Chapter 8 #8
Of the five girls present, one froze in outright alarm, another smirked in disbelief, and Lilly nodded, squeezing the frightened woman’s hand. “It will be all right. We’ll stick together and do this together. Just like we swore we would, the minute we got a chance to break free.”
“We can’t break free,” said a tired-looking girl with beautiful if strained features and a husky voice.
“You know that, right? The dung beetles who now rule this sect with an iron fist know where our families live. If they think for a second that we’re no longer obeying their every wish with a smile… ” She shivered.
Lilly clasped Alex’s hand, gazing up at him with wide, luminous eyes. “We’re in your hands, Alex. Can you really help us?”
It said something, how willing she was to trust a complete stranger while approaching the lip of the gazebo, about to fall into empty space.
She flinched, squeezing Alex tightly when he leaped.
“Lilly!” The youngest girl’s panicked cry became an awed gasp. “He’s doing it! He’s actually flying!”
The girl beside her nodded. “It isn’t the hashish… or if it is, I’m seeing it too.”
Within seconds he had completed the trip, Alex gently depositing his charge before returning for the other four.
The teary-eyed looks of wonder and gratitude he received from all of them touched his heart, though the closest girl implored him with her gaze.
“Please, hero. Don’t play the tragic fool, like in so many tales.
Give our stories a happy ending, if you possibly can?
Our families are in jeopardy if even one of those bastards escapes whatever it is you’re going to do. ”
Alex froze at those words, caught between five pairs of very intent stares. “Wait, you understand… how?”
Lilly chuckled softly. “Whatever magic you were using to disguise yourself faded when you took flight, hero.” She gave a rueful shake of her head.
“But really, I should have known. When you actually seemed to take an interest in me as a person. To care about a worthless harlot. And your name. That also sort of gave it away.”
Alex did his best to ignore the sudden heat in his cheeks.
“I see. Well, let’s just say I’m not quite the idealistic fool I once might have been.
” He flashed a bleak smile. “These days, I tend to be thorough. If all goes according to plan, you and your families won’t have anything to worry about at all. ”
“Alex!”
“Yes, Lilly?”
“There are other girls who work here. Lots of girls. You saw them downstairs, right? Please, be careful.”
“Trust me, Lilly. They won’t even know I’m here.”
With those words, Alex leaped off the roof, racing through the air to the rear of the building, Lilly having conveyed through mapsign as much about the inner-workings of the massive manor-like building serving as the local purple pavilion as Alex had about where they could meet in the future.
He strove for absolute quiet when he discreetly slipped behind the one tired-looking sentinel guarding the back entrance.
Yet he refused to make a single move against the man until he had confirmed his worst suspicions twice over, as the man leaned back and cursed his boredom, before taking a sip from a small silver flask.
Stealth check made.
Your foe has no idea that death stalks him from behind!
The Bronze suffered from a corrupt foundation, a consequence of embracing quick power for a body that would age far faster than most Bronze, even if slower than the average mortal.
But it was clear from the way the man was rubbing his joints and cursing in the soldier’s cant favored by Dongfang Hong’s troops that he was already regretting having to pay the tab of an impulsive youth who had once been so willing to get strong at any cost.
But not nearly as much as he regretted the feel of sharp steel piercing the base of his spine before he collapsed in a boneless heap… and then he regretted nothing at all.
You have successfully slain Rank 2 Bronze Cultivator (Deviant Cultivation) with Fangtian Ji.
Experience earned.
Potency Mastery is now in effect.
Alex furrowed his brow, surprised to find the back door locked… and that the guard lacked any key.
Fortunately, Alex’s mastery of Water now saturated with Dark Qi allowed him to feel out the tumbler and align all the pins to their sheer point, before turning the handle with a silent click.
You have successfully unlocked Reinforced Door!
You have successfully countered Poison Needle Trap.
Lock Picking is now Rank 5!
Alex paused for a moment, allowing the wind’s whispered secrets and his heightened Qi Perception to give him a surprisingly clear sense of the chamber just beyond.
From what he could tell, no one was around. At least, not in the foyer just beyond the doorway.
Of course, he knew better than to take that as a given in the heart of what was effectively JiangHu territory that had been completely overrun by the Dongfang Hong’s agents.
Alex took a deep breath, senses on high alert as he stepped inside.
Because whether any hue or cry had been given, the hour was even later than he and his friends had thought, and Nili was in dire peril.
Alex just hoped he could get to her in time.