Book 5, Chapter 22

B5C22: Arrest order

“It’s not him? His energy is unexpectedly yin, cold and corrosive rather than burning hot?” Sang Mo is very disappointed in his heart. But he cannot totally believe this because there is an indescribable feeling from his soul that makes him suspect Qin Yu.

In just a moment, Sang Mo wakes up from contemplation.

“Ah!” When he sees that he is in such an embarrassing situation and hears the loud laughs of the other guardians, the color of his face immediately changes. His demonic elemental energy surges forth and enfolds his body at once. He then rushes straight into his own courtyard house using his body-maneuvering skill.

Hou Fei points at Sang Mo’s courtyard house, laughs out loud and says: “Ha-ha … I never thought a masculine fella could be so white. This is laughable. Hey, right, just now you guys mentioned something as small as a needle, what is it actually?”

Everybody bursts into loud laughter again. Yan Qing and Xi Yan also cover their mouths and laugh. Even the ladies-in-waiting not far from there all cover their mouths and burst out laughing. At this moment, only Qin Yu is still calmly drinking tea without laughing or saying a word.

Casting a glance at Sang Mo’s courtyard house, he slightly raises the corners of his mouth.

How could he not have understood Sang Mo’s thinking? That day, when he was ready to conceal his identity, he already thought carefully about many things that could blow his cover.

He knew that an individual’s spiritual awareness is extremely mysterious, just like how he and Xiao Hei can still feel each other’s existence even when they are very far apart. So, he was worried that Sang Mo would suspect his false identity.

Therefore, he already prepared for this long ago.

Qin Yu’s Stellar Flame has 2 forms. Through formations, he can turn it into the Ultra-yang Flame or the Ultra-yin Flame. And the characteristics of his stellar energy can also be changed via formations. Qin Yu thus set up some formations and restrictive spells on the Flaming Sword using purple gold.

When his stellar energy is channeled into the Flaming Sword, as soon as it goes through the formations and the restrictive spells, it will be automatically converted to an ultra-yin type of energy.

Of course, if Qin Yu wants, he can also set up opposite formations and change his stellar energy into an ultra-yang type of energy.

“Ha-ha, my guardians, so all of you are here. Cave master has ordered that you gather in the main hall. The installation of the 2 new guardians is going to start right away. Brother Hou Fei and brother Liu Xing should get ready. Oh? Where is guardian Sang Mo?” Cha Po asks doubtfully.

Yan Qing says smilingly: “Just now guardian Sang Mo sparred with guardian Liu Xing. Perhaps the defeat came as an unbearable blow to him.”

“Big sis, why don’t you go comfort Sang Mo’s bruised heart a bit?” Xi Yan says laughingly to Yan Qing. The latter presses a finger on the midpoint between the former’s eyebrows, saying: “If you want, why don’t you go yourself? I’m not interested in Sang Mo.”

After a ruckus, the 13 guardians, Qin Yu and Hou Fei go into the main hall.

As soon as Qin Yu enters this hall, he cannot help getting somewhat emotional inwardly. In terms of size, this main hall of the Blood-red Cave is even superior to the audience hall of an imperial palace on the Qian Long continent. Just by looking at its huge gold pillars, one can already know this. An imperial palace also has gold pillars, but they are actually just iron pillars wrapped in gold foil.

This main hall’s gold pillars are the real thing.

With a smiling expression, Cha Hong strides onto the raised platform and sits down directly in a grand manner. He then looks down at the guardians and 20-odd squad leaders below him.

“Cave master.” Cha Po and the 13 guardians immediately bow and say. Qin Yu and Hou Fei also copy them and slightly bow. But the 20-odd squad leaders behind them get down on one knee in a very respectful manner.

With a casual wave of his hand, Cha Hong says: “Everybody stand up.”

Those 20-odd squad leaders hurriedly stand up. Actually, there are 50 squad leaders altogether, but more than half of them have gone out to hunt for Qin Yu.

