When the man with vines for hair suddenly burst into flames, Liu Xing’s heart skipped a beat. He felt a fluctuation of qi, as if the cultivator had crossed some kind of threshold, but the sudden combustion still surprised him. A moment later, Liu Xing kicked the ground and shot forward. The wind rushed in his ears, fluttering his invisible hair, and in an instant, he arrived right in front of the burning man. The cultivator had lit up like a giant bonfire. Orange fire illuminated the dim tunnel, yet he still shouldered the woman. Liu Xing kicked the man straight in the back while simultaneously grabbing the woman. As the man sailed through the air and landed on the tunnel floor, Liu Xing set the woman down. He did not want his existence known, even here. As her rear touched the ground, a gasp escaped her lips. Her wide eyes glued themselves to the burning man.

  The man screeched and howled in pain as he rolled around on the floor. He was burning alive. The intense fire shrouding him seemed determined to consume him completely. Smoke billowed off him as he rolled and clawed at his face, torso, and entire body, as if trying to peel off his own skin. However, he only wounded himself, and the blood that welled from the scratches instantly burned and turned to smoke.

  Liu Xing stood behind the wide-eyed, terrified woman. His heart beat slightly faster in his chest while his brain tried to determine why the man had suddenly ignited. By now, the man was already charred black. The heat from the fire was enough to warm Liu Xing's skin. Beneath the shroud of flames, the man's flesh was as black as charcoal, and his vine-hair had already turned to ash. His blood-red eyes opened, lit up as if he were a demon straight from hell. He reached a hand toward the woman, his expression frozen in terror. Between his screams and his thrashing, Liu Xing understood the man was begging for help.

  Liu Xing had no intention of helping. Instead, he analyzed the situation, wondering if it would be better to kill him right now. Killing him would grant Liu Xing qi. However, as soon as his mind settled on the likely reason for the combustion, he decided against it.

  He remembered remarks about the "lesser mark" from not too long ago. Some disciples said its function was to track them and that it only worked in a certain radius. However, when that specified disciple had been asked to disobey Wuji Sanren’s order to return, he didn't dare to do it. It seemed the lesser mark was not so lesser after all. He was certain it was connected to the fact that this man was burning.

  Soon, the man stopped screaming and rolling. He lay on the floor with his mouth wide open, his face twisted as if letting out a silent scream. He was undoubtedly dead, and while the fire still burned him, its intensity began to lessen.

  At that moment, black smoke rose suddenly from his body, like a soul escaping a dead body. This smoke was different from normal smoke; it was as black as ink. Liu Xing narrowed his eyes and walked toward the burning corpse. As soon as he pointed his gun at it, the weapon sucked in the black smoke like a vacuum. Liu Xing looked at the general direction of his gun. It seemed true that this darkness was quite common. If it were rare, a random disciple from the Nether Lotus Sect wouldn't have it. However, since he knew for a fact that not all demonic cultivators possessed it, and it was not exclusive to the strong ones either, he wondered what tied them together.

  He glanced to the side of the tunnel and saw a wooden sword. Its gold handle was adorned with a pattern of snake scales. The vines that sheathed the sword had also turned to ash. For the same reason he hadn't killed the man, he decided not to take the weapon. Instead, he turned and grabbed the short-haired woman’s hand and forced her to stand. She jumped at his touch, pulling her hand away in an attempt to break free. However, a mortal could not contend with Liu Xing. He cut the rope tying her hands with a slice of qi, stored the severed rope in his spatial ring, and extended his invisibility to her.

  When she saw her hand vanish, as if something unseen had swallowed it, her eyes grew as wide as saucers.

  "Don't resist me," Liu Xing said. "You're safe right now. However, you won't be safe if you cry or make a sound. Be silent, please. People will come."

  The woman, seeing that her entire arm had been swallowed and the invisibility was spreading to her torso and neck, looked terrified beyond belief. However, her sense of self-preservation won out; instead of questioning him, she clamped her hand over her mouth, trying not to make a sound. Liu Xing wanted to comfort her, but it was better not to talk too much. As soon as her whole body turned invisible, footsteps approached. At first, they were faint, but they grew louder until hurried steps arrived at their position.

  Liu Xing pulled the woman back until they were pressed against the wall. They stood silently. As they stood, he could feel her trembling hand in one hand and the silent, obedient Tide Walker in the other.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Three people entered the small tunnel. Two were male and one was female. They wore black and red robes with gold bands on their left arms. They were direct disciples of Wuji Sanren. They arrived in front of the burning corpse, looked at it seriously, and then glanced at each other.

