Chapter 4: The fall

"How is this possible!? How did they found us inside the mist domain!?" Long Bohai thought as he watched with widened eyes.

"Red Shadow!" Long Bohai screamed loudly. Red Shadow immediately increased its speed again, yet it seems like the accurate blast attacks were increasing in numbers which means that the pursuers could actually see them.

"This is bad! Red Shadow won't be able to keep this speed for long." Long Bohai began to lose his confidence. Asking Red Shadow to run with its fastest speed has surely its own consequences, the Red Shadow's cosmos energy was draining down quickly using this type of speed.

Long Bohai knew that he will lose for sure if he faces the coming martial artists. He was only strong with his hiding abilities. If he faces opponents who can expose him, then he was better than dead. Additionally, those martial artists outnumbered him.

Qin Yun and Qin Qing looked with worried faces. They want to trust their grandfather, but seeing his current expression, they began to lose confidence.

"Big brother. Are those bandits really powerful?" Qin Qing asked.

"Yes! Very powerful." Qin Yun replied while looking around. More and more blast attacks were coming. Thankfully, Red Shadow's speed was too fast that it was able to evade the blasts attacks.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!"

Several explosives sounded behind and beside them. The ground kept shaking due to the strong impact of the constant blast attacks.

"Qin Yun, Qin Qing, quick! Come to me. We will abandon the carriage" Long Bohai shouted loudly. Without the carriage, Red Shadow could run faster.

"Yes!" Qin Yun and Qin Qing immediately went to the front. There was no time to think about the things inside the carriage.

"HOP!"

Holding each of them in one hand, Long Bohai jumped in a quick motion and rode above Red Shadow. Then, he put them behind him.

"Hold tightly!" Long Bohai said to Qin Qing who was sitting in the middle and Qin Yun who was in the far behind.

��Break!" With a fast slash, Long Bohai cut the ropes and irons connecting the carriage and Red Shadow.

"Take this." He threw some iron balls inside the carriage. Then, with a quick move, he threw a small knife towards the carriage.

"Blazing Blast." The small knife turned into flames. The fire element Long Bohai had used was originally from Red Shadow as he only practiced the mist element. But Under their blood pact, Long Bohai could easily use the fire element

"BOOM"

A much louder explosive sounded from the carriage.

"This will slow them down for a bit." Long Bohai looked behind at the burning carriage. He threw earlier some iron bombs and mixed it with his burning knife, undoubtedly, the result was not disappointing.

"I don't care how you can see inside my mist domain. As long as I reach the Great Green River, it would be my victory." Long Bohai said, Regaining his confident expression. His mist element worked better in the water.

"Grandpa! There are no more attacks." Qin Yun suddenly said loudly.

"Eh!?" Long Bohai looked with surprise, yet in the next moment, the surprised face turned into stunned then into madness mixed with extreme anger.

"SHWAA"

An extremely fast shadow flew towards them with lightning speed.

"Elder brother!" Long Bohai shouted in anger.

"You can hide inside your mist domain, but you can't possibly hide from your own shadows." A man in his mid-fifties appeared suddenly behind them. He had long dark hair and wore a dark-black robe. Those who saw him would only describe him in one word, dangerous. The man was Long Bai, a famous martial artist in the Eastern Continent. Long Bai was practicing the shadow element, even though the element was not rare like his brother's mist element, but still, the shadow element was one of the most difficult elements in the Martial Land to master.

"Red Shadow, take them with you!" Long Bohai said in a whisper.

"Qin Yun, take care of your sister." Long Bohai said, looking at Qin Yun and Qin Qing with a gentle gaze. He moved, and with a quick grab, he placed Qin Yun in the front.

"Hold onto its neck tightly." Long Bohai instructed.

"Grandpa!" both the children screamed. They were not stupid.

