"I am so sorry, brother. I hope I didn't hurt you too much," Lan of the Twin Emeralds said, entering the academy with her brother following behind her.
Fang Lei gritted his teeth, trickles of blood dripping from the sides of his lips as he lay flat on the ground, suppressed by the pressure from Lan.
"Lan, you don't have to lift a finger when I'm here. How about you let me handle him, sis?" Han said.
Lan turned to her brother, her gaze cold. "Why would I need protection from my weak little brother? Now be quiet and let me handle this."
"She's the best," Han whispered to himself.
She walked forward, her expression softening as she removed the pressure on Fang Lei. "Sorry for that. It really hurts me when people make me do this to them. Don't try to run away again, okay?" she spoke, her voice honest and reassuring.
Fang Lei groaned as he began to stand up, his face full of fear, his heart racing. If I cooperate, this one will definitely let me go, he thought, looking at Lan.
Suddenly, a strong pressure suppressed him again, slamming his whole body to the ground. "I think it's best you stay on the ground while talking to my sister. You're not her equal, pest. Show some respect and kneel!!" Han declared, his voice sharp and cold, looking down at Fang Lei as if about to devour him.
A sharp pain exploded behind his head from his sister slapping him. "Stop being so mean, Han. I said I would handle this."
"But sis, he's just a pest. He should show some respect..."
"Be quiet!!" Han was quickly silenced by his sister.
Her gaze softened as it turned to look at Fang Lei. "If you prefer standing, please go ahead."
Fang Lei could feel Han's cold gaze on him, even without looking back. "Senior deserves my respect, so I'll kneel," he spoke, getting on his knees.
"Now, I'm sure you know why we're here. We are the Twin Emeralds, sent by the Emperor," she began.
Fang Lei tightened his hand into a fist in fear. He went with his gut, trying to guarantee his survival. "It truly is a blessing to have the Twin Emeralds in my small academy. And yes, I'm aware of what brought you here."
"Fang Lei paused. I can't reveal that Omari is my student, no matter what", he thought.
"Since you are aware why we're here, then let's not waste each other's time, right?" She clasped her hands behind her back casually as she strolled closer, voice calm, "Bring him here for me."
Sweat beaded on Fang Lei's forehead. "They probably know a lot from asking around, and Omari has been the talk of the city for the last few days."
"Seniors, that Omari Siwang was taken away by the people from the Celestial Gate Sect. If he was still here, I would've killed him myself."
Elder Peng then walked in the gate, his eyes widening as he saw Fang Lei on the ground kneeling.
Fang Lei saw him from the corner of his eye, his mind racing." If they ask him questions, I'll be done for."
"I'm a good citizen of this kingdom, and I greatly respect the King, so let me do my part to ease the king's anger," Fang Lei declared.
"Headmaster Fang, what's going on..." Elder Peng began but was instantly interrupted. Fang Lei got up yelling.
"Peng, your student Omari has committed a grave sin, and you're out here walking like nothing has happened. Pay for your ignorance!"
With a movement of his finger, Fang Lei pulled a sword from his bag of holding and shot it towards Elder Peng.
Elder Peng swerved his body to the side, dodging the sword. "Fang, how dare you..."
Before he could finish, Fang Lei appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back of the neck with a short sword, its sharp end piercing through and appearing at the front of the neck. Peng dropped to the ground, his body lifeless.
"Lan, I think we should just raze this place to the ground," Han spoke.
"We can't do that. The emperor prides himself on pleasing the citizens. If we kill an academy filled with children fifteen years and below, we will stain his great name. Now that the Celestial Gate Sect is involved, we can't act. Let's go back and report this," said Lan.
She sighed deeply. "What is your brain even for, Han? So stupid," she spoke, walking away.
"Lan, you're always so smart. That's my sister for you," Han smiled, following behind Lan.
After a long journey, the cultivator with Omari and his fellow students finally arrived at the Celestial Gate Sect. The students all stared in awe, looking at the beautiful scenery.
"Hey... Hey... Wake up and see this," one of them said, shaking Omari awake.
He slowly opened his eyes, feeling a bit of pain behind his neck. He quickly forgot about the pain when he saw the view. The Celestial Gate Sect was beautiful. A mountain crowned with beautiful white buildings—some on the sides, some atop it, and some all around it. Students in white robes flew in and out of the sect on flying swords. The sect was covered by a grand formation, protecting it from any beasts or cultivators that may attack it.