“Where are Liu Xing and Hou Fei? Take a few steps forwards to talk with me.” Cha Hong says smilingly. His manner at the moment is very good. However, the 13 original guardians all know that he is extremely cold-blooded, cruel and merciless.

Qin Yu and Hou Fei walk up.

“Cave master, I’m Hou Fei.” Hou Fei raises his head and looks at Cha Hong with basically no respect.

Cha Hong looks at Hou Fei. After making a sweep with his holy sense, he cannot help but feel very satisfied because he has ascertained that Hou Fei is an expert comparable to Horned Dragon Teng Bi. But when he looks at Qin Yu, he is secretly startled. Qin Yu’s current state, which absorbs all of the energies around him, is indeed shocking.

“I am Liu Xing.” Qin Yu says with neither humility nor arrogance.

“Liu Xing, what techniques did you learn? Why aren’t you giving off any energy?” asks Cha Hong.

In fact, Cha Hong is also somewhat suspicious of him. After all, Xiuyao techniques are less profound than Xiuxian and Xiumo ones. When such a mysterious technique is used by a Xiuyaoist, this Xiuyaoist’s background is definitely not simple.

“This is my school’s secret technique, which can’t be taught to outsiders.” Qin Yu says at once.

He becomes rather worried in his heart: “This Cha Hong fella is extremely powerful. Now I don’t have any auras, whether Xiuyao or Xiuxian. If he suspects my identity, this’ll be pretty troublesome.”

Judging from Cha Hong’s expression, Qin Yu simply has no way to figure out what he is actually thinking.

“Oh, I see. Then let’s forget it.” Cha Hong is still smiling broadly, apparently not angry at all. He only gives Qin Yu a look with a hidden meaning then looks at Sang Mo. Qin Yu is slightly afraid inwardly, but his expression remains unchanged.

“After knowing about the incident just now, could Cha Hong have figured out something?” He ponders.

However, he is not too nervous either because if he cannot win, he can still run. Moreover … Hou Fei, a divine beast, is here so it will not be easy for Cha Hong to deal with them.

“Brother Hou Fei, brother Liu Xing, my Blood-red Cave is really lucky that you have accepted our invitation to become guardians. These are Blood-red Crimson Cards, the authority cards of the Blood-red Cave’s guardians. Once you have these authority cards, nobody within an 8 million li radius of this place will dare to offend you.”

Cha Hong smilingly takes out from his bosom 2 authority cards. The ladies-in-waiting beside him immediately receive the cards and go up to the sides of Qin Yu and Hou Fei.

“Please accept these Blood-red Crimson Cards. From now on, the 2 of you are the 14th and 15th guardians of my Blood-red Cave.” Cha Hong says with a smile. The guardians are numbered not based on their power, but based on the times of their appointments.

Qin Yu and Hou Fei immediately receive the Blood-red Crimson Cards.

“Congratulations, brother Hou Fei, brother Liu Xing.” Teng Bi unexpectedly is the 1st to stand up. After giving Qin Yu a look, he focuses his eyes on Hou Fei: “Brother Hou Fei, you must not forget the agreement between us just now.”

“Kaka ~~~ don’t worry, I can give you a treat anytime.” Hou Fei is totally unconcerned.

The other guardians also congratulate Qin Yu and Hou Fei. Even though some are merely acting, this is something that they must do.

“All right, next we’re going to discuss a matter. Everyone already knows that according to a rule of the Blood-red Cave, a guardian has their own guards. Today guardian Hou Fei and guardian Liu Xing have joined us, so the number of guards each guardian controls has to be adjusted a bit.” Cha Hong says loudly.

In an instant, everyone in the main hall quiets down.

The 13 original guardians look at each other without saying a word. They have gathered in the main hall this time mostly because of this matter. Those Blood-red Crimson Cards merely represent the bearers’ identities. To them, only the guards directly under them are important.

Everybody quietly waits for Cha Hong’s order.

