The surrounding situation was unclear, and even if Feng Jin'er wanted to investigate, she could not move freely.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yuanjue suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes flashing with dazzling light.
Feng Fei's heart stirred. Although Yuan Jue had not yet broken through, his aura indicated that his cultivation had definitely improved.
The next moment, Yuan Jue's aura vanished without a trace. Feng Jin'er blinked, guessing that Yuan Jue must possess a unique technique for concealing his aura, which allowed him to evade her detection of his cultivation level.
"Fengfei, are you ready? We're going to that wonderful place!"
Yuan Jue suddenly spoke up, seemingly without any restraint in this place.
Although Feng Jin'er was surprised, she still nodded obediently.
"However, should we go and go find Xue Tuan and Ming Feng?"
"Don't rush for now. I sensed something with Mingfeng, and they are not in danger yet. You should also be able to sense Xue Tuan's situation."
Feng Jin'er's eyes flashed; she had forgotten that Feng Fei and Xue Tuan were bound by a blood pact. To dispel Yuan Jue's suspicions, Feng Jin'er had to pretend to sense things, and after a while, she feigned relief and said to Yuan Jue, "Xue Tuan is alright."
Yuan Jue smiled silently, but it made Feng Jin'er feel uneasy.
The ropes binding Yuan Jue suddenly came loose, scattering in pieces on the ground.
Feng Jin'er looked at Yuan Jue in surprise, as she had no idea when Yuan Jue had done these things.
Yuan Jue's right hand flashed with a ghostly light, and the ropes binding Feng Jin'er broke off one after another.
"Alright, let's set off!"
Yuan Jue stepped into the stone cell and placed his right hand on it. A gust of cold wind blew past, and Feng Jin'er saw that a deep, dark hole had suddenly appeared in the stone door. The hole grew larger and larger, with faint flashes of light within it.
"Come!"
Yuan Jue grabbed Feng Jin'er's hand and plunged into the black hole.
The next moment, Yuan Jue and Feng Jin'er arrived outside the stone prison.
The other prisoners stared blankly at Yuan Jue and Feng Jin'er, but after a while they lowered their heads, seemingly lost in thought.
"Is this a spatial technique?"
"Of course not." Yuan Jue grinned, a somewhat wicked smile. "How could I know such advanced stuff? This is just a little trick. If you're interested, we'll teach you after we get out of here."
“You said it yourself!” Feng Jin’er naturally wouldn’t give up such an opportunity. Although she had knowledge and abilities from earlier years, she had been missing for a long time and hadn’t had time to understand many things about this world before Yuan Jue found her.
Before the two had finished speaking, Yuan Jue disappeared from the spot with Feng Jin'er in his arms.
Actually, the two of them didn't disappear; they simply hid in the same spot.
Just as the two of them were talking, they heard light footsteps. Yuan Jue alertly pulled Feng Jin'er into hiding.
The footsteps approached from afar, paused briefly near the hiding place of Yuan Jue and Feng Jin'er, and then continued on their way without finding anything amiss.
Yuan Jue didn't rush to reveal himself. After a moment's thought, he took Feng Jin'er and followed the man.
It hovered low over the person from a distance, without attracting the person's attention at all.
Feng Jin'er, held by Yuan Jue, used her scattered divine sense to observe the surroundings. She even had the energy to spare a portion of her divine sense to investigate who the person in front of her was.
It was a woman with a graceful figure, a delicate and alluring back, and long, black hair cascading down her back, swaying gently with her steps. What surprised Feng Jin'er was that this person was none other than Sui Yu, who had led them into the private room and brought them here. However, her expression no longer held the youthful innocence and cleverness of before; instead, it possessed a chilling coldness.
If their faces weren't so similar, Feng Jin'er would definitely have thought this was just someone who looked remarkably like Suiyu.
But this person was indeed Suiyu, not only sharing the same spiritual energy, but also possessing an identical, unchangeable soul aura. Aside from their completely different temperament, the person was no different from the previous Suiyu.
Feng Jin'er told Yuan Jue her conclusions. Yuan Jue was currently trying to conceal himself and observe their surroundings, so he didn't have the energy to observe the person in front of them. Now, she and Yuan Jue were in the same boat; if things were unfavorable for either of them, they could unite against a common enemy!
After walking for a short while, Suiyu arrived at a well-lit place.
If Yuanjue hadn't clearly known that they had been descending deep into the cave along its path, he would have surely assumed this was some kind of extremely luxurious noble residence on the surface.
Yuan Jue and Feng Jin'er hid at the cave entrance and did not follow Suiyu into the main hall.
