Chapter 1457: Stone Cave Prison (Part I)

Hu Xiaotian had already arrived in the northwest courtyard, but he saw the wolf pack part to form a passage; Yan Huyou seemed utterly unwilling to linger in battle, riding his black tiger through the passage and charging straight toward the stone chamber ahead.

Hu Xiaotian wanted to follow and rush into the stone chamber, but more than ten blue wolves blocked the chamber's door; accompanied by a strange shout, the ten-plus blue wolves simultaneously pushed off the ground with their hind legs, leaping up and lunging at Hu Xiaotian, whose body was still airborne.

Hu Xiaotian saw clearly; he kicked one blue wolf's lower jaw, the wolf let out a miserable "Ao!" and flew sideways, slamming into the wall, its brains bursting instantly, blood flooding the ground; his long sword danced in his hand, and he cut two nearby blue wolves in half at the waist.

The remaining blue wolves missed their target and fell to the ground one after another, while Hu Xiaotian seized the moment, darting into the stone chamber; upon entering, he discovered there was indeed a secret: this stone chamber was built against the mountain rock, and on its rear wall there was a mountain cave about two zhang wide and three zhang high; from the outside one could not tell that inside lay another world; Beast Demon Yan Huyou had clearly fled into this stone cave.

Hu Xiaotian had no time to think further; he only wanted to catch up to Yan Huyou and kill him; if Hu Buwei's information was correct, then his maternal grandfather Xu Lingkong was most likely trapped here; he steeled himself and strode into the stone cave.

Outside, four Beast Tamers directed the wolf pack and the birds in the sky to fight; under their command, the wolves coordinated and supported each other steadily, gradually stabilizing their formation, controlling the situation, and launching a full counterattack; for a moment the birds suffered heavy casualties, their formation began to disintegrate; just then a heavy rain finally fell, a vast black cloud mass suddenly descended upon Sword-Washing Mountain Villa.

Several Beast Tamers looked up and saw that it was not a cloud layer at all, but a flock of birds; atop the flock stood a young man directing the birds to strike downward; the birds surged down like a torrential flood; a huge blue wolf had no time to react before being lifted by the flock to a height of over ten zhang, then scattered as the birds dispersed; the blue wolf lost its support and screamed as it plummeted from the air, crashing to the ground, its brains bursting, it died on the spot; this blue wolf was the pack's leader; after the leader was slain, Xia Zhangming let out a series of shouts from his throat, like a tiger's roar; the blue wolves that had been poised to attack all froze; although Xia Zhangming excelled at controlling birds, that did not mean he could not control beasts, only that his skill in beast control was perhaps inferior to that of Beast Demon Yan Huyou, yet far superior to that of his underlings; after slaying the leader, Yan Huyou was not present, and controlling those headless wolves was no trivial matter for Xia Zhangming.

The Beast Tamers exerted all their strength, howling incessantly; they drove the blue wolves to attack again, but the blue wolves suddenly turned on them, their eyes bloodshot, shooting out ruthless ferocious light, accompanied by Xia Zhangming's furious roar; dozens of blue wolves simultaneously charged at the Beast Tamers.

While Xia Zhangming controlled the outside situation, Hu Xiaotian had already followed Beast Demon Yan Huyou deep into the mountain cave; the cave descended, inside it was dark and lightless; Hu Xiaotian's extraordinary night vision played a huge role in such an environment, allowing him to still discern details inside the cave.

At first the cave went straight ahead, but after advancing about two li, countless branches appeared; the cave became a labyrinthine network, and the trail of Beast Demon Yan Huyou had vanished ahead; Hu Xiaotian strained his ears, but even with his superb hearing he could not sense Yan Huyou's position; it seemed this fellow had fled far away; Hu Xiaotian dared not go deeper, and also worried that Xia Zhangming outside could not hold out alone, so he decisively decided to retreat from the cave.

When Hu Xiaotian entered the cave, he had considered everything carefully; at each easy-to-lose-direction spot he carved a mark with his long sword; just as he began to leave, he heard a mournful wail not far ahead; the voice was clearly that of an old man; Hu Xiaotian's steps halted involuntarily—could his maternal grandfather be imprisoned here?

The wail sounded again; Hu Xiaotian followed the sound, walking about half a li, when the voice grew clear, just below and to his right; Hu Xiaotian found a stone hole on the wall, peered inside, and saw iron chains crisscrossing, a disheveled old man with tangled hair bound by iron chains, his burly body spread-eagled and suspended midair.

Although he could not see the old man's face clearly, Hu Xiaotian could tell this person was certainly not his maternal grandfather; the man was tall and burly, and his voice was completely different from his grandfather's; for some unknown reason he had been imprisoned in this lightless stone cave.

Hu Xiaotian searched the surroundings and soon found an opening large enough for him to pass freely; but after only a few steps, the forward path ended; that old man was suspended in midair in this mountain cave, below him a pitch-black abyss of unknown depth.

Hu Xiaotian called out loudly: "Hey, who are you?"

The old man's eyes were already blind; hearing a voice, his emotions suddenly became agitated; he roared: "Shangguan Tianhuo, you treacherous villain, you dare harm me thus; if I ever fall into your hands, I will surely eat your flesh and drink your blood to quell the hatred in my heart!"