“2nd brother, announce the number of guards directly under each guardian’s command.” Cha Hong says indifferently.

Cha Po takes a step forwards, saying: “The 3 black turtles Ba Ming and his 2 brothers have 800 guards together. The 2 brothers Wu Tong and Wu Feng have 600 guards together. Sang Mo has 300. Yan Qing and Xi Yan are directly in charge of 600 together. Bai Yin, Ran Lan, Mu Xu and Zhuang Zhong have 1200 together. Guardian Teng Bi has 1000. The remaining 500 guards are under my command.”

In fact, the cave master and vice masters do not need guards because they can order guards at will using their Blood-red Black Cards.

Even though those guards are under the guardians’ direct command, the cave master and vice masters still have the right to order them.

“Big brother, how, in your opinion, should the guards be distributed?” Cha Po says respectfully.

The 13 original guardians in the main hall all wait attentively to hear Cha Hong’s order, and Qin Yu and Hou Fei also wait with attention even though they do not care too much about guards. However, the number of guards also decides their status in the Blood-red Cave.

Later they will be able to order and transfer these guards.

“Cha Po mentioned 1000 last time. Let’s see how they’re going to wangle 1000.” With a sweep of his holy sense, Qin Yu sees the expressions of all the Xiuyaoists present. Except for Teng Bi, who is not very worried, the other guardians seem very nervous.

“2nd brother, I remember that after 3rd brother’s death, his 500 guards were distributed to the guardians. How were they distributed?” Cha Hong finally says.

Cha Po thinks for a while then says: “After 3rd brother’s death, among his 500 guards, 100 were given to the Wu brothers, another 100 were given to Yan Qing and her sister, and the remaining 300 guards were given to the 4 guardians in Bai Yin’s group.”

Hearing this, everyone has a vague idea of what is going to happen.

It looks like those guardians are going to have to spit out the extra guards they got.

The expressions of Yan Qing and her sister, Wu Tong, Wu Feng and the 4 guardians in Bai Yin’s group are currently not very pleasant to look at. Previously, they had to negotiate with the other guardians and pay a high price to get these guards. Therefore, if the guards are recalled now, their sacrifices will be a waste.

A faint smile appears on Qin Yu’s face. He can guess what Cha Hong is thinking.

“All right, those 500 guards will be recalled. They and 2nd brother’s 500 guards will amount to 1000 guards. These 1000 guards will be put under guardian Hou Fei and guardian Liu Xing’s direct command. Does anyone have a different opinion?” Cha Hong glances at everybody in the hall.

The 13 original guardians of course accept the order. What can they possibly say in this situation?

“Very good. After everyone returns, those 1000 guards are going to be reallocated this way.” Cha Hong says smilingly.

At this moment, a squad leader runs in from outside, his face full of terror. He says: “Cave master, the situation is bad. Died, all died.”

“Calm your nerves and tell me clearly.” Cha Hong shouts coldly, but his face has already turned pale. When he heard the words ‘died, all died,’ he immediately had a bad feeling. The guardians in the main hall also have a feeling that something bad has happened.

All eyes are focused on that squad leader.

He takes a deep breath then says: “Cave master, after we received your order to come out and hunt for that black eagle, every Xiuyaoist within 8 million li of here also naturally became our eyes and we were able to detect that black eagle very quickly.”

When Qin Yu hears this, his heart beats faster.

Hunting for a black eagle?

“They’re hunting for Xiao Hei?” He ponders very quickly in his mind. “Why do they want to hunt for Xiao Hei? Logically, both Sang Mo and Cha Hong should be hunting for me.” Suddenly, he is struck by a thought and understands this matter at once.

He forces a smile inwardly.

The reason Xiao Hei is being hunted must be that he is connected with him. Sang Mo, who knows about the connection between Xiao Hei and him, must want to capture Xiao Hei to lure him out.

“Say, what happened after you had detected the black eagle?” Cha Hong shouts with a livid face.

