Chapter 705: The turning tides [3]

Velnorah stepped out of the dimly lit room, as she entered the long, winding corridor.

The faint scent of medicinal herbs and the acrid sting of dried blood still lingered in the air, mixing with the low murmurs of healers tending to the wounded.

But Velnorah had no time to linger on the suffering around her.

The moment she had woken up, her first and only thought had been Zhao Tian.

A terrible unease gnawed at her chest, and the more she searched, the stronger her fear became.

Her steps quickened as she moved through the corridors.

Then—thud!

A sudden impact knocked her slightly off balance.

She instinctively reached out to steady herself, her hands brushing against soft fabric before she quickly pulled back.

Blinking in surprise, Velnorah raised her head to look at the young woman she had collided with.

Huh? Isn’t she... the one with Tian that day during the tournaments?

At the same time, Li Jia’s brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Velnorah "Aren’t you..."

She remembered Zhao Tian and Xia Shenyi talking about Velnorah and the tattoo.

"You…" Velnorah mirrored her reaction.

For a brief second, neither of them spoke, simply staring at each other as the realization clicked into place.

Then, at the exact same moment—

"Do you know where Tian is?" x2

Their voices overlapped in perfect sync.

H-Huh?

Both of them blinked, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected unity in their words.

Li Jia, after a brief pause, let out a slow breath, her gaze lowering slightly as she spoke. "I’ve been searching for him since this morning…"

"But it seems like no one knows where he is."

Hearing those words, Velnorah’s stomach twisted uncomfortably.

If he had been injured, someone would have seen him being carried away.

Letting out a sigh Velnorah spoke "I was fighting alongside him yesterday,"

"But… Zaerina almost killed me. I fell unconscious before I could see what happened to Tian and Yao Jing."

The last thing she remembered before everything went black was Zhao Tian, standing amidst the battlefield, his figure drenched in both blood and moonlight.

He had been alive then. But now…

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

Li Jia’s brows furrowed, "Then he could still be out there…" she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

"Or something happened after you lost consciousness."

Taking a deep breath, Velnorah forced herself to stay calm.

Panicking wouldn’t help them find him any faster.

She met Li Jia’s gaze, "We need to keep searching."

Li Jia nodded in agreement "Mhm. We’ll ask every healer, every disciple. Someone must have seen him."

Without another word, the two women turned and walked side by side down the corridor.

...

It was already afternoon, and even after hours of searching, Li Jia and Velnorah still couldn’t find clues about Zhao Tian.

Many disciples did say that they saw him fighting, but they don’t know what happened after that.

He even saved many disciples.. but no one knows where he disappeared to.

All they did hear was vampires forces suddenly retreated, and the rest were quickly killed by the Wing Masters.

Panic began to settle onto Velnorah’s heart because she knows how powerful Zaerina is ’W-What if something happened to him?’

’No.. No...’

’I can still feel the tattoo on my crotch pulsing; he is still alive...’

The tattoo was the only thing that was giving her hope that Zhao Tian was alive somewhere.

Meanwhile, the same hope can’t be said for Li Jia.

Velnorah glanced at the other woman, and her chest tightened at the sight.

Li Jia was trembling, and her eyes are now filled with raw fear.

Her fingers curled tightly around the fabric of her robes.

The battlefield from the previous day was still fresh in her mind... the blood-drenched corpses.

And in the midst of all that carnage, Zhao Tian had stood at the very center, fighting with all he had.

She swallowed hard.

What if…

No. She couldn’t even complete the thought.

She felt sick.

"T-Tian…" Before her panic could spiral further, a firm, warm hand grasped hers.

Startled, she turned and looked at Velnorah "Elder Velnorah..."

"Don’t break. Tian is alive. I am sure of it."

Li Jia’s lips parted and her breath hitched "H-How do you know?"

Velnorah hesitated. She couldn’t exactly tell her about the tattoo.

That would require too much explanation. But she didn’t need to.

Instead, she squeezed Li Jia’s hand tighter, "Because he’s Zhao Tian. He wouldn’t die so easily. If he was truly gone, we would feel it."

After a moment, Li Jia inhaled shakily and nodded. "...O-Okay."

Velnorah could still see the fear in her eyes, but at the very least, she was trying to believe. That was enough for now.

As they were passing through a corridor, they suddenly heard a scream "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Huh? Startled by the sudden scream, Velnorah and Li Jia rushed to the corridor and pushed the door open.

Inside, there they saw three women standing looking at each other.

Two of them looked like twins, and the third woman had green hair.

Velnorah recognized the green hair as Rui Lian, as she is another direct disciple of Yan Zijin.

Her gaze then flickered toward the twins.

Meanwhile, Li Jia recognized Qi Xue and Qi Nue as they are the ones who bonded with Zhao Tian when he entered the sect and saw them together in the cafeteria sometimes.

Velnorah’s gaze narrowed ’Maybe she knows something...’

Stepping in, Velnorah looked at Rui Lian "You are the direct disciple of Yan Zijin, right?"

"Where is she now? And I want to know where Zhao Tian and Yao Jing are."

Qi Nue and Qi Xue were dumbfounded to hear because they were also searching for Zhao Tian and Yao Jing.

The five of them looked at each other...

Huh..

"You’re looking for Zhao Tian too?" Qi Nue asked, her voice laced with urgency.

Velnorah’s eyes narrowed slightly at their reaction. "Yes. We’ve been searching for him since this morning."

"No one knows where he is. The battlefield was searched, but there was no sign of him. The only thing we’ve been told is that the vampires retreated after the battle."

Qi Xue and Qi Nue exchanged a glance and their expressions darkened.

"Listen..." She took a deep breath before finally speaking.

"In yesterday’s battle… Zhao Tian and Yao Jing were kidnapped. They are being held hostage by the vampires."

A stunned silence fell over the room.

Qi Xue and Qi Nue’s eyes widened in shock.

Velnorah felt her stomach drop and Li Jia’s breath caught in her throat.

"What?!" Qi Nue was the first to break the silence, her voice filled with disbelief.

"Why were they kidnapped?!"

"What did they do?!" Qi Xue raged as she stepped forward with a look of desperation.

Velnorah’s fingers curled into a tight fist. "That doesn’t make sense."

"Why would the vampires take them?"

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I hope you guys liked this chapter!