Chapter 309-310


    <b>309: The Old Castle</b>


    Once Oli joined the group, the four of them marched carefully forward together.


    It was a strange ind. There was arge forest, but there wasnt a single animal sound  no animal roars or insect chirps; the only sounds came from the ocean and waves. It felt dead.


    Despite not encountering any danger as they climbed up the mountain path, they remained vignt. They didnt dare take the ind lightly.


    They came upon some human bones after climbing for half an hour.


    Oli pointed to arge stone next to the bones. Look! There are words on this. A line of text was carved on the bottom part of the stone. It looked like it had been done a long time ago.


    What does it say?


    The girls immediately crowded around the stone.


    The writing is too old. Its written in Common but only a few of the words are still legible. Most of the text had been blurred with time, but Oli read the parts he could still recognize. Look here... here is the enemy...kill...none will escape...


    The words made everyone anxious. It really wasnt a good ce.


    Well lets keep going. Liana said.


    Thats the only thing we can do. They couldnt retreat. They had no boat and their powers were sealed. There was no choice but to keep moving forward and hope to find a way out.


    They had awoken on the beach to find their powers sealed and were now ordinary people without ess to their cultivated abilities.


    The discovery of the bones left everyone rattled, but they had to keep going. No one spoke, so the group moved silently onward.


    They reached the highest point on the ind an hourter. An obviously old, dpidated castle sat at the top.


    They stood outside, not sure if they should enter. Since it was the only building in sight, they ultimately decided to go in.


    Besides, they needed a ce to rest anyway.


    The broken doors opened with a horrendous squeak. They looked around the interior and found a surprise.


    There were four other figures in the castle!


    People! eximed Mia. She automatically stepped in front of Liana in a protective pose.


    Senior Ming Xi! Jier! Ink! Leo! Feng Wu ran over.


    Xiao Wu! Ming Xi grabbed Feng Wu by the shoulders and hugged her. It was clear he was happy to see her.


    Jier let him hug Feng Wu for a while before squeezing Ming Xi out and giving Feng Wu a huge hug. He inspected her from head to toe.


    Good, good, youre OK. I was so worried when I couldnt find you after I woke up. Im so d youre OK. I can finally be at ease. Jier had been worried something had happened to Feng Wu. He really did love the girl like a little numbskull sister.


    Having been squeezed out of the picture, Ming Xi could only look on at the two of them interacting. For the first time in his life, Ming Xi felt the diforting sensation of feeling sour.


    Xiao Wu, I knew you had to be on the ind. If we hadnt been trapped in this castle, we would have gone out looking for you!


    Ink and Leo both stepped forward.


    Feng Wus teammates werent the only ones inside the castle. Two more of Lianas guards were there as well. Liana had left with more than just three guards, but these three were the only ones to be found so far. The others, who knew if they were alive or dead.


    There were others in the castle as well, including Boss Hart, who was the ships owner, Emoke, who was the head of his hired mercenary guard, and Meijei, who was Emokes second inmand. Then there were Mofeis twopanions, Myron and Tang, as well as five more people Feng Wu didnt recognize.


    What do you mean by that? The wording had made Lianas heart beat fast.


    Quite literally, you can enter but you cant leave. Ink replied.


    Mia turned to look at the other two guards. Their expressions were heavy as they nodded. Ink wasnt lying.


    Liana was unwilling. She walked to the door and tried it, but despite its dpidated appearance, it would not budge.


    Dont bother little sister. Weve all tried. We wouldnt be trapped here if we could leave, sneered a middle-aged woman. She looked unattractive and arrogant with adys saber in her hand.


    Liana ignored her. She tried a few more times before giving up and returning to her guards.


    Xiao Wu, where were you when you woke up? Jier guided Feng Wu to a seat on an old sofa. Ming Xi and the others also gathered around and took a seat.


    The beach. Feng Wu proceeded to retell exactly what happened after she woke up.


    Jier shared his story. We woke up in different ces then. I woke up in a tree halfway up the mountain. I wanted to go to the top of the mountain to survey the area but never expected to be trapped inside the castle. No matter what I did, I couldnt leave. More people kepting in, but none of them could leave either.


    Feng Wu learned that everyone woke up in different ces. The only ones tond near each other were Leo and Ink, so they were rtively lucky.


    Ink looked to Ming Xi expectantly. Senior Ming Xi, can you tell where we are?