"WHOOSH" Long Bohai suddenly flipped off from Red Shadow and landed on the ground. Trying to run from his elder brother who had mastered a unique shadow tracing technique was pointless. the only way to stop his elder brother was to fight him head-on. Only in this way could the children have a chance to run far away. After all, his elder brother's shadow tracing could only work within a limited distance.

"WHOOSH!"

Without any hesitation, Long Bohai threw himself towards his brother not intending to give him any chance to catch the children. He knew better than anyone how truly formidable his elder brother is.

"Misty Sword Arts! First style." Long Bohai took out a short sword. The short sword was covered in what looked like a cloud. He stabbed at an incredible speed towards his elder brother.

Long Bai looked forward with an indifferent face. A black sword appeared in his right hand.

"DANG!"

The two swords collided together causing huge waves of winds and dust.

"Elder brother! Why!?" Long Bohai said with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Sigh!" Long Bai didn't say anything but only a sigh.

"When I asked you to help me to protect them in the past, you refused and I fully accepted your decision back then. But what about now!? HA!?" Long Bohai roared in madness.

"Elder Brother! Answer me! What about now? You not only refuse to help me! you are even helping them" Long Bohai kept swinging his misty sword like a maniac.

"Time to finish this!" Long Bai said with a calm voice.

"Shadow Cage!" Long Bai muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, black tentacles like veins appeared from the ground. It went towards Long Bohai attempting to chain him up.

"Mist Wall." Long Bohai answered with his own technique.

The white fog around Long Bohai suddenly began to turn into a huge misty bubble.

"BANG!"

The two elements energies crashed into each other. The air around them began to distort from the immense impact between the two attacks. At first, the result was a tie, but suddenly, more black tentacles began to appear.

"No!" Long Bohai said, seeing the black tentacles piercing through his mist bubble and entering. The black tentacles began to cover his entire body.

Long Bohai who began to lose his control over his mist element turned his head. He wanted to see if Red Shadow and the children had successfully escaped. But the next moment, his hopeful expression turned into extreme despair.

"NOO!" Long Bohai said inwardly as he saw Red Shadow on the ground. Some arcs of the lightning element were all over his body. He also seemed to suffer from a serious injury. Long Bohai could easily understand what happened to Red Shadow.

"A lightning blast." Long Bohai thought to himself.

Long Bohai began to look towards the far distance. The two children were laying on the ground but thankfully, they seemed to be sound without any injuries.

"SHWA"

The mist domain began to disperse as Long Bohai has completely lost his control over his element. The black cage technique of his brother has the effect to stop the energy of the cosmos from entering the body. Without cosmos energy, the mist domain was sure to vanish.

"HAHA! Finally! This white fog is gone!" A bulky old man clad in blue robe appeared from behind. Some lightning arcs were around his body.

"HAHA Long Bohai! I really admire you." The bulky man said with a smile. He looked at Long Bohai with deep respect.

"Yeah! You really deserve your title as the best martial artist in terms of escaping abilities." another old man clad in a white robe appeared from behind. Some waterdrops could be seen hovering above him.

"Long Bohai! Do You know that we have been searching for you all this time?" An old woman clad in an orange robe coming behind the two old men said. Some flames could be seen on her two hands.

"Okay! That's Enough!" An extremely old man with a hunched back and a leaning stick spoke out. The man has suddenly appeared from nowhere. The man had an evil smile on his face. Hearing him, all the martial artists became silent. The old man seemed to be above them in terms of power and status to be able to silence those powerful martial artists.

"Minister Ming!?" Long Bohai uttered in despair. This man was a grandmaster martial artist and also a monster disguised as a human. He was one of those who wants Qin Qing to die.

A sudden realization has occurred to Long Bohai. He had wondered how did they find him, but the answer was clear now. The dark hound of this old man has exceptional smelling ability. That dark hound only needs to smell the person scent for once and he would immediately be able to locate him.

"My sect must have given something belong to me to the dark hound, so it can locate me. But why my sect handed them my personal things." Long Bohai wondered.

