More work to do

Shui had already accomplished his original objective of sorting out Serina's brother's issue, and he didn't really know this boy or his mother, but since they Broc's wife and child, abandoning them would leave a bad taste in his mouth. It sounded like unnecessary trouble, but since he did feel like helping, Shui didn't want something like this to plague his mind.

"Fine, I'll do it. Stay here until I come back."

"No, you have to take me with you."

"You'll just be a burden. Don't you want to save your mother?"

"Uh, yes but-"

"Then shut up and wait here. Since I said I would save her then I'll do it."

'If she's still alive.'

Shui didn't know how hard the mother and son had to work in order to survive without Broc being there to support them, but he felt a bit of obligation to help Broc's family since he wasn't here to protect them.

Using the memories that he got from the boss as a reference, Shui was able to find the place where his superiors would come to enjoy the women they were offered. It was below a three-storey building that looked plain but the hidden arrays that were set up around it made it stand out to those with the right eyes.

This place also served as a sort of private company brothel, but important guest were also welcomed here from time to time so the security wouldn't be easy to overcome.

'Now then, how should I...? Hmm?'

While examining the building, Shui noticed a frantic atmosphere spreading among the guards.

'Something's happening. I guess Lady Luck is on my side today.'

Since they were already being distracted by something else, Shui suppressed his presence to the limit and went straight for the building. There was a guard both in front of and behind the only entrance, but in this commotion it surely wouldn't be out of place if a few of them were found unconscious.

With Shui's stealth abilities, the one outside the building was put to sleep without even catching a glimpse of him while the one guarding the entrance from the inside only had enough time to notice the sound of the door opening.

After taking care of those two Shui carefully examined the presences on this floor, but they were so sparsely distributed that none had noticed his actions.

'Good. Next is...'

He didn't want to waste time carelessly spreading his spiritual sense so Shui quietly entered the triple harmony state and placed his hand on the floor. In the trial, he needed a seal to make this work, but in his current state it would just take a bit of effort.

By relying on his superior knowledge of arrays and superb mental strength, Shui was able to partially take control of the detection array that was made for this building. He had expected more resistance, but took his ease in accomplishing the task as a sign that security was too busy with the trouble that was happening on the top floor. Shui was a little interested in the commotion but he didn't forget his objective.

With the help of the detection array, Shui was able to quickly identify the rooms where the women were being kept. He remembered how Broc's wife looked, but it would take too long for him to check their individual faces with the array so he chose to walk there instead.

He swiftly and quietly ran down the stairs while avoiding any guards that he came across and knocking out any one that he couldn't silently get past. In less than half an hour, he made it to a corridor with cells on both sides. It looked like a prison facility but the ones inside these cells were the opposite of criminals.

Each cell was comprised of women who were malnourished, ill, bruised or in some sort of pain. It was a sight that made him sure that he made the right choice not bringing that boy along. They weren't being treated very well for offered goods but that was because this was where the ones who had lost their value were stored. As he walked down the path, none of them noticed him so he could take his time looking for the boy's mother.

'Ah, there.'

The cell that Shui stopped at was the same as the others, but one of the women in there felt like his target. He wasn't able to recognise her from her bruised face and sunken eyes, but her aura was still close enough for him to be sure. Shui sighed thinking that his job would soon be over, however, his eyes went wide open as he examined her properly.

'It's, too late.'

She was still alive, but the internal injuries she had suffered made it impossible for her to survive past three days. For a moment, Shui wondered if he should really bring her to meet her son just for him to watch her die, but that moment was short.

'I said I would bring her to him, and so I will.'

The boy would likely be in more pain than him when he watched his mother die, but it was something that he would have to face. Shui reached towards the cell in order to open it, but he flinched and quickly backed away as he suddenly felt hostility aimed at him. Immediately afterwards, someone's leg swiped through Shui's former location.

They were dressed in loose clothing but he could tell that it was man. Shui wore no disguise but as he was still maintaining his stealth under the state of triple harmony, the man could only vaguely recognise his presence, much less his face.

'Did I miss a guard?'

Both of them had the same thought but neither of them knew this. Since both of them knew that they were intruders, they didn't think to profess their innocence to a potential threat.

Without any warning, the man attacked Shui once more, this time, Shui blocked the incoming kick with his right hand before targeting the man's pivot leg. However, Shui was forced to abandon his target once he sensed the emergence of a pillar from behind him. If he was a second later, the pillar of rock would have rammed into him, knocking him off-balance.

'Tch. He's skilled.'

Once more, their thoughts were the same. The man was only in the second level of the Earth Realm, but in that brief confrontation Shui was sure that he was a genius capable of beating those above his cultivation level. Naturally he would still be nothing before Shui's true strength, but this tight space didn't allow for that.

On the other hand, from the man's perspective, Shui's cultivation, presence, figure, everything only registered as a blur in his mind. Though he didn't want to waste time here, if he was too impatient it would be easy for Shui to take advantage of this weakness.

Both of them agreed that their opponent would be trouble but not an obstacle that they couldn't overcome. Shui took out the broad sword that he used for training while the man took out a hammer.

This time, Shui made the first move. Despite its rapidly increasing weight, Shui swung the blade at a speed that produced a powerful wind from the weapon. Instead of facing this wind head-on, the man slammed his hammer into the floor and created a wall of earth that perfectly blocked the incoming breeze. Furthermore, once the wind had settled the man pushed the earth wall towards Shui.

His only option was to break through it, but this wall also had its durability strengthened by the man's nature energy. A simple finger flick could do the job if he exited triple harmony state, but then his presence would be more detectable and that would make things much more annoying. Fortunately, his opponent wasn't the only one who could use earth-attribute spells.

Shui stabbed his sword into the ground and summoned four serpents made from the earth through the Four Elements Technique. All four of the large brown snakes smashed through the earth wall and pounced at the man.