    I cant tell. Ming Xi shook his head. The ind didnt fit the description for any ce he had read about. He knew more about the inds surroundings from what Feng Wu shared, but it didnt make the ind any easier to identify.


    <b>310: A Mysterious Man Appears</b>


    It was the strangest ind. You couldnt see they out of the ind even when you stood on the highest point. Instead, all you saw was the sea; it obscured everything.


    Feng Wu and her group had encountered the same thing. Back when they were on the beach, they hadnt seen the castle, even though it was situated on the highest part of the mountain. All they had seen were the woods and nothing else.


    The old castle appeared once they climbed to the top of the mountain. It appeared so suddenly, but yet looked like it had always been there.


    Everyone, this isnt getting us anywhere. Maybe we can find a way out if we search for clues around the castle. Boss Hart said after pping to get everyones attention.


    Yeah, we cant just sit here. We need to look for a way out.


    What Boss Hart said made sense, so everyone agreed to search for clues.


    It was a big castle with dozens of rooms divided amongst three floors. Multiplied by three... there were over a hundred rooms to search.


    They needed to split up. The group of twenty separated with a few going to each floor.


    Feng Wu opened the door to one of the rooms. It looked like it had was cleaned every day, so it was in surprisingly good condition. There was a sofa, wardrobe, vanity table, and a bed with freshly made sheets.


    Feng Wu only frowned a little at the condition of the room before she went about searching for clues.


    The first thing they needed to figure out was where they were. They couldnt allow even the smallest clue to escape.


    Feng Wu diligently searched the room, looking in all the drawers, under the sheets, and even the carpet.


    She went from one room to the next, asionally seeing the others in the hallway. They would say hello and ask about each others progress before resuming their search.


    The first floor had been assigned to Ming Xis group and one other male mage. No one knew him so they didnt chat other than to ask about their progress. Despite spending all that time searching, they failed to find any clues.


    Thirty rooms and still nothing!


    Ming Xis group returned to the lobby in disappointment.


    The group assigned to the second floor had returned before they did.


    Did you have any luck? Jier asked the other group.


    Liana shook her head. We went through every room but found nothing.


    They could only pin their hope on the third floor. Maybe that group would have good news.


    Hart and the others came down five minutester. He didnt seem surprised at finding the other group already there.


    Boss Hart, did you find anything?


    A dozen people looked to Harts group expectantly as they hoped for good news.


    No, nothing.


    His words cut off theirst strand of hope.


    How can this be?! Are we really trapped here?! Someone groaned as he clutched his head.


    No one talked. Since their abilities were sealed, they were just ordinary people. They would starve to death if they couldnt leave.


    Everyone is aware there is no escape...


    The groups expression changed drastically at the sound of the elderly voice. Ming Xi unconsciously moved to protect Feng Wu behind him. The others also shifted into a defensive stance despite being sealed.


    Who are you?! Are you the one keeping us all here?! What are your intentions?! Emoke, head of the mercenary group, yelled out to the invisible man.


    Boss Hart couldnt help but roar out as well. Yeah! Who are you and why have you locked us up in here?!


    Yeah! What do you want! Out with it!


    While many people became excited and were asking questions, a few remained silent.


    OK, be quiet and listen to me. The old voice resonated again after the noise died down. Wee everyone, this is my ind. I call it Death ind because of all the people who died here after being swept ashore by the ck tornado. Those that died on the beach have stained the sand red, so red that it has turned ck.


    You killed them? Liana rified.


    No. No. I would never kill anyone. No. They killed themselves. If youre lucky enough toplete something for me, Ill let you leave. If you are unlucky, youll end up like the person over there still on the beach.


    A vision of a person appeared. It was the guy who refused to enter the ind with Feng Wu and the group. Zha was standing on the beach with a dazed look on his face. Suddenly small red bugs burrowed up from the sand and began devouring the things on the beach.


    It was impossible to tell where the bugs came from, but they easily devoured everything on the beach  including Zha. He screamed horrifically as he was eaten bit by bit.


    The group watched as bugs devoured a live human being, bones and all. The cruel scene left everyone with a sense of pity for the poor guy.


    OK, you have all seen how that fellow ended. You will end up just like him if you fail.


    What do you want us to do? asked Jier.


    This person, they didnt know how strong he was, where he came from, or even his name, but they knew one thing with certainty  he was strong. While on the ind, he was invincible. What could someone like that want from them? What could he want them to aplish for him?