Chapter 254 - 235: Xingyue Sect
"Are you... are you a human... or a ghost?"
Jiang Yingxue heard a voice suddenly coming from the red-clad woman in the next iron cage, and she jumped in fright, her voice trembling.
She had been locked here for almost a day, and that red-clad woman had been sitting motionless, without even a hint of breath. She had assumed she was a dead person.
Now suddenly hearing her speak, Jiang Yingxue was so shocked she almost thought it was a corpse coming back to life.
The red-clad woman said flatly, "Of course I’m human. If I were a ghost, I would have eaten you already."
At this moment, Jiang Yingxue noticed she was breathing and felt relieved, thinking of some arcane cultivation techniques in the martial world, like the Turtle Breath Skill, and thought she must have been feigning death.
She patted her chest and asked fearfully, "Sister, were you also captured by those villains? I... who?"
Jiang Yingxue suddenly saw a shadow flash at the stone chamber’s entrance and shouted sternly, "Old pervert, you want me to do dual cultivation with you? Go look in the mirror, with your character, forget about it even in your next life. Here’s your filthy book back! If you have the guts, kill me. As a ghost, I won’t let you off..."
Angrily, she picked up a book from the ground and threw it out.
On the chamber’s walls, some glowing stones were embedded, casting a dim light.
After Jiang Yingxue finished cursing, she finally saw a young, handsome nobleman walking up, catching the book. She froze for a moment; this person’s appearance and demeanor distinctly showed he was an aristocratic young master.
The young master smiled while flipping through the book and said, "Didn’t you just say, whoever saves you, you’ll give yourself to them? Why are you cursing now?"
Jiang Yingxue, after recovering from her shock, asked in surprise and delight, "Young master... are you here to rescue us?"
Chen Ming casually tucked the book into his arms, jokingly saying, "That depends on whether what you just said counts."
"Young master, you... oh dear, how can you say that in front of sister..." Jiang Yingxue stomped her feet, acting embarrassed.
If Chen Ming hadn’t known she was a sly manipulator with excellent acting skills beforehand, he might have been deceived by her current appearance.
He laughed heartily and drew the "Breaking Army Sword."
Jiang Yingxue hurriedly said, "It’s useless, this is forged from dark iron, even a Divine Weapon can hardly—"
Clang!
The chain forged from dark iron was severed with one sword strike, and with a jingling sound, the chain fell to the ground.
Chen Ming sheathed his sword, smiled and asked, "What did you just say?"
Jiang Yingxue stared at him, her mouth slightly open, looking completely shocked, "Third Grade?"
Judging by this person’s age, he seemed even younger than Chen Ming, yet he was already at Third Grade Cultivation; what an astonishing talent that was!
When did Jiangzhou produce such an unparalleled genius?
Chen Ming saw her standing there motionless and teased, "What? You’ve gotten addicted to staying inside and don’t want to leave?"
Only then did Jiang Yingxue snap out of it, quickly exiting the iron cage and walked to the young master’s side, introducing herself, "Young lady Jiang Yingxue, may I know the young master’s name?"
"Gu Xianyu."
Chen Ming reported his name, then severed the chains of another iron cage and asked the red-clad woman inside, "Miss, may I know your name?"
The red-clad woman was extremely beautiful; upon first glance, she had a mature woman’s aura. On closer inspection, her skin was delicate and brows furrowed, clearly resembling a young girl, not much older than Jiang Yingxue.
The red-clad woman seemed to ponder for a moment before saying, "Nie Hongyi."
Chen Ming nodded and said, "This place is not safe for long. We must leave as soon as possible. Do either of you know if there’s another exit here?"
Jiang Yingxue, being exceptionally smart, guessed something from his words, her face changing, "Brother Gu, did you sneak in here?"
Chen Ming said, "You could say that. The situation is complex; it’s hard to explain in a few words. Simply put, Xie Jianqiu, that old villain, might chase us down at any moment. If we get caught, we’re done for. Do you know if there’s another way out here?"
He repeated his question.
Jiang Yingxue became even more fearful upon hearing this and clutched Chen Ming’s sleeve tightly, shaking her head vigorously, "I don’t know, I was only locked up here yesterday. That villain drugged me. When I woke up, I was already here."
Chen Ming didn’t hold much hope and asked casually.
Unexpectedly, Nie Hongyi said, "I know a place, that old villain definitely won’t find it."
"Oh?"
Chen Ming looked at her, asking, "What’s this place?"
Nie Hongyi said, "Please follow me."
She led the way ahead.
Chen Ming hesitated for just a second before following.
This woman was also locked in the stone chamber; she must not be on Xie Jianqiu’s side. As the saying goes, an enemy of an enemy is a friend. At times like these, he couldn’t afford to think too much.
Nie Hongyi was incredibly familiar with the area, twisting and turning for about fifteen minutes.
Suddenly, a furious roar echoed from behind in the passage, too distant to hear clearly. Xie Jianqiu must have discovered two of his prisoners were rescued, hence his anger.
Jiang Yingxue grew even more fearful, holding onto Chen Ming’s coat tightly, sticking to him as if seeking more security.
"Miss Nie, that old villain will catch up soon, we must hurry."
First Grade experts, due to their powerful spiritual awareness, possess an astonishing intuition. Although this place is winding, Xie Jianqiu will probably be able to track them down.
"Mm."
Nie Hongyi responded, and after another moment, she finally led them to a dead end.
Chen Ming looked at Nie Hongyi, waiting for her explanation.
She said nothing, merely slapped the wall beside her.
Rumble.
