Rise of the Midnight King

With a girl thrown over his shoulder, Bao bi was running with all of his might. It wasn’t that he was faster than all of the beasts who were chasing him. Quite a few of them would have been easily able to run him down on an open field. However, the trees combined with the crowding from the stampede kept many of these more formidable profound beasts in check.

Bao bi also moved with a strange technique designed by Tigra, his movements managing to combine speed with a difficult-to-predict trajectory. His movements could take advantage of any low-hanging branches and thus dodge vertically as well as horizontally. As a result, despite countless beasts lunging for the kill, they were all left empty-handed.

This only worked them up into a frenzy. His scent was extremely appealing to them, and to repeatedly miss an easy-to-catch prey made them furious. Some of the stronger profound beasts began to snap at and attack those that got in their way, only adding to the chaos and adding Bao bi to his narrow escape. Of course, not every beast came from behind. Those who were attracted came running. Most, upon seeing him being already chased by a stampede of others, turn tail and run.

However, there were a few bold beasts that chose to attack Bao bi. When he couldn’t dodge an enemy, he’d either fling the kunai or his spear. His aim wasn’t perfect, but every throw seemed to hit a skull, and no matter how hard they were, the weapons would penetrate for an instant kill. Bao bi would have always been provided weapons by Liao An and had grown up in a normal world with normal animals, so it only seemed natural that this was the case.

These weren’t normal animals though. Profound beasts, even those of lower tiers, were still powerful creatures with skin as strong as stone. Anyone else who saw him deflect these attacks with ease would know that his weapons had a strange origin. Tian Mei was facing that direction, she could only see the beasts racing toward her. Ultimately, after using her bloodline power, she was far too weak, and the mental shock of narrowly escaping profound beast after profound beast had caused her to fall unconscious.

Thus, it was only through Bao bi’s ridiculous stamina that he was able to keep running. He cursed his bad luck a few times and even lamented that Qi Xue hadn’t been clear enough on the potency and doses of the beast attractant. Why store it in a bottle that size if that wasn’t the amount needed? Bao bi had known the girls were in trouble, so he just wanted to make sure it took effect. He hadn’t been expecting to be put in a situation like this.

This was the most danger he had ever been in since the time he had returned to his family home and was assaulted by a member of the Xaoi sect. It had ended up in a very similar dash through the forest, and the result was that he had to jump from the top of a waterfall. He was older now, but there were no waterfalls. His only consolation was that the beasts weren’t using profound techniques on him.

Bao bi figured this was because they were animals. That was the difference between fighting man versus fighting beast. In actuality, profound beasts had many innate techniques. They didn’t need to learn them like humans did but could use them by instinct. However, in such a chaotic stampede, it was impossible to launch any techniques, and any beast who did it risked gaining the ire of other beasts caught up in their attack. The result was a sort of stalemate between the beasts and Bao bi, an unspoken contest of stamina.

After running and dodging for what felt like forever, Bao bi’s expression turned sour as he encountered another clearing. He had been avoiding the clearings because the lack of trees made him more vulnerable to the fast-running beasts. However, he had entered the first one because he had noticed Tian Mei there, and likewise, this one had a group of people in it too. If he skirted around it, they still would end up getting caught in the stampede, so he ran directly for them to give a warning instead.

“You all better run!” Bao bi shouted as he exited the forest.

There was a surprisingly large group there, and some of them were older. He had a brief hope that these might be stronger cultivators who might have some way of quelling the stampede. However, rather than heed his desperate warning, one of them stepped forward, a sneer on his face.

“Who’s going to make me?” He asked. “You?”

At that moment, one of the other boy’s eyes opened and he whispered something into the leader’s ear. His expression grew more severe.

“Bao… bi?” A voice spoke quietly, a girl huddled on the ground.

Bao bi immediately recognized her as Qi Liqui. He was a bit shocked to see her there, but realizing no one was moving, he started heading her way.

“You’re Bao bi?” The lead boy asked. “You’re so foolish as to come right into my clutches? Hahaha… welcome! I am Gong Ning, and I will be your- what are you doing?”

As Gong Ning was saying stuff Bao bi was barely listening to, his hand on his hips like he was making some grand speech, Bao bi ran right passed him. Qi Liqui looked up at him, a bit of confusion on her face, but Bao bi didn’t feel like there was any time to explain. He reached out and tossed her over his other shoulder.

“Eh?” She only made that noise as he started running again, a butt against each ear.

“Somebody stop him!” Gong Ning shouted everyone was staring dumbfounded as Bao bi ran right through them and grabbed the very girl they had been planning to use to capture him in the first place.

