Second Flame Of Romance

Chapter 24 - Save a corpse

WT 24 - Save a corpse
 
“Bad news. The entrance is sealed,” Owner Yu announced, but his unconcerned expression does not match the urgency of his words. Just after he finished saying it, he passed the wine jar to Bao Hai, who automatically took it.
 
“You think she can get in?” Prince Heng asked dryly. “How irresponsible of you.”
 
“She could sense it, who knows if she could enter-”
 
The two gentlemen watched blankly when Bao Hai suddenly disappeared after she barely removed the lid. The wine jar without anyone to hold it up started to fall. With a relieved huff, Owner Yu managed to grab it before it hit the ground. Securing the item in his hold, he raised his head to stare at Prince Heng with amazement in his gaze.
 
“She really can get in.”
 
“That’s not the main point.” Prince Heng arched an eyebrow as he sneered. “She can go in, but what of us?”
 
Owner Yu examined the wine jar, which gave no response after removing the lid. “I can force through the path she used but it will take some time.”
 
"Be quick or we will need to save two people instead. Liu Bing, have others help out with the other guard."
 
Liu Bing nodded and with others that could still move, hurried to the second floor to help out.
 
"That will be three, not two." Owner Yu peered into the wine jar as his finger busily tapping on it with a weird, inconsistent rhythm.
 
"... Someone you know?"
 
"I'm uncertain if that person is the one I'm looking for is the same person Miss Bao Hai wants to rescue."
 
"A disciple of your sect?"
 
"No, a commoner from this kingdom, but his ancestor has some connection with our sect."
 
Prince Heng's eyes narrowed as he tapped his closed fan onto his palm. "Is that person's name Hao Li, whose uncle is the late Doctor Shen?"
 
"I only know that the person I'm looking for has the surname of Shen. Is this Hao Li the successor?"
 
"Yes. Coincidentally, his family reported that he was missing more than a week ago." Prince Heng accidentally heard of it from the magistrate when he went there to deal with Miss Wan's case.
 
Not only was Hao Li missing, Doctor Shen's wife was too. What puzzled the magistrate was how unconcerned the family were. It was as if they reported it as a form of duty and nothing else. But it was not a surprising thing, for there were some relatives that were rather uncaring.
 
The wine jar let out fierce sparkles and Owner Yu quickly did something to stop it. "Aish… that is the person I'm looking for then. He might be in the Shadow Tree's hands."
 
"Done?" Prince Heng asked since Owner Yu stopped messing with the wine jar.
 
"Let's get the others."
 
The other guard, which was noticeably stronger among the duo, was also successfully dealt with, but more than a quarter of their people had died. Adding both group's losses, more than fifty of their people had lost their lives. Most of them were Prince Heng's men, who were weaker among the group and unable to handle the attack well. 
 
Around the same time, at a village away from the compromised tea shop, Shiyi and a large group of disciples came out from the black, cracked empty rice bowl. The two guards were resting in a shabby noodle store and easily covered their arrival from peeping eyes with illusion.
 
"Do you need our help?" The guard asked.
 
"No. We can't have another entrance caught in danger. I have three elders with me to deal with the enemies."
 
It was tough on the Sect Master to create a new entrance, especially in his currently weak state. The energy of the living pill stopped Master's soul from separating from his rotting body, but it was only a short term solution. 
 
If they finally got their hands on that pill's recipe, along with the Flame Spirit, whose fire would not die out without command, their Sect Master would be saved. 
 
Hearing that, the two guards no longer bothered and continued eating their noodles.
 
"Let's go. Don't waste our time." The fifth elder of the Shadow Tree sect did not wait for the others and used his spiritual energy to fly to the tea house. 
 
But when they arrived at the tea house, they only saw corpses. Shiyi's eyes widened and quickly issued command. "Most of you will return back to the sect! The remaining will follow me to find Shiba and the living pill! Three elders-"
 
"I and the third will follow back to the sect. Fourth will follow you," The second elder said with calmness that was tempered with years of experience.
 
The entrance from the sealed wine jar could only be unsealed by the sect master, but the orthodox sect was still able to forcefully break in. They do not know how many enemies had slipped into their sect and how strong they were.  
 
🍦🍦🍦
 
After being sucked into the secret realm, Bao Hai found herself lucky to arrive at a spot without anyone around. She found herself vaguely recognizing the area after sneaking around, which told her she had been locked here before. But why was she able to escape from this secret realm easily? Was this related to how she was able to enter here and bypass the restriction in the first place?
 
