Chapter 238 - Taken
Within the lands of Red Lotus Country, chaos was on the rise. A masked man who could not be caught, wreaking havoc all over the country. One by one, sects began to fall, destroyed and burned to flames. Worse, no one knew his purpose for all of this. However, he was extremely powerful and could not be beat.
Worse yet, even with the aid of the emperor who sent out all of the 48 Demon Brigades, this elusive figure had evaded even beaten several of them.
Without a doubt, they knew this man was the one who caused the destruction of multiple other sects in the eastern part of the continent.
Who else would it be but the junior sect leader of the Tao Feng, Zuo Er.
Under the cover of the night, he traveled through one of the many cities, this one was called "Luan City". It was a medium sized city who was only dwarfed by that of the capital city. However, what made this one special was that it neighbored the territory of the Eternal Blade Sect.
Though he was warned by his master, the sect leader, Zuo Er wanted to scout it out and see if he could find anyone fitting for his plan. Quickly moving through the roofs of the city, he happened upon a brothel. He looked at it, thinking carefully before deciding to make his move.
Within that brothel was an Earth Realm cultivator, one whose cultivation was well maintained and full of potential.
Zuo Er sneaked inside, his white mask covering his face as he avoided the prostitutes and servants running about. Within one of the courtyards, he found his target. A middle aged man, somewhere in his thirties, sitting and sipping on tea as he spoke to a woman sitting by him. She was dressed differently from the prostitutes, her body was fully covered but it was not enough to hide her curvacious body.
"Ah, perfect", Zuo Er thought.
This target of his wore a green uniform of sorts and it resembled much like that of the Eternal Blade Sect. Considering the high quality, this man must've been an elder of the sect.
Without making a sound, Zuo Er cracked open his index finger, revealing a strange mechanism. A small click came from it as a dart shot out, aimed for the man's neck.
But as an elder of the sect, would he be so easily subdued?
With a wave of his sheathed sword, he swatted the dart away and immediately stood up. He looked around, alert and watchful, looking for whoever shot him.
As for the woman, she looked surprise as his sudden actions before showing concern.
"Fei Yun, is something wrong?" she asked.
He looked at her calmly before studying the area. He slowly unsheathed his sword.
"Cui Fen, go back inside. I will be back soon. Don't forget, we're taking Rou Er to the sect tomorrow."
None other than the same people that Ming Yue had met, the pair had been together ever since Fei Yun returned to the Eternal Blade Sect and became an elder. Soon after, they had spent the past few months bonding as a family. But they had yet to be married, for them, it was too soon to tell whether or not this was the right path.
Cui Fen did as he said, understanding that it was not safe. Quietly, she retreated into the brothel as Fei Yun jumped up, flying to the roof. Landing one the same space as Zuo Er, he recognized the mask on his face.
"You, you're the one responsible for the destruction of nearly six sects. Are you here for the Eternal Blade Sect now?" he asked Zuo Er but did not receive a response.
"Hmph, it does not matter. I will not allow you to target my sect. This will end now."
With his sword at hand, he dashed forth to clash against this masked figure.
As soon as the sun rose, neither of them were found, seemingly disappeared. The only proof of a fight was a single splattering of blood that covered the courtyard. It was massive and diagonal, produced by a single blow.
Cui Fen looked out, fear crossed her eyes as she saw the horrific scene.
"Mother, is Uncle Fei Yun here yet?"the voice of a little girl emerged from the room.
Cui Fen stopped her from coming and seeing this, looking to her daughter with a smile on her face.
"Oh, Rou Er, he said that we will be meeting him at the Eternal Blade Sect. Come, let's go now."
She quickly brought her daughter away, taking her to the sect. Having been there before, the guards smiled and allowed them in. Within the sect, they knew that this was Elder Fei Yun's wife though it had yet to be official. Many of them joked about the two getting married but they knew that the elder was happy with her.
Thus, for her to appear in such distress was alarming. Her face was somewhat pale, her eyes showed fear as she brought her unassuming daughter with her.
"Has something happened?" they asked her as she reached the gates.
"Fei Yun, he hasn't come back. I fear that he has been taken away by someone."
The sect was then in an uproar, one of their elders had been attacked and have yet to return. It didn't take long for people to be sent out, patrols increased as they were on alert. It didn't take long for the sect leader as well as the other elders to reac their conclusion. It must have been that mysterious figure that had been attacking other sects and theirs was next.
Considering the news this person has created and the fact that they had attacked an elder, this was the only plausible explanation.
The problem was, where is Elder Fei Yun? Was he alive or dead?
They did not know but they had to prepare for anything. News of this reached the government and with Cui Fen's plea, Meng Zhao, a high ranking administrator as well as a friend of Ming Yue's father, had written a letter to inform Ming Yue of this development.
She had bumped into Fei Yun before, perhaps, luck would chance upon another encounter.
Back towards the east of the continent, Ming Yue trekked her way through the empty path, making her way towards the Merciless Storm Peak. She would certainly take this chance to improve her Lightning Dao.
Furthermore, there was also the Thunderous Fairy Pill, where all of the ingredients could be found within this peak. It wasn't very necessary to make but considering she had one of them, she made it a point to look out for any of the ingredients.
As she reached the peak, she heard the familiar sounds of thunder and rain. Following the rocky path, she found that the Qilin was no longer there. Of course, it had already been several months since she first met it. There was no reason for the beast to stay.
Making her way through the vast mountains, Ming Yue suddenly froze as she noticed something swaying in the wind. A small flower that glowed under the stormy sky, if she remembered correctly, it was a Radiant Carnation, one of the items needed for the pill!
It was above her, poking out of the stone ground like a sore thumb. It wasn't terribly far but she had to climb up the mountain side, a rather perilous move but one she was willing to take. As Hei Yue and Xiao Yin clung to her in order to bear this weather, she looked around for a safe space to hide them before deciding on a large stone slab that hung over them. It was large enough to relieve much of the pressure.
She left the two under there, covering them with a heavy robe before making her way towards the Radiant Carnation. Grasping for a foothold, she made her way up slowly and carefully.. The wet stone and powerful winds only made it much harder to climb.