บท 56: Man, That Bed Was Expensive

"So you're telling me you disappeared for two days and somehow ended up in the Earth Demon God's Lair and even angered him?" Feng Yi exclaimed in disbelief.

Wu Zhitian nodded.

Yu Xuelan had secretly snuck away to the other disciples while Wu Zhitian was being interrogated by Feng Yi. She felt quite guilty for leaving him to get scolded, but she didn't think she could handle that right now. Especially if it was from Feng Yi.

Feng Yi sighed and didn't know what to feel upon hearing about all the chaos that happened in such a short amount of time.

"And your personal disciple also found her long-lost twin sister?"

Wu Zhitian nodded.

Feng Yi sighed and sat down, adding, "Did you or Lady Lin get hurt anywhere?"

He shook his head.

"That's a relief. It would be quite disastrous if Bo Fan hunts our sect down."

Wu Zhitian shook his head confidently to reassure the man, who was rubbing his temples anxiously.

"I hope so. If he shows up in the future, it would be quite troublesome."

The white-clad cultivator lowered his head to express his apology, but Feng Yi signalled him to lift his head back up.

"Even after all these years, you still behave like you're still a disciple. You shouldn't lower your head or apologize so easily for such minor matters. You're a sect master now after all. It'd be quite troublesome if Bo Fan is waiting for you below the next time you descend."

"He won't."

Feng Yi sighed in frustration at how much chaos had happened overnight but attempted to offer a smile. "Well, putting that aside, was the festival fun?"

He nodded.

Feng Yi gasped and thought it was unusual to see the boy nod so much. He had many suspicions revolving around Yu Xuelan, who had just appeared out of nowhere. But if Wu Zhitian seemed happy, then Feng Yi would not bother worrying.

"Well, now that you're all back and healthy! Here you go!" Feng Yi handed a stack of scrolls onto his table.

The white-robed boy stared lifelessly at the stack of scrolls piling up almost to his head.

"The Annual Demon Hunting Competition is coming up. Here's a list of our disciples. Make sure to fill the form out so we can send it in soon."

"Who's in charge this year?" Wu Zhitian asked as he looked through the scrolls.

"The Shu Sect is in charge of the grounds and demons this year. I heard they might release more Mercenary and Fallen demons. They're probably going to make the hunting grounds benefit HaiShen Yu because the Shu Sect suck up to them so much."

"The Shu Sect?"

...

"Mei, Meixiang! Meixiang!" Yue exclaimed, running down the hallway of the accommodation.

"What's wrong Yue?"

"Lin Yuhe's sister! Something happened to her!"

"What? What do you mean?"

The two instantly rushed towards the bedchamber Lin Changying rested in, dropping everything they were holding, and slammed the door open. The moment she pushed the door open, she withdrew her hand immediately as a sudden flood of planks collapsed down in front of her.

Their eyes widened.

And their heart stopped.

Empty, empty. Meixiang stepped over the fallen planks and ran to the bed, only to be greeted by the splatters of blood in the corner. The bedsheets were ripped and something had snapped the planks that supported the bed, producing the impression of resistance.

Yue hovered her palm over her eyes, afraid of seeing more. Yet the metallic scent of fresh blood lingered in the dull air, forcing the girl to feel sick.

"Did no one see what happened?" Meixiang asked.

"I, I don't um, I don't know! I left for a few moments and when I came back it was like this! I didn't even hear anything as well."

Meixiang bit her nail, examining the room for further detail. Someone had smashed the windows open, possibly the intruder entered and escaped through there.

"What should we do? We can't get ahold of Lin Yuhe because she's already back at the Feather Temple."

Meixiang rubbed her throbbing forehead, unable to make sense of this strange occurrence.

"Who would do this?"

"Do you think it's Bo Fan? Did he come back?" Yue quivered, "What if he came back to retrieve us back?"

Meixiang didn't know her moments of relief would end so easily. The thought of living in constant fear every day, knowing that the Earth Demon God might come back, made her legs tremble. She met each attempt to strengthen her lower body with the world spinning and the triggering of vomiting.

"Because Lin Yuhe and her twin sister are identical, maybe Bo Fan wanted to kill her instead but mistook Lin Yuhe for her sister! We can't return to HaiShen Yu if we don't find her! That's just too horrible!" Yue professed.

"What do you mean, return? I am not returning to that place."

"What? Meixiang, you're not going back?"

"Yue, I doubt you would also be allowed to go back. We both got kicked out because we broke a forbidden rule. Sect Master Yu wanted us dead. So why would he let us return?"

Yue lowered her eyes and fiddled with her fingers.

"Yeah, that's true, yeah... Sorry for being stubborn."

Meixiang smiled but returned to the room's situation and the missing girl.

"Lin Yuhe has saved our lives and so many others yet we couldn't even fulfil one of her simple favours. If only I wasn't just a maid," Meixiang uttered and clenched her fists.

Yue's mind was drowned with guilt, because between the two, she was the one who was training to become a cultivator, yet Meixiang was the one who seemed to have a stronger resolution.

"What should we do? Should we tell Yuhe? How do we tell Yuhe? We don't even know if her sister is still alive. And if she is, do we go save her? What do we do?"

Meixiang patted the anxious girl's back, hoping she would calm down. Given the situation, panicking would not do any good. Just as she was about to speak, she flung her head back to the door upon hearing a creak. Yue blinked in confusion and followed her gaze, only to see nothing at the entrance.

"What's wrong?"

Meixiang walked to the door and looked out to the corridor.

There were puddles of water on the floor.

"Who? Maybe it was the cleaner."

"They already mopped this area. Why would they mop it again? And it wasn't here when we came running here."

Yue bent down and studied the puddles, realizing they weren't just splashes of water but footprints, as though the person had just risen from the ocean.