A mechanical sound echoed, and a stone door opened beside them, revealing a pitch-black hole, with a damp breeze blowing out from it.
Nie Hongyi said, "Below is a dark river that leads directly to the Danjiang. You will need to hold your breath for about half an hour, but there’s a cave midway where you can catch your breath."
Chen Ming felt a surge of joy in his heart; finally, he saw hope for escape.
Suddenly, Jiang Yingxue tugged at his sleeve and said anxiously, "Brother Gu, I’ve been fed the medicine that disperses Cultivation Technique. I can’t hold my breath for that long."
"Don’t worry, I’ve got you."
Chen Ming took out a black leather rope from the pouch at his waist, wrapped one end tightly around her waist, and tied the other end to his own waist.
He asked, "Miss Nie, do you need one?"
Nie Hongyi shook her head, indicating she didn’t need it. Seeing he was ready, she entered the cave entrance.
Chen Ming and Jiang Yingxue followed her inside.
Once inside, Nie Hongyi pressed on the wall of the passageway again, the sound of the mechanism echoed, and the stone door closed once more.
As they descended the stairs, after about ten meters, the air became increasingly humid, and they could even hear the sound of water flowing.
Soon they reached the end of the stairs, where a large cave appeared before them. Looking down, there was a deep pool. Water continuously flowed into the pool from above.
Nie Hongyi said, "The underground river is at the bottom of the pool. Follow me closely."
With that, she jumped in, landing in the pool with barely a splash.
Chen Ming said to Jiang Yingxue, "Are you ready?"
She shook her head vigorously, about to say something, but Chen Ming had already pulled her down with him.
"Ah—"
Jiang Yingxue let out a sharp scream, gurgling until she choked on water and quieted down.
The underground was already dark, and the water made it pitch black.
Relying on his instincts, Chen Ming sensed Nie Hongyi’s direction and swam towards her.
The pool was incredibly deep, estimated to be about twenty to thirty meters. As he dived all the way down, he indeed found an underground river.
Here, swimming was unnecessary, as the current below pulled both him and Jiang Yingxue into the underground river.
Initially, the underground river was quite narrow, and the current wasn’t fast. But the further they went, the stronger the current became.
After a while, Jiang Yingxue tugged at the leather rope fiercely, indicating she was about to run out of breath.
Chen Ming pulled the rope, bringing her towards him, thinking, what a stroke of luck for her. He leaned over and transferred some True Qi to her mouth.
This was his first kiss in this world.
Neither to Su Zhining, nor to Yu Haitang, not even to Xia Mudan, but instead to a little schemer.
This continued for about a quarter of an hour, with Chen Ming transferring True Qi to her a dozen times, seriously suspecting that this girl was deliberately taking advantage of him.
Finally, they resurfaced.
"You—" Chen Ming was about to warn her not to push her luck.
At this moment, Jiang Yingxue clung tightly to his arm, her body pressed against him. She suddenly whispered by his side, "Brother Chen, you must take responsibility for me."
The words "Brother Chen" brought all his words back in.
Chen Ming said expressionlessly, "What did you call me?"
"Brother Chen, although you used a sachet to cover your scent, once in the water, the fragrance was gone, and I recognized your presence—"
Her voice carried a seductive tone.
Through the soaked clothes, he could feel her body heating up.
Chen Ming lightly vibrated his Gang Yuan, shaking her off, and said indifferently, "You’ve mistaken me for someone else."
Floating on the water, Jiang Yingxue looked at him with red eyes, dared not to approach, and said aggrievedly, "Brother Gu, do you find me too forward? In front of others, I’m never like this. I thought you liked it, so I— I’ll never do it again. Please, don’t dislike me..."
Chen Ming really didn’t know how much of her words were true and how much were false.
"Now’s not the time to talk about this. Miss Nie is over there."
He pulled the leather rope, bringing Jiang Yingxue up to a high platform on the side. It was a man-made space, roughly a few hundred square feet.
On the platform were several corpses, the bodies remained uncorrupted, but their clothes had already decayed, suggesting they were quite old.
For the corpses to be so well preserved indicated these people were First Grade cultivation or above, which prevented their bodies from decaying.
Nie Hongyi stood dazedly in front of those corpses.
Chen Ming walked over and asked, "Who are these people?"
Nie Hongyi said calmly, "This is my master, this is my master’s wife, second master’s wife, and third master’s wife."
"Our sect, Xingyue Sect, is not well-known, but it inherits a branch from ancient Taoism, specializing in Dual Cultivation. Back then, my master and that vile Xia were close friends, but who knew that vile Xia harbored malicious intent, coveting the Divine Skill of our sect, and poisoned my master and all the mistresses.
"He even wanted to perform Dual Cultivation with me. After I refused, he imprisoned me in that cage for many years. If not for your rescue, I don’t know when I could have escaped. Here, I thank you, young master. I have nothing to repay you with, but here is the secret engraving of our sect, containing all the secret Cultivation Techniques. If you’re interested, feel free to study it at will."
Only then did Chen Ming learn about this part of history. It turned out that the Xia Jianqiu’s technique was derived from this Xingyue Sect.
However, he still had doubts and said, "I see you’re still a maiden, did that scoundrel really let you go?"
Nie Hongyi said, "That scoundrel took up cultivation halfway through life, and only learned a superficial level of our sect’s Dual Cultivation techniques. If he tried to absorb my energy, it would be a dream. He knew the dangers involved, so he naturally didn’t dare to touch me."
"I see."
This did make sense.
Since she said so, Chen Ming had no shame in exploring further inside, to look at the engravings on the stone walls. They recorded the Cultivation Techniques of the Xingyue Sect.
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