The two of them, together with the young disciple, arrived at the ice cave that they used as a prison. The freezing air was a sign that it was almost always empty and that the sun practically never reached it. The humidity made it even more inhospitable.
On the cold rock platform in the center of that room was the cultivator who had dueled with Shi ZhenXian. He was in chains and on his knees with his head lowered. He had been given no room to move at all, the chains that came down from the ceiling tied his arms, which were spread open.
"Why does it smell so much like blood?" Shi ZhenXian said, wrinkling his nose after taking the first steps in there.
They went there as quickly as possible but they still hadn't made it in time. Two of the three prisoners had already killed themselves. One perhaps hadn't had the courage to and had let his companion strangle him.
He was lying apparently peacefully bent on one side.
The other one's head was practically split in two; the rocks on the wall in front of him were reflecting a dark red. It was a rather gruesome scene, but nothing the three Taoists had never seen before.
"I had a few questions for them, ahh…" sighed the Sect Leader with a hint of disappointment.
"He's still there," he pointed to the young disciple.
That young man was lying farthest from the other two. He hadn't regained consciousness yet, after all, as strong as he was, he had still fought against the number one of the Mount Qiyun Sect. He was lucky to be still alive!
Shi ZhenXian stayed further back as the other two approached the prisoner.
"Hey you, boy," the Sect Leader said, keeping a safe distance as he leaned forward with his torso and his hands clasped behind his back.
No one responded.
The Sect Leader looked at the young disciple next to him who immediately understood. He grabbed a bucket of cold water prepared nearby and threw it at him.
The man's eyes widened and he gasped for a few seconds, gasping for air. He tried to pull his arms towards himself but realized he was chained. He tried to focus on what was in front of him but since his vision was still a bit blurry, he could barely make out the figure of an old man in front of him.
His eyes widened and his face twisted into a grimace of shock and fear. He opened his mouth and it seemed clear to everyone what he was about to do.
He was about to bite his tongue off!
Shi ZhenXian's reflexes and speed were certainly not to be underestimated, so he ran towards the prisoner and blocked his jaw with his hand, placing the hollow between his fingers and thumb between the boy's teeth. They sank into Shi ZhenXian's hand, who did not bat an eyelid, but remained still, restraining him by the head.
"Not so fast" he said as blood slowly flowed to his wrist, staining red his white robes.
"You are always so reckless." the Sect Leader scolded him. After the death of that disciple's master, he had always felt a certain sense of responsibility towards him.
"Nothing serious, he will get better soon."
The prisoner didn't hear anything they were saying. He looked straight at the person in front of him. The cave was lit by a few torches, being able to see a hand's breadth from his nose was already a lot. But considering the close distance with the person holding his skull, it was not too difficult to focus the image. His eyes were shaking, it was unclear if he was afraid or just confused. And as the taste of blood went down his throat, his eyes seemed to shine under the dim light.
No one was close enough to notice, except Shi ZhenXian of course, still there with half his hand in the mouth of that disciple.
Is he crying? Oh! Maybe it's the water from before! Hmm… is he afraid of dying now? Where has his cultivator honor gone, he seems like a lost sheep now. He seemed so confident when we were fighting and yet he's just a kid.
"Hey young man, tell me why your master was so insistent on getting himself killed?"
Shi ZhenXian looked at him seriously. His eyes said: Don't screw up.
He slowly let go of the boy's face. He had actually stopped biting that hand a while ago.
The cultivator didn't answer, he seemed to be in a trance. His eyes alternated between looking at the floor below him, Shi ZhenXian who towered over him and never deigned to look at the Sect Leader.
The latter was already impatient from before.
"Are you deaf? Can you speak? If you make yourself useful I can give you a more painless death."
At these words, the young man came to his senses for a moment.
He couldn't die.
Not now.
"Er…" he made a hoarse sound followed by coughing.
"Drink" Shi ZhenXian brought the bucket he had used earlier closer to him. The cultivator put his lips to the bucket and drank what was left. He seemed to be lost in thought again but quickly recovered.
"My master…" he began, "was looking for the Key. He knew that one of the three pieces is kept here on Mount Qiyun…"
The Sect leader was speechless.
"Are you talking about that key…?"
The cultivator nodded weakly.
"The last piece was destroyed, what use would it have been to him?" said the Sect leader, scratching his forehead.
"That key," continued the cultist, "has not been destroyed."
"Ahahahahahah… don't joke, young man." "I saw the destruction of that key with my own two eyes."
"I tell you, it has not been destroyed."
The cultivator's face darkened. The Sect Leader stopped laughing. That face seemed too serious.
He cleared his throat and said, "Does your master know where it is?"
Li HengYuan had sacrificed himself and his entire sect for a piece of a key, one piece of which had been destroyed, rendering it useless. The other two pieces belonged to two powerful Sects, the Qiyun Mountain Sect itself and to the Sect of the Yang of Jilin. For having jeopardized everything he had created, perhaps he knew a little more than him.
"So where is it?" insisted Shi ZhenXian.
"The other one is in the hands of the Yang sect"
"This is clear to everyone" continued the Sect Leader.
"The other one, is in the Gobi desert" concluded the man.
The Sect Leader looked at him strangely. "In the Gobi desert, do you have any idea how big it is? You don't want or can't be more specific"
"Coming from the east, the first village. All the answers should be there."
There was a minute of silence.
"Then I approve"
"Sec- what are you referring to?" Shi ZhenXian said perplexed.
"I won't kill you"
"Oh yes, you don't kill him… Ah!? Wait, what?" Shi ZhenXian didn't expect such a reaction from the Sect Leader. The boy was clearly bluffing and the Sect Leader seemed to be completely falling for it.
No, impossible.
The Sect Leader was planning something, but this wasn't her usual modus operandi. He had always been a cautious person, never saying too much; no one could understand his innermost intentions except Shi ZhenXian, who had gotten the hang of it after years at his side.
"You will go to the desert yourself," he said to the prisoner.
This old man hit his head!?
"Sect Leader… aren't you exaggerating? How can we trust him!" Shi ZhenXian almost shouted, more incredulous than ever. Something stank.
"There will be no problem if you go with him."
"…"