Forbidden Abyss

"What do you mean?! Wasn't Shi Ruobai already poisoned?!" Chimei's hoarse voice carried a measure of anger.

Lin Qingyang snorted. "Poisoned isn't dead. Killing a brat is easy, but if that old bastard doesn't die, I'll be in serious trouble!"

"Don't worry. Anyone poisoned by me is certain to die!" Chimei said through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Xue Lanyuan has been searching through ancient texts these past few days and says she's already found a way to cure it," Lin Qingyang said.

Chimei scoffed disdainfully. "Impossible. Only I can cure my poison."

Lin Qingyang frowned, silently pondering this, while Chimei's patience had clearly run out. "Shi Ruobai is certain to die. You'd better deal with that brat soon, too, or don't blame me when I let your fellow sect members know what you've done!"

"He's just a demon slave. Why are you so determined to kill him?" Lin Qingyang asked with a frown.

"You ask too many questions!" As Chimei finished speaking, a flash of light passed over the little green snake, and it toppled stiffly into his hand, clearly dead.

Lin Qingyang set the dead snake on a nearby rock and silently mulled over Chimei's words. That meant the sect leader's poison could be cured, but apparently only Chimei had the antidote. But why did he want to kill Qi Mo?

Full of questions, Lin Qingyang used the Movement Technique again. Whether through lack of practice or lack of concentration, he appeared somewhere still quite far from Clear Wind Pavilion.

Lin Qingyang looked around and found himself on a narrow path paved with bluestone. Bare rocks lined both sides, and a cold, ghost-fire glow hung all around. A few ancient dead trees beside the path reached toward the sky like ghostly claws, looking sinister and terrifying.

"Is this still the Nine Skies Sect?" Lin Qingyang asked in confusion as the Windflower Sword in his hand lit up.

Looking toward the end of the path, Lin Qingyang saw two flickering flames. He worked up his courage and headed toward them. At the end of the deep, dark path stood an enormous iron gate wrapped in rust-covered chains. Now, however, the gate stood wide open. Beyond it was pitch darkness, and a foul, rotting stench drifted out.

"This is the Forbidden Abyss!" Lin Yao said, shining light on the rock beside them.

Only then did Lin Qingyang see the words "Forbidden Abyss" carved into a huge rock nearby. How did I end up here?

"The Movement Technique follows your thoughts. Were your thoughts wandering just now?" Lin Yao asked.

Was it because I was thinking about Qi Mo? As Lin Qingyang recalled what had happened, a scream suddenly came from deep within the Forbidden Abyss.

Could someone be torturing Qi Mo again? Lin Qingyang frowned. Since he had stumbled upon it, he couldn't just ignore it.

He walked inside, lighting the way with his sword, but the moment he entered, a chill shot through every limb and bone, nearly driving him to his knees. He braced himself against the wall, barely managing to stay upright.

"Quick, use your spiritual power. Places like the Forbidden Abyss usually have magical arrays set up, both to torment the prisoners and to weaken anyone who enters. But their effects are usually reduced for members of the sect," Lin Yao explained.

Lin Qingyang guided the spiritual power within him through a full circuit of his body. Sure enough, the chill slowly dispersed.

As he followed the passage inward, the faint light fell on the surrounding stone walls, revealing runes covering them. These were probably the so-called arrays. Small cells enclosed by black iron bars lined both sides, never seeing daylight, with only cold, ghostly blue flames flickering within.

Lin Qingyang faintly heard curses coming from deep within the Forbidden Abyss. He followed the sound, and the voice grew clearer.

"Animal! Filthy bastard! Go on, bite me again! I'll rip your teeth out!" a voice cursed furiously, accompanied by the sounds of blows and muffled grunts of pain.

"Don't actually kill him," another voice cautioned.

"Don't worry. These filthy bastards have tough hides. They don't die that easily."

In the cold, gloomy cell, Qi Mo lay helplessly on the ground, unable to speak with a large handful of dry grass stuffed into his mouth. The disciple he had just bitten was still kicking him to vent his anger. His ears rang from the beating, leaving him unable to make out much of the cursing. He felt the person over him tearing at his clothes. Blood on his face obscured his vision, and through the blur, the other person drew closer and closer. Qi Mo tightened his grip on a sharp stone, waiting for the man to come a little nearer.