  "What do you think?" the woman in the middle asked the two men at her sides. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail, and while her face was calm and elegant, she carried herself like a warrior.

  “I think he died because something lit him on fire,” the man to her right said, then chuckled. He was a big man with a rounded belly and a patch of beard on his chin. The woman shot him a glare, but he only chuckled more. However, from this close, Liu Xing detected fear in his eyes.

  "So it's true, then," the other man said. He was tall with pale, sickly skin and yellow, cat-like eyes. "Senior Brother Gao gave me and several others a scroll. It seems he knew about it because he said I could only open the scroll when something happened. It seems he was referring to this." He pointed forward.

  "Well, what are you waiting for, then?" the big man asked. "Open it and read it to us."

  The pale man nodded, grabbed a small scroll from inside his sleeve, and opened it. His eyes moved up and down the paper for a moment before he closed it and returned it to his sleeve. "It is true. We are ordered to bring the corpse up, as well as his treasure. It seems Senior Brother Gao will create an announcement regarding this."

  The big man and the woman with the ponytail fell silent for a moment, glanced at each other, and sighed.

  "In hindsight, it was obvious," the woman said as she extended her hand. In that instant, the fire still burning the corpse absorbed into her palm. "We were given precious resources freely. There's no way Elder Wuji Sanren wouldn't have considered some of us trying to escape."

  Liu Xing nodded in agreement. His conclusion matched hers. A barrier surrounded this island, and whoever decided to escape would burn to death.

  Both men nodded. The man with the round belly grabbed the wooden sword with the gold handle, while the man with cat eyes slammed his palm on the ground. A small coffin made of earth closed around the burned corpse.

  "We need to hurry," the man said.

  Once the corpse was secure, he hoisted the coffin onto his shoulder, and the three of them walked back toward the entrance of the tunnel. Liu Xing pulled the woman along. Although he couldn't see her, he was sure she was trying as hard as she could not to make a sound.

  The three direct disciples chatted about what had happened and speculated that their group wasn't the only one instructed to check specific locations. This implied that several other people had attempted to escape the island and had likely perished in the process.

  When Liu Xing arrived at the dungeon where the mortals were imprisoned, he watched the three direct disciples climb the stairs. He stopped for a moment and decided not to follow them. Instead, he looked around the dungeon. He sensed the woman looking left and right, and then her hand suddenly clenched. At that moment, Liu Xing knew she had found someone.

  He willed the invisibility cloaking her head to recede. When he saw her gaze fixed on a particular spot, he released her hand, making her fully visible. The light was dim, but several prisoners jumped in surprise when she appeared. She didn't mind their reaction, though. Instead, she rushed toward a cell filled with men and women. When she arrived in front of the cell, she gripped the bars as if she were going to break them. Liu Xing followed her, but instead of doing what she intended, he grabbed the padlock and forcefully opened it. It was made of ordinary steel intended only to lock up mortals.

  He whispered to the woman. "I advise you to stay here and blend in with the others. Don't tell anyone about me. Not even your lover. If you do that, I promise all of you freedom. And unlike that demonic cultivator, I am a man who fulfills his promises. Understand?"

  She nodded fearfully, entered the cell, and closed the door. Then, Liu Xing forcefully closed the padlock. It was for her safety, as well as his.

  As the woman hugged her lover and the bewildered prisoners began to ask her questions, Liu Xing turned his back and walked toward the stairs. His steps were soft, but his eyes were sharp.

  The carrot was the resources that Wuji Sanren gave to his disciples. The impossibility of escape and the corpse they were about to display would be the stick. It was actually quite clever. Not in the idea itself, but in its implementation. Using several people as sacrifices was a show of force that Wuji Sanren displayed to his disciples. Liu Xing suspected that the rumor about the mark branded onto every disciple would spread and evolve. It was already known that the mark could locate disciples, but now they knew it could also burn them alive. What other functions did the mark have? Could the Elder hear them? See them? This would make all the disciples paranoid.

  However, one thing was true for Liu Xing. This arrangement worked in his favor. None of these disciples could escape this island, which meant every single disciple of the Nether Lotus Sect was trapped here with him.

  As soon as Liu Xing stepped outside the building, where the direct disciples were making a spectacle of the cowards disgraceful enough to attempt escape, his eyes scanned the crowd like a wolf in a pen full of clueless sheep.

  keep the lights on.