Chapter 85

Emptying the Shaanxi Branch Tower

A few days later, Mayingren and Eyang Xiaoxiao were just about to fall asleep when they felt someone's presence and were startled awake. The door suddenly burst open in the middle of the night, and a man in black, sword in hand, rushed in. It was natural for them to be frightened. However, the person who rushed in was none other than Maha, and they felt relieved. But then Maha's words, filled with irritation, began to confuse them.

"Hey, what are you still doing, not even prepared yet?"

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you hear the order to prepare for the night journey? Have you packed your bags? Look, you haven't packed anything at all."

"What do you mean…?"

Maha took out a few pieces of clothing they had brought and threw them onto a black cloth on the bed.

"We're leaving the Shaanxi Branch Tower in exactly one hour. Why haven't you prepared anything?"

"Excuse me? Leaving?"

Maha, seeing their dazed expressions, frowned and then her face suddenly turned bright red as if she had remembered something. She began to emit intense anger but did not say anything more. She quickly gathered their belongings and coldly said to them,

"Where are your night journey clothes?"

"…"

When neither of them responded, Maha, in a suppressed voice, gritted her teeth and said,

"Of course, you wouldn't have been given night journey clothes. Don't argue and just follow me."

Indeed, when they stepped outside, they felt a different atmosphere from usual. Many people were moving quickly and silently, all wearing black night journey clothes. Maha led the two women to a warehouse where they received two sets of night journey clothes. She then walked them to a nearby building, opened a door, and handed them the night journey clothes.

"Change quickly. We don't have time. Put the clothes you were wearing in this cloth and bring them with you."

The cold, businesslike tone… It was a side of Maha they had never seen before. They dared not resist or protest and quickly changed into the night journey clothes.

"You'll find hoods in your pockets. Put them on."

Once they put on the hoods with two eye holes, they looked exactly like the busy warriors around them. Maha carefully examined their outfits and said,

"Don't talk while moving. Be careful not to lose your bundles. No matter what happens, follow me. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

Maha led them to the basement of a building with a cleverly disguised entrance. To their surprise, the basement was filled with people dressed just like them.

"Move quickly. Hey, next group, come in."

Mayingren and Eyang Xiaoxiao, half-dazed by the bizarre events, found it difficult to quickly find their place. In the narrow basement, they stumbled around, and a masked man in black, irritated, shouted,

"Hey, you two. Can't you move faster? Hurry up. Next!"

Following his instructions, the masked men quickly crawled into a cave about three feet (about 91 centimeters) in diameter. Maha also entered the cave, and the two women, not knowing what was happening, followed her into the cave.

The cave was barely three feet high, making it impossible to stand. They crawled hard, following Maha, but the cave seemed endless. They could only tell someone was ahead by the sound of clothes brushing against the ground. The cave was pitch black, and their heads touched the ceiling if they lifted them slightly.

As they crawled through the dark, unknown space, fear began to creep into their hearts. What if a sword suddenly appeared from the darkness? Or a ghost? But as time passed, these thoughts gradually changed.

No matter how well-trained their bodies were, after crawling for about two hours, their muscles ached. Their palms, soles, and knees were sore and bruised. The worst pain, however, came from their backs, as humans are not meant to crawl. After another hour of crawling, they were out of breath, and stars danced before their eyes.

"Hey, the one in front! Can't you crawl faster?"

"Already out of breath? What kind of training have you been doing? Who are you?"

"Damn it! Can't you crawl faster? You're holding everyone up!"

As those in front fumbled, harsh curses came from behind. But they dared not respond, enduring the intense physical pain and continuing to crawl with all their might. Even highly skilled martial artists usually only use certain muscles during training, and they had never crawled such long distances in their lives, so it was natural for them to tire quickly. The ones behind them, however, seemed to have received training to crawl through such caves.

After crawling for a full hour, the cave finally ended. Along the way, there were small rooms for ambush and steel doors to block intruders. The cave was extremely dark, but they were too exhausted to notice anything and simply passed through it.

When they finally emerged from the cave, they found a large group of masked men in black gathered. As more masked men arrived, one of them quietly asked,

"Sixth group, is everyone here?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

Another masked man, who seemed to be in charge, led a group of about a hundred people and quietly set off.

"Seventh group, line up."

At the masked man's command, Maha quickly led the two women and joined the line.

"Hmm?"

He tilted his head and then asked another masked man who was counting,

"What's wrong?"

"There are two more people than expected."

"What?"

At the same time, he emitted a killing aura and shouted,

"Everyone, take off your masks. There's a spy."

Maha quickly removed her mask and approached him.

"I brought two people. I'm sorry I didn't inform you earlier."

"…"

The masked man thought for a moment and then coldly ordered,

"Alright. Let's go!"

Maha was a trusted figure, especially favored by the leader. There was no reason to question her bringing these two.

The martial skills of the masked men were extraordinary. They could have moved much faster, but they slowed down to accommodate Maha and others with weaker skills. As a result, the Seventh group, despite leaving early, only arrived at their destination at dawn.

Their destination was a place that could be called a fortress. It was too small to be a city and too large to be a simple fortress. However, once inside, the two women quickly realized their first impression was wrong. The interior was almost the size of a city, hidden by caves carved into the cliffs.

The walls, about nine meters high, had double doors made of steel. The walls were covered with thin vines, making it difficult to climb from the outside and camouflaging the fortress from a distance.

The two women were desperate to ask Maha what was happening, but everyone was moving silently, and they dared not speak. Maha also did not say a word to them and followed the group silently.

