Quick Travel to the Clouds

The torchlight suddenly blazed up, piercing the darkness of the tree hollow, like scorching knives thrusting into the eyes of the two.

There was no time to struggle, or even time to think.

The immense force dragged them out like tattered sacks and slammed them onto the damp, cold forest floor.

The dull thud of bones hitting the ground was accompanied by the low growls of the tiger soldiers suppressing their anger. Their hands and feet were instantly bound tightly with rough animal sinew ropes that dug into their flesh, and cold, hard metal shackles were fastened heavily to their ankles.

"Run? You killed the Silver Armor Guard and you still want to run?!" The leading tiger clan squad leader, with a fresh claw mark on his face and bloodshot, savage eyes, kicked Yun Chu hard in the stomach.

The excruciating pain caused Yun Chu to curl up, coughing incessantly. Through her blurred vision, she could only see several huge feet wrapped in hard straw sandals surrounding her.

"Take him away! Lord Silverflame ordered him to be alive!" The cold command was given.

What followed turned into a complete nightmare. They were roughly pushed and dragged through the rugged, dark forest.

The torchlight flickered around, illuminating the undisguised hatred and cruelty on the soldiers' faces.

Branches whipped at my cheeks, thorns tore my already tattered clothes and skin, and every time I fell, I was mercilessly pulled up.

The cold shackles chafed his ankles, and sticky blood mixed with the dirt.

Xueling was already terrified, silently shedding tears as she was mechanically dragged away.

Yun Chu gritted her teeth, forcing down the pain and fear. Her golden eyes gleamed in the darkness with a light colder than a torch, as she memorized the face of every soldier who had pushed and beaten her.

They were taken to a makeshift camp at the edge of the forest.

There are no tall city walls here, only a few stone houses built of huge logs and rocks, exuding a strong wild beast atmosphere, surrounded by sharpened wooden fences.

A huge bonfire crackled and leaped in the center of the camp, illuminating the soldiers'狰狞 faces and the animal hides and dried meat hanging in the camp, exuding a strong smell of blood.

The soldiers escorting them threw the two women into a half-buried stone house as if they were trash.

The huge wooden door slammed shut behind us with a bang, and the heavy bolt fell down.

Darkness and biting cold instantly enveloped them.

The stone house walls were soaked with water droplets, the ground was cold stone slabs, and in the corner there was a pile of withered grass that smelled of mold and urine.

The air was filled with the smells of rust, blood, and a deathly silence.

"Yun Chu..." Xue Ling finally spoke, her voice filled with extreme fear and sobs.

"Shh..." Yun Chu whispered, her voice dry and hoarse. She struggled to move her bound body, leaning against the cold stone wall in a corner, feeling her surroundings with her body.

The icy, bone-chilling stone slab made her shiver, but it also brought a slight clarity to her mind, which was boiling with pain and fear.

She could sense that there were other cells next door, and she could vaguely hear suppressed sobbing and coughing sounds, all female voices, from other captured slaves.

Yin Yan... specifically requested that they be captured alive... his judgment could come at any moment.

Time flowed by in the darkness and silence, each minute and second stretching out endlessly. The heavy footsteps of the patrolling soldiers outside the stone house, their hushed conversations, and the occasional roar of beasts all struck my heart like heavy drumbeats.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps in the coldest part of the night, a heavy knocking sound came from the wooden door—not an unlocking, but a cold, commanding knock.

boom! boom! boom!

Each sound felt like a blow to the heart.

The heavy latch was pulled, making a screeching sound. The heavy wooden door was pushed open a crack, and the afterglow of the campfire outside rushed in, making Yun Chu subconsciously squint, but she could still see the cold profile of the soldier standing at the door.

There was no rough dragging; the tiger soldiers at the gate parted to make way, their voices carrying deliberate respect and a hint of barely perceptible fear: "Lord Silverflame, the person is here."

A tall, lithe figure stepped in, like a ghost in the moonlight. He carried no torch, but his eyes, which gleamed with a faint golden light in the darkness, illuminated the small cell more clearly than any torchlight.

Even in the dim light, its silver-gray fur gleamed with a cold sheen, and its silver-tipped tail hung down naturally, brushing lightly against the door.

The air froze instantly.

He didn't have a strong smell of blood on him, only a faint, chilling aura, like a mixture of frost from the depths of a winter forest and some strange herbs, yet it carried a suffocating sense of majesty and oppression that was even more intense than the smell of blood.

He didn't look at Xue Ling, who was cowering in the corner and almost burying her head in her knees. His cold, pale gold pupils, like precise rulers, locked onto Yun Chu, who was sitting against the stone wall, her whole body tense.

He took two steps closer, silently, and stopped about three steps away from Yun Chu.

The dim light outlined his cold, stern features. His tiger-like face, with its peculiar markings, was expressionless, displaying only a chillingly pure scrutiny.

His gaze, like a cold probe, swept over Yun Chu's wrists, which were marked with blood from the ropes, her bloodied ankles, and the brand on her shoulder, which was beginning to burn and become inflamed and faintly visible beneath her tattered clothes. Finally, it settled on her golden eyes, which, even in extreme dishevelment and fear, had stubbornly maintained their composure and defiance.

He did not ask a question immediately.

Silence spread through the stone house, like a noose that was tightening ever more.

Yun Chu could even hear the sound of her heart pounding against her ribs in her chest, and the sound of her blood rushing around seemed to be roaring in her ears.

She bit her lower lip hard, using the sharp pain from her teeth to resist the fear that was about to freeze her consciousness.

My fingertips trembled slightly involuntarily. The presence of that damned "space" seemed stronger than ever before, like a wound that could burst open at any moment.

Yin Yan's gaze seemed to linger on her slightly trembling fingertips for an extremely brief moment, so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.

He slowly squatted down, his movements still elegant and composed, his gaze barely maintaining eye level with Yun Chu's.

As the distance closed, Yun Chu could even clearly see the complex patterns in his golden eyes beneath his silver eyelashes. There was no anger in his eyes, only exploration and amusement, as if he were looking at an interesting experimental subject.

“Number ninety-three… Yun Chu.” He finally spoke, his deep voice carrying a pleasant metallic quality, echoing in the small stone house, yet like hail hitting iron, each word cold and clear, “A… rabbit.”

The corners of his mouth seemed to curve upwards very slightly, an arc that was less a smile and more a confirmation.

“Tell me,” his voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable power that penetrated Yun Chu’s eardrums and even her soul, “what did my two foolish kinsmen taste before they died? What was it like?”

His questions were incredibly precise, completely skipping over pointless questions like "Did you kill him?" and going straight to the heart of the matter—poison!

"Speak!" A tiger-clan soldier standing at the door couldn't help but let out a suppressed growl, breaking the eerie, cold silence.

Yin Yan didn't turn around, nor did he show the slightest impatience. He merely turned his cold, golden pupils slightly to the side, and the soldiers at the door instantly fell silent.

His gaze returned to Yun Chu's face, as if he were admiring the fear and struggle that inevitably welled up in her eyes because of this blunt question.

He leaned forward slightly, and his shadow completely enveloped Yun Chu.

The chilling aura became even clearer.