Chapter 135 The Cave Passage

"Please slowly, Master Xiaoyue," said Xu Gu, his palms clasped together before his chest, "What did you see inside the cave?"

As she frowned dejectedly, Xiaoyue began to relate to the rest of the company of their encounter with the sea of mutated vampire bats. "Oh no, what shall we do now?" One of the female disciples cried in dismay.

"Heh heh heh heh!" A sneering giggle rang suddenly. It was Liu Chengfeng of the Order of the Silvery Moon. He was eyeing Qin Xinyan, the student from the School of the Savage Flames, contemptuously. "Brother Xiao, Brother Ye, and I were at the front, helping to clear our way," he said loudly with a wicked grin, "Brother Qin, you were retreating with Brother Lu beside you. Did you fail to notice him, a person and an adult, disappearing too?"

Qin Xinyan retorted with a cold glare, embittered, "Are you accusing me? It was chaotic in there! How did I know that he was with me? Are you accusing me of not saving him on purpose?"

"I do not know whether if it was on purpose," Liu Chengfeng hissed vilely and said, "but I do know that the School of the Savage Flames and the Priory of the Mystic Winds are hardly the best of allies. Surely it would be in the School's favor to first eliminate the potential heir to the seat of the Sect Leader of the Priory, no? Heh heh heh heh!"

"You!" Qin Xinyan snarled. But he did not lunge at his accuser. Instead, he recollected himself and began to snicker viciously. "What about Lady Xiaoyue?" He barked loudly, for the benefit of everyone in the company. "She was acting as rearguard during our retreat? Are you accusing her of this treachery as well?"

"Please, quarrel no more, gentlemen," Xiao Chen spoke suddenly, "What matters now is the rescue of Brother Lu. I had managed to observe a magical barrier, one that is created by all of our collective strength, might be enough to repel these monster bats despite their ferocious size and speed."

But there was no way of knowing if Lu Jianxing still lived. For all they know, he might already be dead. But Xiao Chen had specifically broached the issue in order to rekindle the embers of hope for the company to keep going on. Moreover, he wished to convince the company to move together to prevent further deaths. Any more casualties would do little to improve the chances of his and his friends' own survival.

Qin Xinyan and Liu Chengfeng fell silent, although that did not stop them from casting scathing glares at each other. With scornful chuckles from each of them, their squabble was ended. Despite Xiao Chen's relatively obscure origins, the recent prominence of his name was enough to sway the hearts of the company that most of them agreed to his suggestion.

"I am inclined to agree with you, Brother Xiao," said Xu Gu, lending further weight to Xiao Chen's voice, "We must try to find Brother Lu as soon as possible before leaving this place. There is no need for further quarrel."

He assumed the leadership of the company, leading the rest of the sixteen behind him as they reentered the cave. Once inside, the company pooled together their powers to erect a magical force field. For all their viciousness and fury, the scourge of the mutated bats could do nothing to penetrate the defenses of the stout magical shield that the company poured in all their might to sustain.

But the bloodthirsty scourge of darkness was hardly undaunted by the magical force field; a savage horde beyond number, they kept pouring on the company with unstoppable vehemence. Wave upon wave, the black tide of carnage rained onslaught upon the magical barrier, testing its limits and hoping to find a chink or a crack that might undo the entire shield. The company could barely look through the dark blur of wings and torso that hammered upon the force field with single-minded determination. Yet still, the magical shield remained intact, much to the comfort of the few female disciples whose face had already gone pale with fright and horror.

Xiao Chen stayed close to Luo Shangyan. He was ready in case the magical barrier faltered; with two of its string recovered, the Fuxi Zither would allow him enough time to make off safely with his friends. At the head of the company were Xiaoyue and Xu Gu who advanced abreast of each other boldly, undeterred by the never-ending surges of the bats' assailment. They killed as many of the bats they could as they continued their pace, while not forgetting to call for Lu Jianxing.

Yet for almost an hour they pressed on, the company had found no traces of Lu Jianxing, having instead attracted more mutated vampire bats. But everyone began to share the same dreadful notion, although none dared to voice it: if Lu Jianxing had survived earlier, he could not be possibly alive now. He would have long been gnawed to death by these cannibalistic bats.

"This cannot continue! There's no end to the bats' attack! Our True Energy would be utterly spent if we're to go on!" Xiao Yue's voice resounded from the front of the company over the din of the multitudes of chiropterans battering unceasingly on the magical shield. It was in fact the thoughts of everyone in the company, that the search for Lu Jiangxing had become nothing but a lost cause.

Swiftly, everyone agreed to her proposal to retreat. But Liu Chengfeng griped with disdain. "We were only here at your summons, Lady Xiaoyue. And now you wish to abandon Lu Jianxing?"

