Secrets of the Universe

Combing his lower beards, Eden sighed, "Since you have said so, we should continue with the bounty. Our plan is to infiltrate the manor! "

.........…

Ten minutes later, the group was already coursing through the streets.

As the one with the sharpest sense, Jake led them. He didn't need a map as he had already memorized it.

He focused on his senses as he spread them out. Using his hands he pointed the way for them.

As they kept themselves in the shadow, they could hear screams from the surrounding buildings.

"Hunters. They are all dying," murmured Eden.

They didn't spare any thoughts as to whether to help the hunters or not. They only had the bounty in mind.

It took them twenty minutes of careful navigation to get to the manor. 

Just like they expected, many netherans gathered around the dilapidated manor, signifying that it was their headquarters.

Jake stopped guiding them. He couldn't see any way for them to enter the palace, not when it was crowded with their enemies.

He moved his group into a nearby building as they watched through the window for any opening.

Amid their patient examination, they saw a group of bounty hunters being possessed by ghosts as they moved to the gates.

It was ironic. A ghost was graded to be equivalent to [Realm 1] and [Realm 2] in terms of power scaling. Yet, it was proven here that they were still a threat to [Realm 3] warriors as well.

"Let me go!" one of the possessed shouted.

When Jake looked closer, he recognized the person shouting.

It was the second strongest bounty hunter, Alyssa!

Despite her possessed state, she still tried to shout, looking for ways to free herself.

Jake watched as her teammates were dragged to the front of the manor.

The ghosts weren't careful with them at all. They harshly dumped their body to the floor and twisted their legs, prohibiting them from escaping.

After the self-mutilation, the ghosts ejected from their body and hovered their ethereal bodies to the banshee leaders at the front of the manor.

They didn't say anything and just let the leaders pick their prey.

After the selection, Alyssa found herself picked by a rather loud banshee leader.

She didn't try to negotiate with it but instead opted to laugh at it. At the brink of death, there was only peace.

Watching this, Jake had first thought she could retaliate but changed his thoughts after he used his [Akashic Eye] to review everything.

Due to his [True Sight], he could see through the body of Alyssa. While his sight was murky, he was able to discern the lack of an energy storage device in her body!

From that, he understood why she was never going to be able to retaliate.

Her strength was taken from her. In the world of cultivation, there was an accurate term for her condition.

It was called crippled! Someone whose cultivation was taken from him.

Everything Allyssa had worked for was tarnished when the ghosts possessed her. The smart ghost had known to disarm their opponent before she could retaliate.

Now she could only rely on her body, but that was also compromised! Her legs were broken, prohibiting her from running.

Also, judging by the way she breathed, Jake guessed the ghost had damaged her body to the extent where she wasn't a threat anymore to them!

'What a sad life?!' sighed Jake.

If it was any other day, he would gain an interest in the ghosts, but now, he could only care about himself.

As he looked at Alyssa and her team, he already knew what the banshee leader was going to do to them.

It was something that any netheran had to do!

While netherans might seem way overpowered, they had their own limits, which was their condition for mutation.

To grow stronger they had to constantly infect other races and consume most of them. However, being locked in the town, the banshee leaders were starving and needed a food source.

Perhaps, Legend Caelein had that in mind when he sealed the town. Perhaps, he wanted them to remain stagnant due to starvation.

Luckily for them, the appearance of the bounty hunters just provided them what they needed!

Without further ado, the banshees opened their gruesome mouth and bit the hunters.

They didn't care one bit as they tore apart the flesh of their live food. Drinking the blood and munching on the bone.

*Shriek!!!*

After the leaders sampled the food, they screamed for the other banshees to join them. The banshees obeyed and clustered around the hunters, and the feating continued.

*Munch!* *Munch!*

Jake could hear the bones of the hunters being crunched like biscuits.

He was already used to such gory scenes, but from the way River trembled, he could tell she wasn't.

As he couldn't talk, he left the matter of calming her to Eden. Right now, they couldn't afford to be noticed, or else, their fates will be the same as the hunters being eaten alive.

Jake focused back on the entrance of the manor.

'A manor is the home of a town's lord. There should be an escape route in case of emergencies,' analyzed Jake.

His [Akashic Eye] scoured the entire surrounding, but he couldn't find a clue, except for a small shed which was meaningless in his eyes.

His mind went back to the map he had memorized. Analyzing it again, he formed different escape routes, all in the blink of an eye.

'Wait….an escape route can't be too far, or else it would be risky,' analyzed Jake.

He went back to the only clue he had gotten. The shed!

Previously, he had discarded the idea of the escape route being in the shed due to its obvious location, but perhaps, it was the case of hiding in plain sights.

Taking his eyes off the banshees, Jake scribbled his new finding on his notepad and passed it to Eden.

When the latter read it, he nodded as he also agreed with Jake.

He then circulated it to the rest of the group. He was careful with his movements, trying not to alert the banshees.

"This is the best time to act. The banshees are not paying attention. We have to risk it, your products will soon wear off," agreed Renee.

She was joined by Sea who had already calmed her sister down.

Walking on their toes the group sneaked into the shed which was just beside the fence of the manor.

It was a small shed, nothing standing out in it.

However, with his experience, Jake lightly tapped on the floor. He noticed the familiar uneven rhythm and smiled.

"Move back. It's a tunnel," said Eden which had also guessed that.

Not making much sound, Jake opened the cover of the tunnel and jumped inside, followed by the others!