Yet, no sooner did he speak than the rumbling sound broke out as dozens of profound beasts emerged from the forest. Any thoughts of following Gong Ning’s orders were immediately forgotten as everyone started running in different directions. His entire party broke apart in an instant. After all, these weren’t trained soldiers, but mostly young teens. Gong Ning seemed to be the last to grasp what was going on, but when he saw a massive grey beast that resembled a rhinoceros with a mohawk of horns, he also let out a shrill scream before running as fast as he could in any direction.

Qi Liqui had already been pushed to the limits, so after Bao bi grabbed her, it took a bit before she seemed to come to grips with what was happening. First, she saw the woman hanging over his other shoulder unconscious. However, when she saw a spotted leopard leaping toward Bao bi’s back, she also passed out unconscious. The confusion of a dozen cultivators all dashing off in different directions allowed Bao bi to manage to get to the other side of the clearing without being caught and thus began his mad dash through the forest again.

Bao bi was looking for some kind of body of water he could jump in. The only way he could see to survive was to get rid of the smell on his body. Yet, even after running for several hours, he didn’t even pass a stream. Furthermore, he was getting increasingly tired, and with two girls on his shoulders, he was struggling to dodge now. He even started getting struck a few times.

Then, the absolute worst thing occurred. He reached the end of the forest. Once they left the forest and were on flat land, it’d only be a matter of moments before the faster creatures ran them all down. Yet, Bao bi knew he couldn’t change his course. There were too many sage beasts to backtrack now. He could abandon the girls. It was possible that would help him survive, but that wasn’t the kind of person Bao bi was.

Bao bi had no choice but to keep running. As soon as he reached the end of the forest line, he decided to use whatever strength he had left to spread at a full sprint. Perhaps they’d be lucky and reach a location where they could escape. As he left the forest, he sped up. He noticed some rocky columns and he headed toward them. He moved as quickly as possible, and more and more rock columns appeared. Perhaps, he could lose them among these rocks.

Yet, his speed slowed down as he realized the noise that had previously been following him dwindled. Slowing to a stop, he looked back to see that none of the beasts chasing him had continued to chase him. They seemed to give up at the edge of the forest. Even the stampede seemed to dissipate and die out before Bao bi could see them through the trees. He continued to walk, while looking around suspiciously, but had seemingly managed to shake off this disaster.

With a sigh of relief, he put the two girls down on the ground. He then checked his bag. This thing wasn’t bad at all. Despite that mad rush, not a single herb or pill had fallen out. The bag was pretty heavy itself given the number of things he had shoved into it. It was like carrying a whole tree on its own. He thought about sticking it in a storage space several times, but he still didn’t trust those things. He preferred something tangible, even if it did seem to break some laws of physics.

“Mmm…. Huh?” Qi Liqui steadily woke up, and once her eyes opened, she saw the other unconscious girl and jerked up.

“You’re awake.” Bao bi smiled. “Well, you just seemed tired. She… I’m not sure if she’s going to wake up.”

Qi Liqui blinked a few times. The last thing she remembered was that she was about to face a brutal end. She was even considering killing herself to keep from being humiliated. Yet, suddenly, she saw Bao bi running toward her.

“You… saved me?” She asked, still a bit confused.

“You can say that.” Bao bi laughed awkwardly before taking out a pill and offering it to her. “Here, take one of these.”

“Huh? A heavenly mending pill! I can’t…”

“You’re a little hurt. It’s the least I can do. Keep it.”

Liao An didn’t know where he got the pill, but for someone at their level, such a thing was rare. She never would have guessed he made them himself. After all, she had just given him the book only a little less than a day prior. However, she wasn’t so noble a person that she wouldn’t take something freely offered. As for Bao bi, he felt a little relieved offering it to her. He didn’t know what she was doing before his arrival, but he blamed all of the damage she had on himself. He had dragged her into that flight for life, and so he felt bad for nearly harming her.

“Who’s she?” Qi Liqui suddenly glanced at the other girl.

“Someone I tried to save. Um, she was in a really bad fight against some sage beasts.”

QI Liqui nodded as she checked the other girl’s pulse. “It looks like she used a bloodline power. It gave her temporary strength, but she will likely be eaten by a sage beast before we’re all recalled.”

“There don’t seem to be sage beasts around this place.” Bao bi told her. “They’re some kind of ruins.”

She looked around as well. The rocky columns had been part of a complex ruin. It had collapsed to a state of looking more like random piles of rocks than actual ruins. Bao bi didn’t know this, but these were the same ruins the girls had been exploring before Xie Mingyu doused Su Fan in monster attractant. He was no longer there though.

“There doesn’t seem to be much here.” Qi Liqui stated.

“It seems… familiar to me.” Bao bi frowned, climbing a rock column as he got a better look.

