Chapter 288 – Jail
After being engulfed by the vortex, Lu Mingshu felt that she was fluttering in mid-air, as if there was no gravity for her to depend on.
She released a ray of mystic light, forming a protective cover around herself. She then stopped resisting and let the wind bring her to wherever it was going, an unknown destination.
The interior of the vortex was surprisingly peaceful, the total opposite of the roaring that she heard when she first saw it. It was so silent that Lu Mingshu could only hear her own breathing.
But Lu Mingshu didn’t take this time to relax. Instead, she observed the interior of it closely and estimated its speed. She even took out her watch to confirm the time it took.
The past few days, Lu Mingshu had been thinking hard. The water dragon tornado only seemed to appear when there were s.h.i.+ps around. At first, she didn’t really get why, but afterward, she realized that s.h.i.+ps that took this route usually belonged to aristocratic families, and they always had strong martial artists on board to escort them.
This set her thinking in a certain direction, and soon, she came up with a shocking conclusion; the water dragon tornado specifically targeted martial artists who had a lot of strength. The reason that only Xie Lianzhen went missing was that he was alone. He was in a rush, so he obviously wouldn’t have prepared much, and the speedboat he took wouldn’t have had much defense. On the other hand, all the other s.h.i.+ps were well-guarded and had strong defenses.
If her guess was right, then she could tell how good the other party was.
One would be more than ordinary if they could make a water dragon tornado that was so powerful, at least in the context of this world. Due to how martial arts developed throughout the years, not many martial artists possessed magical powers, not even Spirit Realms.
So, was the other party an a.s.similation Realm? Most likely not. To an a.s.similation Realm martial artist, a Harmonization Realm was like an ant to them, someone they could get rid of easily. During the past few days when Xiahou Shan was carrying out her search, she brought along with her numerous Spirit Realm martial artists, and no one met the water dragon tornado. Thus, Xie Zhanghui and Xiahou Shan didn’t take note of this detail.
This person was either a strong Spirit Realm martial artist that possessed some rare magical powers or an a.s.similation Realm who had a huge drop in ability and dared not offend any Spirit Realms, thus only targeting Harmonization Realms.
As for this water dragon tornado being a work of nature and Xie Lianzhen just being unlucky, it was impossible for Lu Mingshu.
This matter had too many patterns behind it. Even if it wasn’t a human behind all this, there was a reason why this was happening.
Therefore, she chose to come in just on her own, leaving Xie Zhanghui out there.
She had never personally experienced Xie Lianzhen’s true strength, but according to her estimation, as someone who was only one step away from the Spirit Realm despite his body condition and taking into account him going into obsession before, he was way stronger than her. Furthermore, he was crafty and smart. Thus, if he could escape on his own, he would have already done so.
Many days had pa.s.sed, yet he still didn’t get out, which meant that she and Xie Zhanghui would not make it out either if they entered. Thus, she forced Xie Zhanghui to stay behind so he could report to Xiahou Shan. Only then would her risk be worth it.
Lu Mingshu believed that, as someone who was able to do so well in Zhongzhou, she would surely get the gist of it and quickly send people to save her.
The strong wind started to weaken. Lu Mingshu took a glance at her watch, and before she knew it, she was thrown up in the air, tumbling in the air like a plastic bag. The impact was too frequent, and she felt her head going numb. In no time, her vision turned blurry, and she fainted.
She was still partially awake even if she had fainted. She still had vague awareness, and Lu Mingshu knew that, after some time, she was being carried and brought somewhere.
Lu Mingshu knew that she wasn’t lying on an ice-cold floor; it was something soft that she was on, and it felt like hay. She could faintly smell the gra.s.s and mud.
Throughout the process, she didn’t hear anyone speak.
Lu Mingshu guessed that there was no danger right now, so she put herself at ease and submerged into her sleep.
A person’s body would heal faster than normal when one was unconscious. Lu Mingshu wasn’t sure how long she was out, but the environment was still the same – the soft substance under her and the smell of gra.s.s and mud – as it was before she was fully unconscious.
She slowly opened her eyes. A simple and crude rooftop greeted her.
Lu Mingshu blinked her eyes. It had been a long time since she ever came across such a poor residence.
She sat up after taking in a deep breath. Other than a bit of nausea, she was fine.
Lu Mingshu scanned the place slowly. This was a small room about ten square meters, with a roof made out of wood and mud. The walls were made out of giant stones that hadn’t been polished, and she was indeed sitting on hay. Other than that, there was nothing else: a simple and crude room.
What was weird was that such a simple and crude room needed an iron gate – a refined one. There weren’t any handles, and the gate had a square opening that was covered in welded iron bars.
Lu Mingshu felt uneasy. Why does this look like a jail?
She stood up slowly and sneaked over to the gate, pus.h.i.+ng it hard, but it didn’t even budge. Lu Mingshu then tiptoed to look out, but all she saw was a stone wall. She then grabbed the iron bars and shook them hard with her mystic force, but the gate still didn’t even budge.
So, I’m locked in?
Realizing this, instead of panicking, Lu Mingshu felt relief.
This showed that she was right; Xie Lianzhen was kidnapped. It was just unknown whether he was alright and what situation he was in right now.
She bit her lips and pondered for a while before going back to lie down on the hay to rest.
The other party didn’t constrain her mystic energy, which showed that they were absolutely sure that she couldn’t get out of here.
Whatever then, let’s just counter every move that comes and see what happens.
Time pa.s.sed by slowly. After half a day of cultivating, she could hear footsteps.
From their footsteps, she could tell that they were people in their prime years and should be in the Harmonization Realm.
They were only three or four feet away from her cell when they suddenly stopped. What came afterward was the sound of chains, as if something was being pushed open. She could then hear them yelling, “Eat!”
The footsteps then got closer, now right next to her cell.
Clank. Chains were being removed again.
After a pause, the footsteps got closer, stopped after a bit, and repeated the same thing.
After two more times, they were finally at her cell.
The chain was removed and the iron gate was opened up. Somebody pushed in a wicker basket and yelled at her, “Eat!”
Lu Mingshu was already waiting at the door. When she took the basket, she scanned the faces of the two guys.
Both looked extremely fierce. One had scars on his nose. The other had a mole beside his mouth. Their clothing seemed like Beiming’s style, but somehow different too.
The time was too short, so she could only get a few glances before they left.
Lu Mingshu could then hear their conversation.
“That’s the new one, right?”
“Yes.”
“d.a.m.n calm, huh? She didn’t even ask anything.”
“I know, right?”
She listened closely to their conversation. There were only seven cells that were filled. If they were all single-person cells, then there were only seven people here. Had they all disappeared in Beiming? The water dragon tornado only got her and Xie Lianzhen this time, but Beiming was vast and complex, so a few people going missing was not even a small deal.
She pondered for a while before sitting back on the hay.
Her mouth opened in shock when she saw the contents in the basket. Not only was the portion big, it was fresh food with thick mystic energy, and it was still piping hot.
A prisoner is treated this nicely here?