Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Chapter Forty Two Entering The Stronghold

Engraved in the middle of the jade pieces was a moon. When the moonlight shone onto the jade pieces, an aperture gradually condensed where the moon engravement once was. The moonlight passed through the stone and cast onto the wall acting as a barrier. Gradually, the wall melted away and a white European style door appeared.

Behind them, Que watched the scene in front of him and his eyes showed shock. The twenty snow guards behind him all found it hard to disguise their astonishment. But they quickly collected their expressions and their blank faces returned, after all, they had undergone extremely cruel training in order to become snow guards. Therefore, their ability to bear surprises was much better than others. They cautiously stared at the door and mentally prepared themselves for anything they could possibly face once they enter through that door.

As the door slowly opened, all of the snow guards stopped breathing as their bodies practiced martial law. What was strange was that there was nobody behind the door. Perhaps it was because nobody had anticipated that they would attack at night, nor did they figure that they would be able to bypass Blue Snow Stronghold’s barrier, so they neglected to have someone defending currently.

In fact, these guesses had some merit. Blue Snow Stronghold’s door can only be opened during the day and the stronghold’s people all believed that their home’s secret barrier caused it to be hard to enter. But in actuality, they thought too highly of themselves. Even though Mu Yalun instructed everyone to practice martial law, Blue Snow Stronghold’s people were too arrogant. They only assigned one guard to defend the door and at this late hour, that guard most likely had grown lazy and left. Or perhaps there were other reasons within this situation.

Sure enough, a white clothed person suddenly appeared in front of the door. The snow guards immediately prepared to shoot him dead but they were stopped in their tracks by Xue Yunge with a wave of his hand. The white clothed person walked a few steps toward them and respectfully bent down and quietly greeted, “Guo meets Masters!”

“How is it?”

Skipping past the formalities, Xue Yunge asked the only question that his heart desperately wished to know.

“Young Miss is in the prisons, please follow subordinate down there Masters.” When he said this, Nuo didn’t move to lead them down, instead he cast a glance at all the snow guards and said, “The snow guards aren’t allowed to come.”

“Heng! Who do you think you are Nuo? Why should we listen to you?” One of the snow guards immediately asked back. Nothing but a minor shadow actually dared to act like this and order him to do something.

“Today, this subordinate switched places with the patrol that was supposed to be on duty, just to be able to meet Masters. Blue Snow Stronghold is currently practicing martial law and it’s very strict. This subordinate suggests for the snow guards to conceal themselves first. If there’s too much people, we may accidentally alert the enemy before we’re ready.” Nuo said these words, acting neither servile nor overbearing. When he calmly finished speaking, he stood in place, not showing any indication that he would lead them down to the prisons. It was clear that they must leave the snow guards outside.

Xue Yunge and Xue Zhuyue turned to look at each other. Pretty and flirtatious purple eyes met watery and a tossing billows green eyes. A strange look streaked across both of their eyes. Immediately after, Xue Yunge turned around to instruct the snow guards, “You guys stay outside first and wait for orders. Without our orders, you aren’t allowed to enter the stronghold.”

Que knowingly nodded his head, “This subordinate will do as instructed.”

“This matter has been settled. Nuo, can you bring us in now?” Xue Zhuyue coldly opened his mouth to ask Nuo. Towards this Nuo, his heart would never accept him. This type of person’s intentions weren’t pure, he couldn’t be someone from Xiu Luo villa. There was something in here that would soon be exposed. Watery and billowy eyes darkened, they were serene and without conjectures.

Nuo’s ordinary features didn’t have any expression as he nodded. Rising up, he finally began to lead them, “Asking Masters to follow this subordinate.”

