiao Chu and Jun Wu Xie had fainted, as they lay flat on the ground. They had shown no prior signs of fatigue but their faces were now deathly pale and the dry cracked lips were white!
"H….. help! Some people fainted!" Shouts erupted from the group of youths.
The Hidden Cloud Peak disciples were drawn to the noise and they immediately spotted Jun Wu Xie and Qiao Chu lying at the side of the path the moment they stepped out.
For just a brief moment, a flash of malicious glee flashed within the eyes of the disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak, but it disappeared very soon after.
They put on an exasperated face thereafter and reprimanded with disdain at the group of youths: "What a useless bunch this is! They are falling to pieces after just one night in the Hidden Cloud Peak! Get some people here and bring these two useless pieces of thrash back to Elder Ke. I can't believe they could be this hopeless! They are more trouble than they are worth and would only be a bother to the Elder!"
They bumbling group of youths looked with uncertainty at what was happening here. According to the senior Hidden Cloud Peak disciples, they would be sent to Elder Ke for treatment, and they were suddenly comforted by the fact that the Elder of the Hidden Cloud Peak took a personal interest in the well being of their disciples…..