Chapter 215 - Bad News
There were about 11 people standing in the room near the Rift.
They were divided into 3 groups with three people in the 1st group, five in the 2nd and two in the last one.
In front of the rift was a middle-aged man with a thick beard, standing beside a blood-covered young man who was passed out on the ground. There was a female next to him that was tending to his injuries.
The middle-aged man was smiling sheepishly with a gourd in his hand, from which he would take sips every few seconds.
To the left were the three people dressed in black clothes. The leader was a young man of about 25 years of age. His eyes were closed and it didn't even look like he was breathing. He wasn't exceptionally good looking but one couldn't take his eyes off of him due to the strange presence he exuded. The two next to him were much older men that looked to be in their 40's.
To the right was the group of five. They were all dressed in white leather armor. At the front was their leader, a man of about 30 years of age. Behind him were four older men with sharp eyes.
The streams of aurae they were releasing were so strong that a normal human being would simply pass out from pure pressure.
All of them were waiting in front of the rift.
Some time passed and the rift's smooth glass-like surface rippled as one person after another stepped out. All of them were covered in blood to some degree. At the front was a stretcher being carried with a pale young girl laying atop it with closed eyes.
As soon as the stretcher came out, the young man in black garments abruptly opened his eyes. All the light in the surrounding dimmed for a split-second before returning to normal.
The people holding the stretcher saw the young man and visibly shook. Some of their expressions turned worse as they quickly brought it in front of him.
"Young master, the princess has been poisoned!" one of the men bowed as he pointed at the girl.
The girl was obviously Ma Yu. The young man was her cousin, Ma He. He was one of the several people in the younger generation that had managed to break through to the profound realm at such a young age.
He got closer to Ma Yu and checked her injuries.
He waved his hand and the two older men behind him came forward and quickly carried her off into one of the nearby buildings.
He then looked up and squinted upon seeing Shi Chun walkout.
Shi Chun was also in bad condition. He had several injuries and looked exhausted.
As soon as he walked out the five people in white leather armor ran up to him.
"Shi Chun, are you okay?!" the leader asked as he inspected his injuries.
"Yes uncle, I'm fine. But the elders..." Shi Chun's face lit up as he looked at the leader, who was his uncle Shi Yating.
"Little Shi brat," just as Shi Chun was about to tell Shi Yating what had happened, Ma He's eerily calm voice came from the other side of the room, "Why is our princess in such a state?"
Shi Chun was surprised at the sudden query.
Shi Yating frowned and came in between him and Ma He, "Ma He, you do not have the authority to ask anything from the Shi Clan's members!"
"Hoh, is that so?" Ma He smiled and extended his hand. Shi Yating's expression turned serious as he took out his own sword.
*Cough*Cough*
"Why don't we all calm down? I believe you both are here because you got the news. Let's not jump to conclusions eh?" the middle-aged man in the middle took a swig from his gourd smilingly.
This middle-aged man was a general of the Mei Kingdom named Gong Zan. He was sent here when the first Spirit Realm experts of the Ma and Shi Clan died.
These big clans always had means of finding out whenever something happened to their people and as soon as they did, the Mei Kingdom was contacted and asked for an explanation.
Both the clans sent people over to get an explanation and were waiting for them here.
Ma He went into deep thought for a second before he retracted his hand.
"Hmph," Shi Yating sheathed his sword as well.
He turned towards Shi Chun and asked, "What happened in there?"
But before he could answer, the rift rippled for the last time and cracked, before vanishing back into space.
The last person had stepped out.
*Cough*
"Hahaha, can't believe that worked!" Hao Xuan laughed while coughing out a few mouthfuls of blood.
"A-Are you okay?" Zeng Wu's worried voice came from the side.
Hao Xuan nodded while sitting down on the ground, "Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Take care of your own injuries first."
"What was with the message you wanted me to deliver to the First captain?" Zeng Wu asked curiously.
He thought Hao Xuan was going to do something reckless but everything ended up fine.
"That was just to throw off that guy's senses. Even though he couldn't understand us, but since he was at the Profound realm he still would have known something was up. I had to say those things just for him," Hao Xuan explained proudly.
When the barrier covering the rift had opened, a light appeared out of nowhere and covered everyone within. Time seemed to have slowed down for everyone inside the light as they made their way through the rift before the giant insect arm could reach.
Hao Xuan used a variation of 'Last strike of Samsara' on the area around him. It wasn't aimed at the insect arm at all, even though it seemed like that.
The only problem they were facing was that they wouldn't have enough time for everyone to go through because of the figures incoming attack, so he used that Strike of Samsara to slow down the surrounding environment.
The 'Last strike of Samsara' was the defining technique of a very peculiar race. It couldn't be used to time travel, but with enough power, slowing or speeding up time wasn't an impossible task, which is exactly what Hao Xuan did.
He managed to drag out 3 actual seconds for 20 seconds, barely making it into the rift himself before it collapsed under the figures attack.
"Are you the leader?" A voice came from behind Hao Xuan.
He turned around and saw Ma He glaring down at him.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" he replied in the same tone. This guy who he had never seen before suddenly came out of nowhere and started questioning him, so Hao Xuan didn't take very kindly to him either.
"What happened in there?" Ma He asked.
"Why do I have to tell you anything?" Hao Xuan frowned while looking around. They were back in the beast world but he didn't recognize anyone other than the people that came through the rift with him.
Ma He smiled like he was hoping for that answer. He extended the index and middle finger of his right hand and a dark Qi took shape.
Gong Zan sighed and spoke again, "Young master He, why don't you let the young captain first explain what happened?"
Ma He's smile froze as he remembered where he was. He was told specifically not to pick a fight so he was hoping someone would start one with him, but apparently, that wouldn't be so easy.
After some clarification from Gong Zan, Hao Xuan explained everything he knew, which wasn't much. Zeng Wu who was near him filled in the blanks and told them what happened.
Gong Zan's expression turned worse when he found out what happened. There was still a different group inside the rift but if what they said was true, then they might not be coming back.
"Young master Ma, Master Yating, since you now have your explanations, you must excuse us," Gong Zan smiled towards both parties and snapped his fingers.
A group of medics entered the room and started treating everyone. Zeng Yu was the first to be taken out as he was in the worst condition.
"Captain, please follow me," Gong Zan said telepathically to Hao Xuan and walked out.
He led him to a building at the edge of the camp and handed him a document.
"You need to leave right now. Stay away from all military institutions. The great general is waiting for you back at the city. Go directly to him."
"What? What's going on??" Hao Xuan was bewildered. He had so many questions.
Gong Zan smiled wryly, "Two weeks ago the Jia kingdom launched its first attack on Mei. We...are at war...."