Chapter 253: Weina and Mu Xue
Jing Hongchen's breath caught in his throat as he processed Huo Yuhao's report. His hands, normally steady enough to assemble precision soul tools blindfolded, now trembled visibly where they rested on his polished mahogany desk. The morning sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office in the Illustrious Virtue Hall suddenly felt too bright, too revealing.
"This is..." He struggled to find words adequate to describe the magnitude of what his disciple had accomplished. "Beyond anything I could have imagined."
Huo Yuhao stood calmly before him, his posture relaxed but his eyes sharp with intelligence. The faint glow of soul circuits pulsed beneath his skin, visible only to someone of Jing Hongchen's cultivation level. The changes in the young man since his departure were subtle but profound - an additional layer of confidence in his bearing, a new depth to his spiritual presence.
"Master," Huo Yuhao began, his voice measured, "I understand this may be difficult to accept all at once. Perhaps it would help if I walked you through the sequence of events again?"
Jing Hongchen waved a hand, the motion more abrupt than he intended. "No, no. I grasp the situation perfectly well." He rose from his chair and began pacing the length of his office, his boots clicking against the imported marble tiles. "You've somehow managed to secure a formal agreement with Di Tian himself - the legendary Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, ruler of the Great Star Dou Forest. And as if that weren't enough, you've also taken the Heaven Dou Empire's crown princess captive and are keeping her in some sort of... pocket dimension?"
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Essentially correct, though I'd phrase it differently. The princess and her companion are currently residing in a demiplane I control. Their accommodations are... modest, but secure."
A strangled laugh escaped Jing Hongchen's lips. He moved to the window, staring out at the bustling campus of the Illustrious Virtue Hall below. The familiar sight of researchers hurrying between buildings, the distant hum of soul tool forges - these everyday scenes now seemed strangely disconnected from the world-shaking revelations occurring in his office.
Meng Hongchen, who had been quietly observing from an overstuffed armchair in the corner, finally spoke up. "Grandfather, you're going to wear a hole in the floor." Her tone was light, but her eyes were serious. "Yuhao's told the truth. I've seen the demiplane myself. It's... unsettling, but incredibly useful."
Jing Hongchen turned back to face them, his expression unreadable. "I don't doubt the truth of what you're saying. It's the implications that are staggering." He began counting off points on his fingers. "First, this spirit soul collaboration could revolutionize cultivation practices across the continent. Second, holding the Heaven Dou princess gives us unprecedented leverage. Third..." He paused, his finger hovering in midair. "Third, you've somehow gained the ability to create pocket dimensions? Since when?"
Huo Yuhao's lips quirked in a small smile. "I don't create them, Master. The demiplane was a gift from my other teacher. Think of it as... an inherited possession."
For a long moment, the only sound in the office was the quiet hum of the climate-control soul tools. Then Jing Hongchen made a decision. "Show me," he said simply.
Huo Yuhao didn't hesitate. With a graceful motion of his hand, the air before them shimmered and tore, revealing a swirling gray portal that emitted a faint, unnatural chill. Meng Hongchen made a face but didn't comment.
"If you'll follow me, Master," Huo Yuhao said, stepping through the portal without hesitation.
Jing Hongchen squared his shoulders and followed. The transition was disorienting - a moment of intense cold followed by a sensation like being pulled through thick syrup. Then his feet struck solid ground, and he found himself in...
Hell. Or something very like it.
The sky hung low and heavy, the color of a week-old bruise. The air carried the scent of damp earth and something metallic, like old blood. In the distance, jagged obsidian spires clawed at the churning clouds, while closer at hand, things moved in the perpetual twilight - shapes that were decidedly not human.
Jing Hongchen's breath fogged in the unnaturally cold air as he took in the nightmare landscape. "This is..."
"The Necromantic Demiplane," Huo Yuhao supplied calmly. "A self-contained pocket dimension aligned with death energy. My teacher's masterpiece."
Everywhere Jing Hongchen looked, undead creatures went about their incomprehensible business. Skeletons in rusted armor marched in eerie unison. Ghouls with peeling flesh crouched in the shadows of crumbling ruins. High above, winged horrors circled on leathery wings.
"Over there," Huo Yuhao pointed toward a cluster of particularly ominous-looking structures, "is the Death Citadel, where the more powerful entities reside. But our guests are housed somewhere more... hospitable."
Their destination turned out to be a small stone building that might have been charming in another context. Here, surrounded by the bleak landscape, it looked like a mausoleum. A faint golden barrier shimmered around it, the only spot of warmth in this monochrome nightmare.
Inside, two figures huddled together on a threadbare pallet. Princess Weina, once the picture of royal grace, now looked like a shadow of her former self. Her golden hair hung lank and greasy, her cheeks sunken from weeks of poor nutrition. Beside her, Mu Xue maintained a protective posture, though her own aristocratic features showed similar signs of strain.
Both women started at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Princess Weina," Huo Yuhao greeted, his voice carefully neutral. "I've brought someone to meet you."
Weina's bloodshot eyes widened as she recognized Jing Hongchen. "The... the Illustrious Virtue Hall Master," she rasped, her voice raw from disuse.
Mu Xue's arms tightened around her charge. "What do you want now?" she demanded, though the effect was undermined by the way her hands trembled.
Jing Hongchen studied them clinically. The psychological toll was evident in every twitch of their limbs, every darting glance toward the barrier that kept the horrors at bay. This was interrogation refined to an art form - no torture needed when the environment itself wore down the spirit.
"Fascinating," he murmured to Huo Yuhao. Then, louder: "Your Highness, I trust you've been treated... adequately?"
Weina's laugh was a broken thing. "Adequately? We're prisoners in a nightmare!"
Jing Hongchen nodded as if she'd made a reasonable point. "I see. Well, I'm sure arrangements can be made to improve your situation... given the right incentives."
The princess's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
"That," Jing Hongchen said, turning to leave, "is a conversation for another time."
Back in the relative warmth of his office, Jing Hongchen took a moment to collect himself. The transition between worlds left a metallic taste in his mouth.
"You've created an extraordinary opportunity," he finally said to Huo Yuhao. "But also an extraordinarily dangerous one. The Heaven Dou Empire won't take this lightly."
Huo Yuhao's smile was razor-sharp. "I'm counting on it, Master."
(End of Chapter)
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