Bk 2: chapter three (10)

Like a large heavenly hammer had slammed into the entire engine, it disintegrated into dust.

Helen and the man covered their nose so as not to breathe in the heavy dust in the air. They did not realise when their feet touched solid ground, they only noticed they were struggling to stand up on thick hot liquid. For some reason, the liquid under their feet had cooled, yet the rest elsewhere remained molten hot. Screams and commotion reigned around them. The Nether people panicked at the disintegration of their engine.

"What..?" Helen started to say as they both tried to stabilize themselves. This lava did not react as lava should. When it cooled, it turned a dark colour but remained liquid.

"This is not lava, this is blood," the man said, "Hold on," he held onto Helen's waist with one arm and vanished from the spot. The next moment, they were standing on the edge of a cliff.

"Your martial arts is high," she said.

"Your world should be quite primitive to only know of martial arts and not cultivation," he said and she frowned and took in deep breaths to calm herself. Even though she had heard what he said, she was still shaken from the near-death experience to really care.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"Helen, you?" she answered.

"Si Sanga," he said, "but I really meant, who are you to be protected by the religion?" he asked.

"Someone who needs to use this commotion to sneak into the Nether hall; Show me," she said and he gave her a deep look before grabbing her and vanishing and reappearing back in the caves.

"Take the straight path without any detours," he pointed ahead.

"Where will I meet you when I come out?" she asked and he paused. He had not really thought she would make it out before, but seeing as she was protected by the religion, it was very likely she would.

"I know the blood oath is useless before you. The engine seemed to have a martial skill that locked away people's inner strength. That is why you could not escape before. But s still showed you my worth, d you know why?" she asked.

"Now I know you are an important person, I would not dare break the oath," Si Sanga answered.

"So, do you want to tell me where to meet you when I rescue my friend?" she asked and he sighed.

"I will board the train and wait on its railings. No matter what, find a way to jump on and I will take you in," he said and vanished from that spot.