Chapter 648: Arriving in Youdu
After clearing up all the dead bodies, Hui Yue surveyed the s.h.i.+p. It was battered and had visible scarring after the confrontation, but it was still able to fly through the void.
As they got ready to set out once more, Hui Yue could sense many eyes gazing at their location. He could guess that some belonged to bandits, while others belonged to travelers pa.s.sing by.
Their battle had lasted for a long time as they slaughtered their way through the retreating demons and carnage had been left in their wake. This caused everyone who came across it to follow in curiosity to see what was happening.
Although many curious eyes were looking at them, no one stepped forward to challenge them; everyone just stayed back. Having seen them cut through demon after demon and even chase those elite cultivators away had proven the strength of this group. Those who had considered attacking them while they were in disarray were severely disappointed.
Although it had been a tough battle, the majority of the killing had been done by the s.h.i.+p-like shuttle and Hui Yue"s formations. The guards and Hui Yue"s friends had all used their Ancestral Worldpower to activate the inscriptions on the s.h.i.+p, but they had actually not done all that much. Especially not since they had been gifted pills by Hui Yue.
So those who had plans to attack when they were weak all retreated with sour expressions on their faces, and Hui Yue said nothing to the others.
"I refuse to accept that you won our bet!" Lan Feng"s voice suddenly sounded in Hui Yue"s mind.
"Although we are now Immortals of Creation, I refuse to accept that it is because of you. If anything the credit should go to me. It was my sacrifice that made it possible for you to merge with all your previous lives! Thus I am the real winner of our bet!"
It was clear that this mattered to Lan Feng and Hui Yue chuckled slightly. It was typical that the bird cared about things such as bets instead of their current situation.
"Sure, we became Immortals of Creation because of you. I admit that I could not have had this breakthrough were it not because of you sacrificing your remaining reincarnations."
Hui Yue could not help but feel guilty towards this phoenix. Although he was still a phoenix, he had given up his ability to be reborn for Hui Yue, something that the white-haired young man would never forget.
While Hui Yue was engaged in conversation with Lan Feng, the s.h.i.+p once more started moving towards Youdu at its fastest speed. This time, though, the atmosphere on the s.h.i.+p was tense, and everyone was on the lookout.
Hui Yue was not the only one who sensed the many prying eyes who had observed their battle, and they all knew that there was a possibility of a second attack. Since this was a very real possibility they wished to arrive at their destination as soon as possible. Therefore, they pushed the shuttle to its limits. They traversed the void at a speed so quick that Hui Yue had not thought it possible.
It was clear that the shuttle they were traveling in was one of the highest quality shuttles one could buy, but even so, it was slowly breaking apart from the pressure it was put under to constantly fly at its maximum speed. This shuttle would be able to finish their journey, but it was obvious this would be its last trip. It would simply be in no shape to fly across the galaxy anymore.
At the start, they had set such a fast pace because they wished to get away from the eyes that were observing them, but the closer they got to Diyu, the more people seemed to watch and follow them.
No one took action, but the fact that they were being observed was something none of them could do anything about. Since there were constantly more and more people watching their journey from both close and far away, it clearly put everyone on edge.
"I would much rather fight a real enemy than have it this way," Cai Jie complained to Hui Yue with a low voice as he looked around. Although there was no one around them right now, no one knew who might be listening.
"I can"t handle this. As an Immortal of Creation with knowledge of a major dao, your consciousness should be rather strong. You too should have been able to sense the many people we have observing us."
"If they attacked us then I would at least be able to take action, or even just know their intentions," he continued with a frown. "Then I would be able to defend myself and fight alongside my friends, but now as they are just hiding in the shadows, I do not know if they have any hostility towards us or are just curious. Either way, though, it’s nerve wracking."
Hui Yue nodded his head, "They might be hoping for more demons to show up and cause problems for us so that they can benefit from the chaos."
"Perhaps they are just curious, but it is better to a.s.sume that they mean to do us harm. If we a.s.sume they will attack us at any moment, then we can better defend ourselves. Better to be vigilant and survive than carefree and dead."
Cai Jie nodded his head solemnly. The atmosphere on the s.h.i.+p was heavy. No one said anything as they all moved about constantly. Everyone was alert and waiting for the shuttle to arrive in Diyu where reinforcements would be waiting for them.
The captain had contacted Yanluo and informed him about the demon attack that they had suffered, and he had gathered even more of his guards to help them in the final stretch of their journey.