Maha led them to a small room and then hurriedly walked deeper into the fortress. No longer needing to hide, she removed her mask and quickly walked down the corridor, which was now bustling with the newly arrived masked men.

Maha quietly said to a warrior standing in front of a room with a sign that read "Dark Hall",

"Please let me see the leader."

"Of course, please wait a moment."

The warrior, recognizing Maha's unusually cold expression, bowed respectfully and went inside. After a moment, he came out and bowed again.

"You may enter."

Maha's expression became even colder as she entered the room. It was not that her expression changed upon entering, but rather after seeing the leader.

"What's going on?"

Maha, radiating coldness, immediately confronted Xue Wuji, who was slightly taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"You were going to leave the children we held hostage there, right?"

"That… Surely, you didn't bring them, did you?"

Xue Wuji's awkward response only confirmed Maha's suspicions, and she pressed further.

"I brought them. Why? Is something wrong? Did you plan to leave them in that dangerous place and use their deaths to manipulate something when the righteous sects attacked?"

Maha's sharp accusation made Xue Wuji emit an awkward laugh.

"Ha ha…, you're overthinking it, Maha."

"It's not overthinking. If you didn't plan to kill them, why leave them there? It's obvious the place will soon be a mess."

Faced with Maha's relentless questioning, Xue Wuji found it difficult to justify his actions. He decided to back down from the plan he and Muxiang had approved.

"Hmm, since you've brought them, I'll assign a servant to them. I'm busy, so…"

Xue Wuji tried to brush it off, but Maha did not let him.

"Don't try to brush it off. Am I right? How could you do this? They are official hostages. Don't you know that when you take hostages, you have an unspoken duty to protect them?"

Seeing that Maha was not backing down, Xue Wuji sighed and explained,

"Of course, I know."

"Then what's going on? Did the Deputy Leader approve this?"

"Of course. With his approval, we started the plan."

Maha was shocked. She trusted Muxiang, so the impact was significant.

"How could he…?"

"The martial world is a place of survival of the fittest. The Deputy Leader's enemies are too strong, and to eliminate them…"

"But the children are not that strong, and their backgrounds are not from powerful sects, are they?"

"Their martial skills are weak, but Wuying Sect is known for its intelligence. Eyang Family, though weak in both intelligence and martial skills, has earned high respect through its benevolence over the years.

If it's revealed that they were our hostages, both the Eyang Family and Wuying Sect will be suspected by the righteous sects, weakening their positions. By claiming we tried our best to protect them but failed due to the branch tower's collapse, and that the righteous sects are to blame, we can cause internal strife within the righteous sects. That's why the Deputy Leader approved it…"

Xue Wuji continued, but sensing the deep disapproval in Maha's eyes, he stopped. He found it frustrating that Maha did not understand, but he also hoped to protect her innocence, though he did not understand why.

"Trouble."

At Qianlidanxing's words, Muxiang responded curtly,

"What is it?"

"The women are missing."

"The women?"

"Yes, from the Eyang Family and Wuying Sect…"

"Did they escape? How could they escape with such poor surveillance? What were the guards doing?"

"They insist no one left, and there are no signs of anyone leaving. It's as if they vanished into thin air."

Qianlidanxing, expecting Muxiang to be furious over the loss of the valuable hostages, cautiously tried to explain, but to his surprise, Muxiang remained calm.

"Well, if they managed to escape, that's good. Just let them go. They were only meant to be expendable, so it doesn't matter if they're gone. How did the evacuation go?"

"Yes, everyone left quietly."

"How many are left?"

"Yanwang Team, 100 members."

"Can they escape even if attacked head-on?"

Muxiang's indifference to the women's escape reassured Qianlidanxing.

"Ha ha ha, don't worry. We're not fighting anyone; we're just leaving after cleaning up. With the skills of the 13th leader of Yanwang Team, Guo Tie, it will be enough."

"Good. Now that the stage is almost set, we just need to bring in the actors, ha ha ha."

"He he he, well said. I hope that day comes soon."

Muxiang, who had been laughing, suddenly stopped.

"It seems you still think you can kill me."

Of course, this was not directed at Qianlidanxing. There was no one else around, so there should have been no response. However, a gruff voice unexpectedly replied, which was difficult to pinpoint.

"Of course. It was one of the conditions for me to become your subordinate."

The speaker was Chuan Long, the assassin who had nearly killed Muxiang.

"Do you have a favor to ask of me?"

Muxiang's question piqued Chuan Long's curiosity.

"What favor?"

"Please take care of my daughter for the next three months."

"Excuse me?"

"My adopted daughter. You saw her when she came a while ago. She's a disciple of the righteous sect, so I didn't acknowledge her. She's my daughter."

A doubtful voice replied,

"She's your daughter?"

"My adopted daughter. If she dies, it's not your fault. Just protect her to the best of your ability. If you can't stop an opponent, don't try to protect her; just observe and tell me who's behind it. That's why I'm asking you, skilled in stealth. Can you do it?"

"Is it really okay if the adopted daughter dies?"

"It's fine. Her martial skills are poor. If you die trying to protect her, her life will end, and I won't know who's behind it. Even if I can't openly protect her, I need to avenge her. Can you do it?"

"Cold-hearted, aren't you?"

"I don't think I'm cold-hearted. This is how I've lived. How can I suddenly have feelings I never had? Anyway, will you do it?"

"Yes, I'll see you in three months."

The voice disappeared, but both Muxiang and Qianlidanxing sensed movement. Muxiang had already pinpointed the person's location before the movement, while Qianlidanxing only realized where the person had been hiding after the movement.