“What are you doing? Do you want to attract more people here?” Qi Liqui cried out shrilly.

“I already said, the sage beasts don’t come around here.” Bao bi responded as he stared down at a certain pile of rubble.

“It’s not sage beasts I’m worried about.” Qi Liqui spoke quietly.

“That’s it! I’ve seen this place! This is it!” Bao bi grew excited and yelled.

“Shh! Will you get down from there!” Qi Liqui was still very nervous.

Bao bi jumped down as she requested, but he immediately started running toward one of the ruins. It formed a bit of an alcove that appeared to be filled with collapsed rock. He started grabbing the rocks and throwing them away.

Qi Liqui was still very nervous. It wasn’t just the enemy sects, but people of her sect might attack her too. She was wondering if she should just run away while Bao bi was busy. However, he did save her life. This was the second time he had helped her out. She felt a bit bad to just leave him. At the least, she needed to warn him.

“Bao bi, there are some people…”

“I found it.” Bao bi declared. “Help me move rocks.”

“Eh? Found what?” Qi Liqui blinked when she was handed a rock.

“This whole tower has collapsed underground. You saw it the same as I saw it. There is a floor that goes down. I entered the floor under this one, but I found a buried stairway I couldn’t reach from there. I believe this is that stairway. Everyone is so busy trying to climb to the top of the tower, I want to see what’s at the bottom!”

Naturally, Bao bi had profited heavily from the garden below. He was very eager to see what the floor under that one contained. He had a theory that if the upper floors were a test, the lower floors might be the treasury. Normally, such a treasure would be locked, but with so much degradation over the years, what would happen if Bao bi unlocked the treasury of a lifetime? Not only would he be able to become an inner disciple, but he’d likely have enough clout to discover what happened to his mother as well!

Although Qi Liqui didn’t know what Bao bi was thinking and thought that if there were floors under this floor, wouldn’t they be more barren than even this floor? She could still clearly see him unearthing steps, and so she helped him move rocks. A few hours later, they had cleared the blockade keeping them from descending. The two peered into the dark, and Qi Liqui had to admit that this was far more excitement than she had been expecting with the rest of her time in the Midnight realm.

Then again, such exciting opportunities often come with equal risk. What if there was something dangerous down there? What if it had been sealed on purpose? This is what she was afraid of most. Bao bi didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Can you make more light again?” He asked.

She rolled her eyes and pulled out a spirit stone again. He lifted his finger and then ran over to the person lying unconscious and picked her up. This time, he lifted her in his arms. This was the classical princess carry. When he returned, Qi Liqui made a face.

“Why are you taking her? Didn’t you say this place doesn’t have sage beasts?”

“It still could be dangerous.” He shrugged.

Qi Liqui didn’t know why, but she didn’t like watching him carry her. However, she couldn’t voice her discontent, she just grunted and turned her shoulder, heading down into the dark path below. Bao bi didn’t seem to notice her unhappiness and followed after her with the redheaded beauty in his arms. The pair headed down one flight of stairs. This had to be around the point where the garden was. They continued down at ended up coming out into a strange room.

Qi Liqui looked around in wide-eyed wonder, but as soon as Bao bi laid eyes on it, he frowned. It was a somewhat small room. There was a large panel covered with various dials, switches, and buttons. Above that were various displays. The displays showed random people or places. One was of a hallway, another depicted a group of people fighting a safe beast on a field. Bao bi realized he even recognized some of the people on the screen.

Qi Xue was walking with Dian Ai. He was even carrying the other girl who appeared to be unconscious, although he was carrying her on his back. Dian Ai looked to be ignoring him while he tried to talk to her excitedly. He also witnessed Xie Mingyu. Bao bi looked at the screen and there was writing on it that said level 2. A moment later, the screen flashed to someone moving around a similar-looking hallway. It was Jiang Bo! He put the girl down in a nearby chair and then walked up to the monitor station.

“What is this?” Qi Liqui asked out loud.

Bao bi already recognized it though. It was some kind of security room. It was just like the security rooms someone might see on television. It had surveillance over the entire tower. He leaned forward, and as his hand landed on a button, an image showed a door sliding open. A large monster with a goat head stepped out of a small room. It let out a roar and then charged. On another screen, Xi Mingyu lifted his sword and the beast came into view as the pair started to battle. The monster didn’t seem to be Xi Mingyu’s match, and after about fifteen minutes, he finally managed to kill it. He then pulled out a knife and started harvesting its body.

Qi Liqui looked away like she was going to be sick. However, Bao Bi came to another conclusion. It wasn’t a security room. It was a control room. This room controlled the entire tower! With this, someone could claim all the treasure for themselves!