The squad leader swallows nervously then continues: “Afterwards, a 50 strong subgroup of my squad and several tens other nearby Xiuyaoists joined forces to capture the black eagle. Who could’ve thought … Who could’ve thought that eagle was too terrifying, too terrifying?”

“The leader of that group was my second-in-command. He was only able to send me a message before dying -- “Black light, all died.” A half day later, I got some messages from the Xiuyaoists who had discovered their bodies. They said that my subgroup and several tens Xiuyaoists were all dead and there were no survivors!”

Now, even the squad leader finds what he just said somewhat unbelievable.

The atmosphere in the main hall immediately becomes oppressive. For so many years, nobody has dared to massacre the Blood-red Cave’s guards in the territory of the Blood-red Cave, much less in such a bold manner. Those experts who have reached the Yuanying stage are capable of such an action but they also know the serious consequences of it.

If they killed any guards, Cha Hong would be provoked, and they would suffer a terrible fate as a result.

Qin Yu however secretly lets out a sigh of relief: “Not bad, nothing has happened to Xiao Hei.”

Cha Po takes a step forwards, saying: “Big brother, that black eagle is very powerful. His offense is roughly comparable to a middle Yuanying expert’s. Those guards weren’t strong enough so they could do nothing but to get killed. To deal with this black eagle, we need to send the guardians.”

Cha Hong also nods.

Indeed, at this point, he has to send the guardians. They exist only to handle hostile experts like the black eagle.

“This time we’ve lost some guards. When this matter has been dealt with, let’s recruit 250 more guards. 50 of them will be used to reinforce the damaged squad while the remaining 200 will be given to the guardian who captures the black eagle as a reward.” Cha Hong’s eyes glitter with killing intent.

Someone has dared to kill his guards so naturally killing intent has begun to surge in his heart.

“I am willing to go.” Bai Yin takes a step forwards and says. He is a middle Yuanying stage expert and close to Cha Po in power. Knowing that Cha Po has defeated the black eagle before, he is certain that he will succeed in this mission. Moreover, he will not go alone.

Copying him, the 3 guardians, Ran Lan, Mu Xu and Zhuang Zhong, also say: “I am willing to go.”

Qin Yu’s heart immediately becomes anxious. Bai Yin and his friends cannot withstand even an attack by Hou Fei, but one must not underestimate their power. Qin Yu exchanged a blow with Ran Lan before and afterwards he has concluded that Ran Lan is about as strong as him.

Facing Bai Yin, who has even reached the middle Yuanying stage, can Xiao Hei win with absolute certainty?

And being ganged up on by 4 experts, can he have even an outside chance of surviving?

“Cave master.” Sang Mo unexpectedly takes a step forwards and says: “You have put 1000 guards under guardian Hou Fei and guardian Liu Xing’s joint command. Guardian Hou Fei is very powerful so no one can say anything about him, but it’s hard to tell how powerful guardian Liu Xing is. In my opinion, guardian Liu Xing should take this opportunity to capture that black eagle, thereby showcasing his power.”

After saying, he looks smilingly at Qin Yu.

“Humph, let’s see how you’re going to answer. If you want to save that black eagle, you’ll probably have to betray cave master, and you’ll die in due course. And if you take the order, you can only watch the black eagle die. Now you have a choice between a rock and a hard place, unless you’re not the Xiuxianist!”

A choice?

To Qin Yu, there is no choice here.

“This lowlife Sang Mo, you’ve dug your own grave!” Hou Fei’s fiery eyes glitter. A terrifying, ferocious aura comes out from his whole body. The black stick has even appeared in his hand. It looks like he is going to kill Sang Mo on the spot if the latter utters a provocative word.

“I am willing to go!”

Qin Yu, however, takes a step forwards and says smilingly. He then gives Sang Mo a look: “I’m going to do as guardian Sang Mo said. I’m going to capture that black eagle and show my own power.”

End of b5c22.