A white light suddenly flashed, and the two men pinning him down were instantly thrown off.

Lin Qingyang appeared out of thin air just like that, landing lightly with his robes billowing and placing himself in front of Qi Mo.

The two disciples slammed into the bars behind them and tumbled to the ground. They were Lei Guang and Lei Chen, Mo Yan's disciples, who had taken Qi Mo away from the main hall earlier. Both were disheveled; Lei Guang had even undone his trousers, and a bloody hole from the bite marked his wrist.

Lin Qingyang turned to Qi Mo, who lay facedown on the ground. Dry grass filled his mouth, his clothes had been torn to shreds, and blood and wounds covered his body. The sight sent anger surging through Lin Qingyang, and the Windflower Sword in his hand trembled violently with rage as well.

Lin Qingyang hurried forward, removed the bloodstained grass from Qi Mo's mouth, and wiped the blood from his face. Those wolf-like eyes looked at him, then Qi Mo suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and passed out.

Not far away, Lei Guang and Lei Chen struggled to their feet. Seeing that it was Lin Qingyang, they looked nervous for a moment. One look at the state of the two of them was enough to tell what had happened.

But Lei Guang's expression soon returned to normal, and he smiled. "What brings you here, Elder Lin?"

"If I hadn't come, how would I have seen what you've been up to?" Lin Qingyang said coldly.

"You've misunderstood, Elder Lin. This demon slave seduced us! He wanted us to let him go!" Lei Guang said.

"Y-yes, that's right!" Lei Chen caught on and echoed him.

Lin Qingyang had never concerned himself with such matters, and the Forbidden Abyss was under Ink Cloud Hall's jurisdiction anyway. Both men assumed a few casual excuses would be enough to send him away.

Yet Lin Qingyang's gaze was exceptionally sharp as he looked at them, and the anger radiating from him instantly subjected them to an oppressive force. As a lawyer, Lin Qingyang had never advocated one-sided violence, but right now, he truly wanted to hit someone.

Just as he was thinking this, the Windflower Sword in his hand shot out of its sheath and slashed mercilessly at the two men.

Lei Guang and Lei Chen hurriedly dodged, but the sword moved so fast it left afterimages. Unable to evade it in time, they both received several cuts. Though none struck vital spots, they suffered plenty. As the sword hacked at them, a woman's voice could also faintly be heard cursing.

"Aaaaah! You two pieces of trash! Scum! My wild, badass, impossibly cool villain-how dare you! Aaaaah! I'll hack you to death!"

Unable to bear the sword's torment any longer, Lei Guang shouted, "Elder Lin, we're disciples of Ink Cloud Hall! How can you punish us without authorization?! If our master finds out..."

Before he could finish, Lei Guang was struck in the face again by the flat of the Windflower Sword, leaving a bloody mark.

Seeing that Lin Yao did not actually intend to hack them to death, Lin Qingyang couldn't be bothered with them. He felt the person in his arms trembling and looked down to find Qi Mo's lips blue, as though he was terribly cold. It was probably the suppression of the Forbidden Abyss's arrays. He couldn't leave him here. Lin Qingyang took off his outer robe, wrapped Qi Mo in it, and scooped him up in his arms.

Meanwhile, Lei Guang had been beaten to the ground and could no longer get up when he saw the Windflower Sword thrust straight at his face. Just as it seemed about to pierce his head, the sword stopped a hair's breadth away. Before Lei Guang could catch his breath, it suddenly flipped around, and its hilt slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious.

The Windflower Sword moved closer to inspect Lei Guang. Once it confirmed he was unconscious, it turned toward Lei Chen, who had lost half his hair to its blade and was cowering in a corner. Seeing the sword slowly approach, Lei Chen screamed in terror and actually fainted from fright.

"Two useless idiots!" Lin Yao cursed, then returned to the sheath.

Holding the sword and carrying Qi Mo, Lin Qingyang vanished in a flash of blue light inside the cell.