The days went by in rapid succession while everyone on board the vessel dared not take even a slight break. All of them were busy observing their surroundings, and slowly they all made it back to Diyu.
The moment they saw the world in front of them, everyone heaved a heavy sigh of relief. A thousand guards were waiting in the void just outside of the world ready to escort them inside, and it was at this moment that the many prying eyes that had been observing them slowly withdrew.
Hui Yue could feel how everyone on the s.h.i.+p was relieved when they saw the guards waiting for them. All of them looked haggard; it was clear that all of them were exhausted due to the pressure they had been under.
None of them said anything. They just felt safe for the first time in a long while. The shuttle, which was on the verge of collapsing, vanished into thin air, and the guards and friends were all enveloped by the extra guards who had appeared. Afterwards, they were then escorted to the world.
When one was in the void, a world would be covered by a mist-like energy which made it impossible to see where exactly one would appear in the world when breaking through the mist.
This was the same for this group of experts. All of them broke through the mist together, and entered the world beneath them, ending up quite a bit away from Youdu.
When Hui Yue had come here last, he had just been a new G.o.d.
His speed had been much slower than it was now, but even so, it still took them two months to reach Youdu.
The main reason for this lengthy travel was because some of Hui Yue"s friends were not Immortals of Creations yet. Therefore, their speed was much slower than the others and caused their whole entourage’s advance to slow.
Everywhere they went they were treated with great respect and reverence because of the amount of Yanluo’s Guards that were present. Everyone in Diyu knew about Yanluo’s Guard, and thus they showed them great respect whenever they met them.
Finally, the group entered the area around Youdu. The slope leading down under the ground into the city itself which was bursting with as much life as it had been the last time Hui Yue had been here, but now that he was here with Yanluo’s Guards, everyone on the slope moved to the side and kept the middle clear for their large entourage.
As they reached the city itself, half of the guards left while the other half took Hui Yue and his friends to Yanluo"s mansion.
"Welcome friends," Yanluo said greeting them at the very front gates, something that was rarely seen. Hui Yue understood that this King of h.e.l.l had been worried about their trip.
"I heard about your difficulties on your journey here. For now, please rest. I will have some maids lead you to your rooms. We can talk later; I imagine that you have had a couple of rough months earlier."
Having said this, Yanluo clapped his hands, and a group of black-clothed maids appeared to lead everyone towards a room where they could rest.
Hui Yue was hesitant at first, unsure of whether or not he should try and speak with Yanluo about what was so important that he needed to be summoned, but the king just smiled and waved his hand.
"It is not so urgent that you can"t relax a little first. Follow the maid, get some food and rest your mind a little. Being constantly on the lookout for as long as you have is not good for your mind nor body. When you are rested enough, I"ll come fetch you. Then we can discuss why I have summoned you here."
Hui Yue nodded his head. There was no reason to hesitate more now that he had heard Yanluo"s words, so he followed the maid into the mansion.
The mansion was filled with people moving back and forth. There was a rushed atmosphere as if something big was going on and everyone was moving from one place to another in a slight jog. Hushed voices could be heard around every corner as servants were conversing with one another.
As soon as Hui Yue got close to these servants, they would speak quieter and eventually stop speaking altogether while trying to look busy, but ultimately they would not say a single thing about the matter at hand.
Hui Yue lifted an eyebrow in curiosity as he wondered what exactly was happening. For a ma.s.sive mansion like this one to be as busy as it was, there had to be something major going on.
"Oh well, Yanluo will tell me eventually," he mumbled to himself and stopped observing his surroundings as he was led to a big room where warm food was waiting for him alongside a soft, comfortable bed, a desk, and a meditation room.
Hui Yue was an Immortal of Creation, and thus, he did not need to sleep but considering that he was quite drained from the journey, Hui Yue decided to lay down a little after eating.
Sleeping was the most effective way to rest one"s mind, and he was indeed exhausted. Although they had traveled quite far after entering Diyu, they had not done anything but be as vigilant as possible.
Now that he could finally relax, he could not help but think about what was going on. Even last time when they were so busy getting ready to find the next Judge of h.e.l.l the mansion was not as busy as it was now. This showed that whatever was happening was even more shocking than finding a new King of h.e.l.l!
"I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what he has to say to me later." he sighed as he finished eating. Letting his worries go, he laid down on the bed to relax and close his eyes.