午夜想想爱

Surrounded by large swaths of greenery, in the depths lay a huge cave that was more like a tunnel for an underground railway. The darkness made it impossible to peer at what was inside.

Outside the cave stood eight guards. Seven of them were standing straight, but one of them had a piece of straw clamped between his teeth. He sat on a boulder by the cave and the lazy fellow would take a sip of his wine every now and then.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two people flew over and descended from high above. Their motion stirred up some dust in the area. Yun Wanli and Su Ping had arrived.

“Mr. Principal?”

“Sir!!”

The guards were surprised by the Principal’s sudden appearance. The middle-aged man who was idling away jumped up with a start, hid his flask behind his back, and spat out that straw. He ran to Yun Wanli and adopted a tone with respect. “Sir, what brings you here?”

Yun Wanli asked the middle-aged man with a serious tone, “Feng Xiu, I know you’re in charge here. Did you see a student enter the cave a week ago?”

The man named Feng Xiu produced a forced smile. “Sir, you can’t be serious. This place is off-limits. I wouldn’t let any of those kids get in there. I always scare them away even if they come near me.”

“Shut up!”

Yun Wanli stopped the middle-aged man’s blabbering and snarled as he continued, “Did someone go inside a week ago?” That snarl came as quite a shock to Feng Xiu; the anger in Yun Wanli’s eyes scared him. He dropped to his knees and said, “Sir, please forgive me. I’ve failed my job. A week ago, there was a time when I happened to be away to take care of some matters; I heard that someone had broken in when I got back. I didn’t dare to go in there to chase after that student...”

Yun Wanli’s face was clouded. “Was it a girl?”

“Yes.” Feng Xiu lowered his head even more.

“Why did you not report it?”

Yun Wanli was furious. “Do you have any idea how the situation is inside? Any student would be doomed if they went in!”

“I, I was afraid that you would punish me...” Feng Xiu whispered. His head was lowered to the ground.

The other seven guards hurriedly got down on their knees and lowered their heads as well. No one dared to breathe for fear of being too loud.

They would naturally be more scared if the titled battle pet warrior Feng Xiu was frightened.

Anyone in the academy knew that the Principal was at the legendary rank and that he possessed mysterious powers.

“Afraid that I was going to punish you...” Yun Wanli was too angry for words.

At the same time, he felt powerless.

If Feng Xiu would have reported to him in time, he would have had the chance to go inside and search for Su Lingyue at once and still be alive. However, the fact remained that a week had passed. He was willing to go in there and help Su Ping look for his sister but he didn’t have much hope. Deep down in his heart, he believed that his sister had turned into a pile of bones.

Maybe not even bones.

Su Ping darted a glance at Feng Xiu. He had every intention to kill him but he stopped himself. He looked into the cave and said to Yun Wanli, “So, those are the Deep Caves.”

Yun Wanli turned to Su Ping and nodded. “Yes. It’s one of the entrances. The Valiant Academy has been guarding the entrance for a long time. Of course, we’re just guarding the entrance. The ones guarding the strategic passes inside are the legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower who are willing to risk their lives.” Su Ping nodded and made his way into the cave.

Feng Xiu was wondering who the man was, for him to speak to the Principal so casually.

A legendary battle pet warrior from the Tower? Curious as he was, Feng Xiu preferred not to raise his head. When he felt the two people were walking past him, his heart—which was at the moment caught in his throat-gradually returned to his chest. He turned his head and saw the Principal and the young man making their way toward the entrance. “Sir, are you going in?” Yun Wanli answered without looking back. “Stay here. I will talk to you after I come back.”

Feng Xiu no longer dared to utter another word.

The other seven guards kept their heads low and their foreheads were covered in cold sweat.

Su Ping had even thought that the seven guards were a little bit too nervous but he didn’t think much of it. The priority was to find Su Lingyue.

Whether dead or alive, he had to see her.

That idea made the killing intent surge in Su Ping’s heart.