Hu Xiaotian heard him cursing Shangguan Tianhuo and secretly wondered who this person was, to have been reduced to this state by Shangguan Tianhuo; he could not help but think of his own maternal grandfather, perhaps his grandfather's plight was no better than this man's.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Who are you? I am not a member of the Beggar Sect, and Shangguan Tianhuo is also my enemy."

The old man laughed loudly: "Indeed, one scheme fails and another arises; to trick me out of those three staff techniques, you have racked your brains, leaving no stone unturned."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Old sir, are you suffering from persecution delusions? Why would I deceive you? I have come to rescue someone, though not you; I wish to ask about a person—do you know an elderly beggar surnamed Xu?"

The old man hesitated at the words: "Xu…"

Hu Xiaotian said: "His personal name is Xu Lingkong; I heard he is trapped here, so I came specially to rescue him; but this cave is layered and layered, I cannot find his whereabouts; if you are willing to help show me the way, I will repay your kindness by setting you free—how does that sound?"

Only then did the old man believe this young man had not come for him personally, though he still harbored doubts: "What is his full name?"

Hu Xiaotian saw no need to conceal: "Do you know Xu Lingkong?"

Upon hearing the name Xu Lingkong, the old man's heart jolted: "I naturally know him; he is the chief transmission skill elder of our Beggar Sect."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Then who are you?"

The old man said: "My surname is Qiao, my given name is Fangzheng."

"What?" Hu Xiaotian felt astonished; Qiao Fangzheng was one of the Four Transmission Skill Elders of the Beggar Sect, and also the master of the Beggar Sect's young sect leader Shangguan Yun Chong; it seemed Shangguan Yun Chong had grown up beside him since childhood; wasn't it said he had already died? Why was he still alive, and moreover imprisoned in this lightless stone cave? The old man's identity should be beyond doubt; having fallen to such a state, he should have no need to lie; recalling his earlier words, his present plight must have been caused by the father and son Shangguan Tianhuo.

Qiao Fangzheng said: "Young man, you probably made this trip in vain; Xu Lingkong is already dead."

Hu Xiaotian's heart shuddered; why would Qiao Fangzheng say such a thing? His maternal grandfather's martial prowess was extraordinary—how could he be so easily harmed by a villain? Yet Qiao Fangzheng had himself fallen to this state; he should have no reason to deceive himself.

Qiao Fangzheng said: "You need not doubt; I witnessed his death with my own eyes."

"Who killed him?"

Qiao Fangzheng said: "If I told you, you would no longer care about my affairs; if you want to know who killed him, you must first rescue me." He was no fool; of course he knew he had to seize this rare opportunity; if he missed it, perhaps he would never again see the light of day.

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "All right!" He leapt into the air and landed on the iron chain above Qiao Fangzheng; Qiao Fangzheng's four limbs were locked to four iron chains, and his neck also bore an iron ring linked to the chain.

A pair of his shoulder blades had been pierced through by iron hooks, the perpetrator truly cruel; yet from another angle this also shows the fear they held for Qiao Fangzheng, the Beggar Sect's transmission skill elder.

Hu Xiaotian raised his long sword and first cut the iron chain binding Qiao Fangzheng's shoulder blades, then severed the chains restraining his four limbs one by one; finally only the chain locking his right wrist remained; Hu Xiaotian first grabbed that chain, letting Qiao Fangzheng cling tightly to his body, while he himself clamped his legs around it, using the chain to swing back and forth, waiting for the right moment, then with one stroke severed the chain, bringing Qiao Fangzheng's body down onto the protruding rock opposite—exactly the spot where he had first entered.

Qiao Fangzheng had not seen sunlight for a long time; his hair was disheveled, his body filthy, exuding a foul stench; his eyes had sunk deep, the eyeballs gone, leaving only two deep sockets; Qiao Fangzheng had thought he would spend the rest of his life in this lightless rock cavern, but never expected someone would come to rescue him; for a moment he was overjoyed, spreading his arms and laughing wildly.

Hu Xiaotian saw his frenzied appearance and felt a twinge of worry; Qiao Fangzheng must not become overly excited from escaping his cage, lest he cannot bear the stimulation and go mad, which would be troublesome; he reached out, pressing his thumb against an acupuncture point on Qiao Fangzheng's back, intending to use inner energy to calm him; but upon contact he felt a surge of powerful latent energy erupt spontaneously; Hu Xiaotian was unprepared, his finger was shaken away; he secretly wondered: Qiao Fangzheng had supposedly transferred all his inner energy to Shangguan Yun Chong, so why does his body still harbor such formidable inner energy? Could the outside rumors be untrue?

Qiao Fangzheng was not deliberately using inner energy; it was the natural self‑protective reaction of a top‑level expert; knowing Hu Xiaotian meant him no harm, he apologized guiltily: "Benefactor, please do not blame me; having just regained my freedom, I am inevitably excited; my earlier lapse was offensive; I hope the benefactor will not hold it against me."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You have been imprisoned for so long, yet your inner energy remains formidable."

Extra chapter! (To be continued~^~)