Deep within this hall stood a white jade bed, veiled by layers of pale gold curtains, the flickering light adding to its hazy ambiance.
Four sets of white jade tables and chairs were placed on either side of the main hall. Each stone table had a white jade lamp, as well as some writing brushes, ink, and paper. This place seemed to be a place for conducting official business—such a thought flashed through Feng Jin'er's mind.
There was no one else in this place. After entering, Suiyu walked behind the curtain, and it was vaguely visible that she was slowly taking off her clothes, her graceful and exquisite body appearing and disappearing.
Seeing this, Feng Jin'er subconsciously looked at Yuan Jue, only to see Yuan Jue staring straight at Suiyu's body, as if trying to see through the layers of curtains to peek at her fair and tender body. She immediately felt her blood rush to her head, and her hands involuntarily pinched the soft flesh on Yuan Jue's waist.
Yuan Jue was surprised by Feng Jin'er's skill. He snorted and, looking at Feng Jin'er, instantly led her to another hiding place.
Feng Jin'er's eyes showed anger and confusion. Yuan Jue knew that this was Feng Fei's influence on Feng Jin'er, and his unease calmed down a bit. He thought that Feng Fei would not be suppressed so easily, so his subsequent actions would have a greater chance of success.
Upon hearing the sound, Suiyu, who was behind the curtain, immediately put on another set of clothes and came to the curtain. After scanning around, she did not find anything amiss and had to suppress her doubts.
Just then, several more footsteps approached, accompanied by the sound of clothes fluttering in the wind, indicating that the person coming must be someone who had flown in.
Upon hearing the footsteps, Suiyu immediately put on a ferocious mask from her right hand.
The footsteps became clearer, and then four people arrived at the lobby.
The four bowed to Suiyu, saying, "Lord of the Pavilion."
Suiyu simply waved her hand and retreated behind the curtains, languidly reclining on the white jade bed.
The four people who arrived sat separately at four different tables and chairs.
Of these four, Yuan Jue and Feng Jin'er knew two of them—one was Wan Niang, and the other was Xian Niang, who had previously presided over the event at Gentle Water Village. The other two, the escort girls, were unfamiliar to Yuan Jue, but considering Wan Niang's conversation with Sui Yu, one of them was likely Jin Xiu.
The stepmother sat in the first position on the left, seemingly as the most honored person among the four.
"Master, those two have been imprisoned in the stone cell," Wan Niang reported respectfully, and sat back down after receiving a soft "hmm" from the Master.
At this moment, the woman sitting on the right, with her elegant bearing, stood up and said to the host, "Host, I checked the number of people before I came, and that girl, Suiyu, is missing again. Why do you always dote on that girl?"
Jinxiu's words were filled with resentment, and even more so with hidden jealousy and malice.
"Hmm?" The poster snorted. "Since when have I needed to explain my actions to you?"
The poster said something casually, but it startled the four women, including Wan Niang and Jinxiu, so much so that they knelt on the ground.
The other three remained silent, but Jinxiu replied fearfully, "Jinxiu was wrong!"
"It's good that you admit your mistake." The landlord had no intention of punishing Jinxiu. After Jinxiu admitted her mistake, he asked Wan Niang softly, "Have the arrangements for Le Quan's funeral been made?"
Upon hearing the host mention her beloved, Wan Niang's eyes immediately filled with tears: "Thank you for your concern, host. I have taken care of Quan Lang's matter." Wan Niang paused, biting her lower lip, as if she had made a great decision, and knelt before the curtain. "Please allow me to send Quan Lang back to his hometown. Quan Lang's greatest wish in his life was to serve his parents, but he has never been able to fulfill it. Now I hope that Quan Lang can have his wish fulfilled after his death."
The entire lobby fell silent instantly.
The three women, Xianniang, Jinxiu, and Xianniang, seemed surprised that Wanniang would make such a request—wasn't Wanniang's request tantamount to saying that their leader had imprisoned everyone and they couldn't escape? Wasn't Wanniang's request a direct slap in the face to their leader?
For a moment, the four maids, including Wan Niang and Xian Niang, were terrified, fearing that the Lord would become angry and punish them at any moment.
After a long while, the poster let out a long sigh, showing no sign of anger.
"I understand. You will take Le Quan back to your hometown in a few days, but I will only give you one month. Come back as soon as possible after you have settled things." The landlord surprisingly agreed to the stepmother's request very generously.
The maid was caught off guard and stared at the landlord in astonishment, seemingly unable to believe that everything she had heard was true.
Chapter Fourteen: The Hell of Boiling Oil
Perhaps it was Wan Niang's reaction that angered the landlord, for the landlord let out a soft snort, and Wan Niang felt a tightness in her chest.