"Long Bohai! I understand your feelings! But the Four Mountains Alliance had already accepted our request to get rid of your granddaughter a long time ago. your brother is here under the command of the Four Mountains Alliance" Minister Ming said with a smirk.

"Impossible!" Long Bohai said. He was from one of those four mountains and he knows clearly that his sect won't accept such a deal.

"You don't believe me! Then ask your brother." Minister Ming said playfully while looking at Long Bai.

Long Bohai began to look at Long Bai. "Brother!?"

It was only a single look, but it was enough for Long Bohai to have the answer. He was confident in his abilities to escape from the different powerhouses in the Eastern Continent and the martial land, only his own brother has the ability to trace and capture him.

"Minister Ming! How did that happen?" Long Bohai asked with a trembling voice. His own sect would never allow an innocent person to be killed.

"Well, under the increasing pressures from the old monsters in the Central Continent, your sect could only accept this deal. You know how those old monsters are obsessed with power, they won't accept anyone to be stronger than them. Besides that, the evil alliance is searching for your granddaughter." Minister Ming explained.

"So, my granddaughter is allowed to die, but the son of the central emperor is not!?" Long Bohai asked with a red face.

"HAHA! You old fool! You compare your granddaughter to the grandson of the strongest man in the Martial Land. That genius has the strongest man as a grandfather. He has the central emperor as a father. He has a great martial artist as a teacher. Even His future father in law is also a powerful figure." Minister Ming said with a vicious laugh. The grandson of the emperor of the Central Continent has also the same talent as Qin Qing.

"Long Bohai! There is nothing you can do. That's all I want to say." Minister Ming said.

"Cao Li! Do it." Minister Ming said.

"HEHE! Sure." Suddenly, an extremely thin man walked out of the darkness. An eerie and evil feeling could be felt from him.

"Cao Li! Don't you dare!" Long Bohai roared with reddened eyes. Minister Ming didn't want to ruin his reputation and the other four martial artists didn't have the heart to kill a five years old child, but Cao Li was different, he was a heartless man.

"Don't worry! I will make it painless." Cao Li said with an evil smile.

Cao Li didn't want to waste any time. He went slowly to the children.

"Argh" Qin Yun let out a painful moan. He had already heard everything from the conversation earlier. Beside him was Qin Qing who was crying while looking at their miserable grandfather.

"They want to kill Qin Qing!" With a slow and painful move, Qin Yun forced himself to stand up. His face was completely covered in dust.

"Qin Qing get up!" Qin Yun went on and picked up his little sister.

"Brat! Just hand over your little sister." Cao Li came walking slowly with a carefree expression.

Behind him were the martial artists and Long Bohai who looked deathly pale.

"Don't come any closer!" Qin Yun began to retreat back with shaky legs. Behind him was Qin Qing who was crying.

"Brat! My patience has its limits." Cao Li roared in anger. He was a master martial artist, yet a mere child and even trash who couldn't be a martial artist dare to defy him. How ridiculous!

"Big Brother!" Qin Qing looked at Qin Yun with red eyes.

"Don't worry, I will never abandon you." Qin Yun said.

Suddenly…

"Rumble"

The ground began to shake.

"An earthquake!? The bulky martial artist asked with bewilderment.

"No! An another opening of the lightning abyss has appeared!" The old woman pointed behind Qin Yun and Qin Qing with a shocked face.

The Silent Forest was called silent for a reason. There were not a lot of beasts in many parts of the forest due to the lightning abyss showing from time to time in different locations in the forest.

"Ha!" Qin Yun looked behind him with a frightened expression. An extremely deep abyss was behind Qin Qing. One-step and they will fall.

"RUMBLE"

The land shook again.

Qin Yun didn't know what happened. He only felt the disappearing ground under him and Qin Qing. At that moment, Qin Yun could only take Qin Qing in his embrace and fall into a deep abyss.

"Noo" Long Bohai cried in agony.