In the dark of the night, Blue Snow Stronghold seemed transparent. As they walked further inside, they walked past a winding walkway and from a distance, they saw a large white castle. When they saw this, both Xue Yunge and Xue Zhuyue turned to look at each other and they stopped breathing. But immediately after, their expressions turned calm again as they hid the turbulent undercurrent in their eyes. This place was practically the exact same as Ming Wang, ah…

“What place is that?” Xue Yunge’s voice rose up in the quiet night air. Nuo, who was walking in front of them, didn’t turn his head to look as he indifferently explained, “That is Blue Snow Castle. However, aside from the stronghold’s Master, Elders, and white clothed guards, nobody else can enter. This subordinate is merely a minor patrol guard, so I lack the qualifications to enter inside there.”

They continued walking and eventually passed a grove. They walked for another half an hour before Nuo finally stopped and pointed at a gray house. “Masters, we’ve arrived.”

Somewhat doubtful, Xue Zhuyue took precautions as he asked, “Why haven’t we seen anyone on the way here? Didn’t you say that Blue Snow Stronghold is practicing martial law right now?”

“Subordinate has already started to prepare these things as early as one month ago. People rarely pass by this strip of road and moreover, Blue Snow Stronghold thinks very highly of itself, so there’s likely to be an aspect they overlook.”

Correct, he secretly sneered in his heart. Nuo, I look forward to what you want to do in the end.

The obscure, ash-colored prison door was softly opened. Naturally, as the jailer, Nuo had the keys. When they saw the door being opened, Xue Yunge and Xue Zhuyue were jolted. In their eyes there was expectation, longing, nervousness, and even a bit of worry. A mix of indistinguishable emotions fermented in their brains, but they both took a deep breath and steadied themselves. They began their journey down, following the prison’s stairway.

Even with various torture instruments laying around, Blue Snow Stronghold’s prisons weren’t messy like other prisons. This place gave one the feeling of being in a basement with it’s tidiness. However, the further you walked inside the prison, the darker it became and the more intense and apparent the putrid smell became. There was even the faint smell of blood in the air.

When the sensitive Xue Zhuyue smelled this, his heart couldn’t help but jump to his throat. Could Yi Yi truly be punished here? Once he thought of this possibility, raging flames immediately burst from his heart and he felt a heart tearing pain. He impatiently ran in with Xue Yunge hot on his tail. Once they lit a candle, the candle’s flame lit up the dark room. In the room, they saw a woman being hung above a frame. Powerless, she seemed to ignore the fact that her body was suspended mid air. She wore disarrayed and torn clothes and her originally clean, jade-like skin was covered with red welts. The sight was extremely horrifying to see. Wasn’t the slender figure, the figure whose face was being partially covered by her hair.. It was the figure with which they were so familiar with… Wasn’t it the person that they treasured the most in their hearts?

Purple clothes flashed and an icy beam shot toward the rope. Xue Yunge’s seductive purple eyes were filled with killing intent, brightening up the ashy, gloomy room. Xue Zhuyue’s eyes darkened, the green color turned richer and became filled with bloodthirstiness. His snow white figure flashed and caught the falling figure.

“Yi Yi, don’t be scared, gege came.” Xue Zhuyue’s voice was choked with emotions. As he spoke, his voice slightly hoarse and trembling. His words were clearly spoken in order to calm the person in his embrace, yet when he spoke them, he found it especially challenging. He hugged the weak woman closer and even his body was slightly trembling.

The woman in his embrace seemed to have not yet awoken. Xue Zhuyue pushed aside some of the woman’s long hair and it now covered only half of her white jade-like, delicate face. Who else but Yi Yi could have such a face? Suddenly, the woman in his embrace seemed to be suffering through a nightmare. Her whole body shook as she mumbled incoherently. Seeing her so helpless and weak, Xue Zhuyue held her even closer and silently comforted her. By the side, Xue Yunge was also extremely distressed. Alongside Xue Zhuyue, he also carried her. “Yi Yi don’t be scared, gege is here!”

“Big brother, second brother, quickly come and save me, quickly come and save me…”

The woman, who caused others to be extremely distressed, restlessly began to shout out in the midst of her nightmare. This brought upon the two persons’ tenderer and closer embrace. The two people were deeply immersed in switching between feelings of happiness and sadness that they didn’t discover that the woman in the arms had already opened her eyes.