"Alright, hurry up and finish what you're doing, then leave as soon as possible." The landlord seemed to have no more words to say, and then lay quietly on the white jade bed, his breathing gradually becoming steady.
The four women exchanged glances and then returned to their seats to handle their own affairs.
Yuan Jue led Feng Jin'er away slowly.
Before following Suiyu to this place, there was another fork in the road. Yuanjue smelled the unique tracking incense placed on Mingfeng. He had to find Mingfeng and Xuetuan first before he could do anything else.
Feng Jin'er was initially puzzled as to why Yuan Jue had retreated, but recalling the fork in the road they had encountered earlier, she realized that Yuan Jue probably wanted to enter through another fork. However, what she couldn't guess was why Yuan Jue wanted to go to that fork. If she hadn't sensed Yuan Jue's unfamiliarity with this place, she might have mistakenly thought that Yuan Jue had brought her in for another purpose.
Although curious, Feng Jin'er knew it wasn't the right time to speak, so she put aside her doubts and carefully observed the surrounding roads. This way, she could take timely and effective measures if anything happened.
Before long, the two arrived at the fork in the road they had come from before.
This fork in the road is a path led from the stone prison, which then splits into two paths. One path leads to where Suiyu and the others are, while the other path leads to the path with the scent of Mingfeng that has been tracking them for thousands of miles.
Without hesitation, Yuan Jue led Feng Jin'er onto another path.
There were no lights on this road, but faint glows moved among the stone walls, much like fireflies on a summer night.
Yuan Jue glanced at it curiously, and after sensing no danger, he quickened his pace.
Sensing that there seemed to be no danger around, Feng Jin'er whispered into Yuan Jue's ear, "Where are we going?"
“I can sense that Mingfeng is at the end of this road,” Yuanjue replied quickly.
After hearing Yuan Jue's answer, Feng Jin'er suddenly fell silent. If Yuan Jue were to ask her why she couldn't sense where Xue Tuan was, she wouldn't know how to answer.
Actually, Feng Jin'er was overthinking it. Feng Fei and Xue Tuan had signed an equal blood pact, which meant they could only sense whether the other was safe and sound, and could only sense whether the other was in the area within a certain distance, but could not sense the specific direction.
However, Feng Jin'er had to be cautious, because she knew that some peculiar blood pacts could indeed sense the exact location of the other party within a certain distance. She didn't know what kind of blood pact Feng Fei and Xue Tuan had made, and when these topics came up, she could only remain silent.
When Yuan Jue first met Feng Fei in Warrior Town, he sensed something was amiss with Feng Fei. He wasn't so bored as to probe Feng Jin'er with words. Therefore, Yuan Jue paid no attention to Feng Jin'er's current reaction, instead speeding up his journey towards Mingfeng.
The journey was extremely safe, with no serious issues except for the lack of light. However, the more safe it was, the more uneasy Yuanjue felt, and he gradually slowed down.
"Feng Fei, keep an eye on your surroundings. I'll do my best to get there." Left with no other choice, Yuan Jue could only ask this unknown "Feng Fei" for help.
Feng Jin'er did not refuse. At this moment, she and Yuan Jue were already in the same boat. If they did not help each other, she might also perish here.
Immediately, Feng Jin'er replied, "You should focus on traveling at full speed!"
As she spoke, Feng Jin'er summoned the black seal. Although the black seal could easily reveal her identity, there was nothing unusual about Feng Fei obtaining it. She hadn't planned for Feng Fei to get the seal; it was all a matter of chance. Therefore, the appearance of the black seal was not difficult to explain. Previously, she was simply unsettled, and he hadn't come looking for her, so in her panic, she subconsciously concealed the existence of the black seal.
Yuan Jue sensed the appearance of the black seal. His eyes flickered slightly, but then returned to normal.
At this moment, the magical artifact used by this imposter "Feng Fei" could greatly protect their safety, but it also meant that his subsequent actions would be somewhat hindered. Thinking of this, Yuan Jue couldn't help but start planning how to deal with this seal-like magical artifact first.
Despite Feng Jin'er and Yuan Jue being extremely vigilant and traveling at full speed, they unexpectedly encountered no trouble when they reached the end of the road. However, Yuan Jue felt that something was amiss and stopped at the end of the road.
Yuan Jue and his companion did not reveal themselves. Yuan Jue approached the wall and slowly extended his right hand. Upon contact, Yuan Jue recoiled as if electrocuted. Feng Jin'er clearly saw that Yuan Jue's right hand was charred black. Smelling the aroma of meat in the air, Feng Jin'er was horrified to discover that this seemingly ordinary stone wall possessed immense power.