“Fate Challenger Su, please be careful. There are a lot of beast kings in the Deep Caves and they are vicious.”

Shoulder to shoulder, Yun Wanli and Su Ping went into the pitch-dark cave. The Principal lifted his hand and a crystal that was giving off a white light appeared in his palm and the crystal lit up the cave. The cave extended into the distance and the walls were full of bumps and hollows. Every now and then they saw large claw marks; they could imagine how large the creatures had to be to leave marks like those.

The air was humid and foul, but there was nothing else noticeable.

“All the beasts inside are contained in the tunnels further in. We won’t see many beasts in this area, but there will be a few beasts running loose out here. Let’s check the strategic pass over there. We’ll ask the guards and see if they’ve seen your sister.”

Yun Wanli walked in front of Su Ping to show him the way while he said so.

Su Ping asked, “How many entrances are there to enter the Deep Caves?”

“Over a dozen, I suppose, scattered across the globe. Some entrances are deep in the ocean. Those entrances have been filled and leveled up by legendary battle pet warriors. After all, we cannot have people staying in the ocean all year round because there are more beast kings in the ocean than on land. Not even legendary battle pet warriors would survive that kind of environment.”

Yun Wanli continued as they made their way forward, “There are five entrances in our Subcontinent District, and this is one of them. We’re about a hundred thousand meters away from the tunnel inside.”

Su Ping frowned as he gazed at the meandering path going downward. A hundred thousand meters downward?

“How did the Deep Caves come into being?”

Yun Wanli shook his head. “That was a long, long time ago. I heard that the Deep Caves were here since the beginning of the astral pets era. It was said that the first generation of battle pet warriors expelled and drove all the powerful wild beasts into the Deep Caves. This is another theory that says the Deep Caves have always been here and that all the beasts were born in the Deep Caves. No one can tell which story is true, while it no longer matters, truth be told.”

Su Ping frowned in silence.

The only thing that could be heard was their footsteps. Yun Wanli held the crystal and explored the way. After passing a slope, they went deeper and deeper inside. After a while, Su Ping twitched his nose. He smelled blood.

He warned Yun Wanli at once, “There is blood.”

Yun Wanli was alerted. A swirl opened up behind him and from it flew out a beast king pet of the demon family.

The pet was seven to eight meters tall but small when compared to other beast kings. Su Ping was familiar to pets of the demon and undead families. He recognized right away that it was a Ghost Eye. The pet had the bloodline of the Void State and that one right there had yet to reach the Void State, only the Ocean State. At the Void State, the Ghost Eye would be about ten meters tall and could engage in close-quarter combat. Sleep and food were not the only things a beast king needed to reach the prime state. The pet would have to enjoy some precious pet food. If the pet could not reach the prime state while in its golden years, its condition would start to deteriorate and so would the combat strength.

“GO,” Yun Wanli said to his pet.

Whoosh! The Ghost Eye turned into a puff of dark mist that was dispersed towards the depth of the cave. The Ghost Eye had become an integrated part of the darkness. Su Ping understood that Yun Wanli had sent the Ghost Eye on a recon mission.

“Let’s go,” Yun Wanli said to Su Ping.

Su Ping nodded and moved along.

They covered some distances. Su Ping and Yun Wanli saw some bones that had turned snow white. The beasts must have been dead for long ages and every piece of flesh had been corroded.

The deeper they were into the cave, the stronger the smell of the blood was. All of a sudden, Yun Wanli stopped and turned over to Su Ping with an alert, “My big Eye beast told me that it’s dangerous up ahead!”

Su Ping frowned in confusion. “You said that this is the only way from the entrance and up ahead is the strategic pass. There are legendary battle pet warriors. How can it be dangerous?” Yun Wanli was baffled as well. Indeed, they were going to reach the strategic pass guarded by legendary battle pet warriors. Did his pet refer to the legendary battle pet warriors as the source of danger?

No, that could not be the case.

After all, the Ghost Eye was a beast king with a high level of intelligence; it could clearly distinguish between humans and beasts.