For a second, the students forgot how cold the cultivator was to them and felt as if their lives would turn out way better than they initially thought.
Instead of landing on one of the platforms, the cultivator went to the back of the sect where, on a steep side, there was a small cave opening. He pulled out a token, and it allowed him entry into the sect.
He flew towards the small door and entered. He took back his board, and the students all fell to the ground. They coughed in a cloud of dust and slowly got up, groaning. They dusted their clothes, and when they looked forward, the cultivator was already walking ahead.
"Keep up!" the cultivator yelled.
They started to follow him, the fear they had before now doubled. Omari looked behind and could tell there was no escaping. They continued following the cultivator through the tunnel that seemed like a cave.
After a while of walking, they reached an opening where they saw cultivators wearing yellow walking past each other as if in a hurry, going into different tunnels. The space inside the mountain was surprisingly huge, with other cultivators even able to fly inside.
Three cultivators stopped and bowed down. "Senior Brother Mo Jie, you've returned."
"Senior Brother... Congratulations on reaching the Soul Expansion realm. The white robe will definitely suit you," Boot quickly congratulated.
Boot was given his name because of his enormous feet. Since his feet were huge, he also had to wear huge boots, hence the name.
"You have sharp eyes, Boot. With hard work you'll be next to have a breakthrough," Mo Jie replied
He continued, "I have five new recruits. Show them what they'll be doing," he spoke while walking away.
"Boot... You think you can handle the new recruits on your own?" the other two asked.
"Yeah, I can handle these pups," Boot replied.
He turned around and started walking. "Follow me, new recruits!" he yelled.
Omari and the others started following.
"How long do you think these new recruits can last?"
"I give them a week."
"I give that one a month, though," the two cultivators talked as they watched Boot take Omari and the other students away.
They followed Boot down a steep staircase carved directly into the rock. The air grew colder and thicker with dust the deeper they descended. The only sounds were the scuff of their boots and the frantic beating of their own hearts. One of the students behind Omari was trembling so hard his teeth chattered.
After a few minutes of walking, a sound began to echo up from the depths, a distant, rhythmic clang of metal striking rock. Omari's heart started racing, he could guess from the sound they were definitely here to mine spirit stones.
"This is what I'm reduced to? A goddamn miner? He clutched his fists, gritting his teeth." Fang Lei... You could've just helped me escape, but you chose this."
They continued their journey down the mountain, and they could see cave rooms with wooden beds where miners slept. They could see some cultivators wearing yellow robes carrying bodies up from deep down in the tunnels.
A few more minutes passed by, and Omari and his fellow students started to see who was mining. Men and women of different ages, from young kids to old men and women, were holding pickaxes and digging. They looked starved as if they were going through a drought.
They were incredibly skinny, bones could be seen through the skin, and some had swollen bellies as if they had kwashiorkor.
"N-No, no, I'm not doing this!" one of the students in Omari's group yelled, backing away. "I won't be a slave!!" he yelled, turning around and bolting away.
"Woooo.... It's been a while!" one of the cultivators wearing yellow yelled excitedly. He continued, "Guys, we have a runner. Let's get him!"
Almost five of them ran forward after him. The one who spoke released a sword from his pouch and threw it forward. It spun around mid air before cutting off the running kid's hand.
The student screamed, his eyes bulging out. But before long, another cultivator appeared in front of him holding a sword and swung it down, cutting off his toes.
The student screamed, blood squirting out from his arm and feet, but another cultivator slashed his leg off, leaving him to fall to the ground.
"Ahhh!!... Please, someone help! Please save me! Omari, you can fight, I saw you before! Please save me! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!" he cried, sobbing while dragging himself on the ground, trying to crawl away.
A cold jolt of terror shot down Omari's spine. The boy's pleas had just painted a target on his back. He could feel the eyes of the yellow-robed cultivators turning towards him. He closed his eyes, clutching his fists, his chest rising and falling, and looked to the side.
"Ha ha ha, let's finish this!" one of the cultivators yelled, and all of them shot their swords forward, stabbing the student one after another until he was just a pool of blood.
The other students with Omari started puking and coughing, tears pouring from their eyes, having a hard time accepting their fate. They had truly entered the gates of hell.