But everyone was hardly surprised by his outburst: the Order of the Silvery Moon and the Priory of the Mystic Winds were close allies and both Liu Chengfeng and Lu Jianxing were good friends to each other. It was only understandable that Liu Chengfeng did not want to call off the search.

"Please do not misunderstand, Brother Liu," said Xiaoyue from the front, "We've canvassed this entire area. Brother Lu would have responded to our calls if he is around. He is not here, that much is plain. Staying here will not help the search save to attract more of these rabid vermins!"

"I concur," said Qin Xinyan sharply, "Brother Lu might have long escaped. He is skilled in the magic of conveyance. Staying here will only exhaust our True Energies. Heaven forfends if our powers were to run out and the magical barrier will no longer hold."

With the vote against him, Liu Chengfeng could only respond with a defiant snort. But he said no more. The company began scuffling towards another side of a fork in the cave. But after 30 minutes of retreating, they began to realize that the number of bats that carried on attacking them had dwindled. Some distance later, the bats no longer pursued them.

At last, the company opted to stop for a brief respite. They broke off the magical force field and quickly meditated to replenish their True Energies. Minutes passed until Liu Chengfeng stormed towards Xiaoyue. "Lady Xiaoyue," he said to her, "I still fail to understand how you had missed Lu Jianxing when you were acting as rearguard when the scouting party was retreating earlier."

Xiaoyue's eyes opened slowly from her meditation. "It was too dark," she said blandly, "and I was too pre-occupied with defending the party against the vampire bats. I really don't know how and when did he get missing."

"Liu Chengfeng," Qin Xinyan growled, "What are you trying to imply? Are you accusing Lady Xiaoyue of treachery?" "Do not be hasty, Brother Qin. I would like to ask you the same too," Liu Chengfeng retorted, "With Lu Jianxing's skills, it'd be impossible for him to be left behind, unless someone had willed it so."

"Heh heh heh heh!" Qin Xinyan guffawed mockingly, "So you're suggesting that I had betrayed him?"

"Could it be that Lu Jianxing had witnessed something that he shouldn't have when everyone was caught up in the illusions?" Liu Chengfeng began to grin coldly, his gaze shifting towards Xiaoyue. "Would you agree with me, Lady Xiaoyue?"

"As I said earlier, the illusions were merely hallucinations fabricated by the secrets of our own hearts," Xiaoyue responded, "There is not an ounce of truth in it. Why the satirical and accusing tone, Brother Liu?"

Xu Gu interjected suddenly, muttering an "Amitabha" again. "We are still in danger, everyone. There is no need for strife among us," he beseeched everyone and said, "Please hear me out. Getting out of here is the most pressing matter for now. Please, no more quarrels until then."

Xiao Chen had opted not to say anything. If Xiaoyue had truly murdered Lu Jianxing because the latter had witnessed her memory, he would have to be extraordinarily careful of the woman himself, in case she had discovered that he had also peered into her past as well.

Suddenly, Luo Shangyan tugged at his sleeves gently, interrupting his thoughts. "Junior Brother Xiao," she called him, "Look! There seems to be a passage there."

Everyone heard her and they channeled more True Energy into the radiance of light they conjured, directing the illumination towards the direction she was pointing at. Her discovery was true; there was indeed a passage deliberately hewed out of the rock, a tunnel that was as wide as three men abreast to each other.

"Perhaps Brother Lu had discovered this passage too, and he might already be waiting for us at the other side," quipped one of the female disciples hopefully, despite everyone's dashed beliefs. It was highly improbable that Lu Jianxing would have survived, but just like the girl, everyone in the company only wanted to leave this place as quick as possible.

"It seems that this might just be our exit," Xu Gu muttered, peering intently into the darkness of the tunnel, "Would you walk with me at the front, Brother Xiao?"

"Very well," Xiao Chen replied, nodding his head.

The two men led at the forefront with the rest following behind. The deeper they ventured, the more certain they were that the tunnel was cleaved by the skillful hands of stonemasons and smiths for some unknown purpose. But as they walked, the noxious malodor of rotting flesh stung in the nostrils of everyone in the company that many had to hold their breaths.

Xiao Chen had also realized that the ground beneath their feet was beginning to grow soft and lumpy, that he could almost feel the ground cracking whenever he stepped on it. He thought of the Skygale Sect in the Human World suddenly. During the time when he infiltrated the sect's sword grave at the back mountain with Xiao Han and Shangguan Yan, he had encountered the same feeling and perception when he walked in the passage leading to the grave. A passage where the remains of human sacrifices were left to rot and decay after their blood and soul had been harvested by the Skygale Sect.

Hence the dreadful chill now creeping up his spine, that the ground of the passage he now walked, was build up by the countless remains of dead people as well.