Even if she knew she could get in and out of this secret realm without problem, she did not go out. First, she does not know if she could bring others in with her, and second, she was confident that Owner Yu will be able to find a way in by following her path.

Her heroship view on Owner Yu might not be understood by outsiders, but she was earnest, trusting him to do the impossible. She also felt a little special to be one of the few that discovered his secret, a feeling she had never felt before. 

It feels nice. 
 
Bao Hai cleared her thoughts as much as she could to allow herself to concentrate in sensing the teenager’s energy. She found him easily, as he had eaten a special pill during his childhood, whose essence had occupied his energy core, keeping him healthy. It was also because of this pill that he was still alive despite being tortured so inhumanely.
 
Choosing between the teenager and Wan Ting to rescue, Bao Hai did not decide long to pick the former. She does not know where Wan Ting was held, and it was likely to be at a place with heavy guards. Her going there was just sending herself to the tiger’s mouth.
 
She will leave Wan Ting to be rescued by the stronger people.
 
Lady Luck must be smiling down on her, for she only encountered a small number of people, and she easily concealed her presence from them. But she encountered her first setback, which was in the form of a locked door of the dungeon's entrance.
 
Bao Hai does not know any pick locking skill or possess any cultivation technique that could destroy iron locks. Anyway, she still needs to destroy this lock to rescue the teenager. She hoped he was still alive and she did not just risk her life to save a corpse. 

She sneaked back to where she came from and picked the axe she remembered seeing, lying beside the stacks of logs earlier. Grabbing it, she sprinted back to the entrance and then looked around like a thief. 

She raised the axe, gripping onto it tightly, and swung it down on the lock, only to feel a strong resistance that pulled the axe away from her target.
 
“That isn’t a good idea. You will be surrounded before you even finish chopping.”
 
“Owner Yu!”
 
Owner Yu stopped pulling the axe after she no longer went against his grip. “You can use that as a weapon to protect yourself, in case someone comes.”
 
Listening to his advice, Bao Hai tightened her grip on the axe as she watched Owner Yu lift the lock. With a brief glow from his palm, the lock crumbled apart like a rock being smashed into tiny stones.
 
“… Where are the others?” Bao Hai asked, after finding no one behind Owner Yu.
 
Owner Yu tossed the chains away and opened the gate. “I volunteered to find you. The others went to rescue Miss Wan, where there will be many people there to stop us. Can you sense the person you want to rescue?”
 
Bao Hai nodded and led them deeper into the dungeon. Most of the cells were empty of occupants, and even if there were, they were either too exhausted or injured to pay them any attention. Their eyes were dull, without any hope of being rescued and their unmoving form was truly similar to a corpse.

The prisoners were too afraid they were hallucinating or dreaming.
 
“He’s here!” Bao Hai whispered in joy after stopping at the tenth cell. The eleventh cell was empty, which was previously occupied by Bao Hai. She does not dare to look at her old prison, trying to ignore fear and despair from her memory.
 
Her kidnappers were only able to suck out her energy for a few hours per day. The remainder of her day was spent in this dark cell, exhausted and often unconscious. Bao Hai does not remember how long she had been under their captivity, but she was sure it was not more than a month. The occupant on the tenth cell was already there when she first arrived.
 
Owner Yu placed his hand on the iron bar and with just a push, he broke the lock of the cell.
 
The teenager inside the cell was aware of them the moment they arrived. He was lying down on the ground as he eyed them, which was right beside an older woman’s corpse that stinks badly after she had died for weeks. But the teenager does not seem to be bothered by it.
 
“I’m here to get you out!” Sneaking closer, Bao Hai whispered and helped the dangerously thin teenager to sit up, the chains on his limbs clanked noisily in the silent cell.
 
Owner Yu kneeled down and helped to unchain the badly tortured boy that might not be able to heal his injuries properly. “Is your name Hao Li?”
 
The teenager jerked, staring at Owner Yu warily. His voice was soft and hoarse as he answered after three heartbeats. “Yes.”
 
Owner Yu smiled and passed him a pill. “Your family is looking for you.”
 
At the mention of family, Hao Li’s eyes flashed with hostility before it died out, too tired to maintain his anger. After painfully swallowing the pill down his bruised throat, he stretched his hands, struggling to touch the corpse beside him. His voice was barely audible and scratchy. “Can you bring my aunt out as well?”
 
Owner Yu smiled. “Of course.”
 
 
 
 

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